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Yalta Conference
President Roosevelt, Prime Minister Winston Churchill, and Soviet leader Joseph Stalin met to discuss the war against Germany and settle some disagreements. Even though a number of important decisions were made at the conference, disagreements over European countries foreshadowed the fall of the Alliance that had developed between the United States, Great Britain, and the Soviet Union during World War II and showed the possibility of a Cold War. -
Dropping of bombs on Nagasaki and Hiroshima
On the 6th of August the United States dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima, three days later they drop another bomb on Nagasaki, ultmatly killing a total of 150,000 people. -
End of World War One
The Japanese surrender consequently ending World War Two. Although some historians disagree, the most likely cause of this surrender was as a result of the atomic bombs that were dropped a few days earlier. -
Iron Curtain Speech by Winston Churchill
The Iron Curtian speech in which Churchill decribes “From Stettin in the Baltic to Trieste in the Adriatic, an iron curtain has descended across the continent". This speech is significant as it shows the open negativity towards communism and how the British weren't afraid of the Soviet Union. -
Truman Doctrine
The speech happened as a result of the British Government announcement that they wouldn't provide military and economic assistance to the Greek Government in its civil war against the Greek Communist Party. This speech was important as the U.S. Government strongly believed that the Soviet Union supported the Greek Communist war effort and worried that they would influence Greek policy if the Communists won the Greek civil war. -
Communism takes over Czechoslovakia
The Czechoslovakian Communist Party pressured President Eduard Benes to allow a communist-dominated government to be organised. Although the Soviet Union did not physically intervene just yet, the Western observers condemned the Soviet Union expansion into Eastern Europe. -
The Berlin Blockade
The Berlin Blockade was created by the Soviet Union to limit the ability of the Western Allies' so that they couldn't travel to their sectors of Berlin. It was a huge act of defiance and created a huge amount of tension between the two superpowers. The Western Allies' instituted the famous 'Berlin Airlift' to provide the food, water and coal for the people. The Berlin Airlift was a huge success for the Western Countries as many people changed from communism to democracy/republicans. -
The Soviet Union tests its first Atomic Bomb
At Semipalatinsk in Kazakhstan, the USSR successfully detonated its first atomic bomb called “First Lightning". The Soviets created a village-like setting made out of building and houses as well as adding animals to show the effect the bomb will have on a village. The atomic explosion nearly equalled to the first U.S. atomic explosion. This is a significant event as it shows that the Soviet Union was very capable of nuclear war creating huge tensions. -
Start Of Korean War
The Korean War began when North Korea invaded South Korea. The United Nations, with the United States as the principal force, came to the aid of South Korea. China, with assistance from the Soviet Union, came to the aid of North Korea. This war would last until July 27 1953. -
Federal Civil Defense Administration established
The Federal Civil Defense Administration (FCDA) established a few weeks earlier was made into an independent agency controlled by the government. President Truman designed the agency to be responsible for providing emergency aid and assistance to local communities affected by disasters including special emergency acts in the event of a national catastrophe. They would go on to create the 'Duck and Cover' campaign to make people aware of what to do in a Nuclear Bomb explosion.
