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The Iron curtain speech
In early 1946, Prime minister of Great Britain delivers a speech about an imaginary boundary between us and the Soviet union. This imaginary boundary was nicknamed the iron curtain by Winston Churchill. -
The Molotov plan
The Soviets rejected the US Marshall plan, so they came up with one on their own. They called it the Molotov plan which provided aid for the reconstruction of Eastern Europe. -
The Truman Doctrine
This was an american foreign policy that prevented the Soviet union from spreading communism. It was issued on March 12 by US president Harry S. Truman -
Hollywood Ten hearings
10 members of Hollywood refused to answer the questions of HUAC. They were later held in contempt and sentenced to jail. -
The Marshall plan
This plan let the U.S. donate 12 billion dollars to Europe to help rebuild it. This was mainly to help rebuild all the regions that were affected most by World War 2. -
The Berlin airlift
The Soviet Union set up the Berlin blockade which cut off the western allies access into Berlin. The US then set aircraft over eastern Germany to drop supplies to the needy people, this became known as the Berlin airlift. -
The Berlin Blockade
This was the first major crisis of the Cold War. The Soviet Union cut off all access from the western allies into Berlin via railroads, roads, and canals. -
Alger Hiss case
Alger Hiss was accused of being a communist while in federal service. In 1950, he was convicted of perjury. -
Chinese communist revolution of 1949
The Chinese communist party has been in a civil war since 1946. In 1949, the civil war ended and China was now a communist country. -
NATO
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization, or NATO, was an International military alliance. This alliance included 28 members mostly from Europe and North America. -
The Soviet atomic bomb test of 1949
This test of the atomic bomb was followed by the soviets atomic bomb project that begun in World war 2. The soviets were rushing to create their first atomic bomb after learning the Americans already have. -
Soviet nuclear test of 1949
A top secret Soviet project for the atomic bomb began in World War 2. Their first successful atomic bomb was tested in 1949. -
Korean War
North Korea invaded South Korea that sparked a 3 year war. South Korea was supported by the U.N. and North Korea was supported by the Soviet Union. -
Rosenburg Case
The Rosenburgs were American citizens who were executed for being spies. They were accused of passing top secret military technology to the Soviet union. -
The battle of Dien Bien Phu
This was the beginning and first battle of the First Indochina war. The French face of against the forces of viet minh communist revolutionaries. It was a victory for viet minh which led to the signing at the geneva conference. -
Army-McCarthy hearings
These were a series of hearings to discuss Joseph McCarthy. He exposed communists in the US government. He was later convicted as a fraud. -
Geneva conference
The Geneva conference taken place in Geneva, Switzerland ultimately led to the division of Vietnam. The participants were the Soviet Union, France, US, and China. -
The Warsaw Pact
The Warsaw pact was an alliance between the Soviet union and its satellite states. This alliance was created in response to NATO. -
The Invasion of Hungary
This was a nationwide revolt of the Hungarian people in 1956. The people were against a leaderless government and against soviet influenced reforms. -
U2 incident
An American U2 surveillance aircraft was shot down by the Soviet Union. The Americans tried to deny they were doing anything suspicious, but we were forced to tell the truth after the surviving pilot and remains of the plane. -
Bay of Pigs
This was a failed military invasion of Cuba by the US CIA. We created an army to counter the communist threat of Fidel Castro. -
Berlin wall
The Berlin wall barricated west Berlin from the rest of Germany until 1989. It was constructed in 1961 by Germany, then destroyed in 1989. -
The Berlin Wall
The Berlin Wall was a barrier that kept all people in West Berlin trapped from the rest of the world. This barrier was active all the way from 1961 until they finally opened the wall in 1989. -
Cuban missile crisis
This 13 day incident was the closest point during the cold war where it almost became a full on nuclear war. Tensions for 13 days rose high between the US and Soviet Union. The Soviet Union was prepared to fire nuclear warheads on US soil from Cuba -
Assassination of Diem
Ngo Dinh Diem was the president of South Vietnam. Him and his brother were arrested, but escaped. When they were found, instead of returning them to prison, they were shot in the back. -
Assassination of JFK
JFK, the 35th president of the US, was assassinated Friday November 22, 1963. After a ten month investigation, the police concluded that Lee Harvey Oswald was the killer and was acting alone. -
Tonkin Gulf Resolution
The Tonkin gulf resolution gave the president authorization to use military force in Southeast Asia. This was to promote safety in southeast Asian waters after the gulf of tonkin incident. -
Operation rolling thunder
This operation was a US operation meant to weaken North Vietnam and convince them to surrender. It was unsuccessful though and had lasted for a total of three years. -
Tet offensive
One of the largest military offensives in the war was launched by Viet cong. On January 30, 1968 Viet Cong put their surprise attack into action that devestated the US and south Vietnam. -
Assassination of MLK
On April 4, 1968 in Memphis Tennessee, Dr. Martin Luther King was assassinated. Leader of the civil rights movement, he was wanted dead by many people, especially by his assassin James Earl Ray who confessed to the crime. -
Assassination of RFK
Brother of president JFK, was assassinated in Los Angeles California. He was shot and killed while working on his campaign for the 1968 election. -
The invasion of Czechoslovakia
On August 20, 1968, the Soviet Union invaded Czechoslovakia. The soviet union wanted to spread communism throughout postwar Europe. They successfully stopped reform. -
Riots at democratic national convention in Chicago
The national convention of 1968 was to elect a new presidential nominee after Lyndon B Johnson announced he was not running for reelection. Protesters stood outside protesting the war in Vietnam. -
Election of Richard Nixon
The next president after Lyndon B Johnson won over Humbert Humphrey in 1968. Richard Nixon was elected to deal with all the problems the US was currently facing in 1968. -
Kent State shooting
4 unarmed college students were killed in Kent State, Ohio. The Ohio officers shot rounds at the students who were protesting Cambodian campaign. -
Nixon visits China
Nixon travels to China in 1972 seeking to improve relations with China. In the end, our relationship with China did improve, which heavily balanced the Cold war in our favor as China was now against the Soviet Union. -
Ceasefire in Vietnam
Richard Nixon ordered a ceasefire in Vietnam which stopped all aerial bombings. Combat missions continued, but all warring parties signed ceasefire 12 days later. -
Fall of Saigon
On April 30, 1975, Saigon, the capital of South Vietnam was captured by people's army of Vietnam. This marked the end of the Vietnam war and the reunification of Vietnam under communist control. -
Election of Ronald Reagan
Ronald Reagan was elected our 40th US president on November 4, 1980. Winning against democratic opponent Jimmy Carter, Reagan was elected to eventually finish the Cold War. -
Announcement of SDI
SDI nicknamed "star wars" was a plan proposed by Ronald Reagan in 1983. It basically was a defense strategy meant to eliminate any Soviet missiles en route for the US using lasers. Although at the time the Soviet Union saw this as a threat. -
First Geneva Conference
Ronald Reagan and the new Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev met to discuss certain topics in 1985. The goal was to limit the race for nuclear weapons. Although that was not accomplished at this conference, the 2 leaders made a friendship that would soon pay off. -
"Tear down this wall" speech
"Tear down this wall!" is a famous saying by Ronald Reagan in 1987 when he made his speech in Berlin. He called out his friend and Soviet leader Gorbachev to tear down the Berlin wall that has been up since 1961. -
Fall of the Berlin wall
One of the most powerful symbols of the Cold War was destroyed in 1989, which eventually led to the end of the Cold War. The Wall that had kept people in East Berlin from escaping was now gone and they were all free
