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Stalin delivers speech
Stalin delivers a speech in Moscow that blames capitalism of the two world wars and says that capitalism and communism will never be in harmony. -
Harry Truman gives speech
Harry S. Truman gave the policy of containment in a speech to a joint session of Congress and asked for $400 million in financial and military aid for Greece and Turkey. -
Marshall Plan
The USA made the Marshall Plan, a 13 billion dollars foreign aid package designed to help Europe recover from the devastation of World War II. -
Berlin Blockade
Soviets impose the Berlin blockade, cutting off rail and road access to the capital city, which is located in the middle of the Soviet zone of eastern Germany. -
Berlin Airlift
For 11 months, Under General Lucius Clay, the United States begins Operation Vittles—which brings necessary supplies into the Berlin by plane. -
Truman Surprise Reelection
American voters reelect Democrat Harry Truman to serve another term as president, surprisingly. -
NATO forms
A military alliance forms between the US, Great Britain, France, Italy, Norway, Portugal, Iceland, Denmark, Canada, Belgium, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands. -
COMECON tries to be formed
A group of communist nations tries form. -
West Germany Forms with Basic Law
The former zones of British, French, and American occupation officially become the state of West Germany after the adoption of a new German constitution known as the Basic Law. -
Communist Party comes to power in China
This was the founding and ruling political party of the People's Republic of China (PRC). -
The Soviet Union detonates its first nuclear bomb.
The USSR tries out their newly built nuclear bomb, it is a success. -
Chinese and Soviet Alliance
Soviet leader Josef Stalin celebrates his 70th Birthday, and Chinese leader Mao Zedong visits Moscow to negotiate an alliance with the Soviet Union. -
Sino-Soviet Treaty
Soviet leader Josef Stalin and Chinese leader Mao Zedong sign the Sino-Soviet Treaty of Friendship, Alliance, and Mutual Assistance, an agreement committing the two nations to 30 years of mutual defense. -
Stalin Concedes to Korean Invasion
North Korean leader Kim Il-Sung goes to Moscow to ask Soviet leader Josef Stalin's permission to invade South Korea and begin the Korean War. -
U.S. Aids South Korea
President Harry Truman orders American forces to assist South Korea, which is being overrun by Communist North Korean troops. -
The Soviet Union initiates the space age
The Soviet Union starts the space age with the launch of Sputnik 1. Then in Sputnik 2 the first dog goes out into space. -
U-2 Incident
During the presidency of Dwight Eisenhower, the USSR shot down an American spy plane. -
Bay of Pigs
A force of some 1,500 American trained and supplied Cuban exiles landed on the island, and within two days all had been killed or captured. -
Berlin wall separates Germany
Germany is officially divided into the Federal Republic of Germany (West Germany) and the German Democratic Republic (East Germany). -
13 Days in October
The world stood on the brink as two superpowers risked nuclear war over the stationing of intermediate-range ballistic missiles in Cuba in what has been called the Cuban missile crisis.
