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Yalta Conference
This meeting was between Winston Churchill, Joseph Stalin, and Franklin D. Roosevelt. They agreed to require Germany's unconditional surrender. Stalin promised to permit free elections, but as the cold war happened he broke his promise. -
Hiroshima
During World War II, an American B-29 dropped an atomic bomb over Hiroshima. This bomb was the world's first deployed atomic bomb. This bomb killed over 80,000 people wiping out about 90 percent of the city. The bomb that fell over Hiroshima was known as "Little Boy". Hirshomia was left reasonably untouched during the war which is why it became a target. -
U.S. drops bomb on Nagasaki
A B-29 dropped an atomic bomb on Nagasaki. This killed roughly 40,000 people and happened three days after Hiroshima. The emperor of Japan later announced their surrender. Like Hiroshima, Nagasaki was a target because it was reasonably untouched during the war. "Fat Man" was the name of the bomb dropped over Nagasaki. -
NATO Established
North Atlantic Treaty Organization was established by 12 western nations. It was the first peacetime military alliance the United States entered into outside the Western Hemisphere. -
Korean War Started
The invasion was the first military action of the Cold War. It began when 75,000 soldiers from North Korea's army poured across the 38th parallel. It was thought to become World War III, but it ended in July of 1953. -
Warsaw Pact formed
This treaty was signed by the Soviet Union and seven of its European satellites. This treaty said the member states had to come to defense of any member attacked by an outside force. It is also known as the Warsaw Treaty Organization. It was a political and military alliance. The Warsaw Pact was formed as a counterbalance to NATO. -
Sputnik Launched
The Russian's word for satellite is "Sputnik" which is where the name comes from. Sputnik was the world's first artifical satellite. Sputnik had a diameter of 22 inches and weighed 184 pounds. It circled Earth once every hour and 36 minutes. -
Berlin Wall Built
The Berlin Wall was a barrier that divided Berlin. It was referred to as the "Anti-Fascist Protect Rampart". The Berlin Wall was to prvent the massive emigration and deection that marked East Germany and the communist Eastern Bloc. It was a literal "Iron Curtain". The Wall had concrete walls up to 15 feet high and barbed wire at the top. It was heavily guarded. -
Cuban Missile Crisis
There was a 13 day political and military standoff over the installation of nuclear-armed Soviet missiles on Cuba. This was just 90 miles from the United States. It was between leaders from the U.S. and the Soviet Union. The thought of a nuclear war war no more when the U.S. agreed to Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev’s offer to remove the Cuban missiles in exchange for the U.S. promising not to invade Cuba. -
President Richard Nixon Visits China
President Richard Nixon decided to use China to contain Vietnam. Nixon called his visit "The week that changed the world". The U.S. was seeking to improve relations with a Communist country. Nixon met with Premier Zhou Enlai and they agreed to expand cultural contacts between their two nations. -
Fall of Saigon
Saigon was the capital city of South Vietnam. The Fall of Saigon marked the end of the Vietnam War when they fell to North Vietnamese forces. The remainder of the South Vietnamese Army was not strong enough to withstand the North. This meant they would fall to communist forces. -
Soviet troops enter Afghanistan
Immediately after Soviet troops entered Afghanistan they took complete military and political control of Kabul. This would be the only time the Soviet Union invaded a country outside the Eastern Bloc. The Soviets placed themselves in Afghanistan to counter the U.S. alliance with Pakistan. -
U.S. Invades Grenada
There was a threat to American students on the island of Grenada which provided the U.S. with a perfect excuse to eliminate a Marxist regime allied to Fidel Castro's Cuba. The U.S. marines seized the country's two airports and took Cuban and Soviet prisoners. The official name of this invasion was "Operation Urgent Fury". It was seen as a guaranteed victory. Found on the island was a cache of weapons that could arm 10,000 men. This was enough to show Reagan was not crazy. -
Mikhail Gorbachev becomes Soviet leader
Mikhail Gorbachev became leader when Chernenko died after a long illness. His primary goal was to resuscitate the stagnant Soviet economy. The Soviet economy had years of low growth. He became the General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. He allowed the Soviets more freedom than they had previously had. -
Fall of Berlin Wall
"Come here to this gate! Mr. Gorbachev, open this gate! Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!" was said in a speech by President Ronald Reagan. Because of mass protest, East Germany's Communist rulers gave permission for the gates of the Berlin Wall to be opened. The people cheered and shouted and began to destroy the wall that had separated them for so many years.
