All The Clever Cold War Titles Were Taken, Just Like Communism's Chance To Take Over The World.
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The Big 3 at Yalta
The Yalta Conference was the second time during WWII that British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, Soviet Premier Joseph Stalin, and U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt met. During the conference, the three leaders agreed to demand unconditional surrender from Germany and began plans for the world after the war. -
United Nations Founded
Representatives from 50 countries met in San Francisco, California at the "United Nations Conference on International Organization" to draw up the United Nations Charter. The representatives discussed and debated on the basis of proposals worked out by the representatives of each country. The Charter was signed on 26 June 1945 by the all delegates. The United Nations officially came into existence on October 24, 1945, when the Charter became ratified -
Truman Doctrine
The Truman Doctrine was an American foreign policy created to counter the spread of communism around the globe. It was first proposed by President Harry S. Truman on March 12, 1947, and was enhanced further on July 12, 1948. The Truman doctrine promised American support for other nations threatened by Soviet communism. The Truman Doctrine became the foundation of American foreign policy, and led to the formation of NATO. -
Marshall Plan
The Marshall Plan was an American initiative to financially aid Western Europe for the sake of combating and containing the spread of Soviet communism, as well as helping to restore and repair European cities decimated by WWII. -
Berlin Airlift Begins
The United States, United Kingdom, and France controlled western portions of Berlin, Germany after WWII, even though it was in Soviet-controlled East Germany. When USSR forces blockaded railway, road, and water access to Allied-controlled areas of Berlin, the US and UK began to airlift food and fuel to Allied air bases in the West. -
NATO Founded
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization is a pact between its memebers that asserts mutual defence in response to an attack on a member country from an outside party. -
Department of Defense Created
The Department of Defense was created via the National Security Act of 1947, which combined the departments of War and Navy. Under the act, the Secretary of Defense, who gets appointed by the President with the consent of the Senate, overlooks the entire military. -
China Joins the Communist Party
Mao Zedong established the People's Republic of China after a civil war spanning from 1946-1949 between Nationalist and Communist parties. Chiang Kai-shek - the Nationalist party leader - retreated to Taiwan, along with roughly 600,000 Nationalist troops, and two million Nationalist-sympathizers. -
Eisenhower Elected President
Dwight D. Eisenhower ended a string of Democratic presidential wins after being elected by a landslide in the 42nd quadrennial election. He was a five-star general in the US Army during WWII, served as Supreme Commander of the Allied Forces in Europe, was responsible for Operation Torch in North Africa, the successful invasion of France and Germany from the Western Front, and became the first Supreme Commander of NATO in 1951. -
Stalin Dies
Joseph Stalin's death led to a short ease in Cold War tensions; Austria regained its sovereignty after USSR troops were withdrawn, the new Communist Party leader renounced Stalin's actions, and the USSR began to call for peace between the Eastern and Western worlds. -
Sputnik I Launched
Sputnik I was the first artificial satellite to orbit the Earth, launched by the Soviet Union into an elliptical low Earth orbit. It was visible all around the world, and its radio pulses were also detectable.The surprise success of the craft triggered the American Sputnik crisis and started the Space Race. -
Khrushchev Becomes Soviet Leader
In 1956, Khrushchev began to denounce Stalin and his totalitarian policies at the 20th Party Congress, leading to a short change in the USSR that warrented the release of millions of political prisoners. Almost immediately, the new theme of freedom led to anti-Soviet uprisings in Poland and Hungary. The Soviet legislature voted unanimously to make First Secretary Khrushchev the Soviet premier after quelling the rebellions, formally recognizing him as the leader of the USSR. -
NASA Created
Shamed by the launch of Sputnik I and fearful that the USSR might be capable of launching missiles from Europe into America, the United States Congress passed legislation establishing the National Aeronautics and Space Administration - or NASA - which became responsible for coordinating America’s activities in space. -
Cuban Revolution Ends
The Cuban Revolution was an armed rebellion conducted by Fidel Castro's 26th of July Movement and its allies against President Fulgencio Batista's authoritarian government. The revolution began in July, 1953 and continued on and off again until the rebels finally triumphed over Batista on January 1, 1959 by replacing his government with a socialist state. The 26th of July Movement later reformed along communist lines, becoming the Communist Party in October of 1965. -
U-2 Incident
During the presidency of Dwight D. Eisenhower and the premiership of Nikita Khrushchev, a United States U-2 spy plane was shot down while flying in Soviet airspace. The aircraft, piloted by CIA pilot Francis Gary Powers, was capturing photographs of Soviet activity when it was hit by an anti-aircraft missile and crashed. -
Soviets Send Man to Space
Aboard the spacecraft Vostok 1, Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Alekseyevich Gagarin became the first human being to travel into space. -
Bay of Pigs Invasion Begins
The failed invasion of Cuba was executed by the CIA-sponsored group Brigade 2506, who intended to overthrow the alarmingly communist government controlled by Fidel Castro. Castro defeated the invasion forces within three days. -
Berlin Wall Created
The Berlin Wall was a barrier that divided East and West Berlin from 1961 until 1989. Constructed by the communist government of the East, the Wall completely cut off the land of West Berlin from surrounding East Germany and from East Berlin until government officials opened it. -
Cuban Missile Crisis
The Missile Crisis was a 13-day long confrontation between the United States and the USSR concerning Soviet missile deployment in Cuba. Along with being broadcasted worldwide, it was the closest the Cold War came to turning into a full-scale nuclear war. -
Kennedy Assassinated
While on the campaign trail in Dallas, Texas, President John F. Kennedy was shot and killed while riding in a motorcade. Lee Harvey Oswald was charged with the assassination, and as he was being transported to a different prison the Sunday following, a local nightclub owner shot him fatally, point blank. Following his death, there was much speculation as to what he would have done - things like sharply cut military spending, bring the arms race under control, and withdraw US troops from Vietnam.
