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Potsdam Conference
The "Big Three" met to decide borders in post-WWII Europe and how to handle surrendered Germany. -
Iron Curtain Speech
In this speech, Churchill declared that an 'iron curtain' divided capitalist West Europe from communist East Europe. In addition, he called for an alliance between Britain and the US to stop Soviet expansion. It was in reaction to the Soviets preventing free elections in its satellite nations and using them as a buffer zone. It is important because it was an unofficial declaration of war between the West and Russia. -
Truman Doctrine
A US policy of supplying economic aid to countries resisting communist takeover. It was first proposed to help Greece and Turkey remain capitalist. It was in response to the Soviet effort to expand communism through Europe. It was important because it heightened tensions between the Soviets and the West, and because it helped stop Soviet expansion. -
Harry Truman Elected President
In one of the biggest upsets in American history, Harry Truman is elected President after serving a partial term following the death of Franklin Roosevelt. -
NATO founded
North American and European nations united in a peacetime alliance against feared Soviet aggression. -
USSR tests atomic bomb
The Soviet Union detonated its first atomic bomb in Kazakhstan. The US discovered the test in early September with information from a spy plane. The test was in response to the American development and use of nuclear weapons. It was important because it ended American dominance, and put the world under the threat of nuclear war for the first time. -
McCarthyism Begins
Joseph McCarthy rises to the national spotlight and begins using his political power to make false accusations against 'communists' and push the nation into anti-communist hysteria. -
Korean War Begins
Communist North Korea invades capitalist South Korea, prompting the US to respond with aid for the South in an attempt to stop communist expansion. -
Rosenberg trial
Julius and Ethel Rosenberg were tried for espionage, accused of giving information about atomic bombs to the Soviet Union. They were sentenced to death and executed two years later. Their arrests were not in retaliation for an action of the Soviet Union, but accusations by Ethel's brother and sister-in-law. It is important because it exemplifies the extreme fear and paranoia of the Cold War. Today, it has been discovered that neither were guilty of giving the Soviets the secret of the bomb. -
Douglas MacArthur Fired
President Truman fires MacArthur due to his reckless desire to continue the Korean War and invade China. -
Eisenhower Elected
The first Republican to win in 20 years, Eisenhower won the 1952 election in a landslide. -
Stalin Dies
The Soviet leader of nearly 30 years dies in Moscow at the age of 74. -
McCarthy-Army Hearings
Senator Joseph McCarthy was investigated by the Army for allegedly using his influence to give special treatment to a former staff member. Meanwhile, McCarthy claimed that the Army was attempting to discredit his investigations of Army security. The hearings were not directly connected to any Soviet actions. They were important because they publicized McCarthy's immorality, greatly weakening the support of his anti-communist movement and ending his political career. -
Geneva Conference
Representatives from the US, USSR, France, Britain, and the People's Republic of China met in an attempt to resolve problems in Asia. Specifically, they sought to negotiate peace in Vietnam and find a way to reunite Korea that was agreeable to all parties. The conference was not held in reaction to any Soviet action, but the capitalist nations present were trying to stop communist expansion. It was important because it was the beginning of US involvement in Vietnam. -
Sputnik Launch
The Soviet Union launched the first artificial satellite into orbit. The 184 pound Sputnik orbited Earth once every 96 minutes until January 1958, when it burned in the atmosphere. The launch was not in retaliation to any US action, but timed to best study Earth. It was important because it established temporary Soviet technological dominance and started a new kind of competition between the US and the USSR - the space race. -
U-2 Incident
A US spy plane was shot down in Soviet airspace and its pilot captured. The US attempted to cover up the espionage, but was embarrassingly exposed by the USSR. The spy missions were not in response to a specific Soviet action, but served to gather intelligence. The incident was important because it ended the chance of peace between the two nations that had been growing since Khrushchev visited the US the previous year. -
First Man in Space
27 year old Yuri Gagarin was in space for 1 hour and 48 minutes, orbiting the Earth in 89. His flight made him an instant celebrity and earned him Soviet national honors. The space program was a part of the 'space race' and the USSR was trying to assert their technological dominance over the US. Their continuing space advantages worried US citizens, who feared that the Soviets might have more military power than the US also. This prompted the US program to put a man on the moon. -
Bay of Pigs
The US makes an attempt to invade Cuba with a force of Cuban refugees. It is poorly organized and it fails. -
Cuban Missile Crisis
The Soviet Union began building nuclear arms launchers on Cuba, and shipping military supplies there. In response, the US surrounded Cuba with ships to prevent the supplies from reaching the island, and demanded that the Soviets stop the construction of bases on Cuba. The USSR was building on Cuba in response to US missiles in European countries in close proximity to Russia. This was the closest the two countries ever came to physical conflict, and was brinkmanship at its most dramatic. -
Berlin Wall Falls
The wall dividing the two sides of Berlin is demolished.
