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Adam Pintar's Ch. 26 Cold War Timeline
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Yalta Conference
In February 1945, Roosevelt met with Stalin and Churchill at Yalta to work out the future of Germany and Poland. They agreed on the division of Germany into American, British, French, and Soviet occupation zones. Roosevelt and Churchill rejected Stalin's demand that Germany pay the Soviet Union $20 billion in war damages. -
The establishment of the United Nations in San Francisco
In April 1945, delegates from 50 nations met in San Francisco to adopt a charter, or statement of principles, for the UN. The charter stated that members would try to settle their differences peacefully. They would also promote justice and cooperation in solving international problems. -
Potsdam Conference
Truman's first meeting with Stalin occurred in July 1945 in the Berlin suburb of Potsdam. During the conference, Churchill was replaced by Clement Attlee, who had just won the British election. Thus, new representatives from Britain and the United States now faced off against Stalin. They continued to debate the issues that had divided them at Yalta, including the future of Germany and of Poland. -
The Army-McCarthy Hearings
In early 1954, when one of his assistants was drafted, McCarthy charged that even the army was full of Communists. Army officials, in turn, charged McCarthy with seeking special treatment for his aide. As charges and countercharges flew back and forth, the senator's subcommittee voted to investigate the claims. -
The Launch of Sputnik
The size of this technology gap became apparent in 1957, when the Soviets used one of their rockets to launch Sputnik, the first artificial satellite to orbit Earth. The realization that the rocket used to launch Sputnik could carry a hydrogen bomb to American shores added to American shock and fear. The Americans were struck with fear. -
The U-2 Incident
In May 1960, the Soviet military again demonstrated its arms capabilities by using a guided missile to shoot down an American U-2 spy plane over Soviet territory. Because these spy planes flew more than 15 miles high, American officials had assumed that they were invulnerable to attack. That proved to be false.
