-
Yalta Conference
The Yalta Conference was a meeting between U.S. President F.D.R., Joseph Stalin, and Winston Churchill. The leaders all agreed to require Germany to surrender, and provided no mercy for the Nazi nation. -
Potsdam Conference
The Potsdam Conference was the last post- WWII meetings held by the "Big Three" ( Roosevelt, Churchill, & Stalin) and the meeting was located in Berlin. They discussed and finalized agreements on prosecuting war criminals, setting up land boundaries in Europe, and repairing the German economy. The leaders also called for "unconditional surrender" from Japan. -
First A-bomb dropped on Japan
The U.S. made argurably the most impactful show of power during WWII, when they dropped the first atomic bomb on Hiroshima. The explosion desecrated 90% of the city, killed 80,000 immediately, and made tens of thousands more suffer death from radiation poisioning. Three days later the U. S. deployed another plane to drop a bomb on the city of Nagasaki. The emperor of Japan later announced his uncondition surrender and withdraw from the war. -
V-J Day
The U.S. won victory over Japan, when Japan declared it's unconditional surrender, and thus the war ended. August 14 & 15th were cause for immediate celebration and America rejoiced in a victorious uproar. A very famous photo was taken, when a soldier coming home from war, kissed a female in the street, in Times Square on V-J Day. -
Iron Curtain Speech
Former Prime Minister of England, Winston Churchill, delivered a speech portraying his frustration with the Soviet Union's policies in Europe. The speech is titled after this famous line stating: "From Stettin in the Baltic to Trieste in the Adriatic, an iron curtain has descended across the continent." -
Truman Doctrine Announced
President Harry S. Truman asked for U.S. assistance, for Greece and Turkey to stop the communists from dominating the two nations. Historians often agree that this speech was an offical decleration of the Cold War. -
Marshall Plan annoucned
The European Recovery program, more commonly know as the Marshall Plan, gave nearly 14 million to help finance the economic recovery of Europe. Secretary of state, George C. Marshall announced this plan on June 15th , declaring that the U.S was to provide aid to the struggling nations of Europe after WWII. -
Berlin Airlift Begins
Prior to the Berlin Airlift, the Soviets began the Berlin blockade. The Soviets blocked land routes leading to West Berlin. In response, the United States began massive airlifts of water, food, and medicine to the citizens of Berlin. This aid continued for over a year. -
NATO Treaty Ratified
The United States, and 11 other nations established the North Atlantic Treaty Orginization, otherwise known as NATO. The nations agreed to contain possible Soviet aggression towards Western Europe. President Truman reffered to the organization as a "sheild against agression". -
End of Berlin Blockade
One of the major crisises of the Cold War came to an end, when the Soviet Union offically lifted it's 11 month blockade against West Berlin. The Soviets attempts to seal Berlin off from the world were overshadowed by the U.S. and Britain and their airlift of supplies to two million citizens. -
Soviets explode A-Bomb
At a remote test site, the USSR succesfully detonated it's first atomic bomb, named "First Lightning". The Russians measured the effects of the blast by constructing look alike towns and cities and placing animals in and near the blast site. -
Communist takeover in China
The Peoples Republic of Chine was created and brought into effect by Chinese communist leader Mao Zedong. This decleration made the civil war between the Chinese Communist Party and the Nationalist Party come to an end. -
Beginning of McCarthyism
Hysteria and paranoia about communism spread like wildfire, and senator Joseph McCarthy scared American citizens even more. Although communism wasn't illegal, McCarthy began charging people with subversion. And then he began prosecuting them for selling American security secrets to Communist governments. -
Julius & Ethel Rosenberg Executed
A married couple in the U.S., was convicted of espionage in 1951, and were sentenced to death on the electric chair. They were accused of heading a spy ring, that spread top-secret information concerning the atomic bomb to the Soviet Union. -
Warsaw Pact
The Warsaw Pact was a treaty between eight communist nations, including the Soviet Union. This pact put the Soviet Union in charge of the armed forces of all the alligned states. -
Geneva Summit
Represenatives from the world's powers met in Geneva in an effort to resolve problems in Asia. One of the major concerns discussed at the Geneva Confrence included the battle between Vietnameses nationlist forces and the French. -
Hungarian Uprising
In Hungary, a sudden, widespread revolt took place against the government. The Hungarians were revolting against the soviet policies within the Hungarian People's Republic. This created a liable threat to the Soviet Union, though the revolution ultimately failed. -
Suez War
Isralei armed forces barged into Egypt towards the Suez Canal, after the president of Egypt nationalized the Canal that same year. Britian and France joined the Israelis, nearly bringing the Soviet Union into the conflict. But in the end, French, British and Israeli troops withdrew their troops in late 1956. -
Launching of Sputnik
On October 4th, 1957, the Soviet Union succesfully launched their satellitle, Sputnik into the atmosphere. While it was the size of a beach ball, it marked the start of the space age, and a race between the U.S. and the U.S.S.R for dominance in space. -
U.S. U2 Plane Shot Down
An American U2 spy plane was shot down during an act of espionage over the Soviet Union. Proceeding the incident, was a crucial meeting between President Eisenhower and Soviet Leader Nikita Krushchvec.
