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Yalta Conference
The Yalta Conference was a meeting held towards the end of World War II between Winston Churchill, Joseph Stalin, and Franklin D. Roosevelt. Although numerous agreements were met, tensions over the fate of Poland foreshadowed the Cold War to come. -
United States uses first atomic bomb in war
The United States drops an atomic bomb on the city of Hiroshima, Japan. US becomes the first and only nation to use atomic weaponry in war. -
Winston Churchill delivers Iron Curtain speech
The Iron Curtain speech delivered by Winston Churchill was one of the most signficant speeches of the Cold War period. The Iron Curtain symbolically divided Europe into two parts. On the East side of the Iron Curtain were communist countries connected to or influenced by the former Soviet Union. Countries west of the Iron Curtain were democracies and had a capitalist, free enterprise economic system. -
Marshall Plan is announced
The Marshall Plan also known as the European Recovery Program was announced by Secretary of State George C. Marshall. The plan provided economic recovery with direct financial aid to the damaged nations of Europe after WWII. Military assistance was given to Turkey and Greece and the United Nations provided humanitarian assistance. European nations received nearly $13 billion in aid. -
Berlin Blockade begins
The Berlin Blockade was an attempt by the Soviet Union to disable France, the United States, and Great Britain from traveling to Berlin. The Berlin Blockade was one of the first major international crises of the World War. -
Berlin Blockade ends
The Soviet Union lifts its 11 month blockade against West Berlin, ending an early crisis of the Cold War. It had been broken by a massive U.S.-British airlift of vital supplies to West Berlin's 2 million citizens. -
NATO ratified
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization is an intergovernmental military alliance of countries from North America and Europre. It was founded on April 4, 1949 in Washington, D.C with the signing of the North Atlantic Treaty. The U.S. Senate ratified the treaty on July 21, 1949 by a vote of 82 to 13. -
Warsaw Pact formed
The Soviet Union and 7 of its European satellites sign a treaty establishing the Warsaw Pact which was a mutual defense organization that placed the Soviets in command of the armed forces of the member states. The treaty called on the member states to come to the defense of any member attacked by an outside force. A unified military command was set up under Marshal Ivan S. Konev of the Soviet Union. -
Sputnik launched into orbit
During the Cold War, both the United States and the Soviet Union battled to demonstrate their power. The Soviet Union started the space race between the two nations with the launch of Sputnik, the world's first orbiting satellite. The beach ball sized satellite took 98 minutes to orbit the Earth on its elliptical path. -
Cuba taken over by Fidel Castro
Corruption, brutality, and inefficiency within the Batista government draws in more and more Cuban supporters of Castro's revolution. In opposition to both Batista and Castro, US tries to find an alternative but ultimately fails. On January 1, 1959, Batista flees the island and Castro supporters move quickly to establish their power. The U.S. attitude towards the new revolutionary government goes from suspicious to flat out hostile. -
Bay of Pigs invasion
President Dwight D. Eisenhower orders the CIA to train and arm a force of Cuban exiles for an armed attack on Cuba in attempts to destroy the communist government of Fidel Castro. 1,200 exiles arrive at the Bay of Pigs shore in Cuba only to be met with rapid, unexpected counterattacks from Castro's military. Over 100 of the attackers were killed and more than 1,100 were captured. -
Cuban Missile Crisis
In October of 1962, an American U-2 spy plane secretly photographed nuclear missile sites being built by the Soviet Union in Cuba. In response, Kennedy decides to place a naval blockade around Cuba. To avoid nuclear war, the Soviet Union and the U.S. agree to a deal in which the Soviets would dismantle the weapon sites as long as the US did not invade Cuba. Although the missile crisis was over, the arms race was not. -
Apollo 11 lands on the moon
The legendary Apollo 11 mission was the first manned mission to land on the moon. Among the crew were Neil Armstrong, Edwin E. Aldrin Jr., and Michael Collins. The national goal of performing a crewed lunar landing and returning back to Earth was set. This mission paved the way for Apollo lunar landing missions to follow. -
Warsaw Pact ends
The Warsaw Pact between the Soviet Union and its European satellites ends after 36 years. In 1990, East Germany left the Warsaw Pact in preparation of reuniting with West Germany. Poland and Czechoslovakia also indicated a strong desire to leave. Suffering from a failing economy and unstable political situation, the Soviet Union relinquished their control over the Warsaw Pact forces. -
End of Soviet Union
The fall of the Soviet Union began when Michael Gorbachev came to power. At a Central Committee meeting in April of 1985, Gorbachev and his allies called for revolutionary changes. From this point on, the Soviet Union made reforms and signed treaties to disarm both the superpowers. Soviet forces were withdrawn from Afghanistan and the Cold War finally came to an end with a coup. Boris Yeltsin is elected to power.
