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Potsdam Conference
The "Big Three" leaders of the United States, Soviet Union, and Great Britain meet at the Potsdam Conference. President Harry Truman, Soviet leader Josef Stalin, and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill continue the work begun at Yalta to determine the future of postwar Europe. Churchill is replaced midway through the negotiations by new Prime Minister Clement Attlee after Churchill's party loses elections in Britain. The conference establishes a military administration for Germany and agree -
Truman's permission to use atomic weapon against Hiroshima
US President Truman gives permission for the world's first military use of an atomic weapon against the Japanese city of Hiroshima in an attempt to bring the only remaining theatre of war from the Second World War in the Pacific to a swift closure -
Hiroshima
The American bomber Enola Gay drops an atomic bomb nicknamed "Little Boy" on the Japanese city of Hiroshima. The instant devastation unleashed on Hiroshima shocks the world and ushers in the nuclear age. -
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Events
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Philippines gains independence
The Philippines gains independence from the United States, and begins fighting communist Huk rebels (Hukbalahap Rebellion) -
Creation of the "Iron Curtain"
"Iron Curtain" is a term used to describe the boundary that separated the Warsaw Pact countries from the NATO countries from about 1945 until the end of the Cold War in 1991. The Iron Curtain was both a physical and an ideological division that represented the way Europe was viewed after World War II. To the east of the Iron Curtain were the countries that were connected to or influenced by the former Soviet Union. This included part of Germany Czechoslovakia, Poland, Hungary, Bulgaria, Romania. -
"Cold War" term coined
Bernard Baruch, in a speech given during the unveiling of his portrait in the South Carolina House of Representatives, coins the term "Cold War" to describe relations between the United States and the Soviet Union. -
The Marshall Plan
The Marshall Plan (officially the European Recovery Program, ERP) was the American program to aid Europe where the United States gave monetary support to help rebuild European economies after the end of World War II in order to prevent the spread of Soviet Communism. The plan was in operation for four years beginning in April 1948. The goals of the United States were to rebuild a war-devastated region, remove trade barriers, modernize industry, and make Europe prosperous again. -
The Berlin Airlift
Soviets placed a blockade on the allied sector of Berlin to starve the population into Soviet alliance. The blockade was a soviet attempt to starve out the allies in Berlin in order to gain supremacy. the blockade was a high point in the cold war, and it led to the berlin airlift. The allied response was a unbelievably massive air supply- flying night and day to feed the city. -
People's Republic of China established
Communist Mao Zedong takes control of China and establishes the People's Republic of China -
Korean War Begins
The Korean War begins when North Korean soldiers poured across the 38th parallel. This invasion was the first military action of the Cold War. By July, American troops had entered the war on South Korea’s behalf. As far as American officials were concerned, it was a war against the forces of international communism. -
UK Tests Atomic Bomb
The United Kingdom successfully tests its atomic bomb in Operation Hurricane. The test makes the UK the world's third nuclear power. -
US Tests Ivy Mike
The United States tests their first thermonuclear bomb, Ivy Mike. The device was the first full test of the Teller-Ulam design, a staged fusion bomb, and was the first successful test of a hydrogen bomb. -
Korean War Ends
An armistice, a formal agreement of warring parties to stop fighting, ends fighting in the Korean War. An armistice is not the same as a peace treaty.The Korean War Armistice Agreement is a prominent example of an armistice which has not been followed by a peace treaty. -
US Launches USS Nautilus
The United States launches the world's first nuclear submarine, USS Nautilus. The nuclear submarine would become the ultimate nuclear deterrent. -
Forming of Warsaw Pact
The Soviet Union and its affiliated Communist nations in Eastern Europe founded a rival alliance, It includes East Germany, Czechoslovakia, Poland, Hungary, Romania, Albania, Bulgaria, and the Soviet Union. -
Vietnam War Begins
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era proxy war that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia.This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam—supported by the Soviet Union, China and other communist allies—and the government of South Vietnam—supported by the United States and other anti-communist allies. -
Soviets Crush Hungary
The Hungarian Revolution is crushed by a Soviet Red Army invasion. Hungarian leader Imre Nagy waits for Western help, but the Soviets install a new government under Communist Janos Kadar. Repression of dissidents grows intense, and many Hungarian refugees flee to the West. -
The Treaty of Rome Established
The Treaty of Rome establishes the European Community.The treaty reflects many Europeans' aspirations to establish an independent body to look out for European interests. The European Community lays the foundation for what will eventually become the European Union. -
Sputnik is Launched
The Sputnik crisis was the American reaction to the success of the Sputnik program. It was a key Cold War event that began when the Soviet Union launched Sputnik 1, the first artificial Earth satellite. -
China begins Great Leap Forward
Under Mao Zedong's leadership, China begins the Great Leap Forward to industrialize the nation. The state takes over land, changes agricultural practices, and places people on communes to produce steel. The Great Leap Forward fails miserably to produce progress for China, resulting instead in a Great Famine as agriculture is sacrificed for industry. -
Kitchen Debate
Vice President Richard Nixon and Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev engage in the Kitchen Debate in Moscow. Nixon touts the high standard of living in the United States and the freedom of choice among consumer products as proof of the superiority of capitalism. -
U2 Shot Down Over Soviet Union
American pilot Gary Powers's U2 spy plane is shot down over the Soviet Union. President Eisenhower denies responsibility for the international incident and refuses to apologize, allowing the collapse of a Paris summit between the United States and Soviet Union.
