Timeline: Cold War

1991 BCE

1991

The year the Truman Doctrine (a U.S. policy pledging to aid nations threatened by Soviet expansionism) was announced, and 1991, the year the Soviet Union collapsed.

1985 BCE

In1985

In 1985, the USSR began to change its policies.Mikhail Gorbachev came to power.

1980 BCE

In 1980

In 1980 Ronald Reagan was elected president of the USA and the period of détente ended.

1979 BCE

1979

They planned more arms limitation but the USA refused to sign the SALT 2 agreement (in 1979) after the soviet invasion of Afghanistan.

1975 BCE

1975

By 1975 Saigon (the South capital) had been captured by the Vietcong.

1973 BCE

In 1973

In 1973 a ceasefire was arranged.

1972 BCE

1972

In 1972, the USSR and the USA agreed to limit their nuclear weapons and they signed the strategic Arms Limitation Talks Agreement (SALT 1).

1969 BCE

In 1969

The offensive resulted in the loss of thousands of American lives (14,000 in 1969),

1967 BCE

1964 and 1967

President Johnson was determined to keep South Vietnam communist free, so he increased troop numbers from 23.000 in 1964 to 500.000 in 1967.

1964 BCE

1964

Civil Rights Act was finally passed in 1964.

1964 BCE

1964 and 1982

Leonid Brezhnev led the USSR between Khrushchev’s death in 1964 and 1982.

1961 BCE

1961

The Democrat John Fitzgerald Kennedy became the president in 1961 and tensions with the eastern bloc were reduced.

1961 BCE

In 1961

Castro began to cooperate with the USSR.In 1961, President Kennedy authorised an invasion of Cuba by rebels trained by the CIA.

1959 BCE

in 1959

In 1959, Castro began a guerrilla war and soon marched on Cuba´s capital, Havana, and overthrew the government.

1957 BCE

In 1957

Treaty of Rome (25th March 1957). It constituted the creation of the European Economic Community (EEC) or Common Market

1956 BCE

In 1956

In 1956, a rebel named Fidel Castro attempted to overthrow the government, but was defeated and forced into exile.

1955 BCE

1955

The Eastern Bloc formed the Warsaw Pact.

1954 BCE

1954 vietnam

South East Asia had been controlled by France, but French forces were completely defeated by the North Vietnamese in 1954 (Dien Ben Phu). By the Geneva Agreement of 1954 France withdrew from Indochina, losing their Empire.

1953 BCE

1953

When Stalin died in 1953 he was succeeded by Nikita Khrushchev, who began a process of De-Stalinization to fight the abuse of power of cult of personality of the previous leader.

1953 BCE

1953

Truman looked for peace and a cease-fire was agreed on in 1953

1951 BCE

1951

Treaty of Paris (18th April 1951). It involved the creation of the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) It was signed by France, Western Germany, Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg.

1950 BCE

1950

The French Minister of Foreign Affairs, Robert Schuman, proposed on 9th May 1950 the creation of a common market of coal and steel to avoid rivalries and to be more competent.

1950 BCE

1950-1953

maps the korea

1949 BCE

1949

In 1949 two new states were formed: the German Federal Republic (West Germany) and the German Democratic Republic. The frontier between Eastern and Western Europe had been drawn in Berlin.

1949 BCE

In 1949

In 1949, the Western Powers formed NATO (the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation) against the communist threat.

1948 BCE

In 1948

In 1948 the USSR and the West disagreed over Berlin.

1948 BCE

In 1948

They survived (June 1948 → May 1949) because they could obtain supplies from the outside world by air.

1948 BCE

1948

Benelux Customs Union (1948). It was an agreement that was signed by Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg in order to remove customs and to promote free movement of capital, goods, and workers.

1948 BCE

1948

The USSR controlled Eastern Europe. By 1948, Poland, Hungary, Romania, Czechoslovakia, Albania and Bulgaria had pro-soviet Communist governments controlled by USSR (Stalin).