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Yalta Conference
At Yalta, U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, and Soviet Premier Joseph Stalin made important decisions regarding the future progress of the war and the postwar world.Allied leaders came to Yalta knowing that an Allied victory in Europe was practically inevitable but less convinced that the Pacific war was nearing an end.source -
Berlin Declaration
By the Berlin Declaration of June 5, 1945the Allies of World War II assumed "supreme authority" over German territory and basic administrative issues were addressed: -
Potsdam Conference
Soviet leader Joseph Stalin, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and U.S. President Harry Truman met in Potsdam Germany, from July 17 to August 2, 1945, to negotiate terms for the end of World War II.source -
North Vientam
Hours after Japan’s surrender in World War II, Vietnamese communist Ho Chi Minh declares the independence of Vietnam from France. The proclamation paraphrased the U.S. Declaration of Independence in declaring, “All men are born equal: the Creator has given us inviolable rights, life, liberty, and happiness!” and was cheered by an enormous crowd gathered in Hanoi’s Ba Dinh Square.source -
Iron Curtain Speech
Former British Prime Minister Winston Churchill condemns the Soviet Union’s policies in Europe and declares from Stettin in the Baltic to Trieste in the Adriatic an iron curtain has descended across the continent.source -
First Indochina War
The Indochina War in France, and as the Anti-French Resistance War in contemporary Vietnam began in French Indochina on 19 December 1946 and lasted until 1 August 1954. Fighting between French forces and their Viet Minh opponents in the South dated from September 1945. source -
Containment Policy
Policy of the United States and its allies to prevent the spread of communism abroad.George F. Kennan, a career Foreign Service Officer, formulated the policy of containment the basic United States strategy for fighting the cold war source -
Marshall Plan
American initiative to aid Europe, in which the United States gave $13 billion approximately $120 billion in current dollar value in economic support to help rebuild European economies after the end of World War II.source -
Berlin Blockade
One of the first major international crises of the Cold War.During the multinational occupation of World War II Germany the Soviet Union blocked the Western Allies' railway, road, and canal access to the sectors of Berlin under Western control. source -
Berlin Airlift
In June 1948, the Russians–who wanted Berlin all for themselves closed all highways, railroads and canals from western-occupied Germany into western-occupied Berlin. They believed, would make it impossible for the people who lived there to get food or any other supplies and would eventually drive Britain, France and the U.S. out of the city for good.source -
NATO
The United States and 11 other nations establish the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), a mutual defense pact aimed at containing possible Soviet aggression against Western Europe. NATO stood as the main U.S. led military alliance against the Soviet Union throughout the duration of the Cold War.source -
Soviet Union tests A-Bomb
At a remote test site in Kazakhstan, the USSR successfully detonates its first atomic bomb, code name “First Lightning.” In order to measure the effects of the blast, the Soviet scientists constructed buildings, bridges, and other civilian structures in the vicinity of the bomb. They also placed animals in cages nearby so that they could test the effects of nuclear radiation on human-like mammals.source -
People’s Republic of China founded
Naming himself head of state, communist revolutionary Mao Zedong officially proclaims the existence of the People’s Republic of China; Zhou Enlai is named premier. The proclamation was the climax of years of battle between Mao’s communist forces and the regime of Nationalist Chinese leader Chiang Kai-Shek, who had been supported with money and arms from the American government. The los source -
Second Red Scare
The second Red Scare occurred after World War II and was popularly known as McCarthyism after its most famous supporter, Senator Joseph McCarthy. McCarthyism coincided with increased popular fear of communist espionage consequent to a Soviet Eastern Europe, the Berlin Blockade, the Chinese Civil War, the confessions of spying for the Soviet Union given by several high-ranking U.S. government officials source -
Korean War - American involvement
North Koreans invaded South Korea and A few days later, Truman ordered U.S. troops to the aid of South Korea and convinced the United Nations to send military aid as well, in what was referred to in diplomatic circles as a police action.<a href='http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/us-involvement-in-the-korean-war.html' >source</a
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Julius and Ethel Rosenberg
On this day in 1951, Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, who were convicted of conspiring to pass U.S. atomic secrets to the Soviets, are executed at Sing Sing Prison in Ossining, New York. Both refused to admit any wrongdoing and proclaimed their innocence right up to the time of their deathssource -
Eisenhower Presidency
Republican interlude during the Fifth Party System, following 20 years of Democratic control of the White House. It was a period of peace and prosperity, and interparty cooperation, even as the world was polarized by the Cold War source -
Nikita Khrushchev
Khrushchev's selection was a crucial first step in his rise to power in the Soviet Union an advance that culminated in Khrushchev being named secretary of the Communist Party in September 1953, and premier in 1958. source -
Iranian coup d’état
The Iranian military, with the support and financial assistance of the United States government, overthrows the government of Premier Mohammed Mosaddeq and reinstates the Shah of Iran. Iran remained a solid Cold War ally of the United States until a revolution ended the Shah’s rule in 1979. source -
Warsaw Pact
A collective defense treaty among eight communist states of Central and Eastern Europe in existence during the Cold War.formally.Treaty of Friendship, Co-operation, and Mutual Assistance, sometimes, informally WarPac, akin in format to NATO source -
Hungarian Revolution
A spontaneous nationwide revolt against the government of the Hungarian People's Republic and its Soviet-imposed policies, lasting from 23 October until 10 November 1956. Though leaderless when it first began, it was the first major threat to Soviet control since the USSR's forces drove out the Nazis at the end of World War II and occupied Eastern Europe.source -
Suez Crisis
Named the Tripartite Aggression and the Kadesh Operation was an invasion of Egypt in late 1956 by Israel, followed by Britain and France. The aims were to regain Western control of the Suez Canal and to remove Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser from power source -
Sputnik
The Soviet Union inaugurates the “Space Age” with its launch of Sputnik, the world’s first artificial satellite. The spacecraft, named Sputnik after the Russian word for “satellite,” was launched at 10:29 p.m. Moscow time from the Tyuratam launch base in the Kazakh Republic.source -
Cuban Revolution
The Cuban Revolution was a civil war that took place in Cuba between December 2, 1956, and January 2, 1959. In this armed struggle, the guerrilla forces, led by Fidel Castro, fought against the government army, under Fulgencio Batista, a dictator who had got into power through a military coup in 1952.source -
U2 Incident
Happened during the Cold War on 1 May 1960, during the presidency of Dwight D. Eisenhower and the premiership of Nikita Khrushchev when a United States U-2 spy plane was shot down in Soviet airspacesource -
Kennedy Presidency
sourceElected in 1960 as the 35th president of the United States, 43-year-old John F. Kennedy became the youngest man and the first Roman Catholic to hold that office. He was born into one of America’s wealthiest families and parlayed an elite education and a reputation as a military hero into a successful run for Congress in 1946 and for the Senate in 1952. As president, Kennedy confronted mounting Cold War tensions in Cuba, Vietnam and elsewhere. -
First Man in Space
On Apr. 12, 1961, aboard the spacecraft Vostok 1, Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin becomes the first human being to travel into space. During the flight, the 27-year-old test pilot and industrial technician also became the first man to orbit the planet, a feat accomplished by his space capsule in 89 minutes. Vostok orbited Earth at a maximum altitude of 187 miles and was guided entirely by an automatic control systemsource -
Bay of Pigs
A failed military invasion of Cuba undertaken by the CIA-sponsored paramilitary group Brigade 2506 on 17 April 1961. A counter-revolutionary military, trained and funded by the United States government's Central Intelligence Agency Brigade 2506 fronted the armed wing of the Democratic Revolutionary Front and intended to overthrow the Communist government of Fidel Castro.source -
Vietnam War - American involvement
In 1961, South Vietnam signed a military and economic aid treaty with the United States leading to the arrival (1961) of U.S. support troops and the formation (1962) of the U.S. Military Assistance Command. Mounting dissatisfaction with the ineffectiveness and corruption of Diem's government culminated. source -
Checkpoint Charlie
For 16 hours from the 27 to 28 October 1961, US and Soviet tanks faced each other in divided Berlin and the two superpowers came closer to kicking off a third world war than in any other cold-war confrontation, bar the Cuban missile crisis a year later.source -
Berlin Wall
A barrier that divided Berlin from 1961 to 1989 constructed by the German Democratic Republic starting on 13 August 1961, that completely cut off by land West Berlin from surrounding East Germany and from East Berlin until it was opened in November 1989.source -
JFK Assassination
November 22, 1963, President John F. Kennedy was assassinated as he rode in a motorcade through Dealey Plaza in downtown Dallas, Texas.Although he had not formally announced his candidacy, it was clear that President Kennedy was going to run and he seemed confident about his chances for re-election.source -
Gulf of Tonkin Resolution
Attacked by the North Vietnamese. Johnson dispatched U.S. planes against the attackers and asked Congress to pass a resolution to support his actions.A joint resolution that the United States Congress passed on August 7, 1964, in response to the Gulf of Tonkin incident.source -
SALT I
A massive Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM) buildup designed to reach parity with the United States. In January 1967, President Lyndon Johnson announced that the Soviet Union had begun to construct a limited Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) defense system around Moscow.source -
Prague Spring
A period of political liberalization in Czechoslovakia during the era of its domination by the Soviet Union after World War II. It began on 5 January 1968, when reformist Alexander Dubček was elected First Secretary of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia and continued until 21 August when the Soviet Union and other members of the Warsaw Pact invaded the country to halt the reforms.source -
Tet Offensive
70,000 North Vietnamese and Viet Cong forces launched the Tet Offensive, a coordinated series of fierce attacks on more than 100 cities and towns in South Vietnam. General Vo Nguyen Giap, leader of the Communist People’s Army of Vietnam (PAVN), planned the offensive in an attempt both to foment rebellion among the South Vietnamese population and encourage the United States to scale back its support of the Saigon regime.source -
Nixon Presidency
Richard Nixon (1913-94), the 37th U.S. president, is best remembered as the only president ever to resign from office. Nixon stepped down in 1974, halfway through his second term, rather than face impeachment over his efforts to cover up illegal activities by members of his administration in the Watergate scandal.source -
Apollo 11
The primary objective of Apollo 11 was to complete a national goal set by President John F. Kennedy on May 25, 1961: perform a crewed lunar landing and return to Earth.Additional flight objectives included scientific exploration by the lunar module, or LM, crew; deployment of a television camera to transmit signals to Earth;source -
Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty
The NPT is a landmark international treaty whose objective is to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons and weapons technology, to promote cooperation in the peaceful uses of nuclear energy and to further the goal of achieving nuclear disarmament and general and complete disarmament. The Treaty represents the only binding commitment in a multilateral treaty to the goal of disarmament by the nuclear-weapon States.source -
Nixon visits China
In an amazing turn of events, President Richard Nixon takes a dramatic first step toward normalizing relations with the communist People’s Republic of China (PRC) by traveling to Beijing for a week of talks. Nixon’s historic visit began the slow process of the re-establishing diplomatic relations between the United States and communist China. source -
Détente
The term is often used in reference to the general easing of the geo-political tensions between the Soviet Union and the United States which began in 1969, as a foreign policy of U.S. presidents Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford called détente a thawing out or un-freezing at a period roughly in the middle of the Cold War. source -
SALT II
SALT II initially focused on limiting, and then ultimately reducing, the number of MIRVs. Negotiations also sought to prevent both sides from making qualitative breakthroughs that would again destabilize the strategic relationship.source -
Paris Peace Accords
The United States, South Vietnam, Viet Cong, and North Vietnam formally sign “An Agreement Ending the War and Restoring Peace in Vietnam” in Paris. Due to South Vietnam’s unwillingness to recognize the Viet Cong’s Provisional Revolutionary Government, all references to it were confined to a two-party version of the document signed by North Vietnam and the United States—the South Vietnamese were presented. source -
Chilean coup d’état
Chile’s armed forces stage a coup d’état against the government of President Salvador Allende, the first democratically elected Marxist leader in Latin America. Allende retreated with his supporters to La Moneda, the fortress-like presidential palace in Santiago, which was surrounded by tanks and infantry and bombed by air force jets. source -
Yom Kippur War
Hoping to win back territory lost to Israel during the third Arab-Israeli war, in 1967, Egyptian and Syrian forces launched a coordinated attack against Israel on Yom Kippur, the holiest day in the Jewish calendar. Taking the Israeli Defense Forces by surprise, Egyptian troops swept deep into the Sinai Peninsula, while Syria struggled to throw occupying Israeli troops out of the Golan Heights. Israel counterattacked and recapture source -
Khmer Rouge & the “Killing Fields”
Pol Pot and his communist Khmer Rouge movement led Cambodia from 1975 to 1979. During that time, about 1.5 million Cambodians out of a total population of 7 to 8 million died of starvation, execution, disease or overwork. Some estimates place the death toll even higher. One detention center, S-21, was so notorious that only seven of the roughly 20,000 people imprisoned there are known to have survived. source -
Fall of Saigon
Fall of Saigon was the capture of Saigon, the capital of South Vietnam, by the People’s Army of Vietnam and the National Liberation Front of South Vietnam on April 30, 1975. The event marked the end of the Vietnam War and the start of a transition period to the formal reunification of Vietnam into a socialist republic, governed by the Communist Party of Vietnam.source -
Iranian Revolution
The Shah left Iran. Shapour Bakhtiar as his new prime minister with the help of Supreme Army Councils couldn't control the situation in the country anymore.source -
Iran Hostage Crisis
A group of Iranian students stormed the U.S. Embassy in Tehran, taking more than 60 American hostages. The immediate cause of this action was President Jimmy Carter’s decision to allow Iran’s deposed Shah, a pro-Western autocrat who had been expelled from his country some months before, to come to the United States for cancer treatment. However, the hostage-taking was about more than the Shah’s medical care. source -
Tiananmen Square Massacre
Chinese troops storm through Tiananmen Square in the center of Beijing, killing and arresting thousands of pro-democracy protesters. The brutal Chinese government assault on the protesters shocked the West and brought denunciations and sanctions from the United States.source -
Fall of the Berlin Wall
On November 9, 1989, as the Cold War began to thaw across Eastern Europe, the spokesman for East Berlin’s Communist Party announced a change in his city’s relations with the West.source -
Dissolution of the Soviet Union
Gorbachev resigned and the remaining twelve constituent republics emerged from the dissolution of the Soviet Union as independent post-Soviet states source
