-
Yalta Conference
Yalta ConferenceThe Allied Leaders, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Winston Churchill, and Joseph Stalin, met in the Yalta Conference to make agreements and important decisions reguarding the future progress of the war and the postwar world. The Yalta Conference occured because the Allied leaders knew that Allied victory in Europe was practically inevitable but less convinced that the Pacific war was nearing an end. They made agreements that led to major concrete accomplishment of the Yalta Conference. -
Potsdam Conference
Potsdam Conference
Joseph Stalin, Winston Churchill, and Harry Truman, The Big Three, met in Potsdam, Germany to negotiate terms for the end of World War II. After Germany surrendered, these leaders agreed to meet at Potsdam to continue the discussions from the Yalta Conference. They failed to settle the important issues. World War II was coming to an end and the Cold War was soon to begin. -
War in Vietnam
War in Vietnam
The Vietnam War was a protracted conflict that pitted the communist government of North Vietnam and its South Vietnam allies against the government of South Vietnam and the U.S. The war was also part of a larger regional conflict and a manifestation of the Cold War between the U.S. and the Soviet Union and their respective allies. Vietnam then released the big numbers of deaths that resulted from the war. -
Berlin Declaration
Berlin Declaration
The supreme commanders of the Western powers met for the first time with their colleague from the Soviet Union. They signed the Berlin Declaration, proclaiming the unconditional surrender of Germany and the assumption of supreme authority by the four victorious powers. The city was then divided into four sectors and goverened by a four-power administration called Allied Kommandatura. -
Iron Curtain Speech
Iron Curtain Speech
Former British Prime Minister, Winston Churchill, gives the Iron Curtain Speech. He condemns the Soviet Union's policies in Europe and declares, "From Stettin in the Baltic to Trieste in the Adriatio, an iron curtain has descended across the continent." His speech announced the beginning of the Cold War -
First Indochina War
First Indochina War
The First Indochina War was a major conflict in the Asian region Indochina, which is made up of the modern nations of Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos. The war was fought by France, the long-time colonial ruler in the Indochina, and Vietnamese, Cambodian, and Laotian Communist rebel forces. The war ended in French defeat following the surrender of a French army to the Viet Minh rebels. -
Containment Policy
Containment Policy
George F. Kennan, a career Foreign Service Officer, formulated the policy of “containment,” the basic U.S. strategy for fighting the cold war with the Soviet Union. Kennan’s ideas first came to public attention in 1947. Although his policy was very controversial from the beginning, Containment remained the basic strategy of the United States throughout the cold war. -
Marshall Plan
Marshall Plan
The Marshall Plan generated a resurgence of Eurpoean industrialization and brought extensive investment into the region. It was applied solely to Western Europe. Increasingly, the economic revival of Western Europe, was viewed suspiciously in Moscow. -
Berlin Blockade
Berlin Blockade
The Berlin Blockade was an attempt by the Soviet Union to limit the ability of France, Great Britain and the U.S. to travel to their sectors of Berlin. The western powers instituted an airlift that delivered needed supplies and relief to West Berlin. Three years after the end of World War II, the blockade was the first major clash of the Cold War and foreshadowed future conflict over Berlin. -
Berlin Airlift
Berlin Airlift
The Berlin Airlift occured after the Soviet blockade of land routes to West Berlin. The U.S. began this airlift of food, water, and medicine to the citizens. For a year, supplies from American planes sustained the over 2 million people in West Berlin. The successful American airlift also backfired against the Russians. When the Soviets ended the blockade, the Russian failure was complete. -
North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)
North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)
North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) was a pact signed by 12 nations and was a mutual defense pact aimed at containing Soviet aggression against Western Europe. It stood as the main U.S.-led military alliance against the Soviet Union throughout the Cold War. Isolationists saw the organization as a necessary response to the communist threat. The U.S. then ratified the treaty. -
Soviet Union tests A-Bomb
Soviet Union tests A-Bomb
The USSR successfully detonates its first atomic bomb, code name “First Lightning.” The atomic explosion, which at 20 kilotons was roughly equal to “Trinity,” the first U.S. atomic explosion, destroyed those structures and incinerated the animals. The Soviet union's testing of the atomic bomb also led to the development of the Hydrogen Bomb. -
People's Republic of China Founded
People's Republic of China Founded
Communist revolutionary Mao Zedong officially proclaims the existence of the People’s Republic of China. The proclamation was the climax of years of battle between Mao’s communist forces and the regime of Nationalist Chinese leader Chiang Kai-Shek. The new communist government in China led to the U.S.'s recognition. -
Second Red Scare
Second Red Scare
The Red Scare was the hysteria over the perceived threat posed by Communists in the U.S. which happened As the Cold War between the Soviet Union and the United States intensified in the late 1940s and early 1950s. The Red Scare led to a range of actions that had a profound and enduring effect on U.S. government and society. -
Korean War - American Involvement
Korean War - American Involvement
The Korean War occured when armed forces from North Korea smash into South Korea. The U.S. quickly sprang to the defense of South Korea and fought a bloody and frustrating war for the next three years. In 1953, the U.S. and North Korea signed a cease-fire that ended the conflict. The agreement resulted in the continued division of North and South Korea. -
Julius and Ethel Rosenberg
Julius and Ethel Rosenberg
Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, were a married couple that were convicted of conspiracy to commit espionage in 1951, and were put to death in an electric chair. The execution marked the finale of the most controversial espionage case of the Cold War. they were accused of heading a spy ring that passed top-secret information concerning the atomic bomb to the Soviet Union. -
Nikita Khrushchev
Nikita Khrushchev
Nikita Khrushchev was selected as one of five men named to the new office of Secretariat of the Communist Party. Khrushchev’s selection was an advance that culminated in his being named secretary of the Communist Party in September 1953, and premier in 1958. His rise to power did initiate a period in which tensions between the United States and the Soviet Union began slightly to ease. -
Eisenhower Presidency
Eisenhower Presidency
Dwight D. Eisenhower led the massive invasion of Nazi-occupied Europe that began on D-Day. He managed Cold War tensions with the Soviet Union under the nuclear weapons threats, ended the war in Korea in 1953 and authorized a number of covert anti-communist operations by the CIA around the world. However, he faltered in the protection of civil rights for African Americans. -
Iranian coup d'etat
Iranian coup d'eat
The Iranian military overthrows the government of Premier Mohammed Mosaddeq and reinstates the Shah of Iran with the support and financial assistance of the United States government. It led to Iran remaining a solid Cold War ally of the United States until a revolution ended the Shah’s rule in 1979. -
Warsaw Pact
Warsaw Pact
The Warsaw Pact was a mutual defense organization that put the Soviets in command of the armed forces of the member states. The Soviet Union and some European satellites signed this treaty. The introduction to the establishment of the Pact indicated the reason for its exisetence. The rise of non-communist governments in eastern bloc nations marked an effective end of the power of the Warsaw Pact. -
Suez Crisis
Suez Crisis
Israeli armed forces pushed into Egypt toward the Suez Canal after Egyptian president Gamal Abdel Nasser nationalized the canal in the same year, initiating the Suez Crisis. The French and British forces then joined the Israeli and brought the Soviet Union conflicts. As a result, the British, French and Israeli governments withdrew their troops. -
Hungarian Revolution
Hungarian Revolution
The Hungarian Revolution started when Hungary was crushed by the Soviet forces. They used tanks and troops to bring them down. Thousands were killed and wounded and nearly a quarter-million Hungarians fled the country. Hungary aslo withdrew from the Warsaw Pact. -
Sputnik
Sputnik
The Soviet Union launched the Sputnik, which was the world's first artificial satellite. It transmitted radio signals back to Earth strong enough to be picked up by amateur radio operators. It also was launched to correspond with the International Geophysical Year. They had the "space race" with the U.S. However, the United States ended up taking a giant leap ahead in the race with Apollo 11. -
Cuban Revolution
Cuban Revolution
The Cuban dictator, Fulgencio Batista, flees the island nation and the U.S. policymakers debated how best to deal with the radical Castro and the ominous rumblings of anti-Americanism in Cuba. Cuban support for Castro’s revolution, however, spread and grew in the late 1950s. In the next years, Castro government grew a closer relationship with the Soviet Union. -
U2 Incident
U2 Incident
An American U-2 spy plane was shot down while they were conducting espionage over the Soviet Union. The incident crashed an important summit meeting the current U.S. President and Soviet Leader. The U-2 flight disappeared while on a flight over Russia. It contained self-destruct mechanisms that would render any wreckage that was indistinguishable. This resulted in the pilot's instructed death. -
Kennedy Presidency
Kennedy Presidency
John F. Kennedy was the youngest man and first Catholic to be elected President. The candidates engaged in televised campaigns. His opponent, Nixon, used the fact that he was too young to try to get him down. However, Kennedy was still elected as President. However the first months of his presidency was difficult because Nixon's criticism became valid and that struggled Kennedy. -
First Man In Space
First Man In Space
The first man to travel to space is Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Alekseyevich Gagarin. He was in the spacecraft Vostok 1. He became an instant worldwide celebrity. He was awarded the Order of Lenin and given the title of Hero of the Soviet Union and monuments were raised to him across the Soviet Union and streets renamed in his honor. -
Bay of Pigs
Bay of Pigs
The Bay of Pigs was an invasion that began when a CIA-financed and -trained group of Cuban refugees lands in Cuba and attempts to topple the communist government of Fidel Castro. This attack was a failure. Eisenhower ordered the CIA to train and arm a force of Cuban exiles for an armed attack on Cuba. Kennedy inherited this program when he became President. The U.S then owed a big cost. -
Berlin Wall
Berlin Wall
East German authorities built the Berlin war a few days after adding the barbed wire to the fence separation the West and East. They built the wall to completely refrain access from the west side of Berlin. After completely closing off the two sides, making sure that there will not be any access between the two sides, the Berlin wall became a major symbol for the Cold War. -
Checkpoint Charlie
Checkpoint Charlie
In the Checkpoint Charlie, the Soviet Union and the United States threathened each other to start a third World War. There were tanks and troops from noth the Soviet Union and The United States, on all sides. The whole thing lasted or 16 hours between October 27 and 28. -
JFK Assassination
JFK Assassination
President John F. Kennedy was assassinated by Lee Harvey Oswald on November 22. Lee Harvey Oswald allegedly fired three shots from the sixth floor of the Texas School Book Depository Building. Oswald also killed other people before JFK and was also brought to the basement of the Dallas police headquarters on his way to a more secure county jail. -
Gulf of Tonkin Resolution
Gulf of Tonkin Resolution
The Gulf of Tonkin Resolution gave broad congressional approval for expansion of the Vietnam War. Military planners developed a plan to attack on the North but some did not want an expansion of the war. However, rebel forces ended up having an established control over nearly half of South Vietnam. Some people even wanted the war to become more aggressive. -
Vietnam War - American Involvement
Vietnam War - American Involvement
Two U.S. destroyers stationed in the Gulf of Tonkin in Vietnam said that they had been fired upon by North Vietnamese forces. President Lyndon B. Johnson then requested permission from the U.S. Congress to increase the U.S. military presence in Indochina. The U.S was also involved because of the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution. -
Prague Spring
Prague Spring
In the first few months of Alexander Dubcek's rule, he introduced a series of far-reaching political and economic reforms. His effort to establish “communism with a human face” was celebrated across the country, and the brief period of freedom then became known as the “Prague Spring.” -
Nixon Presidency
Nixon Presidency
Richard Nixon was the 37th U.S. president and was best remembered as the only president ever to resign from office. He stepped down in 1974 during the time when he had to face impeachment. He resigned so that he did not have to face this. And that is what made Nixon best remembered. However, Nixon’s involvement in Watergate tarnished his legacy and deepened American cynicism about government. -
Apollo 11
Apollo 11
American astronauts Neil Armstrong and Edwin Aldrin became the first humans ever to land on the moon. Armstrong then became the first person to ever walk on the moon. This Apollo 11 mission happened because eight years before, Kennedy announced a national goal of landing a man on the moon. "Apollo 11" was the mission's final name. -
SALT 1
SALT 1
SALT stands for Strategic Arms Limitations Talks/Treaty. President Lyndon Johnson called for this treaty because of the development of an ABM system could allow one side to launch a first strike and then prevent the other from retaliating by shooting down incoming missiles. He and Soviet Premier Alexei Kosygin met at Glassboro State College for the SALT 1 and it eventually led to SALT 2 which was signed in Vienna. -
Tiananmen Square Massacre
Tiananmen Square Massacre
Chinese troops storm through Tiananmen Square in the center of Beijing, killing and arresting thousands of pro-democracy protesters. Because of the brutal and violent Chinese government on protesters, they shocked the West and brought denunciations and sanctions from the United States. Chinese troops and security police stormed through Tiananmen Square, firing into the crowds -
Fall of the Berlin Wall
Fall of the Berlin Wall
The Berlin Wall situation was one of the most infmaous days of war. It was the infamous fall of the Berlin Wall. This occured because East Germany's Communist rulers gave permission for gates along the Wall to be opened as a result of days of mass protest. Which then led to East Berliners through cheering and shouting. People then climbed on top and destroyed the wall. -
Dissolution of the Soviet Union
Dissolution of the Soviet Union
The Soviet Union finally collapsed and disintegrated into fifteen separate countries. Its collapse was hailed by the west as a victory for freedom, a triumph of democracy over totalitarianism, and evidence of the superiority of capitalism over socialism. This led to the success of the U.S. Which also meant the end of the Cold War.
