Cold War By abigayle36 Period: 1945 to 1991 Cold War Feb 14, 1945 Yalta Conference meeting of FDR May 8, 1945 . Germany surrenders to the Red Army in Berlin Aug 6, 1945 The United States drops atomic bomb on Hiroshima Aug 8, 1945 Russia declares war on Japan Aug 14, 1945 Japanese surrender End of World War II Jul 1, 1946 Truman demands Russia leave Iran Jul 25, 1946 underwater explosion Mar 12, 1947 Truman declares active role in Greek Civil War Jun 5, 1947 Marshall Plan is announced Feb 25, 1948 Communist takeover in Czechoslovakia Jun 24, 1948 Berlin Blockade begins lasting 11 month May 12, 1949 Berlin Blockade ends Aug 29, 1949 Russia tested its first atomic bomb Feb 2, 1950 Joe McCarthy begins Communist witch hunt and loyalty tests Apr 11, 1951 Truman Fires MacAuthor 1952 A bombs developed by britian 1953 Korean War Ends 1954 Vietnam split at 17th parallel 1955 Warsaw Pact formed 1956 USSR sent military aid to Afghanistan 1957 Sputnik launched into orbit 1961 Berlin border is closed 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis 1963 U.S. supported coup overthrows Chilean government 1964 Gulf of Tonkin incident 1965 U.S. Marines sent to Dominican Republic to fight Communism 1966 Bomb North Vietnam 1972 President Richard Nixon visits China 1979 U.S. and China establish diplomatic relations. 1986 President Reagan and Gorbachev resolve to remove all intermediate nuclear missiles from Europe 1989 Poland becomes independent 1990 Germany reunited 1991 End of Soviet Union and the Cold War Ends