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Following the death of Franklin D. Roosevelt, Harry Truman is sworn into office and serves until 1952.
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The Allies met again to discuss the fate of Europe after the war. The meeting was more tense and less productive than at Yalta, as neither the USSR was at odds with the other Allies.
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Near the end of World War II, the United States dropped two atomic bombs in Japan: one in Hiroshima and the other in Nagasaki.
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Following America's use of two nuclear bombs in Japan, the Japanese surrendered in September of 1945, ending World War II.
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George Kennan sent a telegram to Washington from Moscow saying that Russians were hell-bent on destroying America's way of life. He characterized Russia as the greatest threat the U.S. has ever faced. The telegram was later published in magazines in 1947.
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Winston Churchill, the British Prime Minister, described the Soviet influence in Eastern Europe as an "iron curtain" that separated the continent.
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Greece is in the middle of a civil war between the Greek government and Greek communists, and both America and Britain backed the Greek government so yet another country would not fall to Communism.
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With the passing of the National Security Act, the U.S. set up national security as we now know it. This act established the CIA, Department of Defense, and National Security Council.
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Following Czechoslovakia's fall to Communism, Congress passed the Marshall Plan, which ended up giving $3.5 billion in aid to European economies to limit the spread of Communism into Western Europe.
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A coup in Czechoslovakia resulted in a Communist regime taking over the country.
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In order to cut off West Berlin and give the USSR complete control of the city, the USSR formed a ground blockade to West Berlin that prevented any supplies from reaching the city. The Americans counteracted the blockade with airlifts that supplied the city with plenty of food and supplies.
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The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) is formed.
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After their blockade proved futile with America supplying Berlin from above, the Soviets lifted the blockade, which gave President Truman and America a huge win in the Cold War.
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The USSR detonated its first atomic bomb, which caused Truman to order the acceleration of the development of the hydrogen bomb built in the U.S.
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U.S. senator Joseph McCarthy claimed that as many as 205 U.S. State Department workers were secretly Communists and betraying America. McCarthy was later discredited, but his claims still garnered widespread support.
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The North Korean People's Army crossed the 38th parallel that divided the United States controlled South Korea and USSR controlled North Korea. The North Korean army pushed the American and South Korean forces back into South Korea until the UN reinforced the southern army.
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After the North Korean troops were pushed back to the Yalu River that separated North Korea from China, the massive Chinese army pushed the U.S. and UN forces back into South Korea.
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Dwight. D. Eisenhower won the 1952 election by a landslide and took over a job that saw the Korean War coming to a close and the Cold War just beginning.
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After millions of deaths between the Chinese, Koreans, Americans, and UN troops, an armistice was signed, and the border between North and South Korea was redrawn at the 38th parallel.
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The USSR formed the Warsaw Pact as a countermeasure to NATO to unite the Soviet Union with the Communist countries of Eastern Europe.
