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Cold War Timespan
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Cold War Begins
With the official surrender of the Japanese, WWII ends and the new cold war era is immediately ushered in. The two major players were the US and the USSR. -
Defection of Igor Gouzenko
A clerk in the Soviet Embassy in Ottawa defects, and brings damming evidence of a Soveit spy ring in western countries, changing the viewpoint of the Soviets to an enemy from a friend. -
Austria is Reconstituted
Austria is reformed, with four zones of occupation by the French, British, Soviet, and American. This was similar to the division of Germnay and Berlin with the four zones by each country. -
Greek Civil War
The Greek Civil war begins, prompting the first violent clash between communists and capitalists in post WW2 Europe. It would end eventually with the US aid helping the pro-western greeks, and the first succesful stop of the spread of Communism. -
Philippine Independence
The US grants the Philippines its independence, a long time after it was promised. This was a show of good faith in that this nation so close to communist China could maintain its democratic government. -
Truman Doctrine
Truman announces his doctrine to give financial aid to Greece and Turkey to keep them away from Soviet influence. This would eventually be followed up by the Marshall and was more of a short term solution. -
The Marshall Plan
Secretary of State George Marshall announces his plan to help war torn countries recover from the aftermath of WW2 by using capitalist aid rather than communist. This would continue for a number of years, and gave money to anyone really who opposed communism. -
Czechoslovakia Communism
The comunist party comes to power in Czechoslovakia after all non communist ministers submitted their resignations to the president after heavy Sovoet influence promised communism would benefit the country. -
Deutsche Mark
The deutsche mark is launcehd by the Bizone and French occupation zones in Germany. This signified the first step to Germany's reconstruction, and how it would eventually become a country again. -
Berlin Airlift
In an attempt to starve west Berlin, the USSR blockade it. The free repiblics respond to this by airdropping supplies until the Soviet relinquish their grip. -
NATO
The North Atlantic Trade Organization is launched, with all major players as memeber in an attmept to stall communist expansion. -
The USSR goes Nuclear
The soviets successfully tested their first atomic bomb, making them the second nuclear country in the world. -
DPRK
The Democratic People's Republic of Korea is declared to be the legitimate government of all of Korea by the Soviets. -
Korean War
North Korea invades South Korea, igniting the Korean War. -
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Korean War
The Korean war was an effort to bring communism to the entire peninsula. The Chinese saved the North Koreans from defeat, and the two nations were set up at the 38th parallel. -
UK goes Nuclear
The UK becomes the third atomic country in the world after they successfully create the bomb. -
Death of Stalin
Joseph Stalin dies, and following his death there is a power struggle for the countol of the Soviet Union. -
SEATO
The South East Asia Trade Organization is created in an effort to stop communist expansion in SE Asia. -
Baghdad Pact
The Baghdad pact is signed in an effort to keep communism out of the Middle East. -
West Germany Begins Rearmament
West Germany joins NATO and begins rearmament. East Germany is still firmly under soviet control. West Germany now began its efforts to bring back East Germany and reunite the German people. -
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Vietnam War
This was the major conflict during the cold war, and the communist North Vietnam won, back by China and the Soviets, defeating the western forces and the US. -
Strategic Air Command Nuclear alert
The SAC initiates a 24/7 nuclear alert in the effort of not being caught off guard by a surprise Soviet attack. This program stayed in effect until the fall of the USSR. -
Sputnik
The Russians launched Sputnik, the first successful space satellite. This caused the US to go into panic mode in that the Russians were leaps and bounds ahead of us in the space program. -
2nd Berlin Crisis
Nikita Khrushchev asks the west to leave Berlin and leave it for the Russians. -
Cuban Revolution
Fidel Castro comes to power in Cuba, bringing communism to North America, and extremely close the the US homeland, prompting fear in the people of America. -
U-2 Incident
Francis Powers is shot down in the U-2 spy plane over the USSR, an embarrasing incident for Eisenhower and the Americans. -
Berlin Wall
Following failed peace talks, the Soviets build the Berlin Wall in an effort to separate themselves from the West. -
Cuban Missle Crisis
After learning about secret Soviet missle bases on Cuba, 90 miles from the US mainland, JFK orders a naval blockade of Cuba and the standoff ensued, becoming one of the closest points to Nuclear Annihiliation over the entire Cold War. -
Direct Link
The Capital building established a direct line of communication with the Kremlin, making it possible to always have communication between the two super powers. -
Gulf of Tonkin Incident
North Vietnam fired on two American ships, but it turns out they were in North Vietnamese waters. This brought the US into the Vietnam crisis and gave LBJ the authority he needed to do as he pleased in SE Asia. -
Six-Day War
Israel pre-emptively attacks Egypt to start the Six-Day war in which Isreal defeats forces of a variety of Middle Eastern nations swiftly. -
Tet Offensive
The Tet offensive begins in North Vietnam. It was a push by the communists to take back what had been lost to the westerners. -
Moon Landing
Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin were the first two human beings to step foot on the moon, showing that the US had a superior space program to the Soviets. They caught and passed them after Sputnik. -
Bobby Fisher defeats Boris Spassky
Bobby Fisher becomes the first American Chess Champion, after unseating Spassky from the throne. More than just a chess match, it displayed an exmaple of how the Americans were suprior to the Soviets. -
Paris Peace Accords
The US officially stated that they would no longer partcipate in the Vietnam War. In addition, funding was cut of to continue bombing in Indochina. -
Yom Kippur War
Israel is attacked by Egypt and Syria. The war ends in ceasefire. -
Khmer Rouge takes power in Cambodia
The Communist Khmer Rouge regime takes power in Cambodia, a rule that will be very bloody for its people. -
Fall of Saigon
The Vietnam war ends with the fall of Saigon to North Vietemese forces. Vietnam is united under one rule in Hanoi. -
Mao Zedong Dies
The leader of the People's Republic of China died, prompting nation wide days of mourning -
Khmer Rouge is disposed.
Vietnam disposes of the Khmer Rouge regime in Cambodia and replaces it with a pro-Vietnam, pro-Soviet regime. -
Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan
The Soviet union invades Afghanistan to oust the leader, Amin. -
Iran Hostage Crisis ends
Hours after Reagan is inaugurated, the Iranians released American hostages in the Embassy. -
Ronald Reagan is inaugurated as President
The 40th President of the United States is sworn in as the new leader of the free world. -
Miracle on Ice
The green American Olympic hockey team beat the heavily favorited Soviets in the Olympic seminfinal game, the first olympic loss for the soviets in over 12 years. This was yet another example of the US's superiority over the USSR. -
Gdansk Agreement is signed.
In Poland, the Gdansk agreement is signed, granting greater civil rights in connection with the Solidarity movement. -
Falklands War begins
Argentina invades the Falkland Islands, beginning the Falklands war with the United Kingdom. The British arrive and take back the island by June 14. -
Korean Air Flight 007 shot down
Due to a navigational error, an airliner carrying many Americans were shot down over Sakhalin by Soviet interceptors thinking it was a spy plane. -
Invasion of Grenada
The United States invades the Caribbean nation of Grenada to thwart a Marxist uprising, expell Cuban troops and stop the construction of an airstrip. -
Gorbachev comes to power
Mikhail Gorbachev becomes the Premier of the Soviet Union. -
Iran-Contra Affair
It was discovered that the Reagan administration was selling weapons to the Iranians to give the profits to the Contras, anti-communist insurgents in Nicaragua. It was a scandel for the Reagan administration. -
The Red Army pulls out of Afghanistan
After an invasion in 1979, the USSR begins to pull out it's troops after many bloody scrimishes with the Mujhedeen, who were insurgents trained and armed by the American CIA. -
Berlin Wall falls
The borders between East and West Berlin were opened with great fanfare. It is one of the historical ends of the Cold War. -
Malta Summet
Gorbachev and President H.W. Bush declare a new policy of peace at the Malta Summit. Some call this the official end of the Cold War. -
Romanian Revolution
The longtime Communist regime of Nicolae Ceaușescu is overthrown violently by it's own people. Ceaușescu is quickly tried and his family is executed. -
Germany reunites.
After being divided since the end of World War 2, East and West Germany reunited into a single democracy. -
Warsaw Pact is dissolved
The Soviet's answer to NATO, the military alliance of the Eastern Bloc ends. -
Soviet Union Dissolves
In existance since 1922, the world's first communist state collapses under a coup attempt against Mikhail Gorbachev by hard line communist who opposed his reforms.