-
Yalta Conference
Stalin, Churchill, and Roosevelt meet to discuss the terms for the post war world. Stalin agrees to allow free elections in Eastern Europe. -
Potsdam Conference
Allied countries argue over several topics. Seeds of distrust grow between the Soviets and the Americans. -
Period: to
Cold War Era
-
United Nations is Formed
-
Truman Doctrine and Marshall Plan
US gives money to support countries fighting communism. Loans 12.5 billion dollars to nations of Western Europe. -
Berlin Blockade
-
NATO is Formed
-
Korean War
-
US tests Hydrogen Bomb
The United States develops the first ever hydrogen bomb which is 1000 times more powerful than the bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The felt the need to develop a more powerful weapon after the Soviet Union gained nuclear weapons capability in 1949. -
Sputnik is Launched
-
Cuban Missile Crisis
-
Vietnam War
-
USA Reaches the Moon
-
Glasnost
Soviet Union leader Gorbachev introduces 'glasnost' or openness into the Soviet economy. -
Cold War Ends 1989
The Cold War comes to an end as the Berlin Wall falls. -
Soviet Union Dissolves
The Soviet Union officially dissolves as a failed coup d'etat against Gorbachev by the old school Communists fails, and the Party leaders are arrested. The Soviet satellite states declare independence and the Russians become democratic.
