Timeline: Cold War Project

Aug 20, 1953

Soviets create & test hydrogen bomb

The Soviet press announced that the USSR had tested a hydrogen bomb. However, results of the explosion seemed to indicate the device as more similar to a powerful fission bomb than an actual hydrogen bomb. Due to spies throughout the U.S, a group in Leningrad led by Iakov Zel'dovich had been given access to information regarding the path U.S. scientists were pursuing.

Aug 20, 1953

Soviets create & test H-bomb (p.2)

As technology progressed, it is easy to visualize that the new force created was substantial to anything prior.
Analysis: The development of the hydrogen bomb was going to result unlike any war ever heard of. Due to the two massive powers now in the possession of such technology, and tension between the two, makes it almost inevitable for massive retaliation upon an attack on either side.

Oct 4, 1957

Soviets Launch Sputnik (p.2)

A year after the launch of Sputnik, U.S. President Dwight Eisenhower created the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), formally launching the "Space Race" between the United States and the Soviet Union.
Analysis: Rising tension between the U.S. and the U.S.S.R. became more of a competition at the time of the “Space Race.” A race for technology to be newer than the other would provide war effort benefits and gain land with war torn cities desperate for repression.

Oct 4, 1957

Soviets Launch Sputnik

The USSR rocketed to the lead in the Cold War's "Space Race" with the launch of Sputnik, a basketball-sized satellite that became the first manmade object to orbit the Earth. When it finally fell out of orbit in January 1958, Sputnik had traveled 70 million kilometers (43.5 million miles) around the planet. The launch of the first Sputnik signaled the beginning of another phase of the Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union.

Feb 22, 1980

"Miracle On Ice"

The Soviet squad, previously regarded as the finest in the world, fell to the youthful American Hockey team 4-3 before a frenzied crowd of 10,000 spectators. The “Miracle on Ice” was more than just an Olympic upset; to many Americans, it was a significant victory in the Cold War. The upset came at an interesting time however. President Jimmy Carter just announced that the United States was going to boycott the 1980 Summer Games in Moscow because of the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan.

Feb 22, 1980

"Miracle On Ice" (p.2)

Americans, faced with a major recession and the Iran hostage crisis, were in dire need of something to celebrate.
Analysis: The Cold War never showed any actual war, but fought its battles other ways. An American underdog victory at the 1980 Olympics over the “finest” Soviet team proved a sign of weakness in the Soviets.

2022