Cold War Timeline By ase1234 Period: Jan 1, 1941 to May 17, 2013 The Policy of Containment Mar 12, 1947 Truman Doctrine Period: Apr 2, 1948 to Jan 1, 1951 Marshall Plan Period: Jan 1, 1949 to Jun 28, 1991 Comecon Apr 4, 1949 NATO Formed May 12, 1949 Berlin Airlift Ends Blockade of West Berlin May 23, 1949 CREATION OF FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF GERMANY (WEST GERMANY) Aug 29, 1949 Soviet Union Tests Their First Atomic Bomb Period: Jun 25, 1950 to Jul 27, 1953 Korean War Mar 5, 1953 Stalin's Death Oct 4, 1957 SOVIETS LAUNCH SPUTNIK I INTO SPACE Aug 13, 1961 Berlin Wall Erected Period: Oct 14, 1962 to Oct 28, 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis Aug 2, 1964 Johnson Escalates Troop Numbers to Start Vietnam War Aug 7, 1964 Gulf of Tonkin Resolution Period: Dec 24, 1979 to Feb 15, 1989 Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan Nov 9, 1989 Berlin Wall Torn Down