Cold War Timeline By facebooker_1675232557 Sep 1, 1937 Communists Defeat Nationalists in China Period: Jan 1, 1944 to Jan 1, 1947 Policy Of Containment Mar 12, 1947 Truman Doctrine Apr 1, 1948 Marshall Plan Jun 24, 1948 Berlin Airlift Ends Blockade of West Berlin Jan 1, 1949 Comecon Apr 4, 1949 NATO Formed May 23, 1949 Creation of Federal Republic of Germany Aug 29, 1949 Soviet Union Tests Their First Atomic Bomb Period: Jun 25, 1950 to Jul 27, 1953 Korean War Oct 16, 1952 Joseph Stalins Death Oct 4, 1957 Launch of Sputnik 1 by Soviets Aug 13, 1961 Berlin Wall Built Oct 14, 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis Nov 24, 1963 Escalation Of Troops By Johnson Jan 1, 1969 Nixon Agrees to Withdrawl Troops From Vietnam Period: Dec 24, 1979 to Feb 15, 1989 Soviet Invasion Of Afghanistan Nov 9, 1989 Berlin Wall Torn Down