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Truman's Loyalty Program created to catch Cold War spies within the United States. -
Truman declares active role in Greek Civil War -
U.S. meet 19 Latin American countries and created a security zone around the hemisphere -
The Communist Party of Czechoslovakia seized power in February 1948 through a coup d'état, following a period of political crisis and the resignation of non-Communist ministers. -
The Brussels Pact, formally known as the Treaty of Brussels, was a collective defense agreement signed in 1948 by the United Kingdom, France, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg -
The United States initiated the Marshall Plan, offering economic aid to war-torn European nations to help them rebuild. -
On April 4, 1949, the North Atlantic Treaty was signed in Washington, D.C., establishing NATO, a military alliance between the United States and several European nations -
The Berlin Blockade, a critical Cold War event, ended on May 12, 1949, when the Soviet Union lifted its blockade of West Berlin. This 11-month blockade, initiated in June 1948, had cut off land and river access to the western sectors of Berlin, which were under Allied control. -
The Soviet Union tested its first atomic bomb on August 29, 1949, at the Semipalatinsk Test Site in Kazakhstan. The test, code-named "First Lightning" by the Soviets and "Joe-1" by the Americans, was a plutonium-based implosion-type bomb similar in design to the US "Fat Man bomb. This test marked the beginning of the nuclear arms race during the Cold War. -
In February 1950, Joe McCarthy, a Republican Senator from Wisconsin, began publicly accusing individuals of being communists, sparking the "Red Scare" and the McCarthyism era. -
Yes, President Harry Truman approved the development of the hydrogen bomb. On March 10, 1950, he formally approved the request from the Joint Chiefs of Staff to proceed with all-out development of the weapon. -
Korean War begins. Stalin supports North Korea who invade South Korea equipped with Soviet weapons -
The trial of the American couple, accused of espionage for the Soviet Union, began in March and concluded with their conviction and death sentence. -
In April 1951, President Harry Truman relieved General Douglas MacArthur of his command as commander of United Nations forces in the Korean War. Truman's decision followed a period of public disagreement with MacArthur about the conduct of the war and the appropriate strategy for achieving victory. -
Australia, New Zealand, and the United States signed this treaty, a crucial step in strengthening the Western alliance against Soviet influence. -
Greece and Turkey joined NATO on February 18, 1952. This was the first enlargement of the alliance after its founding in 1949, bringing the total membership to 14. The decision was driven by the Cold War and the strategic importance of both countries, particularly Turkey's location bordering the Soviet Union. -
Britain developed both atomic and hydrogen bombs. Their first atomic bomb, code-named "Operation Hurricane," was tested in 1952. -
The first U.S. hydrogen bomb, codenamed "Ivy Mike," was successfully tested on November 1, 1952, at Enewetak Atoll in the Marshall Islands. The test, part of Operation Ivy, resulted in a 10.4-megaton explosion, 500 times more powerful than the Nagasaki bomb. -
Dwight D. Eisenhower's presidency (1953-1961) was largely defined by the Cold War. He focused on building a strong nuclear arsenal and delivery system to deter Soviet aggression, while also cutting back on traditional military spending. His administration also addressed key issues like the Hungarian uprising and the Sputnik launch, which led to the establishment of NASA and a focus on science and technology education. -
A RAND report from 1953, titled "Vulnerability of U.S. Strategic Air Power," estimated the impact of a surprise Soviet attack on Strategic Air Command's combat capabilities. -
The Korean War officially ended on July 27, 1953, with the signing of the Korean Armistice Agreement. This agreement, negotiated after two years and 17 days of talks, established a Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) along the 38th parallel, a four-kilometer-wide buffer zone between North and South Korea. While the armistice ended the fighting, it did not officially end the war, and the Korean peninsula remains technically at war. -
The KGB was created in 1954 to serve as the “sword and shield of the Communist Party.” The new security service, which played a major role in the purge of Beria's supporters, was designed to be carefully controlled by senior Communist Party officials. -
In 1954, Vietnam was temporarily divided at the 17th parallel by the Geneva Accords. This division was intended to be temporary, with reunification elections scheduled for 1956. However, these elections never occurred, leading to the establishment of separate communist North Vietnam and non-communist South Vietnam. -
In September of 1954, the United States, France, Great Britain, New Zealand, Australia, the Philippines, Thailand and Pakistan formed the Southeast Asia Treaty Organization, or SEATO. The purpose of the organization was to prevent communism from gaining ground in the region. -
Similar to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and the Southeast Asia Treaty Organization, the main purpose of the Baghdad Pact was to prevent communist incursions and foster peace in the Middle East. It was renamed the Central Treaty Organization, or CENTO, in 1959 after Iraq pulled out of the Pact. -
The Warsaw Pact, officially the Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Mutual Assistance, was a military alliance established on May 14, 1955, by the Soviet Union and seven other Eastern European communist states. It was formed as a direct response to West Germany joining NATO, serving as a counterbalance to the Western alliance and strengthening Soviet influence in Eastern Europe. -
The Geneva Summit refers to two distinct Cold War-era events: the 1955 Geneva Summit Conference and the 1985 Geneva Summit. The 1955 summit involved leaders from the US, UK, France, and the USSR, discussing issues like German unification and European security. The 1985 summit was the first meeting between U.S. President Ronald Reagan and Soviet General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev, focusing on arms control and nuclear weapons reduction. -
During the 1956 Poznań protests in Poland, the Soviet Union sent tanks into Poznań to suppress demonstrations by workers. These protests, which began in June 1956, were fueled by worker discontent with poor living conditions and were met with violent repression by the Polish government and its Soviet allies. The situation was described as one of the most difficult in Poland. -
USSR did provide military aid to Afghanistan, starting in 1956, as part of a broader economic and military assistance program. This aid allowed Afghanistan to modernize its armed forces for the first time since World War II. A major arms agreement signed in 1956 provided significant weaponry and training, including jet aircraft and tanks, according to a CIA report. -
The Suez Crisis began on October 29, 1956, when Israeli forces invaded Egypt, specifically the Sinai Peninsula, in response to Egyptian President Nasser's nationalization of the Suez Canal. This act sparked a wider conflict involving the United Kingdom, France, and Israel against Egypt. -
The Vostok-K rocket, a variant of the R-7 ICBM, launched Yuri Gagarin into space aboard Vostok 1 on April 12, 1961, making Gagarin the first human in space. The R-7, developed by Sergei Korolev, was the world's first intercontinental ballistic missile and was later adapted for use in the Vostok space program. -
The Sputnik satellite, the world's first artificial satellite, was launched into orbit by the Soviet Union on October 4, 1957. The launch, which took place from Baikonur Cosmodrome (formerly Tyuratam), marked the beginning of the Space Age and triggered the Space Race between the United States and the Soviet Union. -
On November 3, 1957, the Soviet Union launched Sputnik 2, carrying the dog Laika, into Earth orbit. However, Laika's mission was a one-way trip, and she died in space due to overheating within hours of the launch. The true cause of her death was not revealed until years later, with initial reports suggesting she was euthanized. -
On January 31, 1958, the United States finally became a competitor in the Space Race. Explorer 1 became America's first successful satellite launch. It rode into Earth's orbit aboard one of the Jupiter-C rockets Wernher von Braun developed, a precursor to the rockets that later launched the first Americans to the Moon. -
In November 1958, Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev delivered a speech demanding the Western powers (US, UK, France) withdraw their troops from West Berlin within six months. This ultimatum, part of the Berlin Crisis, also demanded that West Berlin be made a free, demilitarized city. -
Yes, NASA's Project Mercury did initially use the Redstone rocket for the first two manned suborbital flights. However, for the subsequent orbital missions, they used the more powerful Atlas rocket, specifically the Mercury-Atlas version. -
Fidel Castro led the Cuban Revolution, which resulted in the overthrow of the Fulgencio Batista regime and the establishment of a new government in Cuba in 1959. Castro and his brother Raúl Castro, along with other revolutionaries, seized control of the country. -
The Luna 1 spacecraft passed the Moon at a distance of approximately 5,995 kilometers (3,725 miles) on January 4, 1959. It was launched on January 2, 1959, and was intended to impact the Moon, but a launch vehicle control system failure caused it to miss and enter a solar orbit. -
It marked the first state visit of a Soviet or Russian leader to the US. Nikita Khrushchev, then First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union and Chairman of the Council of Ministers, was also the first leader of the Soviet Union to set foot in the Western Hemisphere. -
On May 5, 1960, the Soviet Union revealed that a US spy plane, piloted by Francis Gary Powers, had been shot down over Soviet territory. The incident, known as the U-2 incident, occurred when a U-2 spy plane, flying at high altitude, was shot down by a SA-2 surface-to-air missile. -
John F. Kennedy was elected President of the United States on November 8, 1960, defeating Richard Nixon in one of the closest presidential elections in American history. Kennedy won by a narrow margin in the popular vote, receiving 303 electoral votes to Nixon's 219. He was the first Roman Catholic to be elected President. -
Cuba aligned itself with the Soviet Union due to a combination of factors, including the Cuban Revolution's socialist ideals, the US's hostile reaction to the revolution, and Cuba's need for economic and military support in the face of US pressure. The Soviet Union, seeking to expand its sphere of influence, saw Cuba as a valuable ally in the Cold War. -
The Bay of Pigs invasion, a failed US-backed attempt to overthrow Fidel Castro in Cuba in 1961, is directly linked to the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962. The invasion's failure significantly escalated tensions between the US, Cuba, and the Soviet Union, leading Castro to seek stronger support from the Soviets. This support ultimately manifested in the deployment of Soviet nuclear missiles to Cuba, which created the crisis -
On August 13, 1961, the SED began to seal off the borders around West Berlin, first with barbed wire and a few days later with walls. It hoped this measure would put an end to the mass exodus to Berlin. It also wanted to stabilize its power and document its sovereignty to the outside world. -
The construction of the Berlin Wall began on August 17, 1961. East German authorities, led by the Communist government of the German Democratic Republic (GDR), initiated the construction to prevent East Berliners from fleeing to West Berlin. This was a response to the significant number of East Germans who had emigrated to the West through Berlin. -
In 1962, the United States increased its involvement in the Vietnam War by significantly boosting the number of military advisors deployed to South Vietnam. This increase was part of President Kennedy's effort to counter the spread of communism and support the South Vietnamese government against the Viet Cong insurgency. The number of U.S. military personnel in Vietnam rose from fewer than 800 in the 1950s to about 9,000 by mid-1962. -
The Cuban Missile Crisis was a 13-day standoff in October 1962 between the United States and the Soviet Union, where the world teetered on the brink of nuclear war. The crisis stemmed from the Soviet Union secretly deploying nuclear-capable missiles in Cuba, just 90 miles off the coast of Florida, which President John F. Kennedy considered a direct threat. -
China launched a full-scale war against India along their disputed border, resulting in significant losses for both sides. The war began around the same time as the Cuban Missile Crisis, adding to the global tension of the Cold War. -
The Washington-Moscow hotline was established on June 20, 1963, when the "Memorandum of Understanding Between the United States of America and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics Regarding the Establishment of a Direct Communications Link" was signed in Geneva, Switzerland. -
The Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, also known as the Partial Test Ban Treaty (PTBT), was signed in Moscow on August 5, 1963, and entered into force on October 10, 1963. The treaty prohibited nuclear weapon tests in the atmosphere, in outer space, and under water. The United States Senate ratified the treaty on September 23, 1963. -
President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in Dealey Plaza in Dallas, Texas, on November 22, 1963. He was riding in a motorcade through the city when he was shot and killed. The shots were fired from the Texas School Book Depository building. The assassination occurred at approximately 12:30 PM. -
The Gulf of Tonkin Incident refers to a series of events in August 1964 where U.S. destroyers reported being attacked by North Vietnamese torpedo boats in the Gulf of Tonkin. These incidents, particularly the second one on August 4th, became the justification for the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, which granted President Lyndon B. Johnson broad authority to escalate military actions in Vietnam -
China's nuclear weapon program has developed both atomic (fission) and hydrogen (fusion) bombs, including a non-nuclear hydrogen bomb that uses magnesium hydride. China's first nuclear test, a 25-kiloton fission device, was conducted in 1964. They also developed a hydrogen bomb in 1967. Recently, China has tested a non-nuclear hydrogen bomb, which uses a different mechanism and relies on magnesium hydride to create a high-temperature fireball. -
The Voskhod 1 spaceflight, launched on October 12, 1964, was the first time a spacecraft carried more than one person into orbit. The mission involved three cosmonauts: Vladimir Komarov, Konstantin Feoktistov, and Boris Yegorov. -
Large-scale killings and civil unrest, targeting members and suspected sympathizers of the Communist Party of Indonesia, occurred in 1965-66. The killings were part of an anti-communist purge following an attempted coup d'état. -
The deployment of troops to Vietnam was a gradual process. The initial decision to send combat troops was made in March 1965, with the first battalions of Marines arriving in March 8, 1965. By the end of 1965, the US had deployed approximately 200,000 troops. The announcement of a specific number of troops was not made on a single date, but rather through a series of announcements and deployments throughout the year. -
On March 31, 1966, the Soviet Union launched Luna 10, marking the first time a man-made object orbited the Moon and any celestial body beyond Earth. Luna 10 successfully entered lunar orbit on April 3, 1966, and transmitted data, including a recording of "The Internationale," for 56 days. -
In 1965, the U.S. sent Marines to the Dominican Republic as part of a military intervention known as "Operation Power Pack," primarily to prevent a perceived Communist takeover. While the official justification was protecting American lives and property amid civil unrest, the primary motivation was to prevent the spread of communism in the region. -
After the campaign, the US acknowledged the loss of 12 tactical aircraft shot down and 15 B-52s shot down. Additionally, another 4 B-52s managed to land but suffered heavy damage, and another 5 B-52s landed with medium damage. The North Vietnamese claim to have shot down 81 US aircraft (including 34 B-52s and F-111s). -
In 1966, France, under President Charles de Gaulle, withdrew its military from NATO's integrated command structure. While France remained a member of NATO, this move meant French troops were no longer under NATO's direct command and were removed from NATO headquarters. This decision was a result of France's desire to retain control of its armed forces and its own strategic planning.