Cold War Timeline

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    Cold War events

  • Berlin Blockade / Airlift

    Berlin Blockade / Airlift

    A military operation that brought food and goods into West Berlin by air after the government of East Germany, which at the time surrounded West Berlin, cutting off all supplies. Possibly saved many German lives.
  • Harry S. Truman

    Harry S. Truman

    Truman was the President of the United States from 1945-1953.
  • Joseph Stalin

    Joseph Stalin

    Stalin was leader of the Soviet Union from 1929-1953.
  • Korean War

    Korean War

    A war between North and South Korea, in which the United Nations force led by the United States fought for South Korea. While China and the Soviet Union fought for North Korea. The first physical confrontation as an effect of The Cold War.
  • Georgy Malenkov

    Georgy Malenkov

    Malenkov was leader of the Soviet Union from 1953-1955.
  • Creation of NATO and the Warsaw Pact

    Creation of NATO and the Warsaw Pact

    The prospect of further Communist expansion prompted the United States and 11 other Western Nations to form NATO in 1949. A similar Communist alliance, known as the Warsaw Pact, was formed in 1955. This split Europe in two and increased Cold War tensions.
  • Sputnik

    Sputnik

    The first artificial Earth satellite launched by the Soviet Union. Started the Space Race between The U.S. and the U.S.S.R.
  • Dwight D. Eisenhower

    Dwight D. Eisenhower

    Eisenhower was President of the United States from 1953-1961.
  • Bay of Pigs

    Bay of Pigs

    Failed American military attempt to invade Cuba and overthrow its leader, Fidel Castro. Inflamed American, Soviet, and Cuban tensions further.
  • Creation of the Berlin Wall

    Creation of the Berlin Wall

    Wall built by East Germany to encircle West Germany with a wall in an attempt to control it. This increased tension in Germany and between the United States and the Soviet Union.
  • Cuban Missile Crisis

    Cuban Missile Crisis

    13 day confrontation between the United States and the Soviet Union concerning Soviet missiles deployment in Cuba. Increased tensions between The U.S. and The U.S.S.R.
  • John F. Kennedy

    John F. Kennedy

    Kennedy was President of the United States from 1961-1963.
  • Nikita Krushchev

    Nikita Krushchev

    Krushchev was leader of the Soviet union from 1955-1964.
  • Lyndon B. Johnson

    Lyndon B. Johnson

    Johnson was President of the United States from 1963-1969.
  • Richard Nixon

    Richard Nixon

    Nixon was President of the United States from 1969-1974.
  • Vietnam War

    Vietnam War

    War fought between North Vietnam, who was supported by China and The Soviet Union, and South Vietnam, who was supported by the United States and Phillipines. Started in 1955, and ended when Saigon fell to North Vietnam. The longest and most unpopular American war as an effect of The Cold War.
  • Gerald Ford

    Gerald Ford

    Ford was President of the United States from 1974-1977.
  • Disarmament Agreements

    Disarmament Agreements

    Strategic Arms Limitations Talks (SALT) was constructed after the Soivet Union built an anti-ballistic missile program around Moscow. SALT I limited the number of anti-missile programs, and was signed MAy 26, 1972. SALT II banned new missile programs and discouraged the Soviet Union. This tried to relieve tensions between the U.S. and Soviet Union.
  • Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan

    Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan

    Soviet intervention of the Afghan War to assist communist Afghanistan against anti-communist Afghan guerillas. Increased tensions in the Middle East as an effect of the Cold War.
  • Jimmy Carter

    Jimmy Carter

    Carter was President of the United States from 1977-1981.
  • Leonid Brezhnev

    Leonid Brezhnev

    Leonid Brezhnev was leader of the Soviet Union from 1964-1982.
  • Yuri Andropov

    Yuri Andropov

    Andropov was leader of the Soviet Union from 1982-1984.
  • Konstantin Chernenko

    Konstantin Chernenko

    Chernenko was leader of the Soviet Union from 1984-1985.
  • Gorbachev's Reforms

    Gorbachev's Reforms

    Perestroika and Glasnost were reforms used to help the Soviet Union. The reforms let the government have more focus on the market, gave media more freedom, and gave religious freedom to everyone. Helped liberate Eastern Europe. Led to the end of the Cold War.
  • Ronald Reagan

    Ronald Reagan

    Reagan was President of the United States from 1981-1989.
  • George H.W. Bush

    George H.W. Bush

    Bush was Presideent of the United States from 1989-1993
  • Fall of the Berlin Wall

    Fall of the Berlin Wall

    When the Cold War neared an end, East Berlin changed its relations with the rest of the city by tearing down the Berlin Wall. This was one of the events that helped end the Cold War.
  • Mikhail Gorbachev

    Mikhail Gorbachev

    Gorbachev was leader of the Soviet Union from 1985-1991.