cold war timeline

  • world war 2 alliance

    Adolf hitler invades the soviet union. up to this time the US and the soviet union had been enemies due to their different ideologies. The soviet government believed in socialism, one party rule, and the social goal of equality, the US valued capitalism, democracy, and indivisualism. however the US, graet britain, and the soviet union unified against Hitler who started takeing over france and invading the USSR.
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    Division of Germany

    Germany was placed under military rule and was divided into occupation zones that became occupied by France, Great Britain, the United states, and the Soviet Union. Berlin, the capital of Germany was divided into four separate sectors that were administered by the allied control council. Because Berlin was located deep into soviet controlled territory, Stalin disagreed with the decision to divide Berlin into zones which led to the Berlin crisis.
  • YALTA CONFERENCE

    During the conference at yalta in Russia, Churchill, Roosevelt and Stalin agreed on a paln to end the war and an occupation of Germany. Stalin didn't keep his promise of allowing free election in Poland.
  • postdam conference

    During the postdam conference, the USSR and the US recognized each other's influence over regions, where their troops remained at the end of the war.
  • Soviet control over Eastern Europe

    Stalin established soviet controlled governments in Eastern European countries occupied by his red army, including Poland after the allies defeated Germany. The US couldn't prevent the spread of the totalitarianism over the other regions. It became know that postwar Europe would be divided into two spheres of influence- the east and the west.
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    Development of nuclear weapons

    The United states tested the world's first atomic bomb in Alamogordo, New Mexico.
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    Churchill speech

    Winston Churchill visited the U.S. in the spring of 1946 and delivered his famous iron curtain speech that illustrated the division of Europe into eastern Germany that held all communist controlled European countries under the soviet Union desire.
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    Trueman doctorine

    President trueman made a speech on national television stating that it was the obligation of the U.S. to support free people's who are resisting communism and subjugation. It became know as trueman doctrine that outlined the foreign policy of containment.
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    Greece and Turkey resist

    Greece and turkey were fighting off the communist rebellions while Great Britain was supporting the geek government by funding till it appealed to the United states for help. Truman was concerned that such a collapse would leave the European countries vulnerable to a communist control. The Marshall plan helped to provide 17 billion in aid to those nations.
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    NSC 68

    Truman's national security council drafted the NSC 68 whose authors warned that the soviet military capability was outstanding and superior to that of the west. As a result the council recommended that Truman increase US military spending to 50$ billion a year.
  • Marshall paln

    The US introduced the Marshall paln to provide 17 billion in aid for the economic recovery of Europe. It was intended to promote world peace and stability. According to the plan the european countries that recieved aid agreed to buy american products to strenghten the US economy. It also created tension when the soviet union refused to let Eastern European nations accept those loans. The Soviet Union developed an economic pact of their own, called the Molotov plan to support Eastern Europe.
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    New form of currency

    France, Great Britain, and the U.S. announced plans to introduce a new form of currency in Germany. In retaliation for not being directly informed the Soviet Union and withdrew from the allied control council.
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    Blockade of Berlin

    The soviets started instituting a formal blockade of Berlin closing all road, rail, and water routes to and from the city. Then Stalin started cutting all supplies of food, fuel, and power from all the inhabitants of West Berlin. The soviets tried to seize the opportunity of dominating all western Berlin zones that was under the allies control.
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    Berlin airlift

    The U.S. started flying supplies and to Berlin in an attempt to aid West Berlin without getting involved into an armed conflict with the Soviet Union.
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    The American monoply

    The American dominance over the nuclear weapons ended in 1949 when the soviets perfected their nuclear technology and developed a nuclear weapon of their own.
  • NATO ( NORTH ATLANTIC TREATY ORGANIZATION )

    the US joined a military alliance that included western nations of Canada, France , Great Britain,Italy, and the Netherlands. It was an alliance to protect each other from Soviet aggression.
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    Communist Revolution in China

    Mao Zedong successfully led the communist revolution in China under his communist government that allied itself with the Soviet Union. Both countries signed mutual defense and economic aid agreement. The U.S. continued sending support to the Chinese nationalistic government that was defeated by Mao during the revolution.
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    Ending the blockade

    Stalin reopened all routes into Berlin. However berlin remained a divided city.
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    Invasion of South Korea

    North Korea invaded South Korea after being backed by the Soviet Union. The United nations condemned the invasion and authorized sending troops to drive back North Korea. The mission was under the leadership of General Douglas MacArthur who was able to push them northward to the Chinese border. However communist China responded by sending one million volunteers to the fighting which were able to drive the U.S. troops southward and capturing Seoul, the southern capital.
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    The hydrogen bomb

    The United states tested an even more powerful nuclear device, the hydrogen bomb.
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    Nuclear weapons and the USSR

    The Soviet Union followed the U.S. by creating more advanced nuclear devices like the hydrogen bomb. The competition started between the two super powers on building more and enough powerful and destructive nuclear weapons.
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    End of the Korean war

    After MacArthur was fired for sticking to his believe that war should be declared against China, Truman feared another war that would involve the Soviet Union. The Korean war ended in July 1953
  • WARSAW, TREATY ORGANIZATION, WARSAW PACT

    The soviet union formed a similar military alliance with Eastern European nations such as Czechoslovakia, hungary, poland, and romania. It becam known as the Warsaw pact.
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    Hungarian riots

    In 1956 Hungarian citizens bagan rioting and demanded more freedom from their communist government whom the threatened to overthrow and return to the democratic parliament. The new soviet leader dispatched the red army with tanks to maintain order in the Hungarian capital by suppressing the protestors and excuting their leaders.
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    Berlin wall

    The Soviet Union built a wall, Berlin wall, between East and West Berlin to prevent people from escaping to the west.
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    Czechoslovakia uprising

    In 1968 the Soviet Union stopped another uprising in Czechoslovakia. Most of Eastern Europe stayed firmly under soviet control until the late 1980s.