-
Period: to
Cold War Events
-
Yalta Conference
Franklin D. Roosevelt, Joseph Stalin, and Winston Churchill met at Yalta in Crimea to plan the final defeat and occupation of Nazi Germany. -
World War II Ends In Europe
Hitler publicly offered to end the war and Nazi Germany surrendered. -
U.S. drops an atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan.
This atomic bomb, the equivalent of 20000 tons of TNT was dropped on Hiroshima -
First East European Communist Government
It was se up in Albania and was named the first communist government of Europe. -
Communists Seize Power in Poland
Poland was "liberated" by Soviet troops who took special care to eliminate any opposition. -
Truman Doctrine Announced
President Harry S. Truman asked for U.S. assistance for Greece and Turkey to stop communist domination of the two nations. Historians have often cited Truman's address, which came to be known as the Truman Doctrine, as the official declaration of the Cold War. -
North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) established
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) is established by 12 Western nations: the United States, Great Britain, France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Denmark, Italy, Luxembourg, Norway, Iceland, Canada, and Portugal. The military alliance, which provided for a collective self-defense against Soviet aggression, greatly increased American influence in Europe. -
Berlin Airlift Begins
the Soviet blockade of West Berlin had failed. It had not persuaded West Berliners to reject their allies in the West, nor had it prevented the creation of a unified West German state. (The Federal Republic of Germany was established in May 1949.) On May 12, 1949, the Soviets lifted the blockade and reopened the roads, canals and railway routes into the western half of the city. The Allies continued the airlift until September, however, because they wanted to stockpile supplies in Berlin just i -
Soviet Union Explodes it's first Atomic Bomb
At a remote test site at Semipalatinsk in Kazakhstan, the USSR successfully detonates its first atomic bomb, code name "First Lightning." In order to measure the effects of the blast, the Soviet scientists constructed buildings, bridges, and other civilian structures in the vicinity of the bomb. They also placed animals in cages nearby so that they could test the effects of nuclear radiation on human-like mammals. -
Communists win Chinese Civil War
Communists won the Civil War because they made fewer military mistakes than Chiang Kai-shek, and because in his search for a powerful centralized government, Chiang antagonized too many interest groups in China. Furthermore, his party was weakened in the war against the Japanese. Meanwhile the Communists targeted different groups, such as peasants, and brought them to its corner -
U.S. Sponsored Coup Overthrows Iranian Government
The 1953 Iranian coup d'état, known in Iran as the 28 Mordad coup, was the overthrow of Prime Minister Mohammad Mosaddegh and his cabinet on 19 August 1953, orchestrated by the United Kingdom (under the name 'Operation Boot') and the United States (under the name TPAJAX Project) -
Southeast Asia Treaty Organization (SEATO) formed.
The South East Asia Treaty Organization (SEATO) was an international organization for collective defense in Southeast Asia created by the Southeast Asia Collective Defense Treaty, or Manila Pact, signed in September 1954 in Manila, Philippines. The formal institution of SEATO was established on 19 February 1955 at a meeting of treaty partners in Bangkok, Thailand. The organization's headquarters were also in Bangkok. Eight members joined the organization. -
Warsaw Pact Formed
The Soviet Union and seven of its European satellites sign a treaty establishing the Warsaw Pact, a mutual defense organization that put the Soviets in command of the armed forces of the member states. -
Soviets Launch first Man Made Satellite
History changed on October 4, 1957, when the Soviet Union successfully launched Sputnik I. The world's first artificial satellite was about the size of a beach ball and took about 98 minutes to orbit the Earth on its elliptical path. That launch ushered in new political, military, technological, and scientific developments. While the Sputnik launch was a single event, it marked the start of the space age. -
Bay of Pigs Invasion
Fidel Castro had 20,000 troops advance toward the beach, and the Cuban air force continued to control the skies. As the situation grew worse, President Kennedy authorized an "air-umbrella" at dawn on April 19. Six unmarked American fighter planes took off to help defend the brigade's B-26 aircraft flying. But the B-26s arrived an hour late, most likely confused by the change in time zones between Nicaragua and Cuba. They were shot down by the Cubans.