-
Period: to
Cold War Timeline
Timeline of the Cold War -
Truman Doctrine
President Truman made a promise to help any country that is facing a Communist takeover. -
Marshall Plan
The plan was rejected outright by Stalin and any Eastern Bloc country considering accepting aid was reprimanded severely. This was offered by the United States to and European country. -
Cominform
The USSR set up Cominform (Communist Information Bureau) which was the Information Bureau of the Communist and Workers’ Parties responsible for the creation of the Eastern bloc. -
Formation of West Germany
The French, USA and UK partitions of Germany were merged to form West Germany -
Berlin Blockade
Russia’s response to the merger of the French, USA and UK partitions of Berlin was to cut all road and rail links to that sector. -
President Eduard Benes resigns
President Eduard Benes of Czechoslovakia resigns. He was forced to resign under German pressure and was replaced by Emil Hacha. -
Israel agrees an armistice with Egypt
Armistice Agreements are a set of armistice agreements signed during 1949 between Israel and neighboring Egypt, Lebanon, Jordan, and Syria to formally end the official hostilities of the 1948 Arab–Israeli War. -
NATO Formed
The North Atlantic Treaty Organisation formed with member states Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Iceland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, the United Kingdom, and the United States -
End of Berlin Blockade
Russia ended the blockade of Berlin -
Harry Truman Orders the Development of the Hydrogen Bomb
He publicly announces about his decision to support the development of the hydrogen bomb. The hydrogen bomb is a weapon theorized to by hundreds of times more powerful than the atomic bombs that were dropped on Japan during WWII. -
China and Soviet Union signed a Treaty of Friendship
They signed a 30-year treaty. This was signed against the background of the establishment of China's communist regime and the Cold War confrontation. -
Korean War
The Korean war began when North Korea invaded South Korea. -
Chinese and North Korean troops capture Seoul
The Chinese invasion of South Korea galvanized the UN support for South Korea, while the idea of evacuation was soon abandoned by the UN Command. -
General Douglas MacArthur advocates the use of atom bombs in Korean War
Truman stated, "atomic bombing in the Korean War was never discussed either by my headquarters or in any communion to or from Washington." -
General Douglas MacArthur is relieved of his command in Korea
President Truman fired MacArthur and replaced hum with General Matthew Ridgway. -
Winston Churchill announces British has an Atom Bomb
Churchill stated, "The argument is now put forward that we must never use the atomic bomb until, or unless, it has been used against us first. In other words, you must never fire until you have been shot dead." -
Fulgencio Batista overthrows the Cuban Government
Fulgencio Batista overthrows President Prio Socarras of Cuba.Batista led an uprising called the Sergeants' Revolt, as a part of the coup that overthrew the government of Gerardo Machado. -
Matyas Rakosi become Prime Minister of Hungary
Rakosi imposed totalitarian rule on Hungary - arresting, jailing and killing both real and imagined foes in various waves of Stalin-inspired political purges. -
Mohammed Naguib dissolves all political parties in Egypt
25 Army Officers are seized as ringleaders in move to overthrow his regime. The government declares three year interregnum to establish democratic system Naguib dissolves Cairo parties as attempted coup is charged. -
Death of Stalin
Joseph Stalin died at the age of 74. He was succeeded by Nikita Khrushchev. -
Soviet troops crush workers rebellion in East Germany
The Soviet Union orders an entire armored division of its troops into East Berlin to crush a rebellion by East German workers and anti-government protesters -
The United States tests a hydrogen bomb in the Marshall Islands
U.S. nuclear testing program drenched the Marshall Islands with enough nuclear firepower to equal the energy yield of 7,000 Hiroshima bombs. -
Geneva Accords
This set of documents ended the French war with the Vietminh and divided Vietnam into North and South states. -
West Germany agreed to join NATO
West Germany joined NATO, which prompted the Soviet Union to form the Warsaw Pact alliance in central and eastern Europe the same year. -
Warsaw Pact
The Warsaw Pact was formed with member states East Germany, Czechoslovakia, Poland, Hungary, Romania, Albania, Bulgaria, and the Soviet Union. -
China agrees to provide North Vietnam with Economic Aid
Enabled North Vietnam to fight first the French and then the Americans. Chinese aid to North Vietnam between 1950 and 1970 is estimated at $20 billion. -
Conscription is Introduced in China
The People's Liberation Army has been able to recruit sufficient numbers voluntarily. Residents of Special Administrative Regions (Hong Kong and Macau), are exempted from joining the military. -
Political Protests in Poland
The first of several massive protests against the communist government of the Polish People's Republic. Also, 74 people were killed. -
Hungarian Revolution
The tanks withdrew on 28th October and a new government was formed which quickly moved to introduce democracy, freedom of speech, and freedom of religion. The Soviet tanks returned on 4th November encircling Budapest. -
Suez Crisis
The attack was heavily criticised by World leaders, especially America because Russia had offered support to Egypt. The British and French were forced to withdraw and a UN peace keeping force was sent to establish order. -
Soviet Union appeals to the US and Britain to cease Nuclear Testing
The Limited Test Ban Treaty was signed and put together by the Soviet Union, United States and Britain. This treaty states that it will ban all nuclear weapons that are testing in the atmosphere, outer space and underwater. -
Britain carries out it's First Hydrogen Bomb test over Christmas Island
The first successful British hydrogen bomb - Grapple X - dropped near Christmas Island in 1957. “Operation Grapple” consisted of nine detonations over Christmas Island and Malden Island in the South Pacific Ocean. -
Space Race
USSR Sputnik II carried Laika the dog, the first living creature to go into space. -
Nagy is executed after a secret trial
Nagy was secretly tried, found guilty, sentenced to death and executed by hanging in June 1958. His trial and execution were made public only after the sentence had been carried out. -
Khrushchev meets Zedong in China and call for an end of all Nuclear Testing
All Soviet specialists working on China's nuclear weapons program were recalled. Nonetheless, the Soviet aid laid the foundation for China's fledgling nuclear industry. -
Soviet Union demands all foreign troops should be withdrawn from Berlin
The Berlin Crisis started when the USSR issued an ultimatum demanding the withdrawal of all armed forces from Berlin, including the Western armed forces in West Berlin -
Castro and his victorious troops enter Havana
Castro's Cuba had some 39,000–40,000 military personnel abroad, with the bulk of the forces in Sub-Saharan Africa but with some 1,365 stationed in the Middle East and North Africa. -
Members Votes again against admission of China and UN
UN General Assembly Resolution 2758 recognised the PRC as the legal representative of China in the UN, and gave it the seat on the Security Council that had been held by the ROC, which was expelled from the UN altogether. -
United Nations decide not to intervene in the independence struggle in Algeria
After the United Nations failed to pass a resolution agreeing to aid the Algerian forces, there is a European marching band that paraded through the Casbah giving out bread, which no one accepts. -
American U-2 Spy Plane Shot over Soviet Union
U-2 reconnaissance plane over the Soviet Union in 1960 and that caused the collapse of a summit conference in Paris between the United States, the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom, and France. -
Paris East and West Talks
Talks between Nikita Khrushchev and Dwight Eisenhower concerning the fate of Germany broke down when a USA U2 spy plane was shot down over Russian airspace. -
Soviet Forces Shoot Down a US RB-47 Survey Aircraft
Strategic Air Command (SAC) RB-47H crew was flying in international airspace over the Arctic, north of the USSR, when a Soviet MiG-19 fighter began to shadow their aircraft. -
Space Race
Russian cosmonaut Yuri Alekseyvich Gagarin became the first human being in space. -
Bay of Pigs Invasion
A force of Cuban exiles, trained by the CIA, aided by the US government attempted to invade Cuba and overthrow the Communist government of Fidel Castro. The attempt failed. -
Berlin Wall
Berlin wall built and borders sealed between East and West Germany. -
JFK orders an end to all trade with Cuba
Congress passed the Foreign Assistance Act, a Cold War Act (among many other measures) which prohibited aid to Cuba and authorized the President to impose a complete trade embargo against Cuba. -
Cuban Missile Crisis
A US spy plane reported sighting the construction of a Soviet nuclear missile base in Cuba. President Kennedy set up a naval blockade and demanded the removal of the missiles. -
JFK announces that the Soviet Union installed a Missile Base on Cuba
In a televised speech of extraordinary gravity, President John F. Kennedy announces on October 22, 1962 that U.S. spy planes have discovered Soviet missile bases in Cuba. -
Khrushchev and Kennedy Agree to Establish a Hot Line to use in a Cold War Crisis
During the crisis, the Americans and Soviets had exchanged letters and other communications. -
Soviet Union, US and Britain sign a Nuclear Test-Ban Treaty
Limited Test Ban Treaty was signed by the United States, Great Britain, and the Soviet Union. After Senate approval, the treaty that went into effect on October 10, 1963, banned nuclear weapons testing in the atmosphere, in outer space, and under water. -
John F. Kennedy is Assassinated
President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, Texas while campaigning for re-election -
US Aircraft Bomb North Vietnam for the First Time
Viet Cong attack on a U.S. air base at Pleiku. The Johnson administration cited a number of reasons for shifting U.S. strategy to include systematic aerial assaults on North Vietnam. -
China Explodes its First Atomic Bomb
Project 596 was the first nuclear weapons test conducted by the People's Republic of China, detonated on 16 October 1964, at the Lop Nur test site. -
USSR
Nikita Krushchev removed from office. He was replaced by Leonid Brezhnev. -
Vietnam War
150,000 US troops sent to Vietnam. -
Ben Bella is Deposed by Houari Boumedienne in Algeria
Assured both the success of the Bureau Politique and of Ben Bella, who was elected unopposed and with an immense majority to the presidency of the Algerian republic -
Ho Chi Minh rejects Peace Talks on Vietnam War
For five months, the negotiations stalled as North Vietnam demanded that all bombing of North Vietnam be stopped, while the U.S. side demanded that North Vietnam agree to a reciprocal de-escalation in South Vietnam. The talks were offered by Lyndon B. Johnson -
Charles De Gaulle calls US forces to leave Vietnam
The Army had to fight in unfamiliar territory, was lacking in moral, were not prepared for the conditions, could not shut down the Ho Chi Minh Trail, and were untrained to respond to guerilla warfare. -
US admits to using Chemical Weapons in North Vietnam
In all, American forces used more than 20 million gallons of herbicides in Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia during the years of Operation Ranch Hand. -
US Air Raid on Hanoi
U.S. aircraft bomb the major North Vietnamese population centers of Hanoi and Haiphong for the first time, destroying oil depots located near the two cities. This kills over 100 North Vietnamese civilians.