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America drops the a-bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki
This was arguably the beginning of the Cold War, as it showed the raw destructive power of nuclear weapons and marked the end of WW2. The power vacuum created by the fall of Germany and Japan would make tension in areas such as Europe and Asian would flare up as both the USA and the USSR would try to claim dominance over the regions. Additionally the bombing was a horrific event for the Japanese as over 200,000 people were killed and many thousands would be injured for the rest of their lives. -
Korean War starts
One of the massive conflicts involved in the Indo China wars. This was one of the first proxy wars to be fought between the USA and the USSR.The American government when faced with the prospect of Korea becoming Communist sent in the US military to aid the southern forces. The Korean war costs thousands of American lives but tens of thousands of Korean civilian and military lives. -
U-2 Spy Plane incident
For months the USA had been sending spy planes over Soviet controlled territory taking photos in an attempt to uncover their progress in Nuclear arms development. Previously the planes had flown at 70,000 feet, to high for any anti aircraft weapons but in 1960 the soviets were able to shoot down one of the planes capturing the pilot Francis Gary Powers. This led to a long negotiation for a release. This incident was one of the first times either side was caught and publicly tried for espionage. -
Cuban Missile Crisis
The Cuban Missile Crisis was likely the most tense moment between the USA and the USSR in the whole Cold War, it was the defining moment of whether each side were prepared to wipe each other out in an thermo-nuclear exchange. For many it represented a turning point in humanity when humans became aware of their ability to wipe out their existence. This was the boiling point of the Cold War and tensions would never be raised this high again. -
American involvement in the Vietnam War
Although American had a presence in Vietnam and the rest of the Indo China conflicts for decades prior, no military presence on the ground with US troops had ever occurred. This marked the beginning of a long and bloody campaign to stop the communist advance in South East Asia. -
Detente Policy
A treaty signed between the Soviets and the USA to agree to stop manufacturing nuclear arms and cease conflict. -
Apollo landing on the moon
This was the defining moment in the space race between the USA and the USSR that had been competing to dominate the space exploration landscape. The USA had successfully landed the first man on the moon. This was one of the defining moments of the 20th century and even a human kind as it represented the feats humans were capable of. -
Fall of the Berlin Wall
This is considered by many historians as the end of the cold war. The fall of the Berlin wall was a symbolic moment for the German people as the end to their oppression and the restoration of their freedom.
