-
Invasions of Poland by USSR and Germany, beginning World War II.
Most of Poland is taken within days. -
Period: to
WWII
The entire span of WWII -
Period: to
Germany invades Denmark, Norway, France, the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg.
On 10 May 1940 Germany attacks the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg. The bombing of Rotterdam results in the Netherlands capitulating on 15 May. On 28 May the Belgian army capitulates after a battle lasting 18 days. Now German troops can surround the Maginot Line. In the south east fascist Italy attacks France. By 22 June sixty percent of France has been occupied and a truce is signed. -
Battle of Britain Begins.
Germany suffers its first defeat in the skies over England, and abandons invasion plans. (Ended October 31st, 1940) -
Period: to
Several failed assassination attempts on Hitler's life.
Hitler has become too unstable to think rationally. Succession of major military losses follows. -
Germany invades the USSR
This creates what becomes known as the Eastern Front. -
Japanese Navy Attacks Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.
US enters the war, opening the Pacific Theatre. -
Battle of Stalingrad.
Germany's entire Sixth Army is lost, and the war begins turning in favor of the Allies. (Ended February 2nd, 1943) -
D-Day
the Allied Expeditionary Force under Dwight Eisenhower lands on the coast of northern France on what will later be called "D-Day". The "Second Front" that Stalin has been demanding for three years is now open. -
Period: to
War Agatinst France
Vietnamese wage anti-colonial war against France. -
Hitler Commits Suicide
Hitler commits suicide, shortly before the fall of Berlin and surrender of German forces in Europe. -
USA First Test of Atomic Bomb
Leads to the USA bombing Japan to end the war. -
Bombing of Hiroshima
The First bombing of Japan by the USA -
Bombing of Nagasaki
The second bombing of Japan by the USA -
End of War
On 15 August 1945, Japan surrendered, with the surrender documents finally signed aboard the deck of the American battleship USS Missouri, ending the war. -
The creation of the "Iron Curtain"
"Iron Curtain" is a term used to describe the boundary that separated the Warsaw Pact countries from the NATO countries from about 1945 until the end of the Cold War in 1991. The Iron Curtain was both a physical and an ideological division that represented the way Europe was viewed after World War II. To the east of the Iron Curtain were the countries that were connected to or influenced by the former Soviet Union. This included part of Germany Czechoslovakia, Poland, Hungary, Bulgaria, Romania. -
Period: to
Cold War
The estimated span of the Cold War by historians. -
The Marshall Plan
The Marshall Plan (officially the European Recovery Program, ERP) was the American program to aid Europe where the United States gave monetary support to help rebuild European economies after the end of World War II in order to prevent the spread of Soviet Communism. The plan was in operation for four years beginning in April 1948. The goals of the United States were to rebuild a war-devastated region, remove trade barriers, modernize industry, and make Europe prosperous again. -
The Berlin Airlift
Soviets placed a blockade on the allied sector of Berlin to starve the population into Soviet alliance. The blockade was a soviet attempt to starve out the allies in Berlin in order to gain supremacy. the blockade was a high point in the cold war, and it led to the berlin airlift. The allied response was a unbelievably massive air supply- flying night and day to feed the city. -
Forming of NATO
In 1949, the prospect of further Communist expansion prompted the United States and 11 other Western nations to form the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). -
Period: to
Geneva Peace Accords
Goals were to unify Korea and restore peace in Indochina. Countries involved were the Soviet Union, the United States, France, the United Kingdom, and the People's Republic of China. France relinquishes control of Indochina, which is divided into Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam. Vietnam is temporarily divided in two parts at the 17th parallel until a general election could be held. No action is taken to unify Korea. Some blame U.S. for obstructing plans. -
Geneva Conference and consequences
Vietnam is divied at the 17th parallel. There are now two hostile governments forms: North (Ho Chi Minh establishes a Communist dictatorship) and South (Elections promised for July 20, 1956, but never held) Ngo Dinh Diem , who was Catholic, anticommunist, and French educated was chosen by the US to lead. -
Southeast Asia Treaty Organization (SEATO)
An agreement apart of the Truman Doctrine to prevent the "fall" of Communism in Laos, Cambodia, and South Vietnam. U.S., UK, France, Australia, New Zealand, Thailand, Pakistan, and the Philippines agreed to defend one another in case of attack. SEATO was designed to be Southeast Asia's NATO, headquartered in Bangkok, Thailand. . Eisenhower's secretary of state, John Foster Dulles, was an integral part in SEATO's formation. SEATO was dissolved on 30 June 1977. -
The Domino Theory
1955-1961 Eisenhower justifies $1billion in aid to South Vietnam with the Domino Theory. He argued if Vietnam fell to Communism, the rest of South-east Asia would soon fall. -
Forming of Warsaw Pact
The Soviet Union and its affiliated Communist nations in Eastern Europe founded a rival alliance, the Warsaw Pact, in 1955. -
Period: to
Vietnam War
Full span of the wat in Vietnam -
Sputnik
The Sputnik crisis was the American reaction to the success of the Sputnik program.[1] It was a key Cold War event that began on October 4, 1957 when the Soviet Union launched Sputnik 1, the first artificial Earth satellite. The launch of Sputnik I and the failure of its first two Project Vanguard launch attempts rattled the American public; President Dwight D. Eisenhower referred to it as the “Sputnik Crisis”. Although Sputnik was itself harmless, its orbiting scared the people of the US -
The U-2 Incident
The 1960 U-2 incident occurred during the Cold War on 1 May 1960, during the presidency of Dwight Eisenhower and during the leadership of Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev, when a United States U-2 spy plane was shot down over the airspace of the Soviet Union. The United States government at first denied the plane's purpose and mission, but then was forced to admit its role as a covert surveillance aircraft when the Soviet government produced its intact remains and surviving pilot. -
Period: to
Under Kennedy
After Kennedy is elected, aid is doubled.
With Kennedy's promises to be "hard on communism" and the failure in Cuba (Bay of Pigs) he demonstrates his strength against communism with Vietnam. -
Creation of the Berlin Wall
The Berlin Wall was erected in the dead of night and for 28 years kept East Germans from fleeing to the West. -
Cuban Missile Crisis
The Cuban Missile Crisis was the closest the world ever came to nuclear war. The United States armed forces were at their highest state of readiness ever and Soviet field commanders in Cuba were prepared to use battlefield nuclear weapons to defend the island if it was invaded. Luckily, thanks to the bravery of two men, President John F. Kennedy and Premier Nikita Khrushchev, war was averted. -
Diem Assissinated
Diem fails to win the public opinion and loses the support of the general public, specifically the peasants. In Saigon, Buddhists protest Diem's policies by setting themselves on fire.The national divide begins to stir doubts of South Vietnam's ability to defend themselves against a Communist insurgency. Kennedy administration knew of plans of Diems assassination -
Assassination of JFK
President Kennedy is assassinated, and presidential power is handed down to Lyndon B. Johnson.
He is re-electedin 1964, and he continues to fund the war and send in more troops throughout his administration. -
Period: to
Controversy at Home
War Hawks vs. Doves:
Hawks=believed War was Soviet aggression and attempt to take Southeast Asia (rich in oil)
Doves=a civil war with a communist attempt to unify Vietnam and overthrow the installed corrupt government of South Vietnam
Anti-War Protest:
Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) demonstrated in Washington, D.C. After High School, boys could be drafted into the military. -
Operation Rolling Thunder
Under Johnson, Operation Rolling Thunder greatly increases the bombing on North Vietnam. After the Gulf of Tonkin, the US becomes more active in the Vietnam War. -
Students for a Democratic Society
SDS recruited 20,000 people for an anti-war demonstration in Washington, D.C. the youth and the New Left movement generally opposed the war, for many boys just out of high school were drafted. -
Nixon and Cambodia
Newly elected President Nixon and a "hard on communism" platform, begins to secretly bomb Cambodia and pulling out troops from South Vietnam. All the while, he continues Johnson's peace talks. Nixon also promised to end the Vietnam War during his presidency. In 1970, he orders the ARVN and the US to invade Cambodia. Troops decrease over 50% during this time. In 1972, Nixon orders the drop of the most devastating bomb on North Vietnam. -
Pro-War Demonstration
In New York, there was a demonstration in support of Nixon and the invasion of Cambodia, Members wore hard hats and waved American flags. There was a heavy pro-war sentiment and a defined controversy between pro-war and anti-war Americans. -
End of US involvement
With the end of his presidency looming, President Nixon hurries the end of US involvement in the Vietnam War. Henry Kissinger (Secretary of State) negotiates a peace treaty, that ultimately fails South Vietnam. The US, North Vietnam, and South sign the formal accords in Paris that end US involvement. -
Communism wins
North Vietnam invades South Vietnam.
The Vietcong defeat the ARVN and occupy Saigon, which becomes Ho Chi Mihn City. -
Fall of the Berlin Wall
The fall of the Berlin Wall happened nearly as suddenly as its rise. There had been signs that the Communist bloc was weakening, but the East German Communist leaders insisted that East Germany just needed a moderate change rather than a drastic revolution. East German citizens did not agree.
As Communism began to falter in Poland, Hungary, and Czechoslovakia in 1988 and 1989, new exodus points were opened to East Germans who wanted to flee to the West. Then suddenly, on the evening of November -
Dissolution of the USSR
The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics was formally dissolved on 26 December 1991 by declaration of the Soviet of the Republics of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union. This declaration acknowledged the independence of all fifteen republics of the Soviet Union following the creation of the Commonwealth of Independent States. On the previous day, 25 December 1991, Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev had resigned, declaring his office extinct, and handed over the Soviet nuclear missile launching
