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The Yalta Conference
The Yalta Conference was held as World War II was ending. This meeting included England's Winston Churchill, the Soviet Union's Joseph Stalin, and US President, Theodore Roosevelt. Coming into the meeting, they all had very different agendas which created much tension. Because of this tension, many say this conference set the stage for the coming Cold War. In the end, it was decided to split up Germany into an East, controlled by the Soviet Union, and a West, controlled by the US and England. -
Bombing of Hiroshima
At the end WWII, the United States authorized the bombing of Japanese cities, one of which was Hiroshima. The bomb used was named the Enola Gay. This made the United States the first and only nation to use atomic means during a war. Historians see these bombings as having two purposes. One was to end WWII and the other was to demonstrate the US power and gain diplomatic leverage with the Soviet Union. If seen this way, the bombings can be considered the first shots of the Cold War. -
Announcement of the Truman Doctrine
The Cold War was a conflict over communism. In order to continue to fight back against the Soviet Union, United States President Harry Truman established the Truman Doctrine. This said that the United States would provide political, military and economic aid to all democratic nations under threat from communist powers. This changed the United States foreign policy from withdrawal to possible intervention. This continued the United States fight in the Cold War. -
Berlin Airlift Begins
The East and West Germany split between the US, England, and Soviet Union also involved the splitting the city of Berlin. As war continued between these nations, relations between nations became very hostile. This led to a crisis in Berlin. Soviets blockaded road, rail, and water access to Allied areas of Berlin. The Allies responded by airlifting supplies and food from airbases in West Germany. This major conflict heightened tensions and strongly continued the Cold War. -
North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Established
In order to provide security from the Soviet Union, twelve nations entered into the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). These nations included the United States, Canada, Belgium, Denmark, France, Iceland, Italy, Luxemburg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, and the United Kingdom. Entering this agreement meant that they would consider an attack on one of them to be an attack on all. This allowed for military aid between them and increased security during the time of conflict. -
Warsaw Pact Formed
The Warsaw Pact, also called The Warsaw Treaty Organization, was a political and military alliance between the Soviet Union and several Eastern European countries. This was formed to counterbalance the United States alliance, NATO. This alliance pledged that the nations would defend the others in times of conflicts and be a collective decision making group. In reality, the Soviets controlled most of the decisions. This alliance gave the other side security against the United States' allies. -
First Man-Made Satellite Launched
Sputnik I was the first man-made satellite to be successfully launched. And the Soviet Union was the home of this successful satellite. This launch caught the whole world's attention and caught the US offguard. With the success of Sputnik, the US feared that the Soviet Union had the capability to launch ballistic missiles that could carry nuclear weapons. We were still far behind. This launch heightened tensions of the Cold War between the US and the Soviet Union even further. -
Bay of Pigs Invasion
At the end of the 1950s, Fidel Castro took control over Cuba and the US was very wary. They didn't trust him or his relationship with the Soviet Union's leader. In an attempt to overthrow Castro and establish a non-communist government, the US trained Cuban exiles for an invasion. When the exiles got there, Castro sent troops to meet them. Unfortunately for the US, Cuban troops overpowered the invasion and took prisoners. This failed plan showed the weakness of the United States to the Soviets. -
Berlin Wall Built
After Berlin was split into East and West, the living conditions became very different. The East, under a communist government, had a failing economy and restricted individual freedoms. Whereas in the West, life was thriving. Because of this, Eastern Germans packed up their lives and crossed the border into the West. After losing over 2 million, the East decided they needed to stop it. In the middle of the night, the Berlin Wall, a symbol of war, was then built to prevent anymore crossing over. -
Cuban Missile Crisis
The Cuban Missile Crisis was a singular event in the Cold War. It involved direct confrontation between the US and Soviet Union. This was the closest that they came to nuclear conflict. The Soviets were in agreement with Castro and were storing missiles in Cuba. Through letters, Kennedy tried to talk with Khrushchev. In the end, the Soviets agreed to remove their missiles if the US removed their missiles from Turkey. An agreement was finally reached. -
US and China Establish Relations
Before 1979, the United States had never had formal diplomatic relations with the People's Republic of China. When in 1978, after months of secret planning and negotiations, the US and PRC had an announcement. They announced that they would recognize each other. This also included forming official diplomatic relations. This allowed the United States to have more security and more nations on their side during the Cold War conflicts. -
Glasnost and Perestroika
Mikhail Gorbachev became general secretary and used his power to launch a new program. It contained two parts which were perestroika, meaning restructuring, and glasnost, meaning openness. This program introduced changes in the economy, internal affairs, and international relations. It also loosened the restrictions previously employed. Because of this, the Cold War was on it's way to an end and the Soviet Union was on it's way to collapse. -
Unrestricted German Migration/Fall of Berlin Wall
November 9, 1989 was a momentous day. The spokesperson for the Communist Party announced that relations with the West would be different and that they were free to cross the border. Everyone one met at the wall and at midnight, flooded the checkpoints. During this time, people were also knocking away chunks of the wall. The Berlin Wall was finally falling down. This represented the ending of the Cold War between the Soviet Union and the United States. -
Reunification of Germany
Shortly after the Berlin Wall came down, German officials form East and West started talking about reunification. Soon officials from the US, England, France, and the Soviet Union were involved. Finally, almost one year after the Berlin Wall came down, East and West Germany came together and were reunified. This day is known as Unity Day. A couple months after, Helmut Kolh became the first chancellor of the reunified Germany. This reunification marked the end of the war for many people. -
Abolishment of Soviet Union
With Gorbachev's program in place, the Soviet Union was collapsing. Boris Yeltsin, who was rising political support again, was calling for Gorbachev's resignation. After a failed coup, Yeltsin started dismantling the Communist Party. Because of this, Gorbachev resigned. Almost a week later, the Soviet Union was officially dissolved and replaced by individual states making up a commonwealth. This commonwealth had been established by Yeltsin, who eventually became President of Russia.
