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United Nations is founded
The United Nations was born out of pure necessity, as a means of better arbitrating international conflict and negotiating peace than was provided for by the old League of Nations. WW2 became the real momentum for the United States, Britain, and the Soviet Union to begin formulating the original U.N. Declaration, signed by 26 nations as a formal act of opposition to Germany, Italy, and Japan, the Axis Powers. -
"An Iron Curtain has descended upon containment."
Bristish Priminister Winston Churchill gives a speech on March 5, 1946. In the speech, Churchill praises the United States in effort to boost moral of the country. He particularly denounces the Soviets' Policies in terms of expansionistic actions. Truman and other elected officials clearly received the message of Churchill's speech and knew that only a strong stance would fend off Russians. -
The Creation of The Truman Doctrine
The principle that President Truman created, stating that the United States should provide aid to any country that is threatened by Soviet or communist forces. Greece and Turkey were the first countries to put this act into effect and receive aid from the Unites States. -
Berlin airlift
After World War 2, Russians who wanted Berlin, which was divided into 4 sections, all for themselves closed all highways, railroads and canals from western-occupied Germany into western-occupied Berlin. They thought this would make it impossible for the people who lived there to get food or any other supplies and would eventually drive Britain, France and the U.S. out of the city for good. Instead of retreating, the U.S. and its allies decided to supply their sectors of the city from the air. -
Atomic Bomb Testing by Soviets
August 29, 1949, Soviets joined the "Nuke Club." Testing their bomb was a surprise to the United States because we did not know how much they were bluffing about their nuclear weapons. Secondly, it made us question our own safety as a country. Truman responded by building up our nuclear weapons to stop the spread of Soviet influence to other countries. -
Korean War starts
The Korean War began when about 75,000 soldiers from the North Korean People’s Army crossed the 38th parallel, the boundary between the Soviet-backed Democratic People’s Republic of Korea to the north and the pro-Western Republic of Korea to the south. This invasion was the first military action of the Cold War. By July, American troops had entered the war on South Korea’s behalf. -
Truman fires MAcArthur
Problems with the flamboyant and egotistical General MacArthur had been brewing for months. President Harry S. Truman relieves General Douglas MacArthur of command of the U.S. forces in Korea. The firing of MacArthur set off a brief uproar among the American public, but Truman remained committed to keeping the conflict in Korea a “limited war.” -
Eisenhower for President!!
Dwight Eisenhower becomes the Unites State's 34th President as a Republican Candidate. His goal was to ease all Cold War tensions through military negotiations. Soon after his election he also brought peace to South Korea's border by creating an armistice. -
The Death of Stalin
Stalin became active in revolutionary political activism, taking part in labor demonstrations and strikes. Stalin joined the more militant wing of the Marxist Social Democratic movement, the Bolsheviks, and became a student of its leader, Vladimir Ilich Lenin. Stalin was arrested seven times between 1902 and 1913, and subjected to prison and exile. -
Cease-fire in Korean War
North and South Korea are not making any progress while at War with each other, therefore a cease fire is created so they can no longer fire upon each other. This ended the Americans' first experiment with the idea of "limited war" during the Cold War. -
Geneva Conference
Issues involving the Korean Peninsula and bringing peace to Indochina were attempted to be settled during this conference. It was held in Geneva Switzerland and all countries leaders met to speak about these issues. Geneva is beautiful and neutral area that all countries could come to with easy access. This conference lasted for three months and came to an end on July 20, 1954. -
Suez Canal Crisis
Israeli armed forces pushed into Egypt toward the Suez Canal after Egyptian president Gamal Abdel Nasser nationalized the canal in July of that same year, initiating the Suez Crisis. The people of Isreal were soon were joined by French and British forces, which almost caused Soviets to come in conflict with the U.S. -
Sputnik launched
The Soviet Union inaugurates the “Space Age” with its launch of Sputnik, the world’s first artificial satellite. The spacecraft, named Sputnik after the Russian word for “satellite,” was launched at 10:29 p.m. -
Founding of NASA
Under the supervision of Dwight Eisenhower, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, NASA, was created. After the Soviets launched Sputnik 1, their first ever satellite, Americans were fear stricken because there was now a possibility that Soviets could send missiles with nuclear weapons from Europe into America. Today NASA is still responsible for for putting together all space activities. -
Bay of Pigs
Cuban nationalist Fidel Castro drove his guerilla army into Havana and overthrew General Fulgencio Batista. The CIA launched a strike to remove him from power. The strike failed because the invaders were Cubans who left their homes when Castro took power, and they were badly outnumbered, forcing them to surrender in less than 24 hours. -
Krushehev Visits the United States
Nikita Khrushchev becomes the first Soviet head of state to visit the United States. He came to power in the Soviet Union following the death of Stalin. During the next two weeks, Khrushchev’s visit dominated the news and provided some dramatic and humorous moments in the history of the Cold War. -
U-2 Incident
An international crisis exploded when the USSR shot down a American spy plane in Soviet air space and captured its pilot. Eisenhower admitted to the CIA that they had been flying spy missions over USSR for several years. This incident created tensions between Soviets and Americans during the Cold War. -
Soviet Union goes to space
Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Alekseyevich Gagarin becomes the first man to orbit the planet and travel in space, when he is sent int space on his space craft, Vostok 1, which was entirely guided by an automatic control system. The success of the Soviet space program was a great blow to the United States, which put us in the "space race." We were completely fascinated by the soviets accomplishment until February 1962, when astronaut John Glenn made three orbits in Friendship 7. -
Cuban Missile Crisis
During the Cuban Missile Crisis, leaders of the U.S. and the Soviet Union engaged in an intense, 13-day political and military dispute over the installation of nuclear-armed Soviet missiles on Cuba, just 90 miles from U.S. shores. -
Assassination of President Kennedy
While traveling through Dallas, Texas, our 35th president was shot in his convertible. When their vehicle passed the Texas School Book Despository, Harvey Oswald fired three shots at them from the 6th floor, which fatally wounded the President. At Dallas' Parkland Hospital, he was pronounced dead at the age of 46. Vice President Lyndon Johnson, who was three cars behind Kennedy, was sworn in as the 36th president of the United States at 2:39 p.m.
