The Cold War By jackrice Period: Feb 4, 1940 to Feb 4, 1990 Events of the Cold War Feb 4, 1945 Yalta Conference Cold War Begins Aug 6, 1945 United States first used atomic bomb in war Aug 8, 1945 Russia enters war against Japan Aug 14, 1945 Japanese surrender End of World War II Mar 4, 1946 Winston Churchill delivers "Iron Curtain" Speech Feb 4, 1947 Map of Europe Mar 4, 1947 Truman declares active role in Greek Civil War Jun 4, 1947 Marshall Plan is announced Sep 4, 1947 President Nixon resigns Feb 4, 1948 Communist takeover in Czechoslovakia Jun 24, 1948 Berlin Blockade begins May 12, 1949 Berlin Blockade ends Jul 4, 1949 NATO ratified Sep 4, 1949 Mao Zedong, a Communist, takes control of China Sep 4, 1949 Soviets explode first atomic bomb Feb 4, 1950 Joe McCarthy begins Communist witch hunt Jun 4, 1950 Korean War begins Jan 12, 1951 Federal Civil Defense Administration established Jun 19, 1953 Rosenberg executions Jul 4, 1953 Korean War ends Feb 4, 1954 CIA helps overthrow unfriendly regimes in Iran and Guatemala Mar 4, 1954 KGB established Jul 4, 1954 Vietnam split at 17th parallel May 4, 1955 Warsaw Pact formed Oct 4, 1956 Rebellion put down in Communist Hungary. Egypt took control of Suez Canal; U.S. refused to help take it back Oct 4, 1957 1957: October 4 -- Sputnik launched into orbit Nov 4, 1958 Khrushchev demands withdrawal of troops from Berlin Jan 4, 1959 Cuba taken over by Fidel Castro Sep 4, 1959 Khrushchev visits United States; denied access to Disneyland May 4, 1960 Soviet Union reveals that U.S. spy plane was shot down over Soviet territory Nov 4, 1960 John F. Kennedy elected President Apr 4, 1961 Bay of Pigs invasion Jul 4, 1961 Kennedy requests 25% spending increase for military Aug 13, 1961 Berlin border closed Aug 17, 1961 Construction of Berlin Wall begins Feb 4, 1962 U.S. involvement in Vietnam increased Oct 4, 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis Jul 4, 1963 Nuclear Test Ban Treaty ratified Nov 4, 1963 President Kennedy assassinated in Dallas, Texas Aug 4, 1964 Gulf of Tonkin incident Apr 4, 1965 U.S. Marines sent to Dominican Republic to fight Communism Jul 4, 1965 Announcement of dispatching of 150,000 U.S. troops to Vietnam Jan 4, 1968 North Korea captured U.S.S. Pueblo Aug 4, 1968 Soviet troops crush Czechoslovakian revolt Jul 20, 1969 Apollo 11 lands on the moon Apr 4, 1970 President Nixon extends Vietnam War to Cambodia Jul 4, 1972 SALT I signed Jan 4, 1973 Cease fire in Vietnam between North Vietnam and United States Sep 4, 1973 United States helps overthrow Chile government Oct 4, 1973 Egypt and Syria attack Israel; Egypt requests Soviet aid Apr 17, 1975 North Vietnam defeats South Vietnam Jul 4, 1979 SALT II signed Nov 4, 1979 Shah of Iran overthrown; Iranian Hostage Crisis Feb 4, 1983 President Reagan proposes Strategic Defense Initiative Oct 4, 1983 U.S. troops overthrow regime in Grenada Feb 4, 1985 Iran-Contra Affair (arms sold to Iran, profits used to support contras in Nicaragua) Feb 4, 1985 Mikhail Gorbachev ascends to power in Soviet Union Feb 4, 1986 Gorbachev ends economic aid to Soviet satellites Oct 4, 1986 Reagan and Gorbachev resolve to remove all intermediate nuclear missiles from Europe Nov 4, 1986 Iran-Contra Affair revealed to public Nov 4, 1986 Iran-Contra Affair revealed to public Oct 4, 1987 Reagan and Gorbachev agree to remove all medium and short-range nuclear missiles by signing treaty Jan 4, 1989 Soviet troops withdraw from Afghanistan Jun 4, 1989 China puts down protests for democracy; Poland becomes independent Sep 4, 1989 1989: September -- Hungary becomes independent Nov 4, 1989 1989: November -- Berlin Wall falls Dec 4, 1989 Communist governments fall in Czechoslovakia, Bulgaria, and Rumania; Soviet empire ends Mar 4, 1990 Lithuania becomes independent May 29, 1990 Boris Yeltsin elected to presidency of Russia Oct 3, 1990 1990: October 3 -- Germany reunited Apr 4, 1991 1991: April -- Warsaw Pact ends Aug 4, 1991 End of Soviet Union Cold War Ends
