-
Yalta Conference
With Soviet troops in most of Eastern Europe, Stalin was in a strong negotiating position. Roosevelt and Churchill tried hard to restrict post-war influence in this area but the only concession they could obtain was a promise that free elections would be held in these countries. -
Potsdam Conference
While the conference was taking place, the British General Election results were announced. The landslide victory of the Labour Party meant that Clement Attlee replaced Winston Churchill as Britain's main negotiator. -
Truman Doctrine
The Truman Doctrine was a policy set forth by the U.S. President Harry S. Truman in a speech on March 12, 1947 stating that the U.S. would support Greece and Turkey with economic and military aid to prevent their falling into the Soviet sphere. Historians often consider it as the start of the Cold War. -
Marshall Plan
Marshall Plan ,project instituted at the Paris Economic Conference (July, 1947) to foster economic recovery in certain European countries after World War II. -
Soviet Union takes over Czechoslovakia
After the 1946 election, the communists began to lose some of their popularity, and, as the 1948 election approached, their public support began to decline. Not leaving anything to chance, the communists staged a coup d'etat in February 1948 rather than wait for the scheduled May election. To ensure passivity among military units that might object to such unconstitutional methods, Svoboda confined all noncommunist commanders to quarters. -
Treaty of Brussels
The Treaty of Brussels was signed on 17 March 1948 between Belgium, France, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom, as an expansion to the preceding year's defence pledge, the Dunkirk Treaty signed between Britain and France. As the Treaty of Brussels contained a mutual defence clause, it provided a basis upon which the 1954 Paris Conference established the Western European Union (WEU). -
Berlin airlift
The year of 1948 was a critical turning point in the presidency of Harry Truman. He was staring down the barrel of a re-election campaign, presented with his lowest approval rating to date, and faced with the threat of a possible World War III with the Soviet Union over a developing situation in Berlin. Furthermore, Truman's record against the Soviets, up to this date, had been ineffective in keeping them from occupying Poland, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Romania, and Bulgaria. -
North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)
NATO, or the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, is an international alliance of 26 countries of Europe and North America created to ensure the peace and security of the North Atlantic region. Signed April 4, 1949, the North Atlantic Treaty is NATO's founding document that details the principles upon which NATO was established. -
Soviet Union test of atomis bomb
The Soviet Union explodes its first nuclear weapon at its testing range on the Kazakhstan steppe. Many historians consider the test the beginning of the nuclear arms race. -
Communists Invade Vietnam
In the 19th Century Vietnam became a colony of the French. During World War II the Japanese defeated the French and occupied Vietnam. Later the French tried to re-impose their colonial rule but failed. From 1946 until 1954, the Vietnamese Army (Viet Minh) struggled for their independence from France during the First Indochina War. The Geneva accords of 1954 partitioned the country into two and promised to hold democratic elections and reunite the country. -
Austrian State Treaty
The Austrian State Treaty re-established Austria as a sovereign state. It was signed on May 15, 1955, in Vienna at the Schloss Belvedere among the Allied occupying powers (France, the United Kingdom, the United States, and the Soviet Union) and the Austrian government. It officially came into force on July 27, 1955. -
Sputnik Satellite Launched
History changed on October 4, 1957, when the Soviet Union successfully launched Sputnik I. The world's first artificial satellite was about the size of a beach ball. weighed only 83.6 kg. or 183.9 pounds, and took about 98 minutes to orbit the Earth on its elliptical path. That launch ushered in new political, military, technological, and scientific developments. While the Sputnik launch was a single event, it marked the start of the space age and the U.S.-U.S.S.R space race. -
Castro Controls Cuba
Fidel Castro gained control of Cuba by "overthrowing" the Cuban dictator Flugencio Batista in 1959. His efforts to overthrow the government in the early 1950's was to large extent a failure, and led to him being imprisoned. He did not serve his full term in prison as he was "pardoned" by Batista. He went in exile in Latin America where he joined forces with Che Guevara, who eventually helped him to overthrow Batista. Castro adopted the ideology of Jose Marti, as he was and still is anti-American -
Gary Powers is Captured During Summit
On May 1, 1960, U.S. pilot Francis Gary Powers was navigating his U2 reconnaissance aircraft over the Ural Mountains deep inside the Soviet Union, when suddenly a dull thump rocked the plane and a tremendous orange flash lit the cockpit and sky. “My God, I’ve had it now!” Powers exclaimed as his plane began spinning. -
Soviet/American Summit in Paris
There was to be a gathering "at the Summit"--so the world learned late in 1959.The Four, President Eisenhower, Prime Minister Macmillan, President de Gaulle, and Chairman Khrushchev were to come face to face and take up the major problems which troubled the relations between their states. General de Gaulle would be the host; the Elyse palace in Paris would be the place; and Monday, 16 May, would be the day when the principals would meet for their first discussion.
