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Yalta conference
The leaders of the big three countries, Russia (Joseph Stalin), England (Winston Churchill) and the USA (Franklin D. Roosevelt), meet to discuss the re-establishment of the war torn European countries. -
Hiroshima Bombing
On the sixth of August 1945, the US dropped an atomic bomb on the city of Hiroshima in Japan. The bomb was so powerful that it vaporised everything within half a mile from ground zero, from there it caused a further two miles of total destruction and from that, anything flammable up to three miles went up in flames. Upon seeing the destruction, Robert Oppenheimer famously quoted, "I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds". -
V-J Day - End of WWII
V-J Day or Victory over Japan Day is the day that Japan Surrendered and is the informal end of WWII. It is debatable whether V - J Day was on the 15th or 14th because of the time difference between Japan and America or England. The official end of WWII was on the 2nd of September 1945 when the official signing of the documents occurred on the USS Missouri, officially ending WWII. There is a parade held in its honour every year in Russia, England and America. -
Stalin's Hostile speech
During the Election Campaign for the Supreme Soviet, Joseph Stalin made it clear that Communism was the best form of government and implied that Communism and Capitalism were incompatible. He also went on to confirm that communism had made Russia stronger by providing the statistics from the beginning of WWI and comparing them to the beginning of WWII. -
Speech by Winston Churchill: "Sinews of Peace"
On the fifth of March, Winston Churchill made a speech (which he entitled "Sinews of Peace") to the Westminster College addressing the issues of War and Tyranny. He coined the term "the iron curtain" in reference to the Soviet Union’s domination of most of the Baltic countries and how they secluded themselves from the other Allies. -
Operation Crossroads - Test Able and Baker
Operation Crossroads was the first public nuclear weapons test. They dropped two bombs Able and Baker, both Implosion style nukes. It wasn't the first nuclear weapons test, (the Trinity tests) though it was the first that was publicised. -
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Berlin blockade
The Berlin Blockade was a ploy by the Soviets to restrict the resources that the Allies were able to drop into their section of Berlin by stategicly placing artillery, though the allies still manged to get recources in via planes. -
NATO Forms
NATO or North Atlantic Treaty Organization was an alliance that was formed in the Cold War to protect countries from the threat of the Soviets. Safety in numbers, I guess. -
Mao Zedong Takes Control
Moa Zedong founded the communist party and the People’s Liberation Army, which he used along with support from the Soviets to gain control and overthrow Chiang Kai-Shek. This change of power made China a communist country. -
Korean War Starts
The Korean War was one of the only 'hot' battles of the Cold War. North Korea tried to take over South Korea using Soviet resources. Then the NATO stepped in after North Korea had pushed South Korea back to almost half the size it was. NATO managed to push the forces back to where they started and there is still a 'Tug of War' going on today between North and South Korea. -
Sputnik 1
Sputnik 1 was the first man-made satellite to be launched into a low orbit to gather information about the level of our atmosphere called Ionosphere which consists mainly of charged particles. The launch of Sputnik cause the 'Space Race' between the United States and Russia and thus begun the Space Age. -
Construction of the Berlin Wall begins
The Berlin Wall was a barrier put up seemingly in one night (on the 13th of August). It surrounded the east Soviet side of Berlin and effectively stopped any East Germans moving to the Allies half of Germany. Then on the night of 9th of November, after the Soviets power began to falter all over Europe, the Government Official of East Germany said that anyone can cross at any point in the wall. The wall was then no longer needed and was taken down. -
Cuban Missile Crisis
The Cuban Missile crisis was a 13 day confrontation. After a multitude of take-over attempts by the United States, the Cubans decided that they would build Soviet missiles on Cuba to deter any further attacks. The Soviets helped build Middle-Range and Intermediate-Range missiles until they were photographed by a US U-2 flying over on the fifteenth of October. The US set up a blockade though according to the Soviets it was an act of aggression. Through tense negotiations they came to an agreement -
Apollo 11 - First man on the moon
On the twentieth of July, after a three day flight, the Apollo 11 crew, Neil Armstrong, Edwin (Buzz) Aldrin and Michael Collins reached lunar orbit on the 19th of July. Then on the twentieth Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin landed on the surface of the moon and six hours later Neil Armstrong became the first man on the moon, effectively winning the Space Race for America. -
End of Cold War - Collapse of Soviet Union
It is widely accepted that the reason for the Soviet Union collapsing and the end of the Cold war was the fact that many of the countries that were run by the Soviet Union began revolting and gradually depleted the size of the Russian Empire and then once Russia had lost enough power, they knew that the United States could take them over. After the fall of the Soviet Union appropriate treaties were signed and the Cold War ended.
