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Yalta Conference
After WWII, Germany was left in ruins and it was decided at the Yalta Conference (sometimes called the Crimea Conference), that the the victorious allies would split it into four parts. One part was given to the United Kingdom, one part to France, one part to the United States and the eastern part was occupied by the USSR. The city of Berlin was also partitioned between the four parties even though it was located in the part occupied by the USSR. -
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Potsdam Conference
The Potsdam Conference was a meeting of the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom and the United States in Potsdam, Germany. They all met to edit and finalise the plans made in the Yalta Conference. -
US drops atomic bombs in Nagasaki and Hiroshima
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Russia enters war with Japan
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Japan surrenders- end of WWII
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Winston Chruchill's Iron Curtain Speech
"From Stettin in the Baltic to Trieste in the Adriatic an "Iron Curtain" has descended across the continent. Behind that line lie all the capitals of the ancient states of Central and Eastern Europe. Warsaw, Berlin, Prague, Vienna, Budapest, Belgrade, Bucharest and Sofia; all these famous cities and the populations around them lie in what I must call the Soviet sphere, and all are subject, in one form or another, not only to Soviet influence but to...control from Moscow." -
Communist takeover in Czechoslovakia
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Marshall Plan
formally European Recovery Program, the U.S.-sponsored program was designed to rehabilitate the economies of 17 western and southern European countries in order to create stable living conditions. The United States feared that the poverty, unemployment, and dislocation of the post-World War II period were reinforcing the appeal of communist parties to voters in western Europe. -
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Berlin Blockade
The Soviet Union blocked the Western Allies' railway, road, and canal access to the sectors of Berlin under Allied control. Their aim was to force the western powers to allow the Soviet zone to start supplying Berlin with food, fuel, and aid, thereby giving the Soviets practical control over the entire city. -
Berlin Airlift begins
In response to the Soviet blockade of land routes into West Berlin, the United States begins a massive airlift of food, water, and medicine to the citizens of the besieged city. For nearly a year, supplies from American planes sustained the over 2 million people in West Berlin. -
NATO created
A treaty to join a total of 12 nations including the United Kingdom and the United States as allies. -
Chairman Mao takes office
Chairman Mao Zedong gains power and converts China into a communist state. -
McCarthy begins Communist witch hunt in US
McCarthy comes forward with a list of suspected communists and sparks a country-wide frenzied panic. Hollywood was especially targeted for fear of their influence on the public. -
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Korean War
Communists and nationalists fight for Korea, eventually splitting the country in half along the 38th parallel, North Korea converted to communism and South Korea democracy. -
Rosenberg Execution
Married couple Julius and Ethel Rosenberg are accused of communism and conspiracy to commit espionage, and despite mixed public opinion, after only 15 days the couple is sentenced to death by electric chair. -
KGB established
The KGB was the security agency of the Soviet Union government which was involved in nearly all aspects of life in the Soviet Union. -
Geneva Conference
Vietnam splits into Communist North Vietnam and Democratic South Vietnam at the 17th parallel -
Warsaw Pact created
A mutual defense treaty between 8 communist States of Central and Eastern Europe in existence during the Cold War. -
Sputnik 1 is launched
In a display of power, the Soviet Union becomes the first to successfully launch a satellite into space. -
Fidel Castro becomes Prime Minister of Cuba
Castro, a Marxist-Leninist, is seen by the US as a communist threat. -
Kitchen Debate
In 1957, the Soviets and Americans had agreed to hold exhibits in each other's countries as a cultural exchange to promote understanding. Vice President Nixon was on hand to open the US exhibit in Moscow. Nixon took Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev on a tour of the exhibit. Nixon and Khrushchev engaged in a friendly impromptu debate about their countries. -
Khrushchev visits US
Nikita Khrushchev becomes the first Soviet head of state to visit the United States. During the next two weeks, although Khrushchev's trip was more of a goodwill visit than an opportunity for significant negotiations, the tour provided some much needed friendliness between the two nations. -
US spy plane shot down in Soviet Union
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JFK elected president
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Bay of Pigs invasion
On April 17, 1961, Kennedy ordered what became known as the "Bay of Pigs Invasion": 1,500 U.S.-trained Cubans, called "Brigade 2506", landed on the island. No U.S. air support was provided. Allen Dulles, director of the CIA, later stated that they thought the president would authorize any action required for success once the troops were on the ground.
By April 19, 1961, the Cuban government had captured or killed the invading exiles, and Kennedy was forced to negotiate for the release of the -
Construction of the Berlin Wall begins
The Berlin Wall seperated the socialist East Berlin from the free West Berlin, effectively stopping emigration and blocking either side from the influence of the other. -
Cuban Missile Crisis
The Cuban missile crisis (also known as the October crisis), was a 14-day confrontation in October 1962 between the US and
communist Cuba (who ere supported by the Soviet Union). The crisis is generally regarded as the moment in which the Cold War came closest to turning into a nuclear conflict -
JFK speech in West Berlin
He proposed an increase of U.S. military funding in preparation on the threat in West Berlin. Saying that an attack on West Berlin was an Attack on America. The proposal was to increase the military defense budget by $3.25 billion dollars and to employ 200 thousand more troops. -
Nuclear Test Ban Treaty
Troubled by the long-term dangers of radioactive contamination and nuclear weapons proliferation, Kennedy and Khrushchev agreed to negotiate a nuclear test ban treaty. -
JFK assassinated
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Gulf of Tonkin incident
The Gulf of Tonkin Incident is the name given to two separate confrontations involving North Vietnam and the United States. The destroyer USS Maddox engaged three North Vietnamese Navy torpedo boats. The outcome of these two incidents was the passage by Congress of the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, which granted the US President the authority to assist any Southeast Asian country whose government was considered to be jeopardized by "communist aggression." -
US forces increased in Vietnam
After several attacks upon them, it was decided that U.S. Air Force bases needed more protection as the South Vietnamese military seemed incapable of providing security. On 8 March 1965, 3,500 U.S. Marines were dispatched to South Vietnam. This marked the beginning of the American ground war. -
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US occupation of Dominican Republic
U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson, convinced of the defeat of the Loyalist forces and fearing the creation of "a second Cuba" on America's doorstep, ordered U.S. forces to restore order. -
USS Pueblo Incident
The USS Pueblo, a Navy intelligence vessel, is engaged in a routine surveillance of the North Korean coast when it is intercepted by North Korean patrol boats. According to U.S. reports, the Pueblo was in international waters almost 16 miles from shore, but the North Koreans turned their guns on the lightly armed vessel and demanded its surrender. The crew aboard were blindfolded and transported into North Korea, where they were charged with spying and imprisoned. -
USSR crushes revolt in Czechoslovakia
In the face of rising anti-Soviet protests in Czechoslovakia, Soviet troops (backed by troops from other Warsaw Pact nations) intervene to crush the protest and restore order. The brutal Soviet action shocked the West and dealt a devastating blow to U.S.-Soviet relations. -
Apollo 11 lands on the moon
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Nixon extends Vietnam War to Cambodia
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SALT I signed
The Strategic Arms Limitation Talks were negotiations between the United States and the Soviet Union that were aimed at curtailing the manufacture of strategic missiles capable of carrying nuclear weapons. -
Paris Peace Accords
The Paris Peace Accords on "Ending the War and Restoring Peace in Vietnam" were signed on 27 January 1973, officially ending direct U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War. A cease-fire was declared across North and South Vietnam. U.S. prisoners of war were released. -
Yom Kippur War
Both the United States and the Soviet Union initiated massive resupply efforts to their respective allies during the war, and this led to a near-confrontation between the two nuclear superpowers. -
President Nixon resigns
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Fall of Saigon
The Fall of Saigon (or Liberation of Saigon) was the capture of Saigon, the capital of South Vietnam, by the People's Army of Vietnam and the National Liberation Front. The event marked the end of the Vietnam War. -
SALT II signed
A continuation of SALT I -
Strategic Defense Initiative
The Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI) was proposed by U.S. President Ronald Reagan to use ground-based and space-based systems to protect the United States from attack by strategic nuclear ballistic missiles. -
US Invasion of Grenada
Operation Urgent Fury, was a United States-led invasion of Grenada that resulted in a U.S. victory within a matter of weeks. Triggered by a bloody military coup which had ousted a four-year revolutionary government, the invasion resulted in a restoration of constitutional government. -
Mikhail Gorbachev rises to power in Soviet Union
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Gorbachev removes missiles from Europe
In an attempt to reduce tension, Gorbachev suspens misslie deployment in Europe. -
Perestroika
The literal meaning of perestroika is "restructuring", referring to the restructuring of the Soviet political and economic system, moving towards more freedom. -
Gorbachev and Reagan discuss nuclear weapons
Gorbachev and Reagan meet at Höfði house in Reykjavík, Iceland, to discuss reducing intermediate-range nuclear weapons in Europe. To the immense surprise of both men's advisers, the two agreed in principle to removing INF systems from Europe and to equal global limits of 100 INF missile warheads. They also essentially agreed in principle to eliminate all nuclear weapons in 10 years (by 1996). -
Gorbachev announces Soviet withdrawal from Afghanistan
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Glasnost
Glasnost was a policy implemented by Gorbachev that called for increased openness and transparency in government institutions and activities in the Soviet Union. -
Sinatra Doctrine
"Sinatra Doctrine" was the name that the Soviet government of Mikhail Gorbachev used jokingly to describe its policy of allowing neighboring Warsaw Pact nations to determine their own internal affairs. -
Hungary begins the switch to democracy
The Parliament adopted a "democracy package", which included trade union pluralism; freedom of association, assembly, and the press; a new electoral law; and a radical revision of the constitution, among others. In a historic session from 16 to 20 October, the parliament adopted legislation providing for multi-party parliamentary elections and a direct presidential election, which took place on March 24, 1990. -
Communist government in Poland deposed
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The Fall of the Berlin Wall
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Communist Party of Czechoslovakia steps down
After the 'Velvet Revolution', the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia announces that it will relinquish power and dismantle the single-party state. -
Bulgarian Communist Party announces multi-party elections
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Romanian Communist leaders executed
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Lithuania becomes independant
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East Germany gains a democratic Prime Minister
After persistant protests and civil unrest towards the communist government, Lothar de Maizière of the East German Christian Democratic Union became Prime Minister on a platform of speedy reunification with the West. -
Germany officially reunited
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Warsaw Pact comes to an end
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Boris Yeltsin elected as Russian President
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Soviet Union dissolves
