The Cold War (1945-1991) By AlexCalv Period: Jan 1, 1940 to Dec 31, 1949 1940s Jan 1, 1943 Poland Becomes Communist Feb 1, 1945 Yalta Conference May 7, 1945 Germany Surrenders to Allies WW2 Jul 17, 1945 Potsdam Conference Aug 6, 1945 US Drops Atomic Bombs on Japan Sep 2, 1945 Japan Surrenders to Allies WW2 Mar 5, 1946 Iron Curtain Speech Jan 1, 1947 Truman Doctrine Apr 3, 1948 Marshall Plan Apr 4, 1949 NATO Organized May 12, 1949 Berlin blockade by USSR and US airlift Period: Jan 1, 1950 to Dec 31, 1959 1950s Feb 9, 1950 McCarthyism Jun 25, 1950 Korean War Begins Jul 26, 1950 US Involvement in Vietnam Jan 20, 1953 Dwight Eisenhower elected for POTUS Mar 5, 1953 Joseph Stalin Dies Jun 19, 1953 Rosenberg Spy Execution Jul 27, 1953 Korean War Ends Sep 12, 1953 Nikita Khrushchev elected as Soviet Leader Apr 26, 1954 Vietnam Splits at 17th Parallel Sep 1, 1954 SEATO Created May 14, 1955 Warsaw Pact Jan 5, 1957 Eisenhower Doctrine Oct 4, 1957 USSR Sputnik in Orbit Jul 1, 1959 Fidel Castro Takes Over Cuba Jul 24, 1959 Nikita Khrushchev and Richard Nixon - Kitchen Debate Period: Jan 1, 1960 to Dec 31, 1969 1960s Apr 9, 1960 US U2 Spy Plane Shot Down Over Russia May 7, 1960 Leonid Brezhnev becomes leader of USSR Nov 8, 1960 John F. Kennedy Elected as POTUS Apr 12, 1961 USSR Yuri Gagarin Orbits Earth Apr 17, 1961 Bay of Pigs Invasion Aug 13, 1961 Berlin, Germany Border Closed Aug 13, 1961 Berlin Wall Construction Oct 16, 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis Jun 26, 1963 "Ich Bin Ein Berliner" JFK Speech Nov 22, 1963 John F. Kennedy Assassinated Aug 2, 1964 Gulf of Tonkin Incident (Start of Vietnam War) Jan 30, 1968 Tet Offensive in Vietnam Jan 20, 1969 Richard M. Nixon Elected as POTUS Jul 20, 1969 US Puts First Man On Moon Period: Jan 1, 1970 to Dec 31, 1979 1970s Feb 21, 1972 Richard Nixon Visits China Jan 28, 1973 Ceasefire in Vietnam Aug 9, 1974 Richard Nixon Resigns/Gerald Ford Becomes POTUS Apr 30, 1975 End of Vietnam War Jan 20, 1977 Jimmy Carter Elected as POTUS Oct 16, 1978 Cardinal Karol Wojtyla Elected as Pope of the Holy Roman Catholic Church Nov 4, 1979 Iranian Hostage Crisis Dec 24, 1979 USSR Invades Afghanistan Period: Jan 1, 1980 to Dec 31, 1989 1980s Jul 1, 1980 US Boycotts 1980 Summer Olympics Jan 20, 1981 Ronald W. Reagan Elected as POTUS Nov 10, 1982 Leonid Brezhnev Dies Mar 11, 1985 Mikhail Gorbachev Becomes Leader of Soviet Union Jun 12, 1987 Ronald Reagan Delivers Berlin Wall Speech Jan 1, 1989 Poland Becomes Independent Jan 20, 1989 George H.W. Bush Elected as POTUS Apr 15, 1989 Tiananmen Square in China May 15, 1989 Russian Troops Withdraw from Afghanistan Nov 9, 1989 Berlin Wall Falls Period: Jan 1, 1990 to Dec 31, 1999 1990s Oct 3, 1990 East and West Germany Reunite Mar 31, 1991 Warsaw Pact Ends Jul 10, 1991 Boris Yeltsin Elected as President of Russia Dec 8, 1991 Soviet Union Dissolves / Cold War Ends Dec 25, 1991 Mikhail Gorbachev Resigns