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Yalta Conference
This was the World War 2 meeting of the heads of government of the United States, the United Kingdom and the Soviet Union. The meeting was intended to discuss the re-establishment of the nations of war-torn Europe. However when the Cold War started, the Yalta Conference became very controversial. -
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The Cold War
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Truman Doctrine
With this document, President Harry S. Truman established that the United States would provide political, military and economic assistance to all the democratic nations under threat from external and internal forces. The cause for this document was that the British had announced that they would no longer provide assistance to the Greek Government in it's war against the Greek Communist Party. -
The Berlin Airlift
This event happened due to the Soviet forces blockading rail, road and water access to Allied-controlled areas of Berlin. The U.S. and United Kingdom responded to this by airlifting food and fuel to Berlin from Allied airbases. This lasted for about a year until the Soviets finally lifted the blockade. -
North Atlantic Treaty Organization Established
This was created by the United States, Canada, and European nations to provide collective security against the Soviet Union. NATO was the first military alliance the U.S entered into outside of the Western Hemisphere. This pact was aimed at keeping Western Europe safe from Soviet aggression since the U.S. had started to butt heads with the Soviets. NATO was the main U.S. led military alliance throughout the Cold War. -
Warsaw Pact
This was a treaty signed by the Soviet Union and seven other communist states in Eastern Europe. These states include Albania, Romania, Poland, Hungary, East Germany, Czechoslovakia and Bulgaria. This pact was a mutual defense organization that put the Soviets in command of the armed forces of the member states. If any member in this pact was being attacked by outside forces, the other member states must come to the defense of the one being attacked. -
Soviet Union Launches Sputnik
When "Sputnik 1" was launched it frightened and shocked many Americans. They couldn't believe that the Soviets had gotten so far ahead technology wise. Sputnik was a tiny satellite that orbited the earth. After the launch of this, the U.S. was also afraid that they lost the upper hand in the arms race. The U.S. launched the satellite "Explorer l" in 1958 which started the "space race." -
Bay of Pigs Invasion
On this date, around 1,200 exiles, armed with American weapons came upon the shore of the Bay of the Pigs in Cuba. The hope was that this exile force could rally up cuban citizens who would rise up and overthrow Fidel Castro. This invasion went horribly wrong when there was an unexpected counterattack from Castro's military. They sank almost all of the U.S. ships, over 100 attackers were killed an more than 1,100 were captured. -
Berlin Wall is Built
By 1961, Cold War tensions over Berlin were running high. East Germans were not satisfied living under the communist system, West Berlin was a chance to the democratic West. On the night of August 12th, East Germans laid down more than 30 miles of barbed wire through Berlin. East Berlin Citizens were forbidden to pass into West Berlin. On August 15th, they began replacing the barbed wire with concrete. East Germans declared the wall would protect their citizens from capitalist culture. -
Cuban Missile Crisis
Leaders of the U.S. and the Soviet Union took part in a 13 day political and military standoff in October 1962 over the installation of nuclear-armed Soviet missiles in Cuba. Cuba was just 90 miles from U.S. shores. Through TV, President John Kennedy told Americans about the presence of the missiles, explained his decision to enact a naval blockade around Cuba and made it clear the U.S. was prepared to use military forces. This crisis was televised worldwide. -
"Hotline" established between Washington and Moscow
Kennedy became the first U.S. president to have a direct phone line to the Kremlin in Moscow. The “hotline” was designed to facilitate communication between the president and Soviet premier. This hotline was put into place after the almost deadly outcome of the Cuban Missile Crisis. They believed the hotline would help reduce the risk of war occurring by accident or miscalculation. It would allow information to get to eachother much faster than telegrammed letters. -
Sino-Soviet Border Conflict
The Soviet Union and China had a long history of tension and that tension finally came forth in March 1969 along the Ussuri River, which is the border between the USSR and Northeast China. Chinese border guards had been "mooning" the Soviet guards who would then hold portraits up of Chairman Mao. This border harassment escalated into a shooting breakout on March 2nd which resulted in heavy casualties. -
SALT 1
SALT 1 was the first of the Strategic Arms Limitation Talks (SALT) between the U.S.S.R. and the United States. Communist leader Leonid Brezhnev, met with U.S. President Richard Nixon in November of 1969 to come up with a treaty that would stop the tension that the arms race was causing. The negotiations lasted until January of 1972, and by May 26 the treaty was complete. -
U.S. withdraws from Vietnam
Two months after the signing of the Vietnam peace agreement in Paris, the last U.S. combat troops leave Vietnam and the remaining American prisoners of war held in North Vietnam are freed. America had been involved in the Vietnam War for eight years. Bringing all of our troops back made a lot of Americans happy and protests stopped. It also allowed them to focus their troops on the Cold War. -
Star Wars (SDI)
President Reagan proposed the creation of the Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI). This program was designed to make an anti-ballistic missile system in order to prevent missile attacks from other countries, specifically the Soviet Union. This program was in response to nuclear threats from the Soviet Union since Cold War tensions were running high. -
Fall of the Soviet Union
In December of 1991 the Soviet Union dispanded into fifteen different countries. The U.S. could not of been happier because that meant the end of the Cold War. A major reason the Soviet Union dispanded was due to the great number of radical reforms that Soviet president Mikhail Gorbachev had implemented during his six years as the leader of the USSR. The Soviet flag flew over Kremlin, Moscow for it's last time on December 25, 1991.
