-
Little Boy & Fat Man
After the Emperor Hirohito did not call for surrender to President Truman. The US then dropped two bombs on the Japan cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The uranium gun-type atomic bomb, Little Boy, was dropped on Hiroshima. The plutonium implosion type, Fat Man, was dropped on Nagasaki. In turn Emperor Hirohito officially surrendered, this ended World War II. However, the tension between the Soviet Union and the US strengthened. -
The Manhattan Project
The Soviet Union began researching how to make their own atomic bombs in 1943. Stolen plans from The Manhattan Project added information that allowed the USSR to create their own nuclear weapon. In August of 1949, the Soviet Union conducted a successful test of a 20-kiloton bomb. This would create a race between the two countries. -
West Berlin
WWII ended, the Western Allies and the Soviet Union were divided. Berlin's control was divided as it was the country's capital. In June 1948, The Soviet Union cut off all surface traffic to West Berlin. The US would respond with sending over 2.3 million tons of food and supplies to West Berlin until September 1949. -
The Korean War
The US and the USSR agreed to split Korea into two occupation zones, after Japan ceded control of Korea after WWII. The US occupied the south and the USSR occupied the north zone helping Koreans build a communist government. In 1950 North Korea invaded the south, which quickly was overrun. The US stepped in to help thus creating a deeper drift with the USSR. -
The island of Elugelab
The United States test their first hydrogen bomb on the Elugelab island. With the code name 'Ivy Mike, the bomb was detonated. This caused a fireball of 3 miles wide reaching a height of 120,000 feet. Elugelab was vaporized and a mile wide 160 feet deep crater would be left behind. -
Vietnam
Vietnam was considered an important sphere within the US and Soviet Union. In 1956, the USSR backed North Vietnam along with China in creating a communist country while the US became committed to stopping the spread of communism and backed South Vietnam. -
Sputnik
The US and the Soviet Union were racing to achieve technological superiority, each wanting to become the first country to build a rocket capable of going to space. October 1957 the Soviet Union launched Sputnik. This would then embarrass America and also allow them to see they had the technology to develop nuclear weapons. This would begin the start of the infamous Space Race. -
Berlin Wall
By 1961, millions of East Berliners were entering West Berling through an open border. On August 12, Soviet Premier Khrushchev gave the East German government permission to stop the flow of emigrants by closing the border. Created in two weeks the wall was more than 26 miles long, 13 feet tall and covered in barbed wire. -
Big Ivan (Tsar Bomb)
The RDS-220 was the largest nuclear weapon ever built. It was designed as a 100-megaton hydrogen bomb with a yield of 50%. It was air dropped at 34,000 feet over the Mityushikha Bay test site, detonated at 13,000 feet. Still reaching the earth its blast pressure was 300 psi and its mushroom cloud could be seen more than 600 miles away. -
Cuban Missile Crisis
President John F. Kennedy was briefed by the CIA that a spy plane had taken photographs of Soviet nuclear missile launch sites in Cuba. He later would form the Executive Committee to develop a US response. The Cuban Missile Crisis would unfold the next 13 days, which would become the closest call to a nuclear war. -
"The Red Phone"
The Cuban Missile Crisis promoted the US and the USSR to set up a direct line of communication. "The Red Phone" communication link is a tele-typewriter that transmitted written messages. A "Hot Line" reduced the time the two countries took to communicate directly with each other reducing miscommunication. -
War Scare of 1983
The US was once again close to a nuclear war since the Cuban Missile Crisis. NATO was conducting a routine exercise called "Able Archer", which is a procedure for shifting from conventional to nuclear war. The USSR would then mistake this for a first strike by the US, the rest of the information would be considered Classified. -
The Berlin Wall
June 1987, President Ronald Reagan stood at the infamous Brandenburg Gate, part of the Berlin Wall, and said "Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!" Less than 18 months later, the Wall was torn down. It is remembered as an iconic symbol and enduring image of the Cold War. -
The End of The Cold War
The opening of the Berlin Wall caused an uprising every Eastern European nation, excluding Bulgaria, were overthrown by the end of 1989. The Soviet Union was in anarchy and the General Secretary Gorbachev has many overthrow attempts. On December 8, 1991, the Soviet Union collaged. The president of the Russian Republic, Boris, Yeltsin, formed the Commonweath of Independent States. After 45 years the longest war in US history was over.
