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Yalta Conference
A meeting between leaders of the US, UK, and Soviet Union to discuss the re-establishment of post-war Europe. -
The Iron Curtain
The Iron Curtain symbolized the ideological conflict and physical boundary dividing Europe into two separate area from the end of WWII until the end of the Cold War. This was the Soviet Union's way of blocking itself and its satellite states from open contact with the west and non-Soviet-controlled areas. -
The Marshall Plan
The Marshall Plan was the American initiative to aid Europe, in which the United States gave $13 billion to help rebuild European economies after the end of WWII. -
Berlin Airlift
One of the first major international crises during the Cold War. The Soviet Union blocked off all access into Berlin from their western allies so they used aircrafts to carry supplies into West Berlin. -
NATO forms
The North Atlantic Trade Organization constitutes a system of collective defence whereby its member states agree to mutual defense in response to an attack by any external party. It consists of 28 independent member countries. -
Warsaw Pact
The Warsaw Pact was a collective defense treaty among eight communist states of Central and Eastern Europe in existence during the Cold War. It was in part a Soviet military reaction to West Germany but mostly used by Soviets to try to gain control over military forces in Europe. -
Sputnik
Sputnik was the first artificial Earth satellite. It was a 58 cm diameter polished metal sphere, with four external radio antennas to broadcast radio pulses. The Soviet Union launched it into an elliptical low Earth orbit. -
Vietnam War
A resistance war against America. The U.S. government viewed American involvement in the war as a way to prevent communism taking over South Vietnam. This was part of a wider containment strategy, with the stated aim of stopping the spread of communism. -
U-2 Incident
United States U-2 spy plane is shot down in Soviet airspace. Initially the United States government tried to cover up the plane's purpose and mission, but was forced to admit its military nature when the Soviet government came forward with the plane's intact remains and captured pilot as well as photos of military bases in Russia taken by the aircraft. -
Bay of Pigs
Failed military invasion of Cuba. The United State's Government's CIA intended to overthrow the revolutionary left-wing government of Fidel Castro. They were defeated within 3 days. -
Berlin Wall is Built by East Germany
The wall was built of large concrete walls to separate East and West Berlin and had guards with weapons surrounding it. It served to prevent the massive emigration and defection that marked East Germany and the communist East during the post-World War II period. -
Cuban Missile Crisis
A 13-day confrontation between the United States and the Soviet Union over Soviet ballistic missiles deployed in Cuba. It played out on television worldwide and was the closest the Cold War came to escalating into a full-scale nuclear war. -
US and China Establish Diplomatic Relations
On this day, the United States changed its diplomatic recognition of Chinese government from Taiwan to China because they began to recognize The People's Republic of China as China's government. To this day, the relations between US and China remain with little open conflict. -
Fall of Berlin Wall
On this day the head of the East German Communist Party announced that citizens could cross the border whenever they pleased. That night, ecstatic crowds swarmed the wall. Some crossed freely into West Berlin, while others brought hammers and picks and began to chip away at the wall itself. To this day, the Berlin Wall remains one of the most powerful and enduring symbols of the Cold War. -
Dissolution of Soviet Union
The 8th and last Soviet leader declared his office extinct and resigned and acknowledge the existence of the 12 remaining Soviet republics. This marked an end to the Cold War.
