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Potsdam Conference
The Potsdam conference was a conference where Stalin, Churchill, and Truman negotiated terms for the end of World War 2 in Potsdam, Germany. -
United Nations Founded
The United Nations was founded on October 24, 1945. The United Nations was an intergovernmental organization to promote international co-operation. It was established after World War 2 so it could prevent another conflict. The reaction by the people was they got happy because they now had an organization that was trying to prevent wars. The United Nations was a big deal because it was an organization that worked after the failure of the League of Nations and created a collective security system. -
Marshall Plan
The Marshall plan was an American initiative to aid Western Europe, in which the U.S. gave them $12 billion in economic support. This was done to help Western European economies after World War 2. Western Europe took this help that the U.S. gave to them and 17 nations received assistance. The Marshall plan was a big deal because after what happened during World War 2 their nations had a lot of damage so the aid really helped fix them. -
Berlin Blockade
The Berlin blockade was one the first major international crisis of the Cold War. Also, the Soviet Union blocked the Western Allies, railway, road and canal access to the sectors of Berlin under Western control. -
NATO Founded
NATO was an intergovernmental military alliance based on the North Atlantic Treaty. Also, NATO's purpose was to safeguard the freedom and security of its members through political and military means. NATO was formed in response to the idea that communism could expand in the future. This was a big deal because this organization was trying to prevent the spread of communism. -
Korean War Starts
The Korean War starts when about 75,000 soldiers from North Korea went across the 38th parallel. The 38th parallel was the boundary between the Democratic people's Republic of Korea to the North and the pro Western Republic of Korea to the South. -
Rosenberg Trial
The Rosenberg Trial was a trial that Rosenberg and his wife Ethel had. During the trial the judge presides over the prosecution of the couple accused of selling nuclear secrets over to the Russians. -
Truman fires MacArthur
President Truman fires MacArthur of the U.S. forces in Korea. The dismissal of MacArthur upset the American public, but Truman remained committed to keeping the conflict in Korea a limited war. MacArthur was fired because he asked for permission to bomb communist China and Truman said no so an argument developed between the two men which caused Truman to fire him. -
Stalin Dies
At age 73 Stalin died. Stalin died because of a ruptured vessel in the brain at 9:50pm. The Soviets were pretty happy about Stalin's death because he would make a lot of people in Russia give up their land just because he said so. Also he caused the death of many of his own people, so people were both happy and sad about his death. His death was a big deal because Stalin was the dictator of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. -
Rosenberg Executed
Rosenberg and his wife Ethel are executed on the electric chair due to them sharing nuclear secrets over to the Russians. The execution marked the dramatic finale of the most controversial espionage case of the Cold War. -
Geneva Conference
The Geneva conference was a conference that took place in Geneva, Switzerland. The conference's purpose was to try and find a way to settle outstanding issues in the Korean peninsula and to talk about restoring peace in Indochina. -
Warsaw Pact Formed
The Warsaw Pact was a political and military alliance between the Soviet Union and several Eastern European countries. The signing of the pact indicated the dominance of Eastern Europe by the Soviets. The Warsaw Pact was in response to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. It was a big deal because it set up a unified military command under Marshall Ivan S. Konev of the Soviet Union. -
McCarthy Dies
McCarthy was an American politician who served as a U.S. senator from the state of the Wisconsin from 1947 to 1957. McCarthy died at Bethesda Naval Hospital at the age of 48 because he had acute hepatitis. His death a big deal because he was the person who created McCarthyism. -
Explorer 1 launched, NASA created
The Explorer 1 was the first U.S. satellite and the first satellite to carry science instruments. This satellite was launched as part of its participation in the International Geophysical Year. -
Cuban Revolution
The Cuban Revolution was an armed revolt conducted by Fidel Castro's 26th of July Movement and its allies against the authoritarian government of the Cuban President. -
Kennedy Elected
John F. Kennedy was elected president at the age of 43. He was the first youngest person to be elected as president in the United States. Also, he was the first Catholic president to be elected as president because the others that had been elected were from different religions. The citizens were happy to have him as a president because he demolished many things that weren't good for the U.S. It was a big deal that he was elected president because with his speeches he convinced many people. -
Bay of Pigs
The Bay of Pigs was a failed military invasion of Cuba undertaken by the CIA. -
Berlin Wall
The Berlin Wall was a barrier that separated Berlin from 1961 to 1989. The Berlin Wall was also built by the German Democratic Republic. The East Germans kept going to the democratic west so the communist German authorities built the wall to stop that. It was a big deal because many families were broken apart. -
Cuban Missile Crisis
The Cuban Missile Crisis was a 13 day confrontation between the United States and the Soviet Union concerning Soviet ballistic missile deployment in Cuba. The Cuban Missile Crisis was also known as the October Crisis, the Caribbean Crisis, or the Missile Scare. This was a big deal because the United States and the Soviet Union came really close to using nuclear weapon to harm each other. -
Kennedy Assassinated
President Kennedy was assassinated as he rode in a motorcade through the plaza in downtown Dallas. Also, in the fall of 1963 Kennedy and his political advisers were preparing for the next presidential campaign.
