Cold War Timeline By Darrell.FORD Feb 4, 1945 Yalta Conference meeting of FDR Churchill Stalin the Big Three Soviet Union has control of Eastern Europe May 8, 1945 Victory in Europe. Germany surrenders to the Red Army in Berlin Aug 7, 1945 The United States drops atomic bomb on Hiroshima Aug 8, 1945 Russia declares war on Japan Aug 9, 1945 The United States drops atomic bomb on Nagasaki Aug 14, 1945 Japanese surrender End of World War II Aug 15, 1945 VJ Day Feb 9, 1946 communism & capitalism were incompatible Mar 5, 1946 an iron curtain has descended on Europe Mar 10, 1946 Truman demands Russia leave Iran Jul 1, 1946 Operation Crossroads with Test Able was the first public demonstration of America's atomic arsenal Jul 25, 1946 underwater nuclear explosion Mar 12, 1947 Truman declares active role in Greek Civil War Nov 2, 1947 U.S. meet 19 Latin American countries and created a security zone around the hemisphere Feb 25, 1948 Communist takeover in Czechoslovakia Mar 2, 1948 Truman's Loyalty Program created to catch Cold War spies Mar 17, 1948 Brussels Pact organized to protect Europe from communism Jun 24, 1948 Berlin Blockade begins lasting 11 months Apr 4, 1949 NATO ratified May 12, 1949 Berlin Blockade ends Aug 29, 1949 Russia tested its first atomic bomb Oct 1, 1949 Communist Mao Zedong takes control of China and establishes the People's Republic of China Dec 1, 1949 Chiang Kai-shek moved to Formosa and created Nationalist government Jan 30, 1950 Truman approved H-bomb development Feb 9, 1950 Joe McCarthy begins Communist witch hunt and loyalty tests Apr 11, 1950 Truman fires MacArthur Jun 24, 1950 Korean War begins.Stalin supports North Korea who invade South Korea equipped with Soviet weapons Jan 12, 1951 Federal Civil Defense Administration established Feb 11, 1951 Truman fires MacArthur Oct 3, 1952 bombs developed by Britain Mar 17, 1953 Nuclear Arms Race atomic test series of 11 explosions at Nevada Test Site Apr 15, 1953 rand report on the vulnerability of U. S. Strategic Air Power Dec 8, 1953 Ike's Atoms for Peace speech Mar 1, 1954 bomb Castle-Bravo test Jun 27, 1954 KGB established CIA helps overthrow unfriendly regimes in Iran and Guatemala May 14, 1955 Warsaw Pact formed Jun 29, 1956 USSR sent tanks into Poznan, Poland, to suppress demonstrations by workers Oct 29, 1956 Suez Crisis began with Israeli attack led by Moshe Dayan against Egyptian forces in the Sinai Nov 4, 1956 USSR sent military aid to Afghanistan Nov 4, 1956 Rebellion put down in Communist Hungary Jul 27, 1957 Korean War ends Aug 26, 1957 Vostok rocket launched 1st ICBM Oct 4, 1957 Sputnik launched into orbit Nov 3, 1957 Sputnik II launched Jan 31, 1958 Explorer I launched Oct 7, 1958 NASA began Mercury project using Atlas rocket Nov 10, 1958 Khrushchev demands withdrawal of troops from Berlin Mar 1, 1960 Soviet Union reveals that U.S. spy plane was shot down over Soviet territory Dec 19, 1960 Cuba openly aligns itself with the Soviet Union and their policies Apr 17, 1961 Bay of Pigs invasion see Cuban Missile Crisis Aug 13, 1961 Berlin border is closed Aug 17, 1961 Construction of Berlin Wall begins Nov 8, 1961 John F. Kennedy elected President of USA Oct 16, 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis Nov 28, 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis Jul 25, 1963 Nuclear Test Ban Treaty ratified Nov 22, 1963 President Kennedy assassinated in Dallas Texas Aug 2, 1964 Gulf of Tonkin incident Oct 16, 1964 Bombs developed by China Apr 24, 1965 U.S. Marines sent to Dominican Republic to fight Communism Jan 23, 1968 North Korea captured U.S.S. Pueblo Jul 20, 1969 Apollo 11 lands on the moon Apr 28, 1970 President Nixon extends Vietnam War to Cambodia Jun 13, 1971 Publication of the Pentagon Papers Feb 21, 1972 President Richard Nixon visits China May 26, 1972 Nixon and Soviet General Secretary Leonid Brezhnev signed the ABM Treaty and interim SALT agreement on May 26, 1972, in Moscow Oct 6, 1972 Egypt and Syria attack Israel Aug 9, 1974 President Nixon resigns Apr 17, 1975 North Vietnam defeats South Vietnam which falls to Communist forces Nov 5, 1976 Soviet and Cuban forces help to install Communist government in Angola Jan 1, 1979 U.S. and China establish diplomatic relations Nov 4, 1979 Iranian Hostage Crisis Dec 25, 1983 U.S. troops invades and overthrows regime in Grenada Jun 15, 1987 Reagan and Gorbachev agree to remove all medium and short- Dec 8, 1987 President Reagan and Gorbachev resolve to remove all intermediate nuclear missiles from Europe Feb 15, 1989 Soviet troops withdraw from Afghanistan May 29, 1990 Boris Yeltsin elected as President of Russia Oct 3, 1990 Germany reunited Jan 1, 1991 End of Soviet Union and the Cold War Ends