Cold War Timeline

  • Russian Revolution

    Russian Revolution
    The Russian Revolution was originally triggered by the fact that the US wanted to be safe for democracy because they opposed Communism. The February Revolution, October Revolution and the Russian Civil War all caused later tension regarding the sending of US troops to fight against communism
  • Potsdam Conference

    Potsdam Conference
    The Potsdam Conference was a conference with Truman, Churchill and Stalin. The conference was to secure political freedom and democratic governments throughout postwar Europe. Truman and Churchill formed an alliance but Stalin had other plans to dominate.
  • Atomic bomb - Hiroshima/Nagasaki

    Atomic bomb - Hiroshima/Nagasaki
    The atomic bomb was Americas way of telling Japan to stop trying to take down America. The first bomb was dropped on Hiroshima and instantly wiped out thousands of people. The second bomb was dropped because Hirohito did not reply to Truman's request for their surrender.
  • Iron Curtain

    Iron Curtain
    The iron curtain was what Winston Churchill called the barrier that was separating East Europe from West Europe by Stalin. He said in his speech that the iron curtain was the separation of a communist nation from the rest of the continent.
  • Hollywood 10

    Hollywood 10
    The Hollywood 10 were Hollywood stars that were convicted of content for talking about communism and sent to prison.
  • Molotov Plan

    Molotov Plan
    The Molotov Plan was the system created by the Soviet Union to provide aid to rebuild the countries in Eastern Europe that were politically and economically aligned to the Soviet Union.
  • Truman Doctrine

    Truman Doctrine
    The Truman Doctrine represented a dramatic change change in US foreign policy. Truman asked Greece and Turkey's congress for aid and money support.
  • Marshall Plan

    Marshall Plan
    The Marshall Plan was a plan of massive economic assistance that would provide food, machinery, technical support, fuel, and struction equipment to European countries.
  • Berlin Blockade

    Berlin Blockade
    The Berlin Blockade was made to seal off all land access into West Berlin. Stalin blockaded Berlin because he condemned the move as American economic imperialism.
  • Berlin Airlift

    Berlin Airlift
    The Berlin Airlift was to resupply Berlin by the US after Stalin had cut everything off.
  • Alger Hiss Case

    Alger Hiss Case
    The Alger Hiss Case was a spy case that involved Alger Hiss because he was blamed for being a Soviet spy.
  • NATO

    NATO
    NATO was formed to create a military alliance. NATO stands for North Atlantic Treaty Alliance involving North America and many European countries.
  • Soviet Bomb Test

    Soviet Bomb Test
    The Soviet Bomb Test occurred in 1949, when the Soviets dropped their own atomic bomb and China became a communist rule.
  • Korean War

    Korean War
    After WWll, Korea was temporarily divided at the 38th parallel and jointly occupied by the US in the South and Soviets in the North.
  • Rosenburg Trial

    Rosenburg Trial
    The Rosenburgs were accused of having connections with the plot to pass US bomb secrets with the Soviets. They were put to trial and found guilty and were convicted and sentenced to die in the electric chair.
  • Army-McCarthy hearings

    Army-McCarthy hearings
    Joseph McCarthy wad the US senator who said he has multiple communists working for him. This influenced the America society and lead to the creation of McCarthyism. He was later exposed as fraud because Edward R. Murrow attacked his republic tactics through his investigated TV series.
  • Battle of Dien Bien Phu

    Battle of Dien Bien Phu
    The Battle of Dien Bien Phu was the battle of the first Indochina war. It involved the French Union's Expeditionary Corps and the Viet Minh's Communist rule. The battle took place in the valley of Dien Bien Phu.
  • Geneva Conference

    Geneva Conference
    The Geneva Conference was a conference of nations that was held in Geneva, Switzerland. It was to solve issues that resulted from the Korean War.
  • Warsaw Pact

    Warsaw Pact
    The Warsaw Pact was an alliance of communist nations in Eastern Europe.
  • Hungarian Revolution

    Hungarian Revolution
    The Hungarian Revolution was a nation wide revolt against the Hungarian Peoples Republic government and its Soviet imposed policies.
  • U2 Incident

    U2 Incident
    The U2 Incident occurred during the Cold War when a United States U-2 spy plane was shot down in Soviet airspace.
  • Bay of Pigs invasion

    Bay of Pigs invasion
    The Bay of Pigs invasion was the invasion of Cuba at a beach called Bay of Pigs ( Bahía de Cochinos). The invasion was financed and directed by the United Sates of America government.
  • Berlin Wall

    Berlin Wall
    The Berlin Wall was built to separate East Germany from West Germany. After WWll, Berlin was then dived into 4 sectors.
  • Cuban Missile Crisis

    Cuban Missile Crisis
    The Cuban Missile Crisis started with the attempt to place nuclear missiles in Cuba by the Soviet Union. If the Soviets ever launch a strike, US Minutemen Missiles were to destroy every major city in the Soviet Unions. Military advisers told JFK to invade, however, Robert F. Kennedy was secretly meeting with the ambassador of the Soviet Union. JKF then told Robert to tell the ambassador to remove missiles from Cuba or the US will invade.
  • Assassination of Diem

    Assassination of Diem
    Ngô Đình Diem wad the president of South Vietnam who was arrested and assassinated because of how he had treated his people.
  • Assassination of JFK

    Assassination of JFK
    John F. Kennedy was assassinated by Lee Harvey Oswald while riding in a car down a street in Dallas, Texas near the Dealey Plaza.
  • Tonkin Gulf Resolution

    Tonkin Gulf Resolution
    The Tonkin Gulf Resolution was when ships were fired upon by North Vietnam authorizing President Johnson to take any measures he believed were necessary to retaliate and to promote the maintenance of international peace and security in southeast Asia.
  • Operation Rolling Thunder

    Operation Rolling Thunder
    Operation Rolling Thunder was the code name for an American bombing campaign during the Vietnam War. U.S. military aircraft attacked targets throughout North Vietnam.
  • Tet Offensive

    Tet Offensive
    Tet Offensive was one of the largest military campaigns of the Vietnam War.
  • Assassination of MLK

    Assassination of MLK
    Martin Luther King Jr. was a major civil rights leader of the 20th century who assissinated by James Earl Ray.
  • Riots of Democratic convention

    Riots of Democratic convention
    The Riots of Democratic convention included the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. beginning the start of the riots throughout the country.
  • Assassination of RFK

    Assassination of RFK
    Robert F. Kennedy was a presidential candidate who was assassinated by Sirhan Sirhan right after he had won the California presidential primaries.
  • Invasion of Czechoslovakia

    Invasion of Czechoslovakia
    The Invasion of Czechoslovakia was officially known as Operation Danube, was a joint invasion of Czechoslovakia by five Warsaw Pact nations, including the Soviet Union, Bulgaria, Hungary, East Germany and Poland.
  • Election of Nixon

    Election of Nixon
    The United States presidential election of 1968 was the 46th quadrennial presidential election. Former Vice President Richard Nixon, won the election over the Democratic nominee.
  • Kent State

    Kent State
    Students of Kent State, protested the bombing of Cambodia by United States military forces. When the Guardsmen shot and killed four students, the Kent State Shootings became the focal point of a nation deeply divided by the Vietnam War.
  • Nixon visits China

    Nixon visits China
    In 1972, Richard Nixon's visit to China was important because Nixon took the first step toward normalizing relations with the communist People’s Republic of China.
  • Ceasefire in Vietnam

    Ceasefire in Vietnam
    President Richard Nixon of the USA ordered a ceasefire of the aerial bombings in North Vietnam. After Dr. Henry Kissinger had returned to Washington from Paris with a peace proposal, Nixon made the move to drop these bombs.
  • Fall of Saigon

    Fall of Saigon
    The Fall of Saigon was the capture of Saigon, the capital of South Vietnam, by the People's Army of Vietnam and the National Liberation Front of South Vietnam.
  • Reagan elected

    Reagan elected
    In 1980, Nixon stepped down from office and was replaced by Ronald Reagan who won the elections in 1980 to be come president of the United States.
  • SDI announced

    SDI announced
    SDI stands for Strategic Defense Initiative. In 1983, Ronald Reagan proposed the idea to have a missile station in space to take down any foreign missiles, using lasers, that would try to attack, specifically from the Soviet Union. The SDI would be know as Star Wars.
  • Geneva Conference with Gorbachev

    Geneva Conference with Gorbachev
    The Geneva Conference with Gorbachev was when President Reagan and Soviet Union leader Gorbachev met to discuss the SDI. Gorbachev asked that the Plan be erased in exchange for a good relationship between the two leaders. No agreements where met at this time.
  • ‘Tear down this wall’ speech

    ‘Tear down this wall’ speech
    In 1987, President Reagan gave a speech in Berlin, Germany directed toward Soviet leader, Gorbachev to "Tear down" the Berlin wall.
  • Fall of Berlin Wall

    Fall of Berlin Wall
    The Berlin wall was finally taken down in 1989 after Reagan's speech in Berlin. After the Cold War was officially over, the East Berlin Communist Party's leader announced that his people were free to cross to the West part of Germany.