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Cold war begins
Yalta Conference meeting of FDR, Churchill, Stalin - the 'Big Three'. Soviet Union has control of Eastern Europe. The Cold War Begins -
Potsdam Conference
Germany was officially partitioned into four zones of
occupation. -
VE Day
Victory in Europe. Germany surrenders to the Red Army in Berlin -
Russia declares war on Japan
Russia refused and demanded the establishment of a neutral buffer zone between Russia and Japan in Korea, north of the 39th parallel. The Imperial Japanese Government perceived this as obstructing their plans for expansion into mainland Asia and chose to go to war. -
U.S. uses atomic bombs to end war
On August 6 and 9, 1945, the US launched two atomic bombs on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, respectively.Emperor Hirohito was finally persuaded to submit to the Allies after the two atomic bombings and the Soviet Union's declaration of war on Japan, essentially ending World War II. -
U.S. bombing Japan
On August 6 and 9, 1945, respectively, the US unleashed two atomic bombs on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Emperor Hirohito was finally persuaded to submit to the Allies after the two atomic bombings and the Soviet Union's declaration of war on Japan, essentially ending World War II. -
Stalin hostile speech
communism & capitalism were incompatible -
Truman demands Russia leave Iran
The United States exerted intense pressure on the Soviet Union in stages to force the withdrawal of the Red Army from Iran and reduce Soviet influence. -
Marshall plan
Marshall Plan is announced setting a precedent for helping countries combat, poverty, disease and malnutrition -
Truman Doctrine
The Truman Doctrine is an American foreign policy that pledges American "support for democracies against authoritarian threats." The doctrine originated with the primary goal of containing Soviet geopolitical expansion during the Cold War. -
Rio Pact
U.S. meet 19 Latin American countries and created a security zone around the hemisphere -
Berlin Blockade and Airlift
The Western Allies and the Soviet Union shared authority of Germany after World War II. The USSR attempted to take over the entire city in June 1948 by stopping all surface traffic to West Berlin.A daily airlift of food and supplies into the beleaguered city was the United States' response. -
Truman's Loyalty Program
Several advisors, including Attorney General Tom Clark, urged Truman to form a loyalty program to safeguard against communist infiltration in the government. -
USSR first nuclear weapon
The Soviet Union had begun research on its own atomic bomb program in 1943.In August of 1949, it conducted a successful test of a 20-kiloton bomb years ahead of American predictions, effectively creating the nuclear arms race between the two super-powers. -
Korean War
Japan began ruling Korea in 1910, but ceded control of Korea when it surrendered at the end of WWII. The south was unprepared for the aggression and was immediately overrun.Eventually, the US stepped in to help the South Korean military, essentially creating a proxy war between the Soviet Union and the United States. No final peace treaty was ever signed to end the Korean War. -
Truman approved H-bomb development
Truman supported the development of the hydrogen bomb because the Soviet Union had exploded a fission bomb earlier in the year. Previously, the US had been the world's only nuclear power. Truman felt that the possession of a hydrogen bomb would restore America's superiority. -
Federal Civil Defense Administration established
The agency distributed posters, programs, and information about communism and the threat of communist attacks. -
U.S. tests 1st hydrogen bomb
On November 1, 1952 at 7:15am United States tested its first thermonuclear device (hydrogen bomb) on the island of Elugelab in the Eniwetok Atoll in the Marshall Islands about 3,000 miles west of Hawaii. The yield of the explosion was a little over 10 megatons, more than 700 times larger than the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima. -
Ike's Atoms for Peace speech
In his Atoms for Peace speech before the United Nations General Assembly on December 8, 1953, President Eisenhower sought to solve this terrible problem by suggesting a means to transform the atom from a scourge into a benefit for mankind. -
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vietnam and South Vietnam.The United States entered Vietnam with the principal purpose of preventing a communist takeover of the region. -
Warsaw Pact formed
The Warsaw Pact, formally the Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Mutual Assistance, was a collective defense treaty signed in Warsaw, Poland, between the Soviet Union and seven other Eastern Bloc socialist republics of Central and Eastern Europe in May 1955, during the Cold War. -
Space Race
The US and the USSR each wanted to achieve technological superiority over the other. Included in that struggle was the race to become the first country to build a rocket capable of launching an object into space. In October of 1957, the Soviets launched Sputnik, the world’s first artificial satellite.Both countries then began a race to the moon. -
USSR TESTS THE LARGEST NUCLEAR WEAPON EVER BUILT
The Soviets and as Tsar Bomba in the US, RDS-220 was the largest nuclear weapon ever built. Designed as a 100 megaton hydrogen bomb, its yield was reduced by 50% when it was tested. The device was air-dropped from an altitude just above 34,000 feet over the Mityushikha Bay test site on Novaya Zemlya Island on October 30, 1961. -
John F. Kennedy elected President of USA
The 1960 United States presidential election was the 44th quadrennial presidential election. It was held on Tuesday, November 8, 1960. In a closely contested election, Democratic Senator John F. Kennedy defeated the incumbent Vice President Richard Nixon, the Republican nominee. -
BERLIN WALL DIVIDES GERMANY
The Berlin Wall was built by the German Democratic Republic during the Cold War to prevent its population from escaping Soviet-controlled East Berlin to West Berlin, which was controlled by the major Western Allies. -
Bay of Pigs invasion
The Bay of Pigs Invasion was a failed military landing operation on the southwestern coast of Cuba in 1961 by Cuban exiles, covertly financed and directed by the United States. It was aimed at overthrowing Fidel Castro's communist government. -
Cuban missile crisis
The Cuban Missile Crisis of October 1962 was a direct and dangerous confrontation between the United States and the Soviet Union during the Cold War and was the moment when the two superpowers came closest to nuclear conflict. -
TITAN II ICBMS DEPLOYED
Carrying the largest nuclear warhead ever deployed on an ICBM by the United States, and with a range of 5,500 miles, the Titan II was the ultimate liquid-propellant ICBM. Fifty-four Titan II ICBMs were deployed in groups of eighteen around three Air Force Bases, with the first units coming on alert in early 1963 -
“HOT LINE” ESTABLISHED BETWEEN US & USSR
The Cuban Missile Crisis prompted the US and USSR to set up a direct line of communication between the two countries to enable rapid and direct communication between them in crisis situations which might impact the security of either country -
President Kennedy assassinated in Dallas, Texas
President John F. Kennedy was assassinated as he rode in a motorcade through Dealey Plaza in downtown Dallas, Texas. -
Gulf of Tonkin incident
The Gulf of Tonkin incident was an international confrontation that led to the United States engaging more directly in the Vietnam War. -
U.S. Marines sent to Dominican Republic to fight Communism
On April 28, 1965, President Lyndon B. Johnson ordered troops into the Dominican Republic through “Operation Power Pack” to protect American lives and property in the Dominican Republic -
North 55 captured U.S.S. Pueblo
North Korea captured the USS Pueblo, an unarmed US Navy intelligence vessel, in international waters. The North Koreans held the 83 man crew hostage for 11 torturous months. -
Apollo 11 lands on the moon
Apollo 11 was the American spaceflight that first landed humans on the Moon. Commander Neil Armstrong and lunar module pilot Buzz Aldrin landed the Apollo Lunar Module Eagle on July 20, 1969 -
B-52s Bomb North Vietnam
he United States against targets in North Vietnam from December 18 to December 29, 1972, as part of the Vietnam War. -
SALT I signed
After a period of negotiations, the first treaty, known as SALT I, was signed on May 26, 1972. By signing SALT I, the US and the USSR agreed to a limited number of ballistic missiles, as well as a limited number of missile deployment sites. -
President Nixon resigns
Nixon finalized his decision to resign. The president's speechwriter Raymond K. Price wrote the resignation speech. It was delivered on the evening of August 8, 1974 from the Oval Office and was carried live on radio and television. -
U.S. and China establish diplomatic relations.
On January 1, 1979, the United States recognized the PRC and established diplomatic relations with it as the sole legitimate government of China. -
SALT II signed
On June 17, 1979, Carter and Brezhnev signed the SALT II Treaty in Vienna. SALT II limited the total of both nations' nuclear forces to 2,250 delivery vehicles and placed a variety of other restrictions on deployed strategic nuclear forces -
ABLE ARCHER AND THE WAR SCARE
The world may have come closer to nuclear war than at any time since the Cuban Missile Crisis. NATO was conducting what it considered a routine exercise named Able Archer, a simulation designed to train and test the procedures for shifting from conventional to nuclear war. -
President Reagan proposes Strategic Defense Initiative
eagan called upon American scientists and engineers to develop a system that would render nuclear weapons obsolete. -
BERLIN WALL COMES DOWN
In June of 1987, US President Ronald Reagan stood at the infamous Brandenburg Gate, part of the Berlin Wall, and challenged the Soviet General Secretary: “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!” -
LAST TITAN II COMES OFF ALERT
On May 5, 1987, the last active Titan II ICBM came off alert at Launch Complex 373-8, Little Rock AFB, Arkansas. This day marked the end of the operational life of the largest land based missile in the US arsenal. -
Soviet troops withdraw from Afghanistan
The final and complete withdrawal of the 40th Army (Soviet Union) from Afghanistan began on 15 May 1988 and ended on 15 February 1989, under the leadership of Colonel-General Boris Gromov. -
Poland and Hungary become independent
For the hardline conservatives ruling Poland and Hungary, the transition from communism to liberal democracy was a mirage. -
Boris Yeltsin elected as President of Russia
A referendum held on 17 March 1991 approved the creation of the post of president of Russia; Yeltsin was elected Russia's first president in a presidential election held on 12 June 1991. -
Germany reunited
German reunification was the process of re-establishing Germany as a single full sovereign state, which took place between 9 November 1989 and 15 March 1991. -
End of Soviet Union and the Cold War Ends
On December 25, 1991, the Soviet hammer and sickle flag lowered for the last time over the Kremlin, thereafter replaced by the Russian tricolor. Earlier in the day, Mikhail Gorbachev resigned his post as president of the Soviet Union, leaving Boris Yeltsin as president of the newly independent Russian state.