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Period: to
The Cold War
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Yalta Conference
The WWII meeting of the heads of government of the United States, the United Kingdom and the Soviet Union. Represented by President Franklin D. Roosevelt, Prime Minister Winston Churchill and Premier Joseph Stalin. The purpose was to discuss Europe's post-war reorganization. -
First Militarized Atomic Weapon Used
US President Truman gives permission for the world's first military use of an atomic weapon agasint the Japanese city of Hiroshima in an attempt to bring the only remaining theatre of war from the Second World War in the Pacific to a close.
August 9th, President Truman gives permission for the world's second and last military use of an atomic weapon agaisnt the Japanese city of Nagasaki in order to try and secure a swift Japanese unconditional surrender. -
Surrender of Japan
Aboard the United States Navy battleship USS Missouri, a surrender ceremony was held. The Japanese government signed the Japanese Instrument of Surrender following the devastating attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. -
The Iron Curtain
Winston Churchill delivers his "Sinews of Peace" address, used the term "iron curtain" in the context of Soviet-dominated Eastern Europe. The phrase refers to the harsh and 'impenetrable' nature of the divide. It describes the physical, ideological and military division of Europe between the western and southern capitalist states and the eastern, Soviet dominated communist nations. -
President Harry Truman announces the Truman Doctrine
President Harry Truman announces the Truman Doctrine starting with the giving of aid to Greece and Turkey in order to prevent them from falling into the Soviet sphere. The Truman Doctrine became the foundation of the president's foreign policy and placed the U.S. in the role of global policeman. Harry S. Truman told Congress that "it must be the policy of the United States to support free people who are resisting attempted subjugation by armed minorities or by outside pressures." -
First Soviet Atomic Test - "First Lightning"
The first Soviet atomic test, code-named "First Lightning". It was a surprise to the United States because they did not expect the Soviet Union to possess nuclear weapon knowledge so soon. Since the U.S. used two atomic bombs on Japan to cause them to surrender during the end of WWII, the awareness of the Soviet Union's possession of nuclear weapons caused Americans to question their own safety. -
Truman Approved H-bomb Development
Harry S Truman publicly announces his decision to support the development of the hydrogen bomb, a weapon theorized to be hundres of times more powerful than the atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Five months prior, the U.S. lost its nuclear supremacy when the Soviet Union tested its first atomic bomb. -
Korean War Begins
North Korean forces surprise the South Korean army (along with a small U.S. force stationed in the country) and head for Seoul. The U.S. responds by pushing a resolution through the U.N.'s Security Council calling for military assistance to South Korea. With the resolution in place, President Harry S. Truman rapidly dispatched U.S. land, air, and sea forces to Korea to engage in what he called a "police action." -
Detonation of H-Bomb
Following Truman's approval of the development of the hydrogen bomb, the world's first thermonuclear weapon was tested in the Pacific. This also follows their short lived supremacy over the Soviet Union, the h-bomb again gives the U.S. a short-lived advantage in the nuclear arms race. -
The Dawn of the Space Age
The Soviet Union launched the first artificial Earth satellite, the start of the space age and triggering the United States and U.S.S.R. space race. The launch opened up new political, military, technological and scientific developments. -
First Living Animal Launched Into Orbit
Sputnik 2, he second ever spacecraft launched into Earth orbit, and the first to carry a living organism other than a microbe, a dog named Laika. Following the launch of their first satellite, the Soviet Union raced to advance in the space race. -
U.S. Launches Countries First Satellite
Following the U.S.S.R.'s first two satellites the previous year, Sputnik 1 and 2, which started the space race between the two nations. -
Fidel Castro Overthrows Cuba
Fidel Castro overthrows the dictatorial Cuban President Fulgenci Batista. Marking the first communist state in the Western Hemisphere and making Americans nervous. -
JFK Sworn in as 35th President
John F. Kennedy was elected the President of the United States of America. -
Bay of Pigs Invasion
After Cuba's overthrow by Fidel Castro, the United States allowed the CIA to sponser a paramilitary group to try and overthrow the revolutionary left-wing government, which failed. -
Construction of Berlin Wall
The communist government of East Germany begins building the Berlin Wall to hinder the tide of refugees attempting to leave East Berlin and to divide East and West Berlin. Causing a short-term crisis in U.S.-Soviet bloc relations, the wall itself came to symbolize the Cold War. -
Cuban Missile Crisis
A confrontation between the United State and the Soviet Union over Soviet ballistic missiles deployed in Cuba. The closest the Cold War came to escalating into a full-scale nuclear war. -
U.S. Sends 1st Combat Troops to S. Vietnam
The first commitment of American combat troops in South Vietnam causing considerable reaction around the world to the new stage of U.S. involvement in the war. -
First Humans to Step on Moon
Americans Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin became the first to step onto the lunar surface. The Soviet Union began the space race but failed to be the first country to land a spacecraft on the moon. -
U.S. and China Establish Diplomatic Relations
The U.S.A. recognizes the People's Republic of China as the sole legal government of China, thereby establishing diplomatic relations with the People's Republic of China. -
Soviet Forces Invade Afghanistan
The Soviet Union invades Afghanistan to oust Hafizullah Amin, resulting in the end of Detente. -
Strategic Defense Initiative Organization
United States President Ronald Reagan proposes Strategic Defense Initiative to use ground and space based systems to protect the U.S. from attack by strategic nuclear ballistic missiles. -
Kremlin Chief Mikhail Gorbachev Begins Reorientation of Soviet Foreign Policy
Mikhail Gorbachev becomes leader of the Soviet Union initiating a campaign of openness and restructuring. -
Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty
The treaty between the United States of America and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics on the elimination of their intermediate-range and shorter-range missiles. The treaty eliminated nuclear and conventional ground-launched ballistic and cruise missiles. -
Berlin Wall Falls
The barrier which rose in 1961 by East Germany, which completely cut off West Berlin from East Berlin. Marks the beginning of German reunification and the nearing end of the Cold War. -
The Warsaw Pact is Dissolved.
Formed in 1955, the collective defense treaty among eight communist states of Central and Eastern Europe. Officials removes the Soviet Union from the map, marking the ending of the Cold War.
