-
NATO was formed
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization was formed as a collective defensive treaty to fight the spread of communism, or the attack of any external party. There are 28 member states and it is headquartered in Brussels. -
Joseph Mccarthy starts purge of Communism
This is an attempt by Mccarthy to expose all of the communists in the government in the U.S. Which would add to the fear of the "Red Scare" were people felt that anybody could be somebody from communism that has infiltrated the U.S. way of life. -
US ande UN members fight North Korea
This event would spark more tensions in the Cold War as the Communist backed North Korea would invade the U.S. backed South Korea. U.S. would feel they had to get involved to keep communism from expanding any further after China had recently fell to it. -
Truman fires Macarthur
This would mean the replacement of Macarthur as General of the Army. Ultimately though, this would mean a new leader with a different way of thinking taking over the Army from this point on. -
Mutual security Act
During the Cold War and officially signed right after the Soviets detonate their second nuclear bomb, the U.S. government would sign the Mutual Security Act. This would increase the help that "free people", or democratic countries, would get militarily -
Eisenhower becomes president
Eisenhower, a WWII Supreme Commander, would replace Truman as the President of the U.S. His presidency would fight communism and build a Interstate Highway in the U.S. to transport military much quicker. -
Joseph Stalin dies
This very agressive leader would no longer be leading the Soviet Union. With a new leader, nobody new the direction that the Cold War would take. -
Armistance ends fighting in Korea
This would end the fighting between the Communist backed North Korea and the U.S. backed South Korea. It would also set a boundary for the two countries and a demilitarized zone along that border. -
H-Bomb Castle -Bravo test
would be the first test of the Hydrogen bomb, with the testers being the U.S. Explosion was 15 mega tons and would introduce a new devestating weapon to use during the Cold War. -
KGB Established
The KGB, or Committe for State Security in English,would be established by the Soviet Union. It would be the equivelant of the CIA in the United States. -
Warsaw Pact Formed
The warsaw pact was formed by the Soviet Union and contries under its' influence. It stated that if any outside country should attack any of the countries under the pact, that all other countries shall come to its aid and help defend the country -
Vostok rocket launched first ICBM
This first ICBM would be a R-7 rocket, which would hopefully hit anywhere on the planet, at any launching point. It would help the Soviet's with getting to space and launching probes. -
Sputnik Launched into orbit
This would be the first probe, or satellite, into space, allowing an edge for the Soviet's in the space race. Americans would be freaked out as they felt that when in passed over the U.S., that the Soviet's could be watching their every move. -
Cuba taken over by Fidel Castro
with Fidel becoming leader in Cuba, he would set up the first Communist State in the Western Hemisphere. This would lead to Americans feeling threatened as the communists were closer to home, especially with the cuban missile crisis. -
U-2 incident
An American Spy plane would be shot down over Soviet territory and the pilot captured after U.S. thought the plane couldn't be shot down at 70,000 ft. The pilot would have classified information, and would be eventually negotiated back to U.S. custody. -
JFK elected president
This marked the date that John F. Kennedy replaced Eisenhower as the next president of the United States. And because of it, it would lead to JFK making decisions that played a major part in the Cold War. -
Bay of Pigs invasion
CIA trained and sponsored counter-revolutionaries intended to overthrow the communist Cuban government launched an invasion from Guatamala. The invasion was a failure when a counteroffensive caused the insurgents to surrender, which became an international embarassment for the American Government. -
Berlin Wall constructed
The construction of the Berlin Wall was a physical incaration of the "Iron Curtain". The wall served to prevent any emmigration out of East Berlin and was a perpetual reminder of the dangers in Europe. -
Cuban missile crisis
Arguably the closest the world has been to another World War, the Cuban missile crisis was a period of two weeks when the Soviet Union placed nuclear missiles in Cuba. It was resolved by a mutual agreement where the U.S. took missiles out of Turkey and the USSR withdrew from Cuba. -
US-USSR Hotline
The infamous hotline between the Pentagon and the Kremlin allowed Soviet and American leaders to communicate directly. There was never a "Red Phone" and the hotline wasn't even a telephone, but a telecommunications system. It signified the understanding that both nations wanted to avoid a nuclear confrontation. -
Kennedy Assasinated
The assasination of John F. Kennedy by Lee Harvy Oswald shocked America, and caused Lyndon B. Johnson to be sworn in as the 36th President of the U.S.
A ten month investigation concluded that Oswald acted alone, despite rumors of Soviet, Mafia or even CIA involvement. -
US involvement in Vietnman ramps up
While it is very hard to pinpoint a date or even a year to call the begining of the Vietnam war, August 7th was when Congress passed the Tonkin Gulf Resolution. The Vietnam war continues for a decade, and remains controversial in America. -
China becomes a nuclear power
The People's republic of China struck fear into the western world when they detonated their first nuclear device. While they were never a superpower like USSR was, having another adversary with a WMD stared many Americans. -
Richard Nixon becomes president
A popular vice president and politician, Richard Nixon was elected over the controversial Huber Humphry. He was inagurated on January 20th, 1969. -
Apollo 11 Moon Landing
After years of trying to catch up to the Soviet space program, the United States sucuessfully landed men on the moon, and brought them back again safely, fulfilling Kennedy's goals at the begining of the decade. This moon landing effecivley ended the space race between America and the USSR. -
Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty
The first big treaty to regulate nuclear weapons was the NPT. It has been signed by Soviet Russia and America as well as many other nations involved in the Cold War. Today the NPT is signed by 190 nations. -
Pentagon Papers
A written history of the US involvement in Vietnam between 1945 and 1967 was released by Daniell Ellsberg in 1971. The leak was controversial, because it exposed shortcomings in the integrity of the Johnson administration, released in the New York Times. It damaged the credibility of the American Cold War strategy. -
SALT 1
The Strategic Arms limitations Talks froze the number of ballistic missiles launchers at the levels present at the time, among other restrictions. This continued to open up relations between the Soviet Union and America, and some consider it the begining of Dente. -
Ceasfire between North vietnam and the U.S.
The US withdrew from the decade long Vietnam war with the tail between their legs. America continued to aid the South Vietnameese army, and both sides violated the treaty, but this effectively ended the US as a combattant. -
Nixon Resigns
In the midst of the impeachment process over the watergate affair, President Nixon resigned, allowing Gerald Ford to become president. This put a president in office who was not quite as supportive of the "American exceptionalism" idea. The change was most siginifigant in the newfound distrust of our government, and turned the enemy from abroad to domestic. -
Fall of Saigon
A disaster for the capitalistic world, the hard fought conflict in Vietnam lead to defeat as communist forces overtook the South Vietnameese capitol. Almost all the American support units in Saigon were evacuated shortly before the capture. -
Apollo-Soyuz test project
The last launch of the Apollo program was a symbolic rendezvous of Cosmonaughts and Astronaughts. The mission was a catalyst to help two superpowers pursue a policy of Dente.
