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Yalta conference
Yalta Conference, major World War II conference of the three chief Allied leaders, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Winston Churchill, and Joseph Stalin, which met at Yalta in Crimea to plan the final defeat and occupation of Nazi Germany. Topics discussed included –
Partitioning of Germany and split of Berlin, Fate of Poland, The United Nations, a new organization to replace the failed League of Nations, Free elections in Eastern Europe. -
Potsdam conference
Allied conference of World War II held at Potsdam, a suburb of Berlin. The 3 leaders were Harry Truman, Winston Churchill (or Clement Attlee), and Joseph Stalin. They discussed about the immediate administration of Germany, the demarcation of Poland's boundaries, the occupation of Austria, the definition of the Soviet Union’s role in eastern Europe and its border,and the further prosecution of the war against Japan. Korea was to be divided into Soviet and American zones. -
Vietnam's independance
The Vietminh seize power from Japan in French Indochina.
Ho Chi Minh, proclaims the independent Democratic Republic of Vietnam -
End of WW2
Defeat of Germany and Japan -
Hiroshima and Nagasaki
The United States drops atomic bomb on Hiroshima (20 kiloton bomb 'Little Boy' kills 80,000).
The United States drops atomic bomb on Nagasaki (22 kiloton 'Fat Man' kills 70,000). -
UN
UN Creation and San Francisco conference -
Japan surrender
Japanese emperor Hirohito signs the Instrument of Surrender document aboard the USS MISSOURI -
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Indochina Wars
Indochina wars, 20th-century conflicts in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia, with the principal involvement of France (1946–54) and later the United States (beginning in the 1950s). The wars are often called the French Indochina War and the Vietnam War, or the First and Second Indochina wars. The latter conflict ended in April 1975. -
Beginning of the Cold War
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Marshall Plan
This was a programme of economic aid offered by the United States to any European country. The plan was rejected outright by Stalin and any Eastern Bloc country considering accepting aid was reprimanded severely. Consequently the aid was only given to Western European Countries. -
Containment policy / Truman Doctrine
In 1946, in his “Long Telegram,” the diplomat George Kennan explained this policy. America’s only choice was the “long-term, patient but firm and vigilant containment of Russian expansive tendencies.” Truman agreed: “It must be the policy of the United States,” before Congress in 1947, “to support free peoples who are resisting attempted subjugation…by outside pressures.” This way of thinking would shape American foreign policy for the next four decades. https://bit.ly/2Jz74yH -
Churchill's Iron Curtain Speech
Churchill delivers his ‘Sinews of Peace’ speech which contain the famous phrase “..An iron curtain has descended on Europe.” -
Communist takeover of Czechoslovakia - Coup de Prague
Under pressure from the Czechoslovakian Communist Party, President Eduard Benes allows a communist-dominated government to be organized. Although the Soviet Union did not physically intervene (as it would in 1968), Western observers decried the virtually bloodless communist coup as an example of Soviet expansion into Eastern Europe. https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/communists-take-power-in-czechoslovakia -
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Berlin Blockade
Russia’s response to the merger of the French, USA and UK partitions of Berlin was to cut all road and rail links to that sector. This meant that those living in Western Berlin had no access to food supplies and faced starvation. Food was brought to Western Berliners by US and UK airplanes, an exercise known as the Berlin Airlift. -
Israel independance
Israel Declares Independence -
FRG and GDR
On May 23, the Federal Republic of Germany is established. Not long later, on Oct. 7, the communist German Democratic Republic (GDR) is founded. -
NATO
The NATO Treaty is signed in Washington
The North Atlantic Treaty Organisation formed with member states Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Iceland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, the United Kingdom, and the United States -
Mao Zedong
Communist Mao Zedong takes control of China and establishes the People's Republic of China.
Mao Zedong led communist forces in China through a long revolution beginning in 1927 and ruled the nation’s communist government from its establishment in 1949. Along with Vladimir Lenin and Joseph Stalin, Mao is considered one of the most significant communist figures of the Cold War. -
McCarthyism
Joe McCarthy begins Communist witch hunt and loyalty tests.
https://www.history.com/topics/cold-war/joseph-mccarthy#section_2 -
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Korean War
The Korean war began when North Korea invaded South Korea. Stalin supports North Korea who invade South Korea equipped with Soviet weapons.
The Korean war ended. North Korea remained affiliated with Russia while South Korea was affiliated with the USA. -
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Thaw
Period after Stalin's death -
Stalin's death
Joseph Stalin died at the age of 74. He was succeeded by Nikita Khrushchev. The period after is called THAW -
Geneva Accords
This set of documents ended the French war with the Vietminh and divided Vietnam into North and South states. The communist leader of North Vietnam was Ho Chi Minh while the US friendly south was led by Ngo Dinh Diem. -
KGB and CIA
KGB established
CIA helps overthrow unfriendly regimes in Iran and Guatemala -
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Vietnam War
Protracted conflict that pitted the communist government of North Vietnam and its allies in South Vietnam, against the government of South Vietnam and its principal ally, the United States (1965). Called the “American War” in Vietnam, the war was also part of a larger regional conflict (Indochina wars) and a manifestation of the Cold War. More than 2 million people will perish. Nth Vietnamese forces capture the Sth Vietnamese capital Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City), ending the Vietnam War. -
French defeated by Vietnamese at Dien Bien Phu
Vietnam War timeline -
Warsaw Pact
The Warsaw Pact was formed with member states East Germany, Czechoslovakia, Poland, Hungary, Romania, Albania, Bulgaria, and the Soviet Union. -
Hungarian Revolution
This began as a Hungarian protest against Communist rule in Budapest. The tanks withdrew on 28th October and a new government was formed which quickly moved to introduce democracy, freedom of speech, and freedom of religion. The Soviet tanks returned on 4th November encircling Budapest. The Prime Minister Imre Nagy made a World broadcast that Hungary was under attack from the Soviet Union and calling for aid. Hungary fell to Russia on 10th November 1956. -
Suez crisis
Israeli armed forces pushed into Egypt toward the Suez Canal after Egyptian president Gamal Abdel Nasser (1918-70) nationalized the canal in July of that same year, initiating the Suez Crisis. The attack was heavily criticised by World leaders, especially America because Russia had offered support to Egypt. In the end, the British, French and Israeli governments withdrew their troops in late 1956 and early 1957, UN peacekeepers were sent to establish order. -
Eisenhower doctrine
On January 5, 1957, in response to the increasingly tense situation in the Middle East, President Dwight Eisenhower called for a new and more proactive American policy in the region. The Eisenhower Doctrine, as the proposal soon came to be known, established the Middle East as a Cold War battlefield. -
Space Race
This is where the US and Soviets had an intense rivalry about space and who can get the farthest first. Soviets started with the lead with Sputnik 1, however when the kept competing it actually brought them together and made the International Space Station. -
Nikita Khrushchev 1958-1964
Though he largely pursued a policy of peaceful coexistence with the West, the Cuban Missile Crisis began after he positioned nuclear weapons 90 miles from Florida. At home, he initiated a process of “de-Stalinization” that made Soviet society less repressive. Yet Khrushchev could be authoritarian in his own right, crushing a revolt in Hungary and approving the construction of the Berlin Wall. -
Cuba
Fidel Castro overthrow General Batista after a 3 years guerilla campaign -
U-2 Spy Incident
An international diplomatic crisis erupted in May 1960 when the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) shot down an American U-2 spy plane in Soviet air space and captured its pilot, Francis Gary Powers (1929-77). Confronted with the evidence of his nation’s espionage, President Dwight D. Eisenhower (1890-1969) was forced to admit to the Soviets that the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) had been flying spy missions over the USSR for several years -
John F. Kennedy 1961 - 1963
John F. Kennedy is the 35th President of USA. -
Bay of Pigs Invasion
A force of Cuban exiles, trained by the CIA, aided by the US government attempted to invade Cuba and overthrow the Communist government of Fidel Castro. The attempt failed. -
Berlin Wall
Berlin wall built and borders sealed between East and West Germany. -
Cuban Missile Crisis : Climax of the Cold War
A US spy plane reported sighting the construction of a Soviet nuclear missile base in Cuba. President Kennedy set up a naval blockade and demanded the removal of the missiles. War was averted when the Russians agreed on 28th October to remove the weapons. The United States agreed not to invade Cuba and to remove missiles from Turkey.
Kevin Costner starred in a movie titled "Thirteen Days" Released in 2000, the movie's tagline was "You'll never believe how close we came." https://bit.ly/2FXnXoI -
Nuclear Test Ban Treaty
USSR, USA, GB signed the NTBT agreeing to carry out nuclear tests only underground in order to avoid polluting the atmosphere any further -
JFK Assassination
JF Kennedy was assassinated while on a visit to Dallas. Lee Harvey Oswald was arrested for the murder but there has always been speculation that he was not a lone killer and that there may have been communist or CIA complicity. -
Leonid Brezhnev
Nikita Krushchev removed from office. He was replaced by Leonid Brezhnev. -
Six day War
The Six-Day War was fought between June 5th and June 10th. The Israelis defended the war as a preventative military effort to counter what the Israelis saw as an impending attack by Arab nations that surrounded Israel. The war was against Syria, Jordan and Egypt. After the 1956 Suez Crisis, the United Nations had established a presence in the Middle East, especially at sensitive border areas. -
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Détente
Policy of relaxing tensions between Moscow and the West, USA, it was promoted by Nixon, Kissinger and Brezhnev. It began in 1968 as a core element in Nixon's foreign policy, it ended after the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan and Reagan's election in 1980, with its anti-détente campaign -
Richard Nixon 1969-1974
Richard Nixon is elected the 37th president of USA.
Instead of viewing the world as a hostile, “bi-polar” place, he suggested, to use diplomacy instead of military action to create more poles. To that end, he encouraged the United Nations to recognize the communist Chinese government. He adopted a policy of “détente”–”relaxation”–toward the Soviet Union. -
First Moon Landing
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Ostpolitik
The so-called Ostpolitik, a policy of rapprochement with the Eastern bloc championed by German Chancellor Willy Brandt, begins. His policy of "change through conciliation" bears its first fruits: The Germans and Russians agree to a treaty that renounces the use of force. -
SALT I
Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty signed between the US and USSR. -
Middle East Oil Crisis
The 1973 Oil Crisis began when the countries in the Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries announced an oil embargo "in response to the U. S. decision to re-supply the Israeli military" during the recent Yom Kippur War. The oil embargo lasted until March 1974 -
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Khmer Rouge
The Khmer Rouge was a brutal regime that ruled Cambodia, under the leadership of Marxist dictator Pol Pot, from 1975 to 1979.
Pol Pot’s attempts to create a Cambodian “master race” through social engineering ultimately led to the deaths of more than 2 million people in the Southeast Asian country.Historically, this period—as shown in the film The Killing Fields—has come to be known as the Cambodian Genocide.
https://www.history.com/topics/cold-war/the-khmer-rouge -
Jimmy Carter 1977-1981
Jimmy Carter became the 39th President of the United States. -
Soviet intervention in Afghanistan
Soviet troops invaded Afghanistan and end of the détente period -
SALT II
Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty signed -
Margaret Thatcher Prime Minister
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Ronald Reagan 1981-1989
Ronald Reagan is the 40th President of USA, he is re-elected in 1985. He based his campaign as 'anti-détente' and helped with Gorbatchev speeding the end of the Cold War. -
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New Cold War
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SART
During a summit in Geneva Reagan proposed Strategic Arms Reduction Talks -
Mikhail Gorbachev
Mikhail Gorbachev becomes leader of the Soviet Union initiating a campaign of openness called "glasnost" and restructuring called "perestroika" -
Velvet Revolution
The Velvet Revolution, also known as the Gentle Revolution, was a series of peaceful protests in Czechoslovakia that led to the overthrow of the Communist government. -
Communist fall
June : Poland becomes independent
September : Hungary becomes independent
December : Communist governments fall in Czechoslovakia, Bulgaria, and Rumania.
March 1990 : Lithuania becomes independent -
Tiananmen Square
Anti Communist protests in Tiananmen Square, Beijing, China were crushed by the government. The death count is unknown. -
Fall of the Berlin Wall
The Berlin wall was torn down. On November 9, 1989, the East German government announced the opening of the border between East and West Berlin. German Unity Day is celebrated on October 3rd, though, because (1) East and West Germany were officially rejoined on 3 October 1990 and (2) November 9th is also the anniversary of the first major Nazi pogrom against the Jews (1938). -
German reunification
East and West Germany were reunited as one country. -
End of the Soviet Union
Mikhail Gorbachev resigned. The hammer and sickle flag on the Kremlin was lowered. Russia formally recognised the end of the Soviet Union. -
Rwandan Genocide
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World Trade Organization
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Bosnian Genocide
The Yugoslav army and Bosnian Serb paramilitary attacks against Muslims led by Radko Mladic in Srebrenica are marked by the date here. Bosnian genocide history
