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President Truman promised to help any country facing a Communist takeover. -
This was a program 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. -
The USSR set up Cominform (Communist Information Bureau) which was the Information Bureau of the Communist and Workers’ Parties responsible for the creation of the Eastern bloc. -
The French, USA and UK partitions of Germany were merged to form West Germany -
After World War II Germany and the Soviet Union blocked the Western Allies' railway, road, and canal access to the sectors of Berlin under Western control. -
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. -
The North Atlantic Treaty Organisation was formed with member states Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Iceland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, the United Kingdom, and the United States -
The Yangtze River Crossing campaign (Chinese: 渡江战役) was a military campaign launched by the People's Liberation Army to cross the Yangtze River and capture Nanjing, the capital of the Nationalist government of the Kuomintang, in the final stage of the Chinese Civil War -
Russia ended the blockade of Berlin. -
The Korean War began when North Korea invaded South Korea. -
Harry Tyrman orders troops into Korea to prevent the spread of communism. -
Troops from all the united nation countries arrive in Korea. -
General Douglas MacArthur advocates the use of atom bombs in Korean War. -
UNC forces broke out of the Busan Perimeter, recaptured Seoul, and advanced north into North Korea. -
Julius Rosenberg and Ethel Rosenberg were found guilty of passing atomic secrets to the Soviets. -
Winston Churchill announces that Britain has an atom bomb -
Fulgencio Batista overthrows the Cuban government of President Prio Socarras. -
Matyas Rakosi become prime minister of Hungary -
The 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. -
Joseph Stalin died at the age of 74. He was succeeded by Nikita Khrushchev. -
De-Stalinization meant an end to the role of large-scale forced labour in the economy. The process of freeing Gulag prisoners was started by Lavrentiy Beria. He was soon removed from power, arrested on 26 June 1953, and executed on 24 December 1953. Khrushchev emerged as the most powerful Soviet politician. -
The Korean war ended. North Korea remained affiliated with Russia while South Korea was affiliated with the USA. -
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. -
France agrees to leave North Vietnam. -
South-East Asian Defence Treaty signed in Manila. -
The Warsaw Pact was formed with member states East Germany, Czechoslovakia, Poland, Hungary, Romania, Albania, Bulgaria, and the Soviet Union. -
Diplomatic relations were restored between West Germany and the Soviet Union. -
Ngo Dinh Diem replaces Bo Dai as leader of South Vietnam. -
Nikita Khrushchev denounces former leader Joseph Stalin. -
This began as a Hungarian protest against Communist rule in Budapest. It quickly gathered momentum and on 24th October Soviet tanks entered 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. -
Following military bombardment by Israeli forces, a joint British and French force invaded Egypt to regain control of the Suez Canal nationalized by the Egyptian leader Nasser. World leaders, especially America, heavily criticized the attack because Russia had offered support to Egypt. The British and French were forced to withdraw and a UN peacekeeping force was sent to establish order. -
The Soviet Union appeals to the United States and Britain to cease nuclear testing. -
Britain carries out its first hydrogen bomb test over Christmas Island. -
Milovan Djilas is imprisoned in Yugoslavia for spreading hostile propaganda. -
Imre Nagy, former prime minister of Hungary, is executed after a secret trial. -
Nikita Khrushchev meets Mao Zedong in China and call for an end of all nuclear testing. -
The Soviet Union demands that all foreign troops should be withdrawn from Berlin. -
Fidel Castro and his victorious troops enter Havana. -
Member states vote again against the admission of China to the United Nations. -
The United Nations decided not to intervene in the independence struggle in Algeria. -
American U-2 spy plane shot over the Soviet Union. -
Nikita Khrushchev walks out of the summit meeting in Paris because of the U-2 incident. -
National Liberation Army (Vietcong) is established in Vietnam. -
Bay of Pigs invasion of Cuba. This was a huge failure. -
United States promises to support South Vietnam against communist aggression. -
The first American troops arrive in South Vietnam. -
Soviet Union agrees to send arms to Cuba -
Ben Bella is elected prime minister of Algeria. -
John F. Kennedy announces that the Soviet Union has installed a missile base on Cuba. JFK orders a blockade of Cuba -
Nikita Khrushchev and John Kennedy agree to establish a hot line to use in a Cold War crisis. -
Soviet Union, United States and Britain sign a nuclear test-ban treaty. -
John F. Kennedy, the 35th president of the United States of America is assassinated in Dallas, Texas. -
United States aircraft bomb North Vietnam for the first time. -
China explodes its first atomic bomb. -
Zhou Enlai visits the Soviet Union. -
Australia decides to send troops to South Vietnam. -
The Soviet Union admits to supplying arms to North Vietnam. -
Ho Chi Minh rejects peace talks on the Vietnam War offered by Lyndon B. Johnson.