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Timeline of the Cold War1945Defeat of Germany and JapanFebruary 4-11:Yalta Conference meeting of FDR, Churchill, Stalin - the 'Big Three'Soviet Union has control of Eastern Europe. The Cold War BeginsMay 8:VE Day - Victory in Europe. Germany surrenders to the Red Army in BerlinJuly:Potsdam Conference - Germany was officially partitioned into four zones ofoccupation.August 6:The United States drops atomic bomb on Hiroshima (20 kiloton bomb 'LittleBoy' kills 80,000)August 8:Russia declares war on JapanAugust 9:The United States drops atomic bomb on Nagasaki (22 kiloton 'Fat Man' kills70,000)August 14 :Japanese surrender End of World War IIAugust 15:Emperor surrender broadcast - VJ Day1946February 9:Stalin hostile speech - communism & capitalism were incompatibleMarch 5 :"Sinews of Peace" Iron Curtain Speech by Winston Churchill - "an "iron curtain"has descended on Europe"March 10:Truman demands Russia leave IranJuly 1:Operation Crossroads with Test Able was the first public demonstration ofAmerica's atomic arsenalJuly 25:America's Test Baker - underwater explosion1947ContainmentMarch 12 :Truman Doctrine - Truman declares active role in Greek Civil WarJune :Marshall Plan is announced setting a precedent for helping countries combatpoverty, disease and malnutritionSeptember 2:Rio Pact - U.S. meet 19 Latin American countries and created a security zonearound the hemisphere
1948ContainmentFebruary 25 :Communist takeover in CzechoslovakiaMarch 2:Truman's Loyalty Program created to catch Cold War spiesMarch 17:Brussels Pact organized to protect Europe from communismJune 24 :Berlin Blockade begins lasting 11 months1949ContainmentApril 4 :NATO ratifiedMay 12 :Berlin Blockade ends29 August :Russia tested its first atomic bombOctober 1 :Communist Mao Zedong takes control of China and establishes the People'sRepublic of ChinaDecember 1 -Chiang Kai-shek moved to Formosa and created Nationalist government1950January 30 -Truman approved H-bomb developmentFebruary :Joe McCarthy begins Communist witch hunt and loyalty testsJune 24:Korean War begins. Stalin supports North Korea who invade South Koreaequipped with Soviet weapons1951January 12:Federal Civil Defense Administration establishedApril 11 :Truman fires MacArthur1952A-bombs developed by Britain1953March 17-June 4Nuclear Arms Race atomic test series of 11 explosions at Nevada Test SiteApril 15:RAND report on the "Vulnerability of U. S. Strategic Air Power"July :Korean War endsDecember 8:Ike's Atoms for Peace speech
1954March 1:H-bomb Castle-Bravo testMarch :KGB establishedCIA helps overthrow unfriendly regimes in Iran and GuatemalaJuly :Vietnam split at 17th parallel1955May :Warsaw Pact formed1956June 29:USSR sent tanks into Poznan, Poland, to suppress demonstrations by workersSeptember 4:USSR sent military aid to AfghanistanOctober - November : Rebellion put down in Communist Hungary.October 29:Suez Crisis began with Israeli attack led by Moshe Dayan against Egyptian forcesin the SinaiEgypt took control of Suez Canal1957August 26:Vostok rocket launched 1st ICBMOctober 4 :Sputnik launched into orbitNovember 3:Sputnik II launched - Laika died in space1958January 31:Explorer I launchedJuly :NASA began Mercury project using Atlas rocketNovember :Khrushchev demands withdrawal of troops from Berlin1959January :Cuba taken over by Fidel CastroSeptember :Khrushchev visits United States; The Kitchen Debate1960A-bombs developed by FranceMay :Soviet Union reveals that U.S. spy plane was shot down over Soviet territory
November :John F. Kennedy elected President of USADecember 19:Cuba openly aligns itself with the Soviet Union and their policies.1961April :Bay of Pigs invasion see Cuban Missile Crisis TimelineAugust 13 :Berlin border is closedAugust 17 :Construction of Berlin Wall begins1962U.S. involvement in Vietnam increasesOctober :Cuban Missile Crisis1963July :Nuclear Test Ban Treaty ratifiedNovember 22:President Kennedy assassinated in Dallas, Texas1964August :Gulf of Tonkin incidentOctober:A-bombs developed by China1965April :U.S. Marines sent to Dominican Republic to fight CommunismJuly :Announcement of dispatching of 200,000 U.S. troops to Vietnam1966B-52s Bomb North Vietnam1967The US Secretary of Defence Robert McNamara admits that the US bombing raids had failed to meettheir objectives1968January :North Korea captured U.S.S. PuebloPresident Johnson does not run for the presidency and Richard Nixon Elected President of the USAAugust :1969Soviet Red Army crush Czechoslovakian revolt
July 20 :Apollo 11 lands on the moon1970April :President Nixon extends Vietnam War to Cambodia1971Publication of the Pentagon Papers1972February:President Richard Nixon visits ChinaJuly :SALT I signed1973January :Cease fire in Vietnam between North Vietnam and United StatesSeptember :U.S. supported coup overthrows Chilean governmentOctober :Egypt and Syria attack Israel; Egypt requests Soviet aid1974August :President Nixon resigns1975April 17:North Vietnam defeats South Vietnam which falls to Communist forces1976February:Soviet and Cuban forces help to install Communist government in Angola.1979January:U.S. and China establish diplomatic relations.July :SALT II signedNovember :Shah of Iran overthrown; Iranian Hostage CrisisDecember:Soviet forces invade Afghanistan1980August:Polish shipyard workers strike Solidarity Union formed. Strike leader LechWalesa is elected as the head of Solidarity1983President Reagan proposes Strategic Defense InitiativeOctober :U.S. troops invades and overthrows regime in Grenada
1985Mikhail Gorbachev becomes leader of the Soviet Union initiating a campaign of openness called"glasnost" and restructuring called "perestroika"1986October :President Reagan and Gorbachev resolve to remove all intermediate nuclear missilesfrom Europe1987October :Reagan and Gorbachev agree to remove all medium and short-range nuclear missiles1989January :Soviet troops withdraw from AfghanistanJune :Poland becomes independentSeptember :Hungary becomes independentNovember :Berlin Wall is demolished and East Germany allows unrestricted migration toWest GermanyDecember :Communist governments fall in Czechoslovakia, Bulgaria, and RumaniaDecline of the Soviet empire1990March :Lithuania becomes independentMay 29 :Boris Yeltsin elected as President of RussiaOctober 3:Germany reunited1991August :End of Soviet Union and the Cold War EndsSource from: cold-war-timeline.htm
January : Cuba taken over by Fidel Castro September : Khrushchev visits United States; The Kitchen Debate 1960 A-bombs developed by France May : Soviet Union reveals that U.S. spy plane was shot down over Soviet territory . November : John F. Kennedy elected President of USA December 19: Cuba openly aligns itself with the Soviet Union and their policies. 1961 April : Bay of Pigs invasion see .
