Cold War Timeline
 

Cold War Timeline

Cold War Timeline
The dates and events leading to the Cold War
Communist witch hunt and loyalty tests
Nuclear Arms Race & atomic tests
NASA and the space race
Construction and destruction of the Berlin Wall

For comprehensive facts and information about major events refer to the Cold War

History & Timelines Index
 
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  1945Defeat of Germany and Japan

February 4-11: Yalta Conference meeting of FDR, Churchill, Stalin - the 'Big Three'
Soviet Union has control of Eastern Europe. The Cold War Begins

May 8: VE Day - Victory in Europe. Germany surrenders to the Red Army in Berlin

July: Potsdam Conference - Germany was officially partitioned into four zones of occupation. 

August 6: The United States drops atomic bomb on Hiroshima (20 kiloton bomb 'Little Boy' kills 80,000)

August 8: Russia declares war on Japan

August 9: The United States drops atomic bomb on Nagasaki (22 kiloton 'Fat Man' kills 70,000)

August 14 : Japanese surrender End of World War II

August 15: Emperor surrender broadcast - VJ Day
 
     
  1946February 9: Stalin hostile speech - communism & capitalism were incompatible

March 5 : "Sinews of Peace" Iron Curtain Speech by Winston Churchill - "an "iron curtain" has descended on Europe"

March 10 - Truman demands Russia leave Iran

July 1: Operation Crossroads with Test Able was the first public demonstration of America's atomic arsenal

July 25: America's Test Baker - underwater explosion
 
     
  1947Containment

March 12 : Truman Doctrine - Truman declares active role in Greek Civil War

June : Marshall Plan is announced setting a precedent for helping countries combat poverty, disease and malnutrition

September 2 - Rio Pact - U.S. meet 19 Latin American countries and created a security zone around the hemisphere
 
     
  1948Containment

February 25 : Communist takeover in Czechoslovakia

March 2: Truman's Loyalty Program created to catch Cold War spies

March 17: Brussels Pact organized to protect Europe from communism

June 24 : Berlin Blockade begins lasting 11 months
 
     
  1949Containment

April 4 : NATO ratified

May 12 : Berlin Blockade ends

29 August : Russia tested its first atomic bomb

October 1 : Communist Mao Zedong takes control of China and establishes the People's Republic of China

December 1 - Chiang Kai-shek moved to Formosa and created Nationalist government
 
     
  1950January 30 - Truman approved H-bomb development

February : Joe McCarthy begins Communist witch hunt and loyalty tests

June 24: Korean War begins. Stalin supports North Korea who invade South Korea equipped with Soviet weapons
 
     
  1951January 12 : Federal Civil Defense Administration established

April 11 - Truman fires MacArthur
 
     
  1952A-bombs developed by Britain 
     
  1953March 17-June 4 Nuclear Arms Race atomic test series of 11 explosions at Nevada Test Site

April 15: RAND report on the "Vulnerability of U. S. Strategic Air Power"

July : Korean War ends

December 8: Ike's Atoms for Peace speech
 
     
  1954March 1: H-bomb Castle-Bravo test

March : KGB established

CIA helps overthrow unfriendly regimes in Iran and Guatemala

July : Vietnam split at 17th parallel
 
     
  1955May : Warsaw Pact formed 
     
  1956June 29: USSR sent tanks into Poznan, Poland, to suppress demonstrations by workers

September 4: USSR sent military aid to Afghanistan

October - November : Rebellion put down in Communist Hungary.

October 29: Suez Crisis began with Israeli attack led by Moshe Dayan against Egyptian forces in the Sinai

Egypt took control of Suez Canal
 
     
  1957August 26: Vostok rocket launched 1st ICBM

October 4 : Sputnik launched into orbit

November 3: Sputnik II launched - Laika died in space
 
     
  1958January 31: Explorer I launched

July : NASA began Mercury project using Atlas rocket

November : Khrushchev demands withdrawal of troops from Berlin
 
     
  1959January : Cuba taken over by Fidel Castro

September : Khrushchev visits United States; The Kitchen Debate
 
     
  1960A-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.
 
     
  1961April : Bay of Pigs invasion see Cuban Missile Crisis Timeline

August 13 : Berlin border is closed

August 17 : Construction of Berlin Wall begins
 
     
  1962U.S. involvement in Vietnam increases see Vietnam War Timeline

October : Cuban Missile Crisis see Cuban Missile Crisis Timeline
 
     
  19631963: July : Nuclear Test Ban Treaty ratified

1963: November : President Kennedy assassinated in Dallas, Texas
 
     
  1964August : Gulf of Tonkin incident - see Vietnam War Timeline

October: A-bombs developed by China
 
     
  1965April : U.S. Marines sent to Dominican Republic to fight Communism

July : Announcement of dispatching of 200,000 U.S. troops to Vietnam
 
     
  1966B-52s Bomb North Vietnam 
     
  1967The US Secretary of Defence Robert McNamara admits that the US bombing raids had failed to meet their objectives 
     
  1968January : North Korea captured U.S.S. Pueblo

President Johnson does not run for the presidency and Richard Nixon Elected President of the USA

August : Soviet Red Army crush Czechoslovakian revolt
 
     
  1969July 20 : Apollo 11 lands on the moon 
     
  1970April : President Nixon extends Vietnam War to Cambodia 
     
  1971Publication of the Pentagon Papers 
     
  1972February: President Richard Nixon visits China

July : SALT I signed
 
     
  1973January : Cease fire in Vietnam between North Vietnam and United States

September : U.S. supported coup overthrows Chilean government

October : Egypt and Syria attack Israel; Egypt requests Soviet aid
 
     
  19741974: August : President Nixon resigns 
     
  1975April 17 : North Vietnam defeats South Vietnam which falls to Communist forces 
     
  1976February: Soviet and Cuban forces help to install Communist government in Angola. 
     
  1979January: U.S. and China establish diplomatic relations.

July : SALT II signed

November : Shah of Iran overthrown; Iranian Hostage Crisis

December: Soviet forces invade Afghanistan
 
     
  1980August: Polish shipyard workers strike Solidarity Union formed. Strike leader Lech Walesa is elected as the head of Solidarity 
     
  1983President Reagan proposes Strategic Defence Initiative

1983: October : 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 missiles from Europe 
     
  1987October : Reagan and Gorbachev agree to remove all medium and short-range nuclear missiles 
     
  1989January : Soviet troops withdraw from Afghanistan

June : Poland becomes independent

September : Hungary becomes independent

November : Berlin Wall is demolished and East Germany allows unrestricted migration to West Germany

December : Communist governments fall in Czechoslovakia, Bulgaria, and Rumania

Decline of the Soviet empire
 
     
  1990March : Lithuania becomes independent

May 29 : Boris Yeltsin elected as President of Russia

October 3 : Germany reunited
 
     
  1991August : End of Soviet Union and the Cold War Ends 
     
Cold War Timeline

Cold War Timeline
History Timelines of the United States of America provide fast facts and information about famous events in history, such as those detailed in the Cold War Timeline, precipitated a significant change in American history. This major historical event of America is arranged in the Cold War timeline by chronological, or date order, providing an actual sequence of this past event which was of significance to American history. This historical timeline is suitable for students of all ages, children and kids. Many American historical events, such as detailed in the Cold War timeline, occurred during times of crisis, evolution or change in the USA. Many of the famous American events as detailed in the Cold War timeline describe famous, critical and major incidents in the history of the United States of America. The specific period in history detailed in the Cold War timeline led to great changes in the development of America. The Cold War timeline provides fast information via the timeline which highlights the key dates and major historical significance in a fast information format. Specific information can be seen at a glance with concise and accurate details of this historical event of American significance. The chronologies of famous people, places and events in the United States of America are detailed in the Cold War timeline.

Cold War Timeline

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