Cold War

  • 1945 Yalta Conference (YEAR THAT ENDS WORLD WAR 2)

    1945 Yalta Conference (YEAR THAT ENDS WORLD WAR 2)
    It decides the post-war status of Germany. The Allies of World War II (the USA, the USSR, Great Britain and France) divide Germany into four occupation zones. In addition, the new United Nations are to replace the failed League of Nations.
  • Communist coup in Czechoslovaki

    Communist coup in Czechoslovaki
    The Communist Party of Czechoslovakia, with Soviet backing, assumed undisputed control over the government of Czechoslovakia, marking the onset of four decades of Communist dictatorship in the country. The results are the appointment of a Communist-dominated government.
  • U.S. and other U.N. members fight North Korean forces

    U.S. and other U.N. members fight North Korean forces
    In June 1950, North Korean troops unexpectedly attacked South Korea and America wanted the invasion immediately brought before the Security Council. America called on North Korea to withdraw to the 38th Parallel.
  • West Germany joins NATO

    West Germany joins NATO
    West Germany formally joins the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), a mutual defense group aimed at containing Soviet expansion in Europe. This action marked the final step of West Germany’s integration into the Western European defense system.
  • Soviets launch first man‑made satellite.

    Soviets launch first man‑made satellite.
    Sputnik 1 was the first artificial Earth satellite. The Soviet Union launched it into an elliptical low Earth orbit.
  • Eisenhower

    Eisenhower
    In 1958, Eisenhower sent 15,000 U.S. troops to Lebanon to prevent the pro-Western government from falling to a Nasser-inspired revolution.
  • Cuba Revolution

    Cuba Revolution
    It is an armed revolt conducted by Fidel Castro. Also, it reshaped Cuba's relationship with the United States. The results are Overthrow of Fulgencio Batista's government, establishment of a socialist state and Communist government, and led by Fidel Castro United States embargo against Cuba.
  • U2 INCIDENT

    U2 INCIDENT
    The USSR shot down and American U-2 Spy plane in Soviet air space and captured its pilot, Francis Gary Powers. With evidence of his nation’s espionage, Eisenhower admitted to USSR that CIA had been flying spy missions over the USSR for several years. The U-2 spy plane incident raised tensions between the U.S. and the Soviets.
  • Sino‑Soviet Conflict begins/Cuban Missile Crisis.

    Sino‑Soviet Conflict begins/Cuban Missile Crisis.
    Sino-Soviet conflict was a seven-month undeclared military conflict between the Soviet Union and China at the height of the Sino-Soviet split in 1969. Cuban missles are the confrontation between the United States and the Soviet Union over Soviet ballistic missiles deployed in Cuba. The result are withdrawal of Soviet Union's nuclear missiles from Cuba.
  • Washington-Moscow Hot Line established

    Washington-Moscow Hot Line established
    The “hotline” was designed to have easier communication between the president and Soviet premier. The need for ensuring quick communication directly between the heads of government of nuclear-weapons states emerged to reduce the danger that accident, miscalculation, or surprise attack might trigger a nuclear war.
  • “Six-Day War” in Middle East

    “Six-Day War” in Middle East
    It was fought by Israel and the neighboring states of Egypt (known at the time as the United Arab Republic), Jordan, and Syria.) and it was a war that only lasted 6 days. The speed and thoroughness of Israel's victory discredited the Arab regimes.
  • Détente

    Détente
    Détente (a French word meaning release from tension) is the name given to a period of improved relations between the United States and the Soviet Union that began tentatively in 1971 and took decisive form when President Richard M. Nixon visited the secretary-general of the Soviet Communist party, Leonid I. Brezhnev, in Moscow, May 1972.
  • South Vietnam falls to Communist forces.

     South Vietnam falls to Communist forces.
    Communist forces move into Saigon, where they meet only sporadic resistance. The South Vietnamese forces had collapsed under the rapid advancement of the North Vietnamese. Nixon had resigned from office and his successor, Gerald Ford, was unable to convince a hostile Congress to make good on Nixon’s earlier promises to rescue Saigon from communist takeover.
  • Death of Mao

    Death of Mao
    Mao Zedong, the Chinese Communist leader who had ruled the country for twenty-seven years, died. His Marxist–Leninist theories, military strategies, and political policies are collectively known as Marxism–Leninism–Maoism or Mao Zedong Thought.
  • Carter administration

    Carter administration
    Carter and National Security Adviser Zbigniew Brzezinski ended Nixon’s policy of détente. President Jimmy Carter’s inauguration marked the beginning of his mission to bring human rights to the centre of US foreign policy.
  • U.S. troops sent to Lebanon

    U.S. troops sent to Lebanon
    was a Lebanese political crisis caused by political and religious tensions in the country that included a U.S. military intervention. American and Lebanese government forces successfully occupied the port and international airport of Beirut. The results are American-led government victory and withdrawal of U.S forces.
  • Mikhail Gorbachev becomes leader of the Soviet Union, glasnost/perestroika.

    Mikhail Gorbachev becomes leader of the Soviet Union, glasnost/perestroika.
    Perestroika refers to the reconstruction of the political and economic system established by the Communist Party. Glasnost and Perestroika eventually helped cause the fall of the Soviet Union and the end of the Cold War, which had lasted from 1945 to 1991.
  • Berlin Wall 1987

    Berlin Wall 1987
    During a visit to Berlin, Germany, U.S. President Ronald Reagan famously challenges Soviet Premier Mikhail Gorbachev in a speech: "Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!" (The Berlin Wall). The Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty is signed in Washington, D.C. by U.S. President Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev. Some later claim this was the official end of the Cold War. Gorbachev agrees to START I treaty.
  • Berlin Wall Demolished

    Berlin Wall Demolished
    Berlin Wall was the defining symbol of the Cold War, separating families and keeping the people from jobs and opportunity in the west. U.S. President Ronald Reagan challenged Mikhail Gorbachev, then the General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, to tear down the wall as a symbol of increasing freedom in the Eastern Bloc.
  • The Soviet Union is abolished

    The Soviet Union is abolished
    The dissolution of the Soviet Union was formally enacted on December 26, 1991, as a result of the declaration no. 142-Н of the Soviet of the Republics of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union. The declaration acknowledged the independence of the former Soviet republics and created the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS).
  • Communist leaders elected in Poland and Hungary

    Communist leaders elected in Poland and Hungary
    TThe socialist economies in Eastern Europe had been suffering along with that of the Soviet Union, with Gorbachev looking toward glasnost (openness and transparency) as a remedy for their economic troubles. The leaders of Solidarity agreed to cooperate with the Communist regime, and the regime allowed Solidarity to run candidates in coming elections.
  • Poland and Hungary apply for membership in European Union

    Poland and Hungary apply for membership in European Union
    In 1989, the Cold War between the two superpowers was coming to an end, with the USSR's membership application submitted with only Sweden, Finland and the 2004 members (minus Malta and Hungary).