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Truman takes Presidency
On April 12, 1945, less than three months as vice president, Harry S. Truman was sworn in as the 33rd President of the United States.The Cold War began under Truman's watch, as the president came to believe that he must take a hard stance to contain the expansionistic tendencies of the Soviet Union. The president's "Truman Doctrine" committed the United States to a policy of supporting foes of Communism everywhere in the world. -
Marshall Plan
The Marshall Plan was the American program to aid Europe where the United States gave monetary support to help rebuild European economies after the end of World War II . In order to prevent the spread of Soviet Communism. The goals of the United States were to rebuild a war devastated region, remove trade barriers, modernize industry, and make Europe prosperous again. -
Berlin Blockade and Airlift
The Berlin Blockade was an attempt in 1948 by the Soviet Union to limit the ability of France, Great Britain and the United States to travel to their sectors of Berlin, which lay within Russian-occupied East Germany. -
Forming of NATO
The formation of NATO in 1949 increased tension between the USA and the USSR. It was mainly a defensive measure to protect the USA and their Western Allies from any military attack from the USSR. It stated that military force would be used to defend the Western Allies. The USSR felt threatened by this, especially as five more devisions of US troops were stationed in West Germany. This led to the formation of the Warsaw Pact in 1955 and increased tensions between the West and East. -
Korean War
On June 25, 1950, the Korean War began when some 75,000 soldiers from the North Korean People’s Army poured across the 38th parallel, the boundary between the Soviet-backed Democratic People’s Republic of Korea to the north and the pro-Western Republic of Korea to the south. This invasion was the first military action of the Cold War. -
Forming of Warsaw Pact
The Warsaw Pact was established during the Cold War by the Soviet in an attempt to retaliate against the United States's NATO.The United States formed the NATO alliance after aiding the Germans in the Berlin airlift. The United States believed that by aiding Germany they would keep europe strong and vulnerable to communists. The Soviets however persistently attempted to captialize the Germans because they refused to immediately pay war reparations to the Soviets. -
Vietnam War
The cold war was a fight between the United States and the USSR over the world's resources. South Vietnam was an allie of the US and North Vietnam was an allie of the USSR. The US feared if North Vietnam won the war other countries in South Asia would also fall to Communism. -
Bay of Pigs
In, 1959, Cuban nationalist Fidel Castro’s army overthrew General Fulgencio Batista from power. The U.S. government believed that Castro had relationships with Nikita Khrushchev, the leader of the Soviet Union. In April 1961 JFK authorized the invasion for two air strikes against Cuban air bases and a 1,400-man invasion. José Miró Cardona was head of the Cuban Revolutionary, and lead the American-trained Cubans. However, the invasion did not go well Castro’s troops outnumbered American Cubans. -
Construction of Berlin Wall begins
The Berlin Wall was erected in the dead of night and for 28 years kept East Germans from fleeing to the West.During the early years of the Cold War, West Berlin was a geographical loophole through which thousands of East Germans fled to the democratic West. In response, the Communist East German authorities built a wall that totally encircled West Berlin. It was thrown up overnight, on 13 August 1961. -
Cuban Missile Crisis
The Cuban Missile Crisis was the closest the world ever came to nuclear war. The United States armed forces were at their highest state of readiness ever and Soviet field commanders in Cuba were prepared to use battlefield nuclear weapons to defend the island if it was invaded. Luckily, thanks to the bravery of two men, President John F. Kennedy and Premier Nikita Khrushchev, war was averted. -
Cease fire in Vietnam between North Vietnam and United States
Communist Northern Vietnam had invaded democratic Southern Vietnam in the early 1960’s. Northern forces, were under the leadership of Ho Chi Minh and were receiving aid from the Soviet Union and China. As guerrilla tactics were providing effective against American forces, the U.S. escalated the conflict by sending in more troops. This escalation, and the subsequent invasions of Cambodia and Laos, turned the American public against the government. -
Soviets invade Afghanistan
The Soviet–Afghan War lasted over nine years from December 1979 to February 1989. Insurgent groups ("the Mujahideen") who received aid from several Western countries and several Muslim countries, fought against the Soviet Army and allied Afghan forces. By April 1979 large parts of the country were in open rebellion and by December the government had lost control of territory outside of the cities. -
Gorbachev comes to power
When Mikhail S. Gorbachev became general secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union in March 1985, he launched his nation on a dramatic new course. His dual program of “perestroika” (“restructuring”) and “glasnost” (“openness”) introduced profound changes in economic practice, internal affairs and international relations. And within five years, Gorbachev’s revolutionary program swept communist governments throughout Eastern Europe from power and brought an end to the Cold War. -
Fall of the Berlin Wall
The fall of the Berlin Wall happened nearly as suddenly as its rise. There had been signs that the Communist bloc was weakening, but the East German Communist leaders insisted that East Germany just needed a moderate change rather than a drastic revolution. East German citizens did not agree.As Communism began to falter in Poland, Hungary, and Czechoslovakia in 1988 and 1989, new exodus points were opened to East Germans who wanted to flee to the West. Then suddenly, on the evening of November -
Dissolution of the USSR
The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics was formally dissolved on 26 December 1991 by declaration of the Soviet of the Republics of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union. This declaration acknowledged the independence of all fifteen republics of the Soviet Union following the creation of the Commonwealth of Independent States. On the previous day, 25 December 1991, Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev had resigned, declaring his office extinct, and handed over the Soviet nuclear missile launching
