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The Cold War Heats Up
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Marshall Plan
The Marshall Plan was formed on this day and 17 nations from Western Europe also joined in on it. Over four years $13 billion in money would be sent to Western Europe. All of the economies rebuilt very fast from the money that was sent over. The United States gained trading partners in that part of the world because of the Marshall Plan. -
Berlin Airlift
During this time the Western Allies planned to make controlled zones in Germany. So, then because of the Western Allies plan, the Soviet Union blocked off railroads, roads, and canal access. In response, the Western Allies organized an airlift called the Berlin Airlift to carry supplies to the people in West Berlin. Overall, the Berlin Airlift continued to be successful in getting the necessary supplies to West Berlin. -
NATO is formed.
The NATO is known as the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. It is established of 12 western nations. The nations are the U.S., Great Britain, France, Belgium, Netherlands, Denmark, Italy, Luxembourg, Norway, Iceland, Canada, and Portugal. This organization was established so these countries could have self-defense against the Soviet Union’s aggression. -
Soviet Union explodes its first atomic bomb.
On this day the USSR set off its first atomic bomb that they called “First Lightning”. The USSR wanted to measure the effects of the blast. They even went as far as building buildings, bridges, and other civilian structures to see what would happen to them. President Truman responded by forging ahead with a new nuclear weapon to maintain America’s nuclear superiority. -
Warsaw pact is formed
The USSR and seven of its satellite nations sign a treaty to establish the warsaw pact. It put the Soviets in command of the armed forces of those nations. The pact called member nations to come to the defense of any member attacked by an outside force. The nations involved were Soviet Union, Albania, Poland, Romania, Hungary. East Germany, Czechoslovakia, and Bulgaria. -
Soviet Union launches first man-made satellite
Soviet Union successfully launched Sputnik I. It was the world's first ever artificial satellite. The satellite was the size of a beach ball. Americans had fear because at this time the Soviets were farther ahead in the space effort than the U.S. Also, Americans feared that the Soviets could turn their progress into something sinister. This was the beginning of the “space race”. -
Eisenhower and Khrushchev meet for talks
Khrushchev comes to the U.S. to meet with Eisenhower for two days of talks. Throughout those meetings the men came to a general agreement on a number of issues. Once again Khrushchev came back to meet with Eisenhower this time to discuss the cold war. Eventually, both sides agreed to each other's positions on a number of subjects. -
Bay of Pigs invasion of Cuba
The U.S. wanted to keep the plans to attack Cuba secretive for as long as possible. American planes were painted to look like Cuban planes and their plan was to attack Cuban airfields. U.S. troops attempted to invade the island in an isolated spot but Castro’s troops pinned the invaders on the beach. Overall, 114 were killed, over 1,100 were taken prisoner, and the invasion was a complete disaster. -
East Germany builds Berlin Wall
When tensions started heating up between East Germany and West Germany the Berlin Wall was eventually built. The tensions increased because of a trade embargo West Germany threatened East Germany with. On this day East Germany began replacing the barbed wire along the barrier with concrete because they wanted to protect their citizens from the capitalist side of West Germany. Eventually, concrete pilings went up andEast German troops were on guard with machine guns. -
Cuban Missile Crisis
President JFK notified the public about the presence of missiles in Cuba. JFK’s decision was to use a naval blockade around Cuba. He also stated that the U.S. was prepared to use military force if necessary to neutralize the threat. However, disaster was avoided when the USSR pulled its missiles from Cuba.
