Cold War Timeline

House of UnAmerican Activities Committee

Jan 1, 1938

The House of UnAmerican Activities Committee was created to investigate suspected citizens of disloyalty to american and a following of Communism. This was an attempt to sort out and find spies in the country during another "red Scare" through the cold war. This increased tensions during the cold war because it showed more government fear of communism and created paranoia in the streets about espionage and communists.

GI Bill

Jun 22, 1944

A law passed that provides educational and health benefits for people who served in the military. These benefits were meant for soldiers in World War II or the Cold War and granted them free or cheaper education, health benefits, and housing opportunities. This was meant to draw more people into the military and prove that the country supported it's troops. This is relate able to the cold war because the military needed more troops and this was a means to gain more support.

Truman Doctrine

Mar 12, 1947

The Truman doctrine was a foreign policy that was focused on containment of the soviet union's spread of communism. This was relevant to the cold war because the US was trying to stop the spread of communism by soviet union.

Berlin Airlift

Jun 24, 1948

The Soviet Union blockaded the city of Berlin from the rest of the countries who were supposed to equally share power and control over it. The Berlin airlift was a means to get supplies to citizens and people who were trapped behind the wall. This effected the cold war because it increased tensions with Soviet Union and there was the chance that the Soviet Union would shoot down the planes flying to and from Berlin. If the Soviet Union did shoot down said planes, full on war would have erupted.

NATO [North Atlantic Treaty Organization]

Apr 4, 1949

NATO is the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and was an alliance of primarily democratic mid Atlantic countries who were fighting against communism. This contributed to the tensions and effected the Cold War because several democratic countries were being taken over by Soviet Russia and their communist ways. Many of the allies within NATO were getting ready to fight Soviet Union to establish democracy throughout the world.

Korean War

Jun 25, 1950

A form of civil war between north and south Korea that took place during the Cold War. The war was fought on the basis of Communism v. Democracy. This is relevant to the cold war because it is an example of fighting over communism or democracy.

Warsaw Pact

May 14, 1955

The Warsaw Pact was the allied treaty between Albania, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, East German, Hungary, Poland, Romania, and the Soviet Union. This is relevant to the cold war because these were the countries who wanted Communism to spread and who the US and its allies were fighting during this time.

Interstate Highway System

Jun 29, 1956

Authorized by the Federal Aid Highway act of 1956. This helped the United States in lieu of the cold war because now United States Military and soldiers, as well as supply trucks, could travel quickly from one side of the country to another. This was in case enemies came and attacked on the western coast while the majority of our troops were east bound.

Eisenhower Doctrine

Jan 5, 1957

This Promised military or economic aid to any country needing help from communism. This effected the cold war by creating tensions with the pro-communism soviet union, which was attempting to take over other countries and force them to be solely communistic.

Sputnik

Oct 4, 1957

The Soviet Union launched Sputnik I, which was the first satellite into space. This started the progression of space exploration and emphasized america's need to better educate the children. The way this effected the cold war was because of the space race, which was between the United States and Soviet Union's space teams, to see who could get to the moon first, this increased tension and competitiveness between the two countries.

Brinkmanship

Jan 1, 1959

Brinkmanship is a war strategy of pushing for war until the limit or the "Brink" of war and then hoping the other country backs off. This is relevant to the cold war because it was the common war idea for this situation. The US would do as much as it possibly could without starting a war, and even forced troops towards the soviet union until the soviet union backed down.

U-2 Incident

May 1, 1960

The U-2 incident occurred during the cold war and it was when a United States U2 spy plane was shot down over the Soviet Union. This increased tensions during the cold war because the Soviet Union was ready to go into war, however the united states neglected having to do with the American U2 plane.

Bay of Pigs Invasion

Apr 17, 1961

The bay of pigs invasion was a failed assassination attempt on Cuba's president Fidel Castro. CIA agents used trained Cuban refugees to try and assassinate Castro. This is related to the cold war because they were attempting to rid Cuba of communism and the soviet union, as well as end the Cuban missile crisis.

The Berlin Wall

Aug 13, 1961

The Berlin Wall was a long and large wall constructed by the Soviet Union in an attempt to establish and maintain communism in their sections of Germany and Berlin. This increased tensions during the cold war and effected the cold war because American Airships helped to get supplies to the democratic sections of the country. These planes and soldiers could have been attacked at any given time leading into full scale war.

Cuban Missile Crisis

Oct 14, 1962

The Cuban Missile Crisis occured when Soviet Union missiles and explosives became steadily ready and apparent in the bordering country of Cuba. These missiles could hit and bomb the US and it's capital at any given moment. This caused tensions and several debates and arguments between the two countries as the US had missiles in Russia's bordering country of Turkey. This added to the cold war because Soviet Union and the US were indirectly fighting over missile placements.

Nuclear Test Ban Treaty

Aug 5, 1963

Treaty between the United States, Soviet Union, and Great Britain, which prohibited the testing of nuclear weapons in outerspace, under water, or in the atmosphere. This is relevant to the cold war because nuclear weaponry was the number one cause of tensions and the brinks of war during this time.