Cold War Timeline

The end of WW2

Feb 15, 1945

Feb.Yalta Conference May. World War II ends in Europe. Aug. U.S. drops an atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan. Potsdam Conference - Truman - Stalin and British divide up Europe

Government

Jan 20, 1946

1946 Jan. First East European Communist government set up in Albania.

Poland

Jan 20, 1947

1947 Jan. Communists seize power in Poland.
March Truman Doctrine announced.

Berlin

Jun 20, 1948

1948 June Berlin Airlift begins (ends May 19, 1949)

Soviet Union Attacks

Apr 20, 1949

1949 April North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) established.
Aug. Soviet Union explodes its first atomic bomb.
Oct. Communists win Chinese Civil War.

Cubas leader

Feb 20, 1959

1959 Feb. Fidel Castro becomes premier of Cuba, installs Communist government.

Berlin Wall

Apr 20, 1961

1961 Apr. Bay of Pigs invasion of Cuba.
Aug. East Germany builds Berlin Wall.

Conflict begins

Jun 20, 1962

1962 June Sino‑Soviet Conflict begins.
Oct. Cuban Missile Crisis.

Leader Of Soviet

Mar 20, 1985

1985 Mar. Mikhail Gorbachev becomes leader of the Soviet Union, the following year he declares glasnost and perestroika.

Declares

May 20, 1989

1989 May Led by university students, over one million Chinese in Tiananmen Square demand reforms by
the Chinese Communist government.
Sept. Solidarity forms the first post-war non-Communist government in Poland
Oct. Hungary declares a non-Communist government.
Nov. East Germany allows unrestricted migration to West Germany.
Dec. Berlin Wall is demolished.

Free

Aug 20, 1991

1991 Aug. Hard-line Communists stage unsuccessful coup against Mikhail Gorbachev.
Dec. The Soviet Union is abolished. Boris Yeltsin becomes President of Russia.