E2 1949-1955

  • FRG joins council of Europe

    Nov
  • FRG joins council of Europe

    (nov)
    received the right to establish consulates in other countries and have direct representation on the Organisation of European Economic Cooperation
  • Kim Il Sung turns to Sino-Soviet support in Korean War

    convinced them that Sino-Soviet intervention would mean a rapid victory, bc:
    - hard-line 200k communist supporters in S.V
    - already well organised communist guerilla force in SV
    - USA wouldn't have time to intervene SS response:
    provided 1600 pieces of artillery, 178 military aircraft & 258 T-34 tanks - INDIRECT MILITARY SUPPORT no commitment of troops, due to possessing tech and fear of war coming back in Europe why did USSR help? united communist korea - borders Japan = USSR economic gains
  • Dean Acheson 'Perimeter Speech'

    outlining US foreign policy and military strategy with regard to Asia.
  • Alger Hiss convicted of perjury

  • Truman authorises the development of a hydrogen bomb

    hydrogen bomb = a fusion bomb capable of greater destructive power than atomic weapons
  • McCarthyism

    Senator Joseph McCarthy alleges that the US State Department has 205 communists among its employees. This speech begins the Second Red Scare
  • Sino Soviet Alliance

    also known as Treaty of Friendship, Alliance and Mutual Assistance.
  • NSC-68

    USSR removing US nuclear monopoly triggered a review of US strategic objectives & priorities urges a significant increase in military spending to support the containment of communism. He approves its recommendations on April 25th
  • Korean War begins

    North Korean forces invade South Korea, triggering the Korean War. The United Nations commits a coalition force to assist and defend South Korea. The United Nations Security Council votes to intervene to defend the South. The Soviet Union cannot veto, as it is boycotting the Security Council over the admission of People's Republic of China.
  • USA joins Korean war

  • Communist Party Dissolution Act

    The Australian parliament passes the Communist Party Dissolution Act, legislation declaring the party an “unlawful association”.
  • US reaction to Korean War- Dean A

    (may)
    N.K invasion fundamentally re-oriented US policy towards Korea, alarming them.
    Acheson took the view that N.K's purpose was to destabilise Japan, Southeast Asia & Philippines
    These area in the far east would become unsettled if a communist assault on S.K was successful. The stability in Europe may also become weakened through a communist victory
  • Julius and Ethel Rosenberg sentenced to death

    Julius and Ethel Rosenberg are sentenced to death for passing nuclear secrets to Soviet agents.
    The Rosenbergs were convicted of espionage, despite the case against Ethel being particularly weak
    The Rosenbergs were the only two American civilians executed for espionage during the Cold War.
  • Truman fires MacArthur

    President Harry S. Truman fires Douglas MacArthur from command of US forces in Korea due to him demanding nuclear weapons to be used on the enemy.
  • Operation Greenhouse

    The US begins Operation Greenhouse, testing its first thermonuclear weapon, or hydrogen bomb, in the Marshall Islands.
  • ANZUS

    Australia, NZ & US sign a tripartite defence treaty
  • San Fransisco Treaty

    US + 47 nations resolving World War II hostilities with Japan
    signed by Dulles & Yoshida
    -acceptance of US troops
    -restored Japan's sovereign & security
    - forced Japan to renounce claims of neighbouring countries eg Korea, Taiwan reverse course development of Japan- economic, political, democratic; ensuring japan aligned to USA- pragmatic approach Hayato Ikeda & Dodge- General Agreement on Tariffs & Trade- strengthen J access to western trade - budget of $4mil came into effect 28/04/52
  • Period: to

    Mutual Security Act

    launched a major American foreign aid program of grants to numerous countries. It largely replaced the Marshall Plan. The main goal was to help poor countries develop and to contain the spread of communism.
    Annual authorizations were about $7.5 billion, out of a GDP of $340bn in 1951, for military, economic, and technical foreign aid to American allies
  • US & Yugoslavia

    President Harry Truman asks Congress for U.S. military and economic aid for the communist nation of Yugoslavia.
  • Greece & Turkey accepted into NATO

  • Joseph Stalin proposes a newly unified Germany

    an attempt to avoid West Germany being integrated into NATO.
  • Treaty of Taipei

    a peace treaty between Japan and the Republic of China (ROC) signed in Taipei, Taiwan on 28 April 1952, and took effect on August 5 the same year, Japan has renounced all right, title and claim to Taiwan
  • General Treaty / Bonn Convention

    abolished the statute of occupation and recognised the full sovereignty of FRG
    in order to placate the French, Adenauer agreed to renounce nuclear weapons and keep the German Army limited in size & under strict civilian control
  • Marshall Plan comes to an end

  • UK tests A-bomb

    becoming the world’s third nuclear power.
  • Ivy Mike

    The US detonates a thermonuclear weapon called ‘Ivy Mike’ in the Marshall Islands. Its yield is 10.4 megatons, more than 400 times more powerful than the atomic devices used against Japan in World War II.
  • Eisenhower elected

  • The Balkan Pact

    Turkey, Greece & Yugoslavia
    a deterrence against Soviet expansion in the Balkans-collective security.
    When the pact was created and signed, Turkey and Greece had been members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) for a year, having both joined on 18 February 1952, while Yugoslavia was a socialist non-aligned state that later became a founding member of the Non-Aligned Movement. The Balkan Pact allowed Yugoslavia to associate itself with NATO indirectly on geopolitical affairs
  • Stalin dies

  • Period: to

    Plzeň uprising

    After the communist party took over power in 1948 it started to concentrate production on heavy industry, especially in armament production. The agricultural sector was forcibly collectivised. But these policies led to shortages of customer goods, especially food, accompanied by an inflation of 28 percent. The government's reaction was to increase the prices of state-supplied goods at the start of 1953. This led to growing disaffection among people, and to short-lived strikes- 200 casualties
  • Period: to

    East German Uprising

    involving over one million people
    workers in East Berlin rose in protest against government demands to increase productivity.
    It began with strike action by construction workers in East Berlin on 16 June against work quotas during the Sovietization process in East Germany.
    The uprising in East Berlin was violently suppressed by tanks of the Soviet forces in Germany
  • Period: to

    Start of Berlin crisis

    Construction workers in East Berlin go on strike, protesting increases in their work quotas. Their strike grows into a public demonstration and protest involving around 50,000 East Germans. East German police and Soviet troops suppress the uprising in East Berlin, killing between 200 and 800 protestors.
  • Julius and Ethel Rosenberg executed

  • UN refuses to accept PRC

    The United Nations refuses to grant membership to the People’s Republic of China.
  • Armistice in Panmunjon

    A demilitarised zone is established to separate the two Koreas.
    impacts of the Korean War:
    - long term security on both sides
    - long term security of taiwan & j guaranteed by USA, and USA committed to prevent spread of communism in far east
    - placed huge econ pressure on USSR = acceleration of industrialisation in e europe = massive reduction in availability of consumer goods
    -war led to a deepening of c.w uncertainty in europe
  • Security Dilemma

    Soviet minister Georgi Malenkov announces that the USSR has successfully tested a thermonuclear weapon.
  • US &GB Coup in Iran

    The US and Britain orchestrate a coup that overthrows Mohammad Mosaddegh, the prime minister of Iran. Mosaddegh had nationalised Iran’s oil industry, causing significant losses for British companies.
  • Khrushchev becomes USSR leader

  • Pact of Madrid

    The US Joint Chiefs of Staff saw these bases and the resulting military alliance with Spain as a necessary military option to allow an orderly retreat of its troops from Central Europe in case of Soviet attack on Westen Europe
  • NSC 162/2

    recommends expanding & maintaining the US nuclear arsenal, to inflict “massive retaliatory damage” in the event of a war with the Soviet Union- nuclear weapons assumed much greater significance as basis for US security strategy New Look Policy- Dulles convinced that the security of US national interests & guarantee of international peace were dependent upon reducing dominance of soviet communism globally
    ended the static position imposed upon the US by Truman's restrictive model of containment
  • The launching of the USS Nautilus

    The launching of the USS Nautilus, the first nuclear-powered submarine.
  • Mutual Defense Assistance Agreement

    The agreement dictated that both the United States and Japan support each other militarily. Specifically, it permitted the United States to station its troops on Japanese soil in order to maintain security in the region. Moreover, Japan was obligated to take responsibility in protecting itself and was permitted to rearm for defensive purposes only. ratified on 1st may 1954
  • McCarthy hearings

    The US Army-McCarthy hearings begin in Washington DC. These hearings, which are televised, expose McCarthy’s questioning to a wider audience. Senator Joseph McCarthy alleges that communists have infiltrated the CIA and the military
  • Period: to

    Geneva Conference

    Created N & SV across the 17th parallel- this division wasn't intended to be permanent & national elections to take place in 2 years
    France to withdraw SV = Ngo Dinh Diem
    NV = Ho Chi Minh
  • Nasser seizes power over Egypt

  • Period: to

    1st Taiwan Strait Crisis

    a brief armed conflict between China and Taiwan as China initiated heavy bombardment and shelling following USA saying they would not be involved w taiwan in 1950, but this changed on 27th june following start of korean war when they stationed US Navy's 7th Fleet
  • SEATO alliance established

    GB, USA, UK, France, NZ, Australia, Pakistan, Thailand, Philippines some important states that might have been deemed to be in need of SEATO protection weren't members, eg Burma, South Vietnam, Laos & Cambodia
  • US Senate passes a motion censuring Joseph McCarthy.

  • Mutual Defense Treaty

    USA & China
    effective from 1955 to 1980. It was intended to defend the island of Taiwan from invasion by china
    The treaty prevented the CCP from attacking Taiwan and established the situation of long-term division of both sides of the Taiwan Strait. U.S. troops were stationed in Taiwan to establish military security to ensure Taiwan’s development and turn Taiwan’s crisis into peace.
  • Soviet aids syria

    March
    response to the baghdad pact?
  • USA & Taiwan

    The US Congress authorises president Dwight Eisenhower to use force to defend Taiwan if it is attacked by the People’s Republic of China
  • The Baghdad Pact

    later described as the ‘Middle Eastern NATO’, is signed by Britain, Turkey and Iraq. Iran and Pakistan join later in 1955. Similar to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and the Southeast Asia Treaty Organization, the main purpose of the Baghdad Pact was to prevent communist incursions and foster peace in the Middle Eas
  • FRG joins NATO

    Konrad Adenauer recognised that the best way of strengthening FRG was to align it w western power
  • Warsaw Pact formed

    triggered by FRG joining NATO- prompted USSR to consolidate its power & influence across satellite states warsaw pact = legitimising ussr power in e europe- a collective security strategy the pact not only served as a military reinforcement of the USSR's satellite structure, but it also consolidated the political and economic r/s between USSR & its satellites
  • Geneva Summit

    US president Dwight Eisenhower and Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev, along with leaders from Britain and France, hold a five-day summit in Geneva.
    reduce international tensions. The Geneva Summit was seen as an extremely important building block to better friendships and more open communication between the leaders of "The Big Four".[4] The creation of an international community was introduced as a way to help relieve global tensions and mistrust
    increase global security
  • U-2 spy plane makes1st flight over Soviet territory.

    An American U-2 spy plane makes its first flight over Soviet territory.
  • Vietnam War begins