-
Berlin Airlift
This event occurred at the end of the second world war, U.S., British, and Soviet military forces divided and occupied Germany. Also divided into occupation zones, Berlin was located far inside Soviet-controlled eastern Germany. -
Period: to
Major Events During the Cold War since 1945:
-
NATO forms
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization was created in 1949 by the United States, Canada, and several Western European nations to provide collective security against the Soviet Union. -
Korean War Starts
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 of Korea to the south. -
US H-bomb
The United States detonates the world's first thermonuclear weapon, the hydrogen bomb, on Eniwetok atoll in the Pacific. The test gave the United States a short-lived advantage in the nuclear arms race with the Soviet Union. -
Warsaw Pact
The Warsaw Pact (formally, the Treaty of Friendship, Co-operation, and Mutual Assistance, sometimes, informally WarPac, akin in format to NATO) was a collective defense treaty among Soviet Union and seven Soviet satellite states in Central and Eastern Europe in existence during the Cold War. -
Soviets Launch Sputnik
The Soviet Union successfully launched Sputnik I. The world's first artificial satellite was about the size of a beach ball. -
Berlin Wall
The building of the Berlin Wall in August 1961 divided families and neighborhoods in what had been the capital of Germany. The wall represents a uniquely sqaulid, violent, and ultimately futile, episode in post-war world. -
Cuban Missle Crisis
The Cuban Missle Crisis was a thirteen day confrontation between the United States and the Soviet Union over Soviet ballistic missles in Cuba aimed towards the US. -
SALT I agreement signed
Soviet President Leonid Brezhnev and US President Richard Nixon, meeting in Moscow, sign the Strategic Arms Limitation Talks (SALT) agreements. At the time, these agreements were the most far reaching attempts to control nuclear war. -
Mikhail Gorbachev comes to power
Only the President of the Soviet Union from 1990-1991. Although, he was a Soviet official and the general secretary of the Communist party. -
Marjor arms control agreement is reached
This treaty establishes common international standards for regulating the international trade in conventional arms, and seeks to prevent and eradicate the illicit trade in conventional arms and prevent their division. -
Iron Curtain begins to crumble in Europe
The fall of the Berlin Wall, and the practice of Gorbachev reforming, and many other factors played a big part in the Iron Curtain falling apart. -
Soviet Union Collapses
Christmas Day 1991, the Soviet Union was no longer. It was only a few days earlier when representatives from 11 Soviet republics met in the Kazakh city of Alma-Ata and announced that they would no longer be a part of the Soviet Union. -
European Union established
The European Union is a politico-economic union of 28 member states that are primarily located in Europe. -
Al Qaeda attacked the United States
The Twin Towers were attacked on September 11, 2001 killing thousands of innocent citizens in New York City. -
United States invaded Iraq
The invasion of Iraq lasted from March 20, 2003 to May 1, 2003 and signaled the start of the Iraq War, which was dubbed Operation Iraqi Freedom by the US. -
Defintions Cont
Detente: The easing of hostility or strained relations, espescially between countries.
H-bomb: An immensley powerful bomb whose destructive power comes from the rapid release of energy
Marsahll Plan: Was an American initiative to aid Western Europe.
Al Qaeda: The terrorists who attacked the Twin Towers on 9/11/2001
Cold War: A state of political hostility between countries characterized by threats, propaganda, and other measures short of open warfare, in particular. -
Definitions:
Containment: The action of keeping something harmful under control or within limits (Communism).
Perestroika:The policy or practice of restructuring or reforming the economic and political system.
Saddam Hussein: Was the 5th President of Iraq
Sputnik: Each of a series of Soviet artificial satellites, the first of which was the first satellite to be placed in orbit
Iron Curtain: The notional barrier separating the former Soviet bloc and the West prior to the decline of communism
