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Hiroshima
The US laid nuclear bombs on Japan with the United Kingdom's approval. This bombing killed atleast 129,000 people. This event remains the only nuclear warfare in history. -
WW2 Ends
World War 2 ended in Europe, but tension between certain countries did not end there. The US and Soviet Union faught together as Allies. Americans were worried about communism take over and the USSR resented Americans because of their refusal to treat the USSR as a legitimate part of the international community. -
First Communist Government Set up In East Europe
In Albania they had set up a communist government and introduced a Stalin type of economy. They transformed international trade into a government monopoly among other things. In 1947 they introduced the Soviet cost-accounting system. This was a huge shift in history because this is when communism began to expand westward. -
HUAC
During this year the House Un-American Activities Committee showed that communist influence in the United States was infact alive. This brought the Cold War home and started the Red Scare. The HUAC caused many people to lose their jobs by forcing them to renounce left-wing political beliefs and testify agains one another. McCarthy expanded this probe into federal workers where thousands of employees were investigated, prosecuted and fired. -
Atomic Bomb Testing
At this time the Soviets began testing their atomic bombs. In response President Truman said that America would build an even stronger bomb. Stalin followed with this alligation and the claims for a more powerful bomb continued. This year showed how dangerous and devastating the nuclear age would be. -
NSC–68
This National Security Report was presented to President Truman in order to contain communism expansion. This report called for a quadruple increase in defense spending. This document also recommended making atomic weapons which started the deadly "arms race". -
Korean War Begins
On this day Soviet backed North Korea to invade South Korea's capitol Seoul and the U.S. stationed forces. This came to a surprise but feared that this was the first step in a communist campaign. The United States response was to push a resolution through the UN calling for military assistance to South Korea. -
Armistice
After three years of being at war the US and North Korea agree t a cease-fire agreement called Armistice. This agreement ended the conflict and continued the division of North and South Korea. This war was the first big war of the cold war, there were over 55,000 American casulties. The goal of this war was not to defeat the enemy but to protect South Korea. -
Sputnik
A Soviet R-7 intercontinental ballistic missile launched Sputnik into Earth's orbit. This was the world's first artificial satellite and the first man-made object to be placed into the Earth's orbit. This power came to a surprise and disappointment to Americans. This made gathering intelligence about USSR military activities a number one priority. -
Explorer 1
This was the first United States satellite designed by the U.S. Army under direction of Wernher von Braun, a rocket scientist. This started the 'space race'. This same year president Eisenhower signed a public order creating NASA as well as other programs seeking to exploit the military potential in sapce. Even with these organizations created the Soviets were still one step ahead, and launched the first man into space in April 1961. -
Bay of Pigs
This invasion was a failed military invasion of Cuba undertaken by the CIA Brigade 2506. This proved that the real communist threat laid in the unstable third world. The American trained Cubans surrendered after less than 24 hours of fighting. They were outnumbered by Castro's troops. -
Apollo 11
On this day Neil Armstrong with NASA's Apollo 11 mission became the first man to set foot on the moon. This won the space race for the Americans. President Kennedy claimed that the U.S. would land a man on the moon by the end of the decade and this came true. -
SALT 1
The Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty (SALT 1) prohibited the manufacture of nuclear missiles by the Soviet Union and the US. This took a large step in reducing the decades of war and threat of nuclear bombing. President Nixon tried to use diplomacy instead of military action to solve the issues at hand. -
Premier Mikhail Gorbachev
This is the day that Premier Mikhail Gorbachev took office. While in office he introduced two policies: political openness and economic reform. This was the result of economic problems and growing political disintegrating. -
Berlin Wall Destroyed
On this day the Berlin Wall was torn down. This was the most visible symbol of the Cold War. Earlier in the year every other communist stae in the region replaced its government with a noncommunist one. By 1991 the Soviet Union had fallen apart and the Cold War was over.
