Cold War Timeline
This History Timeline has been developed to provide a 'snapshot' of the famous people and events during this historical time period. Important dates in a fast, comprehensive, chronological, or date order providing an actual sequence of important past events which were of considerable significance to the famous people involved in this time period.
| 1945 | Defeat of Germany and Japan February 4-11: Yalta Conference meeting of FDR, Churchill, Stalin - the 'Big Three' Soviet Union has control of Eastern Europe. The Cold War Begins May 8: VE Day - Victory in Europe. Germany surrenders to the Red Army in Berlin July: Potsdam Conference - Germany was officially partitioned into four zones of occupation. August 6: The United States drops atomic bomb on Hiroshima (20 kiloton bomb 'Little Boy' kills 80,000) August 8: Russia declares war on Japan August 9: The United States drops atomic bomb on Nagasaki (22 kiloton 'Fat Man' kills 70,000) August 14 : Japanese surrender End of World War II August 15: Emperor surrender broadcast - VJ Day | |
| 1946 | February 9: Stalin hostile speech - communism & capitalism were incompatibleMarch 5 : "Sinews of Peace" Iron Curtain Speech by Winston Churchill - "an "iron curtain" has descended on Europe" March 10 - Truman demands Russia leave Iran July 1: Operation Crossroads with Test Able was the first public demonstration of America's atomic arsenal July 25: America's Test Baker - underwater explosion | |
| 1947 | ContainmentMarch 12 : Truman Doctrine - Truman declares active role in Greek Civil War June : Marshall Plan is announced setting a precedent for helping countries combat poverty, disease and malnutrition September 2 - Rio Pact - U.S. meet 19 Latin American countries and created a security zone around the hemisphere | |
| 1948 | ContainmentFebruary 25 : Communist takeover in Czechoslovakia March 2: Truman's Loyalty Program created to catch Cold War spies March 17: Brussels Pact organized to protect Europe from communism June 24 : Berlin Blockade begins lasting 11 months | |
| 1949 | ContainmentApril 4 : NATO ratified May 12 : Berlin Blockade ends 29 August : Russia tested its first atomic bomb October 1 : Communist Mao Zedong takes control of China and establishes the People's Republic of China December 1 - Chiang Kai-shek moved to Formosa and created Nationalist government | |
| 1950 | January 30 - Truman approved H-bomb developmentFebruary : Joe McCarthy begins Communist witch hunt and loyalty tests June 24: Korean War begins. Stalin supports North Korea who invade South Korea equipped with Soviet weapons | |
| 1951 | January 12 : Federal Civil Defense Administration establishedApril 11 - Truman fires MacArthur | |
| 1952 | A-bombs developed by Britain | |
| 1953 | March 17-June 4 Nuclear Arms Race atomic test series of 11 explosions at Nevada Test SiteApril 15: RAND report on the "Vulnerability of U. S. Strategic Air Power" July : Korean War ends December 8: Ike's Atoms for Peace speech | |
| 1954 | March 1: H-bomb Castle-Bravo test March : KGB established CIA helps overthrow unfriendly regimes in Iran and Guatemala July : Vietnam split at 17th parallel | |
| 1955 | May : Warsaw Pact formed | |
| 1956 | June 29: USSR sent tanks into Poznan, Poland, to suppress demonstrations by workersSeptember 4: USSR sent military aid to Afghanistan October - November : Rebellion put down in Communist Hungary. October 29: Suez Crisis began with Israeli attack led by Moshe Dayan against Egyptian forces in the Sinai Egypt took control of Suez Canal | |
| 1957 | August 26: Vostok rocket launched 1st ICBM October 4 : Sputnik launched into orbit November 3: Sputnik II launched - Laika died in space | |
| 1958 | January 31: Explorer I launchedJuly : NASA began Mercury project using Atlas rocket November : Khrushchev demands withdrawal of troops from Berlin | |
| 1959 | January : Cuba taken over by Fidel Castro September : Khrushchev visits United States; The Kitchen Debate | |
| 1960 | A-bombs developed by FranceMay : Soviet Union reveals that U.S. spy plane was shot down over Soviet territory November : John F. Kennedy elected President of USA December 19: Cuba openly aligns itself with the Soviet Union and their policies. | |
| 1961 | April : Bay of Pigs invasion see Cuban Missile Crisis Timeline August 13 : Berlin border is closed August 17 : Construction of Berlin Wall begins | |
| 1962 | U.S. involvement in Vietnam increases see Vietnam War TimelineOctober : Cuban Missile Crisis see Cuban Missile Crisis Timeline | |
| 1963 | 1963: July : Nuclear Test Ban Treaty ratified 1963: November : President Kennedy assassinated in Dallas, Texas | |
| 1964 | August : Gulf of Tonkin incident - see Vietnam War TimelineOctober: A-bombs developed by China | |
| 1965 | April : U.S. Marines sent to Dominican Republic to fight Communism July : Announcement of dispatching of 200,000 U.S. troops to Vietnam | |
| 1966 | B-52s Bomb North Vietnam | |
| 1967 | The US Secretary of Defence Robert McNamara admits that the US bombing raids had failed to meet their objectives | |
| 1968 | January : North Korea captured U.S.S. PuebloPresident Johnson does not run for the presidency and Richard Nixon Elected President of the USA August : Soviet Red Army crush Czechoslovakian revolt | |
| 1969 | July 20 : Apollo 11 lands on the moon | |
| 1970 | April : President Nixon extends Vietnam War to Cambodia | |
| 1971 | Publication of the Pentagon Papers | |
| 1972 | February: President Richard Nixon visits ChinaJuly : SALT I signed | |
| 1973 | January : Cease fire in Vietnam between North Vietnam and United States September : U.S. supported coup overthrows Chilean government October : Egypt and Syria attack Israel; Egypt requests Soviet aid | |
| 1974 | 1974: August : President Nixon resigns | |
| 1975 | April 17 : North Vietnam defeats South Vietnam which falls to Communist forces | |
| 1976 | February: Soviet and Cuban forces help to install Communist government in Angola. | |
| 1979 | January: U.S. and China establish diplomatic relations.July : SALT II signed November : Shah of Iran overthrown; Iranian Hostage Crisis December: Soviet forces invade Afghanistan | |
| 1980 | August: Polish shipyard workers strike Solidarity Union formed. Strike leader Lech Walesa is elected as the head of Solidarity | |
| 1983 | President Reagan proposes Strategic Defence Initiative 1983: October : U.S. troops invades and overthrows regime in Grenada | |
| 1985 | Mikhail Gorbachev becomes leader of the Soviet Union initiating a campaign of openness called "glasnost" and restructuring called "perestroika" | |
| 1986 | October : President Reagan and Gorbachev resolve to remove all intermediate nuclear missiles from Europe | |
| 1987 | October : Reagan and Gorbachev agree to remove all medium and short-range nuclear missiles | |
| 1989 | January : Soviet troops withdraw from Afghanistan June : Poland becomes independent September : Hungary becomes independent November : Berlin Wall is demolished and East Germany allows unrestricted migration to West Germany December : Communist governments fall in Czechoslovakia, Bulgaria, and RumaniaDecline of the Soviet empire | |
| 1990 | March : Lithuania becomes independent May 29 : Boris Yeltsin elected as President of Russia October 3 : Germany reunited | |
| 1991 | August : End of Soviet Union and the Cold War Ends |
