Timeline of the Cold War
1945
February 4: 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 incompatible
March 10: Truman demands Russia leave Iran
March 16 : "Sinews of Peace" Iron Curtain Speech by Winston Churchill - "an "iron curtain" has descended on Europe" 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 Containment
March 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 Containment
February 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 Containment
April 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 development
February : 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
June 30th: U.S troops enter into the Korean conflict.
1951
January 12: Federal Civil Defense Administration established
April 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 Site April 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 14, 1955. The Warsaw Pact: Officially known as the Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation, and Mutual Assistance, the military alliance was signed in Warsaw, Poland, by the Soviet Union and seven other Eastern European communist bloc nations to counter NATO's expansion and the accession of West.
1956
June 29: USSR sent tanks into Poznan, Poland, to suppress demonstrations by workers September 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 launched
July : 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 France
May : 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
October : Cuban Missile Crisis
1963
July : Nuclear Test Ban Treaty ratified
November 22: President Kennedy assassinated in Dallas, Texas
1964
August : Gulf of Tonkin incident
October: A-bombs developed by China
1965
March 8, 1965 US combat troops land in Vietnam
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. Pueblo
President 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
1945
February 4: 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 incompatible
March 10: Truman demands Russia leave Iran
March 16 : "Sinews of Peace" Iron Curtain Speech by Winston Churchill - "an "iron curtain" has descended on Europe" 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 Containment
March 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 Containment
February 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 Containment
April 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 development
February : 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
June 30th: U.S troops enter into the Korean conflict.
1951
January 12: Federal Civil Defense Administration established
April 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 Site April 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 14, 1955. The Warsaw Pact: Officially known as the Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation, and Mutual Assistance, the military alliance was signed in Warsaw, Poland, by the Soviet Union and seven other Eastern European communist bloc nations to counter NATO's expansion and the accession of West.
1956
June 29: USSR sent tanks into Poznan, Poland, to suppress demonstrations by workers September 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 launched
July : 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 France
May : 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
October : Cuban Missile Crisis
1963
July : Nuclear Test Ban Treaty ratified
November 22: President Kennedy assassinated in Dallas, Texas
1964
August : Gulf of Tonkin incident
October: A-bombs developed by China
1965
March 8, 1965 US combat troops land in Vietnam
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. Pueblo
President 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