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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 |
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1946 |
February 9: Stalin hostile speech – communism & capitalism were incompatible
March 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 |
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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 |
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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 |
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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 |
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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 |
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1951 |
January 12 : Federal Civil Defense Administration established
April 11 – Truman fires MacArthur |
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1952 |
A-bombs developed by Britain |
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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 |
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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 |
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1955 |
May : Warsaw Pact formed |
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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 |
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1957 |
August 26: Vostok rocket launched 1st ICBM
October 4 : Sputnik launched into orbit
November 3: Sputnik II launched – Laika died in space |
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1958 |
January 31: Explorer I launched
July : NASA began Mercury project using Atlas rocket
November : Khrushchev demands withdrawal of troops from Berlin |
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1959 |
January : Cuba taken over by Fidel Castro
September : Khrushchev visits United States; The Kitchen Debate |
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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. |
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1961 |
April : Bay of Pigs invasion see Cuban Missile Crisis Timeline
August 13 : Berlin border is closed
August 17 : Construction of Berlin Wall begins |
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1962 |
U.S. involvement in Vietnam increases see Vietnam War Timeline
October : Cuban Missile Crisis see Cuban Missile Crisis Timeline |
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1963 |
1963: July : Nuclear Test Ban Treaty ratified
1963: November : President Kennedy assassinated in Dallas, Texas |
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1964 |
August : Gulf of Tonkin incident – see Vietnam War Timeline
October: A-bombs developed by China |
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1965 |
April : U.S. Marines sent to Dominican Republic to fight Communism
July : Announcement of dispatching of 200,000 U.S. troops to Vietnam |
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1966 |
B-52s Bomb North Vietnam |
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1967 |
The US Secretary of Defence Robert McNamara admits that the US bombing raids had failed to meet their objectives |
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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 |
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1969 |
July 20 : Apollo 11 lands on the moon |
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1970 |
April : President Nixon extends Vietnam War to Cambodia |
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1971 |
Publication of the Pentagon Papers |
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1972 |
February: President Richard Nixon visits China
July : SALT I signed |
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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 |
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1974 |
1974: August : President Nixon resigns |
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1975 |
April 17 : North Vietnam defeats South Vietnam which falls to Communist forces |
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1976 |
February: Soviet and Cuban forces help to install Communist government in Angola. |
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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 |
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1980 |
August: Polish shipyard workers strike Solidarity Union formed. Strike leader Lech Walesa is elected as the head of Solidarity |
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1983 |
President Reagan proposes Strategic Defence Initiative
1983: October : U.S. troops invades and overthrows regime in Grenada |
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1985 |
Mikhail Gorbachev becomes leader of the Soviet Union initiating a campaign of openness called “glasnost” and restructuring called “perestroika” |
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1986 |
October : President Reagan and Gorbachev resolve to remove all intermediate nuclear missiles from Europe |
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1987 |
October : Reagan and Gorbachev agree to remove all medium and short-range nuclear missiles |
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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 Rumania
Decline of the Soviet empire |
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1990 |
March : Lithuania becomes independent
May 29 : Boris Yeltsin elected as President of Russia
October 3 : Germany reunited |
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1991 |
August : End of Soviet Union and the Cold War Ends |
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