| 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 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
|
| 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
|
| 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 : Warsaw Pact formed |
| 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 see Vietnam War Timeline October : 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 Timeline October: 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. 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 |
| 1970 | April : President Nixon extends Vietnam War to Cambodia |
| 1971 | Publication of the Pentagon Papers |
| 1972 | February: President Richard Nixon visits China July : 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 |
