Download cold war timeline of events

COLD WAR TIMELINE OF
EVENTS
US vs. USSR
1945 Cold War Begins
• Soviet Union keeps control of Eastern
Europe after WWII
• Creates buffer zone
• Churchill says “Iron Curtain” has
descended upon Eastern Europe
1947 Truman Doctrine
• US aid to Greece and Turkey
• Trying to prevent spread of communismcontainment
1947 Marshall Plan
• US attempt to help rebuild Europe after
WWII
• Named for George Marshall-Sec. of State
• Helps keep some European countries from
turning communist.
• Only Western European countries
accepted the assistance. USSR was
handling the Eastern European countries.
1948 Berlin Airlift
• East and West Germany: East and West
Berlin had been split between USSR(East)
and Democratic Allies(West)
• USSR closes path to West Berlin.
• Results in airlifting of materials to West
Berlin to keep it running.
1949 NATO Formed
• North Atlantic Treaty Organization
• Formed to help each other if attacked by
communist countries
• Led by United States
• Form of collective security
1950-1953 Korean War
• Communist North Korea invades Democratic
South Korea
• United Nations comes to aid South Korea
• Led by General MacArthur tide turns at Inchon.
• China enters on North’s side.
• MacArthur fired.
• Stalemate at 38th parallel
• Eisenhower ends war with cease fire.
1951 ANZUS pledge signed
• US, Australia, New Zealand pledge to
assist if attacked by communists
• Another example of collective security
1954 SEATO created
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South East Asia Treaty Organization
Created to oppose communist expansion.
Collective security
Vietnam?
1957 Eisenhower Doctrine
• US promises to aid and defend Middle
Eastern countries from communist attack
• Containment continued
1960 U2 Spy Plane Incident
• American Spy plane shot down over
Soviet Union
• Gary Powers captured
• Prompts cancellation of US-Soviet summit
1961 Berlin Wall Built
• East Germany builds Berlin Wall
• Limits travel and exodus of East Berliners
to West Berlin
1962 Cuban Missile Crisis
• Soviets put missiles in Cuba
• US blockades Cuba;demands removal of
missiles
• Kennedy makes private deal with
Khruschev to remove our missiles from
Turkey
1967 Six Day War
• Israel(US backed) fights Arab
Nations(Soviet backed)
• Israel wins in decisive fashion.
1969 US Lands Man on Moon
• US wins space race
• Soviets had launched Sputnik in 1957
– First satellite to orbit earth
• Kennedy had pledged to put a man on the
moon by the end of the decade-SUCCESS
1972 Nixon’s trip to China
• Recognize China and continue Détente.
• Hope to get Soviet Union to pursue
diplomacy as well.
1972 SALT Agreement Signed
• Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty signed
between US and Soviet Union.
• Limiting production of Nuclear weapons
• Continued Détente-a period of less tension
between the two
1975 South Vietnam Falls
• South Vietnam surrenders to North
Vietnam
• US had lost nearly 50,000 men trying to
keep South Vietnam from falling to
communism
• Had left after Nixon’s Vietnamization and
Peace with Honor
1980 US defeats USSR Hockey
• Amateur hockey players from US defeat
the world’s best, and very experienced,
Soviet team in the 1980 Olympics
• US wins Gold in next game
• PRIDE for US
1987 Reagan urges Gorbachev
• Reagan urges Gorbachev to “tear down
this wall” in reference to the Berlin Wall
• Gorbachev had started perestoika and
glasnost and was permitting more
involvement in buffer states.
1989 Berlin Wall Falls
• East and West Berlin are free to move
between each other
• Eastern European countries begin falling
1993 Soviet Union Falls
• Soviet Union dismantled
• Boris Yeltsin-democratically elected leader
of Russia
• Ethnic regions begin fighting for control of
once dominated areas.