Timeline of the Cold War
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
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
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
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 Defense Initiative
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 Rumania
Decline 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
Source from: http://www.datesandevents.org/events-timelines/03-cold-war-timeline.htm
