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 communism-containment

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

• 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.