cold war

Marshall Plan

U.S. aid program to rebuild Europe and stop communism.

NATO Formation

1949 military alliance between the U.S., Canada, and Western Europe.

Maoists Take Over China

1949 communist revolution led by Mao Zedong; China becomes a communist state.

USSR Develops Atomic Bomb

1949; ends U.S. monopoly on nuclear weapons.

Hydrogen Bomb

More powerful nuclear bomb developed by U.S. (1952) and USSR (1953).

Loyalty Program

Truman’s 1947 policy to investigate federal employees for communist ties.

Smith Act

1940 law criminalizing advocacy of violent government overthrow.

HUAC Investigations

Congressional committee investigating communist influence in the U.S.

Rosenbergs

U.S. couple executed in 1953 for spying for the USSR.

North Korea Invades South

1950 invasion begins Korean War.

Landing at Inchon

U.S.-led surprise amphibious assault that turned tide in Korean War.

MacArthur Relieved of Command

Fired in 1951 for publicly challenging President Truman.

Strategic Air Command

U.S. Air Force unit controlling nuclear bombers during Cold War.

Dien Bien Phu

1954 French defeat in Vietnam; ends French colonial rule.

Warsaw Pact

1955 Soviet-led military alliance in Eastern Europe.

Suez Crisis

1956 conflict over Egypt’s nationalization of Suez Canal; U.S. opposes UK, France, Israel.

Eisenhower Doctrine

U.S. policy to aid Middle Eastern nations resisting communism.

Sputnik Launched

1957 Soviet satellite; starts space race.

NASA Created

U.S. space agency formed in 1958 in response to Sputnik.

U-2

Gary Powers

Castro Takes Over Cuba

1959 Cuban Revolution; Fidel Castro establishes communist regime.

Peace Corps Formed

1961 Kennedy program sending volunteers abroad for aid and development.

Apollo 11

1969 U.S. moon landing; major space race victory.

Military Advisors to Vietnam

U.S. sends advisors in 1950s–early 1960s to support South Vietnam.

Bay of Pigs

Failed 1961 U.S.-backed invasion of Cuba by Cuban exiles.

Cuban Missile Crisis

1962 Soviet missiles in Cuba; U.S.-USSR standoff narrowly avoids nuclear war.

Alliance for Progress

1961 U.S. aid program for Latin America to counter communism.

Gulf of Tonkin Incident

1964 alleged attack on U.S. ship; leads to increased U.S. involvement in Vietnam.

Operation Rolling Thunder

1965–1968 sustained U.S. bombing of North Vietnam.

Tet Offensive

1968 surprise attack by North Vietnam; turns U.S. opinion against war.

Nixon Doctrine

U.S. allies must handle their own defense; reduces U.S. troop commitments.

My Lai Massacre

1968 U.S. troops kill Vietnamese civilians; sparks outrage.

Cambodianizing Vietnam

Nixon’s expansion of war into Cambodia and shifting burden to South Vietnam.

Détente

Easing of Cold War tensions in the 1970s.

Shanghai Communique

1972 agreement improving U.S.-China relations after Nixon's visit.

ABM Treaty

1972 U.S.-USSR agreement limiting anti-ballistic missile systems.

SALT (Strategic Arms Limitation Talks)

U.S.-USSR agreements to limit nuclear weapons.

War Powers Act

1973 law limiting presidential war powers.

OPEC Embargo

1973 oil embargo by Arab nations; causes energy crisis.

Helsinki Accords

1975 agreement on human rights and borders between East and West.

U.S. Out of Vietnam

1975 withdrawal after long, unpopular war.

Camp David Accords

1978 peace deal between Egypt and Israel brokered by President Carter.

SALT II

1979 arms control agreement not ratified after Soviet invasion of Afghanistan.

Overthrow of the Shah

1979 Iranian Revolution; U.S.-backed Shah replaced by Islamic Republic.

Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI)

Reagan’s proposed space-based missile defense system.

Iran-Contra Scandal

Reagan officials secretly sold arms to Iran to fund Nicaraguan rebels.

Gorbachev’s Reforms

Glasnost (openness) and Perestroika (restructuring) reforms in USSR.

Berlin Wall Falls

1989 event symbolizing the end of the Cold War and communist rule in Eastern Europe.