Cold War Key Dates (1945-1991)

January 1945

Most Eastern European states are liberated by the Soviet Union

4-11th February 1945

Yalta Conference

Stalin, Roosevelt, Churchill

The leaders of the USSR, USA and the UK at Yalta

April 1945

Roosevelt dies.

May 1945

WWII ends in Europe.

July 1945

Attlee becomes PM and the USA gains atomic weapons.

17 July-1 August 1945

Potsdam conference

Stalin, Truman, Attlee

The leaders of the USSR, USA and UK at Potsdam

August 1945

USA drops two atomic bombs on Japan.

September 1945

Japan surrenders

22nd February 1946

Kennan's 'Long Telegram' is sent.

6th March 1946

Churchill's 'Iron Curtain' speech.

June 1946

Communists win in Polish elections.

October 1946

Communists win in Bulgarian elections (75% popular vote).

November 1946

Communists win in Romanian elections (80% of the votes).

The Greek Civil War

The event that influenced Truman to implement financial aid to European nations rebuilding after the war (the Truman Doctrine).

January 1947

British and US zones in Germany merge to form Bizonia.

12th March 1947

Truman Doctrine announced.

March-April 1947

The Moscow Conference

June 1947

The Marshall Plan is announced by George Marshall.

February 1948

A new currency is introduced to the Western zones of Germany.

February-June 1948

The London Conference of Western powers

June 1948

Communists gain control of Czechoslovakia.

7th June 1948

The Deutsche Mark was introduced to the Western Zones of Germany and West Berlin. The West Germans are given permission to create a new constitution.

June 1948

The London Conference decided that Germany should have its own Constituent Assembly.

September 1948

Cominfrom created.

24 June 1948-12 May 1949

The Berlin Blockade

August 1949

The Soviet Union gains the A-Bomb

September 1949

NSC-68 is approved for recommendation

November 1949

FRG joins the Council of Europe

Andrei Zhdanov

Created the Zhdanov Doctrine as he viewed the world in two separate camps: communist and capitalist.

Boleslaw Bierut

Replaced Wladyslaw Gomulka as Polish deputy prime minister in 1948

Dean G. Acheson

Assistant Secretary of State (1941-1949) and Secretary of State (1949-1953)

Edvard Beneš

Czech president in 1946 but resigned in June 1948, leaving pro-Moscow communists in control.

January 1950

Defensive Perimeter Strategy

January 1950

Alger Hiss was convicted of perjury after passing on information to the USSR whilst working for the US State Department.

February 1950

China forms a military alliance with the USSR

February 1950

Stalin promises to provide North Korea with weapons indirectly.

April 1950

NSC-68 is presented and implemented.

25th June 1950

The Korean War starts when the North attacks the South.

27th June 1950

The USA sends troops to aid South Korea through the UN.

October 1950

Forces from China help North Korea in the war.

November 1950

China officially enters into war against South Korea.

Security Council 1950

The USSR boycotted them and as a result, did not have a say in whether troops were sent to Korea or not.

General Douglas MacArthur

Supreme Commander of the Allied Powers (SCAP) implements the Defensive Perimeter Strategy

PRC

People's Republic of China (1949)

Kim Il-Sung

Leader of North Korea

Syngman Rhee

Leader of South Korea

Jiang Jieshi

Leader of Taiwan

Mao Zedong

Leader of the PRC

Joseph Dodge

Economic advisor to SCAP

'Super balanced budget'

Scheme for Japan to get a surplus of 157 million yen ($4 million).

GATT

General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade.

April 1951

MacArthur is dismissed as SCAP by Truman.

March 1951

The Rosenbergs were executed after being charged as communists.

June 1951

Peace is first proposed between North and South Korea.

September 1951

The San Francisco Peace Treaty

January 1953

Eisenhower becomes President.

March 1953

Stalin dies.

March 1953

Khrushchev becomes the leader of the USSR.

July 1953

A final peace agreement in Korea is reached.

Panmunjom Armistice Agreement

1. A demilitarised zone of 2km on either side of the 38th Parallel.
2. All military forces should withdraw to their territory.
3. The repatriation of prisoners should begin.

October 1953

NSC 182/2 is presented.

5 million deaths (10% of the pre-war population), 40,000 American deaths and 100,000 wounded.

The effects of the Korean War.

Joseph McCarthy

An American Republican senator between the years 1947 and 1957.

McCarthysim

Anti-communist sentiment and fears grew within America, leading to incredibly extreme reactions towards anyone perceived of being left wing.

Created in 1938 and made permanent in 1945.

The House of Un-American Activities Commission

January 1954

Dulles announces the 'massive retaliation' strategy.

July 1954

The Geneva Conference

Eisenhower and Khrushchev

The leaders of the USA and the USSR at the Geneva Conference.

September 1954

SEATO established.

John Foster Dulles

Secretary of State under Eisenhower

The Viet Minh

A nationalist, communist military force in Vietnam.

Ho Chi Minh

Leader of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam.

Dien Bien Phu

A huge military defeat for France in Indochina

Ngo Dinh Diem

Leader of the Republic of Vietnam.

17th parallel

Where Vietnam was divided at the Geneva Conference in 1954.

January 1955

The North decides to use revolutionary action to unite Vietnam

May 1955

West Germany joins NATO and the Warsaw Pact is set up, and Austrian State Treaty

May-July 1955

Geneva Summit

August 1955

Diem refuses to hold elections for reunification

1955

Hallstein Doctrine

February 1956

Khrushchev's secret speech

June-October 1956

The Polish Rising

August 1956

Collectivisation was underway in North Vietnam and agricultural production increased, however, 1 million refugees fled to South Vietnam

October-November 1956

The Hungarian Rising, 4000 Hungarian citizens were killed and 20,000 went into self-imposed exile.

1956

6000 people were killed in North Vietnam during a military revolt

May 1957

The USSR developed the first ICBM

October 1957

Sputnik is launched

November 1957

The Gaither Report is commisioned

November 1958

The Berlin Ultimatum

January 1959

Batista is overthrown by Castro

September 1959

Khrushchev visits Camp David

February 1960

Anastas Mikoyan, a Soviet Politburo member, offers Cuba economic and military aide.

1st May 1960

Power's U2 Spy Plane is shot down

May 1960

The Paris Summit

June 1961

Kennedy and Khrushchev meet in Vienna

July 1960

Castro promises to spread revolution across Central and Southern America

January 1961

John F. Kennedy is president

April 1961

The Bay of Pigs fiasco, Kennedy's first major failure