Cold War Notes
1945 – Yalta & Potsdam Conferences: Allies meet to decide post-WWII Europe; tensions between U.S. and USSR grow.
1947 – Truman Doctrine: U.S. vows to support countries resisting communism (like Greece & Turkey).
1947 – Marshall Plan: U.S. gives $$$ to rebuild Western Europe and prevent communism from spreading.
1948–49 – Berlin Airlift: USSR blockades West Berlin, U.S. flies in supplies—first major Cold War crisis.
1949 – NATO formed: U.S. and allies create a military alliance to defend against the USSR.
1949 – USSR tests atomic bomb: Arms race begins.
1950s – Containment & Crises
1950–1953 – Korean War: North (communist) vs. South (U.S.-backed); ends in stalemate at the 38th parallel.
1955 – Warsaw Pact formed: Soviet version of NATO.
1956 – Hungarian Uprising: Soviets brutally crush a rebellion; U.S. doesn’t intervene.
1957 – Sputnik launched: USSR puts first satellite in space; space race begins.
1959 – Cuban Revolution: Castro takes power and aligns with USSR.
1960s – Height of Tension
1961 – Berlin Wall built: USSR stops East Germans from fleeing to the West.
1962 – Cuban Missile Crisis: Closest the world gets to nuclear war; USSR removes missiles, U.S. secretly removes missiles from Turkey.
1964–1973 – Vietnam War (U.S. involvement): U.S. tries to stop communism in Vietnam; war becomes unpopular.
1968 – Prague Spring: Czechoslovakia tries reforms; USSR invades to stop them.
1969 – Apollo 11 moon landing: U.S. wins the symbolic space race.
1970s – Détente & Diplomacy
1972 – SALT I Agreement: U.S. and USSR agree to limit nuclear weapons.
1973 – U.S. pulls out of Vietnam: Seen as a loss for the U.S.; South Vietnam falls in 1975.
1979 – Soviet invasion of Afghanistan: U.S. supports Afghan resistance (Mujahideen); another Cold War battleground.
1979 – U.S. & China normalize relations: Strategic move against USSR.
1980s – Cold War Winds Down
1983 – Reagan’s “Evil Empire” speech: Return to aggressive rhetoric.
1983 – Strategic Defense Initiative (“Star Wars”): U.S. plans missile defense system—puts economic pressure on USSR.
1985 – Gorbachev rises to power: Begins reforms (Glasnost = openness, Perestroika = restructuring).
1987 – INF Treaty: U.S. and USSR agree to eliminate intermediate-range nukes.
1989 – Fall of the Berlin Wall: Symbolizes the collapse of Soviet control in Eastern Europe.
1991 – Collapse of the Soviet Union: USSR dissolves; Cold War officially ends.