cold war timeline – Flashcards

March 1946, Winston Churchill--an iron curtain had descended across East and West Europe, separating Western democracies from Eastern, Communist countries; warned Americans of future conflict with USSR

March 1947, President Truman's policy of providing economic and military aid to any country threatened by communism or totalitarian ideology. Showed US stance against communism

June 1947, Introduced by Secretary of State George G. Marshall in 1947. Proposed massive and systematic American economic aid to Europe to revitalize the European economies after WWII and help prevent the spread of Communism.

June 1948, The blockade was a Soviet attempt to starve out the allies in Berlin in order to gain supremacy. The blockade was a high point in the Cold War, and it led to the Berlin Airlift.

June 1948 Berlin was blocked off by the Soviet Union in order to strangle the Allied forces. In order to combat this, the United States began to airlift supplies into Berlin.

July 1949 Organization formed in 1949 as a military alliance of western European and North American states against the Soviet Union and its east European allies. direct response to berlin blockade

Sept 1949 Mao establishes communism in China. The USSR then creates an alliance with them

April 1950 A document that pushed for a large build up of the U.S military. It allowed the U.S to quickly build up its military for the Korean conflict.

June 1950 - July 1953 The conflict between Communist North Korea and Non-Communist South Korea. The United Nations (led by the United States) helped South Korea, while the communists helped North Korea

Sept 1953 Stated the flaws of Stalin, and that Communism would reign over Capitalism because he said history was on their side

May 1955 An alliance between the Soviet Union and other Eastern European nations. This was in response to the NATO

Nov 1955 - April 1975 war between the communist armies of North Vietnam who were supported by the Chinese and the non-communist armies of South Vietnam who were supported by the United States. Conflict between Communism and Capitalism

October 1957 instigated the space race between the USSR and US; this increased tensions between the two enemies

Jan 1959 Castro transforms Cuba into a Communist state; He also cuts off US economic ties and creates new bonds with the USSR

May 1960 marking the deterioration of US relations with Soviet Union, this incident occurred when a US U-2 spy plane was shot down over Soviet Union airspace. Although denying the plane's purpose at first, it was forced to admit the plane's role as a surveillance aircraft.

Nov 1960 November 1960 He created plans to overthrow the Cuban government, which failed when Khruschchev finds out; Tensions increase

August 1961 Separated E. and W. Germany, forming the boundary of the "Iron Curtain". Further divided the Communists and the Capitalists

Oct 1962 an international crisis, the closest approach to nuclear war at any time between the U.S. and the USSR. JFK ordered the removal of USSR missiles on Cuba. Resulted in the first attempts of nuclear disarmament.

Jan - Aug 1968, was a period of political liberalization in Czechoslovakia during the era of its domination by the Soviet Union;

July 1972 the first treaty between the United States and the USSR; limited the number of missiles each side could own. Eased some tensions

Dec 1979, A nine-year conflict involving Soviet forces supporting the Marxist People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan government against the Mujahideen resistance.

Jan 1981 Continued the fight against communism and promised to defeat the USSR

1985 Made reforms to revive the degenerating USSR, promising to fix things up

Nov 1989, Berlin wall taken down; Beginning of the fall of communism and the Soviet Union - symbolized the failure of communism and massive socialism