General Timeline of the Cold War

Timeline Proxy Wars 1945 Arms Race Aug: US drops A-bomb on Japan (End of Pacific War) June: Baruch Plan by US Talks & Treaties Feb: Yalta Conference July: Potsdam Conference Feb: Stalins Bolshoi Theatre Speech March: Churchills Iron Curtain speech March: Truman Doctrine speech (US) June: Berlin Blockade begins May: Berlin Blockade ends Crises USA Apr: Truman accedes as US President Sept: End of LandLease Act to USSR Feb: George Kennans Long Telegram USSR Others May: End of WWII in Europe July: Atlee Brit PM

1946 C O L D W 1947 A R 1948 I

Sept: Greece Civil War breaks out, Bulgaria votes for est. of a Peoples Republic (Comm. since Sept 1944)

June: Marshall Plan

Sept: Cominform formed

Jan: Bizonia formed

1949

Aug: USSR 1st A-bomb test

Nov 48- 49: Ward Incident (US consul & staff held hostage by Chi Communists) Apr: NATO established

Feb: Communist Take-over in Czechoslovakia

May: F. R. Germany formed Oct: Peoples Republic of China established (Communist), USSR declares German D. R., End of Greek Civil War (1st successful containment of Comm.) Dec: Popular Republic of Romania est. (Communist)

1950

June: Korean War begins

1952 B R I N K M A N S H I P

Jan: Truman approved Hbomb development USA explodes first Hydrogen bomb

Treaty of friendship for 30 years between USSR and China (broken by 1959) Stalin offers negotiations on reunification of Germany (by Germany remaining neutral) rejected by Allies Jan: Truman replaced by Eisenhower MARCH: STALIN DIES A-bombs developed by Britain

1953

July: Korean War ends

1954

Beginning of US interventn in Vietnam

1955

1956

Destalinisatio n begins Dissolution of

Czechoslovakia anti-Soviet rioting June: anti-gvt, anti-Soviet demonstrations in East Germany => ec. Concessions in E. Germ. & other satellite states Soviet Union suggests it should join NATO to preserve peace in Europe. U.S. and U.K. reject this, seeing it as an attempt to curtail the buildup of NATO forces in Europe. Jan: The Austrian State Treaty 9 May: Admission of West Germany into NATO 14 May: Formation of Warsaw Pact in objection to (9 May) Sept: USSR recognises the West German state June- Oct: Polish Uprising (won substantial independence while still Comm.) Oct- Nov: Hungarian Uprising

Cominform

(brutally crushed: 7000 Russians & 30,000 Hungarians dead, nonintervention by US)

1958

1959

1960 1961

Vienna Summit (Kennedy & Khr.) on the future of Berlin => no agreement US involvmt in Vietnam increases Oct: Cuban Missile Crisis USA & USSR agree to use only underground tests for nuclear explosions

Berlin Crisis Aug 1961: Berlin border closed, Berlin Wall construct ion begins

Khrushchev as undisputed leader Sept: Khrushchev visits USA

Jan: Cuba Communist (Castro) May : Soviet Union reveals that U.S. spy plane was shot down over Soviet territory

Jan: Kennedy replaces Eisenhower Apr: Bay of Pigs

1962

1963

Nov: Kennedy assassinated, replaced by Johnson

NATO stages Operation Big Lift, which sees 14,500 troops flown from the U.S. to West Germany in a display of NATO's quick reinforcement abilities.

1968

Prague Spring (crushed by Warsaw Pact troops)

1969 1970 D E T E N T E 1972 1974 1975

SALT start

Jan: Nixon replaces Johnson Ostpolitik (normalisation of EastWest Germany) begins

SALT I signed Vietnam War ends Aug: Helsinki Agreement signed SALT II signed

Feb: Nixon visited China Aug: Ford replaces Nixon

1977 1979

Jan: Cater replaces Ford NATO responds to INF by installing cruise & Pershing missiles in UK, W. Germany

C O L D

Installatio n of INF targeted at Western Europe

Dec: Soviet troops enter Afghanistan Iranian Revolution

1981

W A 1983 R 1985 II 1986

Polish Crisis (19811982) Oct: Reagan proposes SDI

Jan: Reagan replaces Carter

Gorb. ascends to power Oct: Reagan & Gorb. resolve to remove all intermediate nuclear missiles from Europe Feb: NATO and Warsaw Pact enter formal talks aimed at reducing the number of conventional forces in Europe.

1987

1989

E N D O F C O L D W A R 1990

Oct: Reagan & Gorb. agree to remove all med & short range missiles by treaty Dec: In a meeting, George Bush & Gorbachev release statements indicating the C.W. between their nations may be coming to an end

Jan: George H. W. Bush replaces Reagan

May: Gorbache v visits China

1991

Nov: Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Forces signed by NATO & Warsaw Pact July: Ratification of START I by US and Soviet Union

March: Lithuania indepnt July: Yeltsin President of Russia Sept: USSR recognises Baltic States indepdnce

- Nov: Berlin Wall falls - June: Poland becomes independent - Comm. Gvt fall in Czechoslovakia (Dec), Bulgaria (Nov), Romania (Dec) - Feb: Soviet forces pull out of Afghanistan - May: Tiananmen Square Incident - Nov: Velvet Revolution (Czech.) Oct: Official reunification of Germany June: Last Comecon council session; dissolution of Comecon July: End of Warsaw Pact Nov: End of Communist Party of Soviet Union Dec: Dissolution of Soviet Union, Creation of Commonwealth of International States (CIS)