1. A Cold War Timeline

2. Pattern of On-Going Conflict between 2 groups of Countries
‘Western’
Democratic
Capitalist
U.S., Great Britain, France, W. Germany, etc.
N.A.T.O.
‘Eastern’
Totalitarian (not Democratic)
• Communist
U.S.S.R. and ‘satellite’ countries (of Eastern Europe)
Warsaw Pact

3. 1940s 1945: February Yalta Conference Cold War Begins 1945: August 6 -- United States first used atomic bomb in war : August Japanese surrender End of World War II : March -- Winston Churchill delivers "Iron Curtain" Speech : March -- Truman declares active role in Greek Civil War : June -- Marshall Plan is announced : February -- Communist takeover in Czechoslovakia : June Berlin Blockade begins : July -- NATO ratified : May Berlin Blockade ends : September -- Mao Zedong, a Communist, takes control of China : September -- Soviets explode first atomic bomb

4. 1950s 1950: February -- Joe McCarthy begins Communist witch hunt
1950s 1950: February -- Joe McCarthy begins Communist witch hunt Korean War : June Rosenberg executions CIA helps overthrow unfriendly regimes in Iran and Guatemala : July -- Vietnam split at 17th parallel : May -- Warsaw Pact formed : October - November -- Rebellion put down in Communist Hungary : October 4 -- Sputnik launched into orbit : November -- Khrushchev demands withdrawal of troops from Berlin : January -- Cuba taken over by Fidel Castro : September -- Khrushchev visits United States; denied access to Disneyland

5. 1960s 1960: May -- Soviet Union reveals U. S
1960s 1960: May -- Soviet Union reveals U.S. spy plane shot down over Soviet territory 1960: November -- John F. Kennedy elected President 1961: April -- Bay of Pigs invasion 1961: August Berlin border closed 1961: August Construction of Berlin Wall begins 1962: -- U.S. involvement in Vietnam increased : October -- Cuban Missile Crisis : July -- Nuclear Test Ban Treaty ratified : November -- President Kennedy assassinated in Dallas, Texas : August -- Gulf of Tonkin incident : April -- U.S. Marines sent to Dominican Republic to fight Communism : July -- Announcement of dispatching of 150,000 U.S. troops to Vietnam : January -- North Korea captured U.S.S. Pueblo : August -- Soviet troops crush Czechoslovakian revolt : July Apollo 11 lands on the moon

6. 1970s. 1970: April -- President Nixon extends Vietnam War to Cambodia
1970s : April -- President Nixon extends Vietnam War to Cambodia : July -- SALT I signed : January -- Cease fire in Vietnam between N. Vietnam and United States : September -- United States helps overthrow Chile government 1973: October -- Egypt and Syria attack Israel; Egypt requests Soviet aid 1974: August -- President Nixon resigns 1975: April North Vietnam defeats South Vietnam Karol Wojtyla, Cardinal of Krakow, elected Pope --John-Paul II : July -- SALT II signed 1979: November -- Shah of Iran overthrown; Iranian Hostage Crisis

7. 1980s Disturbances at Gdansk (Poland) lead to ‘Solidarity’ trade union led by Lech Walesa : -- Reagan proposes Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI--a.k.a ‘Star Wars’) 1983: October -- U.S. troops overthrow regime in Grenada 1985: -- Iran-Contra Affair (arms sold to Iran, profits support Nicaraguan contras) 1985: -- Gorbachev takes power in Soviet Union 1986: -- Gorbachev ends economic aid to Soviet satellites 1986: Oct -- Reagan & Gorbachev: remove all intermed. nukes from Eur : Oct -- Reagan/Gorbachev: remove medium & short-range nukes from Eur : January -- Soviet troops withdraw from Afghanistan 1989: June -- China violently stops protests for democracy; Poland is independent 1989: September -- Hungary becomes independent 1989: November -- Berlin Wall falls 1989: Dec -- Communist govt.s fall: Czechoslovakia, Bulgaria, Rumania; Soviet empire ends

8. 1990s. 1990: March -- Lithuania becomes independent
1990s : March -- Lithuania becomes independent : May Boris Yeltsin elected to presidency of Russia : October 3 -- Germany reunited : April -- Warsaw Pact ends : August -- End of Soviet Union Cold War Ends