Cold War Timeline

1945- Feb-Yalta Conference (Churchill, Roosevelt and Stalin).---- May- German surrender and end of WW2. ----July- Potsdam Conference (Atlee, Stalin and Truman). ----August- Atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.---- September- Japanese Surrender and end of WW2 in Asia.
1. 1946- Feb- Kennan's Long Telegram --- March- Churchill's Iron Curtain Speech
  1. 1947- March- Truman Doctrine begins --- June- Marshall Plan
    1. 1948- Berlin Blockade begins and the Berlin Airlift
      1. 1949- April NATO formed --- May- Berlin Blockade ends. --- May- Federal Republic of Germany created. --- August- USSR detonates first atomic bomb. --- October- Communist victory in Chinese Civil War.--- German Democratic Republic created
        NATO- Led to the beginning of Globalism for the USA. The USA believed there should be an Atlantic Alliance instead of a purely regional European Alliance, therefore the North Atlantic Treaty organisation (NATO) was formed, it was a way of reassuring Western European states in the face of possible Soviet military aggression.. NATO wanted to settle any international disputes by peaceful means and wanted to create world wide peace. Also if one member of NATO was threatened by a country, then the rest of the other countries must attack
        Federal Republic of Germany- Western Allies drew up a constitution that was approved in 1949. The first leader was Konrad Adenauer. The New West German state was subjected to an occupation statute which gave Britain, France and the USA the authority to determine any final decisions on West German Foreign Policy. On March 1949, a constitution for the new East German state had been assembled. This constitution was based on a one party system for the voters.
        China- The USA supported Jian Jieshi's nationalist forces (KMT) in the Chinese Civil War, however Mao (CCP communist party) looked as if he was going to win the Chinese Civil War. Dean Acheson (secretary of State) was committed to supporting the KMT in Taiwan secretly. However the Chinese Communist Party took power and signed an agreement with the UCCR, showing the failure of the USA's foreign policy (This along with the USSR testing of the Atomic Bomb and thus the start of the NSC-68)
      2. 1950- June- North Korea's invasion of South Korea --- UN intervention in Korean War --- November- Chinese intervention in Korean War
        1952- November- Dwight D. Eisenhower Elected president of the USA
        1953- March- Death of Stalin--- July- Armistice signed regarding the Korean War
        1955- May- Warsaw Pact Formed
        1956- Khrushchev consolidates power in USSR --- February- Secret Speech/ De-Stalinisation Speech
        1958- Berlin Crisis
        1959- January - Castro takes power in Cuba
        1960- May- U-2 Spy Plane incident--- November- JFK elected President
        1961- April- Bay of Pigs failed invasion. --- August- Berlin Wall erected
        1962- October- Cuban Missile Crisis
        1963- August- Moscow Test Ban Treaty Signed by Great Britain, USSR and USA. --- November- Kennedy is assassinated, President Johnson replaces him
        Banned the testing of nuclear arms over ground, in the ocean, in space but let them be tested underground. Signed by everyone but France and China
        U-2 spy plane shower Soviet nuclear arms in Cuba. The soviets included it there for security for Cuba but also to create influence/threat the USA. There were both hawks (military action) and doves (wanted Diplomatic solutions). They were unsure as to how to remove the weapons. Kennedy settled on a quarantine where he would use a line of ships to force USSR ships to turn around. All US bases were put on maximum alert. Khrushchev sent a telegram to Kennedy which hinted at him wanting a way out of it. A peaceful resolution was made between Kennedy and Khrushchev. Nuclear arms were removed from Turkey and from Cuba
        The Bay of Pigs invasion was planned by Eisenhower. They sent 1500 anti-Castro exiles to Cuba and carry out a military coup to remove him. It didn't work, the rebels were captured and it humiliated Kennedy. It also confirmed the soviet's and castro's fears about the USA intentions for Cuba
        Berlin Wall was erected due to the large number of skilled workers emigrating from the East to the West. Ulbricht (ruler of East Germany) fenced off the perimeter but later built a wall instead thus splitting families and trapping people
        The soviet union brought down a U-2 spy plane. Gary Powers (the US pilot) survived. The data from the U-2 Flight confirmed Khrushchev was exaggerating Soviet Nuclear Capability however this incident led to the cancellation of the Paris Summit
        Fidel Castro and Ernesto Che Guevara returned to Cuba in 1956. After a guerrilla campaign conducted against Batista's regime, their supporters began to swell. In 1959 Castro rode into Havana and became President
        The West had turned West Berlin into a flagship of Western Capitalism. East Germans would travel to West Berlin. Khrushchev wanted to minimise US influence in German and gain assurances that West Germany would never be armed with American-Backed nuclear weapons. In 1958, Khrushchev passed an ultimatum to remove western troops form west berlin and to make berlin a free city. The west rejected the said ultimatum.
        Khrushchev took control in the USSR and provided a secret speech and started de-stalinisation. He wanted to redefine the relationship between the Soviet Union and its Eastern Bloc States. He wanted political stability, economic growth and improved living conditions through de-stalinisation (removal of centralised planning, one party political system and communist dominance.) His secret speech led to uprisings in Poland and Hungary
        This was the USSR's retaliation to NATO. The Soviet's influence in Eastern Europe was already significant. The countries that supported the Soviets in this area acted as agents of Soviet Influence, this led to the creation of the Warsaw Pact. This legitimised the USSR's influence in Eastern Europe similar to NATO had done to the West. It was a security strategy and therefore a non-threatening alliance. The Warsaw Pact also consolidated the political and economic relationship between the USSR and its satellites.
        Negotiations started in 51 but ended in 53. Rhee wanted the USA to have stronger ties with South Korea. Stalin's death allowed the agreement to be passed quicker. There was to be a military demarcation line with a demilitarised zone on each side (38th Parallel restored). All military forces would withdraw their troops, the repatriation of prisons would begin
        Replacing Truman, Eisenhower was elected (Ex-General and Anti-Communist Republican
        Invasion- Kim Il Sung had 200,000+ communist supporters in the South, there was a well organised communist guerrilla force in the south, the USA would not have time to intervene and it would be a rapid victory. He wanted to unify Korea so he invaded the South. The USSR didn't want to support as they didn't want to create tensions with the USA, especially after the progress in Europe.
        Chinese intervened in the Korean War- Mao wanted to consolidate communist control in China (and regain control over Taiwan from the Nationalists). Mao was not concerned about the future of Korea. When the North invaded the South. China didn't intervene However when USA supported China, Mao became threatened by US influence in Asia, so he sent soldiers to North Korea
        The UN also intervened. The USSR refused to attend the UN due to America not accepting China as a member of the UN, as a result interference was allowed in South Korea
      3. Berlin Blockade- After the Western Deutsch mark was introduced, the soviet union blocked all road and rail links to West Berlin through the Soviet Zone. The West argued the Soviet's aim was to spread communism across Germany, and their pressure to oust the Western Powers from West Berlin was the first step in this process.
        The West was adamant that the allies must not use military force due to fears of a new world war. As a result, General Clay and Truman decided to command an Airlift, by landing planes in England to collect resources and then flying them to Berlin. This took place until 1949 when Stalin ended the blockade
    2. Truman Doctrine- A doctrine passed by Truman. Designed to protect democracy and freedom, designed to keep the soviet union from aiding the Greek communist movement, Truman demonised the Soviet Union and Communism in the minds of the American Public, Truman had to provoke the Soviets (designed to make the USSR feel threatened by the USA) , Doctrine formed an important element of the USA's aim of developing it's global economic power, Doctrine was the first step in the creation of containment.
      1. The Marshall Plan- Clayton declared that a failure to revive the economies of European states would damage the USA's economy. The Marshall Plan was used to aid foreign countries economically. The USA spent $13.5 Billion on 16 countries over the first 5 years. In response the countries had to import goods from the USA, they had to share economic information with the USA. It greatly benefitted the American economy and supported containment.
  2. Long Telegram- George Kennan (US Embassy in Moscow) sent a telegram to the US State Department in Washington. Kennan wanted the USA to adopt a hard line against the USSR. Emphasised that the USSR viewed the West as hostile and menacing. Argued that the uSA must be prepared to threaten the use of force. He stated that the USSR wanted to expand its influence, create anger against the USA and spread communism
    1. Led to the Novikov writing a response to the USSR regarding the aim of the USA was to use its economic power to make states dependent on it
      1. After Churchill finished his time as Prime Minister, he declared the Iron Curtain Speech where he carried out an anti-soviet ideological assault. This angered Stalin who retaliated in a soviet newspaper where he explained his problems regarding the German invasion of USSR and explained his actions
2. Yalta- meeting with Stalin, Roosevelt and Winston Churchill in Yalta (Crimea). Led to the agreement of Germany being divided into 4 zones, Berlin to be divided, United Nations Organisation to be formed, USSR would gain land from Poland and Poland would take land from Germany, Declaration on Liberated Europe to be created.
  1. Potsdam- Led to the end of WW2. Had Truman, Attlee and Stalin in attendance. Agreements were- Germany was disarmed, De-nazification was to take place in Germany, Decentralisation of the political system, Freedom of speech were restored, Germany was to become a single economic unit, USSR was to receive reparations from its own zone

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	Created by James Burns almost 8 years ago