
Timeline (U4)
Modern History (Year 12) - Overview of Cold War
Ben Whitten
Origins and Beginnings of the Cold War
1943
Tehran Conference
1945
Yalta Conference
Franklin D. Roosevelt dies and is replaced by Harry Truman as US President
Germany surrenders in WWII
Potsdam Conference
US drops atomic bombs on Hiroshima (6 August) and Nagasaki (9 August)
Formation of the United Nations
1946
Long and Novikov Telegrams
Winston Churchill coins the phrase 'Iron Curtain'
1947
Truman’s 'Containment' speech begins the Truman Doctrine
The Marshall Plan is implemented
Cominform is set up
1948
UK, France and USA unite their zones of control in Germany
Both Germany and Berlin are now divided in two: East vs. West
The Berlin Blockade begins, quickly followed by the start of the Berlin Airlift
The term 'Cold War' is used for the first time to describe the tension between East and West
1949
The Berlin Blockade and Airlift ends
Comecon is set up
NATO is established
The Soviet Union completes its first successful test of an atomic bomb, beginning the nuclear arms race
Mao Zedong declares the People’s Republic of China as a communist state
Development and Crises of the Cold War
1950
The Korean War begins
1953
Dwight D. Eisenhower takes over from Truman as US President
The Korean War ends
Joseph Stalin dies and is replaced by Nikita Khrushchev as Soviet leader
Khrushchev begins talks of 'peaceful co-existence' with the West
1955
The Warsaw Pact is established
1956
Polish and Hungarian uprisings
1959
Cuba becomes communist under Fidel Castro
1960
The U2 Spy Incident causes Khrushchev to walk out of the Paris Peace Conference
1961
John F. Kennedy takes over from Eisenhower as US President
The Bay of Pigs Invasion fails in Cuba
The construction of the Berlin Wall
1962
The Cuban Missile Crisis
1963
The Nuclear Test Ban Treaty is signed between the US, USSR and UK
US President John F Kennedy is assassinated and replaced by Lyndon B. Johnson
1964
The Vietnam War begins
Khrushchev is replaced by Leonid Brezhnev as Soviet leader
1968
The Prague Spring happens
The Brezhnev Doctrine is introduced, justifying the subsequent Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia
1969
Richard Nixon takes over from Johnson as US President
Easing of Tension and Détente
1972
The Basic Treaty is signed to establish diplomatic relations between East and West Germany
President Nixon visits China and Russia
SALT I agreement is signed
1973
America withdraws from Vietnam
Conflict flares up between the superpowers in the Middle East during the Yom Kippur War
1974
Nixon resigns after the Watergate scandal and is replaced by Gerald Ford as US President
The Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty is signed between the USA and USSR
1975
Vietnam is united under Ho Chi Minh's communist regime
The superpowers become involved in Angola
1976
Jimmy Carter takes over from Ford as US President
1979
SALT II is signed
The USA becomes involved in Nicaragua
The Soviet invasion of Afghanistan marks the end of détente
Renewal and End of the Cold War
1980
Ronald Reagan replaces Carter as US President
1983
Reagan announces the development of the Strategic Defence Initiative (also known as 'Star Wars')
1985
Mikhail Gorbachev becomes leader of the USSR
1986
Gorbachev introduces his policies of glasnost and perestroika
1989
Soviet withdrawal from Afghanistan
Solidarity participates in free elections (the first time an opposition movement participates in unfettered elections in the Soviet bloc)
The Berlin Wall falls
Eastern bloc nations including Hungary, Poland and Czechoslovakia start to break from Soviet influence
After the Cold War
1990
Iraqi forces invade Kuwait. The US establishes a multinational force to defeat Iraq in Kuwait
Disintegration of the former Yugoslavia
1991
START I is signed
The Warsaw Pact is dissolved
Gorbachev resigns, the Soviet Union is dissolved and the Cold War officially ends
Boris Yeltsin is elected leader of the new Russian Federation and adopts a capitalist system
1993
The Maastricht Treaty comes into force, signifying the formation of the European Union
2000
START II is ratified by Russia
2001
Al Qaeda attacks New York and Washington, sparking the US invasion of Afghanistan