Cold War dates Flashcards
Tehran Conference
Nov 1943
Yalta Conference
Feb 1945
Potsdam Conference
July-Aug 1945
Germany’s defeat
May 1945
US atomic bomb developed
1945
war against Japan ended
Aug 1945
Soviet atomic bomb developed
Aug 1949
Long Telegram & Novikov Telegram
1946
Iron Curtain speech
Mar 1946
Lithuania, Latvia & Estonia not granted own gov.s & treated as part of Soviet Union
1940
Poles staged Warsaw Uprising (against German army) but crushed & given pro-Communist gov. by USSR
1944
Bulgaria, Romania & eastern zone of Germany given ‘free elections; but intimidated to vote communist
1944-45
communist party supported by Moscow won elections in Hungary (rigged)
1947
Hungary one party state
by 1949
communist coup supported by Stalin in Czechoslovakia
1948
Truman Doctrine
Mar 1947
Marshall Plan
June 1947
Communist Information Bureau (Cominform)
Sep 1947
Council for Mutual Economic Assistance (Comecon)
Jan 1949
Comecon tried to organise industrial planning across satellite states
after 1953
(Berlin blockade) Soviets stormed out of talks
Dec 1947
France joined zone of Germany with Britain & USA to create Trizonia
Mar 1948
Western allies created Deutschmark
June 1948
Stalin shut off land routes across Soviet controlled E. G.
June 1948
170,000 tonnes of supplies received by W. Berlin
Jan 1949
(Berlin Blockade) Stalin lifted the blockade
9th May 1949
Federal Republic of Germany (W)
May 1949
German Democratic Republic (E)
Oct 1949
North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO)
Apr 1949
FRG joined NATO
May 1955
Warsaw Pact
May 1955
USA developed hydrogen bomb
1952
USSR developed hydrogen bomb
1953
USA developed inter-continental ballistic missiles (ICBMs)
1957
USSR ensured friendly communist gov. in Poland by removing political opponents
1947
Khrushchev became leader of USSR
1956
Khrushchev’s ‘secret speech’
1956
(Hungarian Uprising) Rakosi (unpop) replaced by Nagy (pop)
Oct 1956
(Hungarian Uprising) Nagy announced plans to withdraw from Warsaw Pact
1st Nov 1956
(Hungarian Uprising) Khrushchev ordered invasion of H.
4th Nov 1956
3 million Germans had fled E. G. & over 20,000 were fleeing every month
by 1958
(Khrushchev) Geneva & Camp David Summits
1959
(Khrushchev & Eisenhower) Paris Summit (Gary Powers)
1960
(Khrushchev & JFK) Vienna Summit
1961
E. German troops built barbed wire fence around Berlin & between E. & W. Berlin
night of 12th Aug 1961
group of revolutionaries led by Fidel Castro toppled pro-American gov. of Cuba led by General Batista
1959
(CMC) Castro nationalised all industry
May 1959
USSR began to buy Cuban sugar
Feb 1960
US reduced amount of Cuban sugar they bought
July 1960
US & Cuba broke off diplomatic relations
Jan 1961
JFK authorised CIA plan to use Cuban exiles to invade Cuba & remove Castro
1961
Bay of Pigs invasion
Apr 1961
U2 spy plane took photos showing Soviet IRBM bases being constructed on Cuba
14th Oct 1962
(CMC) Soviet ships reached blockade & turned around
24th Oct 1962
(CMC) Khrushchev sent his agreement & crisis ended
28th Oct 1962
direct communications line (hotline)
June 1963
Test Ban Treaty
Aug 1963
Outer Space Treaty
1967
Czechoslovakia essentially controlled by USSR
since 1948
(Czechoslovakia) protests against low standard of living & lack of freedom grew
by 1966
(Czechoslovakia) Novotny replaced by Dubcek
Jan 1968
Dubcek introduced the Prague Spring reforms
April 1968
500,000 Warsaw Pact troops entered Czechoslovakia
20th Aug 1968
USA occupied with Vietnam War since
1965
SALT I (Strategic Arms Limitations Talks)
May 1972
Helsinki Accords
Aug 1975
Apollo-Soyuz space link up
1975 (after Helsinki Accords)
talks working towards second SALT continued until
18th June 1979
Iranian hostage crisis
1979 (before SALT II)
Hafizullah Amin staged popular coup in Afghanistan
Sep 1979
(Afghanistan) pro-Soviet gov. had been in power since
1978
Brezhnev ordered 50,000 Soviet troops to invade Afghanistan
24th Dec 1979 - 1st Jan 1980
(Afghanistan) Amin assassinated by USSR
27th Dec 1979
Carter Doctrine issued in State of the Union speech
Jan 1980
Moscow Olympic Games
1980
Olympics in Los Angeles
1984
Ronald Reagan defeated Jimmy Carter in US presidential election
1980
Reagan persuaded Congress to increase US spending on arms & defence by 13% in … & further 8% in …
1982
1983
(Reagan) Soviet economy in desperate state
by 1985
Reagan gave speech to Christian group describing Soviet Union as ‘evil empire’
1983
Reagan announced Strategic Defence Initiative
1983
Mikhail Gorbachev became leader of USSR & introduced range of reforms know as ‘new thinking’
1985
(Gorbachev & Reagan) Geneva Summit
1985
(Gorbachev & Reagan) Reykjavik Summit
1986
(Gorbachev & Reagan) Washington Summit (signed INF Treaty)
1987
panicked border guards opened gates in Berlin Wall
9th Nov 1989
Germany reunified as one country
Oct 1990
Gorbachev announced he would permanently disband Warsaw Pact
July 1991
Baltic Sates (Latvia, Lithuania & Estonia) declared independence
throughout 1990 / by end of 1990
communist gov.s began to be replaced across E. Europe
throughout 1989&1990
(Gorbachev & Bush) Malta Summit (promised co-operation)
1989
Gang of Eight staged military coup in Soviet Union
Aug 1991
Gorbachev resigned
25th Dec 1991
