Timeline of the Cold War

1940s

1945: February 4-11-- Yalta Conference Cold War Begins

1945: August 6 -- United States first used atomic bomb in war

1945: August 8 -- Russia enters war against Japan

1945: August 14 -- Japanese surrender End of World War II

1946: March -- Winston Churchill delivers "Iron Curtain" Speech

1947: March -- Truman declares active role in Greek Civil War

1947: June -- Marshall Plan is announced

1948: February -- Communist takeover in Czechoslovakia

1948: June 24 -- Berlin Blockade begins

1949: July -- NATO ratified

1949: May 12 -- Berlin Blockade ends

1949: September -- Mao Zedong, a Communist, takes control of China

1949: September -- Soviets explode first atomic bomb

1950s

1950: February -- Joe McCarthy begins Communist witch hunt

1950: June -- Korean War begins

1951: January 12 -- Federal Civil Defense Administration established

1953: June 19 -- Rosenberg executions

1953: July -- Korean War ends

1954: March -- KGB established

1954 -- CIA helps overthrow unfriendly regimes in Iran and Guatemala

1954: July -- Vietnam split at 17th parallel

1955: May -- Warsaw Pact formed

1956: October - November -- Rebellion put down in Communist Hungary. Egypt took control of Suez Canal; U.S. refused to help take it back

1957: October 4 -- Sputnik launched into orbit

1958: November -- Khrushchev demands withdrawal of troops from Berlin

1959: January -- Cuba taken over by Fidel Castro

1959: September -- Khrushchev visits United States; denied access to Disneyland

1960s

1960: May -- Soviet Union reveals that U.S. spy plane was shot down over Soviet territory

1960: November -- John F. Kennedy elected President

1961: April -- Bay of Pigs invasion

1961: July -- Kennedy requests 25% spending increase for military

1961: August 13 -- Berlin border closed

1961: August 17 -- Construction of Berlin Wall begins

1962: -- U.S. involvement in Vietnam increased