Regents Prep: U.S. History: Foreign Policy:
Cold War

VS

During the waning hours of World War Two, a different type of war began. A Cold War of ideas and politics, of economies and technologies. The Cold War was not one event, but rather a series of events connected together by the rivalry and polarization between the communist and capitalist systems. The Cold War was fought by third parties in developing lands and by scientists and heroes in a race for the moon. It was the build up of nuclear arsenals and the delicate balance that kept the world from teetering. 

The timeline below presents a brief summary of the major events of the Cold War. Areas of colder relation indicate times at which the ideologies and policies of the United States and the USSR were at their most divisive, the warmer relations indicate times at which cultural exchange and cooperation helped ease the nuclear tension.

Warmer
Relations

 YEAR

Colder
Relations

 - Germany Surrenders, USSR occupies Eastern Germany and Eastern Europe - 1945 -  - US Drops 2 Atomic Bombs on Japan, Japanese Surrender

- Korea is occupied by the US in the South of the 38th parallel and the USSR in the North

-Ho Chi Mihn declares an independent Viet Nam
 

- 1946 -

 - Winston Churchill, declares an "iron curtain" has drawn across Eastern Europe
- The Marshall Plan enacted, billions of $ in aid for 16 European nations

- 1947 -

 - The Truman Doctrine, Truman asks Congress for aid to Greece and Turkey,  $400 million in aid to defend against Communist rebels.
  1948 - Berlin Blockade: USSR blockades all access to West Berlin, US airlifts supplies. The Soviet blockade ends after nearly a year. 

- Alger Hiss accused of being a Communist

- Korea divided into Communist north and Democratic South
  1949  - NATO: established on basis of "collective security"

- The Communist People's Republic of China established
  1950 - McCarthyism: Senator Joseph P. McCarthy claims  Communists in the Department of State. HUAC inquiries launched.

- Korean War: UN defends South Korea after invasion from North

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  1951  
  1952  - US completes development of the Hydrogen Bomb
  1953  - Korean War ends in an armistice, border returns to 38th parallel

- USSR completes development of an Hydrogen bomb
  1954 - SEATO: Southeast Asian Treaty Organization formed for collective security in SE Asia

- Democratic West Germany joins NATO

 - Dienbienphu: French defeated in Vietnam
 - Geneva Summit: Eisenhower and Khrushchev discuss disarmament 1955  - Warsaw Pact: Communist collective security agreement formed to oppose NATO
  1956 - Hungarian Revolution:  Soviet forces crush Hungarian attempt to end Communist rule
  1957 - Eisenhower Doctrine:  US commits to stop Communist spread in Middle East

- USSR launches Sputnik, first man-made satellite to orbit Earth

- Fear of USSR missile superiority leads to large increases in spending
  1958 - Fearing a "technology gap", NASA is formed
- Vice President Richard Nixon tours the Soviet Union

- Antarctica Treaty:  nations agree to reserve Antarctica for scientific research, no military uses allowed

- Khrushchev visits United States, meets with Eisenhower at Camp David

 1959 - Cuban Revolution: Fidel Castro leads a Communist coup in Cuba. US business interests are nationalized
  1960 - U-2: US spy plane  shot down over U.S.S.R. Pilot Gary Powers exchanged for Soviet spy
  1961 - Soviet Cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin:  first man to orbit the Earth

- Bay of Pigs: CIA-trained Cuban exiles fail in invasion of Cuba

-  American military advisors sent to aid South Vietnam

- Kennedy pledges to put man on the moon before decade ends

- Construction begins on the Berlin Wall, dividing the city of Berlin
  1962 - Cuban Missile Crisis: US blockades Cuba over USSR's stationing of nuclear missiles in Cuba. JFK demonstrates "Brinkmanship"

- USSR removes missiles from Cuba, US removes missiles from Turkey

- John Glenn: first American to orbit Earth

- Limited Test Ban Treaty: agreement to outlaw nuclear tests under water and in space 1963 - JFK is assassinated
  1964 - Gulf of Tonkin Resolution: Congress gives the President power to take "all necessary measures" to retaliate for N. Viet Nam sinking US destroyers in the Gulf of Tonkin
  1965 - US ground combat troops begin to fight in Viet Nam War

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  1966 - 250,000+ US soldiers in Viet Nam
- Outer Space Treaty: US, USSR and others limit military use of space 1967  
- Nuclear Arms Nonproliferation Treaty: agreement limiting distribution of nuclear material 1968 - US forces in Viet Nam number 1/2 million
- Strategic Arms Limitation Talks (SALT): US / USSR begin process of arms limitation 1969 - Moon Landing: Neil Armstrong and "Buzz" Aldrin are first men on the moon

- Nixon Doctrine: US commits to allies defense, but will not defend third world

- "Vietnamization " : US begins to lower troop levels and train S. Viet Nam to assume the war

- Protests against Viet Nam War continue to increase
  1970  
  1971 - Pentagon Papers: New York Times publishes classified documents from the Pentagon on Viet Nam

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 - Detente Begins: Nixon initiates dialogue and easing of tensions with the USSR

- Moscow Summit: Nixon becomes first US President to visit Soviet Union

 1972 - Nixon visits Communist China: Beginning of "normalized" relations between the US and China, trade agreements follow
- Paris Accords: end US involvement in Viet Nam War 1973  
  1974  
- US and Soviet astronauts link up in space 1975 - Fall of Saigon: N. Viet Nam captures S. Viet Nam capitol as America withdraws
  1976  
  1977  
  1978  
- SALT  II: US / USSR agreement on limits to long-range missiles 1979 - Nicaraguan Revolution: Communist Sandinistas depose the dictator Somoza

- USSR Invades Afghanistan: US protests with boycott of 1980 Moscow Summer Olympics and embargo, Detente ends, SALT II is not ratified
  1980  
  1981  - President Ronald Regan calls the USSR, "The Evil Empire"

- Regan vows to "Spend the Soviets into the ground"
  1982  
  1983 - US Develops the MX Multiwarhead Missile

- US begins development of the Strategic Defense Initiative(SDI) or "Star Wars" missile defense system
  1984  
- Geneva Summit: Reagan and Gorbachev agree to a 50 percent reductions of nuclear arms 1985  
  1986 - Iran-Contra Scandal: US illegally provided aid to Contra rebels fighting the Communist Sandanistas in Nicaragua with money from arms sales to Iran
Washington Summit: Reagan and Gorbachev sign a treaty further limiting nuclear weapons numbers and development 1987  
- USSR agrees to withdraw its forces from Afghanistan 1988  

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  - Glasnost: Gorbachev's opening of the USSR causes culural change and calls for further easing of party control

- Berlin Wall Falls:  Soviet control of Eastern Europe is ended as satellite nations begin to break from Soviet Bloc

 1989  
- German Reunification 1990