Cold War Timeline

Kate Kennedy

Allied Occupation of Germany When: What: Germany was divided into 4 occupation zones (for the 4 big powers US, Soviet Union, Britain, France) at the end of the war o Allies refused to let Moscow bleed their zones of the reparations that Stalin said he had been promised + began to promote idea of reunited Germany o Communists responded by tightening their grip on their Eastern zone, making it apparent that Germany would be indefinitely divided West Germany became an independent country allied with the West, East Germany became a nominally independent satellite state of the USSR, behind the iron curtain of Stalins communism Berlin, in Eastern Germany, was also divided into zones o See Berlin Airlift 1949 = governments of the two Germanys became formally established Historical Sig: Became a symbol of the difference and war between capitalism and communism Cemented the conflict between the West and USSR Divided Germany and encouraged the divide of Europe which lasted for 4 decades Polarized pro-West and pro-communism camps Nuremberg Trials When: 1945-1946 What: Trials aimed at condemning and punishing the Nazis o Accusations included committing crimes against the laws of war and humanity and plotting aggressions contrary to solemn treaty pledges o Harsh punishment Twelve of the accused Nazis were hung, seven were sentenced to long term jail terms Trials of smaller and less important Nazis occurred for years Legal critics in America and other places criticized the trials as too harsh because the victims were tried for offenses that werent clear when the war began Historical Sig: Successfully got rid of the Nazi leaders without too much debate Got rid of many of the political leaders in Germany at the time SALT agreements When: 1969 What: A series of arms reduction negotiations that were aimed at freezing the numbers of long range nuclear missiles for five years Historical Sig: Along with the ABM (anti-ballistic missile) treaty, which reduced the SU and USs defensive missiles to two clusters, this was one of the first steps towards slowing the arms race

However, the US development of MIRVs (multiple independently targeted reentry vehicles), led to the Soviets MIRVs, which again escalated the arms race

Announcement of the Truman Doctrine When: March 12, 1947 What: Truman asked congress for $400 million to bolster Greece and Turkey He declared that it must be the policy of the United States to support free peoples who are resisting attempted subjugation by armed minorities or by outside pressure o Critics: TD needlessly polarized the world into pro-soviet and pro-American camps Unwisely construed the Soviet threat as primarily military in nature o Apologists: Trumans fear of revived isolationism led him to exaggerate the Soviet threat Historical Sig: Turned the cold war into a holy global war against godless communism, which made it harder for future policy makers to tone down Soviet-American animosity Helped polarize the world into pro-Soviet and pro-American Encouraged Americans to get more involved in conflict over communism Creation of the Marshall Plan When: July 1947 What: Plan devised by Secretary of State George C. Marshall to help Western Europe (especially France, Italy and Germany) get back on their feet, so as to not be weak and susceptible to communist take over o Offered same aid to soviets if they made certain political reforms and accepted outside controlsthey did not agree o Called for $12.5 billion over for years in 16 cooperating countries Historical Sig: Extremely successful o American dollars helped revive the economies of Western Europe, and within a few years, most countries were exceeding their prewar outputs o The economic miracle led to prosperity Communist parties in Italy and France lost ground o 2 key countries were saved from communism Yalta Conference When: February 1945 What: Final conference of the big 3 o Final plans were laid for smashing German lines and assigning occupation zones in Germany to victorious powers

Historical Sig: Soviets were given control over vital industrial centers of China o Undermined Chinese morale could have led to Jiangs overthrow by the communists four years later Promise of Soviets to intervene in Japan and prospect of their expansion encouraged Americans to drop atomic bomb Agreement was so elastic that it gave way for Stalin to take over and control Poland + other Eastern European countries Korean War When: June 25, 1950-1953 What: After the war, Soviet troops accepted Japanese surrender north of 38th parallel, American troops accepted it south of the line o Both powers said they wanted reunification of Korea, but each set up rival regimes o When Soviets + Americans withdrew in 1949, they left to hostile armed camps o June 25, 1950 = Soviet-made tanks crossed the 38th parallel, as North Korea attacked South Korea o UN fledged to back South Korea, and America especially fought against North Korea MacArthur invaded behind enemy lines at Inchon and pushed North Koreans behind the 38th parallel o He pursued them, which caused the Chinese to intervene on behalf on the North Koreans November 1950 = tens of thousands of Chinese volunteers fell upon the Americans, pushing them back to the 38th parallel o MacArthur called for more forces and nuclear power, but Truman refused July 1951 = truce discussions began and dragged on for two years while men died in the war Historical Sig: Invasion seemed to back containment doctrine: even a slight relaxation of Americas guard was an invitation to communist aggression Brought on the acceptance of NSC-68 Dragged China into war against the US Took US casualties Left Korea divided

Stalin agreed that Poland, with revised boundaries, would have a representative government based on free elections; Bulgaria, and Romania would have free elections Stalin broke these problems FDR: so elastic that the Russians can stretch it all the way from Yalta to Washington without ever technically breaking it. Stalin agreed to attack Japan within three months after Germanys collapse Soviets were promised the southern half of Sakhalin Island (lost by Russia to Japan 1905), Japans Kurile Islands, control over the railroads of Chinas Manchuria and special privileges in the two key seaports of that area, Dairen and Port Arthur

Threatened nuclear war

Establishment of the United Nations When: April 25, 1945 What: Successor of the League of Nations, created at the end of WWII UN provided that no member of the Security Council, dominated by the 5 powers (United States, Britain, USSR, France, and China) could have action taken against it without its consent, whereas the League of Nations adopted rules denying the veto power to any party to a dispute o UN = presumed great-power cooperation o League = presumed great-power conflict UN also had the general assembly, which could be controlled by smaller countries Almost unanimously accepted in Senate o Provided safeguards for American sovereignty and freedom of action Home base in New York City Historical Sig: Initial success o Helped preserve peace in Iran, Kashmir, and other trouble spots o Played a large role in creating the new Jewish state of Israel o Helped guide colonies into independence Brought benefits to people all over the world (through groups such as UNESCO and WHO) Failed to solve the problem of nuclear powers Kennans Long Telegram When: 1946 What: In the long telegram, Kennan argued that Russia, whether tsarist or communist, was relentlessly expansionary, and that the flow of Soviet power into every nook and cranny available to it could be stemmed by firm and vigilant containment Historical Sig: He crafted the containment policy, which became the main tenant of the Truman Doctrine, and dictated US/Western policy towards the Soviet Union throughout the Cold war Ikes New Look FP When: 1953-1961 What: Eisenhower entered office on the Republican platform that called for a new look to foreign policy o condemned containment as negative, futile, and immoral o Incoming secretary of state John Foster Dulles promised to roll back the red tired and liberate captive peoples at the same time as balancing the budget by cutting military spending Policy of boldness = Ike would relegate the army and navy at the same time as building up an air fleet of super-bombers with nuclear bombs o Supposed advantages = its paralyzing nuclear impact and cheaper price

Eisenhower sought to thaw the cold war through negotiations with Soviet leaders who come to power after Stalins death (1953) Historical Sig: Was ineffective o Khrushchev rejected Ikes call in 1955 for an open skies mutual inspection program over SU and US o Hungarian uprising that was brutally crushed by the Soviets and not aided by the US that nuclear weapons were too powerful to wield in many situations Cuban Missile Crisis When: October 1962 What: Aerial photographs of American spy planes revealed that Soviets were secretly installing nuclear tipped missiles in Cuba o Soviets intended to use weapons to shield Castro + blackmail US into backing down in Berlin + other places Kennedy rejected air force proposals for bombing strike against the missile launching sites o Instead, he ordered a naval quarantine of Cuba and demanded immediate removal of threatening weaponry o Also said to Khrushchev that any attack on US from Cuba would be retaliated Khrushchev agreed to pull the missiles out of Cuba if the US ended the quarantine, didnt invade the island, and removed its own missiles targeted at the SU from Turkey Historical Sig: World was on the edge of devastating nuclear war showed how dangerous the cold war was Disgraced Khrushchev he got thrown out of the Kremlin Moscow began to launch an enormous program of military expansion, US followed Democrats did better in midterm elections because Republicans were Cubanized Kennedy pushed hard for nuclear test-ban + treaty with Soviet Union o His efforts led to thawing of the cold war Cuban Revolution When: Early 1959 What: Cuba was under the rule of dictator Fulgencio Batista, who had encouraged investments of American capital in return for American support Fidel Castro led a revolution that ousted Batista Afterwards, Castro denounced the Yankee imperialists and expropriated valuable American properties in a land-distribution program o Washington released Cuba from imperialistic slavery through cutting US imports of Cuban Sugar o Castro further confiscated American property and made his dictatorship an economic and military satellite of Moscow 1961 = Washington broke diplomatic relations with Cuba Historical Sig: Anti-Castro Cubans fled to America about 1 million immigrants

America lost capital invested in Cuba Gave the Soviet Union greater power, as it had a base closer to the US o Brought forth the Cuban Missile Crisis Prodded America to waste time and resources in ousting Castro o I.e. Bay of Pigs invasion

USSR tests A-bomb When: September 1949 What: Soviets successfully explode an atomic bomb, nearly three years earlier than many experts thought was possible Historical Sig: Disheartens Americans + puts them in a weaker position o American strategists had counted on keeping Soviets in line by threats of a one sided aerial attack with nuclear weapons Berlin Airlift When: 1948 (blockade lifted May 1949) What: Berlin, in the Eastern area of Soviet occupation, was also divided into areas of occupation o Soviets chocked off all rail and highway access to Berlin, reasoning that the allies would be starved out, after controversies surrounding currency reform and four power control The US flew thousands of tons of supplies a day to Berlin for almost a year The Soviets lifted their blockade in May 1949 Historical Sig: Became a symbolic issues for both sides o Tested the wills between Moscow and Washington Western Europeans were encouraged by Americas determination to honor its commitments in Europe NSC 68 When: June 1950 What: Trumans National Security Council issued the National Security Council Memorandum Number 68 = recommended that the US quadruple its defense spending o It was ignored at first, but the Korean Crisis stimulated Truman to order a massive military buildup, beyond what was necessary for Korea US had 3.5 million men under arms and was spending $50 billion per year on defense budget (13% of GNP) Historical Sig: Key document to the cold war era o Marked a major step in militarization of American foreign policy o Reflected the sense of almost limitless possibility during postwar American society Rested on the assumption that American economy could bear the huge costs of a gigantic rearmament program without effects

Sputnik When: October 4, 1957 What: Soviet scientists lofted Sputnik I, a 184 pound satellite, into orbit around the world A month later, they launched a larger satellite Sputnik II, weighing 1,120 lbs. + holding a dog Historical Sig: Rattled American self confidence o Cast doubts on American science superiority o Raised military questions: could Soviets reach America with ICBMs? Rocket fever went through the nation o NASA was formed + directed billions of dollars to missile development o February 1958 = US orbited a 2.5 pound satellite Led to critical comparison of American educational system o Criticized as too easygoing o $887 million in loans were given to college students + grants for improvement of teaching sciences + languages (through NDEA, the National Defense and Education Act) US military involvement in VIETNAM When: 1960-1973 What: Americans began military involvement in 1960, when troops were sent over to help stabilize the government, which morphed into a full scale war in 1965, after a supposed Viet Cong attack on a military base Fighting for South Korea against communist North Korea, hundreds of thousands of Americans were sent over through the draft The public became increasingly and increasingly unhappy with the war, and especially the younger citizens actively resisted and protested the war 1975 = North Vietnamese gave fully to their drive southward o April 19, 1975 = Americans were evacuated o The war was lost Historical Sig: America had lost face in eyes of foreigners, self esteem, confidence in its military prowess, and much of the economic muscle that had made global leadership possible o Power + pride was deeply wounded $118 billion dollars + 56,000 dead 1 Dien Bien Phu When: March 1954 What: War in Vietnam between Ho Chi Minhs nationalist guerilla forces, the Viet Minh, and French colonial rule A key French garrison was trapped din the fortress of Dien Bien Phu in northwest Vietnam o VP Nixon + secretary of state Dulles = wanted to intervene, but Eisenhower held back

o Battle of Dien Bien Phu was a victory for nationalists Historical Sig: Victory for nationalists Multination conference in Geneva = halved Vietnam at the 17th parallel o Ho Chi Minh in the north consented to the arrangement in assurance that Vietnam-wide election would be held o South pro-Western government under Ngo Dinh Diem = soon entrenched at Saigon o Vietnamese never held elections o US backed Diem regime, promising economic + military aid given they undertook certain reforms Losing side Suez Crisis When: October 1956 What: President Nasser of Egypt wanted funds to build a dam on the upper Nile for needed irrigation and power o America + Britain offered financial help, but Nasser began to openly fraternize with the communist camp, Secretary of State Dulles withdrew the dam offer o Nasser responded by nationalizing the Suez Canal, owned mostly By British + French stockholders Threatened the vein of Western Europes oil supply o France + Britain staged a joint assault on Egypt They assumed the US would supply them with oil, but Eisenhower was indignant and refused Historical Sig: Marked the last time that US could use its oil weapon o the end of US as major oil power First time a United Nations police force was sent to maintain order Showed shaky state of affairs in middle east in regards to oil Partition of Vietnam When: 1954 What: Multinational conference in Geneva halved Vietnam at the 17th parallel in 1954 o Victorious Ho Chi Minh (after the Battle of Dien Bien Phu) in the north consented to this arrangement on the grounds that Vietnam-wide elections would be held within two year o Southern, pro-Western government under Ngo Dinh Diem was soon entrenched at Saigon o Elections were never held Historical Sig: Vietnam was dangerously divided o Brought forth war that involved America Bay of Pigs Invasion When: April 17, 1961

What: A CIA-backed scheme from the Eisenhower administration that spilled into Kennedys presidency o Aimed at toppling Fidel Castros power by invading Cuba with anticommunist exiles o About 1200 exiles landed at Cubas Bay of Pigs, only to surrender and fail o Kennedy took full responsibility Historical Sig: Pushed Cubans closer to the Soviets (along with continuing American cover efforts to assassinate Castro and overthrow his government) o Helped lead to Cuban missile crisis U-2 plane shot down When: May 1960 What: American spy U-2 plane was shot down in the heart of Russia right before the Paris summit conference o Ike took full responsibility Historical Sig: The spirit of Camp David, where Khrushchev said that his ultimatum for the evacuation of Berlin would be extended indefinitely, was ruined The Paris conference was sabotaged before it even began, and the heat was turned up on the Soviet Union/US conflict, especially over Berlin Fall of the Berlin Wall When: 1989 What: Soviet Union allows the Berlin Wall to be torn down, and East and West Germany to be reunified Historical Sig: Unification of Germany Symbolic end to the division of Europe Ending of the cold war (+the power of the Soviet Union) Beginning of Vietnam War (US) When: February 1965 What: Americans were becoming increasingly involved in Vietnam, making it hard for them to later pull out o 1961 = Kennedy ordered sharp increase in military advisors in South Vietnam, to help stabilize the government Anti-Diem agitators were threatening to overthrow the ProAmerican, yet corrupt, government o November 1963 = US engineered successful coup, contributing to long tradition of political disintegration and entrenching Americans in the situation February 1965 = Guerillas loyal to the North Vietnamese communists, called Viet Cong, attacked an American air base at Pleiku, South Vietnam

o o o

Lyndon B. Johnson immediately ordered retaliatory bombing raids against military installations in North Vietnam For the first time, he ordered attacking US troops to land Middle of March 1965 = Americans had Operation Rolling Thunder in full swing Regular full scale bombing attacks in North Vietnam

Historical Sig: Unnecessary and unsuccessful war ended in huge amounts of American casualties, public decent, and an embarrassing mark on the USs reputation Building of the Berlin Wall When: August 1961 What: A barbed wire and concrete barrier built by the Soviet Union (Khrushchev) to plug the heavy population drain from East Germany to West Germany through the Berlin funnel Historical Sig: The Wall of Shame seemed a gigantic enclosure around a concentration camp to the free world Stood for almost 30 years as an ugly symbol of the post WWII division of Europe NATO formed When: 1948 (America joins April 4, 1949) What: 1948 =Britain, France, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxemburg signed a treaty of defensive alliance at Brussels (NATO) + asked America to join April 4, 1949 = NATO treaty was signed in Washington o 12 original signatories pledged to regard an attack on one as an attack on all Promised to respond with armed force if necessary Historical Sig: Marked a departure from American diplomatic convention of isolationism and not getting involved in European alliances o Americas involvement = central to NATO Strengthened policy of containing SU Provided a framework for the reintegration of Germany in the European family Reassured Europeans that isolationist Sam would not abandon them o Boost for European unification o Significant step in the militarization of the cold war Because a cornerstone of all cold war American policy toward Europe Warsaw Pact formed When: 1955 What: Eastern European countries + Soviets signed the Warsaw pact, which created a red military counterweight to NATO forces in the West Historical Sig: Provided counterweight to NATO + military threat to Westerners

French attempt to reestablish control over Vietnam When: Early 1950s What: Ho Chi Minh, communist leader of a nationalist uprising in Vietnam, sought to expel French Colonial rule o America was supporting Frances attempt to keep control, funding up to 80% of Frenchs war effort France was crumbling under Ho Chi Minhs guerrilla forces, the Viet Minh Battle of Dien Bien Phu = French were defeated o Vietnam was partitioned Historical Sig: Frances failure to keep control over Vietnam, or successfully let them go and usher them into independence, led to the divided and dangerous North and South Korea that emerged in 1954 CIA backed Guatemalan Coup When: 1954 What: A CIA directed coup that ousted a leftist government in Guatemala Historical Sig: An example of the USs habit of intervening in Latin America, and often supporting dictators as long as they werent communist/leftist USSR attacks Afghanistan When: December 27, 1979 What: Soviet Army blitzed into Afghanistan, next door to Iran, and appeared to be poised to make an attack on the important oil nation o Carter responded by putting an embargo on the export of grain and high technology machinery to the USSR and called for a boycott of Olympic Games in Moscow o Proposed the creation of a Rapid Deployment Force to respond to far away crises o Proclaimed US would use any means necessary, including force, to protect the Persian Gulf Historical Sig: Killed the Salt II act and heated up Soviet/American hostility Alliance for Progress When: 1961 What: Kennedys attempt at extending friendship to Latin American nations o Primary goal was to help the Good neighbors close the gap between rich and poor quieting communist agitation Results were disappointing o Little alliance + little progress o American handouts had little positive affect on Latin Americans Historical Sig: Did not accomplish goal or strengthen Latin American/America relations

Allowed places like Cuba to become communist hostility with America

Communist Revolution in China When: 1949 What: After WWII, nationalists, led by Jiang Jieshi, fought communists, led by Mao Zedong, in a civil war for years o Americans halfheartedly supported the nationalists Historical Sig: Depressing defeat for America and its allies o Nearly one fourth of the world (China) was swept into communism in Pro-Soviet Governments in Eastern Europe When: What: In order to keep a good defense from attacks, the USSR created a buffer zone, by maintaining an extensive Soviet sphere of influence in Eastern and Central Europe the USSR could protect itself and consolidate its revolutionary base as the worlds leading communist country USSR had control of eastern bloc, which consisted of pro-Soviet Governments in Eastern Europe that were under the control of the Soviet Union o They signed the Warsaw Pact Historical Sig: Subjugated many nations who were forced under the regime of communism Scared Western countries, especially the US, that the Soviet Union was looking to relentlessly expand, and greatly caused much of the cold war panic Inspired the policy of containment Churchills Iron Curtain Speech When: March 1946 What: Churchill declared From Stettin in the Baltic to Trieste in the Adriatic an iron curtain has descended across the Continent o Highly controversial speech Historical Sig: Encouraged containment + emphasized/encouraged division in Europe Showed the growing polarization of powers My Lai Massacre When: 1970 What: American troops murdered innocent women and children in the village of My Lai; Americans found out about this 2 years later, in 1970, and were disgusted Historical Sig: Public unrest with the war prompted to Nixon to widen the war in 1970 by ordering an attack on Vietnams neighbor, Cambodia Invasion of Cambodia

When: April 29, 1970 What: Nixon, without consulting Congress, ordered American forces to join with south Vietnamese in cleaning out enemy sanctuaries in neutral Cambodia o North Vietnamese and Viet Cong had been using Cambodia (bordering South Vietnam on the west) as a springboard for troops, weapons, and supplies o Angry youth of the Nation backlashed o Troops were withdrawn on June 29, 1970 However, Nixon secretly continued the attack from the air o The US Air Force secretly conducted about 35 hundred bombing raids against North Vietnamese positions in Cambodia While this was going on, American officials (+ the president) swore that Cambodian neutrality was being respected o After the Vietnam cease-fire in January 1973, Nixon continued large scale bombing to help the rightest Cambodian government He repeatedly vetoed congressional efforts to stop him Historical Sig: Provided backlash against the war + public unrest Made Americans wonder what kid of representative government they had if the US was fighting a war they knew nothing about Greatly affected Cambodia: blasted its people, shredded its economy, and revolutionized its politics Led to the War Powers Act, requiring the president to report to congress within 48 hours after committing troops to foreign conflict a manifestation of New Isolationism Vietnam Cease Fire When: January 1973 What: January 1973 = America withdrew its troops after fighting the North Vietnamese to a standstill Left the Southern Vietnamese to fight their own war o They collapsed in 1975 America continued to send weapons + bomb Cambodia Historical Sig: Got American troops out of Cambodia and satisfied calls for retreat Allowed North Vietnamese to win the war America continued to drain money in the war o National discontent when people found out about the continued bombing CIA Coup: Salvadore Allende When: 1970 What: Nixon, a strong anti-communist, strongly opposed the election of the Marxist Salvadore Allende as the president of Chile o His administration embargoed the Allende regime, and the CIA worked secretly to undermine the legitimately elected president o 1973 = Allende died during a Chilean army attack, and many observers suspected the US

Washington warmly embraced Allendes successor, military dictator General Augusto Pinochet

Historical Sig: By controlling two great communist powers, the president had set the stage for Americas visit from Vietnam