Cold War Timeline
The United States remained friendly with communist Russia during World War II because they had to deal with Germany. "The enemy of my enemy is my friend." However, after the war was over, it was clear that these two dominant powers would not maintain this tentative peace. In fact, their ideologies (Democracy and Communism) would soon dramatically clash, leading to the Cold War.
Yalta Conference - February 1945: This is a photo of the Big Three (Roosevelt, Churchill, and Stalin) at the Yalta Conference in February of 1945. The purpose of this meeting was to discuss the post-WWII reorganization of Europe. During this conference, the powers decided to split up Germany into four sections. Soon, these four sections would become just two sections: East Germany and West Germany. In addition, Stalin agreed that Poland, Bulgaria, and Romania would have free elections. He soon broke this promise, however. He simply wanted these countries to serve as a buffer from the Western world. Little did these men know, this conference would actually foreshadow the emergence of the Cold War.
Iron Curtain Speech - March 5, 1946: Winston Churchill traveled to Westminster College in the United States to give this speech. In this speech, he informed Americans about the iron curtain that Russia had placed across the continent. This increased American awareness of growing communist threats in the East, marking the beginning of a general American fear of "red".
George F. Kennan - Containment Doctrine - 1947: This was a concept first introduced by George F. Kennan. It stated that Russia craved expansion and would not stop until they had spread their communist influence around the world. It declared that this could only be stopped by containment. This was the basis for the Truman Doctrine.
Truman Doctrine - March 1947: This was the main part of President Harry Truman's foreign policy. Its goal was the containment of Communism. It declared that the United States must come to the aid of any free country that was in danger of a communist takeover. At the time, Britain was financially unable able to protect Greece from communism. However, based on the "domino effect', Truman believed that if Greece gave in to communist pressures, then Turkey would too. From there, the rest of the mediterranean would follow. Truman knew that something had to be done. This was largely based off of Kennan's "containment doctrine".
Marshall Plan - 1947: France, Italy, and Germany were in economic turmoil. Fearing that their poverty could push them towards communism, the Americans knew that something had to be done. George C. Marshall proposed the Marshall Plan in order to allow these struggling European nations to rebuild by giving them financial support. It was hugely successful and many European nations benefitted from it. This was crucial in preventing the spread of communism throughout Europe.
Berlin Blockade - 1948: The Berlin Blockade was a clear example of Soviet aggression. Berlin, as well as Germany, was divided into an East and a West. However, all of Berlin, including the Western half, was in the Soviet territory of East Germany. In an attempt to force the Western allies out of Berlin completely, the Soviets hoped to starve them by blocking railroad and highway access. In response, the Americans supplied a total of 2.3 million tons of cargo to their section of Berlin by plane. This is known as the Berlin Airlift. In May, 1949, the blockade was lifted.
Joseph R. McCarthy - McCarthy came to the stage at a time when the American population was becoming increasingly paranoid of a communist takeover. McCarthy, taking full advantage of this suspicion, Accused Secretary of State Dean Acheson of employing 205 Communist party members. Though these accusations later turned out to be false, red-hunting McCarthy gained increasing support from the people. Initially, the majority of the people believed "Low-Blow Joe". McCarthy's accusations spread like wildfire. The careers of countless Americans were ruined by his lies. At one point, he even accused George C. Marshall, creator of the Marshall Plan, of being part of a communist conspiracy! President Eisenhower even despised McCarthy, but he made sure to stay out of his way. McCarthy eventually went too far when he denounced the U.S. Army in 1954. Though he was condemned by the senate shortly after, this "McCarthyism" was a true testament to American paranoia and fear during the Cold War.
Korean War - 1950-1953: After Japan's collapse in 1945, North Korea and South Korea were divided by the 38th parallel. The Soviets controlled everything north of the line, and the Americans controlled everything south of it. However, in June 1950, North Korea invaded South Korea. Before this happened, Truman's National Security Council issued the National Security Memorandum Number 68 (NSC-68). This called for the quadrupling of the United States' spending on defense. This document came alive during the Korean crisis, and Truman ordered a massive military effort. NSC-68 was a key document in this war because was both a major step in American militarization and an example of the seemingly limitless military possibilities of the United States. Without the approval from Congress, Truman ordered an American army to support South Korea under General MacArthur. MacArthur pushed the North Koreans back past the 38th parallel. However, ignoring orders, MacArthur pressed on, overextending his lines. When he and his army approached the Chinese boundary of the Yalu River, they were met by a Chinese hoard who pushed them back to the 38th parallel, where a stalemate was held for almost two years. Congress soon cut funds for the war. Infuriated, MacArthur would not back down from North Korea and demanded nuclear intervention. President Truman had no choice but to relieve him of his duties as general in 1951. This was the first actual war that occurred in the Cold War.
Dwight D. Eisenhower ("Ike"): President Eisenhower was elected in 1952, with Richard M. Nixon as his vice-president. He remained in office from 1953-1961. In July of 1953, Ike ended the Korean War, threatening to use nuclear weapons. He promised to cut back on military spending while still pushing back communist threats. In 1954, John Foster Dulles suggested a plan to build up an air fleet of bombers equipped with nuclear bombs . This plan was called the Strategic Air Command (SAC). This way, Eisenhower would have the ability to threaten countries with nuclear bombs. The SAC was a large part of his foreign policy. At the Geneva conference in 1955, Ike attempted to make peace with the new Soviet Union dictator, Nikita Khruschev. For a short period of time, the Cold War seemed to be thawing slightly. However, peace negotiations soon became impossible when Khruschev discovered an American U-2 spy plane flying over the Soviet Union. This re-froze the relations between the two superpowers.
Space Race - October 1957: In October of 1957, the Soviet Union launched the Sputnik I into space. The next month, they launched Sputnik II, carrying a dog. Prior to these launchings, the Americans thought their technology was far superior to that of Russia. However, this and the U-2 spy plane event shifted public opinion. These two satellites made it seem as if communism was the cause of superior Soviet technology. Many Americans began to feel like they were loosing the Cold War and was immediately motivated to technologically surpass their rivals. In response, Eisenhower created the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and sought to improve the American system of education by authorizing $887 million in loans for the improvement of teaching sciences and languages. Naturally, the space race further elevated tensions between the two. (The photo to the left is Sputnik II)
John F. Kennedy: President Kennedy won the election of 1961. Though many people disliked his Catholicism, he was able to charm the population through his appearances on the television. He served as president from 1961 until his assassination in 1963. Kennedy inspired the people with his goals of a "New Frontier", space. He proposed the Peace Corps, an army of young volunteers to bring American skills to underdeveloped nations. This still exists today. The president had a goal to improve the economy after the Eisenhower years by curbing inflation, cutting taxes, and putting money into private businesses. His foreign policy was one of "flexible response". This meant that, by increasing military spending, he would develop numerous military options that could be matched with the task at hand. One of Kennedy's most well-known achievements was the peaceful resolution of the Cuban Missile Crisis.
Berlin Wall - August 1961: In August of 1961, the Soviet Union build the famous Berlin Wall. This wall completely cut off West Berlin from East Berlin and East Germany. This was a direct symbol of the division between communist and anti-communist.
Cuban Missile Crisis - October 1962: Eisenhower passed on a plan to John F. Kennedy to overthrow Fidel Castro by invading Cuba with anticommunist exiles. In April of 1961, roughly 1,200 exiles landed on the Bay of Pigs in Cuba. Kennedy was actually against this plot, so he refused to provide air support for the exiles and they were forced to surrender. The Bay of Pigs mistake pushed Castro further into the arms of communism. In October 1962, Kennedy discovered that the Soviets were keeping nuclear missiles on Cuba. Rather than bombing these missile sites, Kennedy declared a naval quarantine of Cuba. Eventually, Khrushchev agreed to take the missiles off of Cuba as long as the United States did not invade Cuba. Additionally, Kennedy made a secret agreement to move his missiles off of Turkey. In 1963, the two powers signed a pact prohibiting trial nuclear explosions. This was a defining moment in Kennedy's short presidency as this was the peak of Cold War tensions between the two. Kennedy was able to brilliantly diffuse the potentially lethal situation.
Vietnam War - 1963 - 1975: Communist Northern Vietnam was controlled by Ho Chi Minh and Anti-Communist Southern Vietnam was ruled by Ngo Dinh Diem. Because the goal of the United States was communist containment, they sided with Diem and the Southern forces. In 1961, President Kennedy sent thousands of "military advisors" to South Vietnam. In August 1964, two U.S. ships were supposedly fired upon in the Gulf of Tonkin. This allowed for the Tonkin Gulf Resolution, giving president Lyndon B. Johnson (Kennedy was assassinated in 1963) essentially absolute military power over the dispute in Vietnam. By March 1965, Operation Rolling Thunder caused regular bombing in North. By 1968, Johnson had put over 500,000 troops in Southeast Asia. U.S. troops had very little success against the Northern Vietnamese forces and opinions about the war at home began to shift. When the Americans heard about the horrors of the war such as the brutal killing of innocent civilians in the My Lai Massacre, protests became increasingly more common. In 1968, as part of the Tet Offensive, the Viet Cong attacked 27 South Vietnamese cities. After this, the American public began demanding an end to the war and even President Johnson himself began to have doubts. In 1975, the North Vietnamese took Saigon and the Southern government fell. The Vietnam War was an embarrassing failure for America.
Ronald Reagan: Ronald Reagan served as president from 1981 to 1989. He strongly believe in ideas of neoconservatism. This meant that he supported free-market capitalism, questioned liberal welfare programs, and called for the resurgence of traditional values of family and individualism. Reagan's foreign policy was based on rapidly expanding the U.S. military, threatening the Soviets with an arms race. Mikhail Gorbachev was the chairman of the Soviet Communist party at the time. He had two policies, Glasnost and Perestroika. Reagan and Gorbachev, sharing similar ideologies, became friendly with each other. This would mark the beginning of softening Cold War tensions for good.