March–April: U.S. and Britain outraged as Stalin excludes them from a role in Poland and turns Poland over to aCommunist puppet government he controls.[4]
March–April: Stalin is outraged at inaccurate reports aboutOperation Sunrise that AmericanOffice of Strategic Services inSwitzerland is negotiating a surrender of German forces; he demands a Soviet general be present at all negotiations. Roosevelt vehemently denies the allegation but closes down the operation in Switzerland. A Soviet general is present at the negotiations innorthern Italy that lead to surrender.[5]
April 12: Roosevelt dies;Vice PresidentHarry S. Truman takes over with little knowledge of current diplomatic efforts, no knowledge of the atomic bomb, and a bias against Russia.[6]
April 30: start of occupation ofTrieste by Yugoslav forces, although challenged by the2nd New Zealand Division under GeneralFreyberg and the city remained part of Italy. Cox said that it wasthe first major confrontation of the Cold War and wasthe one corner of Europe whereno demarcation line had been agreed upon in advance by the Allies.[7]
August 9: With no Japanese response to his ultimatums, Truman gives permission for the world's second and last military use of an atomic weapon, against the Japanese city ofNagasaki (Kokura was the original target).
August 12: Japanese forces inKorea surrender to Soviet and American armies.
September 5:Igor Gouzenko, a Soviet agent working in the Soviet embassy in Canada, defects and provides proof to theRoyal Canadian Mounted Police of a Soviet spy ring operating in Canada and the U.S. The revelations help change perceptions of the Soviet Union from an ally to a foe.[10]
October 25: Taiwan is transferred to theRepublic of China from Japan.[11] Initially the public is supportive of the transfer but later becomes less so as the newly appointed governor, GeneralChen Yi gains a reputation for being corrupt and mismanaging the island. Economic problems also occur as the governor extends the scope of the government monopoly over Taiwan's resources in order to sell these goods to the mainland to help fight the Communist forces. The conditions on the island later contribute to the February 28 incident.[12]
March 2: British soldiers withdraw from their zone of occupation in southernIran. Soviet soldiers remain in their northern sector.
March 5:Winston Churchill warns of the descent of anIron Curtain across Europe. Named by Winston Churchill, the aim of the Iron Curtain was to create a divide between the developing countries in Europe and the ones still under political influence and dictatorship (Soviet Union).[15]
September 24:Harry S. Truman is presented with theClifford-Elsey Report, a document which lists Soviet violations of agreements with the United States.
September 27:Nikolai Vasilevich Novikov writes a response to Kennan's Long Telegram, known as the 'Novikov Telegram', in which he states that the United States were "striving for world supremacy".[17]
March 12: President Harry Truman announces theTruman Doctrine starting with the giving of aid to Greece and Turkey in order to prevent them from falling into the Soviet sphere. This is considered by many historians to be the official start of the Cold War.
May 22: US extends $400 million of military aid to Greece andTurkey, signalling its intent to contain communism in theMediterranean.
June 5:Secretary of StateGeorge Marshall outlines plans for a comprehensive program of economic assistance for the war-ravaged countries of Western Europe. It would become known throughout the world as theMarshall Plan.
July 11: The US announces new occupation policies in Germany. The occupation directiveJCS 1067, whose economic section had prohibited "steps looking toward the economic rehabilitation of Germany [or] designed to maintain or strengthen the German economy", is replaced by the new US occupation directive JCS 1779 which instead notes that "An orderly, prosperous Europe requires the economic contributions of a stable and productive Germany."
September: The Soviet Union forms theCommunist Information Bureau (COMINFORM) with which it dictates the actions of leaders and communist parties across its spheres of influence.
October 20:Stanisław Mikołajczyk, leader of the non-communistPolish People's Party, flees the country ahead of impending arrest. Organized, legal political opposition to Polish communism is effectively at an end.
November 14: TheUnited Nations passes a resolution calling for the withdrawal of foreign soldiers from Korea, free elections in each of the two administrations, and the creation of a UN commission dedicated to the unification of the peninsula.
March 17: TheTreaty of Brussels, an agreement is signed by Britain, France, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg, creating a collective defense alliance. (It was the precursor to NATO)
April 3: Truman signs theMarshall Plan into effect. By the end of the programs, the United States has given $12.4 billion in economic assistance to Western European countries.
June 21: In Germany, the British zone and the French zone launch a common currency, theDeutsche Mark.
June 24: Stalin orders theBerlin Blockade, closing all land routes from West Germany to Berlin, in an attempt to starve out the French, British, and American forces from the city. In response, the three Western powers launch theBerlin Airlift to supply the citizens of Berlin by air.
June 28: The Soviet Union expels Yugoslavia from theCommunist Information Bureau (COMINFORM) for the latter's position on the Greek Civil War.
August 1: French zone of occupation created in Germany and Berlin.
August 15: The United States declares theRepublic of Korea to be the legitimate government of the Korean Peninsula, withSyngman Rhee installed as the leader.
September 18: In Indonesia, theMadiun Affair, an uprising carried out by the People's Democratic Front (FDR), begins led byMusso, of theCommunist Party of Indonesia. The uprising ends after three months when the Indonesian army captures and kills most of the rebels.
November 20: The American consul and his staff in Mukden, China, are made virtual hostages by communist forces in China. The crisis does not end until a year later, by which time U.S. relations with the new communist government in China had been seriously damaged.
May 11: The Soviet blockade of Berlin ends with the re-opening of access routes to Berlin. The airlift continues until September, in case the Soviets re-establish the blockade. Brune argues, "Moscow realized the blockade had not been successful – it had drawn the Western powers closer together rather than dividing them. Finally, Western countermeasures had inflicted considerable damage on the economic life of East Germany and the other Soviet satellites."[20]
August 29: The Soviet Union tests its firstatomic bomb. The test, known to Americans asJoe 1, succeeds, as the Soviet Union becomes the world's secondnuclear power.[21]
October 16:Nikos Zachariadis, leader of theCommunist Party of Greece, declares an end to the armed uprising. The declaration brings to a close the Greek Civil War, and the first successful containment of communism.
February 9: SenatorJoseph McCarthy first claims without evidence that Communists have infiltrated theU.S. State Department, leading to a controversial series of anti-Communist investigations in the United States.[26]
February 12: The Soviet Union and the People's Republic of China sign a pact of mutual defense.
March 11: Kuomintang leaderChiang Kai-shek moves his capital toTaipei,Taiwan, establishing a stand-off with the People's Republic of China.
April 7: United StatesState DepartmentDirector of Policy PlanningPaul Nitze issuesNSC 68, a classified report, arguing for the adoption of containment as the cornerstone of United States foreign policy. It would dictate US policy for the next twenty years.
June 25:North Korea invades South Korea, beginning theKorean War. TheUnited Nations Security Council votes to intervene to defend the South. The Soviet Union cannot veto, as it is boycotting the Security Council over the admission of People's Republic of China.
June 28: North Korean forces capture Seoul.
June 29: The first bombing attack on North Korea was approved by General Douglas MacArthur
July 5: United Nations forces engage North Korean forces for the first time, inOsan. They fail to halt the North Korean advance, and fall southwards, towards what would become thePusan Perimeter.
September 30: United Nations forcesland atInchon. Defeating the North Korean forces, they press inland and re-capture Seoul.
October 2: United Nations forces cross the38th parallel, into North Korea.
October 11: Stalin agrees to send MiG-15 fighters to provide air cover for Chinese forces moving into North Korea.
October 22:Pyongyang, the capital of North Korea, falls to United Nations forces.
October 22: China intervenes in Korea with 300,000 soldiers, catching the United Nations by surprise. However, they withdraw after initial engagements.
November 15: United Nations forces approach the Yalu River. In response, China intervenes in Korea again, but with a 500,000 strong army. This offensive forces the United Nations back towardsSouth Korea.
March 14: United Nations forces recapture Seoul duringOperation Ripper. By the end of March, they have reached the 38th Parallel, and formed a defensive line across the Korean Peninsula.
March 29:Julius and Ethel Rosenberg are convicted of espionage for their role in passing atomic secrets to the Soviets during and after World War II; they were executed on June 19, 1953.
April 11: U.S. PresidentHarry S. Truman firesDouglas MacArthur from command of US forces in Korea due to him demanding nuclear weapons to be used on the enemy.
September 1: Australia, New Zealand, and the United States sign theANZUS Treaty. This compels the three countries to cooperate on matters of defense and security in the Pacific.
October 10: PresidentHarry S. Truman signs theMutual Security Act, announcing to the world, and its communist powers in particular, that the U.S. was prepared to provide military aid to "free peoples".
November 14: President Harry Truman asks Congress for U.S. military and economic aid for the communist nation ofYugoslavia.
December 12: The International Authority for theRuhr lifts part of the remaining restrictions on German industrial production and on production capacity.
April 28: TheTreaty of San Francisco, signed by Japan on September 8, 1951, comes into effect, and Japan signs theTreaty of Taipei, formally ending its period of occupation and isolation, and becoming a sovereign state.
July 27: Anarmistice agreement ends fighting in theKorean War, after Eisenhower threatens the use of nuclear weapons.[30]
August 19: TheCentral Intelligence Agency (CIA) and the BritishMI6 assists a royalist coup that restoresMohammad Reza Pahlavi to power as the Shah of Iran and ousts Prime MinisterMohammed Mosaddeq (Operation Ajax). The coup was organized because of Iranian nationalization of the oil industry and fears of Iran joining the Soviet camp.
May 7: the Viet Minhdefeat the French atDien Bien Phu. France withdraws from Indochina, leaving four independent states:Cambodia,Laos, and what becameNorth Vietnam andSouth Vietnam. TheGeneva Accords calls for free elections to unite Vietnam, but none of the major Western powers wish this to occur in the likely case that the Viet Minh (nationalist Communists) would win.
May 17: TheHukbalahap revolt in the Philippines is defeated.
June 2: SenatorJoseph McCarthy claims that communists have infiltrated the CIA and the atomic weapons industry.
June 18: The elected leftist Guatemalan government is overthrown in a CIA-backedcoup. An unstable rightist regime installs itself. Opposition leads to aguerrilla war withMarxist rebels in which major human rights abuses are committed on all sides. Nevertheless, the regime survives until the end of theCold War.
August 11: TheTaiwan Strait Crisis begins with the Chinese Communist shelling of Taiwanese islands. The US backs Taiwan, and the crisis resolves itself as both sides decline to take action.
February 24: TheBaghdad Pact is founded byIran,Iraq,Pakistan,Turkey, and the United Kingdom. It is committed to resisting Communist expansion in the Middle East.
March: Soviet aid toSyria begins. The Syrians will remain allies of the Soviets until the end of the Cold War.
April 18: The Asia-Africa Conference (also known as theBandung Conference) is first held in Bandung, Indonesia.
July: The United States and the United Kingdom cancel offers of aid on the construction of theAswan Dam in Egypt due to its arms purchases from the Eastern Bloc. Nasser retaliates by nationalizing theSuez Canal.[34]
October 23:Hungarian Revolution of 1956: Hungarians revolt against the Soviet dominated government. They are crushed by the Soviet military, which reinstates a Communist government.
October 29:Suez Crisis: France,Israel, and the United Kingdom attack Egypt with the goal of removing Nasser from power. International diplomatic pressures force the attackers to withdraw. CanadianLester B. Pearson encourages the United Nations to send aPeacekeeping force, the first of its kind, to the disputed territory. Lester B. Pearson wins a Nobel Peace Prize for his actions, and soon after becomes Canadian Prime Minister.
November 6: Dwight Eisenhower wins re-election, defeating Adlai Stevenson for the second time in the1956 presidential election
May 2: SenatorJoseph McCarthy succumbs to illness exacerbated by alcoholism and dies.
May 15: The United Kingdom detonates its first hydrogen bomb.
August 31:Malaya gains independence from the United Kingdom.
October 1: TheStrategic Air Command initiates 24/7 nuclear alert (continuous until termination in 1991) in anticipation of a SovietICBM surprise attack capability.
October 4:Sputnik 1 satellite launched. The same day theAvro Arrow is revealed.
November 3:Sputnik 2 was launched, with the first living being on board,Laika.
November 7: The final report from a special committee called by President Dwight D. Eisenhower to review the nation's defense readiness indicates that the United States is falling far behind the Soviets in missile capabilities, and urges a vigorous campaign to build fallout shelters to protect American citizens.
November 15: Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev claims that the Soviet Union has missile superiority over the United States and challenges America to a missile "shooting match" to prove his assertion.
December 16–19: NATO holdsits first summit in Paris, France. It is the first time NATO leaders have met together since the signing of theNorth Atlantic Treaty in April 1949.
May 18: On a bombing mission in support of the anti-SukarnoPermesta Rebellion, aB-26 bomber supplied by theCIA is shot down in Ambon, Indonesia. The pilot, US citizenAllen Lawrence Pope is captured and imprisoned.
June: AC-118 transport, hauling freight from Turkey to Iran, is shot down. The nine crew members are released by the Russians little more than a week later.[35]
July 14: A coup in Iraq, the14 July Revolution, removes the pro-British monarch. Iraq begins to receive support from the Soviets. Iraq will maintain close ties with the Soviets throughout the Cold War.
September 1: Iceland expands its fishing zone. United Kingdom opposed the action and eventually deploy some ofits navy to the zone, thus triggering thecod wars.
October 4: the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, or NASA is formed.
January 1:Fidel Castro wins theCuban Revolution and becomes the dictator of Cuba. In the next several years Cuban-inspired guerrilla movements spring up across Latin America.[36]
January 2:Luna 1 is launched in an attempt to impact the Moon but due to an error in device's control systems, resulted in the device missing its target by 5,990 kilometres (3,720 mi).
March 3:Pioneer 4 was launched in an attempt to photograph the Moon. The probe failed to achieve its intended target of 32,000 kilometres (20,000 mi) from the Moon, reaching only 60,000 kilometres (37,000 mi), too distant for its scanners to photograph the Moon.
July 24: During the opening of the American National Exhibition in Moscow US Vice PresidentRichard Nixon and Soviet First Secretary Khrushchev openly debate the capacities of each Superpower. This conversation is known as theKitchen Debate.
July 31: TheBasque conflict officially begins, with the aim of creating an independent state for theBasque people.
August 7:Explorer 6 is launched into orbit to photograph the Earth.
September 13:Luna 2 is launched and becomes the first man-made object to reach the surface on the Moon.
October 4–22:Luna 3 is launched to take photographs of the far side of the Moon. Approximately 70% of the far side was captured; however, on October 7, only 17 of the 29 photos successfully transmitted back to Earth due to issues with signal strength. On October 22, further contact with Luna 3 was lost.[38]
January 10: British prime ministerHarold Macmillan delivers his first 'Wind of Change' speech in Accra. His speech hints at a move towards decolonisation ofBritish possessions in Africa.
October 12: While addressing the United Nations, Soviet Leader Nikita Khrushchev becomes agitated at criticisms of Soviet policies in eastern European. Khrushchev removes his shoe and thumps it on the lectern.
October 19: The US places a partial embargo on Cuba, banning the export of all items except food and medicine.
November 28:Mauritania becomes independent from France.
December 20: The National Liberation Front, a nationalist-communist insurgency, is formed in South Vietnam.
December 20: Formation of theNLF (often calledViet Cong) by North Vietnam. It is a Communist insurgent movement that vows to overthrow the anti-communist South Vietnamese regime. It is supplied extensively by North Vietnam and theUSSR eventually.
June:Jupiter IRBM deployment toTurkey begins, joining the Jupiters deployed to Italy as well as theThor IRBMs deployed to the UK as nuclear missiles placed within striking distance of Moscow.
November 18: John F. Kennedy authorizes the deployment of 18,000 military advisors to support the struggle against communist insurgents in South Vietnam.
December 2: Fidel Castro openly describes himself as aMarxist–Leninist.
February 20:John Glenn is launched into space aboardFriendship-7 becoming the first American to orbit the Earth. Despite having many delays in the launch itself, the flight is successful.
July 1:Rwanda andBurundi become independent from Belgium.
July 20: neutralization ofLaos is established by international agreement, but North Vietnam refuses to withdraw its personnel.[39]
October 16:Cuban Missile Crisis: the Soviets have secretly been installing military bases, includingnuclear weapons, on Cuba, some 90 miles from the US mainland. Kennedy orders a "quarantine" (anaval blockade) of the island that intensifies the crisis and brings the US and theUSSR to the brink ofnuclear war. In the end, both sides reach a compromise. The Soviets back down and agree to withdraw theirnuclear missiles from Cuba, in exchange for a secret agreement by Kennedy pledging to withdraw similar American missiles from Turkey and Italy, and guaranteeing that the US will not move against theCastro regime.
November 1: The Soviet Union successfully launches Mars 1 with the intention of making a flyby of Mars.
November 20: End of theSino-Indian War. The People's Republic of China ends up withdrawing from most of the land it occupies but does end up occupying 14,700 square miles (38,000 km2) of theAksai Chin region and the area would remain a source of contention between the India and the People's Republic of China.[40]
September 25: Aborder war was fought between Morocco and Algeria.
October 14: TheAden Emergency begins against British rule.
November 2: South Vietnamese PresidentNgo Dinh Diem is assassinated in acoup. CIA involvement is suspected.
November 22:John F. Kennedy isshot and killed in Dallas. There has been some speculation over whether communist countries, or even the CIA, were involved in the assassination, but those theories remain controversial. Kennedy's vice-presidentLyndon B. Johnson becomes President of the United States.
December 12:Kenya becomes independent from the UK.
March 31–April 1: Amilitary-ledcoup d'état overthrows presidentJoão Goulart inBrazil. Goulart's proposals, such asland reform and bigger control of the state in the economy, were seen as communist.
April 20: U.S. President Lyndon Johnson in New York, and Soviet First SecretaryNikita Khrushchev in Moscow, announce simultaneously plans to cut back production of materials for makingnuclear weapons.
July 4: TheRhodesian Bush War begins when African nationalist / Marxist insurgents rebel against colonial rule inRhodesia (modern -dayZimbabwe).Malawi becomes independent from the UK.
August 4: U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson claims thatNorth Vietnamese naval vessels had fired on two Americandestroyers in theGulf of Tonkin. Although there was a first attack, it was later shown that American vessels had entered North Vietnamese territory first, and that the claim of second attack had been unfounded. TheGulf of Tonkin incident leads to the open involvement of the United States in theVietnam War, after theGulf of Tonkin Resolution.
September 21:Malta becomes independent from the UK.
February 3: Luna 9 successfully lands on the Moon becoming the first spacecraft to softly land on another extraterrestrial body.
March 1: Venera 3 becomes the first man-made object to impact another planet.[44]
March 10: France withdraws from NATO command structure.
March 11: President Sukarno of Indonesia signs adocument, handing over authority to Major GeneralSuharto. This led to Suharto later establishing the pro-western and anti-communistNew Order regime. This regime would remain in power until 1998.
May 8: Communist China detonates a third nuclear device.
April 25: 33Latin American andCaribbean countries sign theTreaty of Tlatelolco in Mexico City, which seek the prohibition of nuclear weapons in Latin America and the Caribbean.
May 25:Uprising inNaxalbari, India marking the expansion ofMaoism as a violent, anti-US and anti-Soviet, revolutionary movement across a number of developing countries.
May 30: TheNigerian state ofBiafra secedes from the rest of Nigeria, declaring itself as the Republic of Biafra.
June 5: In response to Egypt's aggression, Israel invades the Sinai Peninsula, beginning theSix-Day War.
December 21–27: The launch ofApollo 8, the first crewed spaceflight to enter the gravitational influence of another celestial body and to orbit the Moon. The crew would complete ten orbits, then return to Earth without landing on the Moon.
December 12: A bomb planted by far-right extremists sets off in a bank inMilan,Italy, killing 17 people and injuring 88. This event (remembered as thePiazza Fontana bombing) is one of the bloodiest terrorist attacks Italy would receive during theyears of lead.
November 14: Mariner 9 arrives at Mars orbit becoming the first spacecraft to orbit another planet.
December 2: Mars 3 arrives in Mars orbit and deploys its lander. The lander is successful in becoming the first spacecraft to softly land on Mars but transmits for 20 seconds before losing contact.
February 21:Nixonvisits China, the first visit by a U.S. president since the establishment of the People's Republic of China.
March 30:Viet Cong (also called the National Liberation Front of South Vietnam, or NLF) goes to the offensive in South Vietnam, only to be repulsed by the South Vietnamese regime withmajor American air support.
April: TheIkiza mass killings occurred in Burundi committed by the Tutsi-dominated army against the Hutus.
April 10:Biological Weapons Convention is signed banning the production, development and stockpiling of biological weapons.
May 22: Richard Nixon attendsMoscow Summit (1972), becoming the first US President to visit Moscow.
February 21:Vientiane Treaty is signed as a cease-fire agreement for theLaotian Civil War. The treaty calls for the removal of all foreign soldiers from Laos . The treaty calls for a coalition government to be created but never materialized.
June 21: West Germany and East Germany are each admitted to the United Nations.
July 10:The Bahamas becomes independent from the UK.
October 22: Egypt defects to the American camp by accepting a U.S. cease-fire proposal during the October 1973 war.
November 11: The Soviet Union announces that, because of its opposition to the recent overthrow of the government of Chilean PresidentSalvador Allende, it will not play a World Cup Soccer match against the Chilean team if the match is held in Santiago.
April 30: North Vietnam wins the Vietnam War. The South Vietnam regime falls with thesurrender of Saigon and the two countries are united under a Communist government.
May 12:Mayagüez incident: theKhmer Rouge seize an American naval ship, prompting American intervention to recapture the ship and its crew. In the end, the crew is released from captivity.
June 8:Venera 9, a Soviet uncrewed space mission to Venus, is launched.
June 25: Portugal withdraws fromAngola andMozambique, where Marxist governments are installed, the former with backing from Cuban troops.Civilwar engulfs both nations and involves Angolans, Mozambicans, South Africans, and Cubans, with thesuperpowers supporting their respective ideologies.
July 5:Cape Verde becomes independent from Portugal.
July 15: TheApollo-Soyuz Test Project takes place. It is the first joint flight of the US and Soviet space programs. The mission is seen as a symbol of détente and an end to the "space race".
June 6: U.S. Secretary of StateCyrus Vance assures skeptics that the Carter administration will hold the Soviet Union accountable for its recent crackdowns on human rights activists.
March 16: Italian Prime MinisterAldo Moro is kidnapped in Rome by a far-left extremist terrorist group called theRed Brigades. His body would be found on the 9th of May after 55 days of captivity.
May 9:Civil war breaks out inEl Salvador between Marxist-led insurgents and the U.S.-backed government.
June 2:Pope John Paul II begins his first pastoral visit to his native Poland.
June 18: U.S. PresidentJimmy Carter and Soviet leaderLeonid Brezhnev sign theSALT II agreement, outlining limitations and guidelines for nuclear weapons.
July 3: President Carter signs the first directive for financial aid to opponents of the pro-Soviet regime inKabul,Afghanistan.[47]
September:Nur Mohammed Taraki, The Marxist president of Afghanistan, is deposed and murdered. The post of president is taken up by Prime MinisterHafizullah Amin.
November 4: Islamist Iranian students take over the American embassy in support of theIranian Revolution. TheIran hostage crisis lasts until January 20, 1981.
November 20–December 4:Juhayman al-Otaybi and his followersseized the Grand Mosque in Mecca, Saudi Arabia.
December 12:NATO Double-Track Decision – NATO offers mutual limitation of ballistic missiles combined with the threat that in case of disagreement NATO would deploy more middle-range nuclear weapons in Western Europe.
January 20:Ronald Reagan inaugurated 40th President of the United States. Reagan is elected on a platform opposed to the concessions of détente. Also that day theIran hostage crisis ends.[49]
March 30: Two months after his inauguration Ronald Reagan is shot in the chest while leaving a Washington hotel. The gunman, John Hinckley, is found to be mentally unhinged and obsessed with actress Jodie Foster.
April 1: The United States suspends economic aid to Nicaragua.
May 13: While riding in an open-topped car through the Vatican, Pope John Paul II is shot four times in the abdomen and right arm. The gunman, Mehmet Ali Agca, is a Turkish Kurd with uncertain motives.
August 19:Gulf of Sidra Incident: Libyan planes attack U.S. jets in theGulf of Sidra, which Libya has illegally annexed. Two Libyan jets are shot down; no American losses are suffered.
September 21:Belize becomes independent from the UK. 1,500 British soldiers remain to deter Guatemala from attacking the country over territorial disputes.
February 24: President Ronald Reagan announces the "Caribbean Basin Initiative" to prevent the overthrow of governments in the region by the forces of communism.
March 22: President Ronald Reagan signs P.L. 97-157 denouncing the government of the Soviet Union that it should cease its abuses of the basic human rights of its citizens.[51][52]
July 7: Ten-year-old American childSamantha Smith accepts the invitation ofSoviet leaderYuri Andropov and visits the Soviet Union with her parents. Smith had written to Andropov to ask if he would "vote to have a war or not?". Smith's letter, published in the Soviet newspaperPravda, prompted Andropov to reply and invite the girl to the USSR. The widely publicized event leads to other Soviet–American cultural exchanges.
September 26: The1983 Soviet nuclear false alarm incident occurs. The U.S.S.R. nuclear early warning system reports launch of multiple U.S. intercontinental ballistic missiles.Stanislav Yevgrafovich Petrov, an officer of the Soviet Air Defence Forces, correctly identifies them as false alarms. This decision is seen as having prevented a retaliatory nuclear attack based on erroneous data on the United States and its NATO allies, which likely would have resulted in nuclear war and the deaths of hundreds of millions of people.
October 25: U.S. forcesinvade the Caribbean island of Grenada in an attempt to overthrow the Communist government, expel Cuban troops, and abort the construction of a Soviet-funded airstrip.
November 2: ExerciseAble Archer 83 – Soviet anti-aircraft misinterpret a test of NATO's nuclear warfare procedures as a fake cover for an actual NATO attack; in response, Soviet nuclear forces are put on high alert.
July 28: various allies of the Soviet Unionboycott the1984 Summer Olympics (July 28 – August 12) in Los Angeles.
August 11: during a microphone sound check for his weekly radio address, President Ronald Reagan jokes about bombing the Soviet Union. "My fellow Americans", Reagan says. "I'm pleased to tell you today that I've signed legislation that will outlaw Russia forever.We begin bombing in five minutes." The quip is not aired but is leaked to the press.[55] The Soviet Union temporarily puts its defense forces on high alert.
August 6: Coinciding with the 40th anniversary of theatomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, theSoviet Union begins what it has announced is a 5-month unilateral moratorium on the testing of nuclear weapons. TheReagan administration dismisses the dramatic move as nothing more than propaganda and refuses to follow suit. Gorbachev declares several extensions, but the United States fails to reciprocate, and the moratorium comes to an end on February 5, 1987.
November 21: Reagan and Gorbachev meet for the first time at asummit in Geneva, Switzerland, where they agree to two (later three) more summits.
October 11–12:Reykjavik Summit: a breakthrough in nuclear arms control.
October 19: The pro-Marxist interim President of Mozambique,Samora Machel, is killed when the aircraft he is travelling incrashes in South Africa.
November 3:Iran–Contra affair: the Reagan administration publicly announces that it has been selling arms to Iran in exchange for hostages and illegally transferring the profits to the Contra rebels in Nicaragua.
January 16: Natives within the Party who oppose his policies of economic redevelopment[clarification needed] (Perestroika). It is Gorbachev's hope that through initiatives of openness, debate and participation, that the Soviet people will support Perestroika.
June 12: During a visit toWest Berlin, U.S. President Ronald Reagan challenges Soviet General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev in a speech: "Mr. Gorbachev,tear down this wall!" (The Berlin Wall).
June 15: Famous Italian Singer and SongwriterAdriano Celentano lands in Moscow to present his movieJoan Lui in Soviet theaters, another step that opens the Soviet world to the Western one.
December 8: TheIntermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty is signed in Washington, D.C. by U.S. President Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev. Some later claim this was the unofficial beginning of the end of the Cold War. Gorbachev agrees toSTART I treaty.
December 9: TheFirst Intifada was waged by Palestinians against the Israeli government.
May 29–June 1: Reagan and Gorbachev meet in Moscow.INF Treaty ratified. When asked if he still believes that the Soviet Union is still an evil empire, Reagan replies he was talking about "another time, another era".
February 14: TheContra war effectively ends with the Tesoro Beach Accords happening in El Salvador with Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua participating. An agreement is made that all contra forces are to disband in return for a free election to be held in February 1990. Although a few groups initially reject the agreement they eventually decide to participate.[57]
February 15: TheAfghan Civil War begins after Soviet troops withdrawing from Afghanistan.
February 19–21: Jakarta Informal Meeting II was held inJakarta. This meeting succeeded in finding two important issues, namely the withdrawal of Vietnamese troops from Cambodia and the prevention of the return of thePol Pot regime in Cambodia. Later, efforts to resolve the conflict will continue in International Conference in Paris on July 30–31, 1989.
June 4:Tiananmen Square Massacre: Beijing protests are crushed by the communist Chinese government, resulting in an unknown number of deaths.
June 4: Elections inPoland show complete lack of backing for the Communist Party; Solidarity trade union wins all available seats in the Parliament and 99% in the Senate.
August 19: The opening of the border gate between Austria and Hungary at thePan-European Picnic set in motion a chain reaction, at the end of which there was no longer aGDR and theEastern Bloc had disintegrated.
August 23:Baltic Way: independence protesters in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania set up a human chain across the three Baltic states, from Tallinn to Vilnius via Riga.
August: Parliament in Poland electsTadeusz Mazowiecki as leader of the first non-communist government in theEastern Bloc.
November 9:Revolutions of Eastern Europe: Soviet reforms have allowed Eastern Europe to change the Communist governments there. TheBerlin Wall is breached whenPolitburo spokesman,Günter Schabowski, not fully informed of the technicalities or procedures of the newly agreed lifting of travel restrictions, mistakenly announces at a news conference inEast Berlin that the borders have been opened.[58]
November 10:Todor Zhivkov, the Communist leader of Bulgaria, is removed from office after 35 years in power.
December 3: At the end of theMalta Summit, Soviet leaderMikhail Gorbachev and US PresidentGeorge H. W. Bush declare that a long-lasting era of peace has begun. Many observers regard this summit as the official beginning of the end of theCold War.
December 10: TheMongolian Revolution begins when Mongolians held peaceful demonstrations to end the one-party rule in the country.
May 29:Boris Yeltsin is elected as the president of Russia. Yeltsin would serve as Russia's president until resigning on December 31, 1999 withVladimir Putin taking over.[60]
June 12:Russia issues the Declaration of Sovereignty but never officially declares its independence from the Soviet Union.[61] With the declaration, it declares that the laws and constitution of theRussian Soviet Federated Socialist Republic (RSFSR) to be above those of the Soviet Union.[62] The loss of the RSFSR which was the most powerful of all the Soviet republics is a major blow to the Soviet Union.[63]
September 9:Tajikistan declares independence from the Soviet Union.[80]
September 21: Armenia holds anindependence referendum with a majority voting for independence from the Soviet Union[81] despite declaring independence in August 1990.
^Amy W. Knight,How the Cold War began: The Gouzenko affair and the hunt for Soviet spies (2005).
^Liew, Leong H.; Wang, Shaoguang (2012).Nationalism, Democracy and National Integration in China. Taylor & Francis.ISBN9781134397495 – via Google Books.The simple transfer of sovereignty from the defeated Japanese authorities to Chiang Kai-shek's Nationalist government that ruled Mainland China was accomplished in a single day, 25 October 1945. The transfer of sovereignty was, however, much more complex than an official ceremonial task
^Schubert, Gunter (2016).Routledge Handbook of Contemporary Taiwan. Taylor & Francis. p. 71.ISBN9781317669708 – via Google Books.The brewing tensions finally erupted in the 2.28 Incident, which lasted from February 27 until mid-March 1947.
^M. Steven Fish, "After Stalin's Death: The Anglo-American Debate Over a New Cold War."Diplomatic History 10.4 (1986): 333-355.
^Christian F. Ostermann, and Malcolm Byrne, eds.Uprising in East Germany 1953: the Cold War, the German question, and the first major upheaval behind the Iron Curtain (Central European UP, 2001).
^Edward C. Keefer, "President Dwight D. Eisenhower and the End of the Korean War."Diplomatic History 10.3 (1986): 267-289.
^abEder, Christoph; Halla, Martin (2020).The Long-lasting Shadow of the Allied Occupation of Austria on its Spatial Equilibrium(PDF). p. 6. RetrievedOctober 27, 2024.On May 15, 1955 the Austrian State Treaty was signed among the Allied occupying forces and re-established a free, sovereign, and democratic Austria by July 27, 1955. As a result of this treaty, the Allies left Austrian territory on October 25, 1955.
^Powers, Francis (1960).Operation Overflight: A Memoir of the U-2 Incident. Potomac Books, Inc. p. 48.ISBN978-1-57488-422-7.
^Thomas C. Wright,Latin America in the era of the Cuban Revolution (Greenwood, 2001).
^Carlson, Peter (2009), K Blows Top: A Cold War Comic Interlude Starring Nikita Khurshchev, America's Most Unlikely Tourist, PublicAffairs,ISBN978-1-58648-497-2
^Boyle, Andrew (1979).The Fourth Man: The Definitive Account of Kim Philby, Guy Burgess and Donald Maclean and Who Recruited Them to Spy for Russia. New York: The Dial Press/James Wade. p. 438
^Kuzio, Taras (2015). "Ukrainian Dissent, Opposition, and Religion in the USSR".Ukraine: Democratization, Corruption, and the New Russian Imperialism. Praeger.ISBN9798216158691. RetrievedOctober 18, 2023 – via Google Books.Following the failed August 1991 putsch, Russia did not declare independence from the USSR, and Russia Day (the name of the holiday since 2002) is celebrated each year to commemorate the adoption of the Declaration of Sovereignty of the Russian SFSR on June 12, 1990.
^Coyle, James J. (2017). "Moldova".Russia's Border Wars and Frozen Conflicts. Springer International Publishing. p. 164.ISBN9783319522043 – via Google Books.On June 12, 1990, the President of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (RSFSR), Boris Yeltsin, signed a declaration of the RSFSR's Congress of People's Deputies that held the constitution and laws of the RSFSR took priority over the legislation of the USSR.
^Piddock, Charles (2006). Bergman, Jay (ed.).Kazakhstan. World Almanac Library. p. 22.ISBN9780836867084 – via Google Books.
^Kassymova, Didar; Kundakbaeva, Zh. B.; Kundakbayeva, Zhanat; Markus, Ustina (2012).Historical Dictionary of Kazakhstan. pp. XXXI.ISBN9780810879836 – via Google Books.25 October: Declaration on state sovereignty by Kazakhstan
^Kassymova, Didar; Kundakbaeva, Zh. B.; Kundakbayeva, Zhanat; Markus, Ustina (2012).Historical Dictionary of Kazakhstan. Scarecrow Press. pp. XXI.ISBN9780810879836.10 December: Law on renaming the Kazakh SSR to the Republic of Kazakhstan.
^Jones, Stephen (2013).Georgia: A Political History Since Independence. Bloomsbury Publishing.ISBN978-0-85773-586-7. RetrievedApril 11, 2024 – via Google Books.1991 (March 31st) 89.7 percent of eligible electors - including non-Georgians (most Abkhazians and South Ossetians boycotted the vote) vote in a national referendum for independence.
^"Ukrainian Independence Referendum".Seventeen Moments in Soviet History: An on-line archive of primary sources. 28 September 2015. RetrievedSeptember 10, 2023.
^"Belarus -Soviet Socialist Republic, Emergence, History".Encyclopedia Britannica. RetrievedOctober 18, 2023.Amid the crisis of central authority in the U.S.S.R. in the early 1990s, the Belorussian S.S.R. declared sovereignty (July 27, 1990) and independence (August 25, 1991).
^"45. Moldova (1991-present)".University of Central Arkansas: Government Public Service and International Studies. RetrievedOctober 27, 2024.Moldova declared its independence from the Soviet Union on August 27, 1991.
^Drapac, Vesna (2010). "Chronology".Constructing Yugoslavia: A Transnational History. Palgrave Macmillan. p. 268.ISBN9781137094094. RetrievedApril 11, 2024 – via Google Books.1991 (7 September) Referendum in Macedonia leads to vote of 74 percent in favour of independence.
^Nourzhanov, Kirill; Bleuer, Christian (2013). "The Rise of Opposition, the Contraction of the State and the Road to Independence".Tajikistan: A Political and Social History. ANU E Press. p. 228.ISBN9781925021165 – via Google Books.On 9 September 1991, the Government of Tajikistan declared independence. The communist era in the history of Tajikistan came to an end.
^ab"TURKMENISTAN'S REFERENDUM ON INDEPENDENCE".Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe. October 26, 1991. RetrievedSeptember 10, 2023.On October 26, 1991, Turkmenistan held a referendum on independence. Over 97 percent of eligible voters turned out to answer "Yes" or "No" to two questions, the first dealing with the republic's independence, the second seeking approval of President Saparmurad Niyazov's political and economic program. Over 94 percent of participants voted for independence; almost as high a percentage of voters voiced backing for Niyazov. On October 27, an extraordinary session of Turkmenistan's Supreme Soviet declared independence.
^Lapidus, Gail W. (Summer 1998)."Contested Sovereignty: The Tragedy of Chechnya".International Security.23 (1):15–16.doi:10.2307/2539261.JSTOR2539261. RetrievedApril 18, 2024.The first stage in the unfolding conflict involved the emergence and radicalization of the Chechen national movement in the late 1980s, the election of Dudayev to the presidency, and the adoption of the law on state sovereignty of November 1, 1991
^"61. Kazakhstan (1991-present)".University of Central Arkansas. RetrievedJuly 7, 2024.Kazakhstan declared its independence from the Soviet Union on December 16, 1991.
^"The End of the Soviet Union".Seventeen Moments in Soviet History: An on-line archive of primary sources. 29 June 2015. RetrievedSeptember 10, 2023.
^"The Collapse of the Soviet Union".United States Department of State: Office of the Historian. RetrievedSeptember 11, 2023.On December 25, 1991, the Soviet hammer and sickle flag lowered for the last time over the Kremlin, thereafter replaced by the Russian tricolor.
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