Cold War | A short recap

• 1945: The end of World War II marks the beginning of the Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union, with tensions rising over ideology, politics, and military strategy.
• 1947: The Truman Doctrine is announced, outlining the U.S. policy of containment to prevent the spread of communism.
• 1948: The Soviet Union blockades West Berlin, leading to the Berlin Airlift.
• 1949: The Soviet Union tests its first nuclear bomb, and the Communist Party takes power in China.
• 1950-1953: The Korean War sees the United States and other Western nations fight against communist forces supported by the Soviet Union and China.
• 1955: The Warsaw Pact is signed, establishing a military alliance among the Soviet Union and its Eastern European allies.
• 1956: The Hungarian Uprising takes place, with Hungarian citizens rebelling against Soviet control, only to be suppressed by Soviet military intervention.
• 1961: The construction of the Berlin Wall begins, separating East and West Berlin.
• 1962: The Cuban Missile Crisis occurs, with the United States and Soviet Union coming to the brink of nuclear war over the presence of Soviet missiles in Cuba.
• 1968: The Prague Spring takes place, with Czechoslovakia attempting to reform its communist government, only to be invaded by Soviet forces.
• 1979: The Soviet Union invades Afghanistan, leading to a long and costly war.
• 1985: Mikhail Gorbachev becomes leader of the Soviet Union and initiates a series of reforms known as perestroika and glasnost.
• 1989: The fall of the Berlin Wall marks the beginning of the end of the Cold War.
• 1991: The Soviet Union collapses, ending the Cold War and marking a new era in international relations.