A Chronology of the Cold War, 1945 - 1953
(Events in parentheses are of Cold War significance, but not happening in Europe.)
1945 Yalta Conference: The US (Roosevelt), Britain (Churchill), and USSR (Stalin) met to devise policy for postwar Germany, Poland, Eastern Europe, the war with Japan, and the proposed United Nations.
(May) Germany surrendered ending World War Two in Europe.
San Francisco Conference: An international meeting formally establishing the United Nations.
Potsdam Conference: The US (Truman), Britain (Churchill, then Attlee), and USSR (Stalin) met to finalize policy for postwar Germany, Poland, Italy, and the war with Japan. A Foreign Minister’s Council was established. It was during the Potsdam Conference that Truman received notice of the successful testing of the atomic bomb.
(Sept) Japan surrendered, ending World War Two in the Pacific.
1945 - 1949 Germany was occupied by the Allies according to the Yalta and Potsdam agreements and divided into four administrative zones – Britain, France, and the US in Western Germany; the USSR in Eastern Germany. Berlin was similarly divided and occupied. Efforts to create a unified Germany were lost in the growing Cold War animosity between the Soviets and Western Allies. Both sides then worked to create autonomous German states in the East and West.
1945 - 1949 Consolidation of Soviet control over Eastern Europe
(Asia 1945 - 1949: The division of Korea into northern and southern zones of occupation. The dividing line was set at the 38th parallel. The USSR occupied the north and began reconstruction of the region as a Communist state. The USA occupied the south and began reconstruction of the region as a democratic state. In 1948 both South and North Korea were recognized as independent. Both claimed sovereignty over the region occupied by the other. )
1946 Churchill’s “Iron Curtain” Speech In 1946 former British Prime Minister Winston Churchill made a visit to the US. At Westminster College in Fulton, Missouri, Churchill delivered what has come to be known as the “Iron Curtain” speech. In a terse wake up call to Americans, he warned of Soviet intentions to isolate Eastern Europe behind an “iron curtain” of totalitarian repression and called upon the US and its allies to redirect their attention to the new threat of Soviet aggression.
Soviet rejection of the US-sponsored Baruch Plan for the international control of nuclear weapons. A UN proposal by the American diplomat Bernard Baruch called for the international control of nuclear weapons. The plan called for all other states to abandon efforts to develop nuclear weapons, international inspections, international cooperation in the development of atomic energy for peaceful purposes, and destruction of all existing nuclear bombs (the US at this time was the world’s only nuclear power). The US would end its nuclear monopoly once assured that all other states had abandoned nuclear weapons development. This last point was unacceptable to the USSR which would continue to work on developing an atomic bomb of its own.
1947 Truman Doctrine: Truman announced that the US will use its resources to prevent the spread of Communism. The US began providing financial and materiel assistance to the Greek government then fighting a Communist insurgency. US aid likewise was provided to Turkey which saw itself threatened by Soviet intentions to secure the Straits. The Truman Doctrine marked the beginning of the containment policy that would become the foundation of US foreign relations for the next 40 years.
Marshall Plan: US-sponsored European Economic Recovery Program, 1948 – 1952.
1948 Berlin Blockade and Airlift, 1948 - 1949
1949 Two Germanys: West Germany (Federal Republic of Germany) with its capital in Bonn
East Germany (German Democratic Republic) with its capital in East Berlin
(April) NATO The US, Canada, and ten European states join in forming the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, a mutually defensive military alliance to provide a deterrent to further Soviet ambitions in Europe
(Sept) The Soviet Union successfully tested an atomic bomb.
(Asia: Oct 1- The Communists were victorious in China after some 28 years of civil war. Mao Zedong proclaimed China to be the People’s Republic of China. The Nationalist government of Jiang Jieshi (Chiang K’ai-shek), in power since 1927), fled to Taiwan. The US refused to recognize the new Communist government.)
1950 (Asia: Communist North Korea invaded South Korea beginning the Korean War.)
1950 - 1953 (Asia: Korean War - UN forces led by US took the offensive against North Korea. In November 1950, China entered the war and pushed the UN forces south of the 38th parallel. A UN counteroffensive pushed the Communists back to the 38th parallel. The war then stalemated and became a war of attrition. Truce talks at Panmunjong began in 1951. Bitter fighting continued until a truce was arrived at in July 1953.
On the background of the Korean War the US expanded the containment policy in Asia to include American support for the French war against the Communist Viet Minh in Indochina.)
1953 Dwight D. Eisenhower, US President (to 1961); US foreign policy called for the “liberation” of Eastern Europe.
USSR: (March) Death of Stalin; Rise of Nikita Khrushchev (rule: 1953 – 1964); beginning of the new Soviet policy of peaceful coexistence with the West
(Middle East: In Iran a US and British-sponsored military coup overthrew the nationalist government of Premier Mohammed Mossadeqh and restored full powers to Shah Reza Pahlevi. Mossadeqh, in power since 1951, had begun actions to nationalize British and other Western, including American, oil companies in Iran. The coup was justified on the grounds that Mossadeqh was sympathetic to communism. In the years that followed, the Shah's regime became increasingly authoritarian, giving rise to political - mixed with religious undertones - opposition and its repression. At the same time, the Shah pursued policies strengthening ties with the US and the West enabling Iran to modernize its economy, education, and military. A strong and friendly Iran on the Soviet border was very much in US Cold War interest and advantage.)