Cold war causes timeline
Date Event Details Impact Who’s fault
28 Tehran Allies agree on plans for a
November to
Conference second front in 1944
1 December
1943 Agree moving morders of
Poland
Baltic states to have
referendums on joining
USSR
February Yalta Meeting between
4th – 11th Conference Churchill, Roosevelt and
1945 Stalin to decide what
would happen at the end
of the war. Topics
discussed included –
Partitioning of Germany
Fate of Poland
The United Nations
German reparations
May 8th V E Day Victory in Europe as
1945 Germany surrenders to
the Russian army.
July 17th – Potsdam The Potsdam Conference
August Conference formally divided Germany
2nd 1945 and Austria into four
zones. It was also agreed
that the German capital
Berlin would be divided
into four zones. The
Russian Polish border was
determined and Korea was
to be divided into Soviet
and American zones.
August 6th Hiroshima The United States dropped
1945 the first atomic bomb on
Hiroshima
August 8th Nagasaki The United States dropped
1945 the second atomic bomb
on Nagasaki.
August V J Day The Japanese surrendered
14th 1945 bringing World War Two to
an end.
September Vietnam Ho Chi Minh proclaimed
2nd 1945 Independence Vietnam an independent
republic.
March 5th Churchill’s Churchill delivers his
1946 Iron Curtain ‘Sinews of Peace’ speech
Speech which contain the famous
phrase “..an iron curtain
has descended on Europe”
March Truman President Truman
12th 1947 Doctrine promised to help any
country facing a
Communist takeover
June 5th Marshall Plan This was a programme of
1947 economic aid offered by
the United States to any
European country. The
plan was rejected outright
by Stalin and any Eastern
Bloc country considering
accepting aid was
reprimanded severely.
Consequently the aid was
only given to Western
European Countries.
September Cominform The USSR set up
1947 Cominform (Communist
Information Bureau) which
was the Information
Bureau of the Communist
and Workers’ Parties
responsible for the
creation of the Eastern
bloc.
By 1948 Complete *See separate timeline
Soviet below
takeover of
Eastern
Europe
June 1948 Formation of The French, USA and UK
West partitions of Germany
Germany were merged to form West
Germany
June 24th Berlin Russia’s response to the
1948 Blockade merger of the French, USA
and UK partitions of Berlin
was to cut all road and rail
links to that sector. This
meant that those living in
Western Berlin had no
access to food supplies
and faced starvation. Food
was brought to Western
Berliners by US and UK
airplanes, an exercise
known as the Berlin Airlift.
May 1949 End of Berlin Russia ended the blockade
Blockade of Berlin.
April 4th NATO formed The North Atlantic Treaty
1949 Organisation formed with
member states Belgium,
Canada, Denmark, France,
Iceland, Italy, Luxembourg,
the Netherlands, Norway,
Portugal, the United
Kingdom, and the United
States
*Timeline of Soviet takeover of Eastern Europe
Albania 1945 A communist government took power at the end of World War Two.
Bulgaria 1946 In 1946 the Bulgarian monarchy was abolished and later that year a communist government was elected and gradually eradicated its opponents.
East Germany 1945 East Germany was part of the Soviet zone of occupation agreed at the Yalta Conference and in 1945 the Soviets set up a communist regime.
Romania 1945 In the 1945 elections, a communist-led coalition (made up of more than one political party) government was elected. The Communists gradually
removed their coalition partners and abolished the Romanian monarchy.
Poland 1947 Fearing that a non-communist government would be elected in 1947, Stalin invited 16 non-communist politicians to Moscow, where they were arrested.
With their political opponents removed, the Polish communists won the election.
Hungary 1948 Although non-communists won the 1945 election, a communist politician, Rakosi, took control of the secret police and used it to arrest and execute
his political opponents. By 1948 the Communist Party was in complete control of the country.
Czechoslovakia 1948 Czechoslovakia was the last country in Eastern Europe to fully fall to communism in 1948. At elections that year only communists were allowed to
stand and a communist government was duly elected.
