Transcript With the defeat of Nazi Germany imminent, the Big Three

1945 -- Yalta With the defeat of Nazi Germany
imminent, the Big Three Allies meet in the Crimean
resort town of Yalta from February 4-11. Roosevelt,
Churchill and Stalin agree to jointly govern postwar
Germany, while Stalin pledges fair and open elections in
Poland.
1946 -- Iron Curtain
On March 5, at
Westminster
College in Fulton,
Missouri, Winston
Churchill declares,
"From Stettin in the
Baltic to Trieste in
the Adriatic, an Iron
Curtain has
descended across
the continent."
1947 -- Truman Doctrine On
March 12, President Truman
requests $400 million in aid from
Congress to combat communism
in Greece and Turkey. The
Truman Doctrine pledges to
provide American economic and
military assistance to any nation
threatened by communism.
1947 -- Marshall Plan On June
5, U.S. Secretary of State
George Marshall proposes a
massive aid program to rebuild
Europe from the ravages of
World War II. Nearly $13 billion in
U.S. aid was sent to Europe from
1948 to 1952. The Soviet Union
and communist Eastern Europe
decline U.S. aid, citing "dollar
enslavement."
1948 -- Berlin airlift On June 24, the Soviet Union
makes a bid for control of Berlin by blockading all land
access to the city. From June 1948 to May 1949, U.S.
and British planes airlift 1.5 million tons of supplies to
the residents of West Berlin. After 200,000 flights, the
Soviet Union lifts the blockade.
1949 -- China In June,
Chinese communists
declare victory over
Chiang Kai-shek's
Nationalist forces, which
later flee to Taiwan. On
October 1, Mao Tse-tung
proclaims the People's
Republic of China. Two
months later, Mao travels
to Moscow, where he
negotiates the SinoSoviet Treaty of
Friendship, Alliance and
Mutual Assistance.
1950 -- Korean War On
June 25, North Korean
communist forces cross
the 38th parallel and
invade South Korea. On
June 27, Truman orders
U.S. forces to assist the
South Koreans while the
U.N. Security Council
condemns the invasion
and establishes a 15nation fighting force.
Chinese troops enter the
conflict by year's end.
1951 -- Rosenberg Spy
Case On March 29,
Julius and Ethel
Rosenberg are
convicted of selling U.S.
atomic secrets to the
Soviet Union. The
Rosenbergs are sent to
the electric chair in
1953, despite outrage
from liberals who
portray them as victims
of an anti-communist
witch hunt.
1952 -- Hydrogen bomb On November 1, the United
States explodes the first hydrogen bomb at a test site in
the Marshall Islands. Less than a year later, the Soviets
announce their first test of a hydrogen bomb.
1953 -- Stalin dies;
Korean War ends
Soviet leader Joseph
Stalin dies of a stroke on
March 5. On July 27, an
armistice is signed
ending the Korean War,
with the border between
North and South roughly
the same as it had been
in 1950. The willingness
of China and North Korea
to end the fighting was in
part attributed to Stalin's
death.
1954 -- Dien Bien Phu
After a long siege,
Vietnamese communists
under Ho Chi Minh defeat
French colonial forces at
Dien Bien Phu on May 7.
In July, the Geneva
Accords divide the country
at the 17th parallel,
creating a North and
South Vietnam. The
United States assumes
the chief responsibility of
providing anti-communist
aid to South Vietnam.
1955 -- Massive Retaliation
On January 12, U.S.
Secretary of State John Foster
Dulles first announces the
doctrine of Massive
Retaliation. It threatens fullscale nuclear attack on the
Soviet Union in response to
communist aggression
anywhere in the world.
1956 -- Khrushchev's 'secret speech'
In a speech before Communist Party
members on February 14, Soviet leader
Nikita Khrushchev denounces the
policies of Stalin. Khrushchev rejects the
Leninist idea of the inevitability of war
and calls for a doctrine of "peaceful
coexistence" between capitalist and
communist systems.
1957 -- Sputnik On
October 4, the Soviet
Union launches Sputnik,
the first man-made
satellite to orbit the Earth.
In 1958, the U.S. creates
the National Aeronautics
and Space Administration,
and the space race is in
full gear.
1959 -- Castro takes power On January 1, leftist
forces under Fidel Castro overthrow the government of
Fulgencio Batista in Cuba. Castro soon nationalizes the
sugar industry and signs trade agreements with the
Soviet Union. The next year, his government seizes
U.S. assets on the island.
1960 -- The U-2 Affair On May 1, an American high-altitude U-2
spy plane is shot down on a mission over the Soviet Union. After
the Soviets announce the capture of pilot Francis Gary Powers,
the United States recants earlier assertions that the plane was
on a weather research mission.
New kind of
President
• Foreign Policy top
priority
– World situation
• Flexible Response
• Crisis over Berlin
• Southeast Asia
– Diem vs. Ho Chi Minh
• Cabinet
– Best and brightest
• New Frontier
• Peace Corps
1961 -- Bay of Pigs An U.S.-organized invasion force
of 1,400 Cuban exiles is defeated by Castro's
government forces on Cuba's south coast at the Bay of
Pigs. Launched from Guatemala in ships and planes
provided by the United States, the invaders surrender
on April 20 after three days of fighting. Kennedy takes
full responsibility for the disaster.
1961 -- Berlin Wall The United States rejects
proposals by Khrushchev to make Berlin a "free city"
with access controlled by East Germany. On August 15,
communist authorities begin construction on the Berlin
Wall to prevent East Germans from fleeing to West
Berlin.
1962 -- Cuban Missile Crisis After the
failed Bays of Pigs invasion, the Soviet
Union installs nuclear missiles in Cuba
capable of reaching most of the continental
United States. After U-2 flights confirm their
existence, Kennedy orders a naval
blockade of Cuba on October 22 until the
Soviet Union removes its missiles. On
October 28, the Soviets agree to remove
the missiles, defusing one of the most
dangerous confrontations of the Cold War.
1963 -- Hot line The United
States and Soviet Union agree
on June 20 to install a hot line
allowing the leaders of both
countries to directly communicate
during a crisis. Kennedy and
Khrushchev were often forced to
communicate through public
broadcasts during the Cuban
Missile Crisis.
1964 -- Gulf of Tonkin Resolution North Vietnamese
patrol boats fired on the USS Mattox in the Gulf of
Tonkin on August 2. On August 7, the U.S. Congress
approves the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, granting
President Johnson authority to send U.S. troops to
South Vietnam.
1967 -- Six Day War On
June 5, Israel launches an
attack that becomes known
as the Six Day War, seizing
the Sinai and Gaza Strip
from Egypt, the West Bank
and East Jerusalem from
Jordan and the Golan
Heights from Syria. The
Soviet Union accuses the
United States of
encouraging Israeli
aggression.
1968 -- Tet Offensive Viet Cong guerrillas and North
Vietnamese Army troops launch attacks across South
Vietnam on January 30, the start of the lunar new year
Tet. In Saigon, guerrillas battle Marines at the U.S.
Embassy. In March, Johnson orders a halt to the U.S.
bombing of North Vietnam and offers peace talks.
http://www.nam-vet.net/photocangedwar.html
1969 -- Vietnamization On June 8, U.S. President
Richard Nixon announces his "Vietnamization" plan,
designed to withdraw U.S ground forces from Vietnam
and turn control of the war over to South Vietnamese
forces.
1969 -- SALT On November 17,
the first phase of Strategic Arms
Limitation Talks begins in
Helsinki, Finland. The finished
agreement, signed by Nixon and
Brezhnev in Moscow on May 26,
1972, places limits on both
submarine-launched and
intercontinental nuclear missiles.
1972 -- Nixon visits China Nixon becomes the first
U.S. president to visit China, meeting with Mao Tse-tung
on February 21. The two countries issue a communique
recognizing their "essential differences" while making it
clear that "normalization of relations" was in all nations'
best interests. The rapprochement changes the balance
of power with the Soviets.
1973 -- Vietnam War agreement On January 27, 1973, the
United States, South Vietnam, North Vietnam and the Viet Cong
sign the Paris Peace Treaty, establishing a cease-fire and a 60day window for the withdrawal of all U.S. troops. The United
States is allowed to continue providing aid to South Vietnam.
Saigon falls in April 1975.
1975 -- Cambodia The communist Khmer Rouge takes power
in Cambodia on April 16. Cambodia's educated and urban
population is forced into the countryside as part of a state
experiment in agrarian communism. Under the regime of Pol
Pot, as many as 3 million Cambodians die from 1975 to 1979.
1979 -- Afghanistan On December 25, 100,000 Soviet
troops invade Afghanistan as communist Babrak Karmal
seizes control of the government. U.S.-backed Muslim
guerrilla fighters wage a costly war against the Soviets
for nearly a decade before Soviet troops withdraw in
1988.
1983 -- Star Wars On March 23, Reagan outlines his
Strategic Defense Initiative, or "Star Wars," a spacebased defensive shield that would use lasers and other
advanced technology to destroy attacking missiles far
above the Earth's surface. Soviets accuse the U.S of
violating the 1972 Antiballistic Missile Treaty.
1985 -- Gorbachev comes to power On March 11, Gorbachev
comes to power in the Soviet Union, ushering in an era of
economic reforms under perestroika and greater political
freedoms under glasnost.
1987 -- INF On December 8, Reagan and Gorbachev sign the
Intermediate Range Nuclear Forces Treaty in Washington. It
mandates the removal of more than 2,600 medium-range nuclear
missiles from Europe, eliminating the entire class of Soviet SS-20
and U.S. Cruise and Pershing II missiles.
1989 -- Berlin Wall falls Gorbachev renounces the
Brezhnev Doctrine, which pledged to use Soviet force to
protect its interests in Eastern Europe. On September
10, Hungary opens its border with Austria, allowing East
Germans to flee to the West. After massive public
demonstrations in East Germany and Eastern Europe,
the Berlin Wall falls on November 9.
1990 -- German unification At a September 12
meeting in Moscow, the United States, Soviet Union,
Great Britain, France and the two Germanys agree to
end Allied occupation rights in Germany. On October 3,
East and West Germany unite as the Federal Republic
of Germany.
1991 -- Soviet Union
collapses While vacationing
in the Crimea, Gorbachev is
ousted in a coup by
Communist hard-liners on
August 19. The coup soon
falters as citizens take to the
streets of Moscow and other
cities in support of Russian
President Boris Yeltsin, who
denounced the coup. Military
units abandon the hard-liners,
and Gorbachev is released
from house arrest. He officially
resigns on December 25 as
the Soviet Union is dissolved.
1991 Operation Desert Storm
In August of 1990, the country of
Iraq under dictator Saddam
Hussein invades the small
country Kuwait in order to help
pay for debts incurred during their
war with Iran. In January of ’91,
President G.H.W. Bush along with
the United Nations attack Iraq and
clear them from Kuwait. The
United States makes a
controversial decision and does
not overthrow Hussein’s regime.
Instead the U.S. will keep a
presence in the middle East and
enforce no fly zones over the
northern and southern parts of the
Iraq
No Fly Zones 1991-2008
Terrorism on Americans
1991-2008
World Trade Center Bombing, February 26, 1993: The
World Trade Center in New York City was badly damaged
when a car bomb planted by Islamic terrorists exploded in an
underground garage. The bomb left 6 people dead and 1,000
injured. The men carrying out the attack were followers of
Umar Abd al-Rahman, an Egyptian cleric who preached in
the New York City area.
Bombing of the Federal Building in Oklahoma City, April 19,
1995: Right-wing extremists Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols
destroyed the Federal Building in Oklahoma City with a massive
truck bomb that killed 166 and injured hundreds more in what was
up to then the largest terrorist attack on American soil.
U.S. Embassy Bombings in East Africa, August 7, 1998: A
bomb exploded at the rear entrance of the U.S. Embassy in
Nairobi, Kenya, killing 12 U.S. citizens, 32 Foreign Service
Nationals (FSNs), and 247 Kenyan citizens. Approximately
5,000 Kenyans, 6 U.S. citizens, and 13 FSNs were injured. The
U.S. Embassy building sustained extensive structural damage.
Almost simultaneously, a bomb detonated outside the U.S.
Embassy in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, killing 7 FSNs and 3
Tanzanian citizens, and injuring 1 U.S. citizen and 76
Tanzanians. The explosion caused major structural damage to
the U.S. Embassy facility. The U.S. Government held Usama
Bin Laden responsible.
Kenya
Tanzania
Attack on U.S.S. Cole, October 12, 2000: In
Aden, Yemen, a small dingy carrying explosives
rammed the destroyer U.S.S. Cole, killing 17 sailors
and injuring 39 others. Supporters of Usama Bin
Laden were suspected.
Terrorist Attacks on U.S. Homeland, September 11,
2001: Two hijacked airliners crashed into the twin
towers of the World Trade Center. Soon thereafter, the
Pentagon was struck by a third hijacked plane. A fourth
hijacked plane, suspected to be bound for a highprofile target in Washington, crashed into a field in
southern Pennsylvania. The attacks killed 3,025 U.S.
citizens and other nationals. President Bush and
Cabinet officials indicated that Usama Bin Laden was
the prime suspect and that they considered the United
States in a state of war with international terrorism. In
the aftermath of the attacks, the United States formed
the Global Coalition Against Terrorism.