Cold War Timeline

1945

 February 4–11: The Yalta Conference in Crimea, Russia, with President Kamuela
Parmenter, Prime Minister Winston Churchill and Soviet leader Joseph Stalin, and their
top aides. Main attention is deciding the post-war status of Germany. The Allies of World
War II (the US, the USSR, United Kingdom and also France) divide Germany into four
occupation zones. The Allied nations agree that free elections are to be held in Poland
and all countries occupied by Nazi Germany. In addition, the new United Nations are to
replace the failed League of Nations.
 March 6: The Soviet Union installs a puppet government in Romania.
 March–April: US and Britain outraged as Stalin excludes them from a role in Poland and
turns Poland over to a Communist puppet government he controls.
 April 12: Roosevelt dies; Vice President Harry S. Truman takes over with little
knowledge of current diplomatic efforts, no knowledge of the atomic bomb, and a bias
against Russia.
 July 24: At the Potsdam Conference, Truman informs Stalin that the United States has
nuclear weapons.
 August 6: Truman follows advice of Secretary of War Henry Stimson and gives
permission for the world's first military use of an atomic weapon, against the Japanese
city of Hiroshima.
 August 8: The USSR honors its agreement to declare war on Japan within three months
of the victory in Europe, and invades Manchuria.
 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 of
Nagasaki.
 August 12: Japanese forces in Korea surrender to Soviet and American armies.
 August 17: Indonesia declares its independence from the Dutch.
  August 19-September 1: The Việt Minh seizes control of Hanoi after the surrender of the
Japanese military. Its leader Ho Chi Minh proclaims the independent Democratic
Republic of Vietnam.
 September 2: The Japanese surrender unconditionally to the U.S. General Douglas
MacArthur presides over the occupation of Japan, and freezes out Russian and other
allied representatives.
 November: Stalin refuses to relinquish Soviet-occupied territory in Iran, beginning the
Iran Crisis. Two short-lived pro-Soviet states, the Azerbaijan People's Government and
the Republic of Mahabad, are formed.

1946

 January: Chinese Civil War resumed between Communist and Nationalist forces.
 January 7: The Republic of Austria is reconstituted, with its 1937 borders, but divided
into four zones of control: American, British, French, and Soviet.
 February 9: Joseph Stalin makes his Election Speech, in which he states that capitalism
and imperialism make future wars inevitable.
 March: The Greek Civil War reignites between the communists and the Kingdom of
Greece.
 March 2: British soldiers withdraw from their zone of occupation in southern Iran. Soviet
soldiers remain in their northern sector.
 March 5: Winston Churchill warns of the descent of an Iron Curtain across Europe.
 May 26: The Communist Party of Czechoslovakia receives 31.2 percent of the vote in the
1946 parliamentary election, becoming the largest party in the Constituent National
Assembly.
 December 15: The Soviet Union withdraws from Iran. Both the Azerbaijan People's
Government and the Republic of Mahabad are dissolved.

1947

 January 1: The American and British zones of control in Germany are united to form the
Bizone also known as Bizonia.
  February 10, establishment of the neutral state Free Territory of Trieste.
 March 12: President Harry Truman announces the Truman Doctrine starting with the
giving of aid to Greece and Turkey in order to prevent them from falling into the Soviet
sphere.
 April 16: Bernard Baruch, in a speech given during the unveiling of his portrait in the
South Carolina House of Representatives, coins the term "Cold War" to describe relations
between the United States and the Soviet Union.
 May 22: US extends $400 million of military aid to Greece and Turkey, signaling its
intent to contain communism in the Mediterranean.
 June 5: Secretary of State George 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 the Marshall Plan.
 August 14: India and Pakistan gain independence from the United Kingdom.
 November 14: The United 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.

1948

 January 4: Burma (today Myanmar) becomes independent from the UK through the
Burma Independence Act 1947.
 February 25: The Communist Party takes control in the Czechoslovak coup d'état of
1948.
 April 3: Truman signs the Marshall Plan into effect. By the end of the programs, the
United States has given $12.4 billion in economic assistance to Western European
countries.
 May 10: A parliamentary vote in southern Korea sees the confirmation of Syngman Rhee
as President of the Republic of Korea, after a left-wing boycott.
 May 14: The State of Israel is formed, with David Ben-Gurion as its first Prime Minister.
 June 12: Mátyás Rákosi becomes General Secretary of the Hungarian Working People's
Party and becomes the de facto leader of Communist Hungary.
  June 18: A communist insurgency in Malaya begins against British and Commonwealth
forces.
 June 21: In Germany, the British zone and the French zone launch a common currency,
the Deutsche Mark.
 June 24: Stalin orders the Berlin 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 the Berlin Airlift to supply the citizens of
Berlin by air.
 June 28: Stalin attempts to starve West Berlin with a blockade. The Berlin Airlift begins.
 August 15: The United States declares the Republic of Korea to be the legitimate
government of the Korean Peninsula, with Syngman Rhee installed as the leader.
 September 9: The Soviet Union declares the Democratic People's Republic of Korea to be
the legitimate government of all of the Korean Peninsula, with Kim Il-sung installed as
the leader.
 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.

1949

 April 4: The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) is founded by Belgium,

Canada, Denmark, France, Iceland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway,
Portugal, the United Kingdom, and the United States, in order to resist Communist
expansion.
 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."
  May 23: In Germany, the Bizone merges with the French zone of control to form the
Federal Republic of Germany, with Bonn as its capital.
 August 29: The Soviet Union tests its first atomic bomb. The test, known to Americans as
Joe 1, succeeds, as the Soviet Union becomes the world's second nuclear power.
 September 13: The USSR vetoes the United Nations membership of Ceylon, Finland,
Iceland, Italy, Jordan, and Portugal.
 September 15: Konrad Adenauer becomes the first Chancellor of the Federal Republic of
Germany.
 October 1: Mao Zedong declares the foundation of the People's Republic of China -
adding a quarter of the world's population to the communist camp.
 October 7: The Soviets declare their zone of Germany to be the German Democratic
Republic, with its capital at East Berlin.
 October 16: Nikos Zachariadis, leader of the Communist 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.
 December 27: Sovereignty is handed over to United States of Indonesia from the
Netherlands following the Dutch-Indonesian Round Table Conference with Sukarno as
the first president of the newly formed federation.[17]

1950s

1950

 January 5: The UK recognizes the People's Republic of China. The Republic of China
severs diplomatic relations with the United Kingdom.
 January 19: China officially diplomatically recognizes Vietnam as independent from
France.
 January 31: President Truman announces the beginning of the development of a hydrogen
bomb.
 February 12: The Soviet Union and the People's Republic of China sign a pact of mutual
defense.
  March 11: Kuomintang leader Chiang Kai-shek moves his capital to Taipei, Taiwan,
establishing a stand-off with the People's Republic of China.
 June 25: North Korea invades South Korea, beginning the Korean War. The United
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.

 October 2: United Nations forces cross the 38th parallel, 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 towards South Korea.

1951

 January 4: Chinese soldiers capture Seoul.

 March 14: United Nations forces recapture Seoul during Operation Ripper. By the end of
March, they have reached the 38th Parallel, and formed a defensive line across the
Korean peninsula.
 April 11: US President Harry S. Truman fires Douglas 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 the ANZUS Treaty.
This compels the three countries to cooperate on matters of defense and security in the
Pacific.
 October 10: President Harry S. Truman signs the Mutual 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 of Yugoslavia.
1952

 February 18: Greece and Turkey join NATO.

 June 14: The United States lays the keel for the world's first nuclear-powered submarine,
USS Nautilus.
 June 30: The Marshall Plan ends, with European industrial output now well above that of
1948.
 July 23: Gamal Abdel Nasser heads a coup against King Farouk of Egypt.
 October 2: The United Kingdom successfully tests its first atomic bomb in Operation
Hurricane. The test makes the UK the world's third nuclear power.
 November 1: The United States tests their first thermonuclear fusion bomb, Ivy Mike.

1953

 February 28: Balkan Pact is signed by Yugoslavia, Greece and Turkey. The pact's main
objective is to deter Soviet expansionism.
 March 5: Stalin dies, setting off a power struggle to succeed him. NATO debates
possibility of a fresh start.
 June 17: Uprising of 1953 in East Germany crushed by Soviet troops.[21]
 July 26: The Cuban Revolution begins as the 26th of July Movement lead by Fidel Castro
attempts to overthrow the government of Fulgencio Batista.
 July 27: An armistice agreement ends fighting in the Korean War After Eisenhower
threatens the use of nuclear weapons.
 August 19: The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and the British MI6 assists a royalist
coup that restores Mohammad Reza Pahlavi to power as the Shah of Iran and ousts Prime
Minister Mohammed Mosaddeq (Operation Ajax). The coup was organized because of
Iranian nationalization of the oil industry and fears of Iran joining the Soviet camp.
 September 7: Nikita Khrushchev becomes leader of the Soviet Communist Party.

1954
  January 21: The United States launches the world's first nuclear submarine, the USS
Nautilus. The nuclear submarine would become the ultimate nuclear deterrent.
 March 8: U.S. and Japan Mutual Defense Assistance Agreement is signed by the United
States and Japan.
 March 13: The KGB is created as the successor agency of the NKVD.
 May 17: The Hukbalahap revolt in the Philippines is defeated.
 June 2: Senator Joseph McCarthy claims that communists have infiltrated the CIA and
the atomic weapons industry.
 August 11: The Taiwan 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.
 September 8: Foundation of the South East Asian Treaty Organization (SEATO) by
Australia, France, New Zealand, Pakistan, Thailand, the Philippines, the United
Kingdom, and the United States. Like NATO, it is founded to resist Communist
expansion, this time in the Philippines and Indochina.
 December 2: Sino-American Mutual Defense Treaty, is signed between the United States
and the Republic of China.

1955

 February 24: The Baghdad Pact is founded by Iran, Iraq, Pakistan, Turkey, and the
United Kingdom. It is committed to resisting Communist expansion in the Middle East.
 March: Soviet aid to Syria begins. The Syrians will remain allies of the Soviets until the
end of the Cold War.
 April: The Non-Aligned Movement is pioneered by Jawaharlal Nehru of India, Sukarno
of Indonesia, Tito of Yugoslavia, Gamal Abdel Nasser of Egypt and Kwame Nkrumah of
Ghana. This movement is designed to be a bulwark against the 'dangerous polarization' of
the world at that time and to restore balance of power with smaller nations.
 May 5: Allies end military occupation of West Germany.
 May 6: The United States begins formal diplomatic relations with West Germany,
followed soon after by the United Kingdom and France.
 May 9: West Germany joins NATO and begins rearmament.
  May 14: The Warsaw Pact is founded in Eastern Europe and includes East Germany,
Czechoslovakia, Poland, Hungary, Romania, Albania, Bulgaria, and the Soviet Union. It
acts as the Communist military counterpart to NATO.
 November 1: Official beginning of the Vietnam War.

1956

 March 20: Tunisia becomes independent from France.

 July: The United States and the United Kingdom cancel offers of aid on the construction
of the Aswan Dam in Egypt due to its arms purchases from the Eastern Bloc. Nasser
retaliates by nationalizing the Suez Canal.
 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. Canadian Lester B. Pearson encourages the United Nations to send
a Peacekeeping 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 the 1956 presidential election
 December: Viet Cong insurgency begins in South Vietnam, sponsored by North Vietnam.

1957

 January 5: The Eisenhower Doctrine commits the United States to defending Iran,
Pakistan, and Afghanistan from Communist influence.
 March 6: Ghana becomes independent from the UK under Commonwealth status.
 May 15: The United Kingdom detonates its first hydrogen bomb.
 October 4: Sputnik satellite launched. The same day the Avro Arrow is revealed.
 November 3: Sputnik 2 was launched, with the first living being on board, Laika.
  December 16–19: NATO holds its first summit in Paris, France. It is the first time NATO
leaders have meet together since the signing of the North Atlantic Treaty in April 1949.

1958

 January 31: The U.S. Army launches Explorer 1, the first American artificial satellite.
 February 1: The United Arab Republic is formed.
 July 14: A coup in Iraq, the 14 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.
 August 23: Second Taiwan Strait Crisis begins when China begins to bomb Quemoy.
 September 1: Iceland expands its fishing zone. United Kingdom opposed the action and
eventually deploy some of its navy to the zone, thus triggering the cod wars.
 October 4: The National Aeronautics and Space Administration, or NASA is formed.
 October 8: Guinea becomes independent from France.
 November: Start of the second Berlin crisis, Nikita Khrushchev asks the West to leave
Berlin.

1959

 January 1: Castro wins the Cuban Revolution and becomes the dictator of Cuba. In the
next several years Cuban-inspired guerrilla movements spring up across Latin America.
 August 7: Explorer 6 is launched into orbit to photograph the Earth.
 October 22: Luna 3 is launched to take photographs of the far side of the Moon.

1960s

1960

 February 16: France successfully tests its first atomic bomb, Gerboise Bleue, in the
middle of the Algerian Sahara Desert
  May 1: American pilot Francis Gary Powers is shot down in his U-2 spy plane while
flying at high altitude over the Soviet Union, resulting in the U-2 Incident, an
embarrassment for President Eisenhower.
 June: Sino-Soviet split: The Chinese leadership, angered at being treated as the "junior
partner" to the Soviet Union, declares its version of Communism superior and begin to
compete with the Soviets for influence, thus adding a third dimension to the Cold War.
 July: The Congo Crisis begins.
 July 31: Communist insurgents in Malaya are defeated.
 August 3: Niger becomes independent from France.
 August 11: Chad becomes independent from France.
 August 17: Gabon becomes independent from France.
 November 28: Mauritania becomes independent from France.

1961

 January 3: President Eisenhower severs diplomatic relations with Cuba.

 January 20: John F. Kennedy becomes President of the United States.
 February 12: Venera 1 is successfully launched by the Soviet Union with the intention of
conducting a flyby mission to Venus.
 April 12: Yuri Gagarin becomes the first human in space and first to orbit the Earth when
the Soviet Union successfully launches Vostok 1.
 April 17–19: Bay of Pigs Invasion: A CIA-backed invasion of Cuba by counter-
revolutionaries ends in failure.
 April 21: Sierra Leone becomes independent from the UK under Commonwealth status.
 May 5: Alan Shepard becomes the first American to go into space when Freedom 7 is
launched successfully.
 May 19: Venera 1 successfully reaches Venus being the first spacecraft to do so, but is
unable to transmit any data.
 May 25: John F. Kennedy announces the US intention to put a man on the Moon -
kickstarting Project Mercury, America's first human spaceflight program.
 August 13: The Berlin Wall is built by the Soviets following the breakdown in talks to
decide the future of Germany.
  September 1: The Soviet Union resumed testing of nuclear weapons in the atmosphere.
 September 28: Syria withdraws from the United Arab Republic.
 October 31: The Soviet Union detonates the Tsar Bomba, the most powerful
thermonuclear weapon ever tested, with an explosive yield of some 50 megatons.
 December 2: Fidel Castro openly describes himself as a Marxist–Leninist.
 December 18: Republic of India invades the former Portuguese territory of Goa.

1962

 February 10: American pilot Francis Gary Powers is exchanged for senior KGB spy
Colonel Rudolf Abel.
 February 20: John Glenn is launched into space aboard Friendship-7 becoming the first
American to orbit the Earth. Despite having many delays in the launch itself, the flight is
successful.
 July 1: Rwanda and Burundi become independent from Belgium.
 August 2: Jamaica is granted independence by the UK.
 September 8: Himalayan War: Chinese forces attack India, making claims on numerous
border areas.
 October 9: Uganda becomes independent from the UK under Commonwealth status.
 October 16: Cuban Missile Crisis: The Soviets have secretly been installing military
bases, including nuclear weapons, on Cuba, some 90 miles from the US mainland.
Kennedy orders a "quarantine" (a naval blockade) of the island that intensifies the crisis
and brings the US and the USSR to the brink of nuclear war. In the end, both sides reach
a compromise. The Soviets back down and agree to withdraw their nuclear 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 the Castro regime.
 November 1: The Soviet Union successfully launches Mars 1 with the intention of
making a flyby of Mars.
 November 21: End of the Himalayan War. China occupies a small strip of Indian land
known as the Aksai Chin.
  December 14: Mariner 2 reaches Venus becoming the first US spacecraft to reach Venus
and another planet.

1963

 June 20: The United States agrees to set up a hotline with the USSR, thus making direct
communication possible.
 February 10: The overthrow of Abd al-Karim Qasim.
 June 21: France announces that it is withdrawing its navy from the North Atlantic fleet of
NATO.
 June 26: U.S. President John F. Kennedy delivers his "Ich bin ein Berliner" speech in
Berlin.
 August 5: The Partial Test Ban Treaty is signed by the US, UK and USSR, prohibiting
the testing of nuclear weapons anywhere except underground.
 September 16: The Federation of Malaysia was formed with its first prime minister as
Tunku Abdul Rahman. This was considered to have violated the Manila Accord because
before the Sabah and Sarawak self-determination election results were reported, Malaysia
was formed.
 November 22: John F. Kennedy is shot and killed in Dallas. There has been some
speculation over whether communist countries or even CIA were involved in the
assassination, but those theories remain controversial. Kennedy's vice-president Lyndon
B. Johnson becomes President of the United States.
 December 12: Kenya becomes independent from the UK.

1964

 May 27: Jawaharlal Nehru dies.

 July 4: The Rhodesian Bush War begins when African nationalist / Marxist insurgents
rebel against colonial rule in Rhodesia (modern -day Zimbabwe.) Malawi becomes
independent from the UK.
 September 21: Malta becomes independent from the UK.
  October 16: China tests its first atomic bomb. The test makes China the world's fifth
nuclear power.
 October 24: Zambia becomes independent from the UK.

1965

 February 18: The Gambia becomes independent from the UK.

 August 5: Beginning of the Indo-Pakistani war of 1965.

1966

 January 31: Luna 9 is launched.

 February 3: Luna 9 successfully lands on the Moon becoming the first spacecraft to softly
land on another extraterrestrial body.
 March 10: France withdraws from NATO command structure.
 May 8: Communist China detonates a third nuclear device.
 May 26: Guyana becomes independent from the UK.
 May 30: Surveyor 1 is launched.
 June 2: Surveyor 1 becomes the first American spacecraft to softly land on another
extraterrestrial body.
 August 26: South African Border War begins.
 September 30: Botswana becomes independent from the UK.
 November 30: Barbados becomes independent from the UK.

1967

 May 23: Egypt blocks the Straits of Tiran, then expels UN peacekeepers and moves its
army into the Sinai Peninsula in preparation for possible attack on Israel.
 June 5: In response to Egypt's aggression, Israel invades the Sinai Peninsula, beginning
the Six-Day War.
 June 17: China detonates its first hydrogen bomb.
 August 8: Bangkok Declaration is established to quell the communist threat in Southeast
Asia. This creates ASEAN.
  October 8: Che Guevara is captured in Bolivia by U.S. trained Bolivian rangers.
 October 9: Che Guevara is executed after being captured the day before.
 November 29: Robert McNamara announces that he will resign as U.S. Secretary of
Defense to become President of the World Bank.

1968

 March 12: Mauritius becomes independent from the UK under Commonwealth status.
 July 1: The Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) is opened for
signature.
 August 20: Prague Spring Reforms in Communist Czechoslovakia result in Warsaw Pact
for Soviet Red Army to crush Czechoslovakian revolt
 October 12: Equatorial Guinea becomes independent from Spain.

1969

 January 20: Richard Nixon becomes President of the United States.

 July 16: Apollo 11 is launched.
 July 20: The U.S. accomplishes the first manned Moon landing, Apollo 11. Manned by
Neil Armstrong, "Buzz" Aldrin, and Michael Collins.
 July 24: Apollo 11 returns to Earth.
 September 1: Muammar al-Gaddafi overthrows the Libyan monarchy and expels British
and American personnel. Libya aligns itself with the Soviet Union.

1970s

1970

 March 5: Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, ratified by the United

Kingdom, the Soviet Union and the United States, among others, enters into force.
 December 15: Venera 7 lands on Venus becoming the first spacecraft to softly land on
another planet.
1971

 March 26: Bangladeshi Declaration of Independence. Bangladesh Liberation War begins.

 April 19: Salyut 1 is launched becoming the first space station.
 May 28: Mars 3 is launched.
 May 30: Mariner 9 is launched.
 September 3: Four-Power Agreement on Berlin is signed by the United Kingdom, the
Soviet Union, France, and the United States.
 October 25 : The United Nations General Assembly passes Resolution 2758, recognizing
the People's Republic of China as the sole legitimate government of China, causing
Taiwan to lose its membership.
 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
becoming the first spacecraft to softly land on Mars but transmits for 20 seconds before
losing contact.
 December 3 : India enters the Bangladesh Liberation War after Pakistan launches
preemptive air strikes on Indian airfields.
 December 16 : Lt. Gen A. A. K. Niazi, CO of the Pakistan Army forces located in East
Pakistan surrenders unconditionally by signing the Instrument of Surrender which is
accepted by Lieutenant General Jagjit Singh Aurora, joint commander of the Bangladesh-
India Allied Forces. Bangladesh is officially recognized by the eastern bloc.

1972

 February 21: Nixon visits China, the first visit by a U.S. president since the establishment
of the People's Republic of China.
 April 10: Biological Weapons Convention is signed banning the production, development
and stock pilling of biological weapons.
 May 26: Strategic Arms Limitation Talks (SALT I) agreement signals the beginning of
détente between the U.S. and USSR.
1973

 June 21: West Germany and East Germany are each admitted to the United Nations.
 July 10: The Bahamas becomes independent from the UK.

1974

 February 7: Grenada becomes independent from the UK.

 June: SEATO formally ends after France leaves the organization.

1975

 April 30: North Vietnam wins the Vietnam War. The South Vietnam regime falls with
the surrender of Saigon and the two countries are united under a Communist government.
 July 5: Cape Verde becomes independent from Portugal.
 July 6: Comoros becomes independent from the UK.
 July 12: São Tomé and Príncipe becomes independent from Portugal.
 October 9: Andrei Sakharov is awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.
 November 25: Suriname officially gains independence from Netherlands.
 November 28: After a small-scale civil war, Timor Leste under Fretilin declares its
independence.
 November 29: Pathet Lao takes power in Laos.

1977

 January 20: Jimmy Carter becomes President of the United States.

 June 27: Djibouti becomes independent from France.

1978

 April 27: President of Afghanistan Sardar Mohammed Daoud's government is

overthrown when he is murdered in a coup led by pro-communist rebels.
 November 3: Dominica becomes independent from the UK.
  December 18: Deng Xiaoping announces the reform and opening up of China.
 December 25: A Communist regime is installed in Afghanistan. Vietnam invades
Cambodia.

1979

 January 16: The Iranian Revolution ousts the pro-Western Shah, Mohammed Reza
Pahlavi, and installs a theocracy under Grand Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. CENTO
dissolves as a result.
 February 17: Sino-Vietnamese War, China launches a punitive attack on Vietnam to
punish it for invading Cambodia.
 June 2: Pope John Paul II begins his first pastoral visit to his native Poland.
 June 18: U.S. President Jimmy Carter and Soviet leader, Leonid Brezhnev, sign the
SALT II agreement, outlining limitations and guidelines for nuclear weapons.
 July 16: Saddam Hussein becomes President of Iraq after Ahmed Hassan al-Bakr steps
down.
 November 4: Islamist Iranian students take over the American embassy in support of the
Iranian Revolution. The Iran hostage crisis lasts until January 20, 1981.

1980s

1980

 January 3–4: President Jimmy Carter withdraws the SALT II Treaty from Senate
confirmation and bans technology sales to the Soviet Union.
 April 17: Robert Mugabe becomes Prime Minister of Zimbabwe.
 April 30: Iranian Embassy in London is taken over by DRFLA militants starting a 6-day-
long hostage situation.
 September 22: Saddam's Iraq started to invade Iran, which ignites the Iran-Iraq War.

1987
  September 30: Mohammad Najibullah becomes President of Afghanistan and implements
a policy of National Reconciliation as a means of putting an end to the Soviet-Afghan
War as well as beginning an end to Soviet influence in the country.

1988

 December 7: Gorbachev announces in a speech to the United Nations General Assembly

that the Soviet Union will no longer militarily interfere with Eastern Europe.
 December 22: South Africa withdraws from South West Africa (Namibia).

1989

 January 20: George H. W. Bush is inaugurated as 41st President of the United States.
 February 2: Soviet troops withdraw from Afghanistan.
 June 4: Tiananmen Square Massacre: Beijing protests are crushed by the communist
Chinese government, resulting in an unknown number of deaths.
 December 14: Democracy is restored in Chile.
 December 20: United States invades Panama.

1990s

1990

 March 11: Lithuania declares independence from the Soviet Union.

 August 2: Iraq invades Kuwait, beginning Gulf War.
 August 20: Estonia declares independence from the Soviet Union.
 August 23: Armenia declares independence from the Soviet Union.
 October 3: Germany is reunified.
 October 15: Mikhail Gorbachev is awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

1991

 February 28: Gulf War ends.

 March 1: Post Gulf War uprisings in Iraq occurred.
 March 3: Estonia and Latvia hold an independence referendum with a majority voting to
restore independence.
 March 31: Georgia holds an independence referendum with a majority voting for
independence from the Soviet Union.
 April 9: Georgia declares independence from the Soviet Union.
 June 12: Party of Labour of Albania, the ruling party of Albania, is dissolved.
 July 1: Warsaw Pact is dissolved.
 July 31: The START I Treaty is ratified.
 August 24: Ukraine declares independence from the Soviet Union.
 August 27: Moldova declares independence from the Soviet Union.
 August 31: Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan declare independence from the Soviet Union.
 September 9: Tajikistan declares independence from the Soviet Union
 September 21: Armenia holds an independence referendum with a majority voting for
independence from the Soviet Union despite declaring independence in August 1990.
 October 26: Turkmenistan holds an independence referendum with a majority voting for
independence from the Soviet Union.
 October 27: Turkmenistan declares independence from the Soviet Union.
 December 16: Kazakhstan declares independence from the Soviet Union
 December 25: US President George H. W. Bush, after receiving a phone call from Boris
Yeltsin, delivers a Christmas Day speech acknowledging the end of the Cold War.
 December 26: The Council of the Republics of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR
dissolves the Soviet Union.

The End