Curated atlas · Geopolitics

The Cold War

Nearly half a century of ideological confrontation between the United States and the Soviet Union — nuclear brinkmanship, proxy wars, and the eventual collapse of communism.

48 years

2,496 blocks

29 events

8 stages

1 block = 1 week · 1 row = 52 weeks48y · 2,496 blocks

1945

1955

1965

1975

1985

Stages

Timeline ledger

Chronicle

29 events · 8 stages

Post-war division

Jan 1, 1945 → Dec 26, 1949

Potsdam Conference

Jul 16, 1945

Iron Curtain speech

Mar 4, 1946

Truman Doctrine

Mar 10, 1947

Marshall Plan announced

Jun 2, 1947

Berlin Blockade begins

Jun 21, 1948

NATO established

Apr 4, 1949

Soviet atomic bomb test

Aug 29, 1949

Early Cold War & Korea

4y 1w

Dec 26, 1949 → Dec 28, 1953

Korean War begins

Jun 19, 1950

First hydrogen bomb test

Oct 27, 1952

Nuclear arms race

9y 43w

Dec 29, 1952 → Oct 15, 1962

Stalin dies

Mar 2, 1953

Hungarian uprising crushed

Oct 22, 1956

Sputnik 1 launched

Sep 30, 1957

U-2 spy plane shot down

Apr 25, 1960

Bay of Pigs invasion

Apr 17, 1961

Berlin Wall constructed

Aug 7, 1961

Brinkmanship to détente

13y 13w

Oct 15, 1962 → Dec 29, 1975

Cuban Missile Crisis

Oct 15, 1962

Partial Nuclear Test Ban Treaty

Aug 5, 1963

Prague Spring crushed

Aug 19, 1968

Apollo 11 Moon landing

Jul 14, 1969

Détente & Helsinki era

Dec 27, 1971 → Dec 17, 1979

Nixon visits China

Feb 21, 1972

Helsinki Accords signed

Jul 28, 1975

Second Cold War

6y 2w

Dec 24, 1979 → Dec 30, 1985

Soviet invasion of Afghanistan

Dec 24, 1979

Solidarity movement in Poland

Sep 15, 1980

Reagan's 'Evil Empire' speech

Mar 7, 1983

Glasnost & Perestroika

4y 35w

Mar 11, 1985 → Nov 6, 1989

Gorbachev announces glasnost

Feb 24, 1986

Chernobyl disaster

Apr 21, 1986

Collapse of communism

2y 7w

Nov 6, 1989 → Dec 23, 1991

Berlin Wall falls

Nov 6, 1989

German reunification

Oct 1, 1990

Soviet Union dissolves

Dec 23, 1991

Want to build your own?

Create a personal atlas to lay out a life, trace a project, or keep any long span visible.

Create an atlas