-
Germany and Austria will be occupied and partitioned, Churchill negotiating to include France in the partition. -
Germany and Berlin, as well as Austria and Vienna, are officially divided into 4 zones of occupation. There are already the first signs of dissension among the three powers, as they are unable to agree on how the country should be administered, or whether Germany should pay war reparations. At the conference, the new President of the US, Truman, informs Stalin that his country now possesses a powerful new weapon.
-
The US drops its first atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan. -
The second atomic bomb is dropped in Nagasaki. -
Japan signs its surrender, marking the end of World War II.
Division of the world into two blocks: the USA and the USSR. -
The three powers, (USA, Britain, USSR) along with China and France, will play a major role, becoming the 5 permanent members of the Security Council.
The UN is created in San Francisco, initially bringing together 51 countries. -
On March 5, 1946, Churchill, who is visiting the United States, makes a speech in which he declares that Europe is now divided by an iron curtain separating the Communist camp from the Western camp. -
The US and UK persuade France to unite their zones of occupation to create a federal, democratic German state to block the spread of communism. -
Truman declares that the world is now divided between democracies and authoritarian regimes, and that his country will embark on an interventionist policy around the world to stem the spread of communism.
The Marshall Plan is promulgated, designed to provide credit to speed up reconstruction, stabilize economies, and strengthen US influence.
In the US, communists are driven out of government. As a result the CIA is created to defend the country's interests around the world. -
Andrei Zhdanov, a high-ranking Soviet representative, makes a speech in which he confirms that the world is now divided into two camps: the Imperialists, led by the US, and the Democratics, led by Soviet Union. -
-
Stalin founds the Kominform, which was an alliance of Communist countries dominated by the USSR. -
Soviets support a coup d'état and the country falls entirely into the Eastern bloc. In response, the UK, France, and the Benelux countries form a military alliance to repel any attack from the East, whether Soviet or German. In Germany, the four fail to reunify the country. -
The Western powers establish the Deutsche Mark as its new currency.
Stalin responds with a coup de force, imposing a blockade on West Berlin, which is still under Western occupation and at the heart of his zone. Westerners organize an airlift that supplies inhabitants of West Berlin for a year. -
In May, the Federal Republic of Germany is officially created. -
Western European countries form a military alliance with the USA and Canada to create NATO. Article 5: If one member of the alliance is attacked, all of the others agree to defend it.
The countries of Western Europe thus find themselves under the protection of the US, the only country to possess atomic weapons. -
August 29th, the USSR successfully tests its first atomic bomb. -
Sino-Soviet Treaty of Friendship, Alliance, and mutual assistance. Mingland China becomes a communist. -
The North Korean army, supported by the USSR, begins invasion of South Korea across the 38th parallel. The US turns to the UN to organize the defense of South Korea. But on the Security Council, China is still represented by the Republic of China, which has taken refuge in Taiwan, provoking Stalin’s displeasure.
Without veto or opposition, the UN agrees to form an army under US command to defend South Korea. The front line is pushed back to the Chinese border. -
China intervenes by sending its army to support North Koreans. The US, heavily involved on this front, fears having to intervene militarily elsewhere in the world, and forges new alliances with the Philippines, Australia, New Zealand and Japan, where it ends the occupation. The US also fears a Soviet offensive against West Germany, which is not allowed to rearm.
The US applies political pressure to give the authorization for the country to rearm, and to join NATO. -
In the US, new President Eisenhower relies on the country's nuclear superiority, and advocates for the installation of atomic weapons in Western Europe to discourage any attack. -
In the USSR, Stalin dies without having prepared for succession. A period of instability follows, during which Nikita Khrushchev gradually establishes himself as the country's new leader. -
A ceasefire is signed in Korea, and a demilitarized zone becomes the new border between the two Koreas. -
West Germany finally integrated into NATO. The USSR responds by creating the Warsaw Pact, a military alliance between the Eastern Bloc countries.
-
The USSR, allied with Egypt, threatens to retaliate with nuclear weapons, forcing the United States to call off the operation. This event marks the end of colonial domination by the UK and France. From then on, only the USSR and the US impose their policies.
Mutual assured destruction: both have now developed large nuclear arsenals, and know that war would have devastating consequences. The challenge is now to gain superiority in other areas. -
An anti-Soviet insurrection rages and gains momentum. The Soviet army intervenes to quell the rebellion. -
USSR surprises and worries USA by sending the first satellite into space. -
China begins bombing islands that are controlled by Taiwan. The United States then deploys a military fleet in the Straits and puts an end to the offensive. But the Soviet Union didn’t intervene on behalf of its Chinese ally, which irritates Mao Zedong. The latter distances himself from the Soviet Union, and launches his own development programs. -
Kennedy becomes president of the US. He advocates for peaceful coexistence with the Soviet Union, while continuing to contain the spread of communism around the world. -
The USSR takes advantage of the Cuban invasion to move closer to Cuba, and obtains authorization to deploy nuclear missiles there. Kennedy deploys a military fleet and imposes a total quarantine on the island, blocking the arrival of Soviet ships. The two powers are on the brink of nuclear war. But an agreement is finally reached. Khrushchev undertakes to withdraw his nuclear missiles, in exchange for which Kennedy promises not to invade the island, and also to withdraw US nuclear missiles. -
In Indonesia the US supports General Suharto who, after overthrowing the Communist government, begins a bloody crackdown on his opponents. More than 500,000 Communists are massacred, and more are imprisoned in camps. -
War in Vietnam intensifies, forcing the US to deploy up to 500,000 troops.