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The Yalta Conference occurs, deciding the post-war status of Germany. The Allies of World War II (the USA, the USSR, United Kingdom and France) divide Germany into four occupation zones. The Allied nations agree that free elections are to be held in all countries occupied by Nazi Germany. In addition, the new United Nations are to replace the failed League of Nations.
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Truman gives permission for the world's first military use of an atomic weapon against the Japanese city of Hiroshima in an attempt to bring the only remaining theatre of war from the Second World War in the Pacific to a swift closure.
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The Philippines gains independence from the United States, and begins fighting communist Huk rebels (Hukbalahap Rebellion).
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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
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India and Pakistan gain independence from the United Kingdom.
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The Communist Party takes control in Czechoslovakia, after President Edvard Beneš accepts the resignation of all non-communist ministers.
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Soviet Premier Joseph Stalin orders the blockade of 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.
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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.
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Konrad Adenauer becomes the first Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany.
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Sovereignty is handed over to United States of Indonesia from the Netherlands through the Dutch-Indonesian Round Table Conference with Sukarno as the first president of the newly formed federation.
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United Nations forces land at Inchon. Defeating the North Korean forces, they press inland and re-capture Seoul.
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The United Kingdom successfully tests its atomic bomb in Operation Hurricane. The test makes the UK the world's third nuclear power.
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An armistice agreement ends fighting in the Korean War
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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.
