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The Nuremburg Trials
The trials conducted at Nuremburg, Germany by the victorious Allies in the fall of 1945 used the Nazis’ own documents to reveal the horrifying panorama of crimes by Nazi leaders. The judges at Nuremburg found cause to impose death sentences on half of the 24 defendants and to give prison terms to the remainder. -
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The Cold War
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Stalin institutes a new 5-year plan
The average Soviet thought winning the war would bring less oppression, but Stalin had different plans. He moved to reassert control over the USSR. In 1946, his new 5-year plan set increased production goals and mandated more stringent collectivization of agriculture. -
The US institues the Marshall Plan
In 1947, the United States also devised the Marshall Plan, a program of massive economic aid to Europe to relieve ordinary people of the hardships that were making Communism seem attractive. The plan was named after the Secretary of State George C. Marshall, who proposed the plan. -
Diary of Anne Frank is published
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The Marshall Plan
The program’s direct aid would immediately improve everyday life, while loans and financial credits would restart international trade. By the 1950s, the US had sent $12 billion in food, equipment, and services to Europe. -
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Berlin Airlift
On July 24th, 1948, Stalin blockaded Berlin. The US responded by flying millions of tons of provisions into their sector of Berlin through the winter of 1948-1949—called the Berlin airlift. -
Israel becomes a state
Western interests in securing a Jewish settlement stirred Arab determination not to be pushed out of their homeland. On May 14th, 1948, the state of Israel came into being. -
The Soviets Test Their First Atomic Bomb
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Creation of COMECON
The Soviet Union formed regional organizations instituting the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance or COMECON in 1949 to coordinate economic relations among the satellite countries and Moscow. Through this, the USSR was allowed to buy goods from its clients at bargain prices and sell goods to them at exorbitant ones. Modernization of production created new technical and bureaucratic careers. -
The Communist Takeover of China
In 1949, a Communist takeover in China brought in Mao Zedong into power. -
George Orwell's 1984 is published
Books like George Orwell’s 1984, published in 1949 were claimed by both sides in the cold war as supporting their position. -
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McCarthyism
McCarthy warned of a great conspiracy to overthrow the US. As during the Soviet purges, people of all occupations were called before panels to confess that they had Communist sympathies. By 1952, more than 6 million American had been investigated. McCarthy had revolutionary books like Common Sense burned. Although the Senate finally voted to censure McCarthy in the winter of 1954, the assault on freedom and been devastating. -
Watson and Crick announce the structure of DNA
Crick and Watson solved the mystery of biological inheritance when the demonstrated the structure of DNA in 1952. Beginning in the 1960s, genetics and the new field of molecular biology progressed rapidly. New knowledge about viruses and bacteria arose -
Stalin dies
In March, 1953, Stalin died. Political prisoners in the labor camps rebelled, leading the release of more than 1 million people from the Gulag. As protests took place, governments stepped up the production of consumer goods, a policy known as goulash communism because it resulted in more food for ordinary people. -
Farenheit 451 is published
Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451, published in 1953, condemned curtailment of intellectual freedom -
Soviets build first nuclear plant
The USSR built the first nuclear plant to produce electricity in 1954 in Obinsk followed by Britain and the US. Nuclear power also made its way into submarines and aircraft carriers. By 2006, France produced some 80% of its energy via nuclear power. -
Khrushchev comes to power
In 1955, Nikita Khrushchev, an illiterate coal miner before the Bolshevik Revolution, outmaneuvered other rivals to emerge the leader of the Soviet Union. He listened to the popular complaints in both city and countryside and also attacked Stalin’s practices. He stated that Stalinism did not equal Communism. The climate of relative tolerance for free expression after Stalin’s death was called the thaw. -
The Golden October
Hungarians rebelled against forced collectivization in October 1956, the “Gold October.” Tens of thousands of protestors took to the streets of Budapest and returned a popular hero, Imre Nagy to power. However, Soviet troops moved in, killing tens of thousands and hanging Nagy. Khrushchev ended the purges and reformed the courts. -
The Treaty of Rome is Signed
The success of the ECSC led to the next momentous step. In 1957, six of the members singed the Treaty of Rome, which formed the European Economic Community or EEC, also known as the Common Market. The EEC reduced tariffs among the partners and developed common trade policies. Economic planning and coordination by specialists shaped the Common Market. The aim was to reduce the potential for irrationality in economics. -
Ghana becomes a state
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Sputnik is launched
The “space race” began when the Soviets launched the satellite Sputnik in 1957. The competition led to increasingly complex space flights that tested humans’ ability to survive the process of space exploration, including weightlessness -
Vatican II
Pope John XXIII in 1962 convened the Second Vatican Council. The Council modernized the liturgy and renounced church doctrine that condemned the Hewish people as guilty for killing Jesus. It promoted ecumenicalism, that is, mutual cooperation among the world’s faiths. -
The Cuban Missle Crisis
In 1962, tensions came to a head in the Cuban missile crisis, when the CIA reported the installation of silos to house Soviet medium-range missiles in Cuba. The world stood on the brink of war as Kennedy ordered a blockade of Cuba. Finally, Khrushchev and Kennedy came to an agreement. -
The Kennedy Assassination
The assassination of Kennedy in November of 1963 shocked the nation and the world. -
The Feminine Mystique is published
American journalist Betty Friedan published The Feminine Mystique in 1963. She organized NOW or the National Organization for Women. -
Kenya gains independance
. In 1964, the Land Freedom Army helped Kenya gain formal independence. -
Khrushchev is ousted
Ostpolitik and Gaulle’s assertiveness had their echoes in Soviet-bloc reforms. After Khrushchev’s ousting in 1964, the new leadership of Leonid Brezhnev and Alexei Kosygin initially continued attempts at reform. The government loosened restrictions to allow cultural and scientific meetings with Westerners -
Martin Luther King is Assassinated
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The Year of Crisis
Calls for reform finally boiled over in 1968. In January, on the first day of the Tet offensive, the Vietcong attacked more than 100 South Vietnamese towns and American bases. On April 4th, 1968, a white racist assassinated the civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. Riots erupted in more than 100 cities in the US. Also, student dissent escalated, with the most dramatic protests occurring in France. In January, students at Nanterre, outside of Paris, had gone on strike. -
First Moon Landing
. In July 1969, a worldwide television audience watched US astronauts Neil Armstrong and Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin walk on the moon’s surface. Children’s toys and games were influenced by this race.