As part of the Visual Timeline series
1948:
– (Feb) Communist coup in Czechoslovakia
– Berlin Airlift (1948-1949); Allies overcome Soviets land blockade to west Berlin, Soviets abandon blockade in 1949
1949:
– Allies unite occupied Germany into West Germany
– (Aug 29) Soviet Union becomes nuclear armed
1951: European Coal and Steel Community formed; pre-cursor to 1957 European Economic Community
1954:
– (May 7th) Communist Viet Minh (under general Vo Nguyen Giap) victory over French at Battle of Dien Bien Phu; Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia gain independence from France
– (Jul 21st) Vietnam split by 17th parallel Geneva Accords
– European Economic Commission est. at Treaty of Rome
– Algerian National Front declares war on France
1955:
– West Germany regains sovereignty from Allies; joins NATO; Warsaw Pact (May1955-July1991) between Soviet Union and Central Eastern Europe in reaction
1956:
– (Jul) Suez Crisis: Egyptian president Nasser nationalizes Suez Canal
– (Oct) UK-France-Israel invade Egypt; US & Soviet pressure forces withdrawal; Suez canal closed Nov56 to May57.
– (Mar-Apr) Morocco and Tunisia independence from France
1958:
– French president de Gaulle returns to power after Algerian crisis
– European Economic Community (EEC) begins operations
1962:
– (Jul) Algeria gains independence from France; after fighting since 1954
1968:
– (May) students riots in Paris; liberalization of French social values
1973:
– UK joins European Economic Community (French president de Gaulle vetoed first two applications in 1961 and 1967)
1979:
– (May) Margaret Thatcher becomes UK PM; begins privatization of state-firms and deregulation of financial markets
1985:
– (Mar 11th) Gorbachev takes office; reforms Soviet Union to greater political, economic and social openness
1986:
– (Apr) Chernobyl disaster (Soviet Union/Ukraine)
1989:
– (Sep 11th) Hungary opens borders to Austria; many Eastern Bloc citizens flee to West
– (Nov 9th) fall of Berlin wall; East Germans cross over to West
– first democratic elections in Eastern Europe
1990:
– (Jul) West German chancellor meets Soviet president Gorbachev, offering him financial aid to tolerate German reunification under NATO
– (Oct) East Germany dissolved; Germany reunified
1991:
– (Dec 25th) Gorbachev resigns and announces dissolution of Soviet Union into 15 states.
– (Dec) Soviet Union dissolved; Russian federation established
1993:
– (Jan) Czechoslovakia splits into Czech Republic and Slovakia
– (Nov) European Community becomes EU
1994:
– (May) UK-France Channel Tunnel completed
1995:
– (Nov) Balkan Peace Accord ends Bosnian War (Apr92-Dec95), one of the ongoing Yugoslav Wars (Mar91-Nov01).
1996:
– EU bans British beef exports amid Mad Cow Disease fears
1997:
– (Aug) Princess Diana of Wales killed in car accident in Paris
– (Jul) Asian Financial Crisis
– (Jul) China regains sovereignty over HK from UK; One country two systems
1998:
– (Aug) Russia defaults on its bonds
– (Nov) International Space Station launched
1999:
– (Jan) Euro introduced; physical cash circulates Jan02.
– Kosovo War (Feb98 – Jun99)
2000:
– DotCom bubble bursts: Mar00 investors start to sell; NASDAQ drops 52% by end of 2000; by Oct02 NASDAQ has dropped 78% since Mar00 peak.
2001:
– Yugoslav Wars (Mar91 – Nov01) in Balkans ends; Yugoslavia is broken up.
– (Sep) 9/11 Attacks on World Trade Center
2002:
– (Jan) Physical Euro currency launched
2003:
– (Mar) H.W. Bush US invades Iraq to find “weapons of mass destruction”; none found; many years sectarian violence to come.
2004:
– (May) 10 former Soviet satellites join EU
2008:
– (Sep 15th) GFC: Lehman Brothers goes bankrupt, triggering wave of global panic
2015:
– (Nov) ISIS terror attacks in Paris
2016:
– (Jun) Brexit, UK votes to leave the EU
2020: COVID
See also: