1944   1945   1946   1947   1948   1949   1950   1951   1952   1953   1954   1955   1956   1957   1958   1959   1960   1961   1962   1963   1964   1965   1966   1967   1968   1969   1970   1971   1972   1973   1974   1975   1976   1977   1978   1979   1980   1981   1982   1983   1984   1985   1986   1987   1988   1989   1990   1991

1949     Korea     Border clashes break out between North and South Korea.     Soviet Union     The Soviet Union establishes the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance (COMECON). Its main purpose is to coordinate the economies of the countries under its control.     India/Pakistan     A United Nations peacekeeping force is sent in to arrange a cease-fire between India and Pakistan. Although a cease-fire line is drawn out, partitioning Kashmir, the dispute between the two countries is not resolved. Read more on the Kaskmir crisis.     United States     Western Europe, Canada and the United States form the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). This mutual defense pact has an initial membership of 11 nations.     Germany     The Federal Republic of Germany, or West Germany, is established in the Western zone. The Western powers grant the new state internal self-government. A new capital is established in Bonn.     Hungary     Parliamentary elections are held in Hungary. Voters are presented with a single list of candidates who are all Communist. Because of this, Hungary becomes a Communist state and changes its name to the Hungarian People's Republic. Anyone suspected of being an opponent of the Communist regime is sent to labour camps.     Laos     Laos is granted limited self-government within the French Union.     Soviet Union     The Soviets detonate their first atomic bomb. Read about the man who was responsible for the first Soviet bomb.     China     In the summer of 1949, the Communist win the war against the KMT. On the 1st of October, the People's Liberation Army arrives in Beijing and establishes the People's Republic of China.     Germany     The German Democratic Republic, or East Germany, is established in the Soviet zone by the ruling party - the Socialist Unity Party (SED). Read a few chapters from the book Ten years of the German Democratic Republic published in 1959 by the government of the GDR. Pictures of East Germany.     China     Mao Zedong, chairman of the People's Republic of China, travels to Moscow. After two months of negotiations, China and the Soviet Union sign a treaty of mutual assistance accompanied by limited economic aid. Text of the conversation between the Soviet Union's Joseph Stalin and China's Mao Zedong. << 1948   1950 >>

Cold-War-at-a-Glance 2003