Timeline of Significant Events1949: The North Atlantic Treaty is signed on April 4, establishing NATO.
The Soviets detonate a nuclear bomb on August 29.
The Chinese Communists are victorious in China’s civil war, with Mao Zedong declaring the establishment of the People’s
Republic of China on October 1.
1950: Multiple Arab states sign the Collective Security Pact on June 17, obliging its members to assist if a fellow member state
were to be attacked.
1953: The United States signs a mutual defense treaty with South Korea on October 1.
1954: The Southeast Asia Collective Defense Treaty is signed on September 8.
1955: The Baghdad Pact is signed on February 4, reflecting British efforts to coordinate defense policy for Iran, Iraq, Pakistan,
Turkey, and other states in the region in order to block Soviet influence at the onset of the cold war.
The Western European Union is founded on May 6. The Warsaw Pact is signed on May 14.
1956: A popular revolution in Hungary is crushed by November 22, reflecting the Kremlin’s determination to preserve commu-
nist regimes with force if necessary.
1959: An agreement of cooperation is signed between the United States and Iran on March 5.
1961: The Charter for the Union of African States is signed on April 29.
The government of North Korea signs treaties of friendship, cooperation, and mutual assistance with the Soviet Union on
July 6 and with China on July 11.
Construction of the Berlin Wall begins on August 13.
1964: The German Democratic Republic signs treaties of friendship, mutual assistance, and cooperation with the Soviet Union on
May 12. The GDR proceeds to sign similar agreements with Poland on March 15, 1967; with Czechoslovakia on March 17,
1967; and with Hungary on May 18, 1967.
1967: The Six-Day War is waged from June 5 to June 10, resulting in significant territorial gains for Israel and the hardening of
Arab resentment toward the region’s newcomer. The subsequent Khartoum Resolutions of September 1 articulate collec-
tive Arab policy toward Israel: no peace with Israel, no relations with Israel, no negotiations with Israel, and promotion of
Palestinians’ rights.
1968: Reform-minded protesters in Czechoslovakia push for “socialism with a human face,” but the uprising known as the
Prague Spring is brutally suppressed on August 21.
1971: The Soviet Union concludes a treaty of friendship and cooperation with Egypt on May 27, illustrating its influence in Africa
and the Middle East. Similar treaties are signed with Iraq on April 9, 1972; with Angola on October 8, 1976; with Mozam-
bique on March 31, 1977; and with Ethiopia on November 20, 1978.
1973: Arab-Israeli War begins on October 6, prompting a spike in energy costs.
1978: Karol Wojtyla is named Pope John Paul II on October 16, and he becomes an instrumental champion of the democratic
cause in Poland and other states.
1979: Revolution results in a new Islamic government for Iran on February 11.
1981: U.S. diplomats taken hostage by Iran are freed after 444 days on January 21.
The Organization of Eastern Caribbean States is founded on June 18, 1981.
1989: The Arab Maghreb Union is founded on February 17.
Following roundtable talks, the legalization of the Solidarity movement, and its subsequent victory in legislative elections
on June 4, the Polish Parliament adopts a new name and constitution, establishing the third Republic of Poland on July 29.
Hungary opens its borders on September 12, and Germans from the GDR migrate en masse through Hungary to West
Germany. A new, post-Soviet republic is proclaimed in Hungary on October 23.
The Berlin Wall falls on November 11.
Czechoslovakia’s communist government resigns on November 24.
1990: Lithuania declares independence from the Soviet Union on March 11.
NATO signs a declaration of non-aggression with six Warsaw Pact states on November 19.
1991: Estonia declares independence on August 20; Latvia follows suit on August 21. The Soviet Union recognizes the indepen-
dence of all three Baltic states on September 6.
The United States and the Soviet Union sign the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START I) on July 31.
Dissolution of the Soviet Union occurs on December 25.
1992: Iraq invades Kuwait on August 2.
1995: Australia and Indonesia sign a security agreement on December 18.
1999: U.S.-led NATO forces begin bombing Serbia on March 24.
2000: Russia signs an agreement with North Korea on February 9.
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