A

GERMANY

1945 (cold War)February 8: TheYalta Conference takes place, deciding the post-war status of Germany. TheAllies of World War II (the USA, the USSR, Great Britain and France) divide Germany into fouroccupation zones. The Allied nations agree that free elections are to be held in all countries occupied by Nazi Germany. 1949: May 23: In Germany, the Bizone merges with the French zone of control to form the Federal Republic of Germany, with Bonn as its capital. 1990: October 3 Germany is reunified

B

AUSTRIA

January 7: 1946: The Republic of Austria is reconstituted, with its 1937 borders, but divided into four zones of control: American, British, French, and Soviet.

1955: May 15: Austria is neutralized and allied occupation ends.

C

HUNGARY

1956: October 23: Hungarian Revolution of 1956: Hungarians revolt against the Soviet dominated government. They are crushed by the Soviet military, which reinstates a Communist government.

1989: October 18: The Hungarian constitution is amended to allow a multi-party political system and free elections. The nearly 20-year rule of communist leader Erich Honecker comes to an end in East Germany.

E 

POLAND

1956: 

June 28: in Poznań, Poland, anti-communist protests lead to violence. 1980 August 31: In Poland the Gdańsk Agreement is signed after a wave of strikes which began at the Lenin Shipyards in Gdańsk. The agreement allows greater civil rights, such as the establishment of a trade union independent of communist party control.

1981 December 13: Communist Gen. Jaruzelski introduces martial law in Poland, which drastically restricts normal life, in an attempt to crush the Solidarity trade union and the political opposition against communist rule.

1989 June 4: Semi-free elections in Poland show complete lack of backing for the Communist Party; Solidarity trade union wins all available seats in the Parliament and 99% in the Senate.August: Parliament in Poland elects Tadeusz Mazowiecki as leader of the first non-communist government in the Eastern Bloc.

D

Czechoslovakia 

1948 February 25: The Communist Partytakes control inCzechoslovakia, after President Edvard Beneš accepts the resignation of all non-communist ministers.March 10: Czechoslovakian Foreign MinisterJan Masaryk is reported having committed suicide.1951. April 23: American journalistWilliam N. Oatis is arrested inCzechoslovakia for alleged espionage (receives 10 year sentence) 1953 he is released. 1

955. May 14 sign Warsaw Pact. 1968. August 20:Prague Spring Reforms in Communist Czechoslovakia result in Warsaw Pact intervention to crush them.1977 January 1:Charter 77 is signed by Czechoslovakian intellectuals, including Václav Havel. 1989 December 29:Vaclav Havel becomes President of the now freeCzechoslovakia.

F

Slovenia

(Yugoslav War)1991 declared independence; With 90% of its population ethnic  Slovenians, Slovenia is able to break away with only a brief period of fighting.

G

Croatia

(Yugoslav war)1991 declared independence 12% of Croatia's population is Serbian, however, rump Yugoslavia fights hard against its secession for the next four years. As Croatia moves towards independence, it evicts most of its Serbian population.

H

Bosnia and Herzegovina

April 1992 declared independence in yugoslav war. The most ethnically diverse of the Yugoslav republics, Bosnia is 43% Muslim, 31% Serbian, and 17% Croatian (according to the 1991 Yugoslavian census). Ethnic tensions strain to the breaking point, and Bosnia erupts into war. Thousands die and more than a million are displaced. By the time a tenuous peace is achieved in 1995, the country has been partitioned into three areas, with each region governed by one of the three ethnic groups. Each enclave is now made up of

roughly 90% of its own ethnic group.

I

Serbia

1992 April Serbia and Montenegro form the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, with Slobodan Milosevic as its leader. This new government, however, is not recognized by the United States as the successor state to the former Yugoslavia. February 2003 yugoslavia is replaced by loose federation called serbia and montenegro 2006 On June 4 the federal president of Serbia and Montenegro, Svetozar Marovic, announced the dissolution of his office, and the following day Serbia acknowledged the end of the union.

J

KOSOVO

K

MONTENEGRO

L

Macedonia

(yugoslav war) declared independence of January 1992. The Yugoslav government allowed Macedonia to break away without resistance.

a

Yalta

1945 Yalta Conference held between Roosevelt, Churchill, and Stalin (the “Big Three”) where they discussed the organization of Europe after the war. This is when they decided Germany would be divided into 4 zones which later turned into an issue during the Cold War.

b

Berlin/Postdam

1948: Stalin order blockade of all land routes from W. Germany to Berlin in order to starve out U.S., British, and French troops; Berlin Airlift defeats Soviet attempt to starve West Berlin. 1949: Soviets end Blockade, Airlift ends, French zone merges with Bizone to create Federal Republic of Germany with Bonn as capitol, soviets declar their zone the German Democratic Republic with East Berlin as capitol.1961: Berlin Wall built by soviets following breakdown in talks over future of Germany. 1971: Four Power Agreement on Berlin signed by U.S., Britain, France, and Soviet Union.   1990: Berlin Wall falls.

  Potsdam: 1945 Potsdam Conference- meeting between Truman, Churchill, and Stalin after formal surrender of Germany to finalize principles of postwar peace

c

The Iron Curtain

1946: Churchill gives speech claiming an “iron curtain has descended across the continent” 1990: October, Figurative fall of the iron curtain, synonymous with fall of Berlin Wall(although was passable in 1989, was torn down in 1990)

d

Warsaw

1955 Warsaw Pact- mutual defense treaty signed by 8 communist states of central eastern europe. signed in Warsaw. The eight member countries of the Warsaw Pact pledged the mutual defense of any member who would be attacked; relations among the treaty signatories were based upon mutual non-intervention in the internal affairs of the member countries, respect for national sovereignty, and political independence. However, almost all governments of those members states were directly controlled by the Soviet Union.

formally dissolved in july 1991.

e

Budapest

1956: Students are fired on in Budapest when protesting against repressive Communist policies

f

Prague

g

Gdansk