Contemporary Period Timeline

Balfour Declaration to UN Partition of Palestine 1917 C.E.

Topic

In 1917, Balfour, a British minister, promised Zionists, or those who believed that the Jews should return to their homeland in Palestine, that Britain would support their movement. As Jews entered Palestine they encountered and came into territorial conflict with the Muslim Palestinian population. Eventually in 1947, the United Nations divided Palestine into two; giving part to the Jews and the other part to the Palestinians (which did not improve the conflict).

Bolshevik Revolution 1917 C.E.

Topic

Towards the end of WWI, Vladmir Lenin led his red army and overthrew Csar Nicholas II. The Bolsheviks' goal was to set up a new government for the proletariats. This party would then form the USSR with Lenin as the head of the marxist state.

Treaty of Versailles 1919 C.E.

Topic

The treaty was signed at the end of WWI stating that Germany was at fault and had to pay heavy reparations. Although Japan and Italy were allies of the Triple Entente, they were not acknowledged at the conference along with Germany, who also had no representation. The treaty would ultimately lead to WWII.

US Stock Market Crash 1929 C.E.

Topic

The United States was known as a world creditor after WWI and loaned money to countries like France and Germany. On the day known as “Black Tuesday”, U.S. investors purchased too many shares at once and the market could not keep up. Money was lost and ultimately caused for the Great Depression to affect many countries.

Long March by Chinese Communist 1934 C.E.

Topic

The Chinese communists escape persecution from Guomintang during a civil war as their communist stronghold in south cerntral China was attacked. Marched to rural areas Led by Mao Zedong, he and his army retreated 4,000 miles towards northwestern China. The Long March ended in 1935 when Mao arrived in Shanxi and met up with other red army troops.

Cardenas Nationalizes Oil Industry in Mexico 1938 C.E.

Topic

The Mexican President, Cardenas ceased control of all foreign oil assets in Mexico. He nationalized these assets to make profit for the government. The United States supported Mexico as long as they would compensate for the companies who lost the oil.

German Anschluss with Austria 1938 C.E.

Topic

Under fascist Germany, which stressed the importance of a national identity, Germany wanted to reunite with German-speaking Austria. However, this act opposed the Treaty of Versailles which forbade the two countries from unifying.

German Invasion of Poland 1939 C.E.

Topic

Ignoring the limitations imposed by the Treaty of Versailles, Hitler began reclaiming the land that Germany lost from WWI. The League of Nations did not do much and practiced a policy of appeasement in hopes of preventing another war with Germany. However, this came to an end when Hitler invaded Poland in 1939 forcing Britain to finally take action on Germany by declaring war.

Attack on Pearl Harbor 1941 C.E.

Topic

When Japan invaded Vietnam, the U.S. pushed an oil embargo on the Japanese due to the growing tensions in the Pacific. The United States continued to cut trade ties with Japan. Eventually, Japan attacked a naval station in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, an act of war, and dragged the United States out of isolation and into WWII.

D-Day 1944 C.E.

Topic

Also known as the Battle of Normandy, thousands of American, British, and Canadian troops landedand stormed the beaches of Normandy, France. The amphibious attack was largely successful in liberating parts France from Nazi Germany. This attack greatly weakened the Germans allowing for their defeat in 1945.

Atomic Bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki 1945 C.E.

Topic

In August, U.S. President Truman decided to drop a bomb on Hiroshima to force them to surrender. However, when Japan did not back down, a second bomb was dropped on Nagasaki which resulted in surrender and the end of WWII. The act resulted in thousands of deaths from immediate impact and later radiation exposure.

Founding of UN 1945 C.E.

Topic

United Nations was founded in San Fransisco in the aftermath of WWII. It was an international organization founded in hopes of maintaing peace, security, and relationships between countries. It proved to be more successful than the League of Nations.

Apartheid in S.A. to Mandela elected President of South Africa 1948 C.E.

Topic

The apartheid was established by the white minority in South Africa which ensured that they would remain in power in the government. This movement segregated the black majority and prohibited them from interacting with the white minority. The system dissolved in the early 1990s, but it was officially over in 1994 when Nelson Mandela was elected as the first black president of the nation.

Establishment of PRC (Civil War) 1949 C.E.

After the Chinese Revolution, the communist party took over China's government. The People's Republic of China was created by Mao Zedong .

Topic

Korean War and 38th Parallel 1950 C.E.

Topic

After WWII, when Japan’s previously colonized land was divided amongst the allies, Korea was split into North (belonged to USSR) and South (belonged to U.S.) Korea under a communist and democratic government respectively. In 1950 North Korea invaded its southern counterpart to unite the country under communism. The battle ended in an armistice in 1953 with both nations divided along the 38th parallel.

Vietnam War 1955 C.E.

Topic

After World War II, France attempted to regain Vietnam but ended up having to divide the land into two parts; the North (communists) and the South (democratic). In 1955, North Vietnam attacked South Vietnam in hopes of unifying the nation under communism. Despite the backing of South Vietnam by the U.S. and France, the nation fell to communism in 1975.

Great Leap Forward in China 1958 C.E.

Topic

The Great Leap Forward was a movement, implemented by Mao Zedong, to further industrialize China. Because China was densely populated, the government wanted to use this factor as a way to gain capital. The movement ended in 1961 in failure due to the lack of skilled labor which resulted in poorer quality steel and goods in general.

Castro comes to Power in Cuba 1959 C.E.

Topic

Disagreeing with the Cuban dictator, Batista, Fidel Castro attempted to overthrow him in a revolution but was caught and put in jail. Upon his release, Castro was able to muster up support and remove Batista. Castro would then introduce his communist reforms to the government and gain support from the USSR.

Construction to fall of Berlin Wall 1961 C.E.

Topic

The Berlin Wall was constructed to prevent immigration from the Eastern bloc into West Berlin during the Cold War. The wall was heavily guarded and the military killed anyone who tried to escape. Eventually, East Berlin changed their relationship with their Western counterpart and the wall fell in 1989 prior to the fall of the USSR.

Cuban Missile Crisis 1962 C.E.

Topic

The Cuban Missile Crisis was a standoff between the United States and the USSR in which missles were prepared to be launched at the U.S.. This occurred due to the fact that the U.S. had missiles located in Turkey which threatened the USSR. After issuing a blockade around Cuba, the crisis was averted when both countries agreed to remove their missiles.

Six Day War 1967 C.E.

Topic

Tensions between the Arabs and the Jews migrating into Israel grew as the two groups fought over territory. The Six-Day war resulted in the Israeli seizure of the West Bank, Sinai Peninsula, Gaza Strip, and Golan Heights. This war worsened the conflict between Israel and Palestine as refugees were created and more Palestinians were under Israeli rule.

Iranian Revolution 1978 C.E.

Topic

During this time, the Pahlavi Dynasty was overthrown as the increasingly Westernizing nation infuriated Islamic fundamentalists. The revolution ended in 1979 and sent the country back to an authoritarian theocracy ruled by Ayatollah Khomeini (Shi'a based).

Iran-Iraq War

1980 C.E.

Topic

The battle resulted from territorial conflicts between the two nations when Iraq invaded Iran. Saddam Hussein, the leader of Iraq (Sunni based), wanted to overthrow the Iranian regime (Shi’a based) because he saw the as a threat to his own. Both missiles and chemical warfare were used before the war ended in 1988 under a cease-fire agreement.

Collapse of Soviet Union 1991 C.E.

The fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 and growing nationalism within the eastern bloc contributed to the collapse of the USSR. The leader of the nation around that time was Mikhail Gorbachev who was more open to the idea of less governmental influence on the eastern bloc countries and allowing multi-party elections. This factor caused the communist ideals to destabilize which ultimately led to chaos in some countries because they were no longer under the influence of the USSR and had to rebuild their governments.

Topic

Rwandan Genocide 1994 C.E.

Topic

Prior to the Rwandan Genocide, tensions built up between the Hutu majority and Tutsi minority in a civil war in Rwanda. The final straw was when Hutu president Ntaryamira's plane was shot down by the Tutsi. During this period of time, anyone who was Tutsi was killed or raped.