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Start WWII
On September 1, 1939, German troops invaded Poland. WWII involved most of the world's countries, including all of the great powers forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis powers. There were many causes for the WWII, for example: the impact of the Treaty of Versailles following WWI, the worldwide economic depression, failure of appeasement, the rise of militarism in Germany and Japan, and the failure of the League of Nations. The war ended September 2, 1945. -
Comecon Countries
Comecon was created at a Moscow economic conference. This was an agreement amongst communist nations loyal to the Soviet Union during the Cold War. The purpose was to promote coordination in economic planning, trade, research, and development. Also, the Soviets created this as a response to the U.S. Marshall Plan for European recovery after WWII. The original members were the Soviet Union, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Poland, and Romania. -
Warsaw Pact
The Warsaw pact was a political and military alliance created between the Soviet Union and multiple Eastern European countries. It was created as a reaction to the integration of West Germany into NATO. It represented a “Soviet counterweight” to NATO. It was an attempt to retain Soviet power. The goals were to keep USSR and the satellite states together. Any times there was threat of a reform, revolt, or revolution, Soviets would station troops in Warsaw Pact countries. -
Treaty of Rome
The Treaty of Rome brought the creation of the European Economic Community (EEC). The treaty was signed by Belgium, France, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, and West Germany. It came into force January 1, 1958. The goal of the EEC was to transform the conditions of trade and production on the territory of it’s 6 member states. Also, to serve as a step towards political unification of Europe. The EEC created a common market. the countries that signed agreed to align economic policies. -
Berlin Wall Built
The Berlin Wall was built by the German Democratic Republic during the cold war to prevent the population from escaping Soviet controlled East Berlin to West Berlin. Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev was the who recommended to east Germany that it close off access between the East and West. East German Soldiers laid down more than 30 miles of barbed wire barrier throughout the “heart” of Berlin. -
JFK Berlin Speech
The speech “Ich bin ein Berliner” (I am a Berliner) was made my former U.S. President John F. Kennedy in West Berlin. This speech is one of the most popular speeches during the Cold War and the most famous anti communist speeches. In this speech JFK made it known that there was support from the United States for West Germany, 22 months after the Soviet supported, East Germany, erected the Berlin Wall as a barrier to prevent movement between East and West. -
Schengen Agreement
This treaty is what led most of the European countries towards the abolishment of their national boarders, to build Europe without boarders known as the “Schengen Area”. It was signed June 14, 1985, near the town of Schengen, Luxembourg, by five of the ten member states of the EEC. -
Fall of the Berlin Wall
June 12, 1987 former U.S. President Ronald Reagan made the “Tear down this wall” speech. On November 9, 1989 is when the Berlin Wall officially came down. Political changes in Eastern Europe and civil unrest in Germany put pressure on the East German gov. to loosen regulations on travel to the west. The fall was an extremely pivotal event in world history, and was the first step towards German reunification. Shortly afterwords was also the fall of the German boarder. -
Maastricht Treaty
The treaty was signed by 12 countries in the Dutch city of Maastricht in 1992, but went into effect in 1993. This treaty established a greater cooperation between the member states. It also established the European unions single currency system for the euro. -
The euro
The euro is the official currency of 19 of the 27 member states of the European Union. January 1, 1999 was when the euro was first launched. For the first 3 years it was an “invisible” currency, and only used for accounting purposes and electronic payments. Coins and banknotes were launched on January 1, 2002.