for
their always gentile commentaries and ideas.
Any
error or implausibility is -of course- entirely my fault.
March 12: Austria integrated as part of
Germany (Anschluss).
May 1938: Japan launches offensives in
southern China.
August 7: Soviet invasion of Manchukuo. Soviet-Japanese War.
September 29: The Munich Pact is signed by
Daladier of France, Chamberlain of Great Britain, Mussolini of Italy, and
Germany's Hitler. Germany renounces any further territorial claims against its
neighbours. Neville Chamberlain proclaims "Peace in our time".
October 1: German troops begin occupying
the Sudetenland region (some 11,500 square miles of territory) of
Czechoslovakia.
November 30: After the swift Soviet
victories over Japan in Manchukuo, Hitler declared: “the moment for the demise
of our hereditary enemy, France, is coming”.
December 1: Daladier says France is
obligated to prepare in case of German aggression, with the Soviet Union
distracted in the East.
February 23: Chamberlain
informs Parliament that Britain must be bound to come to France's aid if war
breaks out with Germany. Three weeks later a Franco-British Mutual Defence Pact is announced since any hope of
Soviet intervention in behalf of France or Britain had disappeared.
June 1: The British Commonwealth declares its “unconditional” support to
France.
August 23: In Moscow a Nazi-Soviet Non-Aggression pact is announced. Actually
is a mere manoeuvre to gain time: for Stalin to finish the Japanese, and for
Hitler to prepare the attack against Poland.
September 2: Representatives of the Japanese government and the Japanese
armed forces formally devolved all occupied territory in China to the Chinese
government by signing the Treaty of Peace and Reconciliation in Tokyo.
September 25: German invasion of Poland.
October 20: Germany finished the conquest of Poland. Border clashes with
Soviet forces.
December 15: Japanese forces evacuated Fusan (Pusan).
End of the Soviet-Japanese War.
Year 1940
January 7: Hitler ordered the invasion of the Soviet Union. After the
Soviet hard-fought victory over Japan in Korea, he’s convinced that the Soviet
Union would be an easy prey.
April 22: In Operation Schwarzwald Germany invades the Soviet Union. Soviet-German War. Between May and October
Germany occupied most of the western Soviet provinces.
July 17: Italy invades Yugoslavia. Mussolini sent a message to Hitler
that afternoon: “I am a modern conqueror, too.”
July 23: Italy declares its neutrality
in the German - Soviet conflict.
August 5: In exchange of the city
of Memel and free pass through its territory, Germany ceded the city of Vilnius
and its hinterland to Lithuania.
October 18: Danzig, the Corridor and other Polish territory in annexed
by Germany.
November 7: First battle of Moscow.
Year 1941
January: Soviet winter offensive repelled the Germans towards Minsk.
May 4: Taking advantage of Soviet almost total withdrawal from Manchuria,
KMT troops initiated an offensive against their communist rivals in
north-eastern China. By June the KMT troops recaptured the Chinese province of
Jehol.
June-October: Second German campaign against the Soviet Union. Hitler
ordered immediate attacks aimed at Leningrad, Moscow, and the Caucasus.
October-November: Second Battle of Moscow. The Red Army initiated
another winter offensive after the German defeat in Moscow.
November 1: Mussolini convinced the Hungarian government to join the war
against Yugoslavia.
November 28: Hitler, Göring, Goebbels, Bormann, Himmler, Von Ribbentrop and
other Nazi leaders died in a complot organized by the OKW. The assassinations
are followed by open confrontation between the Nazi Party, the SS and the
Wehrmacht.
December: The Germans are evicted from
most of the territories previously occupied.
Year 1942
January 6: Gerd von Rundstedt is declared new German chancellor.
March 17: Croatian nationalists raised against the Serbian-controlled
Yugoslavian government.
June 1: Germany and the Soviet Union signed an armistice. End of the
Soviet-German War.
June 17: A German token force is sent to Yugoslavia. The new German
government considered that an Italian defeat could bring the Anglo-French Alliance
into the Adriatic.
June 29: Italian troops reached Ljubljana.
September 1: Croatian kingdom established under an Italian royal family. Effective power, although, was
held by Dr. Ante Pavelic, leader of the Croatian nationalist Movement.
November 17: The Italian and Yugoslavian armies ceased all offensive
activity, after the acceptation of Swedish mediation between both governments.
Year 1943
February 13: Peace treaty signed between Italy, Hungary, Croatia and
Yugoslavia. Yugoslavia recognized the Italian annexation of the Adriatic coast
and Slovenia, the Hungarian claim over the Magyar-populated section of the
Voivodina, and the independence of the Croatian kingdom.
April 17: The German military government established a suitable Polish government.
Polish independence restored. However, Germany kept security troops in Polish
territory.
May 15: After a progressive deterioration of bilateral relations, France
annulled its security treaty with Britain, because “the Royal Navy cannot
defend Paris” against the war-weary but still powerful Germany.
August 15: France and the Soviet Union signed a Mutual Defence Treaty
aimed at Germany and the other Axis Powers.
September 1: In response to the Franco-Soviet treaty, Germany, Hungary,
Italy, Slovakia, Poland, Lithuania and Romania signed the Europäische
Sicherheit Abkommen (European Security Accord, ESA), still dubbed as “the Axis”
by some people).
October 15: Finnish, Danish, Norwegian and Swedish diplomats met in
Stockholm to discuss a common security policy.
December 2: The Soviets withdrew from Korea, leaving some “advisers” behind.
Year 1944
January 30: Britain and Japan signed a military alliance.
February 22: After several nationalist
riots that menaced the British oil facilities in Iran, British troops occupies
the country and implanted an informal protectorate.
April 5: KMT war effort collapsed.
Sino-Soviet Treaty of Moscow: the Chinese government recognized the
independence of Manzhouguo, Mongolia and Sinkiang, promptly annexed by the
Soviet Union.
June 1: The last Jewish ghetto in Germany
is officially closed.
June 30: France closed its Île du Diable
penal colony, in Guyana.
September 9: Kim Il Sung proclaimed
himself as the "Supreme Leader" of the Korean People's Republic
(KPR).
October 4: U.S. and European scientist
achieved the first self-sustained nuclear “chain reaction” in the nuclear
facilities in Taos, New Mexico.
Year 1945
April 10: Inauguration of the Paris
Conference. French, Belgian, Dutch, Italian and Luxembourgese diplomats
discussed the European situation.
May 13: Syria proclaims its independence
from France as the Arab Republic of Syria, but French troops remained in the
country until 1950.
June 1: The German government forced
Germany’s Jewish population to leave the country.
August 6: Nothing special happened.
August 9: Another common day.
October 1: Official proclamation of the
People's Socialist Democratic Republic of Manzhouguo.
November 17: The Republic of China
formulated its "Three No Policy" ("no negotiation, no
compromise, no contact") towards Manzhouguo, Mongolia and the Soviet
Union.
December 2: Germany officially annexed its
Bohemian protectorate as the länder of Böhmen.
Year 1946
January 12: Socialist uprising in Greece,
rapidly put down by the Greek army.
February-June: Border clashes between Peru
and Ecuador.
April 7: Italy officially withdrew from
the Axis.
June 2: Australia started a military
build-up vis-à-vis the deteriorating situation in the Netherlands East Indies and the
growing German presence in the South China Sea.
August: KMT troops defeated the last Communist
guerrillas in China proper.
September 1: The Philippine colonial
government hold a referendum regarding its future political status.
October 4: A Soviet-inspired communist
rebellion in northern Iran is defeated by the Iranian Imperial Army.
Year 1947
March 5: India became an independent
country. However, Baluchistan, Ceylon and Burma remained as integral parts of
the British Empire.
March 31: Germany tested its first
long-range missile: 800 km with a 250 km warhead.
April 6: Britain and Norway signed a
series of economical and military accords.
July 4: The U.S. conceded independence to
Philippines. However, the U.S. kept its military bases in the country.
July 7: Japan became the first Asian
country to recognize Filipino independence.
October 14: Germany, Poland, Lithuania,
Hungary, Romania, Italy, Slovakia, Croatia and Bulgaria signed the Europäische
Zollamt Vereinigung (European Custom Association, EZV), a custom union created
to serve as an economic complement of the European Security Accord.
November 4: First atomic bomb detonated in
the Nevada desert.
Year 1948
February 3: Holland joined the EZV.
February 13: France and the Soviet Unions
conducted their first joint naval exercises in the Pacific.
April 4: Philippines under martial law:
the government justified this measure as necessary to keep public order and
quell Islamic and Marxist opposition.
June 3: Éire (Ireland) broke its last
bounds with the English Crown.
September 4: Collapse of the League of Nations. The “Cold
Peace”.
December 1: “La
Violencia”. Colombia
sunk into civil disorders that degenerated in civil war.
December 15: Brazil and Germany signed
several economic accords, to the chagrin of the U.S.
Year 1949
January: Beginning of the “Hukbalahap”
rebellion in Philippines.
February 13: Yi-yul-dan terrorists (Cho
Dong Gun, Hong Jong Wu, Paik Yong Bu, and Cho Young Ja) attacked the Imperial Palace
in Tokyo. The Emperor Showa was severely maimed.
February 23: Japan’s Crown Prince,
Naruhito, succeeded Emperor Showa
August 20: Expulsion of all Koreans from
Japan completed.
September 4: Benito Mussolini died. The
“de-Mussolinization” process ended with an authoritarian parliamentary regimen
in charge.
October 12: Emperor Heisei Crowned.
November 12: Emperor Showa died.
December 1: Baluchistan gained its
independence as a British Dominion, with capital in Karachi. Baluchistan joined
the British Commonwealth.
Year 1950
January 1: “Great Reform” in Japan. “Heisei Democracy”.
March 15: Finland and Germany signed a
treaty of Friendship and Economic Cooperation.
March 20: Siam changed its name to Muang
Thai (Thailand).
March 30: Germany detonated its first
atomic bomb in a subterranean test.
April 17: French troops withdrew from
Syria: the latter assumed full sovereignty.
August 23: France, Belgium and Luxembourg signed
the “Accord Européen de Libre-Échange (AELE), as a mean to boost economic
growth and compete with the “German bloc”, as the EZV is popularly known.
July 7: Turkey acceded to German demands
for a Luftwaffe base near Ankara.
November 1: First free elections in
Germany since the ascension to power of Adolph Hitler.
Year 1951
January 15: China and Japan signed a
limited trade accord, initiating the first formal trade between this two
countries since 1939.
March 12: Oil discovered in Libya.
April 9: Britain conceded internal
autonomy to its Burmese colony.
July 2: Liechtenstein joined the EZV.
July 15: Britain and Egypt reached an
agreement to end the British protectorate over Egypt next year.
September 27: The Mexican government
nationalized its oil industries, the “Expropiación Petrolera”.
November 2: Italy annexed its Libyan
colony into metropolitan Italy: the territory was divided in three provinces: Tripolitania,
Cirenaica and Fezzan.
Year 1952
January 1: Spain and Portugal joined the
AELE.
February 23: The Brazilian government
begun the construction of the new Brazilian capital: Brasilia.
March 1: Japan and China signed a formal
peace treaty.
June 4: Manzhouguo demanded from the
Japanese Government the deportation of former Manchukuan emperor Pu-yi to be
judged in that country. Japan refused.
July 17: Britain detonated its first
atomic bomb in the Australian outback.
September 4: France detonated its first
atomic bomb in French Polynesia.
September 24: Border clashes between
France and Germany.
Year 1953
March 6: China ceased to claim Tibet as
part of China, but never acknowledged the Tibetan independence.
May 3: Germany and China initiated the
formation of a German Chinese Fleet. The Hochseeflotte send the first group of light vessels to the
South China Sea.
July 31: Britain initiated a plan to
reduce in one third its colonial forces.
August 2: The Abwehr (German Military
Intelligence) destroyed the Soviet spy ring known as the “Red Orchestra”.
August 7: The Soviet Union tested its
first atomic bomb in Kazakhstan.
September 1: Army coup in Argentina. The
Army and some Air Force and Navy cadres took control of the country.
September 29: The U.S. Air Force is
established as a distinct military branch.
Year 1954
January 1: The Imperial Japanese
Government authorized the formation of the Taiwanese National Assembly in
Taihoku.
February 4: France initiated an ambitious
program of naval construction.
April 3: India amended its constitution to
grant the central government the power to change the Indian states boundaries
to its convenience.
May 17: Ceylon gained its independence as
the Republic of Sri Lanka.
August 3: Venezuela and Britain clashes
over the boundary of the British colony of Guyana.
October 5: Burma acceded to independence
as the Union of Myanmar.
October 26: Thai troops are repelled from
the Myanmarese border zones by the remaining British troops.
Year 1955
February 23: Thailand recognized the international
border with Myanmar as provisional.
April 11: Colombia claimed the San Andrés
island as part of its territory. Nicaragua and Honduras protested this intrusion
in its territorial waters.
May 6: France initiated the construction of
a rocket test centre in its Guyanese colony.
June 3-11: Low level governmental officers
from Japan and the Soviet Union discussed their territorial dispute, with no results.
June 29: Germany inaugurate its Ostwand,
a intricate radar network along the Soviet border.
July 11: The Chinese government released an
inform claiming that China has finally surmounted its economic recession.
October 2: A Czech nationalist
manifestation in Prague is brutally put down by the German police.
Year 1956
January-March: Border clashes between
Ecuadorian and Peruvian forces degenerated in open war. Peru occupied and
annexed a third of Ecuador’s Amazonian territory.
January 22: Japan tested its first atomic
bomb in Nan-yo Gunto Special Prefecture.
April 18: Britain concede independence to
Sierra Leone. The country joins the Commonwealth.
August 8: Britain transform Singapore into
a self-governing colony, the already large military facilities were expanded to
support British strategic position in South East Asia.
September 18: The imam Ahmed, leader of
Yemen, was assassinated. Britain assumed the administration of the territory.
October 1: Britain conceded independence
to Nigeria. Nigeria joined the Commonwealth.
December: The Kabaka (king) of Buganda
lead an uprising against the Belgian forces in Kampala.
Year 1957
January-February: Belgian forces defeated
the Kabaka forces and impose order in Congo’s eastern regions.
February 14: “Saint Valentine Massacre”.
Street riots in Londonderry ended in a bloody battle between British and IRA
forces.
March-April: Mexican forces with some U.S.
backing defeat a nascent guerrilla force in Guerrero.
June 30: Revolutionary forces defeat Fulgencio
Batista’s forces outside Santiago.
August 1: Italy organized the “Aegean
Summit” as an effort to end its isolation after the war with Yugoslavia.
September 17: Jordanian and British diplomats
assembled in Jerusalem to discuss th terms for a British withdrawal from Palestine.
September 18: Uruguay and Argentine
reached an accord to divide the Río de la Plata waters.
Year 1958
March 12: Nationalist guerrillas led by
Raúl and Fidel Castro encircled La Habana.
March 22: Britain recognized Jordan’s
independence. The Hashemite Kingdom of
Jordan assumed sovereignty over the former British territories of
Trans-Jordan and Palestine.
April 13: USMC forces invaded Cuba. Fulgencio
Batista is reinstalled as Cuban president.
April-December: In one of its last
colonial wars, Britain crushed the Kikuyu insurrection in its colony of Zanzibar.
June 7: France renounced its protectorate
over Morocco.
July 15: Liberia acceded to U.S. demands
for permanent military facilities in that country.
December 4: Josef Stalin died in Moscow.
Brief power struggle within the Soviet government.
Year 1959
January 1: The Merdeka War.
March 2: The Dutch army surrendered Batavia.
End of the Merdeka War.
March 24: Iraq, Syria, Jordan, Egypt and
Saudi Arabia organized the Arab League.
May 18: Nikita Khrushchev proclaimed
himself as new Soviet leader.
June 2: The Royal Navy laid the keel of the
first atomic submarine, the H.M.S. Indefatigable.
September 1: Indonesia proclaimed its
independence. Japan immediately recognized the Indonesian independence.
November 26: France recognized the
Lebanese independence. The new Repúblique du Liban proposed a close relation
with France, that served as the base for the French Union.
December 12: Britain conceded independence
to its Zanzibari colony, which proclaim its independence as the Republic of
Kenya.
Year 1960
January 1: Taiwan gained its independence
as the “Democratic Republic of Taiwan”.
February 10: Creation of the
"Taiwanese-Japanese Mutual Defence and Assistance Agreement" and the
Military Aid and Assistant Group (M.A.A.G).
May 9: The “Masaryk’s Army” initiated its
bombing campaign: its objective is the expulsion of the Germans from Czech
lands.
July 14: Formation of the first
independent workers movement in the Soviet Union. Beginning of the “Soft
Revolution”.
September 1: Indonesia proclaimed its
independence from Holland and Japan.
November 5: Germany accused Slovakian
president Dubcek of collaboration with the “Masaryk’s Army” and forces his
renounce. Gustav Husak proclaimed new Slovakian president.
December 2: China extended its "Three
No Policy" towards Taiwan: "no negotiation, no compromise, no
contact".
Year 1961
January-April: Indonesian and Japanese
troops quelled several rural revolts inspired by the Communist Party. Those
incidents resulted in the proscription of all communist activities by the
Indonesian Congress.
May 19: Greece’s Military Junta is
replaced by a democratic government.
June 2: Greece, Turkey and Britain
initiated conversations over the future status of Cyprus.
July-December: Khrushchev leads the Soviet
Union to open confrontation with China and the ESA (Germany and its European
allies). Bloody border battles, specially in the Uighuristan (Sinkiang) border
with China.
July: India occupied and annexed the
Portuguese territories of Goa, Damão and Diu.
September: The Frente de Liberação do
Moçambique (FRELIMO) initiated military
actions against Portuguese troops.
October 23: Nationalist Army coup in
Hungary ousted Nicolas Horty from power. Karl IV enthroned as King of Hungary.
November 9: Ruanda-Urundi is annexed into
the Belgian Congo.
Year 1962
January 1: Britain retired its troops from
Iran: end of the British protectorate.
January 13: Greece and Serbia joined the
AELE.
April 13: Japan recognized the new Iranian
national government: both governments initiate economical and political
relation.
July 1: In spite of criticism from Germany
and other countries, Italy joins the AELE. It’s the first country to join both
economic blocs.
July 2: In the Evian conference, France and
Algerian nationalist convened in a independence process timetable, with full
Algerian independence by 1965.
August 18: The Kuomintang party allows
free municipal elections in several cities.
November 2: The Union of Myanmar gained
its independence from Britain, and immediately joined the Commonwealth.
Year 1963
January 1: Creation of the French Union, a
political entity that comprised metropolitan France (the 90 departments of
continental France and Corsica); French overseas departments, territories,
settlements, League of Nation Mandates; French colonies, which became overseas
departments of France; and associate states.
January
25: A treaty recognizing Japanese sovereignty over the former League of
Nations’ Pacific Mandates was signed in Washington, D.C.,
February 4: Treaty of Nicosia. Britain,
Greece and Turkey agreed to divide Cyprus between the former two: approximately
two thirds of the island went to Greece, while the rest was annexed by Turkey.
Clashes between military forces and civilians along the new border started
almost immediately.
May 30: France conceded independence to
Vietnam, but the new government under emperor Bao Dai allowed France to keep
aero-naval forces in the country, and joined the French Union as an associate
state.
June 2: “Soft Revolution” in the USSR. Nikita
Khrushchev is deposed by a coalition of pragmatic party leaders, “workers’
associations” (independent syndicates) and the military. End of border clashes with the ESA and China.
August 25: Holland officially recognized
Indonesian independence, but refuses to sign a peace treaty with Japan.
November 1: Creation of the “East Asian
Free Trade Area”: a loose mercantile federation of Japan, Taiwan and Indonesia.
Year 1964
February 5: Egyptian king Fuad I deposed
by the military: General Mohamed Naguib proclaimed himself President of Egypt.
May 1: New Soviet constitution granted
much more economic liberties to common citizens.
May 15: The Manzhouguan government leased
for 99 years its naval base in Lushun to the Soviet Navy.
July 1: Denmark is accepted in the AELE.
July 26: Britain granted independence to
Tanganyika, but kept its protectorate over the Sultanate of Zanzibar
August 7: Côte d’Ivoire gained its independence.
September 8: Army coup in Bulgaria: the
monarchy is abolished.
November 10: Tunis gained its
independence; the new Tunisian government acceded to lease its naval base of Bizerte
to France for the next 50 years. The country also joined the French Union.
Year 1965
April 18: Holland and Japan signed a peace
treaty. Also by the terms of the treaty, Holland recognized Indonesian
independence.
March 3: Japan and the Soviet Union
resumed their diplomatic relations. However, the status of northern
Sakhalin/Karafuto eschewed a peace treaty between both nations.
May 8: Ferdinand Marcos is elected as
president in the Philippines.
June 2: Algeria gained its independence.
In the following moths the country joined the French Union and the AELE.
July 1: Ghana proclaimed its independence,
and I. K. Acheampong is elected as its first president.
September: The Greek Navy failed in its
intent to depose the civilian authorities.
October 12: Italy accused the new Egyptian
government of fomenting “civil disorder” among the Arab population in its
Libyan provinces.
Year 1966
February 18: The Gambia acceded to
independence.
May 1: In Worker’s Day Proclamation the
Soviet government announced the steady growth in the Soviet economy.
June 12: Italy conceded autonomy to
Somalia.
August 8: Germany
sent the first human crew to the Moon.
October 1: Britain proclaimed the end of
its protectorate over Sudan. Immediately the Egyptian government claim almost
the entire country as part of Egypt.
October 8: The Vietnamese government
granted some autonomy to its Cambodian provinces, in order to appease the
Cambodian guerrillas.
November-December: Aerial and naval
clashes between Egypt and Saudi Arabia.
November 30: Gabon gained independence as
the République Gabonaise, and immediately joined the French Union.
Year 1967
March 4: The French government amended the
founding act of the French Union to allow the new members an easier access to
technology and capital services.
March-May: a renewed Cuban uprising is
crushed by the USMC.
May 6: Bolivia and Brazil accorded to place
clear signalling in the disputed Acre border.
July 9: Peruvian Army forces and Colombian
nationalist clashed in the Leticia Quadrilateral.
July 12: FRELIMO
(Frente de Liberaçaõ do Moçambique) proclaimed that its forces imposed
its control on Mozambique’s westernmost zones.
July 23: Peru bought four old Japanese
submarines to cement is strategic position in South America.
December 4: The U.S. sent a military
mission to Ecuador in order to serve as a counterweight to Peruvian measures.
Year 1968
January 12: Colonel Odumegwu Ojuwu
proclaimed the independence of the Ibo people: Republic of Biafra secede from
Nigeria.
January 31: Britain conceded Nauru with
internal autonomy.
March 13: Nepalese revolutionaries, backed
by India, deposed the military caste of the Rana, and enthroned king Mahendra
as absolute monarch.
July 17-27: Naval clashes off the Svalbard
Islands between Soviet and Norwegian forces.
September 1: The New Zealand Parliament created
the Tribal Chieftains Council, to represent the Maori population.
December 12: The Nigerian federal troops,
without international support, are defeated by the Ibo troops, several
countries recognized the Ibo republic, but Nigeria refused to recognize it
until 1988.
December 12: The leadership of the “Awami
League”, which demanded more autonomy for Bengala, is arrested and executed
under treason charges.
Year 1969
February 25: Egyptian-inspired coup in
Sudan. Former government fled to the southern provinces. Sudanese civil war.
April 26: Vietnamese emperor Bao Dai
deposed by nationalist military coup. France is forced to leave its naval bases
in Indochina (Danang and Cam
Ranh Bay).
May 23: Saudi Arabia and Britain signed a
mutual defence pact.
July 30: Francisco Franco proclaimed that
Juan Carlos de Borbón would be his successor as Spain’s Chief of State.
September 30: Britain concede independence
to Botswana.
August: Southern Sudan’s Black population
initiated an independence war, backed by Italy.
December 10: Dahomey gained independence
and joined the French Union.
Year 1970
January 1: France recognized the
independence of Caméroun. Two moths later it joined the French Union.
April 19: Holland joined the AELE.
April 23: Sino-Tibetan War. The Chinese
invaded the western provinces of Tibet, but international pressure, specially
from India, forced China to limit its occupation to the Tibetan province of
Kham.
March 1: Britain conceded independence to
Malaysia. Singapore is separated from Malaysia and turned into a British
colony.
March 12: Belgium reorganized its
municipal and provincial division to reflect its two ethnic communities: both
are grated more economical and cultural powers at the regional level.
June 1: End of the Anglo-Japanese alliance.
September 5-30: Italo-Egyptian War.
Italian forces attacked Egypt’s border bases and Libyan guerrillas’ training
camps. Most of Egypt’s naval and air forces are destroyed.
November 30: Britain conceded independence
to the Southern Arabia Federation: the new country renamed itself and the
Federation of Yemen. The new country
leased the naval base of Socotra to the British for the next 50 years.
Year 1971
January 1: Creation of the new League of Nations. End of the “Cold
Peace”.
January 23: Britain concede independence
to Ghana. Ghana joined the Commonwealth.
July 21: The kingdom of Bhutan in occupied
by Indian troops, after anti-monarchist riots in Thimbu, capitol of the
Himalayan kingdom.
August: Angolan nationalist guerrillas
defeated by Portuguese troops. Portugal and moderate nationalist initiated negotiations
in Nova Lisboa (Luanda).
October 21: Italy granted internal
autonomy to Ethiopia.
December 3: the British granted
independence to the Emirate of Bahrain. Bahrain joined the Commonwealth.
December: Nyassaland, and Northern and Southern
Rhodesia are federated by Britain: the new Zimbabwe Federation joined the
British Commonwealth as an independent country.
Year 1972
January 13: China officially annexed the
Tibetan province of Kham to the Chinese province of Sichuan. Tibet and the rest
of the regional powers refused to accept the annexation. Tibet breaks
diplomatic relations with China.
January 23: Thai Forces invaded Vietnam. Thai-Vietnamese war.
February 18: Gambia proclaimed its
independence from Britain, but joined the Commonwealth.
July 17: South African troops invaded
Mozambique. The South African War.
August 17: The president of Gabon, León
M’ba, is deposed in a military coup d’etat.
August 20: French troops invaded Gabon and
imposed M’ba as president.
November 29: Dahomey joined the AELE.
December 4: The French autonomous
territory of Ubangui-Chari gained independence as the Republic of Bangui.
Year 1973
January 30: Japan broke an armistice
between Thailand and Vietnam.
March 6: Franco-Italian negotiations over
its Libyan border left the Aouzou Territory provisionally under French sovereignty.
March 7: the League of Nations negotiate a
cease-fire in the Belgian Congo, between Belgian colonial troops and
independents guerrillas.
June 23: Peace treaty between the Soviet
Union and the ESA countries.
July 9: Sardar Mohamed Daud dethroned the
last Afghan king and the new government proclaimed the adoption of the
Republican form of government.
July 30: South African forces detonated a
nuclear weapon in Mozambique: the South African war became the first nuclear
conflict of history.
August 4: Italy granted internal autonomy
to Eritrea.
August 8: The first human beings -German
mission Mondkaninchen- reached the Moon.
September 5: South African troops
surrendered to the League forces. End of the South African War.
October: Anti-government riots in Myanmar
are quelled with the help of Indian troops.
December 16: Tibet and India signed a
Mutual Defence treaty.
Namibia acceded to independence,
Year 1974
January 15: France ceded internal autonomy
to its southern Equatorial Africa colony.
February 3: Italy conceded independence to
the Albanian kingdom under an Italian dynasty.
May 17: Portugal concede internal autonomy
to Guinea Bissau.
May 17: France granted independence to Togo,
the Republique Togolaise joined the French Union.
July 19: Britain ceased its protectorate
over seven Persian Gulf emirates. The emir of Abu-Dhabi promptly annexed the
other six and proclaimed the Emirate of Abu-Dhabi.
July 30: Indian troops occupied and
annexed Sikkim.
August 1: “The Nuclear Treaty”. The Nuclear
Powers (the U.S., Germany, the Soviet Union, Britain, France, Japan, Italy), in
spite of the condemnation of other powers, accorded to keep their monopoly over
all their nuclear know-how and related technologies.
August 15: the French territory of Central
Congo achieved independence as the République du Congo.
September 4: After a series of bloody
border battles between Turkey and Greece, the League of nation arranged a
ceasefire.
October 24: Belgium conceded independence
to its Congolese colony.
Year 1975
January 2: Australia joined the AELE under
a “special partnership” agreement. New Zealand joined this organization the
next day.
January 26: Portugal annexed the Cabo
Verde archipelago as an overseas province.
June 10: Portugal granted independence to
Mozambique.
June 23: Holland concede independence to
Surinam.
September 15: Spain agreed to cede Ifni to
Morocco, but declared its intention to keep several coastal enclaves and the
Spanish Sahara territory.
October 1: After a successful plebiscite,
the Greeks decided to abolish the monarchy and turn into a republic.
October-December: “Guerra del Magreb”:
Spain forced Morocco by force to recognize the annexation of the Spanish Sahara
to metropolitan Spain.
November 20: Francisco Franco died. He was
replaced by Admiral Luis Carrero Blanco.
Year 1976
January 6: Marxist guerrillas attacked and
briefly occupied Vietnamese city of Phnom Penh; where they declared the Khmer
Republic.
March 17: Peace treaty between Spain and
Morocco. The latter recognized the Spanish annexation of its Saharan territory
and ceded all the coastal enclaves to Spain for the next 100 years.
May 14: Admiral Carrero Blanco is
assassinated by an Euskadi ta Askatasuna (ETA) commando. Two days later Juan
Carlos de Borbón was proclaimed as Rey Juan Carlos I.
July 12: Portugal concede independence to
São Tomé e Príncipe.
July 27: The Spanish “Cortes” (Parliament)
called general elections. The monarchists are narrowly defeated: is proclaimed
the new “República Federada de España” and a new constitution.
August 4: Britain granted more autonomy,
including a Executive Counsel, to its Fijian colony.
September 30: Botswana gained independence
and is accepted in the British Commonwealth.
November 1: Belgium recognized Congolese
independence.
Year 1977
March 22: Indian invaded Nepal. After
several countries protested before the League of Nations, Indian called back
its troops.
March-June: Iraqi and Iranian forces
clashed over the Shatt-al-Arab border.
April 1: The French territory of Tchad gained
its independence as the Repúblique du Tchad.
May 22: India detonated its
first nuclear fission bomb in the Thar Desert.
October 2: The French territory of Rivières
du Sud gained its independence as the Repúblique de Guineé (Guinea).
October 28: Czech ultra-nationalist group
destroyed the Municipal Building in Prag (Prague).
November: The Spanish colonies of Fernando
Póo and Río Muni are federated as the colony of Muni.
Year 1978
January 3: Éire joined the AELE.
February 9: the Emirate of Qatar gained
its independence from Britain, but accepted to sign a defence pact with the latter, and joined the British
Commonwealth.
May-June: Borders clashes between Romanian
and Hungarian forces. Germany forced both countries to present their dispute to
the League of Nations.
June-December: The “Haddock War” between
Iceland and Britain.
September 1: Portugal recognized the
independence of Guinea-Bissau.
October 5: Italy conceded internal
autonomy to its provinces of Slovenia and Zara.
November 21: Iran nationalized the oil
industries operating in that country.
Year 1979
February 6: the Îles Comores are annexed to France as its
new département d'outre-mer.
June 19: Britain renounced its
protectorate over Kuwait. The new nation is recognized by almost all the other
Persian Gulf powers, excepting Iraq.
June 26: Madagascar gained its
independence as the Repúblique Démocratique Malgache. The island nation joined
the French Union two days later.
July 7: William Tubman, president of Liberia,
was deposed by the military. The U.S recognized the new government.
October: the Indian government recognized
the “Free Tamil Republic” declared by Sri Lankan Tamil separatists based in the
Indian state of Tamil Nadu.
November 16: After several years of
disputes over the Aouzou Territory, Italian mechanized forces invaded Chad,
advancing to the 16th parallel, effectively cutting Chad in half.
December 1: Brunei approved in a
plebiscite its status as British protectorate.
Year 1980
January 14: The League of Nations arranged
a ceasefire between Italy and Chad.
February 1: Thailand and Vietnam signed a
definitive peace treaty. Thailand gained the Lao provinces of Sayabouri,
opposite Luang Prabang in the north, and Champassak, opposite Pakse in the south;
and the Cambodian provinces of Battambang, Sisophon, and Siem Reap.
July-September: Military clashes between
Chad and Italy in the ceasefire line.
July 17: Britain built a powerful air base
in the isle of Gan (Maldives Islands colony).
July 30: Namibia acceded to independence.
The League of Nations troops (mostly British and Angolan) withdrew a month
later.
October 4: The last Libyan guerrilla
leaders are captured by Italian security forces.
November 4: Almost a year after commencing
hostilities, Chad ceded to Italy the Aouzou Territory, a large stretch of
desolate land, with an extension of 72.000 square kilometres, and located in
the middle of the Sahara Desert.
November 24:
France arranges the federation of its former colonies of Senegal and Mali: the Fédération
du Mali joined the French Union.
Year 1981
April 9: The Sri Lankan government accused
India of sending Indian Army regulars to the island in support of Tamil
separatists.
April 19: Holland concede independence to its
colony of Surinam.
June 2: Prime Minister Hiraoka Kimitake
declared a 200-mile Maritime Exclusion Zone around Sri Lanka, with the intent
of weakening Indian supply and reinforcement efforts. Sri Lankan Crisis.
June 25: Through the mediation of the
League of Nations, Portugal ceded its control over Moçambique to the pro-independence Mozambican
guerrillas (FRELIMO), but refused to recognize Mozambican independence until the
next year.
September 21: The population of Malta
confirmed its status as British colony in a plebiscite.
November: End of the Sri Lankan Crisis.
Since then Japan keeps a small detachment of IJNI forces in the island.
November 28: the French colony of Mauritanie
joined the Fédération du Mali.
December 7: The Seychelles are turned into
a self-governing British territory.
Year 1982
January 31: Japan and Sri Lanka signed a
mutual defence pact.
August 26: The island of Nauru is formally
annexed by Australia.
October 12: Spain conceded independence to
its Muni colony. The República de Río Muni elected Francisco Matías Nguema as
its first president.
May 5: Under Japanese auspices, Sri Lanka,
Thailand and Vietnam joined the “East Asian Free Trade Area”, which was
reorganized to strength the economic bonds between its members, wishing to
emulate the increasing economic consolidation in the rest of the world
represented by the EZV and the AELE.
July 7: British intelligence agencies deposed
Qabus ibn Taimur, sultan of Oman, and imposed his son, Said, as new ruler.
December 18: France conceded independence
to its last African colony: birth of the Repúblique du Niger.
June 8: the Boer-populated Transvaal and
Orange free State proclaimed their independence from South Africa, and formed
the Afrikaaner Republiek.
Year 1983
Abril 5: The leftist Movimento das Forças Armadas, lead by General Antonio
Spínola, overthrow the Portuguese government. Despite the armed opposition in
the conservative northern third of the country, the revolutionaries were able
to organize a new government.
June 23: The South African National
Assembly dissolved itself: end of the Union of South Africa. KwaZulu, Kei,
Limpopo, Bophuthatswana, the Afrikaner and Cape Republics, successor states.
June-August: Border war between Syria and
Jordan over Syrian military adventurerism in Lebanon.
July 7. Britain asked its admission as
“special partner” in the AELE.
September 1: Poland and the Soviet Union
signed a commercial treaty, the first between an ESA member and the Soviets.
September 7: Speculations regarding the Deutschemark
exchange rates against the U.S. dollar in Frankfurt, London and Paris lead to a
temporary collapse of the Deutschemark.
September 15: After a plebiscite, the
Anglo-Australian Papuan Territories are transformed in the Australian territory
of New Guinea.
December 24: Unidentified terrorist
detonated a nerve gas bomb in Beirut: 125 fatalities.
Year 1984
January 25: Iraqi troops crossed the
Kuwaiti border. Britain and Saudi Arabia demanded the immediate withdrawal of
the Iraqi troops.
May 23: After four months of unsuccessful
intents to defuse the situation by the League of Nations, Saudi Arabian,
British and Free Kuwaiti forces counter invaded al-Kuwait.
April 30: The last Iraqi forces were
expulsed from al-Kuwait.
June: Pro-independence uprising in
Vietnam’s remaining Lao provinces.
September 3: Ethiopia gained its
independence from Italy.
November: In spite of international
protest, about 35 to 50 Intermediate Range Ballistic Missile were given by
Britain to Saudi Arabia in 1988. The IRBMs, based near Riyadh, are under
British maintenance, and are not armed with nuclear warheads.
December: Japan, France and Germany
imposed economic sanctions over Britain for its violation of the “Nuclear
Treaty” provisions dealing with nuclear delivery systems. The U.S. and the
U.S.S.R. remained silent.
Year 1985
February 1: Portugal recognized the
independence of Angola.
April 4: Eritrea gained its independence
from Italy.
April 7: Gibraltar rejected the Spanish demands
for a plebiscite, it remained as a British colony.
April 29: Iran and Iraq reached an
agreement over its Shatt-al-Arab border: Iraq adopted the Iranian position that
the thalweg --a line running down the middle of the waterway-- was the official
border.
June 1: Britain organized its Caribbean
colonies as the Windward and Leeward Islands territory.
July 23: Naval clashes between Soviet and
Finnish and Norwegian forces in the Barents sea.
November 1: The Cape Republic is admitted
in the British Commonwealth.
Year 1986
January 19: Britain renounced to its
protectorate over the Sultanate of Zanzibar, the sultanate joined the British
Commonwealth.
May 17: Guatemala menaced to use its armed
forces if Britain concede independence to Belize.
May 27: Coup d’état in Turkey: the Army
took control of the country.
June 1: Limpopo joined the French Union,
the first country to join the Union that wasn’t a French colony.
June 4: Britain renounced to its
protectorate over Tonga.
July 1: Britain concede independence to
its Somali colony, which became the Sultanate of Shermarke.
October: Border clashes between Shermarke
and Italian troops.
December 15: New Zealand concede internal
autonomy to Western Samoa, which became the self-governing territory of Samoa i
Sisifo.
Year 1987
February 15: Ferdinand Marcos is impeached
after a misappropriation scandal, Ignacio Largaespada is swore as new president
of the Philippines.
April 8: Fidel Castro and Ernesto Guevara
are allowed to return to Cuba.
July 1: Italy concede independence to
Somalia, but forced the new government to lease the port of Kishmayu for the
Regia Marina.
September 6: The kingdom of Swaziland
changed its name to Ngwane.
October 17: Federation of Azania created under
Commonwealth sponsorship.
November 4: Boer militias and Botswana
troops clashed, the defeat of the Boer irregulars prompt the Boer Republic to
start a rearming program with German help.
December 25: Sendero Luminoso forces
occupied the Japanese Embassy during the Christmas party offered by the
Japanese ambassador.
Year 1988
January 18: Nakano forces, with the cooperation of the
Peruvian police and army, freed the hostages and killed the Senderista commando
responsible of the hijacking.
February 17: Pro-Egyptian forces took
control of Khartoum.
February 19: The Egyptian government
recognized the new Sudanese government, and called for the unification of both
countries.
May 5: After a failed Army coup, Yemen
descended into chaos.
July: Riots in the city of Novomoskovsk
signalled the start of the Soviet Civil War.
August 1: The Kingdom of Tonga signed a
“Friendship and Protection Treaty” with Australia, forced by its dire economic
situation.
October-November: Ecuador renewed its
claim over its Peruvian-occupied Amazonian territories.
Year 1989
May 3:
The new Indonesian government demanded the Japanese withdrawal from the Surabaya naval base.
April
16: After particularly bloody incident with Sendero Luminoso guerrillas, the
Peruvian government accused Ecuador to serve as a safe haven for Senderista
guerrillas.
May 2:
Brazil bought from Britain its first aircraft carrier.
May-July:
Border war between Italy and Egypt in the Cyrenaican border.
June
23: The Japanese Space Agency, the Agence Spatiale Française and the Commonwealth
Space Consortium signed an accord to develop a global satellite network.
August
23: The Deutsche Weltraum Vertretung (German Space Agency) finished the
assembly of the Himmelstoß, the first permanent orbital base.
November
15: The JSA tested its space shuttle orbiter, the Sakigake, and its launch
system, Suisei. The test was conducted unmanned and entirely under automatic
control.
