← Turning Points of History

Chapter 8

The Cold War to today

After 1945 the world split between two superpowers, the United States and the Soviet Union, who never fought each other directly. Berlin was walled in two, and in 1962 missiles in Cuba brought the world close to nuclear war. Empires ended, from India in 1947 to the Year of Africa in 1960. Then the Soviet Union broke up, Europe built its union, and the world faced new turning points: terrorism, the smartphone, a pandemic and a changing climate.

12 cards

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See the 12 cards
  1. The two superpowers of the Cold WarThe US and the Soviet Union
  2. Year India and Pakistan became independent1947
  3. Year the People's Republic of China was founded1949
  4. Year 17 African countries became independent1960
  5. Year the Berlin Wall went up1961
  6. 1962 standoff over Soviet missiles near FloridaThe Cuban Missile Crisis
  7. Year the Soviet Union broke up1991
  8. Treaty that created the European Union in 1993Maastricht Treaty
  9. Year of the 11 September attacks in the US2001
  10. Year the first iPhone went on sale2007
  11. Year the WHO declared COVID-19 a pandemic2020
  12. 2015 deal to limit global warmingThe Paris Agreement