CHRONOLOGY OF THE EU
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European Community |
The world |
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1945 |
End of World War II |
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UN Charter signed |
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1946 |
Churchill's Zurich speech calls for United States of Europe |
Iron Curtain descends on Eastern Europe |
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1947 |
Marshall Aid begins |
India and Pakistan gain independence |
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1948 |
Berlin blockade |
State of Israel founded |
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1949 |
Council of Europe founded North Atlantic Treaty signed Comecon formed |
Mao establishes People's Republic of China |
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1950 |
Schuman Plan |
Korean War starts |
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1951 |
Treaty of Paris creates ECSC |
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1952 |
EDC Treaty signed |
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1953 |
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Korean War ends Stalin dies |
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1954 |
EDC collapses |
Vietnam War begins Algerian revolt starts |
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1955 |
West Germany joins NATO Messina Conference |
Warsaw Pact signed |
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1956 |
Anglo-French Suez Canal crisis Treaty of Rome creates EEC Euratom Treaty signed |
Hungarian uprising crushed 1957 Sputnik 1 (first spacecraft)launched |
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1958 |
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Mao's Great Leap Forward (1958-61) |
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1959 |
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Japanese GNP trebles over 8 years (1959-67) |
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1960 |
EFTA Convention signed |
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1961 |
Berlin Wall erected |
USA joins Vietnam War |
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1962 |
CAP launched |
Cuban missile crisis De Gaulle ends Algerian War |
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1963 |
De Gaulle vetoes UK membership of EC Treaty of the Elysée |
J.F. Kennedy assassinated |
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1964 |
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1965 |
Empty chair crisis |
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1966 |
Luxembourg Compromise France partially withdraws from NATO |
Cultural Revolution in China (1966-78) |
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1967 |
De Gaulle again vetoes UK |
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1968 |
Internal tariffs ended |
'Prague Spring' crushed Martin Luther King murdered 1969 Man lands on the moon |
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1970 |
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1971 |
Common Fisheries Policy Birth of the Snake |
Collapse of Bretton Woods system |
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1972 |
Norway rejects EEC |
Nixon and Mao reopen US - China relations |
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1973 |
Accession of Denmark, Ireland and UK Death of the Snake |
Yom Kippur War precipitates oil crisis USA withdraws from Vietnam |
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1974 |
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Nixon resigns |
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1975 |
British referendum endorses membership European Regional Development Fund established Lomé Convention signed |
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1976 |
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Mao Zedong dies |
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1977 |
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1978 |
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1979 |
First direct European elections EMS and ERM initiated |
Egypt and Israel sign accord Ayatollah Khomeini replaces Shah in Iran soviet troops enter Afghanistan |
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1980 |
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1981 |
Accession of Greece |
Deployment of Pershing missiles in Europe |
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1982 |
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Falklands War |
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1983 |
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1984 |
Spinelli's draft Treaty on European Union Thatcher negotiates British rebate |
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1985 |
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1986 |
Single European Act Accession of Spain and Portugal |
Gorbachev initiates glasnost and perestroika |
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1987 |
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Stockmarket crash |
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1988 |
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Soviet troops withdraw from Afghanistan |
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1989 |
Berlin Wall falls |
Collapse of communism in Eastern Europe Tiananmen Square massacre |
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1990 |
UK joins ERM German reunification |
Break-up of Yugoslavia |
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1991 |
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Soviet Union disintegrates War with Iraq over Kuwait |
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1992 |
Single market programme completed UK leaves ERM Maastricht Treaty; Danes reject it Switzerland rejects EEA |
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1993 |
Danes accept Maastricht at second attempt ERM collapses |
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1994 |
EEA comes into force Norway again rejects membership |
Mandela becomes president of South Africa |
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1995 |
Accession of Austria, Finland and Sweden |
Dayton Peace Accord in Yugoslavia |
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1996 |
Beef crisis EMU Stability Pact agreed |
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1997 |
UK government adopts Social Chapter Agenda 2000 plan for EU enlargement Treaty of Amsterdam |
Hong Kong returned to China Asian economic crisis |
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1998 |
Selection of 11 single currency countries Greece joins ERM Euro conversion rates fixed |
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1999 |
Launch of single currency Commission resigns |
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2000 |
Nice IGC prepares for new treaty |
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2002 |
Euro becomes legal tender |
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