19461989

1946–1989 denotes the historical span from the immediate post-World War II recovery era to the end of the Cold War. It encompasses a bipolar international order dominated by the United States and the Soviet Union, the growth of international institutions, and sweeping social and economic transformations across Europe, the Americas, Africa, and Asia.

During this period, regional conflicts, decolonization, and ideological competition shaped policy. Notable milestones include the Berlin Blockade and Airlift (1948–49), the formation of NATO (1949) and the Warsaw Pact (1955), the Korean War (1950–53), the space and arms races, and the Cuban Missile Crisis (1962), along with upheavals such as the Prague Spring (1968). Western Europe and Japan rebuilt economies under varying welfare and growth models, while many states in Asia, Africa, and Latin America pursued independence movements and state-building.

Late 1970s–1980s featured détente, economic restructuring, and reforms under leaders like Mikhail Gorbachev, with arms-control agreements and political liberalization. The period ended with events of 1989, notably the fall of the Berlin Wall, signaling a realignment of European and global politics and the unraveling of the Eastern Bloc. Although the dissolution of the Soviet Union occurred later (1991), 1989 is commonly treated as a symbolic close to the era.