The unconditional German surrender signed on May 7, 1945, seemed
to have opened a new chapter in human history. Now that the Third Reich
had been routed, the German militarism seemed to have been gone once and
for all. Another reason for optimism was the degree of cooperation now
exiting between the Allied powers which convened the United Nations Conference
on International Organization on April 25, 1945, drafting the Charter of
the United Nations Organization. The primary objective of the new organization
was the maintenance of international peace and security. The United Nations
was also dedicated to the development of friendly relations among nations.
The UNO was based on the sovereign equality of its members which undertook
to settle their disputes by peaceful means only and not to use force or
the threat of force in contravention of the purposes of the United Nations.
In 1946 the United Nations established a specialized agency, known as UNESCO,
for promoting international cooperation in science, culture and education.
In October 1946 the Nuremberg Tribunal ended its deliberations
bringing justice to the main Nazi war criminals. Most of the 24 close Hitler
associates put in the dock, were sentenced to hang. The international military
tribunal consisted of four judges and as many prosecutors from the USSR,
the United States, Britain and France.
Russia's heavy contribution to the common victory had sent this
country's post-war reputation sky-high while boosting, by extension, the
influence of the European Communist parties. Fully aware of this, influential
politicians in the West, most notably the US Commerce Secretary Henry Wallace,
thought it would be wise to accommodate Russia's demands and acknowledge
this country's right for domination in certain parts of Europe and Asia.
Winston Churchill didn't think so. Speaking at Fulton in President
Harry Truman's home state of Missouri on March 5, 1946, the former Prime
Minister pleaded for Britain and the United States to unite as guardians
of the peace and set out frankly the menace of Soviet policies to the Western
democracies. Paying tribute to the Soviet people's wartime heroism and
acknowledging this country's right to have secure borders following the
most terrible war ever fought, Churchill still sounded the alarm on what
he said was the growing Soviet expansionism. Churchill's position struck
a chord with America's leading Russian affairs expert George Kennan. President
Truman too, made an appropriate statement, describing the growing confrontation
with Moscow as a conflict between democracy and totalitarianism. This commitment
will soon be known as the Truman Doctrine heralding a transition from postwar
cooperation to confrontation between the former allies. The year 1946 actually
started the Cold War which raged for almost 40 years…
1946 wrote an end to yet another European monarchy when King
Victor Emmanuel abdicated the Italian throne after ruling his country for
46 year. During World War One he fought the Germans only to befriend his
northern neighbor during the Second World War. After many years of living
in the shadow of the fascist dictator Benito Mussolini who liked taunting
him for his small height, Victor Emmanuel ordered Mussolini's arrest in
1944 and declared war on Germany. A quick German intervention, however,
forced the king to flee Rome and seek protection with the Americans. One
year after Italy went republican, Victor Emmanuel died in Alexandria, Egypt.
The year 1946 also became the last in the life of the world-renowned
writer Herbert Wells. Throughout the 80 years of his life he wrote a wealth
of novels some of which foresaw future developments in modern-age science
and technology.
1946 is the birth year of America's 42nd President Bill Clinton
who, over the years, has earned himself the reputation of a liberal and
progressively-minded politician. The only stain on his otherwise impeccable
public image was the Monica Lewinsky scandal.
The Ojmyakon village in northern Russia is the coldest place
you can find in the entire Northern Hemisphere. In 1946 the temperature
there hit a very impressive minus 71.2 degrees Celsius which was appropriately
registered in the Guinness Book of World Records .
THE 20th CENTURY:YEAR AFTER YEAR series
of historical programs is prepared by Vladimir Zhamkin.
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