During the Cold War in Europe, the vast majority of countries fell into one of two groups. Western Europe was primarily capitalist and allied, through the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), with the United States. NATO included France, Austria, Greece, Great Britain, West Germany, and several other countries. Communist Eastern Europe primarily fell under the influence of the Soviet Union, and was allied under the Warsaw Pact. The Warsaw Pact included Poland, Hungary, Romania, Ukraine, and several other countries. Yugoslavia, itself a Communist nation, resisted the Soviet hegemony and, along with India, Egypt, and Indonesia, formed the non-alignment bloc of independent nations.

The Geneva Convention was organized in 1955 with the stated aim of reducing global tension and beginning the process towards world peace. It failed in this mission, but it represented the first of many attempts during the Cold War to try and find an entente between the East and the West. It was attended by the political leaders of the United States, France, Great Britain, and the Soviet Union.

The Velvet Revolution can be seen as part of the wider trend of European history, in 1989 and 1990, when the communist regimes all over Europe and in the Soviet Union were crumbling and being replaced by capitalism and democracy. The Velvet Revolution took place in Czechoslovakia (now Slovakia and the Czech Republic) in the winter of 1989. It was an almost entirely non-violent revolution, inspired by student protests that led to a very swift resignation of the communist government.

The European Coal and Steel Community is generally considered as the initial step in the integration of European markets and politics under one umbrella organization, now called the European Union. It was initially proposed by the French government in 1950 as a means to prevent any future war in Europe between France and Germany. The aim was to make it so war was not just improbable, but rather "materially impossible" by integrating the economies of France and Germany so much that they were dependent on each other. By 1951, the ECSC was ratified by six countries: France, West Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, Italy, and Luxembourg.

The French Fourth Republic was formed in the aftermath of World War Two, but immediately ran into the same problems of the French Third Republic: an Executive Branch that was too weak, with too many diverse political parties. The government was unable to rule effectively, and the Fourth Republic crumbled after just a decade. The wartime hero, Charles de Gaulle, was called back to office to preside over the transition to the French Fifth Republic, which has continued to this day.

The Helsinki Accords were signed in 1975, by the United States and most of the European countries, to recognize the territorial gains made by the Soviet Union in Eastern Europe in the immediate aftermath of World War Two. It was seen, at the time, as a major diplomatic victory for the Soviet Union and a lessening of the tensions between the East and the West during the Cold War.

The Algerian Crisis occurred in 1958 when a group of French generals and Algerian politicians staged a coup in Algeria in an attempt to create an independent Algerian nation free of French control. It led directly to the demise of the already weakening French Fourth Republic and precipitated the rise of the French Fifth Republic.

The Prague Spring took place in 1968, when the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia, under the leadership of First Secretary Alexander Dubcek, attempted to reform the economic and political structure of the country to provide greater individual freedoms. The economy was partially decentralized and democratic rights were extended to many citizens; however, the Prague Spring was quashed within a year, when forces of the Soviet Union and the Warsaw Pact invaded and put down the rebellion by force. The Prague Spring is considered a precursor to the Velvet Revolution of 1989, when communism was finally ended in Czechoslovakia in a peaceful and swift revolution.

Hideki Tojo led Japan during the Second World War as Prime Minister. He authorized the attacks on Pearl Harbor that brought the United States of America into the Pacific and Atlantic theatres of World War Two.

The Japanese Emperor during the Second World War was Emperor Hirohito. He encouraged Japanese militarism and argued that he was divinely ordained to rule the nation. Following Japanese surrender, Hirohito renounced his divinity and agreed to constitutional rule.