1946 The Making of the Modern World

Nineteen forty-six is the year that would signal the beginning of the Cold War, the end of the British Empire, and the beginning of the rivalry between the United States and the USSR. Victor Sebestyen reveals the year’s events by chronologically framing what was taking place in Europe, the Middle East, and Asia, with seminal decisions made by heads of state that would profoundly change the old order forever. The map of Eastern Europe would be redrawn, Chinese communists would gain decisive victories in their fight for power, and the world would witness the birth of Israel. 1946 was a year of seismic and dramatic events.
 
Drawing on personal testimonies and new archival research, Sebestyen has written a vivid and compelling narrative that brilliantly evokes the beginning of the Cold War set against a devastated landscape of dystopian horrors.

(With 16 pages of black-and-white photographs.)

VICTOR SEBESTYEN was born in Budapest. Newspapers he has worked for include The Times (London), The Daily Mail, and the London Evening Standard. Sebestyen has written for many American publications, including The New York Times. He was an associate editor at Newsweek.

Illustrations ix

Maps xi

Introduction xvii

1. ‘I’m Tired of Babying the Soviets’ 1
2. The American Century 12
3. The Russians: ‘A Tsarist People’ 23
4. Stunde Null – Zero Hour 35
5. Austria Forgets Its Past 59
6. The Spy Comes In from the Cold 62
7. Austerity Britain 67
8. A Performance at the Bolshoi 83
9. The Declaration of Cold War 88
10. The Abdication Crisis 95
11. Rape and Pillage 114
12. ‘Woe, Woe to the Germans’ 129
13. ‘Anywhere but Home’ 141
14. ‘This Chinese Cesspit’ 152
15. Iron Curtain 163
16. The Fog of War 190
17. Sunset on the Raj 200
18. Refugees 216
19. Trials and Errors 227
20. A Greek Tragedy 251
21. She’erit ha-pleta: The Surviving Remnant 260
22. ‘A Jewish–Bolshevik Plot’ – Blood Libels 283
23. The War Against Terror 294
24. ‘Listen World. This Is Crossroads.’ 302
25. The Glory of France: ‘Resistance in the Heart’ 312
26. Stalin’s Turkish Bluff 323
27. The Bloodbath in Calcutta 328
28. ‘Half-Nun, Half-Whore’ 337
29. The Return of the King 341
30. ‘Sand Down a Rat-Hole’ 346
31. The General Orders – Democracy 354
32. The Big Freeze 367
Epilogue 371

Acknowledgements 377

Bibliography 381

Notes 397

Index 425