During a visit to the United States in April 1948, Jean Monnet sends a letter to Robert Schuman in which he confirms the United States’ desire to help with the reconstruction of Western Europe in order to curb Soviet expansion.

On 24 February 1949, the German weekly newspaper Die Zeit describes US efforts to revive the economy in Europe and outlines the possibilities available to Germany in order for it to consolidate its position on the international stage.

On 11 September 1949, referring to the prevailing Cold War climate, the Brussels periodical Le Phare Dimanche explains Europe’s dependence for its economic and military future on US foreign policy.

On 5 November 1959, the French daily newspaper Le Monde considers the European issues to be discussed at the meeting in Paris between Dean Acheson, US Secretary of State, Ernest Bevin, British Foreign Minister, and his French counterpart, Robert Schuman.

On 5 January 1946, US President Harry S. Truman sends a letter to his Secretary of State, James F. Byrnes, who is on a visit to Moscow, in which he criticises Soviet Union policy in the European countries under Soviet influence.

On 12 March 1947, US President Harry Truman delivers an address to US Congress in which he sets out the general direction of US foreign policy.

In July 1947, George Frost Kennan, US Ambassador to Moscow, anonymously publishes in the US journal Foreign Affairs a damning indictment of Soviet international policy and diplomatic practices.

‘Ruler and Compass’. On 20 March 1948, cartoonist Woop illustrates the objective of US foreign policy, which, since the address given by US President Harry S. Truman to Congress on 12 March 1947, has sought to contain Soviet expansion in the world.

On 28 March 1950, the Italian daily newspaper Corriere della Sera comments on the Cold War tensions between the United States and the USSR and expresses its concern at the Soviet expansion policy.

On 1 November 1952, the first US H-bomb explodes on the Marshall Islands in the Pacific Ocean and strengthens the international supremacy of the United States in terms of weapons capability.

On 26 December 1972, the French daily newspaper Le Monde leads with the death of former US President Harry S. Truman and looks back at the career of the man behind the ‘Truman Doctrine’ and his unwavering stance towards the Soviet Union.

On 29 June 1944, US President Franklin D. Roosevelt welcomes participants at the Bretton Woods (New Hampshire) Monetary Conference for the establishment of a new international monetary system.

On 1 July 1944, Henry Morgenthau Jr, US Secretary of the Treasury, outlines the issues to be discussed at the International Monetary Conference opening in Bretton Woods (New Hampshire).

On 26 January 1949, the French daily newspaper Le Monde reports that the United States has set out along the road towards economic prosperity.

On 20 July 1944, the first Commission created by the Bretton Woods (New Hampshire) Conference gives a positive assessment of the work relating to the establishment of the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

On 21 July 1944, the second Commission created by the Bretton Woods (New Hampshire) Monetary Conference adopts a report relating to the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD).

On 21 July 1944, during the Bretton Woods Conference, the report by Commission III outlines measures to strengthen international financial and monetary cooperation.

On 22 July 1944, in his closing address, Henry Morgenthau, Jr, US Secretary of the Treasury and Chairman of the Bretton Woods Conference, welcomes the establishment of the International Monetary Fund and the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development.

On 20 July 1944, in Bretton Woods, New Hampshire, delegates from 44 countries sign agreements which establish the gold exchange standard and make the US dollar the only reserve currency convertible into gold.

In 1944, at the close of the Bretton Woods (New Hampshire) monetary conference, John Maynard Keynes, renowned international economist and financial adviser to the British Treasury, gives a speech in which he emphasises the urgent need to set up an International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD).

On 7 March 1945, Henry Morgenthau Jr, US Secretary of the Treasury, outlines the economic and political importance of the Bretton Woods Agreements in an address to the Committee on Banking and Currency of the House of Representatives in Washington.

On 26 July 1945, the French daily newspaper Le Monde comments on the US Senate’s ratification of the Bretton Woods Monetary Agreement and describes the dominant role of the dollar and the United States in the new international monetary system.