Stalin

20th Century

Three overlapping architectures emerge from WWII's ashes. The United Nations attempts collective security. The Bretton Woods system builds a dollar-anchored…

• 1945 CE

  Post-war order: UN, Bretton Woods, Cold War

  Three overlapping architectures emerge from WWII's ashes. The United Nations attempts collective security. The Bretton Woods system builds a dollar-anchored global economy. And the U.S.-Soviet rivalry divides the world into spheres of influence—creating the Cold War framework that dominates the next 45 years.