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| 1949, Jan. 25 |
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| COUNCIL FOR MUTUAL ECONOMIC ASSISTANCE (COMECON) set up by the Communist governments. | 1 |
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| March 13 |
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| Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg agreed to organize full economic union at an early date. France and Italy made a similar agreement (March 26). | 2 |
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| April 4 |
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| The NORTH ATLANTIC TREATY ORGANIZATION (NATO) founded by signature of the North Atlantic Treaty in Washington, by the foreign ministers of the United States, Great Britain, France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Italy, Portugal, Denmark, Iceland, Norway, and Canada. The treaty provided for withdrawal at the end of 20 years, on one-year notification. It provided, further, for mutual assistance against aggression within the North Atlantic area and for cooperation in military training, arms production, and strategic planning. The North Atlantic Council, consisting of the foreign ministers of all members, was to meet semi-annually and to serve as the directing body. A defense committee, consisting of the ministers of defense, and a military committee, consisting of the chiefs of staff, was to deal with military problems. A standing group (United States, Britain, and France) was to provide general guidance. This organization was completed in Sept. 1949. | 3 |
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| April 23 |
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| Thirty-one minor rectifications of West German borders were carried out. | 4 |
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| May 5 |
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| The Statute of the Council of Europe was signed in London. It provided for an executive committee of ministers and a consultative assembly. Headquarters were fixed at Strasbourg. | 5 |
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| Sept. 21 |
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| The Allied Occupation Statute came into force. The functions of military government were transferred to the Allied High Commission. | 6 |
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| Sept. 27 |
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| The Soviet Union denounced its treaty of friendship with Yugoslavia, and other communist governments presently did likewise. For some time there seemed to be an acute danger of an attack on Yugoslavia by its former allies, despite the Tito government's firm adherence to communism. | 7 |
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| Nov. 24 |
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| In the Petersberg agreement, the Allied High Commission made further economic concessions, to Western Germany, in return for German membership in the International Ruhr Authority. Despite the fact that industrial production had reached 93 percent of the 1936 level, the influx of more than 8 million Germans from the East had caused widespread unemployment. | 8 |
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