11 Sep 1973 — Jets bomb the presidential palace in Chile, and Allende dies inside it. Pinochet’s junta goes on to kill over 3,000 people and torture tens of thousands. Washington’s pressure, money and cover are documented. Remember.
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Between 1947 and 1975 roughly ninety new states emerged as European empires collapsed. Their leaders had to find resources and security in a world where Washington and Moscow competed for influence. At Bandung in 1955, many rejected the demand to join either camp. The Non-Aligned Movement grew from the ambition to retain room for independent decisions. India, Egypt, Yugoslavia and others could seek aid and arms from rival powers; each side’s desire for influence gave poorer states something with which to bargain.
Why it happened — Decolonization and bipolarity, mutually radicalizing. The imperial powers had exhausted resources, faced nationalist movements and suffered wartime defeats that weakened their prestige. Singapore was…
The turn — October 1973 — the war that moved the pivot. Egyptian troops crossed the Suez Canal in October 1973, challenging Israel’s reputation for invincibility. Israel counter-crossed and nearly…
What it changed — Communism’s maximum map — and its hollowness. From 1975 to 1979, Indochina, Angola, Mozambique, Ethiopia, Afghanistan and Nicaragua moved into the communist column. For Moscow, the expanding map…
