War & RuptureThe 1950s

War & Rupture in the 1950s

Every event in the Terralore archive tagged war and rupture — wars, invasions, conquests, battles and armed conflict, narrowed to the 1950s — 18 of them, drawn from 14 nations, running from 1950 to 1959. Each entry keeps the sources it was verified against and links back to the chronicle it came from.

Events
18
Nations
14
Earliest
1950
Latest
1959
Africa
8
Asia
7
Europe
2
North America
1

Every entry below is the same record, with the same sources, as the one on its nation’s chronicle.

  1. Asia

    North Korea

    North Korea invades the South

    North Korean forces cross the 38th parallel, opening the Korean War; the North nearly overruns the peninsula before a US-led UN coalition intervenes.

    Era: The Korean War

    Sources: The Korean War and Japan's Recovery · U.S. Department of State, Office of the Historian, NSC-68 and the Korean War · U.S. Department of State, Office of the Historian

  2. Asia

    North Korea

    China enters the war

    After UN forces push deep into the north, the People's Republic of China intervenes and drives the front back toward the 38th parallel, producing a stalemate.

    Era: The Korean War

    Sources: The Korean War and Japan's Recovery · U.S. Department of State, Office of the Historian, NSC-68 and the Korean War · U.S. Department of State, Office of the Historian

  3. Asia

    South Korea

    The Korean War

    North Korea invades the South; a US-led UN force and Chinese intervention turn the war into a grinding stalemate that devastates the peninsula and kills millions.

    Era: Division, the Korean War, and Authoritarian Rebuilding

    Sources: The Korean War and Japan's Recovery · U.S. Department of State, Office of the Historian, Korea (history) · Encyclopaedia Britannica

  4. North America

    Greenland

    Thule Air Base built

    Under a 1951 NATO-era defence agreement, the United States constructed Thule Air Base in north-west Greenland, a major Cold War installation for bombers and early-warning radar, now the Pituffik Space Base.

    Era: War, the Cold War and the End of Colony

    Sources: The history of US presence in Greenland · Danish Institute for International Studies (DIIS), A Guide to the History of Recognition, Diplomatic, and Consular Relations: Denmark · U.S. Department of State, Office of the Historian

  5. Africa

    Kenya

    State of emergency declared

    As the Mau Mau revolt spreads, the colonial government declares a state of emergency that lasts until 1960, ushering in mass detentions and a brutal counter-insurgency.

    Era: Mau Mau and the Road to Independence

    Sources: Mau Mau Rebellion · Encyclopaedia Britannica, Mau Mau (1952–1960) · BlackPast.org, Kenya Emergency · Imperial War Museums

  6. Asia

    North Korea

    Korean War armistice

    An armistice halts the fighting and creates the Demilitarized Zone; no peace treaty is signed, freezing the division of the peninsula to the present day.

    Era: The Korean War

    Sources: The Korean War and Japan's Recovery · U.S. Department of State, Office of the Historian, US Enters the Korean Conflict · U.S. National Archives

  7. Asia

    South Korea

    Korean War armistice

    An armistice halts the fighting near the 38th parallel and creates the Demilitarized Zone; no peace treaty is signed, freezing the division to the present day.

    Era: Division, the Korean War, and Authoritarian Rebuilding

    Sources: The Korean War and Japan's Recovery · U.S. Department of State, Office of the Historian, Korea (history) · Encyclopaedia Britannica

  8. Africa

    Algeria

    Toussaint Rouge: the war begins

    The FLN launches coordinated attacks across Algeria on 1 November 1954, opening the war of independence against French rule.

    Era: The War of Independence

    Sources: Algerian War · EBSCO Research Starters, History of Algeria · Encyclopaedia Britannica

  9. Asia

    Cyprus

    EOKA launches its armed campaign

    EOKA, led by Colonel Georgios Grivas with the support of Archbishop Makarios III, began an armed struggle against British rule in pursuit of énosis, opening four years of insurgency and repression.

    Era: British Rule, the Demand for Énosis and the EOKA Campaign

    Sources: EOKA · Encyclopaedia Britannica

  10. Asia

    Northern Cyprus

    EOKA campaign for enosis

    The guerrilla organisation EOKA, backed by Archbishop Makarios, fought British rule in pursuit of enosis (union with Greece); Turkish Cypriots opposed enosis and called for taksim (partition).

    Era: British Rule and the Roots of Conflict

    Sources: Cyprus - History · Encyclopaedia Britannica, Makarios III - Archbishop, President of Cyprus · Encyclopaedia Britannica

  11. Africa

    South Sudan

    Torit mutiny begins the First Civil War

    Southern soldiers of the Equatorial Corps mutiny at Torit over fears of northern domination, an event marking the start of the First Sudanese Civil War.

    Era: Marginalisation and Two Civil Wars

    Sources: History of South Sudan · Wikipedia, Sudan: The Addis Ababa Agreement · Encyclopaedia Britannica

  12. Africa

    Sudan

    First civil war

    Rebellion in the south, begun in 1955, grows into a 17-year war ended by the Addis Ababa Agreement of 27 February 1972, which grants southern autonomy.

    Era: Independence and the Long Civil Wars

    Sources: First Sudanese Civil War · Wikipedia, Addis Ababa Agreement (1972) · Wikipedia

  13. Africa

    Algeria

    Battle of Algiers

    A fierce urban campaign in the capital pits FLN cells against French paratroopers; the army's use of torture turns world opinion against the war.

    Era: The War of Independence

    Sources: Algerian War · EBSCO Research Starters, The Algerian War of Independence · Lumen Learning / SUNY World History

  14. Africa

    Egypt

    Suez Crisis

    Nasser nationalises the Suez Canal; an invasion by Britain, France and Israel is forced into withdrawal, confirming Egypt's sovereignty and Nasser's standing.

    Era: The Modern Republic

    Sources: Suez Crisis · Encyclopaedia Britannica, Gamal Abdel Nasser · Encyclopaedia Britannica

  15. Europe

    Hungary

    The Hungarian Revolution of 1956

    A nationwide rising under premier Imre Nagy declared Hungary's withdrawal from the Warsaw Pact; the Soviet army crushed it on 4 November, killing some 2,500 Hungarians and driving about 200,000 into exile.

    Era: Communism, 1956 and the Return to Europe

    Sources: Hungarian Revolution (1956) · Encyclopaedia Britannica

  16. Africa

    Cameroon

    Killing of Ruben Um Nyobe

    The UPC leader Ruben Um Nyobe was tracked down and shot by a French-led military unit; repression of the insurgency continued in the Bassa and Bamileke regions with heavy loss of life.

    Era: Partition: French Cameroun and British Cameroons

    Sources: Ruben Um Nyobe (1913–1958) · BlackPast.org, Cameroon War (1955–1964) · Wikipedia

  17. Europe

    Iceland

    First Cod War (12 nautical miles)

    Iceland extended its fishery limit from four to twelve nautical miles in 1958; after confrontations at sea Britain acknowledged the twelve-mile limit, the first of Iceland's victories over the Royal Navy.

    Era: The Cod Wars and the Modern Republic

    Sources: Cod Wars · EBSCO Research Starters, Iceland: History · Encyclopaedia Britannica

  18. Africa

    Guinea-Bissau

    The Pidjiguiti massacre

    Portuguese police opened fire on striking dockworkers at the Pidjiguiti quay in Bissau, killing scores; the killings turned the PAIGC away from peaceful protest and toward armed struggle.

    Era: Cabral, the PAIGC and the war of independence

    Sources: Pidjiguiti massacre · Wikipedia, History of Guinea-Bissau · Wikipedia