30 records
Africa
- COG
Congo · War & Rupture
Brazzaville, capital of Free France
After French Equatorial Africa rallied to General de Gaulle in 1940, Brazzaville became the effective capital of Free France, a base for organising resistance against Vichy and the Axis powers.
French Equatorial Africa, forced labour, and the Congo-Ocean Railway
Sources: French Equatorial Africa (Wikipedia) · The Brazzaville Conference, 1944 (BlackPast.org) · Republic of the Congo (Encyclopædia Britannica)
- LBY
- SOL
Somaliland · War & Rupture · 1940–1941
Italian occupation and British reconquest
Italy overran the protectorate in 1940; British forces retook it in 1941 and went on to capture Italian Somaliland, placing the region under British administration for a period.
The British Somaliland Protectorate
Sources: British Somaliland (Wikipedia) · British Somaliland: The Protectorate on the Horn of Africa (World History Encyclopedia)
Asia
- PAK
Pakistan · Politics & Power · 23 Mar 1940
The Lahore Resolution
Meeting in Lahore, the Muslim League under Jinnah adopts the resolution demanding independent states for Muslims, the foundational charter of the Pakistan Movement.
The British Raj and the Pakistan Movement
Sources: Mohammed Ali Jinnah (Encyclopædia Britannica) · Pakistan: A Country Study (Library of Congress, Federal Research Division)
Europe
- BEL
Belgium · War & Rupture · 10 May 1940
Second German invasion
Germany again invaded neutral Belgium on 10 May 1940, this time thrusting through the Ardennes, and rapidly overwhelmed the defending Belgian, French and British forces.
The Two World Wars and the Gains of Versailles
Sources: German Invasion of Western Europe, May 1940 (United States Holocaust Memorial Museum) · Belgium: History (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
- BEL
Belgium · War & Rupture · 28 May 1940
Surrender of King Leopold III
After eighteen days of fighting Leopold III surrendered the Belgian army without consulting his government, beginning four years of German occupation and a political crisis over the king's conduct.
The Two World Wars and the Gains of Versailles
Sources: German Invasion of Western Europe, May 1940 (United States Holocaust Memorial Museum) · Belgium: History (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
- BGR
Bulgaria · Politics & Power · 7 Sep 1940
Treaty of Craiova returns Southern Dobruja
By the Treaty of Craiova, Romania ceded Southern Dobruja back to Bulgaria, restoring the 1912 frontier, the one Axis-era border change that was not reversed after the Second World War.
The Balkan Wars, the World Wars and the Saving of the Jews
Sources: Treaty of Craiova (Encyclopaedia Britannica) · Treaty of Craiova and the return of South Dobruja (Bulgarian National Radio (BNR))
- DNK
Denmark · War & Rupture · 9 Apr 1940
German occupation of Denmark
Germany invaded on 9 April 1940 and Denmark surrendered within hours; a policy of negotiation gave way in August 1943 to direct German control and an active resistance movement.
Occupation, the Welfare State and the Modern Realm
Sources: German occupation (1940-1945) (National Museum of Denmark) · A Guide to the History of Recognition, Diplomatic, and Consular Relations: Denmark (U.S. Department of State, Office of the Historian)
- EST
Estonia · War & Rupture · Jun–Aug 1940
Soviet occupation and annexation
The Red Army occupied Estonia on 16-17 June 1940 and, after a staged election, the country was annexed into the Soviet Union in August, ending the independent republic.
Occupation, Annexation and the Long Night
Sources: Estonia: Independence lost (Soviet occupation, World War II) (Encyclopaedia Britannica) · Estonia in the grip of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact (Estonian World)
- EST
Estonia · Politics & Power · from 1940
Western non-recognition
Following the Stimson Doctrine, the United States and many other states refused to recognise the Soviet annexation de jure, holding that Estonia remained a sovereign state under occupation.
Occupation, Annexation and the Long Night
Sources: What Made the Restoration of Estonian Independence Possible? (non-recognition and state continuity) (International Centre for Defence and Security (ICDS)) · Estonia: Independence lost (Soviet occupation, World War II) (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
- FIN
Finland · War & Rupture · Mar 1940
Moscow Peace Treaty cedes Karelia
The Winter War ended in March 1940 with Finland keeping its independence but ceding much of Karelia, including Viipuri; the inhabitants of the lost lands were evacuated into the rest of Finland.
The Winter War, the Continuation War and the Loss of Karelia
Sources: Russo-Finnish War (Winter War) (Encyclopaedia Britannica) · Finland during World War II (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
- HUN
Hungary · Politics & Power · 30 Aug 1940
Second Vienna Award
Germany and Italy awarded Hungary northern Transylvania from Romania, deepening Hungary's dependence on the Axis powers in its quest to reverse Trianon.
Trianon and the Shrinking of Hungary
Sources: Treaty of Trianon (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
- ISL
Iceland · War & Rupture · May 1940
British occupation of Iceland
After Germany occupied Denmark, British forces occupied strategically vital Iceland in May 1940 to forestall a German move, severing Iceland's last constitutional ties to its monarch.
Occupation, the Republic and NATO
Sources: History of Iceland from 1944 (nordics.info (Aarhus University)) · Iceland: History (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
- ITA
Italy · War & Rupture · 10 June 1940
Italy enters the Second World War
Italy declared war on Britain and France, entering the Second World War as Germany's Axis ally, a decision that brought defeat, occupation and devastation.
Liberal Italy, Fascism, War and the Republic
Sources: Italy (Fascism, racial laws and the Second World War) (United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, Holocaust Encyclopedia) · Italy (country overview and history) (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
- LVA
Latvia · War & Rupture · Jun–Aug 1940
Soviet occupation and annexation
The Red Army occupied Latvia in June 1940; after a staged election a puppet parliament requested incorporation, and the Soviet Union annexed the country in August 1940.
Occupation, War and the Holocaust
Sources: About the Museum (Museum of the Occupation of Latvia) · History of Latvia (Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Latvia) · United States Non-Recognition Policy (Wilson Center Digital Archive)
- LTU
Lithuania · War & Rupture
Soviet occupation and annexation
The Soviet Union occupied Lithuania in June 1940 and annexed it in August as the Lithuanian SSR, an incorporation never recognised as lawful by the United States and most Western states.
War, Soviet Occupation and the Partisan Struggle
Sources: German-Soviet Pact (United States Holocaust Memorial Museum) · History of Lithuania (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
- LUX
Luxembourg · War & Rupture · 10 May 1940
Second German invasion and annexation
The Wehrmacht overran Luxembourg on 10 May 1940; the government and Grand Duchess fled into exile, and the territory was placed under a German civil administration aimed at its full integration into the Reich.
Two World Wars and the End of Neutrality
Sources: Occupation and Annexation during the Second World War: the Case of Luxembourg (Occupation Studies, Maastricht University (FASoS)) · Luxembourgers general strike against Nazi occupation, 1942 (Global Nonviolent Action Database, Swarthmore College)
- MLT
Malta · War & Rupture · 1940–1942
The siege of Malta
From 1940 Malta, lying between Sicily and Axis North Africa, was subjected to relentless Italian and German bombing and a near-starvation blockade while its forces struck at Axis supply convoys.
The George Cross Island and the European Republic
Sources: George Cross awarded to the island of Malta (Royal Air Force Benevolent Fund)
- MDA
Moldova · Politics & Power · 2 Aug 1940
Creation of the Moldavian SSR
The Soviet Union proclaimed the Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic, joining most of annexed Bessarabia to the Moldavian ASSR east of the Dniester, with the new republic's borders deliberately reshaped.
Soviet Moldavia: Annexation, Famine and Deportation
Sources: Bessarabia's Annexation: Impact and Legacy of the USSR Ultimatum (Radio Moldova (public broadcaster)) · Moldova: History (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
- MDA
Moldova · War & Rupture · 28 Jun 1940
Soviet annexation of Bessarabia
Acting on the secret protocol of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, the Red Army occupied Bessarabia after an ultimatum to Romania, ending more than two decades of Romanian rule.
Soviet Moldavia: Annexation, Famine and Deportation
Sources: Bessarabia's Annexation: Impact and Legacy of the USSR Ultimatum (Radio Moldova (public broadcaster)) · Moldova: History (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
- NLD
Netherlands · War & Rupture · 10 May 1940
German invasion and occupation
Nazi Germany invades the neutral Netherlands; after the bombing of Rotterdam the country surrenders, beginning five years of occupation.
The World Wars, Decolonisation and the Modern Netherlands
Sources: The Netherlands (Holocaust Encyclopedia) (United States Holocaust Memorial Museum)
- NOR
Norway · War & Rupture · 9 Apr 1940
German invasion and the Quisling regime
Germany invaded on 9 April 1940; the king and government went into exile while Vidkun Quisling proclaimed a government, beginning five years of occupation and collaboration.
Independence, Polar Sovereignty and the Second World War
Sources: Vidkun Quisling's illegal government in Oslo 1940 (Government of Norway (regjeringen.no)) · Norway: World War II (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
- POL
Poland · War & Rupture · 1940–1945
Auschwitz-Birkenau and the Holocaust on Polish soil
Germany operated its largest concentration and extermination camp at Auschwitz-Birkenau, where some 1.1 million people, overwhelmingly Jews, were murdered as part of the genocide carried out across occupied Poland.
The Second Republic, the Second World War and the Nazi-Soviet Catastrophe
Sources: Auschwitz Birkenau German Nazi Concentration and Extermination Camp (1940-1945) (UNESCO World Heritage Centre) · Polish Victims (United States Holocaust Memorial Museum)
- ROU
Romania · War & Rupture · 20 Nov 1940
Romania joins the Axis
After the loss of King Carol II's throne, General Ion Antonescu took power and brought Romania into the Axis, later joining the war against the Soviet Union and presiding over the murder of hundreds of thousands of Jews and Roma.
Dismemberment, the Second World War and communist rule
Sources: Romania (United States Holocaust Memorial Museum) · Ion Antonescu (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
- ROU
Romania · Politics & Power · 30 Aug 1940
Second Vienna Award and Southern Dobruja
Under German and Italian arbitration Romania ceded northern Transylvania to Hungary; in September southern Dobruja was ceded to Bulgaria, costing Romania about 30% of its territory and people.
Dismemberment, the Second World War and communist rule
Sources: Romania (United States Holocaust Memorial Museum)
- ROU
Romania · War & Rupture · 28 Jun 1940
Soviet seizure of Bessarabia and northern Bukovina
The Soviet Union demanded and took Bessarabia and northern Bukovina from Romania, the first of the 1940 territorial losses; Bessarabia, largely Romanian-speaking, became the core of the later Republic of Moldova.
Dismemberment, the Second World War and communist rule
Sources: Romania (United States Holocaust Memorial Museum) · Moldova and Romania: A Long and Complicated Relationship (Origins (Ohio State University / Miami University))
- CHE
Switzerland · War & Rupture
Armed neutrality in the Second World War
Encircled by the Axis, Switzerland mobilised under General Henri Guisan, who rallied the army on the Rütli and adopted the Alpine Réduit defence; the country stayed unoccupied but later faced reckoning over refugees and looted assets.
Neutral Switzerland: World Wars, Sovereignty and the Modern Confederation
Sources: Henri Guisan (Encyclopaedia Britannica) · Neutrality (Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (aboutswitzerland.eda.admin.ch))
North America
- TTO
Trinidad and Tobago · Culture & Ideas · c. 1940
Birth of the steelpan
Musicians in Port of Spain fashioned the steelpan from oil drums after colonial bans on African drumming — the only acoustic instrument invented in the 20th century and now the national instrument.
A modern energy nation
Sources: Steelband (National Library and Information System Authority (NALIS), Trinidad and Tobago)
Oceania
- FJI
Fiji · Politics & Power
Native Land Trust Board established
Ratu Sir Lala Sukuna helps create the board that entrenches indigenous control of most Fijian land, shaping the colony's economy and politics.
Late Colony & the Road to Independence
Sources: The historical significance of Ratu Sir Lala Sukuna (University of the South Pacific) · Fiji — History (Melanesian, Colonialism, Independence) (Encyclopædia Britannica)
- VUT
Vanuatu · Religion · c. late 1930s–1940s
Rise of the John Frum movement
On Tanna the John Frum cargo cult emerged, awaiting a messianic 'John from America' who would bring cargo and restore custom against missionary and colonial control.
The Anglo-French Condominium
Sources: Vanuatu — History (Melanesian, Colonization, Independence) (Encyclopædia Britannica)
24 records
Africa
- ERI
Eritrea · War & Rupture · February-April 1941
British defeat Italy at Keren
Allied forces overcome Italian troops at the Battle of Keren; Asmara and Massawa surrender, ending Italian rule and beginning British military administration.
Italy's First-Born Colony
Sources: Battle of Keren (Wikipedia) · British Military Administration (Eritrea) (Wikipedia)
- ERI
Eritrea · Politics & Power
British military administration begins
Following the Allied victory at Keren, Britain administers Eritrea for the next decade while its post-war status is debated.
Federation, Annexation and the Thirty-Year War
Sources: British Military Administration (Eritrea) (Wikipedia)
Asia
- BRN
Brunei · War & Rupture · 16 December 1941
Japanese occupation begins
Japanese forces land at Kuala Belait and quickly occupy Brunei, seizing the strategically vital Seria oil fields; the occupation lasts until 1945.
Oil, the Japanese Occupation, and the Road to Self-Government
Sources: History of Brunei (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
- JPN
Japan · War & Rupture · 1941 CE
Attack on Pearl Harbor
Japan attacks the U.S. fleet at Pearl Harbor, bringing the United States into World War II and opening the Pacific War.
Meiji and Empire: Revolution from Above
Sources: Pacific War (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
Europe
- BLR
Belarus · War & Rupture · 1941-1944
Nazi occupation and mass death
The German occupation killed a quarter to a third of the population; the people of Belarus fell from about 9.2 million before the war to roughly 6.3 million by late 1944, with cities like Minsk left in ruins.
Reunification, the Nazi Catastrophe and Soviet Belarus
Sources: Aftermath of the War (Archives of Belarus (archives.gov.by)) · History of Belarus (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
- BIH
Bosnia and Herzegovina · War & Rupture · Apr 1941
Axis invasion and the NDH
The Axis dismembered Yugoslavia and incorporated Bosnia into the Ustaša-led Independent State of Croatia, whose terror against Serbs, Jews and Roma helped ignite a brutal multi-sided civil war.
The Second World War and Socialist Bosnia
Sources: World War II and the establishment of ZAVNOBiH (Parliamentary Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina) · Bosnia and Herzegovina: History (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
- BGR
Bulgaria · War & Rupture · Mar 1941
Bulgaria joins the Axis
Bulgaria adhered to the Tripartite Pact in March 1941 and joined the German-led attack on Yugoslavia and Greece, occupying parts of Macedonia and Thrace it had long claimed.
The Balkan Wars, the World Wars and the Saving of the Jews
Sources: Bulgaria: World War II (Encyclopaedia Britannica) · Bulgaria (United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, Holocaust Encyclopedia)
- HRV
Croatia · War & Rupture
The Independent State of Croatia (NDH)
Following the Axis invasion, Germany and Italy set up the Independent State of Croatia, a puppet state run by the fascist Ustase under Ante Pavelic, embracing Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Yugoslavia, the Ustase Catastrophe and Socialist Croatia
Sources: Independent State of Croatia (Encyclopaedia Britannica) · Ustasa (Croatian fascist movement) (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
- HRV
Croatia · War & Rupture · 1941–1945
The Jasenovac camp
The Ustase regime operated its largest camp complex at Jasenovac, where it murdered an estimated 77,000 to 99,000 people, among them tens of thousands of Serbs, Jews and Roma, between 1941 and 1945.
Yugoslavia, the Ustase Catastrophe and Socialist Croatia
Sources: Jasenovac (United States Holocaust Memorial Museum) · Ustasa (Croatian fascist movement) (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
- EST
Estonia · Catastrophe · 14 Jun 1941
The June deportation
Soviet authorities deported more than 10,000 people from Estonia to Siberia in a single operation, most of them women, children and the elderly, days before the German invasion.
Occupation, Annexation and the Long Night
Sources: Commemoration in Tallinn of victims of the deportations of June 1941 (Government of the Republic of Estonia (valitsus.ee)) · Estonia: Independence lost (Soviet occupation, World War II) (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
- FIN
Finland · War & Rupture · 1941–1944
The Continuation War
Allied with Germany after its 1941 invasion of the USSR, Finland fought the Continuation War to recover Karelia, but a Soviet offensive in 1944 forced it to seek an armistice.
The Winter War, the Continuation War and the Loss of Karelia
Sources: Finland during World War II (Encyclopaedia Britannica) · Russo-Finnish War (Winter War) (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
- DEU
Germany · Catastrophe · 1941–1945
The Holocaust
Nazi Germany carried out the systematic, state-organised murder of some six million European Jews, alongside the killing of Roma, disabled people, Soviet prisoners and other victims.
Weimar, the Third Reich and the Second World War
Sources: The Holocaust and World War II: Key Dates (United States Holocaust Memorial Museum)
- GRC
Greece · War & Rupture · 1941–1944
Axis occupation of Greece
After resisting Italy in 1940, Greece was occupied by Germany, Italy and Bulgaria from 1941 to 1944, enduring a devastating famine and the deaths of hundreds of thousands of civilians.
The Modern Greek State
Sources: Axis occupation of Greece (Wikipedia) · Greece (country overview and history) (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
- HUN
Hungary · War & Rupture
Hungary enters the war as an Axis ally
Seeking to keep and extend the lands restored by the Vienna Awards, Hungary joined Germany's war and took part in the invasion of the Soviet Union.
The Second World War and the Holocaust in Hungary
Sources: The Holocaust in Hungary (United States Holocaust Memorial Museum)
- ISL
Iceland · War & Rupture
United States assumes Iceland's defence
By agreement with the Icelandic government, the United States took over the island's defence in 1941, building a substantial military presence in the North Atlantic.
Occupation, the Republic and NATO
Sources: Foreign Relations of the United States, 1949, Vol. IV (Iceland and the North Atlantic Treaty) (U.S. Department of State, Office of the Historian) · Iceland: History (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
- LVA
Latvia · Catastrophe · 13–14 Jun 1941
The June 1941 deportations
The Soviet regime deported some fifteen thousand people from Latvia to Siberia in a single operation, targeting the country's political, economic and intellectual elite; many never returned.
Occupation, War and the Holocaust
Sources: About the Museum (Museum of the Occupation of Latvia) · History of Latvia (Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Latvia)
- LVA
Latvia · War & Rupture · 30 Nov & 8 Dec 1941
The Rumbula massacre
Under the Nazi occupation, SS units led by Friedrich Jeckeln shot about twenty-five thousand Jews, chiefly from the Riga ghetto, in the Rumbula forest, among the largest single massacres of the Holocaust.
Occupation, War and the Holocaust
Sources: Riga (United States Holocaust Memorial Museum)
- LTU
Lithuania · Catastrophe · 1941–1952
Mass deportations to Siberia
The Soviet regime deported well over one hundred thousand Lithuanians to camps and forced settlements, with the largest operations in 1948 and 1949, to crush resistance and impose collectivisation.
War, Soviet Occupation and the Partisan Struggle
Sources: Genocide and Resistance Research Centre of Lithuania (Genocide and Resistance Research Centre of Lithuania (genocid.lt)) · History of Lithuania (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
- RUS
Russia · War & Rupture · 1941-1945
The Great Patriotic War
Nazi Germany's invasion of 22 June 1941 begins the war's deadliest theater; after the siege of Leningrad and the decisive victory at Stalingrad, Soviet forces reach Berlin in 1945 at a cost of roughly 27 million Soviet dead.
The Soviet Union
Sources: Battle of Stalingrad (Encyclopaedia Britannica) · The Eastern Front: The German War against the Soviet Union (United States Holocaust Memorial Museum) · World War II casualties of the Soviet Union (Wikipedia)
- SRB
Serbia · War & Rupture · Apr 1941
Axis invasion and occupation
Germany and its allies invaded and dismembered Yugoslavia in April 1941, placing Serbia under occupation and unleashing a multi-sided war of resistance and civil conflict.
The Birth of Yugoslavia and the World Wars
Sources: Josip Broz Tito (Encyclopaedia Britannica) · Serbia: History (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
- SVN
Slovenia · War & Rupture · Apr 1941
Axis partition of Slovenia
Following the invasion of Yugoslavia, the Axis powers carved up the Slovene lands among Germany, Italy and Hungary, while a Liberation Front founded in Ljubljana launched armed resistance.
Into Yugoslavia: War, Partition and Contested Borders
Sources: Slovenia since 1918 (Encyclopaedia Britannica) · History of Slovenia (Government of Slovenia (gov.si))
- UKR
Ukraine · War & Rupture · 29–30 Sep 1941
Babyn Yar massacre
German SS and police units shot 33,771 Jews at the Babyn Yar ravine outside Kyiv over two days; in all some 100,000 people were murdered there during the occupation.
Soviet Ukraine, the Holodomor and the Second World War
Sources: Mass Shootings at Babyn Yar (Babi Yar) (United States Holocaust Memorial Museum) · Babi Yar massacre site (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
North America
- GRL
Greenland · War & Rupture · 9 Apr 1941
Greenland under U.S. protection
With Denmark occupied, the Danish minister Henrik Kauffmann signed the Agreement Relating to the Defense of Greenland with the United States, placing the island under American protection and opening it to U.S. bases.
War, the Cold War and the End of Colony
Sources: A Guide to the History of Recognition, Diplomatic, and Consular Relations: Denmark (U.S. Department of State, Office of the Historian) · The history of US presence in Greenland (Danish Institute for International Studies (DIIS))
- USA
United States · War & Rupture · 7 December 1941
Attack on Pearl Harbor
Japan's surprise attack on the U.S. naval base in Hawaii brought the United States into the Second World War.
Reconstruction, industrial rise, and the World Wars
Sources: Joint Address to Congress Leading to a Declaration of War Against Japan (1941) (U.S. National Archives)
14 records
Africa
- DJI
Djibouti · War & Rupture
Djibouti rallies to Free France
After a period under Vichy control and blockade during the Second World War, the colony joins the Free French forces.
The Railway and the Colony of French Somaliland
Sources: Djibouti (country and history) (Encyclopaedia Britannica) · History of Djibouti (Wikipedia)
Asia
- IDN
Indonesia · War & Rupture
Japanese occupation of the Indies
Japan conquers the Dutch East Indies, ending Dutch rule; its occupation brings forced labour and hardship but also mobilises and arms Indonesian nationalists.
Japanese Occupation, Independence and the Revolution
Sources: Indonesia (toward independence; Japanese occupation; after Suharto) (Encyclopaedia Britannica) · Japanese occupation of the Dutch East Indies (Wikipedia)
- MYS
Malaysia · War & Rupture · 15 Feb 1942
Japanese occupation and the fall of Singapore
Japanese forces overrun Malaya and capture Singapore on 15 February 1942, beginning a three-and-a-half-year occupation that shatters British prestige and deepens communal divisions.
Occupation, the Emergency and Merdeka
Sources: Malaysia: Political transformation (occupation, federation, NEP) (Encyclopaedia Britannica) · Singapore falls to the Japanese, 1942 (National Library Board, Singapore)
- PHL
Philippines · War & Rupture · 1942-1945
Japanese occupation
Japan occupies the Philippines during the Second World War; guerrilla resistance and the campaign to retake the islands leave over a million Filipinos dead and Manila in ruins.
Japanese Occupation, Independence and the Marcos Dictatorship
Sources: July 4, 1946: The Philippines Gained Independence from the United States (The National WWII Museum)
- THA
Thailand · War & Rupture
Alliance with Japan in World War II
Phibun's government allies Thailand with Japan and declares war on Britain and the United States, while the Free Thai movement under Pridi resists covertly.
Constitutional Revolution, the Name Thailand, and the World Wars
Sources: Thailand (Encyclopædia Britannica) · Pridi Phanomyong (Encyclopædia Britannica)
Europe
- LUX
Luxembourg · War & Rupture · 31 Aug 1942
Conscription and the general strike
When the occupier imposed German citizenship and Wehrmacht conscription in August 1942, a general strike spread from 31 August, the first in Nazi-occupied Europe; the Germans declared martial law and executed twenty-one strikers.
Two World Wars and the End of Neutrality
Sources: Luxembourgers general strike against Nazi occupation, 1942 (Global Nonviolent Action Database, Swarthmore College) · Occupation and Annexation during the Second World War: the Case of Luxembourg (Occupation Studies, Maastricht University (FASoS))
- MLT
Malta · War & Rupture · 15 Apr 1942
Malta awarded the George Cross
King George VI awarded the George Cross to the whole island of Malta to honour its heroism and endurance under siege, the only time the decoration has been given to an entire population.
The George Cross Island and the European Republic
Sources: George Cross awarded to the island of Malta (Royal Air Force Benevolent Fund)
- NLD
Netherlands · War & Rupture · 1942–1945
The Holocaust in the Netherlands
From July 1942 the occupiers and Dutch collaborators deport some 107,000 Jews, mostly to Auschwitz and Sobibor; about 104,000 Dutch Jews are murdered, the highest proportion in Western Europe.
The World Wars, Decolonisation and the Modern Netherlands
Sources: The Netherlands (Holocaust Encyclopedia) (United States Holocaust Memorial Museum) · The Netherlands: the greatest number of Jewish victims in Western Europe (Anne Frank House)
- SVK
Slovakia · War & Rupture
Deportation of Slovak Jews
Slovakia became the first Axis partner to consent to the deportation of its Jews; between March and October 1942 some 57,000 Slovak Jews were deported to German-occupied Poland, with more than 60,000 of Slovakia's Jews murdered overall.
Czechoslovakia, the Slovak State and the Uprising
Sources: The Holocaust in Slovakia (United States Holocaust Memorial Museum) · Jozef Tiso (United States Holocaust Memorial Museum)
Oceania
- AUS
Australia · War & Rupture · 19 February 1942
Bombing of Darwin
Japanese aircraft bombed Darwin during the Second World War, the largest attack ever mounted on Australia, prompting Australia to turn increasingly toward the United States for security.
The world wars, immigration, and the twentieth century
Sources: Australia (country) (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
- PNG
Papua New Guinea · War & Rupture · 1942–1945
Papuan carriers and soldiers
Papuan carriers moved supplies and the wounded across the mountains, and soldiers of the Papuan Infantry Battalion fought alongside Australian forces throughout the New Guinea campaigns.
The Second World War: Kokoda and Bougainville
Sources: Kokoda (Australian War Memorial) · Australians in the Kokoda Track Campaign, 21 July to 16 November 1942 (Anzac Portal, Australian Department of Veterans' Affairs)
- PNG
Papua New Guinea · War & Rupture · 21 July – 16 November 1942
The Kokoda Track campaign
Australian and Papuan troops halted the Japanese advance over the Owen Stanley Range toward Port Moresby and drove them back; over 600 Australians were killed in arguably Australia's most significant campaign of the war.
The Second World War: Kokoda and Bougainville
Sources: Kokoda (Australian War Memorial) · Australians in the Kokoda Track Campaign, 21 July to 16 November 1942 (Anzac Portal, Australian Department of Veterans' Affairs)
- SLB
Solomon Islands · War & Rupture · 7 August 1942
US landings on Guadalcanal
US Marines land on Guadalcanal and Tulagi in the first major American amphibious offensive of the war, seizing the future Henderson Field.
Guadalcanal and the Turning of the Pacific War
Sources: Solomon Islands Campaign: Guadalcanal (collection) (Australian War Memorial) · The Battle of Guadalcanal (The National WWII Museum, New Orleans)
- VUT
Vanuatu · War & Rupture
U.S. wartime bases on Efate and Santo
American forces built major bases in the islands during the Pacific War, flooding them with goods and personnel and transforming local society.
The Anglo-French Condominium
Sources: Vanuatu — History (Melanesian, Colonization, Independence) (Encyclopædia Britannica)
8 records
Asia
- IND
India · Catastrophe
Bengal famine
An estimated two to three million people die in Bengal in a man-made famine driven by wartime inflation, export priorities and colonial policy rather than any major shortfall in food production.
The East India Company and the British Raj
Sources: Bengal famine of 1943 (Encyclopaedia Britannica) · Bengal famine of 1943 (Wikipedia)
- LBN
Lebanon · Politics & Power
The National Pact
Bechara El Khoury and Riad al-Solh agree the unwritten National Pact distributing the presidency, premiership and parliamentary speakership among Maronites, Sunnis and Shi'a.
Independence and the Golden Age
Sources: Lebanon: The National Pact (Lebanon: A Country Study) (U.S. Library of Congress, Federal Research Division) · History of Lebanon (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
Europe
- BLR
Belarus · War & Rupture · 22 Mar 1943
The Khatyn massacre
German forces and auxiliaries burned the village of Khatyn with its inhabitants, one of hundreds of Belarusian villages annihilated in anti-partisan reprisals and a lasting symbol of the occupation's brutality.
Reunification, the Nazi Catastrophe and Soviet Belarus
Sources: Aftermath of the War (Archives of Belarus (archives.gov.by))
- BIH
Bosnia and Herzegovina · Politics & Power · 25 Nov 1943
First session of ZAVNOBiH
At Mrkonjić Grad the anti-fascist council ZAVNOBiH proclaimed Bosnia and Herzegovina a federal unit of its equal peoples, ensuring it would be restored as a distinct republic within Yugoslavia.
The Second World War and Socialist Bosnia
Sources: World War II and the establishment of ZAVNOBiH (Parliamentary Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina)
- BGR
Bulgaria · War & Rupture · Mar–May 1943
Deportations and the rescue of Bulgaria's Jews
Bulgaria deported over 11,000 Jews from occupied Thrace and Macedonia to Treblinka, but protests led by Dimitar Peshev and the Orthodox Church forced Tsar Boris III to cancel the deportation of the roughly 48,000 Jews of Bulgaria proper, who survived.
The Balkan Wars, the World Wars and the Saving of the Jews
Sources: Bulgaria (United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, Holocaust Encyclopedia) · Bulgaria: World War II (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
- DNK
Denmark · War & Rupture · Oct 1943
Rescue of the Danish Jews
Warned of a German round-up, Danes spirited more than 7,000 Jews across the sound to neutral Sweden, saving the great majority of the country's Jewish population from deportation.
Occupation, the Welfare State and the Modern Realm
Sources: German occupation (1940-1945) (National Museum of Denmark)
- ITA
Italy · War & Rupture · 8 September 1943
Mussolini's fall and the armistice
Mussolini was ousted in July 1943 and Italy signed an armistice with the Allies on 8 September; Germany then occupied the north, and a violent civil war and Resistance followed.
Liberal Italy, Fascism, War and the Republic
Sources: Italy (Fascism, racial laws and the Second World War) (United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, Holocaust Encyclopedia) · Italy (country overview and history) (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
Oceania
- SLB
Solomon Islands · War & Rupture · February 1943
Japanese evacuate Guadalcanal
After a six-month seesaw campaign, Japan withdraws its forces; Guadalcanal becomes a turning point of the Pacific War.
Guadalcanal and the Turning of the Pacific War
Sources: Battle of Guadalcanal (Encyclopædia Britannica) · The Battle of Guadalcanal (The National WWII Museum, New Orleans)
27 records
Africa
- COG
Congo · Politics & Power · 30 January – 8 February 1944
The Brazzaville Conference
De Gaulle convened the Brazzaville Conference in early 1944, which promised post-war colonial reforms — ending the harshest forced labour, granting African representation and citizenship — while explicitly rejecting independence.
French Equatorial Africa, forced labour, and the Congo-Ocean Railway
Sources: Brazzaville Conference (Wikipedia) · The Brazzaville Conference, 1944 (BlackPast.org)
- CIV
Ivory Coast · Politics & Power
Houphouët-Boigny founds the African Agricultural Union
Félix Houphouët-Boigny organised African cocoa and coffee planters into the Syndicat Agricole Africain to win them the rights enjoyed by European growers — the start of his rise to political leadership.
Colony, forced labour, and the road to independence
Sources: History of Côte d'Ivoire (Encyclopædia Britannica) · Félix Houphouët-Boigny (Wikipedia) · Houphouët-Boigny, Félix (Encyclopaedia Africana)
- LBR
Liberia · Politics & Power
William Tubman becomes president
William V. S. Tubman took office as president and would govern until 1971, launching the 'Open Door' policy of foreign investment and the 'National Unification' policy toward the indigenous interior.
The Tubman era and the 1980 coup
Sources: William V. S. Tubman (Encyclopaedia Britannica) · William V. S. Tubman (1895–1971) (BlackPast.org)
- MWI
Malawi · Politics & Power
Founding of the Nyasaland African Congress
African political associations coalesced into the Nyasaland African Congress, the first territory-wide nationalist body, which would later spearhead opposition to federation.
Protectorate, Nyasaland and the Chilembwe rising
Sources: Malawi (country overview and history) (Encyclopaedia Britannica) · History of Malawi (Wikipedia)
Asia
- LBN
Lebanon · Independence · 8 September 1944
U.S. recognition of Lebanon
The United States formally recognises Lebanon as an independent state, and establishes diplomatic relations later that year.
Independence and the Golden Age
Sources: A Guide to the United States' History of Recognition: Lebanon (U.S. Department of State, Office of the Historian)
Europe
- ALB
Albania · Politics & Power
Communist victory and Hoxha in power
As German forces withdrew, the communist-led partisans took Tirana and formed a provisional government under Enver Hoxha, who would rule Albania for over four decades.
The Second World War and Hoxha's Stalinist Albania
Sources: Enver Hoxha (Encyclopaedia Britannica) · History of Albania (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
- BGR
Bulgaria · Politics & Power · 9 Sep 1944
Communist seizure of power
As Soviet forces entered Bulgaria, a Communist-led Fatherland Front took power, beginning the communist era and the country's incorporation into the Soviet sphere.
Communism, 1989 and the Return to Europe
Sources: Bulgaria: The early communist era (Encyclopaedia Britannica) · About Bulgaria: History (Council of Ministers of the Republic of Bulgaria (gov.bg))
- EST
Estonia · War & Rupture
Soviet reoccupation
After three years of Nazi occupation, the Soviet Union reconquered Estonia in 1944, beginning a second occupation marked by further mass deportations and armed 'Forest Brother' resistance.
Occupation, Annexation and the Long Night
Sources: Estonia: Independence lost (Soviet occupation, World War II) (Encyclopaedia Britannica) · Commemoration in Tallinn of victims of the deportations of June 1941 (Government of the Republic of Estonia (valitsus.ee))
- FIN
Finland · War & Rupture · 19 Sep 1944
Moscow Armistice and cession of Petsamo
The Moscow Armistice ended the Continuation War, restoring the 1940 border, returning Petsamo to the Soviet Union, leasing Porkkala as a naval base, and imposing reparations.
The Winter War, the Continuation War and the Loss of Karelia
Sources: Finland during World War II (Encyclopaedia Britannica) · Draft Peace Treaty with Finland (Paris Peace Treaty terms) (U.S. Department of State, Office of the Historian (FRUS))
- FRA
- HUN
Hungary · Catastrophe · May–Jul 1944
Deportation of the Hungarian Jews
Between 15 May and 9 July 1944 about 437,000 Jews were deported, mostly to Auschwitz-Birkenau, where some three-quarters were murdered on arrival; Horthy halted the trains on 7 July.
The Second World War and the Holocaust in Hungary
Sources: The Holocaust in Hungary (United States Holocaust Memorial Museum)
- HUN
Hungary · War & Rupture · 19 Mar 1944
German occupation of Hungary
German forces occupied Hungary to keep it in the war and to deport its Jews, then the largest surviving Jewish community in Europe, numbering some 760,000 to 780,000 people.
The Second World War and the Holocaust in Hungary
Sources: The Holocaust in Hungary (United States Holocaust Memorial Museum)
- HUN
Hungary · Politics & Power · Oct 1944
The Arrow Cross seizure of power
After Horthy's attempt to leave the war, Germany installed the fascist Arrow Cross, which murdered thousands more Jews in Budapest before the Soviet conquest of the city.
The Second World War and the Holocaust in Hungary
Sources: The Holocaust in Hungary (United States Holocaust Memorial Museum)
- ISL
Iceland · Independence · 17 Jun 1944
Founding of the Republic at Þingvellir
After an overwhelming referendum, Icelanders proclaimed a republic at Þingvellir, ending the union with Denmark; Sveinn Björnsson became the first president and 17 June became the national day.
Occupation, the Republic and NATO
Sources: Iceland Becomes a Republic (EBSCO Research Starters) · History of Iceland from 1944 (nordics.info (Aarhus University)) · Sveinn Björnsson (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
- LTU
Lithuania · War & Rupture · 1944–c. 1953
The Forest Brothers' partisan war
Thousands of Lithuanians fought a guerrilla war against the returning Soviet forces; the partisan movement controlled much of the countryside before being crushed by the early 1950s.
War, Soviet Occupation and the Partisan Struggle
Sources: Genocide and Resistance Research Centre of Lithuania (Genocide and Resistance Research Centre of Lithuania (genocid.lt)) · History of Lithuania (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
- LUX
Luxembourg · War & Rupture · 16 Dec 1944
Liberation and the Battle of the Bulge
Allied forces liberated Luxembourg in September 1944, but the German Ardennes offensive launched on 16 December 1944 overran the north of the country, which had to be liberated a second time before war's end.
Two World Wars and the End of Neutrality
Sources: The Battle of the Bulge (The National WWII Museum) · Luxembourgers general strike against Nazi occupation, 1942 (Global Nonviolent Action Database, Swarthmore College)
- LUX
Luxembourg · Economy & Trade · 5 Sep 1944
The Benelux customs convention
The exiled governments of Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg signed a customs union in London on 5 September 1944, launching the Benelux that entered into force in 1948 and was deepened by the 1958 Economic Union.
A Founder of the New Europe
Sources: The Benelux (The Luxembourg Government (gouvernement.lu)) · Benelux Union: About us (Benelux Union) · Benelux: the first organisations and cooperative ventures in post-war Europe (CVCE (Centre Virtuel de la Connaissance sur l'Europe), University of Luxembourg)
- MKD
North Macedonia · Formation · 2 Aug 1944
Proclamation of a Macedonian state (ASNOM)
The Anti-Fascist Assembly for the National Liberation of Macedonia met on St Elijah's Day 1944 and proclaimed a Macedonian state within a future Yugoslav federation.
Partition, 'Vardar Macedonia' and the Yugoslav Republic
Sources: North Macedonia: History (Ancient, Ottoman, Yugoslav) (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
- POL
Poland · War & Rupture · 1 Aug 1944
The Warsaw Uprising
The Polish Home Army rose against the German occupiers in Warsaw; after 63 days the rising was crushed, much of the city was destroyed and tens of thousands of civilians were killed.
The Second Republic, the Second World War and the Nazi-Soviet Catastrophe
Sources: Polish Victims (United States Holocaust Memorial Museum)
- SMR
San Marino · Peoples & Migration · 1943–1944
Refuge for 100,000 and liberation
Neutral San Marino, with a population under 15,000, sheltered more than 100,000 wartime refugees, including Jews; after fighting crossed its soil in September 1944 it was liberated and its neutrality restored.
The Arengo, Fascism and the World Wars
Sources: World wars and fascism in San Marino, 1922-1945 (SanMarinoSite) · History of San Marino (Visit San Marino (official tourism site))
- SMR
San Marino · War & Rupture · 26 Jun 1944
The bombing of San Marino
Despite the republic's neutrality, a British air raid on 26 June 1944, based on faulty intelligence later admitted, killed about sixty people in the small state.
The Arengo, Fascism and the World Wars
Sources: World wars and fascism in San Marino, 1922-1945 (SanMarinoSite) · San Marino in World War II (World War II Database)
- SVK
Slovakia · War & Rupture · 29 Aug 1944
Slovak National Uprising
The Slovak National Uprising broke out at Banská Bystrica against the Tiso regime and German occupation; after two months of fighting the rising was crushed on 27 October 1944 amid brutal reprisals.
Czechoslovakia, the Slovak State and the Uprising
Sources: The Slovak National Uprising of 1944 (The National WWII Museum, New Orleans) · History of Slovakia (Slovakia.travel (official tourism portal))
- VAT
Vatican City · War & Rupture · 4 Jun 1944
Wartime neutrality and the liberation of Rome
Vatican City kept to neutrality under Pius XII during the Second World War; though Rome was occupied and then liberated by the Allies on 4 June 1944, the Vatican itself was not occupied.
The Lateran Treaty and the Birth of Vatican City
Sources: Pius XII: World War II and the Holocaust (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
North America
- GTM
Guatemala · Politics & Power · 1944 CE
October Revolution
A popular uprising ends the Ubico dictatorship and ushers in democratic reform under Juan Jose Arevalo.
Revolution, Coup, and Civil War
Sources: Guatemala: History (Postcolonial period and after) (Encyclopaedia Britannica) · Foreign Relations of the United States, 1952-1954, Guatemala (U.S. Department of State, Office of the Historian)
- JAM
Jamaica · Politics & Power · 1944 CE
Universal adult suffrage
A new constitution grants every adult the vote, the first in the British Caribbean, and Jamaica holds its first elections under it.
Self-Government and Independence
Sources: Jamaica: The independent country (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
Oceania
- PNG
Papua New Guinea · War & Rupture · November 1944 – August 1945
The Bougainville campaign
More than 30,000 Australians fought a long campaign of patrols and small actions on Bougainville, with over 500 killed, until the Japanese garrison surrendered in August 1945.
The Second World War: Kokoda and Bougainville
Sources: Bougainville's Hard Slog (1944–45 campaign) (Australian War Memorial) · Australians in the Kokoda Track Campaign, 21 July to 16 November 1942 (Anzac Portal, Australian Department of Veterans' Affairs)
- SLB
Solomon Islands · Politics & Power · 1944–1952
The Maasina Rule movement
A post-war Malaitan movement for self-government and custom, born of the wartime labour corps, is credited as an early step toward independence.
Guadalcanal and the Turning of the Pacific War
Sources: British Solomon Islands Protectorate, 1893–1978 (University of Queensland (Law)) · History of Solomon Islands (Encyclopædia Britannica)
26 records
Africa
- DZA
Algeria · Colonisation · 8 May 1945
Sétif massacre
A nationalist demonstration at Sétif on VE Day is met with mass killing of thousands of Algerians, radicalising the independence movement.
French Conquest and Settler Colony
Sources: History of Algeria (Encyclopaedia Britannica) · Algerian War (EBSCO Research Starters)
Asia
- BRN
Brunei · War & Rupture · 10 June 1945
Allied liberation
Australian troops land in Brunei Bay during the Borneo Campaign, ending the Japanese occupation; the capital and much of the country lie in ruins from the fighting and must be rebuilt after the war.
Oil, the Japanese Occupation, and the Road to Self-Government
Sources: History of Brunei (Encyclopaedia Britannica) · Bandar Seri Begawan (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
- KHM
Cambodia · War & Rupture · 9 March 1945
Japan ends French rule; Sihanouk proclaims independence
Japan removes the French administration in the closing months of the war, and King Sihanouk briefly proclaims Cambodian independence before France returns.
Decline, Foreign Pressure, and the French Protectorate
Sources: Cambodia Gains Independence from France (EBSCO Research Starters) · Cambodia: World War II and its aftermath (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
- IDN
Indonesia · Independence · 17 Aug 1945
Proclamation of Independence
Sukarno and Mohammad Hatta proclaim Indonesia an independent republic in Jakarta, days after Japan's surrender; they become president and vice-president the next day.
Japanese Occupation, Independence and the Revolution
Sources: Proclamation of Indonesian Independence (Wikipedia) · Indonesia Regains Its Independence (Research Starters) (EBSCO)
- IDN
Indonesia · War & Rupture · 1945–1949
The Indonesian National Revolution
Indonesians wage a four-year armed and diplomatic struggle against Dutch attempts to reimpose colonial rule, enduring two major Dutch offensives and heavy losses.
Japanese Occupation, Independence and the Revolution
Sources: Indonesia Regains Its Independence (Research Starters) (EBSCO)
- JPN
Japan · War & Rupture · 1945 CE
Atomic bombings and surrender
The United States drops atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki on August 6 and 9; Japan announces surrender, formalized on September 2, ending World War II.
Meiji and Empire: Revolution from Above
Sources: Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki (Encyclopaedia Britannica) · Pacific War (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
- LAO
Laos · War & Rupture · March-October 1945
Japanese occupation and the Lao Issara
Japan ousts the French administration in March 1945; after Japan's surrender, the nationalist Lao Issara (Free Lao) forms a provisional government to resist the return of French rule.
The French Protectorate
Sources: Lao Issara (Encyclopaedia Britannica) · Laos: Under foreign rule (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
- PRK
North Korea · Politics & Power · 15 August 1945
Liberation and division at the 38th parallel
Japan's surrender frees Korea but the peninsula is split along the 38th parallel into Soviet and American occupation zones, setting the stage for two rival states.
Colonial Rule and Division
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)
- KOR
South Korea · Politics & Power · 1945 CE
Division at the 38th parallel
The peninsula is split into Soviet and American occupation zones along the 38th parallel, setting the stage for two rival Korean states.
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)
- KOR
South Korea · Independence · 15 August 1945
Liberation from Japan
Japan's surrender ends 35 years of colonial rule; Koreans celebrate Gwangbokjeol, the Restoration of Light, even as foreign occupation and division loom.
Japanese Colonial Rule
Sources: Korea Under Japanese Rule (Encyclopaedia Britannica) · The Korean War and Japan's Recovery (U.S. Department of State, Office of the Historian)
- TWN
Taiwan · Politics & Power · October 1945
ROC takes over Taiwan
After Japan's surrender, the Republic of China under the Nationalists (Kuomintang) takes over the administration of Taiwan from Japan.
Handover, the February 28 Incident, and the ROC Relocation
Sources: Taiwan: Early Nationalist rule (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
- VNM
Vietnam · Independence · 2 September 1945
Declaration of independence
As Japan surrenders, the Viet Minh seize power in the August Revolution and Ho Chi Minh proclaims the Democratic Republic of Vietnam in Hanoi's Ba Dinh Square.
French Indochina
Sources: Proclamation of Independence of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (1945) (Columbia University, Asia for Educators) · Ho Chi Minh (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
- VNM
Europe
- BLR
Belarus · Politics & Power
Founding member of the United Nations
In recognition of the Belarusian people's role in defeating fascism, the Byelorussian SSR signed the UN Charter at San Francisco in 1945, becoming a founding member of the United Nations despite not being an independent state.
Reunification, the Nazi Catastrophe and Soviet Belarus
Sources: History of Belarus at the United Nations (Permanent Mission of the Republic of Belarus to the UN) · Belarus: The emergence of the Belorussian S.S.R. (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
- BIH
Bosnia and Herzegovina · Politics & Power
Bosnia a republic of socialist Yugoslavia
After the Partisan victory, Bosnia and Herzegovina became one of the six federal republics of Tito's socialist Yugoslavia, with its multi-ethnic society constitutionally recognised.
The Second World War and Socialist Bosnia
Sources: Bosnia and Herzegovina: History (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
- HRV
Croatia · Politics & Power
Croatia in socialist Yugoslavia
The Partisan victory under Tito made Croatia one of the six republics of a federal socialist Yugoslavia, ending the Ustase state and beginning four decades of communist rule.
Yugoslavia, the Ustase Catastrophe and Socialist Croatia
Sources: Croatia: World War II (Encyclopaedia Britannica) · Croatia: History (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
- CZE
Czechia · Peoples & Migration · 1945–1946
Expulsion of the Sudeten Germans
Under the Benes decrees and Allied agreement at Potsdam, Czechoslovakia stripped the citizenship and property of its Germans and expelled some three million Sudeten Germans, the largest forced migration in the history of the Czech lands.
Expulsion, Communism, the Velvet Revolution and the Modern Republic
Sources: Edvard Benes (Encyclopaedia Britannica) · Sudetenland (Encyclopaedia Britannica) · Potsdam Conference (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
- DEU
Germany · War & Rupture · 8 May 1945
Unconditional surrender
Germany surrendered unconditionally to the Allies, ending the Second World War in Europe and the Nazi regime amid the ruin of the country.
Weimar, the Third Reich and the Second World War
Sources: The Holocaust and World War II: Key Dates (United States Holocaust Memorial Museum)
- HUN
Hungary · War & Rupture · Feb 1945
The siege of Budapest
The months-long battle for the capital between German-Hungarian and Soviet forces destroyed much of historic Budapest, including the castle and the Danube bridges, as the Red Army completed its conquest of Hungary.
The Second World War and the Holocaust in Hungary
Sources: Budapest, including the Banks of the Danube, the Buda Castle Quarter and Andrássy Avenue (UNESCO World Heritage Centre) · The Holocaust in Hungary (United States Holocaust Memorial Museum)
- LIE
Liechtenstein · Catastrophe
Confiscation under the Beneš decrees
Czechoslovakia confiscated the vast Bohemian and Moravian estates of the House of Liechtenstein under the Beneš decrees, treating the family as German; the seized land, around 1,600 square kilometres, far exceeded the area of the principality.
The Turn to Switzerland, Neutrality and the Beneš Decrees
Sources: History of Czech–Liechtenstein relations (confiscations and 2009 relations) (Czech-Liechtenstein Society) · Certain Property (Liechtenstein v. Germany) — case overview (International Court of Justice) · Summary of the Judgment of 10 February 2005, Certain Property (Liechtenstein v. Germany) (International Court of Justice)
- MNE
Montenegro · Politics & Power
Socialist Republic of Montenegro
After wartime occupation and partisan resistance, Montenegro became one of the six federal republics of socialist Yugoslavia, with its capital at Titograd, today's Podgorica.
War, the Podgorica Assembly and Yugoslav Montenegro
Sources: Montenegro: History (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
- MKD
North Macedonia · Culture & Ideas
Socialist Republic of Macedonia and the codified language
A People's (later Socialist) Republic of Macedonia was constituted as one of Yugoslavia's six republics, and a standard Macedonian literary language was codified for the first time.
Partition, 'Vardar Macedonia' and the Yugoslav Republic
Sources: North Macedonia: History (Ancient, Ottoman, Yugoslav) (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
- SRB
Serbia · Politics & Power
Socialist Yugoslavia under Tito
Tito's Partisans triumphed and built a socialist federation of six republics; after breaking with Stalin in 1948, Yugoslavia pursued non-alignment, with Serbia its largest republic.
The Birth of Yugoslavia and the World Wars
Sources: Josip Broz Tito (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
- SVN
Slovenia · Politics & Power
Slovenia within socialist Yugoslavia
Slovenia became one of the six republics of Tito's Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, developing into its most prosperous and industrialised member.
Socialist Yugoslavia and the Road to Independence
Sources: Slovenia since 1918 (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
Oceania
- AUS
Australia · Peoples & Migration · 1945–1970s
Post-war mass immigration
A large post-war immigration programme brought millions of migrants, first from Europe and later from Asia and beyond, transforming Australia into a far more diverse society.
The world wars, immigration, and the twentieth century
Sources: The Immigration Restriction Act 1901 (National Archives of Australia) · Australia (country) (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
- PNG
Papua New Guinea · Politics & Power
Papua and New Guinea united
Australia combined its administration of Papua and the former German mandate into a single Territory of Papua and New Guinea, with the north held as a United Nations trust territory.
Self-government and independence
Sources: Papua New Guinea — The colonial period (Encyclopædia Britannica) · Independence of Papua New Guinea (National Archives of Australia)
22 records
Africa
- COM
Comoros · Colonisation
Separate overseas territory
The Comoros are detached from Madagascar and constituted as a distinct French overseas territory, beginning to acquire their own institutions.
French Colonisation
Sources: History of the Comoros (Wikipedia) · Comoros: History (Encyclopædia Britannica)
- DJI
Djibouti · Politics & Power
Reorganised as an overseas territory
French Somaliland becomes an overseas territory of the French Union, gaining representation in Paris and limited local institutions amid the wider decolonisation of Africa.
The Railway and the Colony of French Somaliland
Sources: Djibouti (country and history) (Encyclopaedia Britannica) · History of Djibouti (Wikipedia)
- GAB
Gabon · Politics & Power
Overseas territory of the French Union
After the Second World War Gabon became an overseas territory within the French Union, gaining elected representation and laying the groundwork for African political movements led by figures such as Léon M'ba and Jean-Hilaire Aubame.
Colonial Gabon and the road to independence
Sources: History of Gabon (Encyclopædia Britannica) · Gabon — History (Nations Encyclopedia)
- CIV
Ivory Coast · Politics & Power
Forced labour abolished
On a bill closely associated with Houphouët-Boigny, the French parliament abolished forced labour throughout the empire in 1946; the same year he helped found the inter-territorial RDA and its Ivorian party, the PDCI.
Colony, forced labour, and the road to independence
Sources: History of Côte d'Ivoire (Encyclopædia Britannica) · Félix Houphouët-Boigny (Wikipedia) · Houphouët-Boigny, Félix (Encyclopaedia Africana)
- NAM
Namibia · Politics & Power
South Africa refuses UN trusteeship
After the founding of the United Nations, South Africa refused to place the territory under UN trusteeship and sought to annex it, beginning a long international dispute over its status.
South African rule, the mandate, and apartheid
Sources: Namibia (country, history and government) (Encyclopaedia Britannica) · Namibia (Wikipedia)
- SDS
South Sudan · Politics & Power
Britain reverses course
Colonial authorities abandon the Southern Policy and move to unite the south with the north, without meaningful consultation of southerners.
The Condominium and the Southern Policy
Sources: History of South Sudan (Wikipedia)
Asia
- CHN
China · War & Rupture · 1946 CE
Chinese Civil War resumes; Communist victory
After Japan's surrender, full-scale civil war between Nationalists and Communists resumes, ending in 1949 with Communist victory and the retreat of Chiang Kai-shek's Nationalist government to Taiwan.
The Fall of the Empire: Republic, Warlords, and War
Sources: China (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
- JOR
Jordan · Independence · 25 May 1946
Independence of the Hashemite Kingdom
Following the Treaty of London, the British mandate ended and Transjordan became a fully independent kingdom, with Abdullah re-designated as king; 25 May is celebrated as Independence Day.
The Arab Revolt, the Emirate of Transjordan and Independence
Sources: A Guide to the United States' History of Recognition, Diplomatic, and Consular Relations, by Country: Jordan (U.S. Department of State, Office of the Historian) · Jordan: Transjordan, the Hashemite Kingdom, and the Palestine war (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
- KWT
Kuwait · Economy & Trade
First oil exports
Kuwait began exporting crude oil in 1946, launching the rapid transformation of the pearling port into a wealthy oil state.
Oil, Independence, and the Welfare State
Sources: Kuwait Oil Company (Encyclopaedia Britannica) · Kuwait: History (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
- LBN
Lebanon · Independence · 31 December 1946
French withdrawal completed
The last French troops leave Lebanon, completing the country's transition to full sovereignty.
Independence and the Golden Age
Sources: History of Lebanon (Encyclopaedia Britannica) · A Guide to the United States' History of Recognition: Lebanon (U.S. Department of State, Office of the Historian)
- MYS
Malaysia · Politics & Power · Mar 1946
Malayan Union opposition and the founding of UMNO
Malay opposition to the centralising Malayan Union proposal gives rise to the United Malays National Organisation, the country's first major political party, and the union is soon replaced by the Federation of Malaya.
Occupation, the Emergency and Merdeka
Sources: Malaysia: Political transformation (occupation, federation, NEP) (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
- PHL
Philippines · Independence · 4 Jul 1946
Independence of the Republic of the Philippines
The United States relinquishes sovereignty and recognises Philippine independence under the Treaty of Manila; Manuel Roxas becomes first president of the republic.
Japanese Occupation, Independence and the Marcos Dictatorship
Sources: A Guide to the United States' History of Recognition: The Philippines (U.S. Department of State, Office of the Historian) · July 4, 1946: The Philippines Gained Independence from the United States (The National WWII Museum)
- SYR
Syria · Independence · 17 April 1946
Independence — evacuation of French troops
After international recognition in 1944, the last French soldiers leave Syria on 17 April 1946, marking full independence — still commemorated as Evacuation Day.
The French Mandate and Independence
Sources: A Guide to the History of Recognition, Diplomatic, and Consular Relations: Syria (U.S. Department of State, Office of the Historian) · Syria — history (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
- THA
Thailand · Politics & Power
Death of King Ananda and accession of Bhumibol
King Ananda Mahidol (Rama VIII) dies of a gunshot in unexplained circumstances and is succeeded by his brother Bhumibol Adulyadej (Rama IX).
Constitutional Revolution, the Name Thailand, and the World Wars
Sources: Bhumibol Adulyadej (Rama IX) (Encyclopædia Britannica) · Thailand (Encyclopædia Britannica)
- VNM
Vietnam · War & Rupture · 1946-1954 CE
First Indochina War
War between France and the Viet Minh ends with the French defeat at Dien Bien Phu on 7 May 1954, terminating French colonial rule in Vietnam.
The Wars: Independence, Division, and Reunification
Sources: First Indochina War (Encyclopaedia Britannica) · Dien Bien Phu and the Fall of French Indochina, 1954 (U.S. Department of State, Office of the Historian)
Europe
- AUT
Austria · Politics & Power · 5 Sep 1946
Gruber-De Gasperi Agreement on South Tyrol
Austrian foreign minister Karl Gruber and Italian premier Alcide De Gasperi signed an accord committing Italy to grant autonomy and language and education rights to South Tyrol's German-speaking population.
The Second Republic: Neutrality, South Tyrol and Europe
Sources: De Gasperi-Gruber Agreement and the First Statute of Autonomy (Provincia autonoma di Trento)
- BGR
Bulgaria · Politics & Power
People's Republic proclaimed
A referendum abolished the monarchy and Bulgaria was proclaimed a People's Republic, a one-party communist state allied to the Soviet Union.
Communism, 1989 and the Return to Europe
Sources: Bulgaria: The early communist era (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
- GRC
Greece · War & Rupture · 1946–1949
Greek Civil War
Following liberation, a civil war between communist and government forces tore the country apart until 1949, an early conflict of the Cold War that left lasting political divisions.
The Modern Greek State
Sources: The Greek Civil War, 1944–1949 (The National WWII Museum, New Orleans) · Greece (country overview and history) (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
- ITA
Italy · Politics & Power · 2 June 1946
Birth of the Italian Republic
In a referendum, Italians voted to abolish the monarchy and establish a republic; the new democratic constitution took effect on 1 January 1948.
Liberal Italy, Fascism, War and the Republic
Sources: Towards 2 June (1946 referendum and Republic Day) (Italian Ministry of Defence) · Italy (country overview and history) (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
- MDA
Moldova · Catastrophe · 1946–1947
The man-made famine
A famine aggravated by harsh Soviet grain requisitioning swept Moldavia in 1946-1947, killing well over a hundred thousand people in one of the least-known episodes of Stalinist terror.
Soviet Moldavia: Annexation, Famine and Deportation
Sources: A Moldavian Holodomor? The Great Famine in Soviet Moldova, 1946-1947 (Stanford University, Center for Russian, East European and Eurasian Studies) · Moldova: History (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
South America
- ARG
Argentina · Politics & Power · 1946 CE
Peron elected president
Juan Peron wins the presidency with broad working-class support, launching the Peronist movement that will dominate Argentine politics.
The Peron Era and Political Turmoil
Sources: Juan Peron (Encyclopaedia Britannica) · Argentina (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
- FLK
Falkland Islands · Politics & Power
Listed as a Non-Self-Governing Territory
The Falkland Islands (Malvinas) were placed on the UN list of Non-Self-Governing Territories after the UK transmitted information under Article 73(e) of the Charter.
Decolonisation and the Sovereignty Dispute
Sources: Falkland Islands (Malvinas) — The United Nations and Decolonization (United Nations, Department of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs)
24 records
Africa
- BFA
Burkina Faso · Colonisation · 4 September 1947
Upper Volta reconstituted
After the war and Mossi pressure, Upper Volta is re-established within its former boundaries as a French West African territory.
Conquest and the Colony of Upper Volta
Sources: French Upper Volta (Wikipedia) · Background Notes: Burkina Faso (U.S. Department of State)
- CPV
Cape Verde · Catastrophe · 1941–43 and 1947–48
The twentieth-century famines
Two further droughts brought famines that together killed tens of thousands; starving refugees were interned in camps outside Praia, and survivors emigrated in growing numbers, deepening the diaspora.
Creole culture, the coaling port, and the years of hunger
Sources: Famine in Cape Verde (Wikipedia) · History of Cape Verde (Wikipedia) · History of Cabo Verde (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
- COM
Comoros · Politics & Power
Overseas territory with representation
The Comoros are confirmed as a French overseas territory and given representation in the French Parliament and a local assembly.
Autonomy and Independence
Sources: Comoros: History (Encyclopædia Britannica) · History of the Comoros (Wikipedia)
- GHA
Ghana · Politics & Power
Nkrumah returns to lead the nationalists
The United Gold Coast Convention invited the foreign-educated organiser Kwame Nkrumah home as its secretary, energising the movement for self-government and independence.
The British Gold Coast colony
Sources: Kwame Nkrumah (Encyclopaedia Britannica) · Ghana (country overview and history) (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
- GIN
Guinea · Politics & Power · c. 1947
Rise of the Parti Démocratique de Guinée
Postwar political mobilisation gives rise to the PDG, which under Ahmed Sékou Touré becomes the leading nationalist party in the colony.
French Guinea
Sources: Guinea — History (Encyclopaedia Britannica) · Guinea Gains Independence from France (EBSCO Research Starters)
- KEN
Kenya · Politics & Power
Kenyatta leads the Kenya African Union
Jomo Kenyatta, back from years in Britain, becomes president of the Kenya African Union, the leading vehicle of African nationalist demands.
British East Africa and the Settler Colony
Sources: Jomo Kenyatta (Encyclopaedia Britannica) · History of Kenya (Wikipedia)
- MDG
Madagascar · War & Rupture · 1947–1948
The Malagasy Uprising
A nationalist insurrection from March 1947 is suppressed with great loss of life; estimates range up to roughly 90,000 dead.
French Conquest & Colony
Sources: Malagasy Uprising (Wikipedia) · In Madagascar, People Remember One of the Deadliest French Colonial Wars in History (Global Voices)
- SDS
South Sudan · Politics & Power
Juba Conference
Northern and southern representatives meet at Juba to discuss the south's place in a future Sudan, but southern delegates have little leverage over the outcome.
The Condominium and the Southern Policy
Sources: History of South Sudan (Wikipedia)
Asia
- BGD
Bangladesh · Politics & Power
Partition creates East Pakistan
The partition of British India makes Muslim-majority eastern Bengal into East Pakistan, a wing of the new state separated from its western half by a thousand miles of India.
Partition, East Pakistan and the Language Movement
Sources: History of Bangladesh (Encyclopædia Britannica)
- IND
India · Independence · 15 Aug 1947
Independence and Partition
India becomes independent from Britain under Prime Minister Nehru as the subcontinent is partitioned into India and Pakistan, unleashing mass migration and communal violence.
Independence, Partition and the Modern Republic
Sources: Partition of India (Wikipedia) · Republic Day, India (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
- IND
India · Peoples & Migration · 1947–1948
Partition violence and mass migration
Up to 12–20 million people are uprooted and an estimated one to two million die in massacres and forced migration along the new India–Pakistan border.
Independence, Partition and the Modern Republic
Sources: Partition of India (Wikipedia)
- JPN
Japan · Politics & Power · 1947 CE
Pacifist constitution takes effect
Japan's postwar constitution establishes democracy and popular sovereignty, makes the emperor a symbol of the state, and renounces war under Article 9.
Postwar Japan: Reconstruction and the Modern Nation
Sources: Occupation and Reconstruction of Japan, 1945-52 (U.S. Department of State, Office of the Historian)
- MMR
Myanmar · Politics & Power · 19 July 1947
Assassination of Aung San
Aung San, who had negotiated independence with Britain, is assassinated with most of his cabinet months before the transfer of power.
The Anglo-Burmese Wars and British Rule
Sources: Aung San (Encyclopaedia Britannica) · A Guide to the United States' History of Recognition, Diplomatic, and Consular Relations: Burma (U.S. Department of State, Office of the Historian)
- PAK
Pakistan · Independence · 14 Aug 1947
Independence of Pakistan
Pakistan becomes independent under the Indian Independence Act, with Jinnah as Governor-General and Liaquat Ali Khan as prime minister, comprising West and East Pakistan.
Partition and Independence
Sources: Mohammed Ali Jinnah (Encyclopædia Britannica) · Indian Independence Act (Encyclopædia Britannica)
- PAK
Pakistan · Independence · 18 Jul 1947
Indian Independence Act passed
The British Parliament passes the Indian Independence Act, partitioning British India and providing for the creation of the dominions of India and Pakistan.
The British Raj and the Pakistan Movement
Sources: Indian Independence Act (Encyclopædia Britannica)
- PAK
Pakistan · Peoples & Migration · 1947–1948
Partition migration and violence
The Radcliffe Line divides Punjab and Bengal, and millions are uprooted across the new borders amid massacres and mass migration, with deaths estimated from the hundreds of thousands into the millions.
Partition and Independence
Sources: Radcliffe Line (Encyclopædia Britannica) · Indian Independence Act (Encyclopædia Britannica)
- PSE
Palestine · Politics & Power · 29 November 1947
UN Partition Plan (Resolution 181)
The UN General Assembly recommended partition into Jewish and Arab states with Jerusalem internationalised; accepted by Zionist leaders and rejected by Palestinian and Arab leaders.
The British Mandate and the Nakba
Sources: General Assembly Resolution 181 (II): Future Government of Palestine (United Nations) · Palestine - region, history (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
- TWN
Taiwan · Politics & Power · 28 February 1947
February 28 Incident
Protests against Nationalist rule, triggered by a violent monopoly-enforcement episode in Taipei, are crushed by troops; thousands are killed, beginning the long repression known as the White Terror.
Handover, the February 28 Incident, and the ROC Relocation
Sources: Taiwan: Early Nationalist rule (Encyclopaedia Britannica) · White Terror (Taiwan) (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
Europe
- FIN
Finland · Peoples & Migration
Paris Peace Treaty and the Karelian evacuees
The 1947 Paris Peace Treaty confirmed the cession of Karelia and Petsamo and reparations of 300 million dollars; some 400,000 Karelian evacuees were resettled within Finland's new borders.
The Winter War, the Continuation War and the Loss of Karelia
Sources: Draft Peace Treaty with Finland (Paris Peace Treaty terms) (U.S. Department of State, Office of the Historian (FRUS)) · Finland during World War II (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
- POL
Poland · Politics & Power
Establishment of communist rule
Backed by the Soviet Union and rigged elections, a communist government consolidated power, founding the Polish People's Republic within the Soviet bloc.
Communist Poland, Solidarity and the Modern Republic
Sources: Lech Walesa (Encyclopaedia Britannica) · Solidarity (Polish trade union) (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
- ROU
Romania · Politics & Power
Communist takeover and the People's Republic
After the war Romania was drawn into the Soviet bloc; the Paris treaty restored northern Transylvania, but Bessarabia stayed Soviet, the monarchy was abolished and a communist People's Republic proclaimed.
Dismemberment, the Second World War and communist rule
Sources: Romania (United States Holocaust Memorial Museum) · Ceausescu Is Overthrown in Romania (EBSCO Research Starters)
- GBR
United Kingdom · Independence
Independence of India and the start of decolonisation
India and Pakistan became independent, beginning the rapid dismantling of the British Empire as dozens of colonies gained independence over the following decades.
World wars, decolonisation, and the modern UK
Sources: The end of the British Empire after the Second World War (Imperial War Museums)
South America
- PRY
Paraguay · Politics & Power · 1947 CE
Paraguayan Civil War
A brief, bloody civil war ends in victory for the Colorado Party, entrenching one-party dominance and clearing the path to authoritarian rule.
Rebuilding and the Chaco War
Sources: History of Paraguay (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
Oceania
- NZL
New Zealand · Independence · 25 November 1947
Statute of Westminster adopted
New Zealand adopted the Statute of Westminster, ending the British Parliament's power to legislate for it and confirming the country's full legal independence — the last Dominion to do so.
Nationhood, the world wars, and the welfare state
Sources: Statute of Westminster enacted (NZ History (Manatū Taonga — Ministry for Culture and Heritage)) · New Zealand (country) (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
20 records
Africa
- BWA
Botswana · Politics & Power
Seretse Khama marries Ruth Williams
Bangwato heir Seretse Khama marries Englishwoman Ruth Williams in London, igniting a crisis with apartheid South Africa and Britain.
The Bechuanaland Protectorate
Sources: Sir Seretse Khama (Encyclopaedia Britannica) · Seretse Khama (Wikipedia)
- CMR
Cameroon · Politics & Power
Founding of the UPC
Ruben Um Nyobe and others founded the Union des Populations du Cameroun, a nationalist party demanding immediate independence and the reunification of French and British Cameroon.
Partition: French Cameroun and British Cameroons
Sources: Ruben Um Nyobe (1913–1958) (BlackPast.org) · Cameroon (country overview and history) (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
- ZAF
South Africa · Politics & Power
National Party institutes apartheid
The National Party won the 1948 election and began enacting apartheid, including the Population Registration Act and Group Areas Act of 1950, codifying racial classification, segregation and forced removals.
Apartheid and the liberation struggle
Sources: Apartheid (Encyclopaedia Britannica) · The Group Areas Act of 1950 (South African History Online)
Asia
- MYS
Malaysia · War & Rupture
The Malayan Emergency
After the Malayan Communist Party launches a guerrilla insurgency, the government declares a state of emergency on 18 June 1948, beginning a counterinsurgency that lasts until 1960.
Occupation, the Emergency and Merdeka
Sources: Malayan Emergency (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
- MMR
Myanmar · Independence · 4 January 1948
Independence of the Union of Burma
Burma becomes a fully independent republic outside the Commonwealth under Prime Minister U Nu, soon facing communist and ethnic insurgencies.
Independence, Ne Win, and Decades of Military Rule
Sources: History of Myanmar (Encyclopaedia Britannica) · A Guide to the United States' History of Recognition, Diplomatic, and Consular Relations: Burma (U.S. Department of State, Office of the Historian)
- PRK
North Korea · Formation · 9 September 1948
Founding of the DPRK
The Democratic People's Republic of Korea is proclaimed under Kim Il Sung, weeks after the Republic of Korea is established in the south, institutionalizing the division.
Colonial Rule and Division
Sources: History of North Korea (Encyclopaedia Britannica) · Kim Il-Sung (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
- PSE
Palestine · War & Rupture · 1947-1949
The Nakba
During the war surrounding Israel's establishment, around 700,000 Palestinians were expelled or fled and, per UN figures, more than 500 villages were depopulated and destroyed.
The British Mandate and the Nakba
Sources: About the Nakba (United Nations (Question of Palestine)) · Nakba (Wikipedia) · Palestine - region, history (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
- KOR
South Korea · Formation · 15 August 1948
Republic of Korea proclaimed
South Korea is established under President Syngman Rhee after a constitution is promulgated and UN-observed elections held; the DPRK is founded in the north weeks later.
Division, the Korean War, and Authoritarian Rebuilding
Sources: Syngman Rhee (Encyclopaedia Britannica) · Korea (history) (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
- LKA
Sri Lanka · Independence · 4 Feb 1948
Independence of the Dominion of Ceylon
Ceylon becomes an independent dominion within the Commonwealth as its 1947 constitution takes effect, with D. S. Senanayake as first prime minister.
British Ceylon and the Road to Independence
Sources: History of Sri Lanka: Independent Ceylon (1948–71) (Encyclopædia Britannica) · Path to Freedom: 1815 Convention and Dominion Status (Department of National Archives, Sri Lanka)
- TKM
Turkmenistan · Catastrophe · 6 October 1948
Ashgabat earthquake
A devastating earthquake struck Ashgabat, destroying the city and killing tens of thousands of people in one of the deadliest seismic disasters in Soviet history.
Soviet Turkmenistan
Sources: Turkmenistan: A Country Study (in 'Kazakstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan: Country Studies') (Library of Congress, Federal Research Division) · Turkmenistan (Encyclopædia Britannica)
Europe
- ALB
Albania · Politics & Power · 1948 & 1961
Breaks with Yugoslavia and the USSR
Hoxha broke with Tito's Yugoslavia in 1948 and allied with the Soviet Union, then ruptured with Moscow in 1961 over de-Stalinisation, turning instead to Maoist China.
The Second World War and Hoxha's Stalinist Albania
Sources: Enver Hoxha (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
- CZE
Czechia · Politics & Power · Feb 1948
Communist coup
In February 1948 the Communist Party seized full power in Czechoslovakia, ending postwar democracy and bringing the country firmly into the Soviet bloc for the next four decades.
Expulsion, Communism, the Velvet Revolution and the Modern Republic
Sources: Czechoslovak history (Encyclopaedia Britannica) · Vaclav Havel (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
- FIN
Finland · Politics & Power
Treaty with the Soviet Union and neutrality
A 1948 treaty of friendship with the Soviet Union framed Finland's Cold War policy of strict neutrality and non-alignment, later known as 'Finlandization', under which it preserved its democracy and independence.
Neutrality, the European Union and NATO
Sources: History of Finland (Encyclopaedia Britannica) · History of Finland (InfoFinland (Finnish public authorities))
- SVK
Slovakia · Politics & Power
Communist takeover
The Communist Party seized full power in Czechoslovakia, establishing a one-party state under Soviet domination that would last for four decades.
Communism, the Velvet Revolution and the Velvet Divorce
Sources: Czechoslovakia (Encyclopaedia Britannica) · Velvet Revolution (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
- GBR
United Kingdom · Politics & Power · 5 July 1948
Founding of the National Health Service
The post-war Labour government launched the NHS, providing healthcare free at the point of use and forming the centrepiece of Britain's new welfare state.
World wars, decolonisation, and the modern UK
Sources: The foundation of the NHS (The National Archives)
North America
- CRI
Costa Rica · Politics & Power · 1948 CE
Disputed election sparks civil war
The annulment of the 1948 election to bar president-elect Otilio Ulate triggers a brief but bloody civil war.
Coffee, Bananas, and a Maturing Democracy
Sources: Jose Figueres Ferrer (Encyclopaedia Britannica) · Otilio Ulate (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
- CRI
Costa Rica · War & Rupture · 1948 CE
Figueres leads the civil war
Jose Figueres Ferrer leads an armed uprising in support of president-elect Ulate; the two-month war kills about 2,000 people before the government surrenders.
Civil War and the Abolition of the Army
Sources: Jose Figueres Ferrer (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
- PRI
Puerto Rico · Politics & Power · 1948 CE
First elected governor
Luis Muñoz Marín is elected the island's first governor; his administration launches Operation Bootstrap to industrialise the economy.
The Commonwealth and the Status Question
Sources: Luis Muñoz Marín (Encyclopædia Britannica) · Puerto Rico: The Commonwealth (Encyclopædia Britannica)
South America
- COL
Colombia · Politics & Power · 9 Apr 1948
Assassination of Gaitan and the Bogotazo
The killing of Liberal leader Jorge Eliecer Gaitan triggers the Bogotazo riots that devastate Bogota and ignite a decade of bloodshed.
La Violencia and the National Front
Sources: History of Colombia (Encyclopaedia Britannica) · Colombia: A Country Study (U.S. Library of Congress, Federal Research Division)
- COL
Colombia · War & Rupture · c. 1948-1958
La Violencia
Partisan warfare between Liberals and Conservatives ravages the countryside, killing an estimated two hundred thousand or more Colombians.
La Violencia and the National Front
Sources: History of Colombia (Encyclopaedia Britannica) · Colombia: A Country Study (U.S. Library of Congress, Federal Research Division)
20 records
Africa
- CAF
Central African Republic · Politics & Power · 28 September 1949
Boganda founds MESAN
Barthélemy Boganda, the territory's first deputy to the French National Assembly, founded the Movement for the Social Evolution of Black Africa, the engine of Central African nationalism.
French Equatorial Africa to Independence
Sources: Barthélemy Boganda (Encyclopaedia Britannica) · Barthélemy Boganda (New World Encyclopedia) · Movement for the Social Evolution of Black Africa (MESAN) (Wikipedia)
- GHA
Ghana · Politics & Power
Nkrumah founds the Convention People's Party
Breaking from the UGCC, Kwame Nkrumah founded the CPP and launched a mass campaign for immediate self-government, transforming Gold Coast nationalism into a popular movement.
Independence and the Nkrumah era
Sources: Kwame Nkrumah (Encyclopaedia Britannica) · Ghana (country overview and history) (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
Asia
- CHN
China · Formation · 1949 CE
People's Republic of China proclaimed
Mao Zedong proclaims the People's Republic of China from the Tiananmen gate in Beijing on 1 October 1949, with Zhou Enlai as premier, after Communist victory in the civil war.
The People's Republic: Revolution, Upheaval, and Reform
Sources: China (Encyclopaedia Britannica) · Mao Zedong Proclaims a Communist People's Republic in China (EBSCO Research Starters)
- IDN
Indonesia · Independence · 27 Dec 1949
Recognition of sovereignty
Following the Round Table Conference in The Hague, the Netherlands formally transfers sovereignty and recognises the independence of Indonesia.
Japanese Occupation, Independence and the Revolution
Sources: Indonesia Regains Its Independence (Research Starters) (EBSCO) · Proclamation of Indonesian Independence (Wikipedia)
- KAZ
Kazakhstan · Catastrophe · 1949–1989
Semipalatinsk nuclear test site
The Soviet Union conducts some 456 nuclear tests at the Semipalatinsk site in northeastern Kazakhstan between 1949 and 1989, exposing local populations to radioactive fallout with severe long-term health effects.
Soviet Kazakhstan
Sources: Kazakhstan (Encyclopædia Britannica) · Kazakstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan: Country Studies (Library of Congress, Federal Research Division)
- QAT
Qatar · Economy & Trade
First oil exports begin
Commercial export of Dukhan crude began in 1949, starting the transformation of an economy battered by the collapse of the pearl trade in the 1930s.
Oil, the End of Pearls, and Independence
Sources: Qatar: History (Persian Gulf, Oil, Gas) (Encyclopaedia Britannica) · Persian Gulf States: Country Studies (Qatar) (Library of Congress, Federal Research Division)
- TWN
Taiwan · Politics & Power · 1 October 1949
People's Republic of China proclaimed
Having defeated the Nationalists in the Chinese Civil War, Mao Zedong proclaims the People's Republic of China on the mainland; Chiang and his forces withdraw toward Taiwan.
Handover, the February 28 Incident, and the ROC Relocation
Sources: The Chinese Revolution of 1949 (U.S. Department of State, Office of the Historian)
- TWN
Taiwan · Formation · December 1949
ROC government relocates to Taiwan
Chiang Kai-shek's Republic of China central government relocates to Taipei after defeat in the civil war, founding the present self-governing polity on the island; this was not a declaration of independence.
Handover, the February 28 Incident, and the ROC Relocation
Sources: The Chinese Revolution of 1949 (U.S. Department of State, Office of the Historian) · Chiang Kai-shek (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
Europe
- BEL
Belgium · Politics & Power · 4 Apr 1949
Founding member of NATO
Belgium was one of twelve states that signed the North Atlantic Treaty in Washington on 4 April 1949; NATO headquarters later moved to Brussels in 1967.
A Federal Kingdom at the Heart of Europe
Sources: North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO): Belgium (Belgium FPS Foreign Affairs (diplomatie.belgium.be)) · 75 years of NATO: An Alliance firmly rooted in Belgium (Focus on Belgium (Federal Government of Belgium))
- DNK
Denmark · Politics & Power
Founding member of NATO
Abandoning its old neutrality after the occupation, Denmark became one of the twelve founding members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization in 1949.
Occupation, the Welfare State and the Modern Realm
Sources: North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) (Encyclopaedia Britannica) · A Guide to the History of Recognition, Diplomatic, and Consular Relations: Denmark (U.S. Department of State, Office of the Historian)
- DEU
Germany · Politics & Power · 23 May 1949
Founding of the two German states
The Basic Law established the Federal Republic of Germany in the west on 23 May 1949; the German Democratic Republic was founded in the Soviet zone on 7 October 1949, formalising the country's division.
Division, the Federal Republic and Reunification
Sources: Germany (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
- HUN
Hungary · Politics & Power
The Hungarian People's Republic
Backed by the Soviet Union, the communists seized total power and proclaimed a one-party People's Republic, imposing Stalinist terror, show trials and forced collectivisation under Mátyás Rákosi.
Communism, 1956 and the Return to Europe
Sources: János Kádár (Encyclopaedia Britannica) · Hungarian Revolution (1956) (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
- ISL
Iceland · Politics & Power
Iceland a founding member of NATO
Abandoning neutrality, Iceland joined NATO as a founding member in 1949, a state with no army, on the understanding it would not host foreign troops in peacetime; the decision provoked a riot at the Althing.
Occupation, the Republic and NATO
Sources: Foreign Relations of the United States, 1949, Vol. IV (Iceland and the North Atlantic Treaty) (U.S. Department of State, Office of the Historian) · History of Iceland from 1944 (nordics.info (Aarhus University))
- IRL
Ireland · Independence · 18 Apr 1949
Declaration of the Republic
The Republic of Ireland Act, signed 21 December 1948 and in force from 18 April 1949, declared the twenty-six-county state a republic, removed the King's last role and left the Commonwealth.
Rising, Independence and Partition
Sources: Republic of Ireland Act comes into effect in 1949 (IrishCentral)
- LVA
Latvia · Catastrophe · Mar 1949
The March 1949 deportations
In Operation Priboi the Soviet authorities deported tens of thousands of Latvians to Siberia, many of them farmers resisting collectivisation, in the largest single act of repression of the postwar years.
Soviet Rule, Restoration and the Return to Europe
Sources: About the Museum (Museum of the Occupation of Latvia) · History of Latvia (Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Latvia)
- LUX
Luxembourg · Politics & Power · 4 Apr 1949
Founding member of NATO
Having renounced its enforced neutrality, Luxembourg was one of the twelve states that signed the North Atlantic Treaty in Washington on 4 April 1949, founding the Atlantic alliance.
A Founder of the New Europe
Sources: A short history of NATO (founding members, 1949) (North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)) · Benelux: the first organisations and cooperative ventures in post-war Europe (CVCE (Centre Virtuel de la Connaissance sur l'Europe), University of Luxembourg)
- MDA
Moldova · Catastrophe · 6 Jul 1949
Operation South deportations
On the night of 5-6 July 1949 Soviet authorities deported tens of thousands of Moldavians condemned as kulaks to Siberia and Kazakhstan, accelerating the forced collectivization of agriculture.
Soviet Moldavia: Annexation, Famine and Deportation
Sources: Moldova Commemorates Victims of Soviet Deportations (Balkan Insight (BIRN)) · Moldova: History (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
- NLD
Netherlands · Independence · 27 Dec 1949
Indonesian independence
After a violent four-year war, the Netherlands transfers sovereignty over the Dutch East Indies to the Republic of Indonesia.
The World Wars, Decolonisation and the Modern Netherlands
Sources: Netherlands (Encyclopaedia Britannica) · Independence, Decolonization, Violence and War in Indonesia, 1945–1950 (NIOD Institute for War, Holocaust and Genocide Studies)
- NOR
Norway · Politics & Power
Norway joins NATO
Abandoning prewar neutrality, Norway became a founding member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation, anchoring its security in the Western alliance.
Oil Wealth, the European Question and the Arctic Boundary
Sources: Norway: World War II (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
North America
- CRI
Costa Rica · Politics & Power · 1949 CE
Constitution abolishes the army
Figueres's junta promulgates a new constitution that bans a standing army, grants women the vote, and nationalises the banks, then hands power to Ulate.
Civil War and the Abolition of the Army
Sources: Jose Figueres Ferrer (Encyclopaedia Britannica) · Otilio Ulate (Encyclopaedia Britannica)