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Post-War Timeline
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Indian Independence
The Indian independence movement started taking action at the beginning of the 20th century, and after World War I Gandhi organized the first of his many effective peace campaigns in protest of Britain’s oppressive rule in India. In the 1930s, the British government made some decreases to the Indian nationalists, but during World War II eny with British rule had grown to such a degree that Britain feared losing India to the Axis. -
Creation of Israel
On November 29, 1947, the United Nations General Assembly voted 33 to 13, with 10 abstentions, in favor of a Partition Plan that created the State of Israel. The British reliquished their mandate over Palestine in 1948. War broke out between the Arabs and Jews soon after. The 1948 Arab-Israeli War, established the state of Israel as an independent state, with the rest of the British Mandate of Palestine split into areas controlled by Egypt and Transjordan. -
Berlin Airlift
The Soviet Union blocked all road and rail travel to and from West Berlin, which was located within the Soviet zone of occupation in Germany. The Soviet action was in response to the refusal of American and British officials to allow Russia more say in the economic future of Germany. -
Korean War
The Korean War began when some 75,000 soldiers from the North Korean People’s Army poured across the 38th parallel, the boundary between the Soviet-backed Democratic People’s Republic of Korea to the north and the pro-Western Republic of Korea to the south. This invasion was the first military action of the Cold War. -
Launch of Sputnik
The Soviet Union introduces the “Space Age” with its launch of Sputnik, the world’s first artificial satellite. It used an intercontinental ballistic missile. The U.S. responds by pouring money into science education. -
Bay of Pigs Invasion
The Bay of Pigs invasion begins when a CIA-financed and -trained group of Cuban refugees lands in Cuba and attempts to crash the communist government of Fidel Castro. It gave Castro a military victory and a permanent symbol of Cuban resistance to American aggression. -
Cuban Missile Crisis
The Cuban Missile Crisis began when the Soviet Union began to install nuclear missiles in Cuba. The United States refused to allow this and, after thirteen tense days and many secret negotiations, the Soviet Union agreed to remove the missiles. A U-2 spy plane flying over Cuba discovered nuclear missile sites under construction. These missiles would have been capable of quickly reaching the United States. -
Assassination of Egyptian President Sadat
Islamic extremists assassinate Anwar Sadat, the president of Egypt, as he reviews troops on the anniversary of the Yom Kippur War. Led by Khaled el Islambouli, a lieutenant in the Egyptian army with connections to the terrorist group Takfir Wal-Hajira, the terrorists were all wearing army uniforms, stopped in front of the reviewing stand and fired shots and threw grenades into a crowd of Egyptian government officials. Sadat was shot four times, and died two hours later. -
Tiananmen Square Protest
Chinese troops storm through Tiananmen Square in the center of Beijing, killing and arresting thousands of pro-democracy protesters. Nearly a million Chinese, mostly young students, crowded into central Beijing to protest for greater democracy and call for the retirement of the Chinese Communist Party leaders. For nearly three weeks, the protesters kept up guards, and marched and chanted. -
Assassination of Israeli Prime Minister Begin
Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin is fatally shot after attending a peace rally held in Tel Aviv’s Kings Square in Israel. The murder named Yigal Amir, was quickly overpowered and arrested.
