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USSR successfully detonates first Atomic bomb
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Proclamation of the People's Republic of China
Mao Zedong took to Tiananmen Square in Beijing to proclaim the government of a new state, the PRC, by the Chinese Communist Party. The nationalist Kuomintang (KMT) who had opposed the CCP during the Civil War, would retreat to Taiwan by December of the same year. -
Alger Hiss, former US diplomat, convicted of perjury
He began being investigated in 1948, by the House Commitee on Un-American Activities (HUAC), a symbol of the 'Red Scare'. He was found to have been passing information to the Soviet Union. -
Sen. Joseph McCarthy delivers speech in West Virginia
Encapsulating his anti-communist beliefs, this speech established his distaste for President Truman's non intervention in the Chinese Civil War, claiming it caused the Korean War. He called out suspected communist influence in the US film and military industries. British society mirrored this viewpoint in conjunction with the 'special relationship'. They feared inaction in Asia could weaken free Europe. McCarthy claimed to have 57 communists in the State Department to the Democrat Truman. -
Sino-Soviet Treaty of Friendship, Alliance and Mutual Assistance signed
The treaty promised collective security, aid and co-operation between the two communist states. This prompted fear of communism to spread within the USA as the media reacted to the "Loss of China". -
NSC-68 presented to President Truman
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North Korea invades South Korea, Korean War begins
Coupled with the 'Loss of China', these events prompted an increase in US military and intelligence spending, and an order to support all anti-communist governments in the Far East (Synghman Rhee, Jiang Jieshi). This had followed the temporary partition of Korea along the 38th parallel by the Allies in 1945, with the UN aiming to hold elections on reunification. However, due to differing views on leadership style, the elections never took place and the partition lasted. -
UN Security Council Resolution 84 passes
This resolution passed as the USSR had been boycotting the Security Council for its refusal to admit the PRC. A UN 16-nation Command group led by General Macarthur including British, Canadian, Turkish, Filipino and US troops were sent to defend the Republic of Korea from the Soviet and Chinese-backed North. -
Operation Chromite, the Battle of Inchon begins
After initially being pushed back to Pusan, the South Koreans were supported by 261 UN ships to push North Korea back to the 38th parallel. Stalin refused to send troops, fearing a nuclear war with the militarily superior US. HE had initially refused to support Kim's request for an offensive in March 1949, and only reluctantly provided military supplies from 1950. He did, however, see the value in creating another communist state and appearing as the communist leader of the world -
United Nations numbers 60 states
Indonesia joins the United Nations, demonstrating the Westernised dominance. Headquartered in New York, the brain child of Roosevelt warranted heavy funding from the federal government. US economic influence on European member states cemented this favourability. US military superiority assumed its role as 'world policeman', leading to indigenous populations in European colonies to identify themselves with the US. China's UN seat remained with the ROC. Veto power in the SC reigned US in somewhat. -
Chinese First Offensive of 300,000 volunteer troops begin
Stalin still refused to send troops, and Truman took advantage of this opportunity to 'rollback' communism and destroy North Korea's military. He sent US troops over the border, whilst maintaining that this was a defensive war. Seeing foreign troops near the Yalu river prompted Mao to reconsider his policy of consolidation of power in China, and supported the North to enhance his power and potentially annex Taiwan. -
General Macarthur relieved from command by Truman
China had sent an additional 200,000 troops after seeing the UN command force approach the Chinese border. The UN forces were then pushed back to the 38th parallel, and MAcarthur insisted on nuking China. This overly harsh proposal saw Truman dismiss Macarthur, and a stalemate period ensued. Ridgway succeeded him, using heavy bombing tactics and supporting Korea with 6 million soldiers, as well as chemical weapons, airpower, tanks and artillery. Communist troops had reached Seoul. -
US-Japan Security Treaty comes into effect
IN conjunction with the San Francisco Treaty, this bilateral treaty gave the US the right to military force, to veto Japanese offers of military bases in other countries and unrestricted use of military bases in Japan. It also gave the US administrative control over Okinawa. Japanese rearmament was monitored, capping Japan's defensive armed forces to 140,000 men and using it as an East Asian bulwark against communism. The Treaty was to expire and be revised in 1960. -
Treaty of San Francisco comes into effect
The US aimed to prevent Japan from entering into an alliance with the USSR, so it installed a liberal government and helped its de-militarisation. It was given efficient taxation, a balanced budget and a place in the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade. Signed by other allied powers, Japan was transferred its sovereignty and renounced its claims on any neighbouring territories (Taiwan, Korea), as Communist China also had to by its exclusion from the UN and alliances with the USSR and DPRK -
Brinkmanship
Brinkmanship permitted for near-war status to confront the USSR. It allowed for covert CIA operations in the Soviet Bloc and the use of alliances to contain the USSR and China. -
Dwight D. Eisenhower inaugurated as US President
Eisenhower won a landslide victory (442-89) against Democratic nominee Adlai Stevenson II. Eisenhower sought a policy of alliance with Adenauer's FRG, even allowing re-militarisation. His New Look Policy stressed a more proactive approach to containing communism, focusing on massive retaliation, covert operations and strengthening global alliances. Nuclear strategies would reduce the costs of conventional troops. -
Panmunjon Armistice signed, Korean War frozen
Stalin's death prompted a renewal of the initial July 1951 peace talks. China, North Korea and the USA signed the ceasefire, forcing South Korea to accept it. It demanded a military demarcation line at the 38th parallel with a demilitarised zone 2km either side. All military forces were to withdraw, and prisoners of war returned. The US issued a long-term security guarantee to Taiwan. Stalin had refocused Soviet support to industrialisation of the USSR and satellite states, causing shortages. -
Battle of Dien Bien Phu ends in French surrender
Viet Minh added a key victory after the 2-month siege of French forces. -
First Indochina war secures ceasefire as Geneva Conference outlines plan
Recognised the 17th parallel ad a military demarcation line, promising elections within 2 years.on reunification. Ho Chi Minh's Vietnam had secured the Democratic REpublic of Vietnam the North of the country from the French, with the US backing SOuth Vietnam and France in response. President Diem was soon installed in the South, with respective troop withdrawals. -
Southeast Asia Treaty Organisation founded
Secretary of State Dulles brought about the organisation as a defensive alliance against Asian communism, comprised of Australia
France
New Zealand
Pakistan
Philippines
Thailand
United Kingdom
United States, reflecting its defensive perimeter strategy. -
FRG admitted into NATO
4 days previous, the American, British and French forces had formally ended their occupation, allowing West Germany to become an independent country. -
Warsaw Pact signed
Mutual defense treaty between Albania, Poland, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Bulgaria, Romania, the GDR and USSR. Guaranteed collective security and Soviet military influence, an aggressor of Cold War tension in the coming decades.