Year by year · 20th century

1948

1948 in world history: 33 events, 14 births, 19 deaths, 4 works, 12 states founded and 24 that came to an end. 679 recorded states existed that year.

Events

  1. 4 January

    Burma becomes independent from Britain

    Burma left British rule as an independent republic outside the Commonwealth, at an hour chosen by astrologers. Independence hero Aung San had been assassinated six months earlier, and civil conflict soon followed.

    Burma

  2. 30 January

    Mahatma Gandhi is assassinated in New Delhi

    The Hindu nationalist Nathuram Godse shot Gandhi at a prayer meeting at Birla House. The death of the leader of India's non-violent independence struggle was mourned across the world.

    British EmpireMahatma Gandhi

  3. 4 February

    Ceylon becomes independent from Britain

    Ceylon became a self-governing dominion in the Commonwealth, ending about 150 years of British rule. It became a republic and took the name Sri Lanka in 1972.

    Sri LankaCeylon

  4. 17 March

    Brussels Treaty creates a Western European defence pact

    Britain, France, Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg agreed to defend one another against attack. The pact paved the way for NATO in 1949 and later became the Western European Union.

    European UnionBelgium

  5. 14 May

    David Ben-Gurion proclaims the State of Israel

    As the British Mandate ended, Ben-Gurion declared Israel's independence in Tel Aviv. Neighbouring Arab states invaded the next day, and hundreds of thousands of Palestinians were displaced in the war.

  6. 24 June

    Soviet Union begins the Berlin Blockade

    Soviet forces cut road, rail and canal links to West Berlin. The Western Allies responded with an airlift that supplied the city's two million people for eleven months.

    Soviet UnionAllies

  7. 5 July

    The National Health Service launches in Britain

    Aneurin Bevan's National Health Service began, offering comprehensive care free at the point of use to everyone in Britain. It became one of the defining institutions of the post-war welfare state.

  8. 9 September

    North Korea is proclaimed under Kim Il-sung

    The Democratic People's Republic of Korea was proclaimed in the Soviet-occupied north, weeks after the Republic of Korea in the south. Kim Il-sung founded a dynasty that still rules.

    Korea

  9. 10 December

    The UN adopts the Universal Declaration of Human Rights

    Meeting in Paris, the UN General Assembly adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights without a vote against. The drafting committee was chaired by Eleanor Roosevelt.

    Paris

  10. Campaign

    Operation Polo

    Operation Polo was the Indian military operation of 13-18 September 1948 that ended the independence of Hyderabad State, whose Nizam had refused to join India.

  11. Revolt

    Madiun Affair

    The Madiun Affair was a communist uprising in September 1948 centred on the town of Madiun in East Java, during Indonesia's war of independence against the Netherlands.

  12. Treaty

    Finno-Soviet Treaty of 1948

    The Finno-Soviet Treaty of 1948, formally the Agreement of Friendship, Cooperation and Mutual Assistance, was signed in Moscow on 6 April 1948.

  13. Campaign

    Liaoshen campaign

    The Liaoshen campaign was the first of the three great campaigns of the Chinese Civil War, fought in Manchuria from September to November 1948.

  14. Event

    Suket Satyagraha

    The Suket Satyagraha was a popular movement in the princely state of Suket, in the hills of present-day Himachal Pradesh, in February 1948.

  15. Event

    Nakba

    The Nakba, Arabic for catastrophe, is the Palestinian name for the flight and expulsion of roughly 700,000 Palestinian Arabs from their homes during the war surrounding Israel's creation in 1948, and for the destruction of hundreds of their villages.

ProfileState623 states with a known seat in 1948Open the atlas at 1948 →

In the profiles

  • CzechoslovakiaThe Communist Party seizes full power in February
  • United KingdomThe National Health Service is founded
  • Udaipur StateUdaipur joins the United State of Rajasthan; Bhupal Singh becomes Rajpramukh
  • Hyderabad StateThe Indian army takes over the state in Operation Polo
  • MyanmarThe Union of Burma becomes independent on 4 January
  • United State of RajasthanNine south-eastern states and two chiefships form a union with its capital at Kota (25 March)
  • United State of RajasthanUdaipur joins and Nehru inaugurates the United State of Rajasthan (18 April)
  • Union of South AfricaD. F. Malan’s National Party wins power and begins apartheid
  • JudaismThe State of Israel is founded, three years after the end of the Holocaust
  • Republic of ColombiaThe assassination of Jorge Eliécer Gaitán sets off the Bogotazo and deepens La Violencia

Wars and longer events

Born in 1948 14

Died in 1948 19

Works 4

States founded 12

States that came to an end 24

All years → The 20th century →

Cite this page
APA
The Epoch Institute. (2026). 1948. In The Epoch Institute, Year by Year. https://the-epoch-institute.org/years/1948
MLA
“1948.” The Epoch Institute, Year by Year, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/years/1948. Accessed .
Chicago
The Epoch Institute. “1948.” The Epoch Institute, Year by Year. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/years/1948.
Harvard
The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘1948’, The Epoch Institute, Year by Year. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/years/1948 (Accessed: ).