1949

Events

1. 30 March · Event

   Rajasthan Day

   Rajasthan Day is a public holiday in the Indian state of Rajasthan, celebrated on 30 March.

2. 4 April

   Twelve nations sign the North Atlantic Treaty

   Foreign ministers meeting in Washington signed the treaty that created NATO, committing members to treat an attack on one as an attack on all. The alliance anchored Western defence through the Cold War.

3. 12 May

   Soviet Union lifts the Berlin Blockade

   After almost eleven months, Soviet authorities reopened road and rail routes into West Berlin. The Allied airlift that had supplied the city became a defining episode of the early Cold War.

   Soviet Union

4. 8 June

   Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four is published

   Secker and Warburg published George Orwell's novel of a totalitarian surveillance state. Terms such as 'Big Brother' and 'doublethink' passed into everyday language.

5. 29 August

   The Soviet Union tests its first atomic bomb

   The USSR exploded its first atomic bomb at Semipalatinsk in Kazakhstan, years earlier than the West expected. The American nuclear monopoly was over and the arms race had begun.

   Soviet Union
6. 

   1 October

   Mao Zedong proclaims the People's Republic of China

   From the Gate of Heavenly Peace in Beijing, Mao Zedong proclaimed the founding of the People's Republic of China. Communist victory in the civil war placed the world's most populous country under a new regime.

   People's Republic of ChinaBeijing
7. 

   Event

   Indonesian independence

   Indonesian independence was proclaimed in 1945 and recognised by the Netherlands in 1949 after a period of armed conflict and negotiation.

8. Battle

   Battle of Guningtou

   The Battle of Guningtou was fought on Kinmen island, off the Fujian coast, from 25 to 27 October 1949.

9. 

   Treaty · Peace

   Dutch–Indonesian Round Table Conference

   The Dutch–Indonesian Round Table Conference met in The Hague from August to November 1949, bringing together the Netherlands, the Republic of Indonesia and the federal states created by the Dutch.

10. Treaty

    Élysée Accords

    The Élysée Accords were agreements signed on 8 March 1949 by the French President Vincent Auriol and the former emperor Bảo Đại.

11. Event

    Bevin–Sforza plan

    The Bevin–Sforza plan was a proposal agreed in May 1949 by the British foreign secretary Ernest Bevin and the Italian foreign minister Carlo Sforza for the future of Italy's former colony of Libya.

In the profiles

• CanadaNewfoundland joins Canada as the tenth province
• Republic of ChinaDefeated in the civil war, the government moves to Taipei
• People's Republic of ChinaMao Zedong proclaims the People’s Republic in Beijing on 1 October
• Free Hanseatic City of BremenBremen becomes a state of the Federal Republic of Germany
• Free and Hanseatic City of HamburgHamburg becomes a state of the Federal Republic of Germany
• Kingdom of the NetherlandsSovereignty over Indonesia is transferred to the new Indonesian state
• Dutch East IndiesThe Netherlands transfers sovereignty to Indonesia on 27 December
• IndonesiaThe Netherlands transfers sovereignty after the Round Table Conference at The Hague
• United State of RajasthanJaipur, Jodhpur, Bikaner and Jaisalmer join to form Greater Rajasthan (30 March)
• United State of RajasthanThe Matsya Union of Alwar, Bharatpur, Dholpur and Karauli joins (15 May)
• One-party stateThe Chinese Communist Party wins the civil war and proclaims the People’s Republic of China on 1 October
• Parliamentary democracyWest Germany’s Basic Law introduces the constructive vote of no confidence

Wars and longer events

• Berlin AirliftEnded · 1948–1949
• Chinese Civil WarEnded · 1927–1949
• Greek Civil WarEnded · 1946–1949
• Huaihai campaignEnded · 1948–1949
• Indonesian National RevolutionEnded · 1947–1949
• Pingjin campaignEnded · 1948–1949

Born in 1949 18

• Pablo Escobar1949–1993
• Aishwarya of Nepal1949–2001
• Alan García1949–2019
• Israel Finkelsteinb. 1949
• Jamil Mahuad1949–
• Kgalema Motlanthe1949–
• Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoumb. 1949
• Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono1949–
• Ashraf Ghanib. 1949
• Fernando Collor de Mellob. 1949
• Gulbuddin Hekmatyarb. 1949
• Kurmanbek Bakiyevb. 1949
• Nawaz Sharifb. 1949
• Pierre Buyoya1949–2020
• Sandra Mason1949–
• Sebastián Piñera1949–2024
• Dilip Singh Judeo1949–2013
• Gotabaya Rajapaksab. 1949

Died in 1949 19

• Henri Giraud1879–1949
• James Ensor1860–1949
• José Clemente Orozco1883–1949
• Salar Jung III1889–1949
• Aristeidis Stergiadis1861–1949
• Douglas Hyde1860–1949
• Erich Zeigner1886–1949
• Eugeniusz Okoń1881–1949
• Georgi Dimitrov1882–1949
• Husni al-Za'im1897–1949
• Jagatjit Singh1872–1949
• Kim Gu1876–1949
• László Rajk1909–1949
• Nabongo Mumiac. 1849–1949
• Themistoklis Sofoulis1860–1949
• Leopold IV, Prince of Lippe1871–1949
• Ahmetjan Qasimi1914–1949
• Duncan Stewart (colonial administrator)1904–1949
• Vladimir Yudovsky1880–1949

Works 3

• Common ProgramWork / monument
• Basic Law for the Federal Republic of GermanyWork / monument
• Objectives ResolutionWork / monument

States founded 9

• Emirate of Cyrenaica 1949 CE – 1951 CE
• Federal Republic of Germany 1949 CE – present
• Hungarian People's Republic 1949 CE – 1989 CE
• Netherlands New Guinea 1949 CE – 1962 CE
• People's Republic of China 1949 CE – present
• State of Vietnam 1949 CE – 1955 CE
• Territory of Papua and New Guinea 1949 CE – 1975 CE
• Travancore-Cochin 1949 CE – 1956 CE
• United States of Indonesia 1949 CE – 1950 CE

States that came to an end 14

• Allied-occupied Germany 1945 CE – 1949 CE
• Bikaner State 1465 CE – 1949 CE
• Dominion of Newfoundland 1907 CE – 1949 CE
• Dutch East Indies 1800 CE – 1949 CE
• French Cochinchina 1862 CE – 1949 CE
• Matsya Union 1948 CE – 1949 CE
• Provisional Central Government of Vietnam 1948 CE – 1949 CE
• Rampur State 1774 CE – 1949 CE
• Second East Turkestan Republic 1944 CE – 1949 CE
• Second Hungarian Republic 1946 CE – 1949 CE
• Tehri Garhwal State 1815 CE – 1949 CE
• Territory of New Guinea 1920 CE – 1949 CE
• Territory of Papua 1906 CE – 1949 CE
• Travancore 1729 CE – 1949 CE

Great speeches