Lebanon and Israel sign an armistice after the 1948 war

The Republic of Korea government was inaugurated south of the 38th parallel after UN-supervised elections in the South. Korea had been under Japanese colonial rule until 1945; the postwar division was...

The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea was proclaimed north of the 38th parallel after the establishment of a rival government in the South. The division followed the end of Japanese colonial...

The UN General Assembly adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights after the destruction and mass violence of World War II. The declaration set out a common rights standard, but colonial...

The General Assembly adopted Resolution 194, creating a Conciliation Commission and stating that refugees wishing to return to their homes and live in peace should be permitted to do so, with...

Egypt and Israel signed an armistice agreement under UN mediation. It ended active fighting between the two forces and set a military line, while the agreement expressly treated the line as...

Jordan and Israel signed an armistice under UN mediation. It set a line of separation between their forces but stated that the line was not a political or territorial border. Jordan retained control...

The Syrian-Israeli agreement completed the series of 1949 armistices that stopped major fighting around former Mandatory Palestine. The line created a military ceasefire, not a peace treaty or final...

Mao Zedong announced the founding of the People’s Republic of China in Beijing after Communist forces defeated the Nationalist government on the mainland. The new state emerged from a long...

The General Assembly established the United Nations Relief and Works Agency to provide assistance to Palestine refugees after the 1948 war. Its creation institutionalized an international relief...

After four years of revolution, military conflict, and diplomacy, the Netherlands transferred sovereignty to the Republic of the United States of Indonesia. The transfer ended Dutch colonial authority...