Crucible: Thirteen months that Forged China and Our World, 1947–48
Two years after the end of the second conflict to engulf the world in twenty years, and the defeat of the Axis forces of Germany, Italy and Japan, this momentous time saw the unrolling of the Cold War between Joseph Stalin’s Soviet Russia and the Western powers under the untried leadership of Harry Truman as America came to play a global role for the first time. The British Empire began its demise with the birth of the Indian and Pakistan republics with the flight of millions and wholesale slaughter as Vietnam, Indonesia and other colonies around the globe vied for freedom. 1948 also marked the creation of the state of Israel, the refugee flight of Palestinians and the first Arab-Israeli war as well as the victories of Communist armies that led to their final triumph in China, the coming of apartheid to South Africa, the division of Korea, major technological change and the rolling out of the welfare state against a backdrop of events that ensured the global order would never be the same again.
Date: 1 February 2019, 17:00 (Friday, 3rd week, Hilary 2019)
Venue: Dickson Poon Building, Canterbury Road OX2 6LU
Venue Details: Kin-Ku Cheng Lecture Theatre
Speakers: Speaker to be announced
Organising department: Faculty of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies
Organiser: Professor Rana Mitter
Organiser contact email address: clare.orchard@orinst.ox.ac.uk
Host: Professor Rana Mitter
Booking required?: Not required
Cost: Free
Audience: Public
Editor: Clare Orchard