| |
| 1949 |
| |
| Cold war developments included the victory of communist forces in China and the establishment of the People's Republic of China under the leadership of Mao Zedong. The Roman Catholic primate in Hungary, Cardinal Mindszenty, was sentenced by the communist government there to life imprisonment for treason. The treaty creating the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) was signed in Washington. | 1 |
| The publication of George Orwell's novel Nineteen Eighty-four articulated the growing fear of bureaucratic totalitarianism aided by modern technology. | 2 |
| The publication of Simone de Beauvoir's Le Deuxième Sexe (The Second Sex) provided a major statement for women's rights movements and feminism. | 3 |
| |
| April |
| |
| The International Court of Justice issued its first decision as the successor to the Permanent Court of International Justice, ruling against Albania and awarding damages to Great Britain in the Corfu Channel case. | 4 |
| |
| |
