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History 20th century Asia

Asia

Southeastern Asia

Central Asia and Iran

1911 Revolution

Republican revolution in China

1913 Ottoman coup d'état

Coup d'etat that took place in the Ottoman Empire in 1913

1931 China floods

Series of devastating floods

1935 Shinchiku-Taichū earthquake

1948 Arab–Israeli War

Second and final stage of the 1947–1949 Palestine war

1953 Iranian coup d'état

Coup to depose the elected Prime Minister Mohammed Mosaddegh

1954 Geneva Conference

International conference on dismantling French Indochina

1959 Tibetan uprising

Revolt in Lhasa, Tibet, against the People's Republic of China

1963 South Vietnamese coup d'état

Military overthrow of President Ngô Đình Diệm

1970 Bhola cyclone

Tropical cyclone that struck East Pakistan in 1970

1976 Tangshan earthquake

Mw 7.6 earthquake in Hebei, China

1989 Tiananmen Square protests and massacre

Chinese pro-democracy movement and subsequent massacre

1990s North Korean famine

Famine in North Korea from collapse of Soviet aid and corruption

1991 Bangladesh cyclone

Category 5 North Indian tropical cyclone in 1991

1999 East Timorese crisis

Aggression after the referendum of 1999

1999 Jiji earthquake

Earthquake in Chi-chi, Nantou, Taiwan

Occurred from 1951 to 1954

Afghan Civil War (1989–1992)

Civil war in Afghanistan (1989–1992)

Afghan Civil War (1992–1996)

Civil war in Afghanistan between 1992–1996

Afghan Civil War (1996–2001)

1996–2001 civil war in Afghanistan

Afghan conflict

Ongoing conflicts in Afghanistan since 1978

Anglo-Persian Oil Company

English energy company founded in 1908

Annexation of Goa

1961 Indian military operation

Annexation of Tibet by the People's Republic of China

1950–51 annexation of territory in Asia

Arab–Israeli conflict

Geopolitical conflict in the Middle East and North Africa

Armenian genocide

Systematic killing of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire during WWI

Armenian genocide denial

Fringe theory that the Armenian genocide did not occur

Group of foreign journalists killed by Indonesian forces in Portuguese Timor (1975)

Bangladesh genocide

Genocide of Bengali people in East Pakistan

Bangladesh Liberation War

1971 armed conflict that led to the independence of Bangladesh from Pakistan

Battle of Dien Bien Phu

1954 battle of the First Indochina War; decisive Viet Minh victory over the French

Battle of Kabul (1992–1996)

1992 A series of intermittent battles over Kabul

Bengal famine of 1943

Famine in British India during World War II

Bengali language movement

1940s-50s movement for recognition of the Bengali language in East Bengal (now Bangladesh)

Cambodian Civil War

1967–1975 conflict in Cambodia

Cambodian genocide

1975–1979 mass killing of Cambodians

Cambodian–Vietnamese War

1978–89 conflict between Vietnam and the Khmer Rouge

Chinese Civil War

1927–1949 civil war in China

Forced prostitutes for the Imperial Japanese Army during World War II

Cultural Revolution

Maoist sociopolitical movement intended to strengthen Chinese communism (1966-76)

Democratic Republic of Afghanistan

Central Asian Republic (1978–1992)

East Timor genocide

20th century genocide of the Timorese

Empire of Japan

Empire in the Asia-Pacific region from 1868 to 1947

Expulsion of the Chagossians

The forced expulsion of the inhabitants of the island of Diego Garcia and the other islands of the British Indian Ocean Territory

End of the Vietnam War, 30 April 1975

First Indochina War

1946–1954 war between French Union and Hồ Chí Minh's forces

1987–1993 Palestinian uprising against the Israeli occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip

Four Asian Tigers

Economies of South Korea, Taiwan, Singapore and Hong Kong

Franco-Thai War

1940–41 conflict in French Indochina

Great Chinese Famine

Famine killing millions (1959–1961)

Great Hanshin earthquake

Earthquake in Japan on January 17, 1995

Great Leap Forward

Economic and social campaign by the Communist Party of China

Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere

Gulf of Tonkin incident

1964 naval confrontation between North Vietnam and the United States

1990–1991 war between Iraq and American-led coalition forces

Handover of Hong Kong

1997 handover of Hong Kong from UK to China

Handover of Macau

1999 handover of Macau from Portugal to China

Highway of Death

Ho Chi Minh trail

Network of roads in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia used by the Viet Cong from 1959-75

Hundred Flowers Campaign

1956–57 Chinese liberalization campaign

Indonesia–Malaysia confrontation

1963–1966 military conflict

Indonesian invasion of East Timor

Military invasion

Indonesian National Awakening

Historical nationalist movement and time period

Indonesian National Revolution

Armed conflict and diplomatic struggle between Indonesia and the Dutch Empire

Indonesian occupation of East Timor

Military occupation

Indo-Pakistani war of 1971

Military confrontation between India and Pakistan alongside the Bangladesh Liberation War

Iran hostage crisis

Occupation of Tehran's U.S. embassy (1979–1981)

Iranian Revolution

Revolution in Iran from 1978 to 1979

Iran–Iraq War

1980–1988 war in West Asia

Iran–Saudi Arabia proxy conflict

Indirect conflict between Iran and Saudi Arabia

Iraqi invasion of Kuwait

Beginning of the 1990–1991 Gulf War

Israeli Declaration of Independence

1948 declaration of Israel's independence

Israeli–Palestinian conflict

Ongoing military and political conflict

Japanese economic miracle

1950s–90s period of rapid economic growth in Japan

Japanese invasion of Manchuria

Part of the Second Sino-Japanese War

Japanese occupation of Singapore

Occupied territory in Southeast Asia (1942–1945)

Japanese occupation of the Philippines

1942–1945 Japanese occupation of the Philippines during WWII

Japanese war crimes

War crimes of the Empire of Japan

Part of the Chinese Soviet Republic the Chinese Civil War

Jordanian annexation of the West Bank

1950 annexation event

Kashmir conflict

India–Pakistan conflict over the Kashmir region

Members of the Communist Party of Kampuchea

Korea under Japanese rule

Japanese occupation of Korea from 1910–1945

Korean conflict

Conflict between North and South Korea

1950–1953 war between North and South Korea

Kurdistan Workers' Party insurgency

Armed conflict between Turkey and Kurdish insurgent groups

Kuril Islands dispute

Territorial dispute between Japan and Russia

Kuwaiti oil fires

Oil well fires in 1991

Laotian Civil War

1959–1975 civil war in Laos

Lebanese Civil War

1975–1990 civil war in Lebanon

Liaoshen campaign

1948 militarycampaign during the Chinese civil war

1934–1936 Red Army retreat during the Chinese Civil War

Period of economic stagnation in Japan

Malayan Emergency

1948–1960 conflict in the Malayan Peninsula and surroundings

Independent state in Manchuria (1932–1945)

March First Movement

1919 Korean public display of resistance against Japanese rule

Mukden incident

1931 Japan false flag railway explosion

My Lai massacre

1968 U.S. war crime during the Vietnam War

Myanmar conflict

Series of primarily ethnic-based insurgencies in Myanmar that began in 1948

Nagorno-Karabakh conflict

Conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan

Nanjing Massacre

Episode of mass murder and rape committed by Japanese troops

Nawabs of Bengal

Governors of Eastern India and Bengal in the 18th-century

Nepalese Civil War

1996–2006 civil war between the erstwhile Nepalese monarchy and Maoist insurgents

New Order (Indonesia)

Period of Indonesian history under President Suharto

1945–1976 country in Southeast Asia

Northern Alliance

Military front in Afghanistan

Occupation of the Gaza Strip by the United Arab Republic

1959-67 military occupation of Gaza by Egypt and Syria after the First Arab–Israeli War

One country, two systems

Chinese constitutional principle

Pahlavi dynasty

Former country in Western Asia (1925–1979)

Partition of India

1947 division of British India

Partition of the Ottoman Empire

Division of Ottoman territory after World War I

Left-wing national liberation movement of Laos

People Power Revolution

1986 Philippine revolution that overthrew President Ferdinand Marcos

Persian Constitutional Revolution

Uprising against Iranian monarchy

Philippine Revolution

Revolution and subsequent conflict

Philippine–American War

Armed Philippine-American conflict (1899–1902)

Population exchange between Greece and Turkey

Agreement between Greece and Turkey

Reform and opening up

Reforms allowing more free markets in China since Deng Xiaoping

Russo-Japanese War

1904 to 1905 war for Manchuria and Korea

1930 Indian protest led by Mahatma Gandhi

Saur Revolution

Communist 1978 coup d'état in Afghanistan

Assyrian genocide (1914–1924)

Second East Turkestan Republic

Former state in Northern Xinjiang

Second Intifada

2000–2005 Palestinian uprising against Israel

Second Sino-Japanese War

1937–1945 conflict in East Asia

Singapore in Malaysia

Period of Singaporean and Malaysian history

1967 war between Israel and Egypt, Jordan, and Syria

Former country in southeast Asia

Southeast Asia Treaty Organization

Former international organization for collective defense in Southeast Asia

Soviet Central Asia

Region in the Soviet Union

Soviet–Afghan War

1979–1989 armed conflict in South Asia

Sri Lankan civil war

1983–2009 civil war between the Sri Lankan government and Tamil separatists

Taiwan under Japanese rule

Period of Taiwanese history

Afghan Sunni Islamic fundamentalist movement

Military campaign during the Vietnam War

Third Indochina War

Wars in Indochina following the American withdrawal from Vietnam

Turkish War of Independence

War fought between the Turkish National Movement and the Entente and their proxies

Unequal treaties

Series of treaties signed by China, Japan, or Korea

Unification of Saudi Arabia

Complete conquest and unification of most of the Arabian Peninsula by the House of Saud

Japanese biological, chemical warfare unit (1936–1945)

Belmont-class electronic spying ship

Former revolutionary organization in South Vietnam and Cambodia

War in Southeast Asia from 1955 to 1975

Vietnamese boat people

Refugees who fled Vietnam by boat following the end of the Vietnam War (1975)

Period in the history of the Republic of China (1916-28)

White Terror (Taiwan)

Period of martial law and political repression in Taiwan

Xinjiang conflict

Ethnic conflict in Western China

Yemeni unification

1990 merger of North and South Yemen into a single state (present-day Yemen)

1973 war between Israel and a coalition of Arab states

Political reform movement in the Ottoman Empire