1951

4th January 1951 the CIA merged office of special operations and office of policy coordination to create a new Plans Division – it was to have sole control over secret operations of all types – Wise & Ross.

Jan 9th – new UN hq in NYC officially opened.

January 13th Viet Minh attacks on French (find passage on this formerly on page 50)

January 13th 1951 20,000 Viet Minh under General Giap begin a series of attacks on fortified French positions in the Red River Delta (extending from Hanoi to the Gulf of Tonkin). The open areas of the Delta allowed French troops under the new command of General Jean de Lattre to strike back with devestating results from the ‘De Lattre line’ which encircles the region. 6,000 Viet Minh die while assulting the town of Vinh Yen near Hanoi in the first attack, causing Giap to withdraw.

Jan 27th Nuclear testing in Nevada – Frenchman Flat.

Feb 1st – UNGA declared China to be aggressor in the Korean War.

Feb 27th – 22nd amendment to constitution ratified – limited Presidents to two terms.

March 6th – Rosenburgh trial began. Convicted on March 29th; sentenced on April 5th.

March 23 – 28th in the second attack Giap targets the Mao Khe outpost near Haiphong. But Giap withdraws after being pounded by French naval gunfire and airstrikes. 3,000 Viet Minh are killed.

May 29th – June 18th Giap makes yet another attempt to break through  the de Lattre line, this time in the Day River area south east of Hanoi. French reinforcements combined with air strikes and armed boat attacks result in another defeat for Giap with 10,000 killed and wounded.

March 29th – R&H’s King & I opened and ran for three years

April 11th – MacArthur relieved of his SE Asian commands.

May 3rd – Enquiry into dismissal of MacArrthur began

May 15th Military coup in Bolivia & nuclear test on Eneotok Atoll

Coup Prevents Bolivian President from Taking Office  Bolivian voters elect Victor Paz Estenssoro of the populist Movimiento Nacionalista Revolucionario (MNR) as president, but the victory is stymied by a last-minute coup.

June 9th Giap begins a general withdrawal of Viet Minh troops from the Red River Delta.

Massive forest fires during the summer – June 15th to July 1st

June 23rd 1951 Soviets at the UN proposed truce between North and South Korea. Treaty negotiations began on July 10th at Kaesong. However on August 1st UN forces resumed limited attacks – communists called it an act of aggression.

Invention of junction transistor announced on July 5th – Shockley, Bordeen & Brattain.

Great Flood of 1951 – July 13th. Same day MGM’s technicolour film “Show Boat” premiered.

July 20th King Abdullah of Jordan assassinated

July 30th David Lean’s “Oliver Twist” accused of being anti-semitic – finally gets to open in the US. Nevertheless, scenes have been cut – especially bits with Alec Guiness in them.

Early 1951 saw fighting across the 38th parallel in Korea and then stalemate from July 1951 until July 1953.

August 1st UN forces resumed limited attacks By August 18th, heavy fighting resumed. August 23rd Communist broke off peace talks, the US had violated neutrality and broken the cease fire. September 1951 saw some of the bloodiest fighting of the war. Battle of Bloody Ridge produced a record number of rounds fired by the US Army. Battle of Heartbreak Ridge lasted a month and caused 25,000 North Korean casualties, but only 3,700 amongst Americans.

“Catcher In The Rye” first published on August 12th.

Sep 8th – Treaty of San Francisco to officially end the Pacific War; Japan-US Security Treaty.

Sep 9th – Chinese move into Lhasa, Tibet.

Sep 10th – UK begin economic boycott of Iran.

Sep 18th Streetcar Named Desire opened.

Sep 20th Greece and Turkey accepted into NATO

September General de Lattre travels to Washington seeking more aid from the Pentagon.

October 4th – One of the first shopping malls opens in Massachusetts.

Oct 7th – Malayan Emergency; British commander killed.

Oct 15th – I Love Lucy debuted on CBS

Oct 16th – Pakistani pm killed

Oct 20th Johnny Bright incident – racist event.

Oct 24th – official end to war with Germany decalred. Germany lost.

November & December 1951….to be continued….

November 16th French forces link up at Hoa Binh south west of Hanoi as General de Lattre attempts to seize the momentum and lure Giap into a major battle.

1951 Novemebr 20th, stricken by cancer de Lattre is replaced by General Raoul Salan. De Lattre returns home and dies in Paris two months later after being promoted to Marshall.

December 9th Giap begins a careful counter-offensive by attacking the French outpost at Tu Vu on the Black River. Giap now avoids conventional warfare and instead wages hit and run attacks followed by a retreat into the dense jungles. His goal is to cut French supply lines. By end of year French casualties surpass 90,000.

Notes

In 1951 Robert A Lovett became Defense Sec

Europe – UK – Germany

Austria

Hoover

Japan

Britain in the middle east - 

Egypt – muslim brotherhood

October 1951 – abrogation of 1936 anglo-egyptian treaty over Suez Canal.

www.crimemagazine.com/06/mobpresidentnixon,0205-6.htm

Nixon was in the Senate at the time

Lebanon’s first post independence pm Riad Solh was assassinated in 1951

October 27th Churchill was elected prime minister for the final time

This lasted until his resignation in 1955.

Led Britain into a period of stagnation. Parallels with US electing war hero Eisenhower as president in 50’s – the return of De Gaul – even Uncle Joe in the Soviet Union – though this wasn’t through popular choice.

Churchill resisted break up of British empire – “I will not preside over our dismemberment” but he did – until a bit of his brain exploded and he was forced to retire. Stroke in June 1953 aged 78 rendered him utterly impotent. Eden took over.

Boggs Act of 1951 - ?