The 1940s

TIMELINE 11 · THE 1940S

The 1940s

1940 to 1949 Conflict Rule and borders Diplomacy and law Settlement Faith and learning Literature and arts

EARLIER ERAS ZOOM: 1800 TO TODAY

Canaan Kings Rome Empires 1900s 1910s 1920s 1930s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s 2020s

The Holocaust, the Jewish Brigade, the partition vote and independence in 1948 fill a single decade. The armistice lines follow in 1949.

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TURNING POINTS ALSO IN THIS DECADE

The UN partition plan. On November 29 the General Assembly votes for a Jewish state and an Arab state. The Jews accept and the Arabs

reject. MAP 11

Natan Alterman publishes The Silver Platter. The poem honors

those who will pay the price of

statehood.

1948 May 14 Independence. David Ben-Gurion

declares independence and becomes prime minister of the provisional government. Five Arab armies attack on May 15. MAPS 12, 13

1949 Feb 24 to Jul 20 The armistice lines. Armistice agreements with Egypt (Feb 24), Lebanon (Mar 23), Jordan (Apr 3)

and Syria (Jul 20) end the War of Independence. Israel holds more land than the partition plan gave it.

MAPS 12, 14

1940 Feb Land Transfer Regulations restrict Jewish land purchases.

1940 Aug Avraham Stern founds Lehi, an armed underground group. 1940 Sep 9 Italian bombers kill 137 people in Tel Aviv.

1940 Nov 25 The refugee ship Patria sinks at Haifa, killing about 267. 1941 Marcel Janco, a founder of Dada, arrives from Romania. 1941 May 15 The Palmach is formed as the Haganah’s strike force.

1941 Jun 1 to 2 A mob kills about 180 Jews in the Farhud in Baghdad. 1941 Jun 8 Moshe Dayan loses an eye fighting Vichy forces in Lebanon.

1942 The Biltmore Conference calls for a Jewish commonwealth. 1942 Feb 24 The refugee ship Struma is sunk and 781 die.

1942 Nov Palestine’s Jews learn of the mass murder in Europe.

1943 Apr 19 The Warsaw Ghetto uprising begins.

1944 The Jewish Brigade is formed in the British army. 1944 Feb 1 The Irgun declares a revolt against British rule.

1944 Nov 6 Lehi assassinates Lord Moyne in Cairo.

1944 Nov 7 Hannah Szenes is executed in Budapest. 1945 The violinist Itzhak Perlman is born in Tel Aviv.

1945 May 8 Germany surrenders and the war in Europe ends.

1946 The Irgun bombs the King David Hotel in Jerusalem.

1947 The Dead Sea Scrolls are found near Qumran.

1948 The Israel Defense Forces are formed from the Haganah and other groups.

1949 Chaim Weizmann is elected the first president.

1949 Jan 25 Election: Mapai wins 46 seats. 1949 May Israel joins the United Nations.

1940s

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