Editing 1950s (section)

===Wars===
{{Main|List of wars 1945–1989#1950–1959}}
[[File:Koreanwarmontage.jpg|right|190px|thumb|[[Korean War]]]]

* [[Cold War]] conflicts involving the influence of the rival superpowers of the [[Soviet Union]] and the [[United States]].
** [[Korean War]] (1950–1953) – The war, which lasted from June 25, 1950, until the signing of the [[Korean Armistice Agreement]] on July 27, 1953, started as a [[civil war]] between [[North Korea]] and the Republic of Korea ([[South Korea]]). When it began, North and South Korea existed as provisional governments competing for control over the Korean peninsula, due to the [[division of Korea]] by outside powers. While originally a civil war, it quickly escalated into a war between the Western powers under the [[United Nations Command]] led by the United States and its allies and the communist powers of the People's Republic of China and the Soviet Union.{{paragraph}} On September 15, General [[Douglas MacArthur]] conducted [[Operation Chromite]], an amphibious landing at the city of Inchon (Song Do port). The North Korean army collapsed, and within a few days, MacArthur's army retook [[Seoul]] (South Korea's capital). He then pushed north, capturing Pyongyang in October. Chinese intervention the following month drove UN forces south again. MacArthur then planned for a full-scale invasion of China, but this was against the wishes of President Truman and others who wanted a limited war. He was dismissed and replaced by General Matthew Ridgway. The war then became a bloody stalemate for the next two and a half years while peace negotiations dragged on.{{paragraph}} The war left 33,742 American soldiers dead, 92,134 wounded, and 80,000 missing in action (MIA) or [[prisoner of war]] (POW). Estimates place [[Korean War#Armistice (July 1953–November 1954)|Korean and Chinese casualties]] at 1,000,000–1,400,000 dead or wounded, and 140,000 MIA or POW.
** [[First Indochina War]] (1946–1954).
** The [[Vietnam War]] began in 1955. Diệm instituted a policy of death penalty against any communist activity in 1956. The [[Viet Minh]] began an assassination campaign in early 1957. An article by French scholar [[Bernard Fall]] published in July 1958 concluded that a new war had begun. The first official large unit military action was on September 26, 1959, when the [[Viet Cong]] ambushed two ARVN companies.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mtholyoke.edu/acad/intrel/pentagon/pent14.htm|title=The Pentagon Papers, Volume 1, Chapter 5, Section 3, "Origins of the Insurgency in South Vietnam, 1954–1960"|access-date=2010-01-15|archive-date=2017-10-19|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171019184424/https://www.mtholyoke.edu/acad/intrel/pentagon/pent14.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref>
* [[Arab–Israeli conflict]] (from the early 20th century)
[[File:Israeli troops in sinai war.jpg|230px|thumb|Israeli troops preparing for combat in the Sinai peninsula during the [[Suez Crisis]].]]
* [[Suez Crisis]] (1956) – The [[Suez Crisis]] was a war fought on [[Egypt]]ian territory in 1956. Following the nationalisation of the [[Suez Canal]] in 1956 by [[Gamal Abdel Nasser]], the United Kingdom, France and [[Israel]] subsequently invaded. The operation was a military success, but after the United States and Soviet Union united in opposition to the invasion, the invaders were forced to withdraw. This was seen as a major humiliation, especially for the two Western European countries, and symbolizes the beginning of the end of colonialism and the weakening of European global importance, specifically the collapse of the [[British Empire]].
* [[Algerian War]] (1954–1962) – An important [[decolonization]] war, it was a complex conflict characterized by [[guerrilla warfare]], [[Maquis (World War II)|maquis]] fighting, [[terrorism]] against civilians, use of torture on both sides and [[counter-terrorism]] operations by the [[French Army]]. The war eventually led to the independence of [[Algeria]] from France.