1948 Alabama Crimson Tide football team, Game summaries, Duquesne
The Crimson Tide continued their scoring with a 67-yard Cadenhead touchdown in the third run before the Dukes scored their only points of the game. Len Kubiak scored for Duquesne with his one-yard touchdown run to cap a ten-play, 62-yard drive. Alabama then closed the game with a pair of fourth-quarter touchdowns for the 48–6 victory. Points were scored on a 43-yard Travis Hoicks pass to Don Spurrell and later on a six-yard Paul Taylor run. The victory improved Alabama's all-time record against Duquesne to 2–0.


1948 Alabama Crimson Tide football team, Game summaries, Tennessee
Against Tennessee, the Crimson Tide were defeated by the Volunteers 21–6 before a soldout crowd at Shields-Watkins Field. Tennessee opened the game with a 21-yard, W. C. Cooper touchdown pass to Bob Lund for a 7–0 Volunteer lead. In the third, Alabama scored their only points on a one-yard Charley Davis touchdown run, but a missed extra point allowed Tennessee to retain the lead 7–6. The Volunteers then scored a pair of fourth-quarter touchdowns to win 21–6. The loss brought Alabama's all-time record against Tennessee to 17–10–3.


1948 Alabama Crimson Tide football team, Game summaries, Mississippi State
A week after their loss at Tennessee, Alabama responded the next week with a 10–7 victory against the Mississippi State Maroons on homecoming at Scott Field. The Crimson Tide scored all ten of their points in the first half. Billy Cadenhead scored in the first on a two-yard touchdown run and Ed Salem converted a 14-yard field goal in the second for a 10–0 halftime lead. The Maroons responded late with their only points scored on a 42-yard Tom McWilliams touchdown pass to Kenneth Davis to make the final score 10–7. The victory improved Alabama's all-time record against Mississippi State to 24–7–2.


1948 Alabama Crimson Tide football team, Game summaries, Georgia
Before what was the largest crowd to date to attend a game in the state of Alabama, the Crimson Tide suffered their worst defeat since the 1910 season with their 35–0 loss against the Georgia Bulldogs. The Bulldogs' first half touchdowns were scored in the first quarter on a 19-yard John Rauch pass to Bobby Walston and a 38-yard pass from Rauch to Joseph Geri.


1948 Alabama Crimson Tide football team, Game summaries, Georgia
The Bulldogs' second half touchdowns were scored in the third quarter on a three-yard Bernie Reid run and on an 80-yard interception return by Joseph Jackura and in the fourth quarter on an 11-yard Billy Mixon run. The loss was the worst for the Crimson Tide since they were defeated 36–0 by Georgia Tech and it brought Alabama's all-time record against Georgia to 16–15–3.


1948 Alabama Crimson Tide football team, Game summaries, Mississippi Southern
A week after their worst defeat in 38 years, Alabama rebounded and defeated the Mississippi Southern Golden Eagles at Denny Stadium 27–0. The Crimson Tide scored touchdowns in four quarters in the victory. First half points were scored on a one-yard Butch Avinger run in the first quarter and on a 32-yard Ed Salem pass to Clem Welsh in the second quarter for a 14–0 halftime lead. Second half points were scored on a 20-yard Jim Franko interception return in the third quarter and on a 5-yard Salem pass to Welsh in the fourth quarter for the 27–0 win. The victory improved Alabama's all-time record against Mississippi Southern to 2–0.


1948 Alabama Crimson Tide football team, Game summaries, Georgia Tech
Against the Yellow Jackets, the Crimson Tide entered the game as a two touchdown underdog, but left Atlanta with a 14–12 upset over Georgia Tech. The victory improved Alabama's all-time record against Georgia Tech to 15–12–3.


1948 Alabama Crimson Tide football team, Game summaries, LSU
A week after their upset win over Georgia Tech, Alabama was defeated by LSU 26–6 at Tiger Stadium. The loss brought Alabama's all-time record against LSU to 13–5–3.


1948 Alabama Crimson Tide football team, Game summaries, Florida
On homecoming at Denny Stadium, Alabama defeated the Florida Gators 34–28. The victory improved Alabama's all-time record against Florida to 6–3.


1948 Alabama Crimson Tide football team, Game summaries, Auburn
This meeting against Auburn marked the resumption of their rivalry with the Tigers after a 41-year hiatus. The two schools had met regularly from 1892 through 1895 and then regularly from 1900 through 1907. However, trivial disputes led to the series being discontinued in 1908. Their disputes centered on disagreements on how much per diem to allow players for the trip to Birmingham, how many players each school should bring and where to find officials. By the time all these matters were resolved, it was too late to play in 1908, and the series ended. By 1947 pressure to renew the Iron Bowl had grown to the point that the state legislature threatened to withhold funding from the two schools unless they scheduled a game, and in 1948 Alabama and Auburn finally agreed to meet on a football field.


1948 Alabama Crimson Tide football team, Game summaries, Auburn
Prior to the game, Alabama had not played Auburn since their 6–6 tie in 1907. In the renewal of the dormant series, Alabama defeated Auburn 55–0 at Legion Field, in what remains the most lopsided win by either team in the history of the series. The Crimson Tide took a 7–0 lead in the first quarter after Gordon Pettus threw an eight-yard touchdown pass to Butch Avinger. Alabama then extended their lead to 21–0 at halftime with a pair of second-quarter touchdowns. Points were scored on a 20-yard Ed Salem pass to Clem Welsh and then on a six-yard Welsh reverse. The Crimson Tide then scored six second half touchdowns and continued to hold the Tigers scoreless in the 55–0 rout.


1948 Alabama Crimson Tide football team, Game summaries, Auburn
Third-quarter touchdowns were scored by Salem on a 17-yard run and on a 53-yard Salem pass to Rebel Steiner. Alabama then closed the game out with three touchdowns in the fourth quarter. Points were scored on a 20-yard Salem pass to Howard Pierson, a punt blocked by Larry Lauer and recovered in the endzone by Tom Salem and on a 20-yard Don Spurrell interception return. The victory improved Alabama's all-time record against Auburn to 5–7–1.


1948 Albanian Cup
1948 Albanian Cup (Albanian: Kupa e Shqipërisë) was the second season of Albania's annual cup competition. It began in Spring 1948 with the First Round and ended in May 1948 with the Final match. KF Tirana were the defending champions, having won their first Albanian Cup last season. The cup was won by KF Partizani.


1948 Albanian Cup
The rounds were played in a one-legged format. If the number of goals was equal, the match was decided by extra time and a penalty shootout, if necessary.


1948 Albanian Cup, Quarter finals
In this round entered the 8 winners from the previous round*


1948 Albanian Cup, Semifinals
In this round entered the four winners from the previous round*


1948 Albanian National Championship
The 1948 Albanian National Championship was the eleventh season of the Albanian National Championship, the top professional league for association football clubs, since its establishment in 1930.


1948 Albanian National Championship, Overview
It was contested by 14 teams, and Partizani won the championship.


1948 Albanian National Championship, Group A, League table
Note: '17 Nëntori' is SK Tirana, 'Ylli i Kuq Durrës' is KS Teuta Durrës and 'Dinamo Korça' is Skënderbeu


1948 Albanian National Championship, Group B, League table
Note: 'Bashkimi Elbasanas' is KS Elbasani, 'Shqiponja' is Luftëtari, '8 Nëntori' is Erzeni, 'Traktori' is KS Lushnja and 'Spartak Kuçova' is Naftëtari


1948 Albanian National Championship, Interrupted Championship 1948-49
In 1948 the AFA decided to employ a new formula for  the championship, according to the 'western' calendar. For the first time in history, Albania's championship style would be compared to that of Western European countries, from autumn 1948-spring 1949; but on March 31st, 1949, the Federata Sportive Shqiptare (Albanian Sports Federation) annulled the 1948-49 season under Soviet pressure. After disassociating itself from all Soviet influences (December 3rd, 1961), Albania started a fall/spring season from 1962/63 on.


1948 Albanian National Championship, Interrupted Championship 1948-49
NB: apart from the last round, the matches Korça vs Kavaja and Korça vs Shkodra were not played.


1948 Albanian National Championship, Interrupted Championship 1948-49
All the police (Dinamo) and trade union (Spartaku) clubs changed their name to simply the town name, apart from Partizani and Dinamo Tirana.


1948 Alberta general election
The 1948 Alberta general election was held on August 17, 1948, to elect members of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta.


1948 Alberta general election
Ernest C. Manning led the Social Credit to a fourth term in government, increasing its share of the popular vote further above the 50% mark it had set in the 1944 election. It won the same number of seats — 51 of the 57 seats in the legislature — that it had won in the previous election.


1948 Alberta general election
The remaining seats were won by the Cooperative Commonwealth Federation, the Liberal Party and independents.


1948 Alberta general election
This provincial election, like the previous five, saw district-level proportional representation (Single transferable voting) used to elect the MLAs of Edmonton and Calgary. City-wide districts were used to elect multiple MLAs in the cities. All the other MLAs were elected in single-member districts through Instant-runoff voting.


1948 Alberta general election
Along with this election, voters got to also vote in a province wide plebiscite. The ballot asked voters about utility regulation.


1948 Alberta general election, Results
* Party did not nominate candidates in the previous election.


1948 Alberta general election, Electrification plebiscite
The electrification plebiscite was the fourth plebiscite conducted province-wide in Alberta's history. The ballot was not a traditional yes/no question, but presented two options on electricity generation and transmission, asking if the province should create "a publicly-owned utility administered by the Alberta Government Power Commission" or leave the electricity industry in the hands of companies already in the business (a mixture of municipal operations and private companies).


1948 Alberta general election, Electrification plebiscite
The driving force behind the referendum was whether to provide rural electrification through public ownership or leave it in the hands of private corporations that had done very little up to that time and did not have the financial resources to perform the task. Despite the referendum result, the government sponsored the creation of many Rural Electrification Associations, of which some still exist today.


1948 Alberta general election, Electrification plebiscite
The result shows how evenly divided the province was on the issue, with a plurality of only 151 votes in favour of leaving the old system in place. In fact, the majority of voters in Edmonton and in the rural areas were in favour of provincial control but an even larger majority in Calgary voted in favour of the old system.


1948 Algerian Assembly election
Member State of the African Union Member State of the Arab League


1948 Algerian Assembly election
Elections for a new Assembly were held in French colonial Algeria on 4 and 11 April 1948. The new 120-seat Assembly was to be elected by two colleges, each of which would vote for 60 seats; one college represented around 1,500,000 Europeans and Algerian Jews, plus a few thousand "évolué" Muslims, and the second of around 8,000,000 "indigenous" Muslims.


1948 Algerian Assembly election
Following the victory of the Movement for the Triumph of Democratic Liberties (MTLD) in the 1947 local elections, and with the MTLD and fellow nationalist UDMA set to win a majority in the Second College in the second round of voting, the authorities openly rigged the results in more than two-thirds of seats to ensure the victory of pro-government independents. the Assembly elections were manipulated by the authorities to ensure a favourable result. The rigging was so brazen that the phrase "élection algérienne" became synonymous with rigged elections.


1948 Algerian Assembly election, Conduct
Marcel-Edmond Naegelen, a leading member of the French Section of the Workers' International (SFIO) and Minister of Education in the French government, had been appointed by the government as Governor-General of Algeria on 11 February 1948. Naegelen was the son of an Alsatian who had chosen to move to France after Germany's annexation of Alsace in 1870, and he was strongly against the Alsatian autonomists ("separatists"), and developed the same hostility towards the Algerian "separatists".


1948 Algerian Assembly election, Conduct
Together with the French authorities, he organised the rigging of the elections and the sabotage of the new (1947) status of Algeria, strongly opposed by the allies of the SFIO in the French government coalition, who threatened to withdraw their support. Among them was the leader of the "French Algeria" lobby, the deputy of Constantine René Mayer.


1948 Algerian Assembly election, Conduct
Candidates were arrested before the elections, ballot boxes were stuffed by the colonial administration and the voting in the villages (douars) took place without polling booths under the surveillance of the army. Algerian nationalists triumphed in the first round of the elections, but performed significantly worse in the second as a result of the rigging.


1948 Algerian Assembly election, Results
As a result of the rigging, of the 60 Second College seats, the MTLD won only nine, including Messali Hadj, Larbi Demaghlatrous (future ambassador of independent Algeria to Indonesia and Yugoslavia), Chawki Mostefaï and Djilani Embarek, whilst the UDMA won eight, including Ferhat Abbas, whilst 43 went to independents, often labelled as béni-oui-oui. Among the 60 First College seats, there were four socialists, one communist and 55 right-wingers.


1948 Algerian Assembly election, Aftermath
After the elections, Ferhat Abbas has been reported to have told Maréchal Juin «Il n'y a plus d'autre solution que les mitraillettes.» ("There is no other solution left than the submachine guns").


1948 All England Badminton Championships
The 1948 All England Championships was a badminton tournament held at the Harringay Arena, London, England, from 4–9 March 1948.


1948 All England Badminton Championships, Final results
Tonny Olsen married and changed her name to Tonny Ahm.


1948 All-American Girls Professional Baseball League season
The 1948 All-American Girls Professional Baseball League season marked the sixth season of the circuit. The AAGPBL grew to an all-time peak of ten teams in that season, representing Eastern and Western zones, just in the first year the circuit shifted to strictly overhand pitching. Other modifications occurred during 1948. The ball was decreased in size from 11½ inches to 10⅜ inches, while the base paths were lengthened to 72 feet and the pitching distance increased to 50 feet.


1948 All-American Girls Professional Baseball League season
The Chicago Colleens and the Springfield Sallies were added to the previous roster that included the Kenosha Comets, Fort Wayne Daisies, Grand Rapids Chicks, Muskegon Lassies, Peoria Redwings, Racine Belles, Rockford Peaches and South Bend Blue Sox. The Chicago, Fort Wayne, Grand Rapids, Muskegon and South Bend teams were aligned in the East Division, while Kenosha, Peoria, Racine, Rockford and Springfield played in the Western Division. The number of games in the schedule increased from 112 to 126.


1948 All-American Girls Professional Baseball League season
For the second consecutive year the AAGPBL spring training camp was held in Havana, Cuba. as part of a plan to create an International League of Girls Baseball. Around two hundred girls made the trip. Among them, players represented 27 different states in the United States and many provinces of Canada, while several Cuban players entered the league as a result of holding spring training there the year before. A total of 21 players had been in the league since its foundation in 1943.


1948 All-American Girls Professional Baseball League season
The fact of two divisions resulted in the Shaughnessy system adding another round of playoffs to decide the championship between eight teams. The first round faced the top teams of each division in a best-of-three series, with the first place team playing against the third place team and the second place team against the fourth place team. The winners competed in a best-of-five divisional first round, with the first place team facing the third place team and the second place team against the fourth place team. The sectional champions then advanced to the third round and faced in the best-of-seven Championship Series.


1948 All-American Girls Professional Baseball League season
Pitchers continued to dominate the league in that season, even though many of them could not adapt to the new pitching style. Grand Rapids' Alice Haylett led all pitchers with a 0.77 earned run average, while 20 averaged at least a 1.99 mark. In addition, Haylett and Racine's Eleanor Dapkus hurled 10 shutouts a piece. The only .300 hitter was Kenosha's Audrey Wagner (.312), who also led the circuit in hits (130) and total bases (186). At the end of the season Wagner was honored with the AAGPBL Player of the Year Award.


1948 All-American Girls Professional Baseball League season
The Grand Rapids and Racine teams won their respective division. In the first round, Grand Rapids, Fort Wayne, Racine and Rockford swept South Bend, Muskegon, Peoria and Kenosha, respectively. In the divisional playoffs, Fort Wayne swept Grand Rapids and Rockford did the same with Racine. Then, Rockford jumped out to a three-game lead in the final series and defeated Fort Wayne four games to one. Helen Nicol was credited with four of the 10 playoff wins of Rockford, including two in the finals, while Lois Florreich and Margaret Holgerson took three a piece.


1948 All-American Girls Professional Baseball League season
In Game 1 of the first round, Florreich pitched the first no-hitter in series history, and Holgerson threw a second no-hitter in Game 3 to set an all-time record for the most playoff no-hitters. Another highlight came in the first round, when South Bend's Jean Faut outdueled Haylett of Grand Rapids, 3–2, in 20 innings, in what would be the longest game in AAGPBL playoff history.


1948 All-American Girls Professional Baseball League season
The league drew almost a million fans for the second consecutive season, although the Chicago and Springfield franchises failed to reach the attendance required. Then, the Colleens and the Sallies were turned into player development teams that toured and played exhibition games to recruit and train new players. The tour started in Chicago and ended up in Canada, including stops in Yankee Stadium and Griffith Stadium.


1948 All-Big Nine Conference football team
The 1948 All-Big Nine Conference football team consists of American football players selected to the All-Big Nine Conference teams selected by the Associated Press (AP), United Press (UP) and the International News Service (INS) for the 1948 Big Nine Conference football season. Players selected as first-team honorees by the AP, UP and INS are displayed in bold.


1948 All-Big Nine Conference football team
Michigan compiled a 9–0 record, won both the Big Nine Conference and national football championships, and had four players who were selected as consensus first-team All-Big Nine players. Michigan's consensus first-team honorees were quarterback Pete Elliott, end Dick Rifenburg, tackle Alvin Wistert, guard Dominic Tomasi.


1948 All-Big Nine Conference football team
Other players receiving first-team honors from at least two of the three major selectors were Indiana halfback George Taliaferro, Purdue halfback Harry Szulborski, Northwestern fullback Art Murakowski, Minnesota end Bud Grant, Minnesota guard Leo Nomellini, and Northwestern center Alex Sarkisian.


1948 All-Big Nine Conference football team, Key
Bold = Consensus first-team selection by the AP, UP and INS


1948 All-Big Seven Conference football team
The 1948 All-Big Seven Conference football team consists of American football players chosen by various organizations for All-Big Six Conference teams for the 1948 college football season. The selectors for the 1948 season included the Associated Press (AP).


1948 All-Ireland Minor Football Championship
The 1948 All-Ireland Minor Football Championship was the 17th staging of the All-Ireland Minor Football Championship, the Gaelic Athletic Association's premier inter-county Gaelic football tournament for boys under the age of 18.


1948 All-Ireland Minor Football Championship
On 26 September 1948, Tyrone won the championship following an 0-11 to 1-5 defeat of Dublin in the All-Ireland final. This was their second All-Ireland title overall and their second in succession.


1948 All-Ireland Minor Hurling Championship
The 1948 All-Ireland Minor Hurling Championship was the 18th staging of the All-Ireland Minor Hurling Championship since its establishment by the Gaelic Athletic Association in 1928.


1948 All-Ireland Minor Hurling Championship
Tipperary entered the championship as the defending champions, however, they were beaten by Waterford in the Munster final.


1948 All-Ireland Minor Hurling Championship
On 5 September 1948 Waterford won the championship following a 3-8 to 4-2 defeat of Kilkenny in the All-Ireland final. This was their second All-Ireland title and their first in 16 championship seasons.


1948 All-Ireland Senior Camogie Championship
The 1948 All-Ireland Senior Camogie Championship was the high point of the 1948 season in Camogie. The championship was won by Dublin, who defeated Down by a 23-point margin in the final. It marked the return of Dublin to the roll of honour after an eight-year hiatus when it was separated from the rest of the camogie playing community, as the CIÉ club, which could call on the two greatest players of the era Kathleen Cody and Kathleen Mills, chose to affiliate to Central Council and their one-club selection won the All-Ireland championship.


1948 All-Ireland Senior Camogie Championship, Structure
Reigning champions Antrim were favourites to meet Dublin in the All Ireland final. Instead Down shocked Derry 4–5 to 1–0 at Kilclief.


1948 All-Ireland Senior Camogie Championship, Final
The All-Ireland final between Dublin and Down was played on a Saturday for the first time.


1948 All-Ireland Senior Camogie Championship Final
The 1948 All-Ireland Senior Camogie Championship Final was the seventeenth All-Ireland Final and the deciding match of the 1948 All-Ireland Senior Camogie Championship, an inter-county camogie tournament for the top teams in Ireland.


1948 All-Ireland Senior Camogie Championship Final
The final, unusually, was played on a Saturday. An inexperienced Down side, playing their first final, lost by twenty-three points. Dublin's Kathleen Cody, Sophie Brack and J. Cosgrave all scored hat-tricks.


1948 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship
The 1948 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship was the 62nd staging of Ireland's premier Gaelic football knock-out competition.


1948 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship Final
The 1948 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship Final was the 61st All-Ireland Final and the deciding match of the 1948 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship, an inter-county Gaelic football tournament for the top teams in Ireland. Contested by a team from the Ulster (Cavan) and a team from Connacht (Mayo), such a meeting in the decider between teams from these provinces would not happen again until 2012.


1948 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship Final, Match summary
Cavan retained the title they had won in 1947 at the Polo Grounds in Manhattan, New York City.


1948 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship Final, Match summary
In a heavy wind, Cavan led 3-2 to 0-0 at half-time, but Mayo came back to lead the game. Cavan eventually made it two-in-a-row with a Peter Donahue point. This final's eight goals is the most scored in a final, a record shared with the 1977 match.


1948 All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship
The 1948 All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship was the 62nd staging of the All-Ireland hurling championship since its establishment by the Gaelic Athletic Association in 1887. The championship began on 16 May 1948 and ended on 5 September 1948.


1948 All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship
Kilkenny were the defending champions, however, they were defeated in the provincial championship. Waterford won the All-Ireland crown for the first time in their history, following a 6-7 to 4-2 defeat of Dublin in the final.


1948 All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship, Format
The All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship was run on a provincial basis as usual. All games were played on a knockout basis whereby once a team lost they were eliminated from the championship. The format for the All-Ireland series of games ran as follows:


1948 All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship Final
The 1948 All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship Final was the 61st All-Ireland Final and the culmination of the 1948 All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship, an inter-county hurling tournament for the top teams in Ireland. The match was held at Croke Park, Dublin, on 5 September 1948, between Waterford and Dublin. The Leinster champions lost to their Munster opponents on a score line of 6-7 to 4-2.


1948 All-Pacific Coast football team
The 1948 All-Pacific Coast football team consists of American football players chosen by various organizations for All-Pacific Coast teams for the 1948 college football season. The organizations selecting these teams included the conference coaches, the Associated Press (AP), and the United Press (UP).


1948 All-Pacific Coast football team, Key
Coaches = selected by the conference coaches and announced by Pacific Coast Conference Commissioner


1948 All-Pacific Coast football team, Key
AP = Associated Press, "named by sports writer and football coaches from all parts of the far west"


1948 All-Pacific Coast football team, Key
UP = United Press: "All selections were made through the co-operation of sports writers, the athletic departments of each school in the conference and coaches and their assistants"


1948 All-Pacific Coast football team, Key
Bold = Consensus first-team selection of the coaches, AP and UP


1948 All-Pro Team
The 1948 All-Pro Team consisted of American football players who were chosen by various selectors for the All-Pro team for the 1948 football season. Teams were selected by, among others, the Associated Press (AP), the United Press (UP), The Sporting News, and the New York Daily News. The AP and Sporting News selections included players from the National Football League (NFL) and All-America Football Conference; the UP selections were limited to players from the NFL.


1948 All-SEC football team
The 1948 All-SEC football team consists of American football players selected to the All-Southeastern Conference (SEC) chosen by various selectors for the 1948 college football season. Georgia won the conference.


1948 All-SEC football team, Key
Bold = Consensus first-team selection by both AP and UP


1948 All-Southern Conference football team
The 1948 All-Southern Conference football team consists of American football players chosen by the Associated Press (AP) for the All-Southern Conference football team for the 1948 college football season.


1948 All-Southwest Conference football team
The 1948 All-Southwest Conference football team consists of American football players chosen by various organizations for All-Southwest Conference teams for the 1948 college football season. The selectors for the 1948 season included the Associated Press (AP) and the United Press (UP). Players selected as first-team players by both the AP and UP are designated in bold.


1948 All-Southwest Conference football team, Key
Bold = Consensus first-team selection of both the AP and UP


1948 Allan Cup
The 1948 Allan Cup was the Canadian national senior ice hockey championship for the 1947-48 Senior season.


1948 Amateur World Series
The 1948 Amateur World Series was the 10th Amateur World Series. It was held in Managua, Nicaragua from November 20 through December 12, 1948. The usually-powerful Cubans did not field a squad; in the wake of the integration of Organized Baseball, many top Cuban amateurs had been signed by MLB teams that had previously refused to sign the darker-skinned Cubans.


1948 American League tie-breaker game
The 1948 American League tie-breaker game was a one-game extension to Major League Baseball's (MLB) 1948 regular season, played between the Cleveland Indians and Boston Red Sox to determine the winner of the American League (AL) pennant. The game was played on October 4, 1948, at Fenway Park in Boston, Massachusetts. It was necessary after both teams finished the season with identical win–loss records of 96–58. This was the first-ever one-game playoff in the AL, and the only one before 1969, when the leagues were split into divisions.


1948 American League tie-breaker game
The Indians defeated the Red Sox, 8–3, as the Indians scored four runs in the fourth inning and limited the Red Sox to five hits. The Indians advanced to the 1948 World Series, where they defeated the Boston Braves, four games to two, giving them their second and most recent World Series championship. In baseball statistics, the tie-breaker counted as the 155th regular season game by both teams, with all events in the game added to regular season statistics.


1948 American League tie-breaker game, Background
The 1948 Major League Baseball season was predicted to be a close race between the Yankees and Red Sox. In a United Press poll conducted just before the season started, the majority of sportswriters chose the Yankees, who had won last year's World Series, to face the Braves or St. Louis Cardinals that year, while others chose the Red Sox; only one sportswriter chose the Indians to reach the World Series. Most of the American League managers had the Yankees finishing first, followed by the Red Sox, Indians, and Detroit Tigers. Tension and confidence was evident between the teams, as two months into the season, after defeating the Red Sox 7–0, Yankees manager Bucky Harris declared that the Yankees would win the pennant, though they were currently at second place at the time.


1948 American League tie-breaker game, Background
The pennant race continued between the three teams throughout the entire season. On September 25, after playing 147 games, with seven games left to play, all three teams had a record of 91–56. After each team played four more games, the Indians were up two games, meaning the Yankees and Red Sox had to win their games on September 30 to stay in the pennant race. They did, and the month of October opened up with both teams 1.5 games behind the Indians. The Indians' last series was a three-game stand against the Tigers, while the Red Sox and Yankees had a two-game series against each other.


1948 American League tie-breaker game, Background
The Indians lost their first game 5–3 against the Tigers on October 1, giving them a one-game lead with two games left to play. As a result, speculation arose about the possibility of a three-way tie. On October 2, Cleveland beat Detroit to clinch at least a tie, and Boston beat New York 5–1, ending the Yankees' pennant run and bringing the race down to two teams. On the last day of the season, October 3, Boston won their game and Cleveland lost, giving them identical 96–58 records and forcing a tiebreaker the following day at Boston.


1948 American League tie-breaker game, Background
The home field for the game was decided by a coin toss, held the previous week in Chicago. The Indians chose rookie Gene Bearden to start against Boston in the tie-breaker, despite only having one day of rest, as he had beaten the Red Sox twice that season, and the Red Sox chose Denny Galehouse, passing on Mel Parnell, who had beaten the Indians on three separate occasions that season.


1948 American League tie-breaker game, Game summary
Galehouse started off the game by quickly getting outs from Dale Mitchell and Allie Clark. American League MVP Lou Boudreau then hit a home run off Galehouse to make the score 1–0. After another out, Bearden came on the mound in the bottom of the first. Johnny Pesky doubled, then scored on a hit by Vern Stephens to make the score 1–1 at the end of the first inning. Both pitchers allowed one baserunner the following inning; Ken Keltner reached base for Cleveland and Birdie Tebbetts reached base for the Red Sox. Both pitchers then got three quick outs in the third inning.


1948 American League tie-breaker game, Game summary
In the fourth inning, the Indians opened up the game. Boudreau and Joe Gordon hit back-to-back singles, which brought Keltner to the plate. The Red Sox expected a bunt, but instead the third baseman hit his 31st home run of the season to put the Indians ahead, 4–1. Galehouse was then replaced with Ellis Kinder, who was met with a double by Larry Doby. Kinder responded by getting the next three batters out, which brought the score to 5–1 as Doby also scored. After Bearden got three Red Sox out, the Indians started the fifth inning with the top of their lineup. Mitchell and Eddie Robinson, who came in for Clark, were out. Boudreau then hit his second home run of the night to make the score 6–1.


1948 American League tie-breaker game, Game summary
The rest of the fifth inning saw no more hits, and after a Keltner double, three Indians were out in the top of the sixth inning. The Red Sox began to fight back in the bottom of the sixth inning. With one out, Ted Williams reached first base on an error by Gordon. Stephens struck out, but Bobby Doerr hit his 27th home run of the season to make the score 6–3. No runs were scored in the seventh inning, though Bearden and Mitchell both reached base.


1948 American League tie-breaker game, Game summary
The Indians were able to score another run in the eighth inning after Jim Hegan was intentionally walked. Bearden then hit a fly ball to Williams, who dropped it, allowing Hegan to score and making it 7–3 in the Indians' favor. The Indians were able to score one more run in the ninth when Robinson scored after Keltner grounded into a bases-loaded double play. Bearden got the final three Red Sox out in the bottom of the ninth, finishing the game with an 8–3 Indians victory and giving Bearden a complete game.


1948 American League tie-breaker game, Aftermath
The Indians received their first playoff berth since the 1920 World Series. Indians' Manager Lou Boudreau dedicated the victory to pitcher Don Black, who suffered a cerebral hemorrhage the previous month. The Indians went on to face the Boston Braves in the 1948 World Series, winning it four games to two. The Red Sox fans experienced disappointment when Boston mayor James Michael Curley ordered the fire department sirens sounded when Boston won the pennant. The sirens did sound, but it was instead for a fire in the Boston Navy Yard.


1948 American League tie-breaker game, Aftermath
The Red Sox's defeat disappointed Boston fans, who had been rooting the entire season for an All-Boston World Series. Before the October 4 game, the oddsmakers gave the Red Sox the advantage, meaning that an all-Boston World Series was likely. The Red Sox did not make another playoff appearance until 1967, when the St. Louis Cardinals defeated them in the 1967 World Series.


1948 American League tie-breaker game, Aftermath
The game counted as a regular season game in baseball statistics. As a result, Dom DiMaggio and Vern Stephens led the league with 155 games played, which could not have been equaled except by another Red Sox or Indians player. DiMaggio's four at-bats in the game also gave him the league lead with 648, four ahead of Bob Dillinger of the St. Louis Browns. Dale Mitchell's one single also gave him the league lead in that statistics, beating out Dillinger by one.


1948 American League tie-breaker game, Aftermath
Gene Bearden's nine inning, one earned run performance brought his earned run average (ERA) down to 2.43, which led the American League. Boudreau finished the season with a .355 batting average, 116 runs, 18 home runs, and 106 runs batted in, and won the Major League Baseball Most Valuable Player Award at the end of the season.


1948 American-Australian Scientific Expedition to Arnhem Land
In February 1948, a team of Australian and American researchers and support staff came together in northern Australia to begin, what was then, one of the largest scientific expeditions ever to have taken place in Australia—the American-Australian Scientific Expedition to Arnhem Land (also known as the Arnhem Land Expedition). Today it remains one of the most significant, most ambitious and least understood expeditions ever mounted.


1948 American-Australian Scientific Expedition to Arnhem Land
Seventeen men and women journeyed across the remote region known as Arnhem Land in northern Australia for nine months. From varying disciplinary perspectives, and under the guidance of expedition leader Charles Mountford, they investigated the Indigenous populations and the environment of Arnhem Land. In addition to an ethnographer, archaeologist, photographer, and filmmaker, the expedition included a botanist, a mammalogist, an ichthyologist, an ornithologist, and a team of medical and nutritional scientists. Their first base camp was Groote Eylandt in the Gulf of Carpentaria.


1948 American-Australian Scientific Expedition to Arnhem Land
Three months later they moved to Yirrkala on the Gove Peninsula and three months following that to Oenpelli (now Gunbalanya) in west Arnhem Land. The journey involved the collaboration of different sponsors and partners (among them the National Geographic Society, the Smithsonian Institution, and various agencies of the Commonwealth of Australia). In the wake of the expedition came volumes of scientific publications, kilometres of film, thousands of photographs, tens of thousands of scientific specimens, and a vast array of artefacts and paintings from across Arnhem Land. The legacy of the 1948 Arnhem Land Expedition is vast, complex, and, at times, contentious. Human remains collected by Setzler and later held by the Smithsonian Institution have since been repatriated to Gunbalanya.


1948 American-Australian Scientific Expedition to Arnhem Land, Expedition members, ABC reporters
Two staff members from ABC Radio also joined the expedition:


1948 Anti-Jewish riots in Oujda and Jerada
The 1948 Anti- Jewish riots in Oujda and Jerada, the latter also known as Djerada or Jṛada, occurred on June 7–8, 1948, in the towns of Oujda and Jerada, in the northeast of the French protectorate in Morocco.


1948 Anti-Jewish riots in Oujda and Jerada
In those events 43 Jews and one Frenchman were killed and approximately 150 injured at the hands of local Muslims.


1948 Anti-Jewish riots in Oujda and Jerada
French officials argued that the riots were "absolutely localized" to Oujda and Jerada, and that it had been "migration itself - and not widespread anti-Jewish animosity - that had sparked Muslim anger".


1948 Anti-Jewish riots in Oujda and Jerada, Outbreak
René Brunel, the French Commissioner for the Oujda region, stated that rioting began when a Jewish barber attempted to cross into Algeria carrying explosives. Brunel wrote that that atmosphere has "overheated" as a result of "the clandestine passage over the border of a large number of young Zionists from all regions of Morocco trying to get to Palestine via Algeria."


1948 Anti-Jewish riots in Oujda and Jerada, Outbreak
The French Ministry of Foreign Affairs noted that Jewish emigration from Oujda to Palestine was a significant irritant to the local Muslim population, noting that "It is characteristic that those in this region near to the Algerian border consider all Jews who depart as combatants for Israel." Alphonse Juin, Resident General in Morocco, noted that "the clandestine departure of Jews for Palestine ignited the anger already inflamed by professional agitators."


1948 Anti-Jewish riots in Oujda and Jerada, Outbreak
It has also been suggested that the riots were sparked by an anti-Zionist speech by Sultan Mohammed V relating to the ongoing 1948 Arab-Israeli War, although others suggest that the Sultan's speech was focused on ensuring the protection of the Moroccan Jews.


1948 Anti-Jewish riots in Oujda and Jerada, Riots
The riots began in Oujda, which was at the time the main transit hub for Zionist emigration out of Morocco, given its proximity to the Algerian border (Algeria was at the time part of Metropolitan France), in which 5 Jews were killed and 30 injured in the space of 3 hours before the army arrived. The mob riots in the neighbouring mining town of Jerada were even more violent, with 39 deaths.


1948 Anti-Jewish riots in Oujda and Jerada, Aftermath
At the time, Morocco was still a French colony, and the French commissioner for Oujda, René Brunel, blamed the violence on the Jews for leaving through Oujda and for sympathizing with the Zionist movement. The French League for Human Rights and Citizenship blamed the French colonial authority for their relaxed control in the area. Several officials from the local mining federation were tried in court for instigating the massacres and several were sentenced to life imprisonment with hard labor, the others given lighter sentences.


1948 Anti-Jewish riots in Oujda and Jerada, Aftermath
The emigration of Jews out of Morocco to Israel quickly became a flood after the incident. 18,000 Moroccan Jews left for Israel the following year and 110,000 out of a total of 250,000 Jews in Morocco left between 1948 and 1956.


1948 Anti-Jewish riots in Tripolitania
The 1948 Anti- Jewish riots in Tripolitania were riots between the antisemitic rioters and Jewish communities of Tripoli and its surroundings in June 1948, during the British Military Administration in Libya. The events resulted in 13-14 Jews and 4 Arabs dead and destruction of 280 Jewish homes. The events occurred during the 1948 Arab–Israeli War.


1948 Anti-Jewish riots in Tripolitania, Background
The Jews of Libya had already suffered under Italian rule during World War II and shortly after it ended, when the bloody pogrom in Tripoli claimed many Jewish lives three years earlier.


1948 Anti-Jewish riots in Tripolitania, Background
The 1948 Arab–Israeli War had begun a month earlier following the proclamation of the State of Israel, although British-controlled Libya did not take part in the conflict. The proclamation of the State of Israel which began the war had "aroused among the Arabs less interest then was expected" in Tripoli according to the British authorities. However, according to the report of the British Chief Administrator, Tripoli became a transit point for both Tunisian and Algerian volunteers on their way to fight for Egypt, which had just announced no more volunteers would be accepted, as well as "ardent young Zionists" on their way to Israel.


1948 Anti-Jewish riots in Tripolitania, Background
The British Public Information Office also reported "a certain aggressive spirit noticeable lately among the local Jewish youth", noting two incidents the day prior to the riots in which two Arabs were hospitalised after beatings by Jews following street accidents. This combined with the transiting volunteers "possibly provided the fuel for the outbreak which followed".


1948 Anti-Jewish riots in Tripolitania, The riot
The rioting began on 12 June in Tripoli, Libya. This time, unlike the previous Tripoli pogrom, the Jewish community of Tripoli had prepared to defend itself. Jewish self-defense units fought back against the Muslim rioters.


1948 Anti-Jewish riots in Tripolitania, The riot
According to the British reports, the rioting broke out spontaneously. The Jewish defense measures had been prepared beforehand, with the British noting signs in Hebrew stating "It is good to die for one's country", and stated that during the riots the role of the Jewish organization "was not purely defence" since "determined parties of young Jews battled with the police in efforts to break out of The Old City in order to attack Arabs". The rioting began with an argument between a Jew and an Arab in central Tripoli, in which other Jews and Arabs joined in.


1948 Anti-Jewish riots in Tripolitania, The riot
Within half an hour a crowd of Arabs had gathered and made their way towards the Jewish Quarter of Old City (also known as the "Jewish Hara"), armed themselves with sticks and stones, following which Jewish units threw bombs into the crowd. The rioting continued for the next hour, during which Jews on rooftops retaliated, and also attacked the police forces, throwing bombs, stones and small arms fire.


1948 Anti-Jewish riots in Tripolitania, The riot
The riots resulted in the death of thirteen or fourteen Jews, four Muslims, with 38 Jews and 51 Muslims being injured, and causing extensive property damage, and leaving approximately 300 families destitute. Jews in the surrounding countryside and in Benghazi were subjected to additional attacks.


1948 Anti-Jewish riots in Tripolitania, Aftermath
In November 1948, a few months after the riots, the American consul in Tripoli Orray Taft Jr. reported that: "There is reason to believe that the Jewish Community has become more aggressive as the result of the Jewish victories in Palestine. There is also reason to believe that the community here is receiving instructions and guidance from the State of Israel. Whether or not the change in attitude is the result of instructions or a progressive aggressiveness is hard to determine. Even with the aggressiveness or perhaps because of it, both Jewish and Arab leaders inform me that the inter-racial relations are better now than they have been for several years and that understanding, tolerance and cooperation are present at any top level meeting between the leaders of the two communities."


1948 Anti-Jewish riots in Tripolitania, Aftermath
The insecurity which arose from anti-Jewish attacks led many Jews to abandon Libya and emigrate. The emigration, which was prompted by the 1945 Tripoli pogrom, had become a refugee "flood" with the ending of the 1948 Arab-Israeli War. From 1948 to 1951, and especially after immigration became legal in 1949, 30,972 Jews moved to Israel, which had gained independence.


1948 Arab–Israeli War
The 1948 (or First) Arab–Israeli War was the second and final stage of the 1947–1949 Palestine war. It formally began following the end of the British Mandate for Palestine at midnight on 14 May 1948; the Israeli Declaration of Independence had been issued earlier that day, and a military coalition of Arab states entered the territory of British Palestine in the morning of 15 May.


1948 Arab–Israeli War
The first deaths of the 1947–1949 Palestine war occurred on 30 November 1947 during an ambush of two buses carrying Jews. There had been tension and conflict between the Arabs and the Jews, and between each of them and the British forces since the 1917 Balfour Declaration and the 1920 creation of the British Mandate of Palestine. British policies dissatisfied both Arabs and Jews. Arab opposition developed into the 1936–1939 Arab revolt in Palestine, while the Jewish resistance developed into the 1944–1947 Jewish insurgency in Palestine. In 1947, these ongoing tensions erupted into civil war following the 29 November 1947 adoption of the United Nations Partition Plan for Palestine, which planned to divide Palestine into an Arab state, a Jewish state, and the Special International Regime encompassing the cities of Jerusalem and Bethlehem.


1948 Arab–Israeli War
On 15 May 1948, the civil war transformed into a conflict between Israel and the Arab states following the Israeli Declaration of Independence the previous day. Egypt, Transjordan, Syria, and expeditionary forces from Iraq entered Palestine. The invading forces took control of the Arab areas and immediately attacked Israeli forces and several Jewish settlements. The 10 months of fighting took place mostly on the territory of the British Mandate and in the Sinai Peninsula and southern Lebanon, interrupted by several truce periods.


1948 Arab–Israeli War
As a result of the war, the State of Israel controlled the area that UN General Assembly Resolution 181 had recommended for the proposed Jewish state, as well as almost 60% of the area of Arab state proposed by the 1947 Partition Plan, including the Jaffa, Lydda, and Ramle area, Galilee, some parts of the Negev, a wide strip along the Tel Aviv–Jerusalem road, West Jerusalem, and some territories in the West Bank. Transjordan took control of the remainder of the former British mandate, which it annexed, and the Egyptian military took control of the Gaza Strip.


1948 Arab–Israeli War
At the Jericho Conference on 1 December 1948, 2,000 Palestinian delegates called for unification of Palestine and Transjordan as a step toward full Arab unity. The conflict triggered significant demographic change throughout the Middle East. Around 700,000 Palestinian Arabs fled or were expelled from their homes in the area that became Israel, and they became Palestinian refugees in what they refer to as the Nakba ("the catastrophe"). In the three years following the war, about 700,000 Jews emigrated to Israel. Around 260,000 Jews moved to Israel from the Arab world during and immediately after the war.


1948 Arab–Israeli War, Background
On 29 November 1947, the United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution recommending the adoption and implementation of a plan to partition the British Mandate of Palestine into two states, one Arab and one Jewish, and the City of Jerusalem.


1948 Arab–Israeli War, Background
The General Assembly resolution on Partition was greeted with overwhelming joy in Jewish communities and widespread outrage in the Arab world. In Palestine, violence erupted almost immediately, feeding into a spiral of reprisals and counter-reprisals. The British refrained from intervening as tensions boiled over into a low-level conflict that quickly escalated into a full-scale civil war.


1948 Arab–Israeli War, Background
From January onwards, operations became increasingly militarised, with the intervention of a number of Arab Liberation Army regiments inside Palestine, each active in a variety of distinct sectors around the different coastal towns. They consolidated their presence in Galilee and Samaria. Abd al-Qadir al-Husayni came from Egypt with several hundred men of the Army of the Holy War. Having recruited a few thousand volunteers, al-Husayni organised the blockade of the 100,000 Jewish residents of Jerusalem.


1948 Arab–Israeli War, Background
To counter this, the Yishuv authorities tried to supply the city with convoys of up to 100 armoured vehicles, but the operation became more and more impractical as the number of casualties in the relief convoys surged. By March, Al-Hussayni's tactic had paid off. Almost all of Haganah's armoured vehicles had been destroyed, the blockade was in full operation, and hundreds of Haganah members who had tried to bring supplies into the city were killed. The situation for those who dwelt in the Jewish settlements in the highly isolated Negev and north of Galilee was even more critical.


1948 Arab–Israeli War, Background
While the Jewish population had received strict orders requiring them to hold their ground everywhere at all costs, the Arab population was more affected by the general conditions of insecurity to which the country was exposed. Up to 100,000 Arabs, from the urban upper and middle classes in Haifa, Jaffa and Jerusalem, or Jewish-dominated areas, evacuated abroad or to Arab centres eastwards.


1948 Arab–Israeli War, Background
This situation caused the United States to withdraw its support for the Partition Plan, thus encouraging the Arab League to believe that the Palestinian Arabs, reinforced by the Arab Liberation Army, could put an end to the plan. The British, on the other hand, decided on 7 February 1948 to support the annexation of the Arab part of Palestine by Transjordan.


1948 Arab–Israeli War, Background
Although a certain level of doubt took hold among Yishuv supporters, their apparent defeats were due more to their wait-and-see policy than to weakness. David Ben-Gurion reorganised Haganah and made conscription obligatory. Every Jewish man and woman in the country had to receive military training. Thanks to funds raised by Golda Meir from sympathisers in the United States, and Stalin's decision to support the Zionist cause, the Jewish representatives of Palestine were able to sign very important armament contracts in the East. Other Haganah agents recuperated stockpiles from the Second World War, which helped improve the army's equipment and logistics. Operation Balak allowed arms and other equipment to be transported for the first time by the end of March.


1948 Arab–Israeli War, Background
Ben-Gurion invested Yigael Yadin with the responsibility to come up with a plan of offence whose timing was related to the foreseeable evacuation of British forces. This strategy, called Plan Dalet, was readied by March and implemented towards the end of April. A separate plan, Operation Nachshon, was devised to lift the siege of Jerusalem. 1500 men from Haganah's Givati brigade and Palmach's Harel brigade conducted sorties to free up the route to the city between 5 and 20 April.


1948 Arab–Israeli War, Background
Both sides acted offensively in defiance of the Partition Plan, which foresaw Jerusalem as a corpus separatum, under neither Jewish nor Arab jurisdiction. The Arabs did not accept the Plan, while the Jews were determined to oppose the internationalisation of the city, and secure it as part of the Jewish state. The operation was successful, and enough foodstuffs to last two months were trucked into Jerusalem for distribution to the Jewish population. The success of the operation was assisted by the death of al-Husayni in combat.


1948 Arab–Israeli War, Background
During this time, and independently of Haganah or the framework of Plan Dalet, irregular fighters from Irgun and Lehi formations massacred a substantial number of Arabs at Deir Yassin, an event that, though publicly deplored and criticised by the principal Jewish authorities, had a deep impact on the morale of the Arab population and contributed to generate the exodus of the Arab population.


1948 Arab–Israeli War, Background
At the same time, the Arab Liberation Army was roundly defeated at Mishmar HaEmek in its first large-scale operation, coinciding with the loss of their Druze allies through defection.


1948 Arab–Israeli War, Background
Within the framework of the establishment of Jewish territorial continuity foreseen by Plan Dalet, the Haganah, Palmach and Irgun forces intended to conquer mixed zones. The Palestinian Arab society was shaken. Tiberias, Haifa, Safed, Beisan, Jaffa and Acre fell, resulting in the flight of more than 250,000 Palestinian Arabs.


1948 Arab–Israeli War, Background
The British had, at that time, essentially withdrawn their troops. The situation pushed the leaders of the neighbouring Arab states to intervene, but their preparation was not finalised, and they could not assemble sufficient forces to turn the tide of the war. The majority of Palestinian Arab hopes lay with the Arab Legion of Transjordan's monarch, King Abdullah I, but he had no intention of creating a Palestinian Arab-run state, since he hoped to annex as much of the territory of the British Mandate for Palestine as he could. He was playing a double game, being just as much in contact with the Jewish authorities as with the Arab League.


1948 Arab–Israeli War, Background
In preparation for the offensive, Haganah successfully launched Operations Yiftah and Ben-'Ami to secure the Jewish settlements of Galilee, and Operation Kilshon, which created a united front around Jerusalem. The inconclusive meeting between Golda Meir and Abdullah I, followed by the Kfar Etzion massacre on 13 May by the Arab Legion led to predictions that the battle for Jerusalem would be merciless.


1948 Arab–Israeli War, Background
On 14 May 1948, David Ben-Gurion declared the establishment of the State of Israel and the 1948 Palestine war entered its second phase with the intervention of the Arab state armies and the beginning of the 1948 Arab–Israeli War.


1948 Arab–Israeli War, Background, Armed forces
By September 1947, the Haganah had "10,489 rifles, 702 light machine-guns, 2,666 submachine guns, 186 medium machine-guns, 672 two-inch mortars and 92 three-inch (76 mm) mortars".


1948 Arab–Israeli War, Background, Armed forces, Importing arms
In 1946, Ben-Gurion decided that the Yishuv would probably have to defend itself against both the Palestinian Arabs and neighbouring Arab states and accordingly began a "massive, covert arms acquisition campaign in the West", and acquired many more during the first few months of hostilities.


1948 Arab–Israeli War, Background, Armed forces, Importing arms
The Yishuv managed to clandestinely amass arms and military equipment abroad for transfer to Palestine once the British blockade was lifted. In the United States, Yishuv agents purchased three Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress bombers, one of which bombed Cairo in July 1948, some Curtiss C-46 Commando transport planes, and dozens of half-tracks, which were repainted and defined as "agricultural equipment". In Western Europe, Haganah agents amassed fifty 65mm French mountain guns, twelve 120mm mortars, ten H-35 light tanks, and a large number of half-tracks.


1948 Arab–Israeli War, Background, Armed forces, Importing arms
By mid-May or thereabouts the Yishuv had purchased from Czechoslovakia 25 Avia S-199 fighters (an inferior version of the Messerschmitt Bf 109), 200 heavy machine guns, 5,021 light machine guns, 24,500 rifles, and 52 million rounds of ammunition, enough to equip all units, but short of heavy arms. The airborne arms smuggling missions from Czechoslovakia were codenamed Operation Balak.


1948 Arab–Israeli War, Background, Armed forces, Importing arms
The airborne smuggling missions were carried out by mostly American aviators – Jews and non-Jews – led by ex-U.S. Air Transport Command flight engineer Al Schwimmer.


1948 Arab–Israeli War, Background, Armed forces, Importing arms
Schwimmer's operation also included recruiting and training fighter pilots such as Lou Lenart, commander of the first Israeli air assault against the Arabs.


1948 Arab–Israeli War, Background, Armed forces, Arms production
The Yishuv also had "a relatively advanced arms producing capacity", that between October 1947 and July 1948" produced 3 million 9 mm bullets, 150,000 Mills grenades, 16,000 submachine guns (Sten Guns) and 210 three-inch (76 mm) mortars", along with a few "Davidka" mortars, which had been indigenously designed and produced. They were inaccurate but had a spectacularly loud explosion that demoralised the enemy. A large amount of the munitions used by the Israelis came from the Ayalon Institute, a clandestine bullet factory underneath kibbutz Ayalon, which produced about 2.5 million bullets for Sten guns.


1948 Arab–Israeli War, Background, Armed forces, Arms production
The munitions produced by the Ayalon Institute were said to have been the only supply that was not in shortage during the war. Locally produced explosives were also plentiful. After Israel's independence, these clandestine arms manufacturing operations no longer had to be concealed, and were moved above ground. All of the Haganah's weapons-manufacturing was centralised and later became Israel Military Industries.


1948 Arab–Israeli War, Background, Armed forces, Manpower
In November 1947, the Haganah was an underground paramilitary force that had existed as a highly organised, national force, since the Arab riots of 1920–21, and throughout the riots of 1929, Great Uprising of 1936–39, and World War II. It had a mobile force, the HISH, which had 2,000 full-time fighters (men and women) and 10,000 reservists (all aged between 18 and 25) and an elite unit, the Palmach composed of 2,100 fighters and 1,000 reservists. The reservists trained three or four days a month and went back to civilian life the rest of the time. These mobile forces could rely on a garrison force, the HIM (Heil Mishmar, lit. Guard Corps), composed of people aged over 25. The Yishuv's total strength was around 35,000 with 15,000 to 18,000 fighters and a garrison force of roughly 20,000.


1948 Arab–Israeli War, Background, Armed forces, Manpower
There were also several thousand men and women who had served in the British Army in World War II who did not serve in any of the underground militias but would provide valuable military experience during the war. Walid Khalidi says the Yishuv had the additional forces of the Jewish Settlement Police, numbering some 12,000, the Gadna Youth Battalions, and the armed settlers. Few of the units had been trained by December 1947. On 5 December 1947, conscription was instituted for all men and women aged between 17 and 25 and by the end of March, 21,000 had been conscripted. On 30 March, the call-up was extended to men and single women aged between 26 and 35. Five days later, a General Mobilization order was issued for all men under 40.


1948 Arab–Israeli War, Background, Armed forces, Irgun
The Irgun, whose activities were considered by MI5 to be terrorism, was monitored by the British.


1948 Arab–Israeli War, Background, Armed forces, Irgun
By March 1948, the Yishuv had a numerical superiority, with 35,780 mobilised and deployed fighters for the Haganah, 3,000 of Stern and Irgun, and a few thousand armed settlers.


1948 Arab–Israeli War, Background, Armed forces, Arab forces
The effective number of Arab combatants is listed at 12,000 by some historians while others calculate a total Arab strength of approximately 23,500 troops, and with this being more of less or roughly equal to that of the Yishuv. However, as Israel mobilised most of its most able citizens during the war while the Arab troops were only a small percentage of its far greater population, the strength of the Yishuv grew steadily and dramatically during the war.


1948 Arab–Israeli War, Background, Armed forces, Arab forces
According to Benny Morris, by the end of 1947, the Palestinians "had a healthy and demoralising respect for the Yishuv's military power" and if it came to battle the Palestinians expected to lose.


1948 Arab–Israeli War, Political objectives, Yishuv
Yishuv's aims evolved during the war. Mobilization for a total war was organised. Initially, the aim was "simple and modest": to survive the assaults of the Palestinian Arabs and the Arab states. "The Zionist leaders deeply, genuinely, feared a Middle Eastern reenactment of the Holocaust, which had just ended; the Arabs' public rhetoric reinforced these fears". As the war progressed, the aim of expanding the Jewish state beyond the UN partition borders appeared: first to incorporate clusters of isolated Jewish settlements and later to add more territories to the state and give it defensible borders.


1948 Arab–Israeli War, Political objectives, Yishuv
A third and further aim that emerged among the political and military leaders after four or five months was to "reduce the size of Israel's prospective large and hostile Arab minority, seen as a potential powerful fifth column, by belligerency and expulsion". Shay Hazkani's research concludes that Ben-Gurion and segments of the religious Zionist leadership drew parallels between the war and the biblical wars of extermination, and states this was not a fringe position. IDF indoctrination pamphlets were distributed to recruits  instructing them that God “demands a revenge of extermination without mercy to whoever tries to hurt us for no reason.”.


1948 Arab–Israeli War, Political objectives, Yishuv
Plan Dalet, or Plan D, (Hebrew: תוכנית ד', Tokhnit dalet) was a plan worked out by the Haganah, a Jewish paramilitary group and the forerunner of the Israel Defense Forces, in autumn 1947 to spring 1948, which was sent to Haganah units in early March 1948. The intent of Plan Dalet is subject to much controversy, with historians on the one extreme asserting that it was entirely defensive, and historians on the other extreme asserting that the plan aimed at maximum conquest and expulsion of the Palestinians.


1948 Arab–Israeli War, Political objectives, Yishuv
According to Ilan Pappé, its purpose was to conquer as much of Palestine and to expel as many Palestinians as possible, though according to Benny Morris there was no such intent. In his book The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine, Pappé asserts that Plan Dalet was a "blueprint for ethnic cleansing" with the aim of reducing both rural and urban areas of Palestine. According to Gelber, the plan specified that in case of resistance, the population of conquered villages was to be expelled outside the borders of the Jewish state.


1948 Arab–Israeli War, Political objectives, Yishuv
If no resistance was met, the residents could stay put, under military rule. According to Morris, Plan D called for occupying the areas within the U.N. sponsored Jewish state, several concentrations of Jewish population outside those areas (West Jerusalem and Western Galilee), and areas along the roads where the invading Arab armies were expected to attack.


1948 Arab–Israeli War, Political objectives, Yishuv
The Yishuv perceived the peril of an Arab invasion as threatening its very existence. Having no real knowledge of the Arabs' true military capabilities, the Jews took Arab propaganda literally, preparing for the worst and reacting accordingly.


1948 Arab–Israeli War, Political objectives, Arab League as a whole
The Arab League had unanimously rejected the UN partition plan and were bitterly opposed to the establishment of a Jewish state.


1948 Arab–Israeli War, Political objectives, Arab League as a whole
The Arab League before partition affirmed the right to the independence of Palestine, while blocking the creation of a Palestinian government. Towards the end of 1947, the League established a military committee commanded by the retired Iraqi general Isma'il Safwat whose mission was to analyse the chance of victory of the Palestinians against the Jews. His conclusions were that they had no chance of victory and that an invasion of the Arab regular armies was mandatory. The political committee nevertheless rejected these conclusions and decided to support an armed opposition to the Partition Plan excluding the participation of their regular armed forces.


1948 Arab–Israeli War, Political objectives, Arab League as a whole
In April with the Palestinian defeat, the refugees coming from Palestine and the pressure of their public opinion, the Arab leaders decided to invade Palestine.


1948 Arab–Israeli War, Political objectives, Arab League as a whole
The Arab League gave reasons for its invasion in Palestine in the cablegram:


1948 Arab–Israeli War, Political objectives, Arab League as a whole
British diplomat Alec Kirkbride wrote in his 1976 memoirs about a conversation with the Arab League's Secretary-General Azzam Pasha a week before the armies marched: "...when I asked him for his estimate of the size of the Jewish forces, [he] waved his hands and said: 'It does not matter how many there are.


1948 Arab–Israeli War, Political objectives, Arab League as a whole
We will sweep them into the sea.'" Approximately six months previously, according to an interview in an 11 October 1947 article of Akhbar al-Yom, Azzam said: "I personally wish that the Jews do not drive us to this war, as this will be a war of extermination and a momentous massacre which will be spoken of like the Mongolian massacres and the Crusades".


1948 Arab–Israeli War, Political objectives, Arab League as a whole
According to Yoav Gelber, the Arab countries were "drawn into the war by the collapse of the Palestinian Arabs and the Arab Liberation Army [and] the Arab governments' primary goal was preventing the Palestinian Arabs' total ruin and the flooding of their own countries by more refugees. According to their own perception, had the invasion not taken place, there was no Arab force in Palestine capable of checking the Haganah's offensive".


1948 Arab–Israeli War, Political objectives, King Abdullah I of Transjordan
King Abdullah was the commander of the Arab Legion, the strongest Arab army involved in the war according to Rogan and Shlaim in 2007. However, Morris wrote in 2008 that the Egyptian army was the most powerful and threatening army. The Arab Legion had about 10,000 soldiers, trained and commanded by British officers.


1948 Arab–Israeli War, Political objectives, King Abdullah I of Transjordan
In 1946–47, Abdullah said that he had no intention to "resist or impede the partition of Palestine and creation of a Jewish state." Ideally, Abdullah would have liked to annexe all of Palestine, but he was prepared to compromise. He supported the partition, intending that the West Bank area of the British Mandate allocated for the Arab state be annexed to Jordan.


1948 Arab–Israeli War, Political objectives, King Abdullah I of Transjordan
Abdullah had secret meetings with the Jewish Agency (at which the future Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir was among the delegates) that reached an agreement of Jewish non-interference with Jordanian annexation of the West Bank (although Abdullah failed in his goal of acquiring an outlet to the Mediterranean Sea through the Negev desert) and of Jordanian agreement not to attack the area of the Jewish state contained in the United Nations partition resolution (in which Jerusalem was given neither to the Arab nor the Jewish state, but was to be an internationally administered area). In order to keep their support to his plan of annexation of the Arab State, Abdullah promised to the British he would not attack the Jewish State.


1948 Arab–Israeli War, Political objectives, King Abdullah I of Transjordan
The neighbouring Arab states pressured Abdullah into joining them in an "all-Arab military invasion" against the newly created State of Israel, that he used to restore his prestige in the Arab world, which had grown suspicious of his relatively good relationship with Western and Jewish leaders. Jordan's undertakings not to cross partition lines were not taken at face value. While repeating assurances that Jordan would only take areas allocated to a future Arab state, on the eve of war Tawfik Abu al-Huda told the British that were other Arab armies to advance against Israel, Jordan would follow suit. On 23 May Abdullah told the French consul in Amman that he "was determined to fight Zionism and prevent the establishment of an Israeli state on the border of his kingdom".


1948 Arab–Israeli War, Political objectives, King Abdullah I of Transjordan
Abdullah's role in this war became substantial. He saw himself as the "supreme commander of the Arab forces" and "persuaded the Arab League to appoint him" to this position. Through his leadership, the Arabs fought the 1948 war to meet Abdullah's political goals.


1948 Arab–Israeli War, Political objectives, Other Arab states
King Farouk of Egypt was anxious to prevent Abdullah from being seen as the main champion of the Arab world in Palestine, which he feared might damage his own leadership aspirations of the Arab world. In addition, Farouk wished to annexe all of southern Palestine to Egypt. According to Gamal Abdel Nasser the Egyptian army first communique described the Palestine operations as a merely punitive expedition against the Zionist "gangs", using a term frequent in Haganah reports of Palestinian fighters. According to a 2019 study, "senior British intelligence, military officers and diplomats in Cairo were deeply involved in a covert scheme to drive the King to participate in the Arab states' war coalition against Israel." These intelligence officers acted without the approval or knowledge of the British government.


1948 Arab–Israeli War, Political objectives, Other Arab states
Nuri as-Said, the strongman of Iraq, had ambitions for bringing the entire Fertile Crescent under Iraqi leadership. Both Syria and Lebanon wished to take certain areas of northern Palestine.


1948 Arab–Israeli War, Political objectives, Other Arab states
One result of the ambitions of the various Arab leaders was a distrust of all the Palestinian leaders who wished to set up a Palestinian state, and a mutual distrust of each other. Co -operation was to be very poor during the war between the various Palestinian factions and the Arab armies.


1948 Arab–Israeli War, Political objectives, Arab Higher Committee of Amin al-Husayni
Following rumours that King Abdullah was re-opening the bilateral negotiations with Israel that he had previously conducted in secret with the Jewish Agency, the Arab League, led by Egypt, decided to set up the All-Palestine Government in Gaza on 8 September under the nominal leadership of the Mufti. Abdullah regarded the attempt to revive al-Husayni's Holy War Army as a challenge to his authority and all armed bodies operating in the areas controlled by the Arab Legion were disbanded. Glubb Pasha carried out the order ruthlessly and efficiently.


1948 Arab–Israeli War, Initial line-up of forces, Military assessments
Though the State of Israel faced the formidable armies of neighbouring Arab countries, yet due to previous battles by the middle of May the Palestinians themselves hardly existed as a military force. The British Intelligence and Arab League military reached similar conclusions.


1948 Arab–Israeli War, Initial line-up of forces, Military assessments
The British Foreign Ministry and the C.I.A believed that the Arab states would finally win in case of war. Martin Van Creveld says that in terms of manpower, the sides were fairly evenly matched.


1948 Arab–Israeli War, Initial line-up of forces, Military assessments
In May, Egyptian generals told their government that the invasion would be "A parade without any risks" and Tel Aviv would be taken "in two weeks." Egypt, Iraq, and Syria all possessed air forces, Egypt and Syria had tanks, and all had some modern artillery. Initially, the Haganah had no heavy machine guns, artillery, armoured vehicles, anti-tank or anti-aircraft weapons, nor military aircraft or tanks. The four Arab armies that invaded on 15 May were far stronger than the Haganah formations they initially encountered.


1948 Arab–Israeli War, Initial line-up of forces, Military assessments
On 12 May, three days before the invasion, David Ben-Gurion was told by his chief military advisers (who over-estimated the size of the Arab armies and the numbers and efficiency of the troops who would be committed – much as the Arab generals tended to exaggerate Jewish fighters' strength) that Israel's chances of winning a war against the Arab states were only about even.


1948 Arab–Israeli War, Initial line-up of forces, Yishuv/Israeli forces
Jewish forces at the invasion: Sources disagree about the amount of arms at the Yishuv's disposal at the end of the Mandate. According to Karsh before the arrival of arms shipments from Czechoslovakia as part of Operation Balak, there was roughly one weapon for every three fighters, and even the Palmach could arm only two out of every three of its active members. According to Collins and LaPierre, by April 1948, the Haganah had managed to accumulate only about 20,000 rifles and Sten guns for the 35,000 soldiers who existed on paper. According to Walid Khalidi "the arms at the disposal of these forces were plentiful". France authorised Air France to transport cargo to Tel Aviv on 13 May.


1948 Arab–Israeli War, Initial line-up of forces, Yishuv/Israeli forces
Yishuv forces were organised in 9 brigades, and their numbers grew following Israeli independence, eventually expanding to 12 brigades. Although both sides increased their manpower over the first few months of the war, the Israeli forces grew steadily as a result of the progressive mobilisation of Israeli society and the influx of an average of 10,300 immigrants each month. By the end of 1948, the Israel Defense Forces had 88,033 soldiers, including 60,000 combat soldiers.


1948 Arab–Israeli War, Initial line-up of forces, Yishuv/Israeli forces
After the invasion: France allowed aircraft carrying arms from Czechoslovakia to land on French territory in transit to Israel, and permitted two arms shipments to ‘Nicaragua’, which were actually intended for Israel.


1948 Arab–Israeli War, Initial line-up of forces, Yishuv/Israeli forces
Czechoslovakia supplied vast quantities of arms to Israel during the war, including thousands of vz. 24 rifles and MG 34 and ZB 37 machine guns, and millions of rounds of ammunition. Czechoslovakia supplied fighter aircraft, including at first ten Avia S-199 fighter planes.


1948 Arab–Israeli War, Initial line-up of forces, Yishuv/Israeli forces
The Haganah readied twelve cargo ships throughout European ports to transfer the accumulated equipment, which would set sail as soon as the British blockade was lifted with the expiration of the Mandate.


1948 Arab–Israeli War, Initial line-up of forces, Yishuv/Israeli forces
Following Israeli independence, the Israelis managed to build three Sherman tanks from scrap-heap material found in abandoned British ordnance depots.


1948 Arab–Israeli War, Initial line-up of forces, Yishuv/Israeli forces
The Haganah also managed to obtain stocks of British weapons due to the logistical complexity of the British withdrawal, and the corruption of a number of officials.


1948 Arab–Israeli War, Initial line-up of forces, Yishuv/Israeli forces
After the first truce: By July 1948, the Israelis had established an air force, a navy, and a tank battalion.


1948 Arab–Israeli War, Initial line-up of forces, Yishuv/Israeli forces
On 29 June 1948, the day before the last British troops left Haifa, two British soldiers sympathetic to the Israelis stole two Cromwell tanks from an arms depot in the Haifa port area, smashing them through the unguarded gates, and joined the IDF with the tanks. These two tanks would form the basis of the Israeli Armored Corps.


1948 Arab–Israeli War, Initial line-up of forces, Yishuv/Israeli forces
After the second truce: Czechoslovakia supplied Supermarine Spitfire fighter planes, which were smuggled to Israel via an abandoned Luftwaffe runway in Yugoslavia, with the agreement of the Yugoslav government. The airborne arms smuggling missions from Czechoslovakia were codenamed Operation Balak.


1948 Arab–Israeli War, Initial line-up of forces, Arab forces
At the invasion: In addition to the local irregular Palestinians militia groups, the five Arab states that joined the war were Egypt, Transjordan, Syria, Lebanon and Iraq sending expeditionary forces of their regular armies. Additional contingents came from Saudi Arabia and Yemen. On the eve of the war, the available number of Arab troops likely to be committed to war was between 23,500 and 26,500 (10,000 Egyptians, 4,500 Jordanians, 3,000 Iraqis, 3,000–6,000 Syrians, 2,000 ALA volunteers, 1,000 Lebanese, and several hundred Saudis), in addition to the irregular Palestinians already present. Prior to the war, Arab forces had been trained by British and French instructors. This was particularly true of Jordan's Arab Legion under command of Lt Gen Sir John Glubb.


1948 Arab–Israeli War, Initial line-up of forces, Arab forces
Syria bought a quantity of small arms for the Arab Liberation Army from Czechoslovakia, but the shipment never arrived due to Haganah force intervention.


1948 Arab–Israeli War, Initial line-up of forces, Arab forces, Arab states
Jordan's Arab Legion was considered the most effective Arab force. Armed, trained and commanded by British officers, this 8,000–12,000 strong force was organised in four infantry/mechanised regiments supported by some 40 artillery pieces and 75 armoured cars. Until January 1948, it was reinforced by the 3,000-strong Transjordan Frontier Force. As many as 48 British officers served in the Arab Legion. Glubb Pasha, the commander of the Legion, organised his forces into four brigades as follows:


1948 Arab–Israeli War, Initial line-up of forces, Arab forces, Arab states
The Arab Legion joined the war in May 1948, but fought only in the area that King Abdullah wanted to secure for Jordan: the West Bank, including East Jerusalem.


1948 Arab–Israeli War, Initial line-up of forces, Arab forces, Arab states
France prevented a large sale of arms by a Swiss company to Ethiopia, brokered by the U.K foreign office, which was actually destined for Egypt and Jordan, denied a British request at the end of April to permit the landing of a squadron of British aircraft on their way to Transjordan, and applied diplomatic pressure on Belgium to suspend arms sales to the Arab states.


1948 Arab–Israeli War, Initial line-up of forces, Arab forces, Arab states
The Jordanian forces were probably the best trained of all combatants. Other combatant forces lacked the ability to make strategic decisions and tactical manoeuvres, as evidenced by positioning the fourth regiment at Latrun, which was abandoned by ALA combatants before the arrival of the Jordanian forces and the importance of which was not fully understood by the Haganah general-staff. In the later stages of the war, Latrun proved to be of extreme importance, and a decisive factor in Jerusalem's fate.


1948 Arab–Israeli War, Initial line-up of forces, Arab forces, Arab states
In 1948, Iraq's army had 21,000 men in 12 brigades and the Iraqi Air Force had 100 planes, mostly British. Initially the Iraqis committed around 3,000 men to the war effort, including four infantry brigades, one armoured battalion and support personnel. These forces were to operate under Jordanian guidance The first Iraqi forces to be deployed reached Jordan in April 1948 under the command of Gen. Nur ad-Din Mahmud.


1948 Arab–Israeli War, Initial line-up of forces, Arab forces, Arab states
In 1948, Egypt's army was able to put a maximum of around 40,000 men into the field, 80% of its military-age male population being unfit for military service and its embryonic logistics system being limited in its ability to support ground forces deployed beyond its borders. Initially, an expeditionary force of 10,000 men was sent to Palestine under the command of Maj. Gen. Ahmed Ali al-Mwawi. This force consisted of five infantry battalions, one armoured battalion equipped with British Light Tank Mk VI and Matilda tanks, one battalion of sixteen 25-pounder guns, a battalion of eight 6-pounder guns and one medium-machine-gun battalion with supporting troops.


1948 Arab–Israeli War, Initial line-up of forces, Arab forces, Arab states
The Egyptian Air Force had over 30 Spitfires, 4 Hawker Hurricanes and 20 C47s modified into crude bombers.


1948 Arab–Israeli War, Initial line-up of forces, Arab forces, Arab states
Syria had 12,000 soldiers at the beginning of the 1948 War, grouped into three infantry brigades and an armoured force of approximately battalion size. The Syrian Air Force had fifty planes, the 10 newest of which were World War II–generation models.


1948 Arab–Israeli War, Initial line-up of forces, Arab forces, Arab states
Lebanon's army was the smallest of the Arab armies, consisting of only 3,500 soldiers. According to Gelber, in June 1947, Ben-Gurion "arrived at an agreement with the Maronite religious leadership in Lebanon that cost a few thousand pounds and kept Lebanon's army out of the War of Independence and the military Arab coalition." A token force of 436 soldiers crossed into northern Galilee, seized two villages after a small skirmish, and withdrew. Israel then invaded and occupied southern Lebanon until the end of the war.


1948 Arab–Israeli War, Initial line-up of forces, Arab forces, Arab states
Arab forces after the first truce: By the time of the second truce, the Egyptians had 20,000 men in the field in thirteen battalions equipped with 135 tanks and 90 artillery pieces.


1948 Arab–Israeli War, Initial line-up of forces, Arab forces, Arab states
During the first truce, the Iraqis increased their force to about 10,000. Ultimately, the Iraqi expeditionary force numbered around 18,000 men.


1948 Arab–Israeli War, Initial line-up of forces, Arab forces, Arab states
Saudi Arabia sent hundreds of volunteers to join the Arab forces. In February 1948, around 800 tribesmen had gathered near Aqaba so as to invade the Negev, but crossed to Egypt after Saudi rival King Abdallah officially denied them permission to pass through Jordanian territory. The Saudi troops were attached to the Egyptian command throughout the war, and estimates of their total strength ranged up to 1,200. By July 1948, the Saudis comprised three brigades within the Egyptian expeditionary force, and were stationed as guards between Gaza city and Rafah.


1948 Arab–Israeli War, Initial line-up of forces, Arab forces, Arab states
This area came under heavy aerial bombardment during Operation Yoav in October, and faced a land assault beginning in late December which culminated in the Battle of Rafah in early January of the new year. With the subsequent armistice of 24 February 1949 and evacuation of almost 4,000 Arab soldiers and civilians from Gaza, the Saudi contingent withdrew through Arish and returned to Saudi Arabia.


1948 Arab–Israeli War, Initial line-up of forces, Arab forces, Arab states
During the first truce, Sudan sent six companies of regular troops to fight alongside the Egyptians. Yemen also committed a small expeditionary force to the war effort, and contingents from Morocco joined the Arab armies as well.


1948 Arab–Israeli War, Course of the war
At the last moment, several Arab leaders, to avert catastrophe – secretly appealed to the British to hold on in Palestine for at least another year.


1948 Arab–Israeli War, Course of the war, First phase: 15 May – 11 June 1948
On 14 May 1948, David Ben-Gurion declared the establishment of a Jewish state in Eretz-Israel to be known as the State of Israel, a few hours before the termination of the Mandate. At midnight on 15 May 1948, the British Mandate was officially terminated, and the State of Israel came into being. Several hours later, Iraq and the neighbouring Arab states, Egypt, Transjordan and Syria, invaded the newborn state, and immediately attacked Jewish settlements.


1948 Arab–Israeli War, Course of the war, First phase: 15 May – 11 June 1948
What was now Israel had already, from 1 April down to 14 May, conducted 8 of its 13 full-scale military operations outside of the area allotted to a Jewish state by partition, and the operational commander Yigal Allon later stated that had it not been for the Arab invasion, Haganah's forces would have reached 'the natural borders of western Israel.' Although the Arab invasion was denounced by the United States, the Soviet Union, and UN secretary-general Trygve Lie, it found support from the Republic of China and other UN member states.


1948 Arab–Israeli War, Course of the war, First phase: 15 May – 11 June 1948
The initial Arab plans called for Syrian and Lebanese forces to invade from north while Jordanian and Iraqi forces were to invade from east in order to meet at Nazareth and then to push forward together to Haifa. In the south, the Egyptians were to advance and take Tel Aviv. At the Arab League meeting in Damascus on 11–13 May, Abdullah rejected the plan, which served Syrian interests, using the fact his allies were afraid to go to war without his army.


1948 Arab–Israeli War, Course of the war, First phase: 15 May – 11 June 1948
He proposed that the Iraqis attack the Jezreel valley and the Arab Legion enter Ramallah and Nablus and link with the Egyptian army at Hebron, which was more in compliance with his political objective to occupy the territory allocated to the Arab State by the partition plan and promises not to invade the territory allocated to the Jewish State by the partition plan. In addition, Lebanon decided not to take part in the war at the last minute, due to the still-influential Christians' opposition and due to Jewish bribes.


1948 Arab–Israeli War, Course of the war, First phase: 15 May – 11 June 1948
Intelligence provided by the French consulate in Jerusalem on 12 May 1948 on the Arab armies' invading forces and their revised plan to invade the new state contributed to Israel's success in withstanding the Arab invasion.


1948 Arab–Israeli War, Course of the war, First phase: 15 May – 11 June 1948
The first mission of the Jewish forces was to hold on against the Arab armies and stop them, although the Arabs had enjoyed major advantages (the initiative, vastly superior firepower). As the British stopped blocking the incoming Jewish immigrants and arms supply, the Israeli forces grew steadily with large numbers of immigrants and weapons, that allowed the Haganah to transform itself from a paramilitary force into a real army. Initially, the fighting was handled mainly by the Haganah, along with the smaller Jewish militant groups Irgun and Lehi. On 26 May 1948, Israel established the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), incorporating these forces into one military under a central command.


1948 Arab–Israeli War, Course of the war, First phase: 15 May – 11 June 1948, Southern front – Negev
The Egyptian force, the largest among the Arab armies, invaded from the south.


1948 Arab–Israeli War, Course of the war, First phase: 15 May – 11 June 1948, Southern front – Negev
On 15 May 1948, the Egyptians attacked two settlements: Nirim, using artillery, armoured cars carrying cannons, and Bren carriers; and Kfar Darom using artillery, tanks and aircraft. The Egyptians attacks met fierce resistance from the few and lightly armed defenders of both settlements, and failed. On 19 May the Egyptians attacked Yad Mordechai, where an inferior force of 100 Israelis armed with nothing more than rifles, a medium machinegun and a PIAT anti-tank weapon, held up a column of 2,500 Egyptians, well-supported by armour, artillery and air units, for five days. The Egyptians took heavy losses, while the losses sustained by the defenders were comparatively light.


1948 Arab–Israeli War, Course of the war, First phase: 15 May – 11 June 1948, Southern front – Negev
One of the Egyptian force's two main columns made its way northwards along the shoreline, through what is today the Gaza Strip and the other column advanced eastwards toward Beersheba. To secure their flanks, the Egyptians attacked and laid siege to a number of kibbutzim in the Negev, among those Kfar Darom, Nirim, Yad Mordechai, and Negba. The Israeli defenders held out fiercely for days against vastly superior forces, and managed to buy valuable time for the IDF's Givati Brigade to prepare to stop the Egyptian drive on Tel Aviv.


1948 Arab–Israeli War, Course of the war, First phase: 15 May – 11 June 1948, Southern front – Negev
On 28 May the Egyptians renewed their northern advance, and stopped at a destroyed bridge north to Isdud. The Givati Brigade reported this advance but no fighters were sent to confront the Egyptians. Had the Egyptians wished to continue their advance northward, towards Tel Aviv, there would have been no Israeli force to block them.


1948 Arab–Israeli War, Course of the war, First phase: 15 May – 11 June 1948, Southern front – Negev
From 29 May to 3 June, Israeli forces stopped the Egyptian drive north in Operation Pleshet. In the first combat mission performed by Israel's fledgling air force, four Avia S-199s attacked an Egyptian armoured column of 500 vehicles on its way to Isdud. The Israeli planes dropped 70 kilogram bombs and strafed the column, although their machine guns jammed quickly. Two of the planes crashed, killing a pilot. The attack caused the Egyptians to scatter, and they had lost the initiative by the time they had regrouped.


1948 Arab–Israeli War, Course of the war, First phase: 15 May – 11 June 1948, Southern front – Negev
Following the air attack, Israeli forces constantly bombarded Egyptian forces in Isdud with Napoleonchik cannons, and IDF patrols engaged in small-scale harassment of Egyptian lines. Following another air attack, the Givati Brigade launched a counterattack. Although the counterattack was repulsed, the Egyptian offensive was halted as Egypt changed its strategy from offensive to defensive, and the initiative shifted to Israel.


1948 Arab–Israeli War, Course of the war, First phase: 15 May – 11 June 1948, Southern front – Negev
On 6 June, in the Battle of Nitzanim, Egyptian forces attacked the kibbutz of Nitzanim, located between Majdal (now Ashkelon) and Isdud, and the Israeli defenders surrendered after resisting for five days.


1948 Arab–Israeli War, Course of the war, First phase: 15 May – 11 June 1948, Battles of Latrun
The heaviest fighting occurred in Jerusalem and on the Jerusalem – Tel Aviv road, between Jordan's Arab Legion and Israeli forces. As part of the redeployment to deal with the Egyptian advance, the Israelis abandoned the Latrun fortress overlooking the main highway to Jerusalem, which the Arab Legion immediately seized. The Arab Legion also occupied the Latrun Monastery. From these positions, the Jordanians were able to cut off supplies to Israeli fighters and civilians in Jerusalem.


1948 Arab–Israeli War, Course of the war, First phase: 15 May – 11 June 1948, Battles of Latrun
The Israelis attempted to take the Latrun fortress in a series of battles lasting from 24 May to 18 July. The Arab Legion held Latrun and managed to repulse the attacks. During the attempts to take Latrun, Israeli forces suffered some 586 casualties, among them Mickey Marcus, Israel's first general, who was killed by friendly fire. The Arab Legion also took losses, losing 90 dead and some 200 wounded up to 29 May.


1948 Arab–Israeli War, Course of the war, First phase: 15 May – 11 June 1948, Battles of Latrun
A bulldozer tows a truck on the "Burma road", June 1948


1948 Arab–Israeli War, Course of the war, First phase: 15 May – 11 June 1948, Battles of Latrun
The besieged Israeli Jerusalem was only saved via the opening of the so-called "Burma Road", a makeshift bypass road built by Israeli forces that allowed Israeli supply convoys to pass into Jerusalem. Parts of the area where the road was built were cleared of Jordanian snipers in May and the road was completed on 14 June. Supplies had already begun passing through before the road was completed, with the first convoy passing through on the night of 1–2 June. The Jordanians spotted the activity and attempted to shell the road, but were ineffective, as it could not be seen. However, Jordanian sharpshooters killed several road workers, and an attack on 9 June left eight Israelis dead. On 18 July, elements of the Harel Brigade took about 10 villages to the south of Latrun to enlarge and secure the area of the Burma Road.


1948 Arab–Israeli War, Course of the war, First phase: 15 May – 11 June 1948, Battles of Latrun
The Arab Legion was able to repel an Israeli attack on Latrun. The Jordanians launched two counterattacks, temporarily taking Beit Susin before being forced back, and capturing Gezer after a fierce battle, which was retaken by two Palmach squads the same evening.


1948 Arab–Israeli War, Course of the war, First phase: 15 May – 11 June 1948, Battles of Latrun
Arab Legion soldier standing in ruins of the most sacred Synagogue, the "Hurva", Old City.


1948 Arab–Israeli War, Course of the war, First phase: 15 May – 11 June 1948, Battles of Latrun
Jewish residents of Jerusalem Old City fleeing during the Jordanian offensive


1948 Arab–Israeli War, Course of the war, First phase: 15 May – 11 June 1948, Battle for Jerusalem
The Jordanians in Latrun cut off supplies to western Jerusalem. Though some supplies, mostly munitions, were airdropped into the city, the shortage of food, water, fuel and medicine was acute. The Israeli forces were seriously short of food, water and ammunition.


1948 Arab–Israeli War, Course of the war, First phase: 15 May – 11 June 1948, Battle for Jerusalem
King Abdullah ordered Glubb Pasha, the commander of the Arab Legion, to enter Jerusalem on 17 May. The Arab Legion fired 10,000 artillery and mortar shells a day, and also attacked West Jerusalem with sniper fire.


1948 Arab–Israeli War, Course of the war, First phase: 15 May – 11 June 1948, Battle for Jerusalem
Heavy house-to-house fighting occurred between 19 and 28 May, with the Arab Legion eventually succeeding in pushing Israeli forces from the Arab neighbourhoods of Jerusalem as well as the Jewish Quarter of the Old City. The 1,500 Jewish inhabitants of the Old City's Jewish Quarter were expelled, and several hundred were detained. The Jews had to be escorted out by the Arab Legion to protect them against Palestinian Arab mobs that intended to massacre them. On 22 May, Arab forces attacked kibbutz Ramat Rachel south of Jerusalem.


1948 Arab–Israeli War, Course of the war, First phase: 15 May – 11 June 1948, Battle for Jerusalem
After a fierce battle in which 31 Jordanians and 13 Israelis were killed, the defenders of Ramat Rachel withdrew, only to partially retake the kibbutz the following day. Fighting continued until 26 May, until the entire kibbutz was recaptured. Radar Hill was also taken from the Arab Legion, and held until 26 May, when the Jordanians retook it in a battle that left 19 Israelis and 2 Jordanians dead. A total of 23 attempts by the Harel Brigade to capture Radar Hill in the war failed.


1948 Arab–Israeli War, Course of the war, First phase: 15 May – 11 June 1948, Battle for Jerusalem
The same day, Thomas C. Wasson, the US Consul-General in Jerusalem and a member of the UN Truce Commission was shot dead in West Jerusalem. It was disputed whether Wasson was killed by the Arabs or Israelis.


1948 Arab–Israeli War, Course of the war, First phase: 15 May – 11 June 1948, Battle for Jerusalem
In mid to late October 1948, the Harel Brigade began its offensive in what was known as Operation Ha-Har, to secure the Jerusalem Corridor.


1948 Arab–Israeli War, Course of the war, First phase: 15 May – 11 June 1948, Northern Samaria
An Iraqi force consisting of two infantry and one armoured brigade crossed the Jordan River from northern Jordan, attacking the Israeli settlement of Gesher with little success. Following this defeat, Iraqi forces moved into the strategic triangle bounded by the Arab towns Nablus, Jenin and Tulkarm. On 25 May, they were making their way towards Netanya, when they were stopped. On 29 May, an Israeli attack against the Iraqis led to three days of heavy fighting over Jenin, but Iraqi forces managed to hold their positions. After these battles, the Iraqi forces became stationary and their involvement in the war effectively ended.