THE DAY IN HISTORY · AUGUST 1

August 1 in history

What happened on August 1: 4 moments from the Maps of History atlases, in 1927, 1941, 1944 and 1975, each linked to the map that shows it.

1927 — Nanchang Uprising

1 Aug 1927 — Communist-led regiments seize Nanchang and hold it for three days, giving the party its first army of its own. The force is driven out and broken; survivors under Zhu De make their way to the hills. The People’s Liberation Army still dates its founding to this morning.

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1941 — US oil embargo on Japan

26 Jul–1 Aug 1941 — After Japan seizes southern Indochina, Washington freezes its assets and cuts off its oil. Japan’s fleet must now draw on its reserves, leaving a matter of months on the clock to war.

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1944

Warsaw rises. The Home Army seizes half the city and waits for help that stands still across the river — for sixty-three days.

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1975 — Helsinki Accords

1 Aug 1975 — Thirty-five states ratify Europe’s postwar borders, giving Moscow a prize it has sought. In exchange, they make the “Basket III” human-rights pledges. Moscow regards those promises as decoration, but dissidents will insist that the government honor their words.

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