[ '45-'49 | '50-'59 | '60-'69 | '70-'79 | '80-'89 | '90-'99 | '00- ] [ 1950 | 1951 | 1952 | 1953 | 1954 | 1955 | 1956 | 1957 | 1958 | 1959 ] 1953

	Summary 1953 is a turning point in East-West relations. Joseph Stalin, who had led the Soviet Union for almost 30 years, dies in March and is succeeded by Nikita Khrushchev which seems to herald a thaw in East-West relations, particularly with the formulation of the Soviet policy of peaceful co-existence. Later that year, the USSR reveals its possession of the hydrogen bomb. Thus the United States loses its nuclear supremacy and with it the strong guarantee of Western security.
5 Mar	Death of Stalin.
23 July	Korean Armistice signed at Panmunjon
20 Aug	USSR issues a communiqu of its possession of the hydrogen bomb.
4-8 Dec	Conference in Bermuda of the Heads of Government of France, the United Kingdom and the United States, attended by Lord Ismay as observer for NATO.