1975 in politics
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January
- January 1 - John N. Mitchell, H. R. Haldeman and John Ehrlichman are found guilty of the Watergate cover-up[1]
- January 4 - Khmer Rouge forces begin a siege of Phnom Penh as the North Vietnamese army sweeps through Laos, South Vietnam and Cambodia[2]
- January 15 - The Alvor Agreement is signed, formally ending the Angolan War of Independence and establishing a timeline for Angolan independence[3]
- January 16 - The IRA call off a 25-day ceasefire[2]
- January 27 -
- Five IRA bombs go off in London and 19 are injured by a blast in Manchester[2]
- Creation of the Church Committee by the US Senate, which goes on to expose federal intelligence abuses including Operation MKULTRA, COINTELPRO and Family Jewels[4]
February
- February 2 - Ethiopia attack rebel positions outside Asmara[2]
- February 5 - Argentinian president Isabel Perón declares Operativo Independencia aiming to crush the People's Revolutionary Army, the first large-scale military operation of the Dirty War[5]
- February 11 - In Britain, Margaret Thatcher is elected leader of the Conservative Party[2]
- February 13 - Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash declares Northern Cyprus independent[2]
- February 27 - Peter Lorenz, CDU candidate for mayor of West Berlin, is kidnapped by the 2 June Movement[6]
March
- March 6 - Iran and Iraq sign the Algiers Agreement[7]
- March 10 - North Vietnamese troops attack Ban Mê Thuột in South Vietnam on their way to capturing Saigon[8]
- March 11 - Failed right-wing coup attempt in Portugal by former president, António de Spínola[9]
- March 31 - The Iraqi army launch a general assault on mountain positions held by Kurdish rebels in northern Iraq[2]
April
- April 15 - 1975 Beirut bus massacre, in which 27 Palestinians are killed by members of a Phalangist militia, sparks city-wide sectarian crashes between Phalangists and Palestinians, beginning the Lebanese Civil War[2]
- April 17 - Khmer Rouge takeover of Cambodia, ending the civil war[2]
- April 26 - Socialist victory in Portugal's first free elections in 50 years[2]
- April 29 - Operation Frequent Wind begins, evacuating American civilians and "at-risk" Vietnamese from Saigon
- April 30 - North Vietnam capture Saigon, leading to the collapse of South Vietnam and the retreat of remaining American personnel
May
- May 4 - Ulster victory in elections to the Ulster Convention in Northern Ireland[2]
- May 21 - Beginning of the Stammheim trial of the Red Army Faction in Germany[2]
June
- June 6 - The United Kingdom vote to remain in the European Communities[2]
- June 12 - Indira Gandhi is found guilty of electoral corruption by the Allahabad High Court[2]
- June 16 - South Africa and the United Kingdom terminate the 1955 Simonstown agreement[2]
- June 24 - Mozambique becomes independent from Portugal[2]
July
- July 15 - Launch of the Apollo-Soyuz, the first collaborative space mission conducted by the US and the USSR[10]
August
- August 15 - Coup in Bangladesh replaces one-party state with military junta[2]
September
- September 5 - Failed assassination attempt of American president Gerald Ford[11]
- September 22 - Second unsuccessful attempt to assassinate Gerald Ford[11]
- September 26 - The martial law administration of Bangladesh enact a law providing legal immunity to all involved in the assassination of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman
- September 28 - Protests across Europe against the execution of five Basque "urban guerrillas" by Spain; the Spanish embassy in the Netherlands is set on fire[2]
October
- October 9 - Andrei Sakharov wins Nobel Peace Prize[2]
- October 23 - The first rounds are exchanged in the Battle of the Hotels in Lebanon[12]
November
- November 11 - Gough Whitlam is dismissed as prime minister of Australia by Sir John Kerr, Governor-General[2]
- November 14 - Spain agrees to retreat from Spanish Sahara[2]
- November 22 - Juan Carlos becomes King of Spain following the announcement of General Franco's death to the public
December
- December 31 - In the UK, the Sex Discrimination Act is passed and the Equal Pay Act comes into force[2]