s and
colonies in 1914, just before
World War I.
Wars •
World War I (1914–1918) • The
assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of
Austria-Hungary in
Sarajevo leads to the outbreak of the First World War. • The
Armenian genocide during and just after World War I. It was characterized by the use of
massacres and
deportations involving
forced marches under conditions designed to lead to the death of the deportees, with the total number of Armenian deaths generally held to have been between one and one-and-a-half million. • The
Arab Revolt was an armed uprising of
Arabs against the
Ottoman Empire. •
Germany signs the
Treaty of Versailles after losing the First World War. •
Wadai War (1909–1911) •
Italo-Turkish War (1911–1912) •
Balkan Wars (1912–1913) – two wars that took place in South-eastern Europe in 1912 and 1913. •
Saudi-Ottoman War (1913) •
Latvian War of Independence (1918–1920) – a military conflict in Latvia between the Republic of Latvia and the Russian SFSR. •
Estonian War of Independence (1918–1920) – a military conflict in Estonia between the Republic of Estonia and the Russian SFSR.
Internal conflicts • The
October Revolution in
Russia results in the overthrow of
capitalism and the establishment of the world's first self-proclaimed
socialist state; political upheaval in Russia culminating in the establishment of the
Russian SFSR and the assassination of Emperor
Nicholas II and the royal family. • The
Russian Revolution is the collective term for the series of revolutions in
Russia in 1917, which destroyed the
Tsarist autocracy and led to the creation of the
Soviet Union. It led to the
Russian Civil War and other conflicts such as the
Finnish Civil War, the
Ukrainian War of Independence and the
Polish–Soviet War. • The
Jallianwala Bagh massacre (1919), at
Amritsar in the
Punjab Province of
British India, sows the seeds of discontent and leads to the birth of the
Indian independence movement. • The
Xinhai Revolution causes the overthrow of China's ruling
Qing dynasty, and the establishment of the
Republic of China. The
Warlord Era (1916–1928) began. • The
Mexican Revolution (1910–1920)
Francsico Madero proclaims the elections of 1910 null and void and calls for an armed revolution at 6 p.m. against the illegitimate presidency/dictatorship of
Porfirio Díaz. The revolution led to the ousting of Díaz (who ruled from 1876 to 1880 and since 1884) six months later. The revolution progressively became a civil war with multiple factions and phases, culminating with the
Mexican Constitution of 1917, but combat would persist for three more years. • The
German revolution of 1918–1919 is fought between the workers and soldiers at the tail end of
World War I, leading to the creation of the Weimar-era
Freikorps, paramilitary units that would be a decisive political force throughout the Weimar Era.
Major political change • Portugal became the first republican country in the century after the
5 October 1910 revolution, ending its long-standing monarchy and creating the
First Portuguese Republic in 1911. • Germany abolished its monarchy and established a new elected government, the
Weimar Republic. •
Seventeenth Amendment to the United States Constitution is passed, requiring US senators to be directly elected rather than appointed by the
state legislatures. •
Federal Reserve Act is passed in 1913 by the
United States Congress, establishing a
Central Bank in the US. • On the death of
Edward VII, his son
George V becomes King of the
United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and
Emperor of India. The
Coronation of George V and Mary takes place on 22 June 1911. • Dissolution of the
German colonial empire,
Ottoman Empire,
Austria-Hungary and the
Russian Empire, reorganization of European states, territorial boundaries, and the creation of several new European states and territorial entities:
Austria,
Czechoslovakia,
Estonia,
Finland,
Free City of Danzig,
Hungary,
Latvia,
Lithuania,
Poland,
Saar,
Ukraine, and
Yugoslavia. •
Fourteen Points as designed by
United States President Woodrow Wilson advocates the right of all nations to
self-determination. • Rise to power of the
Bolsheviks in Russia under
Vladimir Lenin, creating the
Russian Soviet Federated Socialist Republic, the first state committed to the establishment of
communism. • The
Balfour Declaration was a declaration by the British Government that announced the British desire to establish a Jewish homeland in Palestine. This declaration has often been characterized as a betrayal of the Arabs and the agreement between the British and
Sharif Hussein of Mecca in the
McMahon-Hussein Correspondence which promised freedom to all Arab lands from the
Ottoman Empire. •
Zionism becomes more popular after the
Balfour Declaration.
Decolonization and independence • The
Easter Rising against the
British in
Ireland eventually leads to
Irish independence. • Several nations in
Eastern Europe get their nation-state, thereby replacing major multiethnic empires. • The
Republic of China was established on January 1, 1912.
Assassinations {{multiple image |image1=Franz Ferdinand d'Este, Erzherzog.jpg|caption1=
Archduke Franz Ferdinand|width1=128|image2=Nicolas_II_photographie_couleur.jpg|caption2=
Nicholas II of Russia|width2=130 Prominent assassinations include: • March 18, 1913:
George I of Greece • June 11, 1913:
Mahmud Şevket Pasha,
Grand Vizier of the
Ottoman Empire • June 28, 1914: Archduke
Franz Ferdinand of
Austria-Hungary is
assassinated in
Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina; prompting the events that led up to the start of
World War I. • July 17, 1918:
Murder of the Romanov family, including former Russian Emperor
Nicholas II, his consort
Alix of Hesse, their five children, and four retainers at the
Ipatiev House in
Yekaterinburg following the
October Revolution of 1917, and the usurpation of power by the
Bolsheviks. • April 10, 1919:
Emiliano Zapata in Mexico. ==Disasters==