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First Soviets are formed
The soviets (locally elected councils of workers/soldiers) represented an autonomous workers' movement, one that broke free from the government's oversight of workers' unions and played a major role in the 1905 Russian Revolution. Soviets sprang up throughout the industrial centers of Russia, usually organizing meetings at the factory level. These soviets disappeared after the revolution of 1905, but re-emerged under socialist leadership during the revolutions of 1917. -
Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand (and his wife)
After the Archduke was assassinated, Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia, Russia moved to support Serbia, and Germany declared war on Russia; This series of events leads to the start of WW1. -
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World War 1
The First World War was a global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies and the Central Powers. Fighting took place throughout Europe, the Middle East, Africa, the Pacific, and parts of Asia. -
Schlieffen Plan
The Schlieffen Plan established that, in case of the outbreak of war, Germany would attack France first and then Russia. Instead of a 'head-on' engagement, which would lead to a prolonged campaign, Germany would use speed and decisive movements to go around France's defensive positions - overwhelming them quickly. Germany could not afford a lengthy war of attrition and hope to outlast the Allies. -
Beginning of the Armenian Genocide
The Armenian genocide was the systematic destruction of the Armenian people and identity in the Ottoman Empire during World War I. Spearheaded by the ruling Committee of Union and Progress (CUP), it was implemented primarily through the mass murder of around one million and a half Armenians during death marches to the Syrian Desert and the forced Islamization of others, primarily women and children. -
Munitions of War Act 1915
As a response to a massive shortage of supplies (mainly artillery shells and munitions), Parliament tries to bolster economic security to industrialists who supported the war effort. Over a million women were working in munitions factories by 1918, called Munitionettes. -
The Battle of the Somme
A major battle of WW1, where British and French Troops fought to remove the German Army from France. The 3 month long battle is often used to encapsulate trench warfare and the 4 year stalemate of the Western Front. -
First use of tanks on the battlefield
The Industrial Revolution introduced many new, modernized weapons including machine guns, long-range artillery, and tanks. -
International Women's Day March
Protests began on International Women's Day, 8 March 1917, when women marched to protest at the poor social and economic conditions as a result of the war effort. -
October Revolution
The provisional government put in place after the abdication of the throne by Nicholas II was unable to solve the overwhelming problems facing the Russian people. This lead to the Bolsheviks overthrowing the government. -
Treaty of Versailles
As the formal end to World War 1, the Treaty of Versailles was used to punish Germany for it's escalation of WW1. Along with the reparations for the German Empire, the Ottoman and Austria-Hungarian Empires were also dissolved into several independent nations. -
Non-cooperation Movement
An unsuccessful attempt in 1920–22, organized by Mahatma Gandhi, to persuade the British government of India to grant self-government, to India. It was one of Gandhi’s first organized acts of large-scale civil disobedience -
Formation of the League of Nations
Stemming from the nations involved at the Paris Peace Conference (where the TOV was signed), the LoN was established by American President Woodrow Wilson to help promote global peace and security. After some notable successes and some early failures in the 1920s, the League ultimately proved incapable of preventing aggression by the Axis powers in the 1930s. The credibility of the organization was weakened by the fact that the United States never joined. -
Formation of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP)
Cyclical famines and an oppressive landlord system kept the large mass of rural peasantry poor and politically disenfranchised. The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) was formed in 1921 by young urban intellectuals inspired by European socialist ideas and the success of the October Revolution in Russia. -
Adoption of the Rentenmark
Because of the economic catastrophe that follows the Treaty of Versailles, the Rentenmark was a currency issued on 15 November 1923 to stop the hyperinflation of 1922 and 1923 in Weimar Germany, after the previously used "paper" Mark had become almost worthless. The humiliating losses on the battlefield and in the economic sector leaves a legacy of bitterness and hatred in the hearts of the German people. -
Ratification of the Turkish Constitution of 1924
Central to the reforms in this new constitution was the belief that Turkish society had to become more secular and modernize, which meant implementing widespread reform affecting not only politics, but the economic, social, educational and legal spheres of Turkish society.