World War and Revolution 1910-1919: The End of Old Europe and the Re-Shuffling of Global Power
1910 The U.S. Census of 1910
April 15, 1910: The United States Census Bureau conducted the 1910 Census.Per the 1910 Census, the population of the United States of America was 92,228,496, a population increase of 21% since 1900.
George V Became the King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain
May 6, 1910:
King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain George V who reigned from 1910 to 1936
The Mexican Revolution, 1910 - 1920
1910-1920: Revolution in Mexico
Above left: Porfirio Diaz, long-time ruler of Mexico, 1876-1910 Above left-center: Francisco I. Madero, the man who sparked the downfall of Porfirio Diaz Above right-center: Emiliano Zapata, guerrilla and revolutionary radical for land reform Above right: Pancho Villa (famed guerrilla fighter) pictured at left with Zapata
Above: Porfirio Diaz; Francisco I. Madero; Victoriano Huerta
Above: Venustiano Carranza; Alvaro Obregon
1911 Future United States President Ronald Reagan is Born in Illinois
February 6, 1911:
The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire
March 25, 1911: In , New York City, the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory caught fire, killing 146 people--many of whom were women who were Jewish and Italian immigrants. While the building itself was a modern high-rise for its time, the workerswere essentially trapped in the burning building, in large part, because fire escapes were not accessible.
Some of the trapped victims jumped to their deaths, an action that was repeated by some 9-11 victims at the World Trade Center 90 years later in 2001.
The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire proved to be a landmark moment in the Progressive Era. In the wake of the fire, progressive-minded reformers called for extensive regulation of workplaces. In time, New York adopted many workplace-related laws and codes.
Al Smith, a Democratic New York Assemblyman, participated in the investigation of the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire, and came to embrace progressive-minded labor laws. He later became Governor of New York, and governed as a Progressive.
In 1928, Al Smith became the Democratic Party's nominee for President. In doing so, Smith became the first Catholic to win the nomination for president for a major political party. But in the 1928 general election, Smith lost in a landslide to Republican Herbert Hoover.
In 1932, Smith lost the Democratic presidential nomination to then-incumbent New York Governor Franklin D. Roosevelt.FDR went on to win the 1932 Presidential Election in a landslide, thus unseating President Herbert Hoover.
Frances Perkins, the future Secretary of Labor under President Franklin D. Roosevelt (1933-1945), later remarked that FDR'sNew Deal ( President Roosevelt's broad array of economic policies, many of which were pro-labor) was born with the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire.
Above: The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire, March 25, 1911
October 1911 to February 1912: The Chinese (Xinhai) Revolution, the overthrow of the Qing Dynasty, and the birth of the Republic of China With its imperial rule, the Qing Dynasty had ruled China (or much of it) since 1644. Out of this revolution emerged the Republic of China, a political order that existed (though often under duress) until October of 1949 when Mao Zedong seized power and established the People's Republic of China (aka "Red China" and Communist China). Pictured above-right is Sun Yat-Sen, a Chinese revolutionary and the first President of the Republic of China.
January 6, 1912: New Mexico was admitted as the 47th State.
Above: The United States with New Mexico highlighted in red
Arizona Becomes the 48th State
February 14, 1912: Arizona was admitted as the 48th State.
Above: The United States with Arizona highlighted in red
Tragedy in the Atlantic
April 14-15, 1912, On its maiden scheduled voyage across the Atlantic, the R.M.S. Titanic struck an iceberg and sank a few hours later.
Above: The R.M.S. Titanic
In April 1912, the British ocean liner, R.M.S. Titanic of the White Star Line departed from Great Britain on her maiden voyage enroute across the Atlantic Ocean to New York City. On April 15, 1912, the Titanic struck an iceberg and sank within hours. All total, 1517 people died in the disaster.
With historical hindsight, some people have looked upon the sinking of the Titanic as a symbol of the impending European disaster of World War One that would engulf Europe a little over two years after the loss of the Titanic
Presidential Election of 1912
May 12-18, 1912: The Socialist Party of America met in Indianapolis, Indiana. Eugene V. Debs was the 2012 presidential candidate for the Socialist Party of America, winning right at 6% of the national popular vote in November.
The Presidential Election of 1912: The Republican National Convention in Chicago
June 18-22, 1912: The Republican National Convention (held in Chicago, Illinois) nominated President William Howard Taft as its presidential nominee. President Taft beat back a challenge from former president Theodore Roosevelt.
Above left: A political cartoon regarding the divided Republican Party in 1912Above right: A political cartoon regarding the feud between Taft and Roosevelt
The rift between Taft and Roosevelt split the Republican Party, especially when Roosevelt bolted the Republican National Convention in protest of the manner in which Pro-Taft forces handled the nomination process. Less than a month after failing to obtain the Republican nomination, Theodore Roosevelt further divided the Republican vote when he became a third party presidential candidate under the Progressive Party banner. The Presidential Election of 1912: The Democratic National Convention in Baltimore, Maryland
June 25-July 2, 1912: The Democratic National Convention (held in Baltimore, Maryland) nominated New Jersey Governor Woodrow Wilson as its presidential nominee. Wilson won on the 46th ballot.
Above: Woodrow Wilson
The Presidential Election of 1912: The Progressive Party Convention in Chicago
August 6-7, 1912: The Progressive Party (aka the Bull Moose Party) nominated former Republican President, Theodore Roosevelt as its presidential candidate for the 1912 election. Like the Republicans, the Progressive Party held its convention in Chicago, Illinois.
Above left: Teddy Roosevelt addressed the Progressive Party Convention Above right: A Pamphlet containing the platform of the 1912 Progressive Party
Above: Harper's Weekly took a critical view of Teddy Roosevelt's 1912 third party effort.
November 5, 1912: Democrat Woodrow Wilson won the Presidency, defeating Progressive Party nominee Theodore Roosevelt, Republican Party nominee President William Howard Taft, and Socialist Eugene V. Debs.
1912 Presidential Election
November 5, 1912: Woodrow Wilson's victory and the changing presidential fortunes of the Democratic Party
Elected to his first term in 1912, Woodrow Wilson would be re-elected in 1916, and in doing so, would become the first incumbent Democratic president to be re-elected to a successive term since Andrew Jackson in 1836. But perhaps more significantly, Wilson's eight years in the White House launched nearly 100 years of real presidential competitiveness between the Democratic and Republican parties. From 1912 to 2012, of the 25 presidential elections, the Democratic Party won 14, and the Republican Party won 12.
The Democratic Party and the Presidency
PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION VICTORIES BY DEMOCRATIC CANDIDATES, 1912-2012.
1912: Woodrow Wilson 1916: Woodrow Wilson 1932: Franklin D. Roosevelt 1936: Franklin D. Roosevelt 1940: Franklin D. Roosevelt 1944: Franklin D. Roosevelt 1948: Harry S. Truman 1960: John F. Kennedy 1964: Lyndon B. Johnson 1976: Jimmy Carter 1992: Bill Clinton 1996: Bill Clinton 2008: Barack H. Obama 2012: Barack H. Obama
1913 Future United States President Richard M. Nixon Born in California
Nixon Library: Brief Biography of Richard M. Nixon
The Presidency of Woodrow Wilson
March 4, 1913: Woodrow Wilson became President of the United States
Woodrow Wilson (Democrat), 28th American PresidentYears in Office: 1913-1921 Above: President Woodrow Wilson
Future United States President Gerald R. Ford Born in Nebraska
July 14, 1913:
Alabama Culture
Fall 1913: Auburn's undefeated football team wins the championship of the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association
The Creation of The Fed
December 23, 1913: President Woodrow Wilson signed the Federal Reserve Act into law, thus creating the Federal Reserve System (aka "The Fed"), a centralized banking system managing the money supply and interest rates pertaining to the United States monetary system (the dollar).
In the painting at right, President Wilson signs the Federal Reserve Act into law.
1914 Western Imperialism
1914: The Partition of Africa by European Powers
Margaret Sanger and the Rise of the American Birth Control Movement
March 1914: Nurse and Birth Control Activist Margaret Sanger launched The Woman Rebel, a monthly newsletter advocating the legalization of birth control for women. The slogan of The Woman Rebel was "No Gods, No Masters," a slogan often associated with anarchism.
The Dawn of World War One
June 28, 1914: World War One and the Death of Old Europe. Above: Archduke Franz Ferdinand and Duchess Sophie; Newspaper announcing the assassination of Ferdinand and Sophie June 28, 1914: Archduke Franz Ferdinand and Duchess Sophie were assassinated by Serbian nationalist, Gavrilo Princip.The assassination of the heir to the Austrian-Hungarian throne triggered a conflict between the Austrian-Hungarian Empire and Serbia.This conflict, in turn, triggered a series of alliances involving the major European powers, and thus bringing about the First World War. More specifically, Imperial Russia backed up Serbia. France, in turn, backed up Russia. Austria-Hungary, in contrast, was supported by Germany. New York Times: WWI and What it Did
Cousins Tsar Nicholas II and Kaiser Wilhelm II and the Road to WWI
The First World War
World War One, August 1914- November 1918.
Above: A depiction of a WWI aircraft battle
World War One, 1914-1918 Major Allied Powers: Russia, France, Great Britain, and later, The United States Major Central Powers: Germany, Austria-Hungary, Ottoman Empire Outcome: The Allies largely prevailed over the Central Powers
The First World War
World War One, August 1914- November 1918
world_war_one.jpg
Trench Warfare during World War One. The War lasted for four years, from August 1914 until November 1918. The Ottoman, Russian, Austrian-Hungarian, and German empires all were destroyed as a result of WWI. The British Empire was greatly weakened as well, but survived. The United States entered the war in 1917 on the side of the Allies. The U.S. emerged as the leading world economic power after WWI.
The First World War
September 5-12, 1914: WWI. The Battle of the Marne
1915 The Ku Klux Klan and its War on Modernity
February 8, 1915: The movie TheBirth of a Nation, a silent film glorifying the Ku Klux Klan in the Reconstruction Era, was released. In terms of movie-making, The Birth of a Nation was a ground-breaking feature film that lasted around three hours. It became a cultural phenomenon in the United States and demonstrated the potential cultural and political power of motion pictures.
The Creation of NACA, the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics
March 3, 1915:
Above: Seal for the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA)
May 7, 1915: A German U-Boat (submarine) sank the HMS Lusitania
Culture War: The Ku Klux Klan and its War on Modernity
November 25, 1915: The Ku Klux Klan was re-establshed atop Stone Mountain, Georgia.
William J. Simmons, the founder of the revived KKK and pictured in the insert above, was inspired in part by D.W. Griffiths' film, The Birth of a Nation.
1916 The First World War: The Battle of Verdun
February 21, 1916 to December 18, 1916: WWI. The Battle of Verdun Above left: French troops in a trench Above right: A French medal honoring service at Verdun
The Easter Rising, a Step towards Irish Independence
April 24-29, 1916: For 6 days, Irish revolutionaries attempted to secure Ireland's independence from Great Britain. The attempt was suppressed by the British, but proved to be a crucial spark in the development of the Irish independence movement.
Above: A text of the Easter Proclamation declaring Ireland's independence; the General Post Office (GPO) Dublin, Ireland.
Above: The 7 signatories of the Easter Proclamation, the document that declared Irish independence
Above: A Stamp commemorating the Easter Rising.
The First World War
July 1, 1916 to November 18, 1916: WWI. The Battle of the Somme
Above: A British soldier in a trench
1912 World Series: The Boston Red Sox Defeated the Brooklyn Robins (aka Dodgers)
November 1916: President Woodrow Wilson (Democrat) re-elected as President of the United States
President Woodrow Wilson (Democrat) narrowly re-elected to a second term. In a closely contested election against Republican Charles Evans Hughes, President Woodrow Wilson prevailed. He began his second term on March 4, 1917. Though he ran on a slogan that "He kept us out of the war," Wilson reacted to changing international circumstances, and in April 1917, asked Congress for a declaration of war against Germany and the other Central Powers.
World War One and the Fall of Imperial Russia
December 29-30, 1916: The Killing of Rasputin
1917 The Mexican Revolution
February 5, 1917: The enactment of Mexico's 1917 Constitution
The First World War and the Dawn of the Russian Revolution
March 15, 1917: The Abdication of Czar Nicholas II of Russia, thus launching the early phase of the Russian Revolution
Russia's Czar Nicholas II abdicated his throne, thus ending 300 years of Romanov rule in Russia.
The First World War
April 2, 1917 to November 11, 1918: The United States and its role in WWI
April 2, 1917: The image above shows President Woodrow Wilson (Democrat) addressing Congress. In this address President Wilson called for a declaration of war against Germany and the other Central Powers.
The Russian Revolution
April 16, 1917: Lenin returned from exile and re-entered Russia at the Finland Station
Above left: Lenin in 1920 Above right: A highly romanticized painting portraying Lenin's arrival at the Finland Station.
The German government, having the hopes of further de-stabilizing Russia, smuggled the Marxist Russian revolutionary, Vladimir Lenin, into Russia. Lenin had been living in exile in Switzerland.
Germany's decision to bring Lenin back to Russia was a fateful turning point in the 20th century. Lenin's later success in leading the Bolshevik Revolution led to the establishment of a Marxist communist state, the Soviet Union. The interplay of Communism and Anti-Communism would prove to be a governing dynamic of world politics until the early 1990s. Had Lenin never returned to Russia in the Spring of 1917, the Russian Revolution may not have culminated in a Marxist-Communist Revolution. But in the end, it did happen, and much of the 20th century evolved in the context of the Communist & Anti-Communist dialectic.
Future United States President John F. Kennedy Born in Brookline, Massachusetts
May 29, 1917:
The Russian Revolution: Lenin's Bolsheviks Take Power in Petrograd
November 7, 1917: The Start of the Bolshevik phase of the Russian Revolution and the rise of Communism Russian Revolution, 1917. Russia's Czar Nicholas abdicated his throne in 1917. Later that year, Vladimir Lenin and Leon Trotsky led the Bosheviks to power. The Bolsheviks created the world's first Marxist-Communist nation, the Soviet Union.
The Russian Revolution and Civil War
November 8, 1917 to 1922: The Russian Civil War
1918 The Russian Revolution
March 3, 1918: The Treaty of Brest-Litovsk withdrew Russia from WWI
The First World War
November 11, 1918: Armistice ends the fighting in WWI.
1919 The Death of Theodore Roosevelt, an American Progressive
January 6, 1919: Former President Theodore Roosevelt died at Oyster Bay, New York.
Above: The New York Times covering the death of Theodore Roosevelt
June 28, 1919: The 1919 Treaty of Versailles and the false peace
Treaty of Versailles, June 1919. This treaty officially ended WWI. The victorious Allies (Great Britain and France) forced harsh peace terms on Germany. The American U.S. President, Woodrow Wilson, played a significant role at Versailles, but failed to get the U.S. Senate to ratify the treaty. In Germany, an obscure WWI military veteran named Adolf Hitler grew very bitter over the way that Germany had been treated by the Allies. He began plotting revenge.
Red Scare: The Start of the Palmer Raids
November 7, 1919:
Above: A. Mitchell Palmer who served as U.S. Attorney General from 1919 to 1921
World War and Revolution
1910-1919: The End of Old Europe and the Re-Shuffling of Global Power
1910
The U.S. Census of 1910
April 15, 1910: The United States Census Bureau conducted the 1910 Census.Per the 1910 Census, the population of the United States of America was 92,228,496, a population increase of 21% since 1900.
George V Became the King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain
May 6, 1910:
King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain George V who reigned from 1910 to 1936
The Mexican Revolution, 1910 - 1920
1910-1920: Revolution in Mexico
Above left: Porfirio Diaz, long-time ruler of Mexico, 1876-1910
Above left-center: Francisco I. Madero, the man who sparked the downfall of Porfirio Diaz
Above right-center: Emiliano Zapata, guerrilla and revolutionary radical for land reform
Above right: Pancho Villa (famed guerrilla fighter) pictured at left with Zapata
Timeline of the Mexican Revolution
Above: Porfirio Diaz; Francisco I. Madero; Victoriano Huerta
Above: Venustiano Carranza; Alvaro Obregon
1911
Future United States President Ronald Reagan is Born in Illinois
February 6, 1911:
The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire
March 25, 1911: In , New York City, the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory caught fire, killing 146 people--many of whom were women who were Jewish and Italian immigrants. While the building itself was a modern high-rise for its time, the workerswere essentially trapped in the burning building, in large part, because fire escapes were not accessible.
Some of the trapped victims jumped to their deaths, an action that was repeated by some 9-11 victims at the World Trade Center 90 years later in 2001.
The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire proved to be a landmark moment in the Progressive Era. In the wake of the fire, progressive-minded reformers called for extensive regulation of workplaces. In time, New York adopted many workplace-related laws and codes.
Al Smith, a Democratic New York Assemblyman, participated in the investigation of the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire, and came to embrace progressive-minded labor laws. He later became Governor of New York, and governed as a Progressive.
In 1928, Al Smith became the Democratic Party's nominee for President. In doing so, Smith became the first Catholic to win the nomination for president for a major political party. But in the 1928 general election, Smith lost in a landslide to Republican Herbert Hoover.
In 1932, Smith lost the Democratic presidential nomination to then-incumbent New York Governor Franklin D. Roosevelt.FDR went on to win the 1932 Presidential Election in a landslide, thus unseating President Herbert Hoover.
Frances Perkins, the future Secretary of Labor under President Franklin D. Roosevelt (1933-1945), later remarked that FDR'sNew Deal ( President Roosevelt's broad array of economic policies, many of which were pro-labor) was born with the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire.
Above: The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire, March 25, 1911
Images and Text Pertaining to the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire
Economist article on the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire and the American Labor Movement
The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire, Al Smith, and the Democratic Party
Revolution in China
October 1911 to February 1912: The Chinese (Xinhai) Revolution, the overthrow of the Qing Dynasty, and the birth of the Republic of China
With its imperial rule, the Qing Dynasty had ruled China (or much of it) since 1644. Out of this revolution emerged the Republic of China, a political order that existed (though often under duress) until October of 1949 when Mao Zedong seized power and established the People's Republic of China (aka "Red China" and Communist China). Pictured above-right is Sun Yat-Sen, a Chinese revolutionary and the first President of the Republic of China.
The Death of a Revolutionary
1912
New Mexico Becomes the 47th State
January 6, 1912: New Mexico was admitted as the 47th State.
Above: The United States with New Mexico highlighted in red
Arizona Becomes the 48th State
February 14, 1912: Arizona was admitted as the 48th State.
Above: The United States with Arizona highlighted in red
Tragedy in the Atlantic
April 14-15, 1912, On its maiden scheduled voyage across the Atlantic, the R.M.S. Titanic struck an iceberg and sank a few hours later.
In April 1912, the British ocean liner, R.M.S. Titanic of the White Star Line departed from Great Britain on her maiden voyage enroute across the Atlantic Ocean to New York City. On April 15, 1912, the Titanic struck an iceberg and sank within hours. All total, 1517 people died in the disaster.
With historical hindsight, some people have looked upon the sinking of the Titanic as a symbol of the impending European disaster of World War One that would engulf Europe a little over two years after the loss of the Titanic
May 12-18, 1912: The Socialist Party of America met in Indianapolis, Indiana. Eugene V. Debs was the 2012 presidential candidate for the Socialist Party of America, winning right at 6% of the national popular vote in November.
June 18-22, 1912: The Republican National Convention (held in Chicago, Illinois) nominated President William Howard Taft as its presidential nominee. President Taft beat back a challenge from former president Theodore Roosevelt.
Above left: A political cartoon regarding the divided Republican Party in 1912Above right: A political cartoon regarding the feud between Taft and Roosevelt
The rift between Taft and Roosevelt split the Republican Party, especially when Roosevelt bolted the Republican National Convention in protest of the manner in which Pro-Taft forces handled the nomination process.
Less than a month after failing to obtain the Republican nomination, Theodore Roosevelt further divided the Republican vote when he became a third party presidential candidate under the Progressive Party banner.
June 25-July 2, 1912: The Democratic National Convention (held in Baltimore, Maryland) nominated New Jersey Governor Woodrow Wilson as its presidential nominee. Wilson won on the 46th ballot.
Above: Woodrow Wilson
The Presidential Election of 1912: The Progressive Party Convention in Chicago
August 6-7, 1912: The Progressive Party (aka the Bull Moose Party) nominated former Republican President, Theodore Roosevelt as its presidential candidate for the 1912 election. Like the Republicans, the Progressive Party held its convention in Chicago, Illinois.
Above left: Teddy Roosevelt addressed the Progressive Party Convention
Above right: A Pamphlet containing the platform of the 1912 Progressive Party
Above: Harper's Weekly took a critical view of Teddy Roosevelt's 1912 third party effort.
1912 World Series: The Boston Red Sox Defeated the New York Giants
October 16, 1912:
Baseball Almanac: The 1912 World Series
The Presidential Election of 1912
November 5, 1912: Democrat Woodrow Wilson won the Presidency, defeating Progressive Party nominee Theodore Roosevelt, Republican Party nominee President William Howard Taft, and Socialist Eugene V. Debs.
1912 Presidential Election
November 5, 1912: Woodrow Wilson's victory and the changing presidential fortunes of the Democratic Party
Elected to his first term in 1912, Woodrow Wilson would be re-elected in 1916, and in doing so, would become the first incumbent Democratic president to be re-elected to a successive term since Andrew Jackson in 1836. But perhaps more significantly, Wilson's eight years in the White House launched nearly 100 years of real presidential competitiveness between the Democratic and Republican parties. From 1912 to 2012, of the 25 presidential elections, the Democratic Party won 14, and the Republican Party won 12.
The Democratic Party and the Presidency
PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION VICTORIES BY DEMOCRATIC CANDIDATES, 1912-2012.
1912: Woodrow Wilson
1916: Woodrow Wilson
1932: Franklin D. Roosevelt
1936: Franklin D. Roosevelt
1940: Franklin D. Roosevelt
1944: Franklin D. Roosevelt
1948: Harry S. Truman
1960: John F. Kennedy
1964: Lyndon B. Johnson
1976: Jimmy Carter
1992: Bill Clinton
1996: Bill Clinton
2008: Barack H. Obama
2012: Barack H. Obama
1913
Future United States President Richard M. Nixon Born in California
January 9, 1913:
The Presidency of Woodrow Wilson
March 4, 1913: Woodrow Wilson became President of the United States
Woodrow Wilson (Democrat), 28th American PresidentYears in Office: 1913-1921
Future United States President Gerald R. Ford Born in Nebraska
July 14, 1913:
Alabama Culture
Fall 1913: Auburn's undefeated football team wins the championship of the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association
The Creation of The Fed
December 23, 1913: President Woodrow Wilson signed the Federal Reserve Act into law, thus creating the Federal Reserve System (aka "The Fed"), a centralized banking system managing the money supply and interest rates pertaining to the United States monetary system (the dollar).
In the painting at right, President Wilson signs the Federal Reserve Act into law.
1914
Western Imperialism
1914: The Partition of Africa by European Powers
March 1914: Nurse and Birth Control Activist Margaret Sanger launched The Woman Rebel, a monthly newsletter advocating the legalization of birth control for women. The slogan of The Woman Rebel was "No Gods, No Masters," a slogan often associated with anarchism.
The Dawn of World War One
June 28, 1914: World War One and the Death of Old Europe.
June 28, 1914: Archduke Franz Ferdinand and Duchess Sophie were assassinated by Serbian nationalist, Gavrilo Princip.The assassination of the heir to the Austrian-Hungarian throne triggered a conflict between the Austrian-Hungarian Empire and Serbia.This conflict, in turn, triggered a series of alliances involving the major European powers, and thus bringing about the First World War. More specifically, Imperial Russia backed up Serbia. France, in turn, backed up Russia. Austria-Hungary, in contrast, was supported by Germany.
New York Times: WWI and What it Did
The First World War
World War One, August 1914- November 1918.
Above: A depiction of a WWI aircraft battle
World War One, 1914-1918
Major Allied Powers: Russia, France, Great Britain, and later, The United States
Major Central Powers: Germany, Austria-Hungary, Ottoman Empire
Outcome: The Allies largely prevailed over the Central Powers
The First World War
World War One, August 1914- November 1918
Trench Warfare during World War One.
The War lasted for four years, from August 1914 until November 1918.
The Ottoman, Russian, Austrian-Hungarian, and German empires all were destroyed as a result of WWI. The British Empire was greatly weakened as well, but survived. The United States entered the war in 1917 on the side of the Allies. The U.S. emerged as the leading world economic power after WWI.
The First World War
September 5-12, 1914: WWI. The Battle of the Marne
1915
The Ku Klux Klan and its War on Modernity
February 8, 1915: The movie The Birth of a Nation, a silent film glorifying the Ku Klux Klan in the Reconstruction Era, was released. In terms of movie-making, The Birth of a Nation was a ground-breaking feature film that lasted around three hours. It became a cultural phenomenon in the United States and demonstrated the potential cultural and political power of motion pictures.
The Creation of NACA, the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics
March 3, 1915:
Above: Seal for the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA)
NASA.gov: The Creation of NACA, the Forerunner of NASA
The First World War
May 7, 1915: A German U-Boat (submarine) sank the HMS Lusitania
Culture War: The Ku Klux Klan and its War on Modernity
November 25, 1915: The Ku Klux Klan was re-establshed atop Stone Mountain, Georgia.
William J. Simmons, the founder of the revived KKK and pictured in the insert above, was inspired in part by D.W. Griffiths' film, The Birth of a Nation.
1916
The First World War: The Battle of Verdun
February 21, 1916 to December 18, 1916: WWI. The Battle of Verdun
Above left: French troops in a trench
Above right: A French medal honoring service at Verdun
The Easter Rising, a Step towards Irish Independence
April 24-29, 1916: For 6 days, Irish revolutionaries attempted to secure Ireland's independence from Great Britain. The attempt was suppressed by the British, but proved to be a crucial spark in the development of the Irish independence movement.
Above: A text of the Easter Proclamation declaring Ireland's independence; the General Post Office (GPO) Dublin, Ireland.
Above: The 7 signatories of the Easter Proclamation, the document that declared Irish independence
Above: A Stamp commemorating the Easter Rising.
The First World War
July 1, 1916 to November 18, 1916: WWI. The Battle of the Somme
Above: A British soldier in a trench
1912 World Series: The Boston Red Sox Defeated the Brooklyn Robins (aka Dodgers)
October 12, 1916:
Above: 1916 World Series Program
Baseball Almanac: The 1916 World Series
1916 Presidential Election
November 1916: President Woodrow Wilson (Democrat) re-elected as President of the United States
President Woodrow Wilson (Democrat) narrowly re-elected to a second term. In a closely contested election against Republican Charles Evans Hughes, President Woodrow Wilson prevailed. He began his second term on March 4, 1917. Though he ran on a slogan that "He kept us out of the war," Wilson reacted to changing international circumstances, and in April 1917, asked Congress for a declaration of war against Germany and the other Central Powers.
World War One and the Fall of Imperial Russia
December 29-30, 1916: The Killing of Rasputin
1917
The Mexican Revolution
February 5, 1917: The enactment of Mexico's 1917 Constitution
The First World War and the Dawn of the Russian Revolution
March 15, 1917: The Abdication of Czar Nicholas II of Russia, thus launching the early phase of the Russian Revolution
Russia's Czar Nicholas II abdicated his throne, thus ending 300 years of Romanov rule in Russia.
The First World War
April 2, 1917 to November 11, 1918: The United States and its role in WWI
April 2, 1917: The image above shows President Woodrow Wilson (Democrat) addressing Congress. In this address President Wilson called for a declaration of war against Germany and the other Central Powers.
The Russian Revolution
April 16, 1917: Lenin returned from exile and re-entered Russia at the Finland Station
Above left: Lenin in 1920
Above right: A highly romanticized painting portraying Lenin's arrival at the Finland Station.
The German government, having the hopes of further de-stabilizing Russia, smuggled the Marxist Russian revolutionary, Vladimir Lenin, into Russia. Lenin had been living in exile in Switzerland.
Germany's decision to bring Lenin back to Russia was a fateful turning point in the 20th century. Lenin's later success in leading the Bolshevik Revolution led to the establishment of a Marxist communist state, the Soviet Union. The interplay of Communism and Anti-Communism would prove to be a governing dynamic of world politics until the early 1990s. Had Lenin never returned to Russia in the Spring of 1917, the Russian Revolution may not have culminated in a Marxist-Communist Revolution. But in the end, it did happen, and much of the 20th century evolved in the context of the Communist & Anti-Communist dialectic.
Future United States President John F. Kennedy Born in Brookline, Massachusetts
May 29, 1917:
The Russian Revolution: Lenin's Bolsheviks Take Power in Petrograd
November 7, 1917: The Start of the Bolshevik phase of the Russian Revolution and the rise of Communism
Russian Revolution, 1917. Russia's Czar Nicholas abdicated his throne in 1917. Later that year, Vladimir Lenin and Leon Trotsky led the Bosheviks to power. The Bolsheviks created the world's first Marxist-Communist nation, the Soviet Union.
The Russian Revolution and Civil War
November 8, 1917 to 1922: The Russian Civil War
1918
The Russian Revolution
March 3, 1918: The Treaty of Brest-Litovsk withdrew Russia from WWI
The First World War
November 11, 1918: Armistice ends the fighting in WWI.
1919
The Death of Theodore Roosevelt, an American Progressive
January 6, 1919: Former President Theodore Roosevelt died at Oyster Bay, New York.
Above: The New York Times covering the death of Theodore Roosevelt
The Death of Theodore Roosevelt
The Treaty of Versailles
June 28, 1919: The 1919 Treaty of Versailles and the false peace
Treaty of Versailles, June 1919.
This treaty officially ended WWI. The victorious Allies (Great Britain and France) forced harsh peace terms on Germany. The American U.S. President, Woodrow Wilson, played a significant role at Versailles, but failed to get the U.S. Senate to ratify the treaty. In Germany, an obscure WWI military veteran named Adolf Hitler grew very bitter over the way that Germany had been treated by the Allies. He began plotting revenge.
Red Scare: The Start of the Palmer Raids
November 7, 1919:
Above: A. Mitchell Palmer who served as U.S. Attorney General from 1919 to 1921
Library of Congress: The Palmer Raids