1910 - 1919
The decade 1910 to 1919, brought about change and unrest to the
world. The theory of atomic structure was a milestone for science;
however, others viewed it as a threat to humanity. Political unrest
would bring about World War I and a revolution in Russia that would
change the course of that nation's history. Throughout Europe and
Russia the struggle for power and control of territories increased.
Economic systems began to collapse and new leaders with so called
revolutionary ideas would come into power.
1910
- The first use of aircraft as an offensive weapon occurred in the
Turkish-Italian War
Italy defeated
Turkey.
1911
- Rutherford formulates theory of the atomic structure
Ernest Rutherford
(1871-1937) was a New Zealand-born English physicist known as the
"Father of Nuclear Physics." Rutherford proved core and
surrounding electrons made an atom.
1912
- Titanic sinks
This was
considered the worst maritime disaster in all of history. Titanic
set off on its maiden voyage, carrying more than 2,220 passengers,
from the docks of Southampton in early April 1912. While the great
ship was speeding toward New York City, it struck an iceberg about
153km south of the Grand Banks of Newfoundland, only minutes before
midnight on April 14, 1912. It took less than three hours for the
Titanic to sink. 1,513 out of the 2,220 passengers perished in the
freezing ocean water.
1912
- Wars of Balkan states with Turkey & against each other
(Bulgaria, Serbia, Albania, Greece)
In their aim to
annex Macedonian territory and drive out the Ottoman Turks, Greece,
Bulgaria, Serbia, and Montenegro declared war on Turkey in the
autumn of 1912. Macedonians took part in the First Balkan War
believing that it would finally bring them freedom.
1913
- Niels Bohr formulates his own theory of the atomic structure
Using quantum
ideas due to Planck and Einstein, Bohr conjectured that an atom
could exist only in a discrete set of stable energy states.
1913
- Woodrow Wilson 28th President of US
He was elected as
the twenty-eighth President of the United States. On the outbreak of
the First World War President Woodrow Wilson declared a policy of
strict neutrality.
1914
- World War I
First World War started when the expansionist policy of
Austria-Hungary conflicted with Serbian nationalism. The Central
Powers (Germany,Austria-Hungary, Turkey) were opposed by the Allies
(England, France, Russia), joined by Japan, Italy and the USA (65
million men were mobilized; 9 million died; 22 million were wounded)
1915
- Einstein postulates his General Theory of Relativity
Einstein returned
to Germany in 1914 but did not reapply for German citizenship. What
he accepted was an impressive offer. It was a research position in
the Prussian Academy of Sciences together with a chair (but no
teaching duties) at the University of Berlin. He was also offered
the directorship of the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute of Physics in
Berlin, which was about to be established. After a number of false
starts Einstein published, late in 1915, the definitive version of
general theory.
1916
- Dada cult in Zurich http://www.lib.uiowa.edu/dada/archive.html
1917
- Lenin writes: "State & Revolution http://www.letsfindout.com/subjects/people/lenin.html
1917
- German-Russian armistice signed
After the Russian
government of Alexander Kerensky fell on October 24 and 25 (November
6 and 7, New Style), 1917, the new Bolshevik government resolved to
make peace with the Central Powers. An armistice with them was
signed at Brest-Litovsk on December 4 (December 17, New Style),
1917, a week later a formal peace conference was opened. http://www.lib.byu.edu/~rdh/wwi/1918/brestlitovsk.html
1917
- Russian Revolution and Civil War Red army defeats anti-Bolshevik
White armies
Lenin's
government, operating out of the new capital in Moscow, began a
policy of crushing all opposition. The Russian Communists began the
"Red terror" campaign in, which suspected anti-Communists,
known as Whites, were arrested, tried, and executed. Although the
peasantry had become hostile to the Communists, they supported them,
fearing that a victory by the Whites would result in a return to the
monarchy. Poorly organized and without widespread support, the
Whites were defeated by the Red Army in 1920.
1918
- Czar Nicholas II executed in Siberia
1918
- Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Yugoslavia, Poland independent
This was the
first time these countries were independent in decades. Russia ceded
Finland, Poland, Estonia, Livonia, Kurland, Lithuania, the Ukraine,
and Bessarabia, all of which, although not annexed to the Central
Powers, were dominated and economically exploited by them. Russia
also ceded Ardahan, Kars, and Bat'umi to Turkey. Under the terms of
the armistice between Germany and the allied powers on November 11,
1918, the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk was annulled.
1919 - Peace conference at Versailles opens
Peace treaty signed at the end of World War I between Germany and
the Allies. It was negotiated during the Paris Peace Conference held
in Versailles beginning January 18, 1919. Represented were the
United States, Great Britain, France, and Italy; the German
Republic, which had replaced the imperial German government at the
end of the war, was excluded from the parley.
Anti-Bolshevik
army of Kolchak defeated in the Urals
During 1918 and
early 1919 Kolchak scored a number of successes against the Soviet
armies, but in November 1919 he lost Omsk to the Soviets. Kolchak
moved his government farther east to Irkutsk, but the citizens of
that city refused to accept his rule and set up a socialist
government instead. Compelled to resign, he transferred the command
of his armies to the anti-Bolshevik general Anton Ivanovich Denikin.
Shortly afterward Kolchak was captured and executed by the Soviet
forces.
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