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Bolshevik Revolution
1903-1904 The Bolsheviks were a faction of the Marxist Russian Social Democratic Labour Party. They split apart from the Menshivik faction at the Second Party Congress in 1903. -
Assassination of Archduke Francis Ferdinand
He was the heir presumptive to Austria-Hungarian throne. He and his wife were both shot by Gavrilo Princip, which was in a group of six other assassins. The reason to assassinate Arhduke was to break off Austria-Hungary's privinces so they could be combined into a Greater Serbia. -
Gallipoli campaign
1915-1916 This was a World War I campaign that took place on the Gallipoli peninsula. This campaign was one of the most outstanding of the Ottoman Empire's victories during the war but was also a major Allied failure. -
Japan makes Twenty-One Demands on China
These were a set of demands made during the first World War by the empire of Japan. The Chinese people reacted to this by boycotting Japanese goods on a national level. -
Civil War in Russia
1917-1922 This was a multi-party war that took place in the Russian Empire. This was was fought between the Bolshevik Red Army and the White Army. -
German resumption of unrestricted submarine warfare
Bethmann Hollweg was the person who went before Germany to make this announcement. The announcement unrestricted submarine warfare, which would begin the next da (Feburary 1). -
Treaty of Brest-Litovsk
It was a peace treaty signed between the new Bolshevik government of Russia and the Central Powers. The government of Russia was the Russian Soviet Federated Socialist Republic, and the Central Powers included Germany, Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria, and Turkey. -
May Fourth Movement in China
This was an anti-imperialist, cultural, and political movement that grew from student's demonstrations in Beijing. They were protesting the Chinese government's weak response to the Treaty of Versailles. -
Paris Peace Conference
This was the meeting of the Allied victor after the World War I. It took place in Paris and involved diplomats from more than 32 countries and nationalities. -
First Meeting of the League of Nations
This was an intergovernmental organisation that was founded because of the Paris Peace Conferance. It was the first international organisation that was able to actually maintain world peace. -
Lenin's New Economic Policy
This was an economic policy of Soviet Russia proposed by Vladmir Lenin. Vladmir called this "state capitalism". -
Mussolini launches fascist movement in Italy
Italian fascism was rooted in Italian nationalism. Also the desire to expand and restore Italian territories. -
Ataturk proclaims Republic of Turkey
1924-1938 Ataturk's reforms were a series of political, legal, cultural, social and economic changes that were designed to convert the new Republic of Turkey into a secular and modern nation-state. -
First Soviet Five-Year Plan
1928-1932 These were a group of nation-wide centralized economic plans that took place in the Soviet Union. These plans were developed by a state planning committee. -
US Stock Market Crash
It was the most devastating stock market crash in the history of the United States. This stock market crash started the beginning of the Great Depression, which lasted for 10 years. -
Civil Disobedience movement in India
Mohandas Gandhi leads this independenec movement to protest the British monopoly of salt. This was his boldest act of civil disobedience against British rule in India. -
Japanese invasion of Manchuria
This happened when the Kwantung Army of the Empire of Japan invaded Manchuria. They invaded Manchuria straight after the Mukden Incident. -
Hitler is ruler in Germany
Adolf Hitler was responsible for starting WWII. He was also responsible for the death of more than 11 million people during the Holocaust. -
Long March by Chinese Communists
1933-1935 This was a military retreat undertaken by the Red Army of the Communist Party of China. There was a series of marches by Communist armies in the south in need to escape from the north and west. -
Cardenas nationalizes oil indusrty in Mexico
1934-1940 This was the expropriation of all oil reserves, facilities, and oil companies in Mexico. This happened when President and General Lazaro Cardenas declared that all mineral and oil reserves found in Mexico belong to the nation. -
Sandino is murdered in Nicaragua
He was a Nicaraguan revolutionary and and leader of rebellion against the U.S. military occupation of Nicragua. His exploits made him seem like a hero throughout much of Latin America, where he became a symbol of resistance to United States' domination. -
Stalin's "Great Purge" in USSR
1934-1940 It was a political campaign of repression in the Soviet Union. It involved a large scale purge of the Communist Party and government officials. -
Invasion of China by Japan
This happened when Japanese and Chinese troops clashed near Peiping in North China. It was followed by indications of intensified military activity on the part of Japan. -
German Auschluss with Australia
This was the occupation and annexation of Australia into Nazi Germany. This contrasted with the Auschluss movement which was attempted when Republic of German-Austria attempted union with Germany. -
Invasion of Poland by Germany
This was an invasion of Poland by Germany, the Soviet Union, and a small Slovik contingent. It marked the beginnning of WWII in Europe. -
German invasion of USSR
The Soviet Union was destroyed by military forces. This was the permanent elimination of the percieved Communist threat to Germany. -
Establishment of United Nations
This is when representatives from 26 nations at war with the Axis powers met in Washington to sign the Declaration of the United Nations. This was to use their full resources against the Axis and agreeing to not make a separate peace. -
Soviet victory at Stalingard
1942-1943 This was a major battle in WWII in which Nazi Germany and its allies fought the Soviet Union for control of the city of Stalingrad. It is one of the most bloodiest battles ever fought in the history of warfare. -
D-Day, Alllied invasion at Normandy
This invasion is considered a decisive battle of the war in Western Europe. After this invasion, the allies began the drive into Germany that ultimately destroyed the Nazi regime. -
Atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki
This was constructed by the United States in the final stages of of World War ll. These bombs were the first and only nuclear weapons used in wartime. -
Capture of Berlin by Soviet forces
This was the final chapter in the destruction of Hitler's Third Reich. The Red Army breached the German front as a result of the Visluta-Oder Offesive. -
Partition of India
It wsa the partition of the British Indian Empire that led to the creation of the sovereign states of the Dominion of Pakistan and the Union of India. It was announced at a press conference by Mountbatten. -
Apartheid in South Africa
1948- 1994 This was a system of racial segregation in South Africa. It was enforced through legeslation by the National Party governments. The rights of the majority of black inhabitants were curtailed and Afrikaner minority rule was maintained. -
Arab-Israelie War
This was a war fought between the State of Israel and a military coalition of Arab states and Palestanian Arab forces. It was caused because both the Arabs and the Jews were not pleased with the British forces. -
Creation of Israel
This happended when the Head Executive of the World Zionist Organization and president of the Jewish Agency for Palestine declared the establishment of a Jewish state. This was a state independent upon the termination of the British Mandate for Palestine. -
Division of Berlin and Germany
1948-1949 This blockade was one of the first international crises of the Cold War. This divided Germany into four zones controlled by each country. -
Establishment of NATO
NATO stands for North Atlantic Treaty Organization. It was an intergovernmental military alliance based on the North Atlantic Treaty. -
Establishment of People's Republic of China
This is when the Communist PArty Chairman Mao Zedong proclaimed the establishment of this. Both the governments in China and Taiwan claimed to be the sole legitimate government of all China. -
Korean War
This was a war between South Korea and North Korea. South Korea can also be called the Republic of Korea, and North Korea can also be called the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. South Korea was supported by the United Nations, and North Korea was supported by China and the Soviet Union. -
Algerian war of liberation
1954-1962 This was a war between France and the Algerian independence movements. This led to Algeria gaining full freedom from the France. -
French defeat at Dien Bien Phu
This took place in northwest Vietnam, when the Ho Chi Minh's Viet Minh defeatde the French. This defeat signaled the end of French colonial influence in Indochina and cleared the way for the division of Vietnam. -
Suez Crisis
This is when the Egyptian president announced the nationalization of the Suez Canal Company. This was an issue because the British had owned and operated the Surz Canal sicne 1869. -
Uprising in Hungary
This was a spontaneous nationwide revolt against the government of the Hungarian People's Republic and it's Soviet-imposed policies. It was the first major threat to Soviet control since the USSR drove out the Nazis. -
The Great Leap Forward in China
1958-1961 The Great Leap Forward was an economic and social campaign by the Communist Party in China. It was led by Mao Zedong and was focused on transforming the country from an agrarian economy into a communist society rather quickly. -
Castro comes to power in Cuba
Castro was a Cuban communist revolutionary and politicial who was Prime Minister of Cuba. He adopted leftist anti-imperialist politics while studying at the University of Havana. -
Sino-Soviet rift
1960-1989 This was the worseninig of political and ideological relations between the People'a Republic of China and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. This took place during the Cold War. -
Construction of the Berlin Wall
The German Democratic Republic constructed the Berlin Wall. It completely cut off the West Berlin from surrounding East Germany and from East Berlin. -
Creation of PLO
PLO stands for Palestine Liberation Organization. It is an organization with the purpose of creating an independent State of Palestine. -
US Troops in Vietnam
This war was a Cold War-era proxy war that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia. The US constructed a large-scale strategic bombing campaign against North Korea. -
Revolution in Iran
This was the overthow of the Pahlavi dynasty, which was supported by the United States. The leader of this revolution was supported by various leftist and Islamic organizations and Iranian student movements. -
Iran-Iraq War
1980-1988 This was an armed conflict between the Islamic Republic of Iran and the Republic of Iraq. Initially, it was called the "Gulf War" to the English, before the Persian Gulf War in the early 1900's. -
Soviet withdrawal from Afghanistan
1988-1989 The Soviet union was executed under the leadership of Colonel-General Boros Gromov. He was the last Soviet general officer to walk from Afghanistan back into Soviet territory through the Afghan-Uzbek bridge. -
Persian Gulf War
1990-1991 It was a war waged by coalition forces from 34 nations led by the United States against Iraq. It was in response to Iraq's invasion and annexation of Kuwait. -
Reunification of Gernany
This was the process in which the German Democratic Republic joined the Federal Republic of Germany. They formed the reunited nation of Germany, and Berlin was reunited in one single day. -
Collapse of USSR
On this date, Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev resigned, declaring his office extent. He then handed the Soviet nuclear missile launching codes to Russian President Boris Yeltsin. -
Transfer of British Hong Kong to China
This is refered to as "the Handover" throughout the world, but "the Return" in China specifically. It marked the end of British rule in Hong Kong.