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Chinese Natonalists oust the last Qing emperor, Henry Pu Yi
Before the Kuomintang, there were a few other natonalist groups, one of them being the Revolutionary Alliance. In 1911, the Revolutionary Alliance successfully overthrew the last Qing emperor, Henry Pu Yi. The Qing dynasty had been ruling since 1644 so this signaled the end of an era. -
WWI begins as Austria declares war on Serbia
The one event that really did lead to the war was the killing of the Austro-Hungarian heir to the throne, Archduke Franz Ferdianand. When touring in Sarajevo, the capital of Bosnia, they were shot at point blank rage by Garvilo Princip, a 19 year old Serbian member of the Black Hand, a group in Bosnia commited to ridding Bosnia of Austrian rule. Angered, the Austrians sent Serbia a list of demads, which the Serbians coul not meet, so the Austrians declared war -
US Enters WWI
One of the things ta led the US to war was when the Germans resumed their unrestricted submarine warfare policy, which had previously caused the sinking of the passenger ship Lusitania, killing 128 US citizens. The Germans knew that the resumpton could lead to war but the event that really set the US off was when they interecepted the telegram from Germany to Mexico saying that Germany would help Mexico reconquer lands lost to the US if they agreed to fight on the the German side. -
Armistice signed as Allies defeat Central Powers
Russia withdrawing from the war allowed the Germans to focus their troops back on the Western Front so in 3/1918 they launched a final attack against the allies in France. By May 1918 Paris was about 40 mi away and victory seemed within reach but by now the German military had weakened, so the Allies (along w/ 2 mill new US troops) began marching towards Germany, leading to the collapse of the Central Powers + Kaiser stepping down which in turn led to an cease-fire between FR + GE, ending W WI -
Gandhi leads Indian campaign of civil disobedience
gandhi emerged as the leader for Indian independence. His tactics were those of nonviolence. He encouraged noncooperation (civil disobedience), which was refusing to follow a law that was considered unjust, he encouraged boycotts, including his most famous one on cloth, which was a major income source for the British and took a large toll on them, strikes + demonstrations, and specific marches like the Salt March. Gandhi's tactics ended up working; In 1935 India was granted limited self rule -
Mustafa Kemal transforms Turkey into Republic
In 1919, Greek soldiers invaded Turkey and threatened to conquer them. The Turk sultan was powerless, but in 1922 this brilliant commandersuccessfully led Turkish nationalists in fighting back the Greeks and their British backers. Him and his nationalist followers, soon after, overthrew the last Ottoman sultan. In 1923, he became the first presdient of Turkey, issuing sweeping reforms to help modernize the country. After his death he was given the name of Ataturk (Father of the Turks) . -
Mao Zedong leads Long March
In 1933 Jiang Jieshi gathered an army of around 700k people which then surrounded the Communists' mountain stronghold. The Communist leaders realized that they were facing defeat, so in a big move, 100,000 Communists fled. they began a hazardous 6000 mile journey between 1934-5. Finally after more than a year of walking, Mao and the 7-8k remaining Communists settled in caves in NW China, gaining new followers. Mao described this experience as "swimming in the peasant sea"
