The History of the Twentieth Century

After the abdication/removal of Kaiser Wilhelm II, Germany was declared a republic. But what kind of republic?

With the bloodshed seemingly unending, the Lloyd George government and the Irish Republic strike an agreement.

The conflict in Ireland grows more bitter, culminating in 1920's Bloody Sunday.

On January 21, 1919, the first Dáil Éireann met in Dublin and declared itself the parliament of an Irish Republic. That same day, IRA fighters in County Tipperary stole 168 pounds of gelignite, killing the two police officers who were guarding it.  

As Woodrow Wilson recovered from his stroke, the effort to gain Senate approval for the Treaty of Versailles floundered, and the US government was without a leader.

As hard as it was to negotiate the Treaty of Versailles, Woodrow Wilson returned home to an even greater challenge: winning Senate approval of the treaty.

At the same time as the "Red Scare," the USA was experiencing the worst racial violence in its history. Hundreds were killed. Some claimed, without evidence, that the Bolsheviks were behind it.

Labor unrest, racial violence, and anarchist bombs were blowing up across the USA in 1919, making many people wonder if the Bolsheviks were behind it all.

Political violence in Mexico tapers off after the new constitution comes into effect, although Venustiano Carranza will not give up power willingly.

The technological end economic changes wrought by the Great War will have major impacts even on nations that remained neutral.

The compromise under which Japan got the German concession in China was bitterly resented in China and led to a backlash against the West.

The Japanese, like the Italians, had territorial demands they wanted the peace conference to recognize. They also wanted the League of Nations to embrace racial equality.

With Italian politics becoming increasingly polarized between violent extremes, the environment is perfect for the rise of Mussolini.

After Italy's postwar territorial demands were rejected by the other Allies, Prime Minister Orlando and the Italian delegation walked out of the peace conference.

The standoff between the Turks and what remained of the Allies (Greece, backed up by Britain) leads to war.

As the USA, Italy, and France lose interest in the region, Britain fights to enforce the Treaty of Sèvres, relying on the Greek Army to provide the military might. Meanwhile, the political situation in Greece changes.

As Allied troops took up positions in Turkey, the Allies and the Ottoman government signed the Treaty of Sèvres, which imposed a harsh set of conditions. But nationalist Turks in the interior of Anatolia were not ready to give up the struggle.

The British accepted Hussein of Mecca as King of Hejaz, but when he resisted their plan to remake the Near East, they allowed the neighboring Emir of Najd to seize control.

An American archaeologist coined the term "The Fertile Crescent" just three years ago in 1916 to describe the arc of lands from Mesopotamia to Palestine that were the most fertile Arab territories. In 1919, France and Britain divided the Fertile Crescent between themselves, much to the displeasure of the Arabs living there.

In 1919, the Allies were poised to parcel out the lands of the Near East among themselves. But the inhabitants of the region had other ideas.

When the time came to determine the future of Germany's colonies, Woodrow Wilson insisted on a system of mandates that would, at least in principle, require that they be governed for the benefit of their inhabitants.

Africa had been known in Europe as the "Dark Continent." It was merely an obstacle to get around on the way to Asia, then a source of slaves, and finally a territory to exploit. Europeans took it upon themselves to educate Africans, but then educated Africans began to wonder why they still didn't have the same rights.

In the aftermath of the Russian Civil War, Lenin introduces the New Economic Policy, the USSR is organized, and prominent Socialist Revolutionaries are prosecuted for treason. Lenin falls ill in 1923 and dies in early 1924.

The October Revolution led to the brief emergence of independent nations of Armenia, Georgia, and Azerbaijan for the first time in centuries, but their independence was not to last. Also, we look at the early days of post-Civil War Russia.

The White movement collapsed rapidly over the winter of 1919-1920, leaving the Bolsheviks in control of Russia. Even the Allies had to reconcile themselves to the new order in Russia.