From left, clockwise: The Model T Ford is introduced and becomes widespread; The sinking of the R.M.S. Titanic causes the deaths of nearly 1,500 people and attracts global and historical attention; Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria is assassinated, triggering World War I (1914–1918); French Army lookout at his observation post in 1917; Russian troops awaiting a German attack; A ration party of the Royal Irish Rifles in a communication trench during the Battle of the Somme; Vladimir Lenin addresses a crowd in the midst of the October Revolution of 1917; A flu pandemic in 1918 kills tens of millions worldwide.

The 1910s was the decade that started on January 1, 1910 and ended on December 31, 1919. It was the second decade of the 20th century.

Worldwide trends

The 1910s represented the culmination of European militarism which had its beginnings during the second half of the nineteenth century. The conservative lifestyles during the first half of the decade, as well as the legacy of military alliances, was forever changed by the assassination, on June 28, 1914, of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, the heir presumptive to the Austro-Hungarian throne. The murder triggered a chain of events in which, within 30 days, World War I broke out in Europe. The conflict dragged on until a truce was declared on November 10, 1918, leading to the controversial, one-sided Treaty of Versailles, which was signed on the June 28, 1919.

The war's end triggered the abdication of aging monarchies and the collapse of the last modern empires of Russia, Germany, the Ottomans and Austria-Hungary, with the latter splintered into Austria, Hungary, southern Poland (who acquired most of their land in a war with Soviet Russia), Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia, as well as the unification of Romania with Transylvania and Moldavia. However, each of these states (with the possible exception of Yugoslavia) had large German and Hungarian minorities, there creating some unexpected problems that would be brought to light in the next two decades. (See Dissolution of Austro-Hungrarian Empire: Successor States for better description of composition of names of successor countries/states following the splinter.)

The decade was also a period of revolution in a number of countries. The Mexican Revolution spear-headed the trend in November 1910, which led to the ousting of dictator Porfirio Diaz, developing into a civil war that dragged on until mid-1920, not long after a new Mexican Constitution was signed and ratified. Russia also had a similar fate, since World War I led to a collapse in morale as well as to economic chaos. This atmosphere encouraged the establishment of Bolshevism, which was later renamed as communism. Like the Mexican Revolution, the Russian Revolution of 1917, known as the October Revolution, immediately turned to Russian Civil War that dragged until approximately late 1920.

Much of the music in these years was ballroom-themed. Many of the fashionable restaurants were equipped with dance floors. Prohibition in the United States began January 16, 1919, with the ratification of the Eighteenth Amendment to the U.S.Constitution.

Politics and wars

Wars

• World War I (1914–1918)

World War I

• Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria-Hungary in Sarajevo leads to World War I
• The First World War (1914–1918).
• Germany signs the Treaty of Versailles after losing the first world war.
• Armenian Genocide during and just after World War I. It was characterised by the use of massacres, and the use of deportations involving forced marches under conditions designed to lead to the death of the deportees, with the total number of Armenian deaths generally held to have been between one and one-and-a-half million.[1][2][3]

• Wadai War (1909–1911)
• Balkan Wars (1912–1913) – two wars that took place in South-eastern Europe in 1912 and 1913.

Internal conflicts

• October Revolution in Russia leads to the first Communist government; assassination of Emperor Nicholas II and the royal family
• The Jallianwala Bagh massacre in British Raj India sows the seeds of discontent and leads to the birth of the Indian Independence Movement.
• Xinhai Revolution causes the overthrow of China's ruling Qing Dynasty, and the establishment of the Republic of China.
• The Russian Revolution (1917) is the collective term for the series of revolutions in Russia in 1917, which destroyed the Tsarist autocracy and led to the creation of the Soviet Union.
• October Revolution political upheaval in Russia culminating in Communist takeover of the country.
• Mexican Revolution (1910–1911) Francisco I. Madero proclaims the elections of 1910 null and void, and calls for an armed revolution at 6 p.m. against the illegitimate presidency/dictatorship of Porfirio Díaz. The revolution lead to the ouster of Porfirio Díaz (who ruled from 1876 to 1880 and since 1884) six months later. The Revolution progressively becomes a civil war with multiple factions and phases, culminating with the Mexican Constitution of 1917, but combat would persist for three more years.

Major political changes

• Germany abolishes its monarchy and becomes under the rule of a new elected government called the Weimar Republic.
• George V becomes king in Britain.
• The Triple Alliance and Triple Entente are started.

Decolonization and independence

• Easter Rising against the British in Ireland; eventually leads to Irish independence
• Several nations in Eastern Europe get their own nation state, thereby replacing major multi-ethnic empires.
• The Republic of China is established on 1 January 1912.

Assassinations

Archduke Franz Ferdinand.

The 1910s were marked by several notable assassinations:

• 28 June 1914 – Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria-Hungary in Sarajevo leads to World War I
• 16/17 July 1918 – Assassination of Nicholas II of Russia and his family.

Disasters

Sinking of the Titanic.

• The "unsinkable" ocean liner RMS Titanic strikes an iceberg in the North Atlantic in 1912, and sinks on its maiden voyage.
• From 1918 through 1920 the Spanish flu killed 20 to 100 million people worldwide.
• In 1916 the Netherlands is hit by a North Sea storm that floods the lowlands and kills 10,000 people.

Other significant international events

• The Panama Canal is completed 1914
• World War I from 1914 until 1918 dominates the Western world.
• Hiram Bingham rediscovers Machu Picchu on July 24, 1911

Science and technology

Technology

British World War I Mark V tank

• Gideon Sundback patents the first modern zipper
• Harry Brearley invents stainless steel
• Charles P. Strite invents first pop-up bread toaster
• The Ford Model T dominates the automobile market, selling more than all other makers combined in 1914
• The army tank was invented. Tanks in World War I were used by the British Army, the French Army and the German Army.
• Henri Coandă makes the first short flight in a plane with a jet engine on December 16, 1910.

Science

• Albert Einstein's theory of general relativity
• Max von Laue discovers the diffraction of x-rays by crystals
• Alfred Wegener puts forward his theory of continental drift

Economics

Popular culture

• Radio programming becomes popular
• Flying Squadron of America promotes temperance movement in the U.S.
• Edith Smith Davis edits the Temperance Educational Quarterly.
• The first U.S. feature film, Oliver Twist, was released in 1912
• The first mob film, D. W. Griffith's The Musketeers of Pig Alley was released in 1912
• Hollywood replaces the East Coast as the center of the movie industry
• Charlie Chaplin débuts his trademark mustached, baggy-pants 'Little Tramp' character in Kid Auto Races at Venice in 1914
• The first African American owned studio, the Lincoln Motion Picture Company, was founded in 1917
• The four Warner brothers, (from older to younger) Harry, Albert, Samuel, and Jack opened their first West Coast studio in 1918
• First Crossword Puzzle
• Jazz music begins to become popular
• The Salvation Army has a new international leader, General Bramwell Booth who served from 1912 to 1929. He replaces his father and co-founder of the Christian Mission (the forerunner of the Salvation Army), William Booth.

Sports

• 1912 Summer Olympics were held in Stockholm, Sweden.
• 1916 Summer Olympics were cancelled because of World War I.

Literature and arts