The 1910s decade ran from January 1, 1910 through December 31, 1919.
Events and trends
The 1910s represent 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, would forever be changed by the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to the Austrian throne, on 28 June 1914. The murder would trigger a chain of events in which, within 30 days, war would break out in Europe. The conflict would drag on until a ceasefire was declared on November 10, 1918 leading to the controversial, one-sided Treaty of Versailles, which would be signed on the 28 June 1919.
The war's end triggered the abdication of aging monarchies and the collapse of the last modern empires of Germany and the Ottomans and Austria-Hungary, 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.
The decade was also a period of revolution in a number of countries. Mexico 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 the Great War led to a collapse in morale as well as to economic chaos. This atmosphere encouraged the establishment of Bolshevism, which would be later renamed as Communism. Like the Mexican Revolution, the Russian Revolution immediately turned to civil war that would drag on until approximately late 1920.
Technology
Science
War, peace, and politics
Culture and religion
- Radio programming becomes popular
- Flying Squadron 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 gangster movie, 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, Jack, Albert, Harry and Samuel, 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 1912-1929. He replaces his father and co-founder of the Christian Mission (the forerunner of the Salvation Army), William Booth.
Literature and arts
- See also: List of years in literature#1910s
Others
World leaders
Entertainers
|