Year by year · 20th century

1919

1919 in world history: 38 events, 22 births, 24 deaths, 4 works, 24 states founded and 25 that came to an end. 756 recorded states existed that year.

Events

  1. 5 January

    German Workers' Party founded in Munich

    Railway locksmith Anton Drexler founded the small nationalist German Workers' Party. Adolf Hitler joined that autumn and in 1920 the party was renamed the National Socialist German Workers' Party.

  2. 15 January

    Rosa Luxemburg and Karl Liebknecht murdered in Berlin

    After the defeat of the Spartacist uprising, the two communist leaders were seized and killed by Freikorps soldiers. The murders deepened the bitter split on the German left.

  3. 16 January

    Ratification of the Eighteenth Amendment sets up Prohibition

    Nebraska became the 36th state to ratify the amendment banning the manufacture and sale of alcohol, making it part of the US Constitution. Prohibition took effect a year later and lasted until 1933.

  4. 31 January

    Police clash with strikers in Glasgow's George Square

    A rally for a 40-hour week ended in violence between police and workers in George Square. Fearing revolution, the government sent troops and tanks into Glasgow.

  5. 26 February

    Grand Canyon becomes a US national park

    President Woodrow Wilson signed the act creating Grand Canyon National Park in Arizona. The gorge, carved by the Colorado River, is over 1.6 km deep in places.

    Woodrow Wilson

  6. 1 March

    Koreans rise against Japanese rule in the March 1st Movement

    A declaration of independence was read in Seoul, and peaceful demonstrations spread across Korea. Japanese forces suppressed them, killing thousands, but the movement inspired Korean nationalism.

    Korea

  7. 23 March

    Mussolini founds the Fasci di Combattimento in Milan

    Benito Mussolini gathered veterans and nationalists in Piazza San Sepolcro to found a new movement. Its blackshirts helped him take power in 1922, and Fascism became a model for Hitler.

    Italian EmpireBenito MussoliniFascismMilan

  8. 13 April

    Troops fire on a crowd at Jallianwala Bagh, Amritsar

    Soldiers under Brigadier-General Reginald Dyer fired without warning into an unarmed crowd in an enclosed garden. At least 379 were killed by official count; the massacre hardened Indian opposition to British rule.

    Amritsar

  9. 28 June

    Treaty of Versailles is signed

    Germany signed the peace in the Hall of Mirrors, five years to the day after Sarajevo. It accepted territorial losses, disarmament and reparations, which fuelled lasting resentment.

    Treaty of VersaillesHall of MirrorsSarajevo

  10. 11 August

    President Ebert signs the Weimar Constitution

    Friedrich Ebert signed the constitution of the new German republic, with universal suffrage and a strong president. Its emergency powers were later exploited in Hitler's rise to power.

  11. 25 August

    First daily international scheduled air service begins

    Aircraft Transport and Travel began daily flights between London's Hounslow Heath and Paris, carrying passengers, mail and goods. It was the start of scheduled international commercial aviation.

    LondonParis

  12. Treaty · Peace

    Treaty of Saint-Germain-en-Laye (1919)

    The Treaty of Saint-Germain-en-Laye was the peace treaty signed on 10 September 1919 between the Allied powers and the new Republic of Austria after the First World War.

  13. Event

    Jallianwala Bagh massacre

    The Jallianwala Bagh massacre took place on 13 April 1919 in Amritsar, Punjab, when British Indian troops under Brigadier-General Reginald Dyer fired without warning on a large unarmed crowd in an enclosed garden.

  14. Battle

    Battle of Cēsis

    The Battle of Cēsis was fought in June 1919 around the town of Cēsis in northern Latvia.

  15. Revolt

    March First Movement

    The March First Movement was a nationwide Korean protest against Japanese colonial rule that began on 1 March 1919 with the reading of a Declaration of Independence in Seoul.

  16. Event

    Vix Note

    The Vix Note was an Allied demand handed to the Hungarian government on 20 March 1919 by the French lieutenant colonel Fernand Vix.

  17. Revolt

    Christmas Uprising

    The Christmas Uprising was a revolt in Montenegro in early January 1919, around Orthodox Christmas, by supporters of independence and of the deposed King Nicholas I, known as the Greens.

  18. War

    Polish–Czechoslovak War

    The Polish–Czechoslovak War, also called the Seven-Day War, was a brief conflict in late January 1919 over Cieszyn Silesia.

  19. Event

    Red Terror (Hungary)

    The Red Terror in Hungary was the campaign of repression carried out by the Hungarian Soviet Republic in 1919 against its real and supposed enemies.

  20. Revolt

    Spartacist uprising

    The Spartacist uprising was a general strike and armed rising in Berlin from 5 to 12 January 1919, led by the newly founded Communist Party of Germany and other radicals against the Social Democratic government of Friedrich Ebert.

  21. War

    Third Anglo-Afghan War

    The Third Anglo-Afghan War was a brief conflict in May 1919, when Emir Amanullah Khan of Afghanistan sent troops across the frontier of British India.

  22. Treaty · Peace

    Treaty of Neuilly-sur-Seine

    The Treaty of Neuilly-sur-Seine was the peace treaty between the Allied powers and Bulgaria after the First World War, signed on 27 November 1919.

  23. Battle

    Battle of Radviliškis

    The Battle of Radviliškis was fought in November 1919 around the railway town of Radviliškis in northern Lithuania, where Lithuanian forces defeated the West Russian Volunteer Army of Pavel Bermondt-Avalov.

  24. Treaty

    Anglo-Persian Agreement

    The Anglo-Persian Agreement was a treaty negotiated in August 1919 between Britain, led by Lord Curzon, and the government of Vosuq od-Dowleh in Qajar Iran.

  25. Battle

    Battle of Peregonovka

    The Battle of Peregonovka was fought in September 1919 near the village of Peregonovka (Perehonivka), near Uman in central Ukraine, during the Russian Civil War.

ProfileState694 states with a known seat in 1919Open the atlas at 1919 →

In the profiles

  • Republic of FinlandA new constitution makes Finland a republic, with K. J. Ståhlberg as president
  • British RajTroops kill hundreds of unarmed people at the Jallianwala Bagh in Amritsar

Wars and longer events

Born in 1919 22

Died in 1919 24

Works 4

States founded 24

States that came to an end 25

All years → The 20th century →

Cite this page
APA
The Epoch Institute. (2026). 1919. In The Epoch Institute, Year by Year. https://the-epoch-institute.org/years/1919
MLA
“1919.” The Epoch Institute, Year by Year, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/years/1919. Accessed .
Chicago
The Epoch Institute. “1919.” The Epoch Institute, Year by Year. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/years/1919.
Harvard
The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘1919’, The Epoch Institute, Year by Year. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/years/1919 (Accessed: ).