What happened in 1919

World25

• Jan 2Russian Civil War: The Red Army's Caspian-Caucasian Front begins the Northern Caucasus Operation against the White Army, but fails to make progress.
• Jan 8Russian Civil War, Southern Front: The Red Army attacks and defeats the White Don Army under Pyotr Krasnov in the Voronezh–Povorino Operation.
• Jan 12Russian Civil War: On the Southern Front, the Armed Forces of South Russia under General Anton Denikin fight against the Red Army for the possession of the strategic region of the Donbass.
• Jan 15Rosa Luxemburg and Karl Liebknecht are murdered following the Spartacist uprising.
• Jan 16The Eighteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, authorizing Prohibition, is ratified.
• Jan 19Russian Civil War: The Red Army begins the counter offensive in the Perm area against the White forces.
• Feb 14The Polish–Soviet War begins, with the Battle of Bereza Kartuska.
• Mar 4Russian Civil War: The White forces in Siberia under the command of Admiral Alexander Kolchak attack the positions of the Red Army in the Spring Offensive. The Whites crush the 5th Red Army under Jan Blumberg, and capture Okhansk, Osa, Sarapul and finally Ufa over the next days.
• May 6The Third Anglo-Afghan War begins.
• Jul 19The Foreign Ministry of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic is established, by decree of the chancellory for foreign affairs.
• Aug 14Russian Civil War: Southern Front counteroffensive – The Red Army commanded by Vladimir Yegoryev attacks the White Volunteer Army of General Anton Denikin but is defeated.
• Aug 29Russian Civil War: The Red Army captures Pskov from White forces.
• Sep 1Russian Civil War, Siberian Front: Admiral Alexander Kolchak launches his final offensive in the Tobolsk operation, defeating the Red Army.
• Nov 11Russian Civil War: The Northwestern Army of General Nikolai Yudenich retreats to Estonia and is disarmed.
• Nov 14Russian Civil War, Siberian Front: Admiral Alexander Kolchak's White forces begin the Great Siberian Ice March from the cities of Omsk and Tomsk to Irkutsk, escaping from the victorious Red Army.

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Japan1

• Mar 1The March 1st Movement against Japanese colonial rule in Korea is formed.

North America18

• Jan 8The funeral of Theodore Roosevelt, 26th President of the United States, is held at Christ Church Oyster Bay, Long Island; Roosevelt had died in his sleep at the age of 60, two days earlier.
• Jan 15Great Molasses Flood: A wave of molasses released from an exploding storage tank sweeps through Boston, Massachusetts, killing 21 people and injuring 150.
• Feb 5United Artists (UA) is incorporated in the United States by D. W. Griffith, Charlie Chaplin, Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks as a motion picture producer.
• Feb 26Grand Canyon National Park: An act of the United States Congress establishes most of the Grand Canyon as a United States National Park.
• Mar 15Members of the American Expeditionary Forces convene in Paris for the first American Legion caucus.
• Apr 30First wave of 1919 United States anarchist bombings: several bombs sent by followers of the Italian anarchist Luigi Galleani are intercepted.
• May 23The University of California opens its second campus in Los Angeles. Initially called Southern Branch of the University of California (SBUC), it is eventually renamed the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA).
• Jun 21919 United States anarchist bombings: Eight mail bombs are sent to prominent figures.
• Sep 30Elaine massacre: An estimated 100 to 800 African Americans are killed in Elaine, Arkansas, by white mobs and vigilante militias assisted by federal troops in "the deadliest racial confrontation in Arkansas history and possibly the bloodiest racial conflict in the history of the United States".
• Oct 28Prohibition in the United States: The United States Congress passes the Volstead Act, over President Woodrow Wilson's veto. Prohibition goes into effect on January 17, 1920, under the provisions of the Eighteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution.
• Nov 1The Coal Strike of 1919 begins in the United States, by the United Mine Workers under John L. Lewis; a final agreement is reached on December 10.
• Nov 7The first of the Palmer Raids is conducted on the second anniversary of the Russian Revolution: over 10,000 suspected communists and anarchists are arrested in 23 different U.S. cities by the end of January 1920.
• Nov 9Felix the Cat debuts in Feline Follies.
• Nov 10The first national convention of the American Legion is held in Minneapolis.
• Nov 11The Centralia Massacre in Centralia, Washington (United States), originating at an Armistice Day parade, results in the deaths of four members of the American Legion and the lynching of a local leader of the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW).

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Europe44

• Jan 5The German Workers' Party (Deutsche Arbeiterpartei, DAP), predecessor of the Nazi Party, is formed by the merger of Anton Drexler's Committee of Independent Workmen with journalist Karl Harrer's Political Workers' Circle.
• Jan 7Estonian War of Independence: With Soviet Russian forces just 40 km outside of the capital Tallinn, Estonian forces start a general and successful counter-offensive against the Red Army.
• Jan 9Estonian War of Independence: Battle of Tapa – Estonian forces liberate Tapa, Estonia, from the Red Army.
• Jan 14Estonian War of Independence: Estonian forces liberate Tartu from the Red Army.
• Jan 18Estonian War of Independence: Estonian forces liberate Narva, expelling the Red Army from Northern Estonia.
• Jan 21Dáil Éireann meets for the first time in the Mansion House, Dublin. It comprises Sinn Féin members elected in the 1918 general election who, in accordance with their manifesto, have not taken their seats in the Parliament of the United Kingdom, but chosen to declare an independent Irish Republic. In the first shots of the Anglo-Irish War, two Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC) men are killed in an ambush at Soloheadbeg, County Tipperary.
• Feb 1Estonian War of Independence: Estonian forces liberate Valga and Võru, expelling the Red Army from the entire territory of Estonia.
• Feb 16Estonian War of Independence: Uniformed peasants in Saaremaa rebel against the government of Estonia; the rebellion is crushed by government forces, leaving more than 200 dead.
• May 25Estonian War of Independence: Estonian forces capture Pskov from the Red Army, and soon hand it over to the White forces.
• Jun 5Estonian and Latvian Wars of Independence: The advancing pro-German Baltische Landeswehr initiates war against Estonia in Northern Latvia.
• Jun 23Estonian and Latvian Wars of Independence – Battle of Cēsis: The Estonian army defeats the pro-German Baltische Landeswehr in northern Latvia, forcing it to retreat towards Riga; the event is celebrated subsequently as Victory Day in Estonia.
• Jun 28The Treaty of Versailles is signed, formally ending World War I, five years to the day since the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand. John Maynard Keynes, who has been present at the conference and is unhappy with the terms of the treaty, brings out his own analysis later in the year, entitled The Economic Consequences of the Peace.
• Jul 3Estonian and Latvian Wars of Independence: The pro-German Baltische Landeswehr signs a peace treaty with Estonia and Latvia. The pro-German Prime Minister of Latvia Andrievs Niedra resigns, and Latvian forces take over Riga on July 8.
• Oct 10Estonia adopts a radical land reform, nationalizing 97% of agrarian lands, mostly still belonging to the Baltic German nobility.
• Nov 19The Treaty of Versailles fails a critical ratification vote in the United States Senate. It will never be ratified by the U.S.

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USSR / Russia1

• Mar 4The Communist International (Comintern) is founded.

Asia4

• Mar 8The Rowlatt Act is passed by the Imperial Legislative Council in London, indefinitely extending the emergency provisions of the Defence of India Act 1915.
• Apr 13Amritsar Massacre: Under the command of Reginald Dyer, detachments of the 9th Gorkha Rifles and the 59th Scinde Rifles massacre 379 Sikh civilians at Jallianwala Bagh in Amritsar, in the Punjab Province.
• May 4The May Fourth Movement erupts in China as a result of the decision at the Paris Peace Conference to transfer former German concessions in Jiaozhou Bay to Japan rather than return sovereign authority to China.
• Aug 8The Anglo-Afghan Treaty of 1919, signed in Rawalpindi, ends the Third Anglo-Afghan War, with the United Kingdom recognising the right of the Emirate of Afghanistan to manage its own foreign affairs and Afghanistan recognising the Durand Line as the border with British India.

Middle East5

• Jan 3The Faisal–Weizmann Agreement is signed by Emir Faisal (representing the Arab Kingdom of Hejaz) and Zionist leader Chaim Weizmann, for Arab–Jewish cooperation in the development of a Jewish homeland in Palestine, and an Arab nation in a large part of the Middle East.
• Mar 8British authorities in Egypt arrest populist leader Saad Zaghloul, exiling him to Malta, triggering the Egyptian Revolution of 1919.
• May 15Greek landing at Smyrna: The Hellenic Army lands at Smyrna assisted by ships of the British Royal Navy.
• May 19Mustafa Kemal Atatürk lands at Samsun on the Anatolian Black Sea coast, marking the start of the Turkish War of Independence. The anniversary of this event is also an official day of Turkish Youth.
• Jul 2The Syrian National Congress in Damascus: Arab nationalists announce independence.

Latin America1

• Apr 10Mexican Revolution leader Emiliano Zapata is ambushed and shot dead in Morelos.

Africa1

• Aug 27South African Prime Minister Louis Botha dies in office of 'Spanish flu'.