What happened in 1920

World7

• Jan 7Russian Civil War: The forces of Russian White Admiral Alexander Kolchak surrender in Krasnoyarsk; the Great Siberian Ice March ensues.
• Jan 17Prohibition in the United States begins, with the Eighteenth Amendment to the Constitution which bans the sale of alcohol in all states.
• JanLeague of Nations foundedThe first international organization for peace, created to prevent another great war. Japan became a permanent member of the council, and Nitobe Inazō served as under-secretary-general. Japan announced its withdrawal in 1933.
• Mar 13Wolfgang Kapp and Walther von Lüttwitz's Kapp Putsch (an attempted coup in Germany) briefly ousts the Weimar Republic government from Berlin, but fails due to public resistance and a general strike.
• May 3A Bolshevik coup fails in the Democratic Republic of Georgia.
• Jun 13Essad Pasha Toptani, nominal ruler of Albania, is assassinated by Avni Rustemi in Paris.
• Aug 19Russian Civil War: Peasants in Tambov Governorate begin the Tambov Rebellion against the Bolshevik government of Soviet Russia.

Japan1

• Nov 2Meiji Shrine, one of many landmark spots in Tokyo, is officially built in Japan.

North America9

• Jan 19The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is founded.
• Feb 14The League of Women Voters is founded in Chicago.
• Mar 19The United States Senate refuses to ratify the Treaty of Versailles.
• Mar 26American fiction writer F. Scott Fitzgerald makes his name with publication of This Side of Paradise.
• Jun 15Duluth lynchings: Three African American circus workers are sprung from jail, subjected to a kangaroo court and hanged by a white mob in Duluth, Minnesota, in the northern United States.
• Sep 16Wall Street bombing: A bomb in a horse wagon (perhaps planted by Galleanisti) explodes in front of the J. P. Morgan Building in New York City, killing 38 and injuring 400.
• Sep 17The National Football League is established, as the American Professional Football Association.
• Nov 21920 United States presidential election: Republican U.S. senator Warren G. Harding defeats Democratic governor of Ohio James M. Cox and Socialist Eugene V. Debs, in the first national U.S. election in which women have the right to vote.
• Nov 2In the United States, KDKA AM of Pittsburgh (owned by Westinghouse) starts broadcasting as a commercial radio station. The first broadcast is the results of the presidential election.

Europe46

• Jan 10The Treaty of Versailles takes effect, officially ending World War I.
• Feb 24Adolf Hitler presents his National Socialist Program in Munich to the German Workers' Party (Deutsche Arbeiterpartei), which renames itself as the Nazi Party (Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei).
• Mar 25Irish War of Independence: British recruits to the Royal Irish Constabulary begin to arrive in Ireland. They become known from their improvised uniforms as the "Black and Tans".
• Apr 24Polish–Soviet War: Polish and anti-Soviet Ukrainian troops attack the Red Army in Soviet Ukraine.
• May 7Polish–Soviet War: Polish troops occupy Kyiv. The government of the Ukrainian People's Republic returns to the city.
• Jun 4Treaty of Trianon: Peace is restored between the Allied Powers and Hungary, which loses 72% of its territory.
• Jul 1Germany declares its neutrality in the Polish–Soviet War.
• Jul 22Polish–Soviet War: Poland sues for peace with Soviet Russia (which refuses).
• Aug 3Irish War of Independence: Catholics riot in Belfast, in protest at the continuing British Army presence.
• Aug 13Polish–Soviet War: Battle of Warsaw – The Red Army is defeated.
• Aug 13Irish War of Independence: The Restoration of Order in Ireland Act (passed by the Parliament of the United Kingdom) receives Royal Assent, providing for Irish Republican Army activists to be tried by court-martial, rather than by jury in criminal courts.
• Oct 16Polish–Soviet War: After the Polish army captures Tarnopol, Dubno, Minsk and Dryssa, the ceasefire is enforced.
• Nov 21Irish War of Independence: Bloody Sunday – The Irish Republican Army (IRA), on the instructions of Michael Collins, shoot dead the "Cairo gang", 14 British undercover agents in Dublin, most in their homes. Later this day in retaliation, the Auxiliary Division of the Royal Irish Constabulary open fire on a crowd at a Gaelic Athletic Association football match in Croke Park, resulting in 14 deaths with 60 wounded. Three men are shot this night in Dublin Castle "while trying to escape".
• Nov 28Irish War of Independence: Kilmichael Ambush – The flying column of the 3rd Cork Brigade of the Irish Republican Army, led by Tom Barry, ambushes two lorries carrying men of the Auxiliary Division of the Royal Irish Constabulary at Kilmichael, County Cork, killing 17 (with 3 of its own men also dying), which leads to official reprisals.
• Dec 23The Government of Ireland Act 1920, passed by the Parliament of the United Kingdom, receives Royal Assent from George V, providing for the partition of Ireland into Northern Ireland and Southern Ireland, with separate parliaments, granting a measure of home rule.

31 more in the app

USSR / Russia13

• Jan 1Polish–Soviet War: The Russian Red Army increases its troops along the Polish border from 4 divisions to 20.
• May 7Treaty of Moscow (1920): Soviet Russia recognizes the independence of the Democratic Republic of Georgia, only to invade the country six months later.
• May 15Russian Revolution: Russian White soldier Maria Bochkareva is executed in Soviet Russia.
• May 26Ganja revolt: Anti-Soviet opposition in the Azerbaijan SSR launches an abortive revolt in Ganja.
• Jun 12Polish–Soviet War: The Red Army retakes Kyiv.
• Jul 2Polish–Soviet War: The Red Army continues its offensive into Poland.
• Jul 12Soviet–Lithuanian Peace Treaty: The Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic recognizes independent Lithuania.
• Jul 19The Second Congress of the Communist International takes place in Saint Petersburg and Moscow; the Twenty-one Conditions are adopted.
• Aug 11Bolshevik Russia recognizes independent Latvia.
• Aug 28Bukhara operation: The Russian Red Army and Young Bukharians overthrow the Emirate of Bukhara, leading to the establishment of the Bukharan People's Soviet Republic.
• Sep 27Polish–Soviet War: Soviet Russia sues for peace with Poland.
• Nov 13The White Army's last units and civilian refugees are evacuated from the Crimea onboard 126 ships, "Wrangel's fleet" (the remnants of the Imperial Russian Navy's Black Sea Fleet), to Turkey, Tunisia and the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, accompanied by wide-scale civilian massacres. The total number of evacuees amounts to approximately 150,000 people, of which 20% are civilians.
• Dec 22The 8th Congress of Soviets of the Russian SFSR adopts the GOELRO plan, the major scheme for the economic development of the country.

Asia6

• Feb 21The island province of Marinduque in the Philippines archipelago is founded.
• Apr 6The short-lived Far Eastern Republic is declared in eastern Siberia.
• Apr 26The Khorezm People's Soviet Republic is officially created by Soviet Russia, as the successor to the Khanate of Khiva.
• Apr 28The Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic is officially created.
• Dec 3Following more than a month of the Turkish–Armenian War, the Turkish-dictated Treaty of Alexandropol is concluded.
• Dec 16An 8.2 Richter scale Haiyuan earthquake causes a landslide in Gansu Province, China, killing 273,000.

Middle East7

• Mar 7The Syrian National Congress proclaims Syria independent, with Faisal I of Iraq as king.
• Mar 15Constantinople is occupied by British Empire forces, acting for the Allied Powers against the Turkish National Movement. Retrospectively, the Grand National Assembly of Turkey regards this as the dissolution of the Ottoman regime in Istanbul.
• Apr 41920 Palestine riots: Violence erupts between Arab and Jewish residents in Jerusalem; 9 are killed, 216 injured.
• Apr 23The Grand National Assembly of Turkey is founded by Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, in Ankara. It denounces the government of Sultan Mehmed VI and announces a temporary constitution.
• Jul 24Battle of Maysalun: The French defeat the Syrian army, whose leader Yusuf al-'Azma is killed. French troops occupy Damascus and depose Faisal I of Syria as king.
• Aug 10Ottoman Sultan Mehmed VI's representatives sign the Treaty of Sèvres with the Allied Powers, confirming arrangements for the partitioning of the Ottoman Empire.
• Dec 23The United Kingdom and France ratify the border between French-held Syria and British-held Palestine.

Latin America5

• Apr 20Mexican Revolution: Álvaro Obregón announces (in Chilpancingo) that he intends to fight against the rule of Venustiano Carranza.
• May 7Mexican Revolution: Venustiano Carranza leaves Mexico City in a large train.
• May 20Mexican Revolution: Venustiano Carranza arrives in San Antonio Tlaxcalantongo; troops of Rodolfo Herrero attack him at night and shoot him.
• May 24Venustiano Carranza is buried in Mexico City; all of his mourning allies are arrested. Adolfo de la Huerta is elected provisional president.
• Sep 21The Communist Party of Uruguay is founded.

Africa2

• Feb 1The South African Air Force (SAAF) is established, the second autonomous Air Force in the world, after the British Royal Air Force (RAF).
• Dec 17South Africa is granted a League of Nations Class C mandate over South West Africa.

Oceania2

• Jan 22The Australian Country Party is officially formed.
• Oct 30The Communist Party of Australia is founded in Sydney.