Modern Era
Second Battle of the Marne (1918): The Turning of the Tide
Allied victory; the German offensive failed, the Marne salient was abandoned and the strategic initiative passed to the Allies.
Era · c. 1800 – 1945
Modern Era
Industry, science and global conflict: the century and a half that built the modern world.
Modern Era
Death of the Red Baron (1918): Manfred von Richthofen
Germany's highest-scoring ace of the war was killed by a single bullet and buried by his enemies with military honours.
Modern Era
Representation of the People Act 1918: British Women Win the Vote
About 8.4 million women and some 5 million more men gained the vote, almost tripling the British electorate.
Modern Era
Meuse-Argonne Offensive (1918): America's Largest WWI Battle
American and French forces broke through the German defences between the Meuse and the Argonne and cut key railways near Sedan, contributing to Germany's defeat.
Modern Era
Hundred Days Offensive (1918): The Allied Push to Victory
The Allies drove the German army out of most of occupied France, broke the Hindenburg Line and forced Germany to ask for the armistice of 11 November 1918.
Modern Era
German Spring Offensive (1918): Ludendorff's Last Gamble
German forces won the largest advances on the Western Front since 1914 but failed to break the Allies, and the losses left Germany unable to resist the Allied counter-offensives.
Modern Era
Treaty of Brest-Litovsk (1918): Soviet Russia Leaves the War
Soviet Russia left the First World War and gave up Poland, the Baltic lands, Finland and Ukraine; the treaty was annulled after Germany's defeat in November 1918.
Modern Era
Execution of the Romanov Family (1918): The Last Tsar's Fate
The former tsar, his wife, their five children and four members of their household were killed and their bodies secretly buried; the remains were identified by DNA in the 1990s and 2000s.
Modern Era
Armistice of 11 November 1918: The End of Fighting in WWI
Germany accepted Allied terms and fighting on the Western Front stopped at 11 am on 11 November 1918, effectively ending the First World War.
Modern Era
Spanish Flu Pandemic (1918-1920): The Deadliest Flu in History
An estimated 500 million people were infected and roughly 17 to 50 million or more died, making it the deadliest influenza pandemic on record.
Modern Era
Eddington's Eclipse Expedition (1919): Proving Einstein Right
The measured deflection of starlight agreed with Einstein's prediction rather than Newton's, making general relativity and Einstein world famous.
Modern Era
Hungarian Soviet Republic (1919): Bela Kun's Short-Lived Regime
The communist regime collapsed after 133 days under Romanian military pressure, followed by a White Terror and the rise of Miklos Horthy.