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.
Region
Europe
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
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.
Modern Era
Spartacist Uprising (1919): Communist Revolt in Berlin
The uprising was crushed by government troops and Freikorps; Rosa Luxemburg and Karl Liebknecht were murdered on 15 January 1919.
Modern Era
Scuttling of the German Fleet at Scapa Flow (1919)
52 of the 74 interned German warships sank, preventing their handover to the Allies; nine German sailors were killed.
Modern Era
Turkish War of Independence (1919-1923): Ataturk's Victory
Turkish nationalist victory; the Treaty of Sevres was replaced by the Treaty of Lausanne and the Republic of Turkey was proclaimed in October 1923.
Modern Era
Irish War of Independence (1919-1921): IRA Against British Rule
A truce in July 1921 led to the Anglo-Irish Treaty of December 1921, which created the Irish Free State while Northern Ireland remained in the United Kingdom.
Modern Era
Founding of the Weimar Republic (1919): Germany's First Democracy
Germany became a parliamentary republic with a democratic constitution, but the new state was burdened from the start by defeat, the peace terms and political violence.
Modern Era
Paris Peace Conference (1919): The Big Four Redraw the World
The victorious Allies drafted the League of Nations Covenant and the peace treaties with the defeated Central Powers, beginning with the Treaty of Versailles.
Modern Era
Treaty of Versailles (1919): The Peace That Ended World War I
Germany accepted territorial losses, disarmament, reparations and responsibility for the war; the treaty came into force on 10 January 1920.