The heir to the Austro-Hungarian empire and his wife were assassinated by Serbian freedom fighter Gavrillo Princip. This was the spark that started World War I.
War between the Triple Entente (UK, France, Russia) and the Triple Alliance (Germany, Austria-Hungary, Italy). Major world powers were "too occupied" to notice the Armenian genocide.
The Turkish government systematically deported, killed, and put into concentration camps up to two million Armenians in the Ottoman Empire. To this day, the Turkish government continues to deny this genocide.
Germany was put to blame for starting World War I and suffered major, yet not yet devastating military cuts and fines. This was a contributing factor to Hitler's rise in popularity and the subsequent Second World War.
Communist leader of the USSR, Lenin, died on the 21st of January, allowing Joseph Stalin to gradually gain control over the USSR.
A Chinese civil war fought between the Chinese Communist party and the Kuomintang as they struggled for control over China. The war ended with the Kuomintang's retreat to Taiwan.
Stalin imposed the policy of collectivization of farms and resources over the USSR under the objective of strengthening the Russian industry. A prelude to the Holodomor and the destruction of kulaks.
The Roaring Twenties came to a close as the stock market crashed and every Western economy plunged into debt. This event was considered the start of the Great Depression.
Severe economic recession across the world preceding the Second World War as world leaders struggled to uphold their own country. The Holodomor in Ukraine was far from the concern of all the leaders.
Up to 12 million Ukrainians starved to death in the Soviet Union's man-made famine. Many argue that the famine was an effort on Joseph Stalin's (leader of the USSR) part to exterminate Ukrainian nationalism.
The beginning of the Third Reich and the Nazi regime in Germany. Early concentration camps confining political prisoners of the Nazi party were set up.
During the Second Sino-Japanese War, Japan captured the Chinese city of Nanjing and simultaneously murdered 300,000 Chinese civilians. Nanjing was overlooked at the time of as most Western powers were undergoing war preparations. Many Japanese officials and politicians continue to deny the existence of the massacre today.
The Nazi party, led by Adolf Hiter, imposed a policy called the "Final Solution" in which Hitler attempted to exterminate all Jews in Europe. 6 million European Jews as well as 5 million others of various ethnic and cultural groups were systematically murdered. The Holocaust ended following the collapse of Nazi Germany, and the world became aware of the horrors when Allied troops liberated the camps.
A series of attacks were made destroying Jewish homes and businesses on Kristallnacht, or the Night of Broken Glass. Many Jews were arrested all over Germany. Historian considered the Kristallnacht the beginning of the Holocaust.
World War II began when Nazi Germany invaded neutral Poland. The war was fought for six years between the Allies (US, Soviet Union, British Empire) and the Axis (Nazi Germany, Japan, Italy).
Tense relationship between the US and Russia who were drastically different in government systems and culture. The tension influenced many decisions made in the period such as the US backing South Vietnam in the VIetnam War to prevent the spread of communism.
Mao Zedong, the leader of the Chinese Communist party, rose to the position of Chairman and proclaimed the establishment of the new people's republic.
Armed conflict between communist North Vietnam and South Vietnam. The United States entered the war and backed South Vietnam as a strategic containment of communism during the Cold War. After Vietnam, the American public was cried for the retreat of their soldiers from Asia and refused any further presence in the Asian countries, including Cambodia.
The Great Leap Forward was Mao's plan have China quickly surpass the UK and the USA in terms of economy through industrialization, establishments of private plots, collectivization, and household steel production. This resulted in a massive famine across China where an estimated 40 million people died of starvation.
Rwanda gained its independence from Belgium, ending its colonial era where minority Tutsis were put in charge over Rwanda by the Belgians.
Mao's plot to overthrow his political enemy, Liu Shaoqi, through the persecution of anyone suspected of having capitalistic influences. It was estimated that at least 500,000 intellectuals and officials were tortured or killed in the revolution.
Khmer Rouge of Cambodia organized a mission to reconstruct the country into communist Cambodia. Anyone opposed to the rule or were suspected of being non-communist were exterminated. 2 million Cambodians were killed or worked to death in this period.
Mao Zedong's death concluded the violent period of the Cultural Revolution.
Islamic militants captured the American Embassy in Tehran and held 52 American diplomats in hostage. The US, outraged, led to its backing of Iraq in the coming war.
Saddam Hussein, leader of Iraq, plotted to become the leader of the Arab world. He invaded Iran as a result. The US, realizing the winning side would have control of Gulf oil, supported Iraq with bank loans, resources, and weapons in exchange for good relations with Iraq.
Saddam Hussein's attempted extermination of the Kurdish population in northern Iraq because the Kurds made alliances with Iran in the Iran-Iraq war. Chemical attacks, deemed illegal in international law, were extensively used on Kurdish towns. US condemned the genocide, but did not cut off supplies to Iraq in fear of Iran winning the war.
Subsequent collapse of the communist Soviet Union and the end of the Cold War.
Following the Battle of Mogadishu in Somalia (Black Hawk Down), Somali fighters dragged and humiliated the bodies of American soldiers through the streets of Somalia. Americans nationwide were enraged by the sight, and many subsequently protested against further American involvement in Africa (Rwanda).
Over a period of about a hundred days, the Hutus of Rwanda brutally slaughtered 800,000 Tutsis out of ethnic tension and hatred.
American football star O.J. Simpson is accused of the murdering his wife. The infamous police car chase and preliminary trials took away the media and the public's attention on Rwanda.
Conflict between the west Sudan region of Darfur and rest of Sudan as hundreds of thousands of Sudanese in Darfur were killed while others were displaced. Considered the first genocide of the 21st century.
The US invaded and captured Baghdad. This ended the Saddam Hussein regime and the Kurdish genocide.
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