- Asia
Xinhai Revolution erupts
The Wuchang Uprising of 10 October 1911 sparks the Xinhai Revolution against the Qing, rapidly spreading across the provinces and bringing down China's last imperial dynasty.
Era: The Fall of the Empire: Republic, Warlords, and War
Sources: China · Encyclopaedia Britannica
- Asia
Independence declared under the Bogd Khan
As the Qing collapses, Mongolia expels the Manchu official and proclaims the Javzandamba as Bogd Khan, head of an independent theocratic monarchy, though only autonomy under Chinese suzerainty is recognized abroad.
Era: Independence, Revolution, and the People's Republic
Sources: Mongolia: Independence and revolution · Encyclopaedia Britannica, Bogd Gegeen Khan · Encyclopaedia Britannica
- Europe
Declaration of independence at Vlore
An assembly at Vlore led by Ismail Qemali proclaimed Albania an independent state and raised the national flag, breaking from the Ottoman Empire during the First Balkan War.
Era: Independence, the Conference of London and the Albanian Question
Sources: Vlore proclamation · Encyclopaedia Britannica, Ismail Qemali Leads Albania to Independence, November 1912 · Radio Television of Albania (RTSH), History of Albania · Encyclopaedia Britannica
- Europe
Declaration of independence
The Parliament of Finland approved a declaration of independence amid the turmoil of the Russian Revolution, ending more than a century as an autonomous Grand Duchy of the Russian Empire.
Era: Independence and the Finnish Civil War
Sources: History of Finland · Encyclopaedia Britannica, Main outlines of Finnish history · thisisFINLAND (Finland Promotion Board)
- Europe
Soviet Russia recognises Finland
Lenin's Bolshevik government formally recognised Finnish independence on the last day of 1917, calculating that it could not retain the periphery of the former empire.
Era: Independence and the Finnish Civil War
Sources: History of Finland · Encyclopaedia Britannica, History of Finland · InfoFinland (Finnish public authorities)
- Europe
Moldavian Democratic Republic proclaimed
After the Russian Revolution, the Sfatul Tarii (national council) in Chisinau proclaimed the Moldavian Democratic Republic, soon declaring full independence from Russia amid the turmoil of 1917-1918.
Era: Union with Romania and the Soviet Creation of a Moldavian Republic
Sources: Moldova: History · Encyclopaedia Britannica, Union of 27 March 1918: the National Archive Agency provides access to the Sfatul Tarii collection · Moldpres (Moldova State News Agency)
- Asia
First Republic of Armenia
As the Russian Empire collapsed, Armenians of the Caucasus declared an independent Republic of Armenia with its capital at Yerevan, the first modern Armenian state.
Era: Empires, the Genocide and the First Republic
Sources: Armenia — Caucasus, Soviet Union, Genocide (Modern Armenia) · Encyclopædia Britannica
- Europe
Collapse of Austria-Hungary and the First Republic
As the war was lost the empire disintegrated; Emperor Karl I renounced participation in government on 11 November and the Republic of German-Austria was proclaimed on 12 November 1918, ending Habsburg rule.
Era: The Dual Monarchy and the Catastrophe of 1918
Sources: The End of Monarchy, the Birth of New States · Der Erste Weltkrieg (The First World War / habsburger.net)
- Asia
Azerbaijan Democratic Republic declared
On 28 May 1918 Azerbaijan declared independence under Musavat leadership, founding the first secular parliamentary republic in the Muslim world, with Mammad Amin Rasulzade among its leaders.
Era: The Baku oil boom and the 1918 republic
Sources: Azerbaijan: Russian suzerainty and the road to independence · Encyclopædia Britannica, Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia: Country Studies (ed. Glenn E. Curtis) · Library of Congress, Federal Research Division
- Europe
Belarusian People's Republic proclaimed
Under German occupation, the Rada in Minsk proclaimed the independence of the Belarusian People's Republic, the first modern declaration of Belarusian statehood, though it never controlled the territory and was soon driven into exile.
Era: People's Republic, Soviet Republic and Terror
Sources: Belarus: The emergence of the Belorussian S.S.R. · Encyclopaedia Britannica, History of Belarus · Encyclopaedia Britannica
- Europe
Declaration of Independence
The Salvation Committee proclaimed the independent Republic of Estonia and appointed a provisional government under Konstantin Päts, the founding act of the Estonian state.
Era: Independence, the War of Independence and the First Republic
Sources: Estonia celebrates Independence Day: How was freedom declared in 1918? · ERR (Estonian Public Broadcasting), Estonia: History · Encyclopaedia Britannica
- Asia
Democratic Republic of Georgia proclaimed
Amid the collapse of the Russian Empire, Georgia proclaimed an independent democratic republic governed by Mensheviks, with a democratic constitution and land reform.
Era: Republic, Soviet Conquest and the Georgian SSR
Sources: Georgia: Independent Georgia · Encyclopaedia Britannica, History of Georgia · Encyclopaedia Britannica
- Europe
The Act of Union and the Kingdom of Iceland
The Danish-Icelandic Act of Union made Iceland a sovereign state in personal union with the Danish crown, with Denmark retaining foreign affairs and the union open to termination after twenty-five years.
Era: National Awakening, Home Rule and Sovereignty
Sources: Act of Union (Iceland, 1918) · Encyclopaedia Britannica, History of Iceland, 1840s to the Second World War · nordics.info (Aarhus University)
- Europe
Proclamation of the Republic of Latvia
As the empires collapsed at the end of the First World War, the People's Council of Latvia proclaimed an independent, democratic Republic of Latvia in Riga.
Era: National Awakening, Independence and the First Republic
Sources: Latvia: History · Encyclopaedia Britannica, History of Latvia · Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Latvia, May 4th: Latvia's Path to Independence · Latvia.eu (Latvian Institute)
- Europe
Act of Independence
The Council of Lithuania in Vilnius proclaimed the restoration of an independent State of Lithuania on democratic principles, with Vilnius as its capital, severing all former ties to other states.
Era: Independence and the Interwar Territorial Disputes
Sources: Seimas in the Republic of Lithuania of 1920–1940 (Act of Independence of 16 February 1918) · Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania (lrs.lt), History of Lithuania · Encyclopaedia Britannica
- Europe
Restoration of independence
As the partitioning empires collapsed at the end of the First World War, an independent Polish state was proclaimed under Jozef Pilsudski, ending 123 years without statehood.
Era: The Partitions and the Long Fight for Independence
Sources: History of Poland (1795-1918) · Encyclopaedia Britannica, Partitions of Poland · Encyclopaedia Britannica
- Europe
Declaration of independence
The Central Rada's Fourth Universal proclaimed the full independence of the Ukrainian People's Republic from Russia, as German, Bolshevik and other forces contested the country.
Era: National Awakening and the Ukrainian People's Republic
Sources: Ukraine: World War I and the struggle for independence · Encyclopaedia Britannica
- Asia
Independent kingdom of North Yemen
With the Ottoman defeat in the First World War and withdrawal from Yemen, Imam Yahya established the independent Mutawakkilite Kingdom of Yemen across the northern highlands.
Era: The Two Yemens: Revolution and Independence
Sources: Yemen: History (ancient kingdoms, Islam, the imamate, unification and war) · Encyclopaedia Britannica, A Guide to the United States' History of Recognition, Diplomatic, and Consular Relations, by Country, since 1776: Yemen · U.S. Department of State, Office of the Historian
- Asia
Independence and the Treaty of Rawalpindi
Amir Amanullah Khan repudiates British control of foreign affairs and, after the Third Anglo-Afghan War, secures the Treaty of Rawalpindi (8 August 1919) recognising Afghan control of its own foreign relations.
Era: Independence, Monarchy and the Republic
Sources: Anglo-Afghan Wars — History, Significance & Facts · Encyclopaedia Britannica, Third Afghan War and the Revolt in Waziristan · National Army Museum (UK)
- Asia
March First Movement
A Declaration of Independence sparks nationwide demonstrations by some two million Koreans; the peaceful protests are violently suppressed with thousands killed.
Era: Japanese Colonial Rule
Sources: March First Movement · Encyclopaedia Britannica, Korea Under Japanese Rule · Encyclopaedia Britannica
- Asia
Turkish War of Independence
Mustafa Kemal led a national resistance and a new Grand National Assembly in Ankara, defeating Greek, Armenian and French forces and ending the Allied occupation of Anatolia.
Era: World War I, the Armenian Genocide and the War of Independence
Sources: Kemal Atatürk · Encyclopædia Britannica
Independence in the 1910s
Every event in the Terralore archive tagged independence — declarations, recognitions and transfers of sovereignty, narrowed to the 1910s — 21 of them, drawn from 20 nations, running from 1911 to 1919. Each entry keeps the sources it was verified against and links back to the chronicle it came from.
- Events
- 21
- Nations
- 20
- Earliest
- 1911
- Latest
- 1919
- Europe
- 12
- Asia
- 9
Every entry below is the same record, with the same sources, as the one on its nation’s chronicle.