28 records
Africa
- AGOColonisation
Angola · by the 1920s
Effective occupation completed
Only in the early twentieth century, with pacification campaigns continuing into the 1920s, did Portugal establish effective control over the whole of Angola.
The slow conquest of the interior
Sources: History of Angola (Wikipedia) · Angola — Colonialism, Independence, Civil War (history) (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
- KENColonisation
Kenya Colony created
The protectorate's interior becomes the Crown colony of Kenya, while a coastal strip leased from the sultan of Zanzibar remains a protectorate.
British East Africa and the Settler Colony
Sources: History of Kenya (Wikipedia) · U.S. Relations With Kenya / History (U.S. Department of State, Office of the Historian)
- MLIColonisation
Mali · early 20th century
Colony of French Soudan
The conquered upper Niger is administered as French Soudan within French West Africa, its economy reoriented toward the colonial metropole.
French Soudan and Independence
Sources: Modibo Keita — 1st President of Mali (Encyclopædia Britannica) · Mali Federation (Wikipedia)
- NAMColonisation
League of Nations mandate
The League of Nations granted South Africa a mandate to administer the territory as a trust for its inhabitants; South Africa instead governed it as a near-province, settling white farmers and suppressing African political life.
South African rule, the mandate, and apartheid
Sources: Namibia (country, history and government) (Encyclopaedia Britannica) · Namibia (Wikipedia)
- SOMWar & Rupture
RAF bombing ends the Dervish state
Britain uses the Royal Air Force to bomb the Dervish forts, including Taleh; the movement collapses and Sayyid Mohammed Abdullah Hassan dies of illness later that year.
Colonial Partition and the Dervish Resistance
Sources: Dervish movement (Somali) (Wikipedia) · Fifth Expedition (Somaliland), 1920 (Wikipedia)
Asia
- ARMPolitics & Power
Armenia · 2 December 1920
Sovietisation of Armenia
Squeezed between Turkish nationalist forces and the advancing Red Army, the First Republic fell and Armenia was Sovietised, ending its short-lived independence.
Empires, the Genocide and the First Republic
Sources: Armenia — Caucasus, Soviet Union, Genocide (Modern Armenia) (Encyclopædia Britannica)
- AZEPolitics & Power
Azerbaijan SSR established
Following the Red Army's entry into Baku, the Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic was formed, becoming a full union republic of the USSR from 1936.
The Azerbaijan SSR
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)
- AZEWar & Rupture
Azerbaijan · April 1920
Soviet annexation
The Red Army entered Baku in April 1920 against little resistance, ending the democratic republic and bringing Azerbaijan under Soviet rule.
The Baku oil boom and the 1918 republic
Sources: Azerbaijan: Russian suzerainty and the road to independence (Encyclopædia Britannica)
- IRQColonisation
British mandate and the Iraqi revolt
After capturing Baghdad in 1917, Britain is granted a League of Nations mandate over Iraq; a widespread anti-British revolt in 1920 pushes Britain toward installing an Arab monarchy.
Ottoman Rule, the British Mandate and the Kingdom
Sources: Iraq — British occupation and the mandatory regime (Encyclopædia Britannica)
- LBNColonisation
Lebanon · 1 September 1920
Creation of Greater Lebanon
French High Commissioner Henri Gouraud proclaims the State of Greater Lebanon, enlarging the old province with the coastal cities and the Bekaa under a French mandate.
1860, the Mutasarrifate and the French Mandate
Sources: History of Lebanon (Encyclopaedia Britannica) · Lebanon (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
- SYRColonisation
Syria · 1920 CE
Arab Kingdom of Syria and the French Mandate
An independent Arab Kingdom of Syria under Faisal is proclaimed in Damascus, but French forces defeat it at Maysalun in July 1920, and the League of Nations assigns Syria to France as a mandate.
The French Mandate and Independence
Sources: Syria — history (Encyclopaedia Britannica) · A Guide to the History of Recognition, Diplomatic, and Consular Relations: Syria (U.S. Department of State, Office of the Historian)
- TURPolitics & Power
Türkiye · 10 August 1920
Treaty of Sèvres
The Allied treaty with the defeated Ottoman government proposed partitioning Anatolia among Greece, Armenia, Italy, France and others; rejected by the nationalists, it triggered the War of Independence.
World War I, the Armenian Genocide and the War of Independence
Sources: Kemal Atatürk (Encyclopædia Britannica) · Ottoman Empire (Encyclopædia Britannica)
Europe
- DNKFormation
Denmark · 15 Jun 1920
Reunification of Northern Schleswig
Northern Schleswig came under Danish sovereignty on 15 June 1920, marked by King Christian X's ceremonial ride across the old frontier; the boundary then fixed remains the Danish-German border today.
The Schleswig Question and the Making of the Modern Border
Sources: The reunification of Denmark in 1920 (nordics.info (Aarhus University))
- DNKPolitics & Power
Denmark · 10 Feb & 14 Mar 1920
The Schleswig plebiscites
Under the Treaty of Versailles, Zone 1 (Northern Schleswig) voted about 75 per cent for Denmark and Zone 2 about 80 per cent for Germany, determining where the new border would run.
The Schleswig Question and the Making of the Modern Border
Sources: The reunification of Denmark in 1920 (nordics.info (Aarhus University)) · German-Danish War: War and the final settlement of the Schleswig-Holstein question (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
- ESTIndependence
Estonia · 2 Feb 1920
Treaty of Tartu
Soviet Russia recognised Estonian independence de jure and renounced 'voluntarily and forever' all sovereign rights over Estonia, ending the war and fixing the eastern border at Narva and Petseri.
Independence, the War of Independence and the First Republic
Sources: Tartu Peace, 2 February 1920 (Estonian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (vm.ee)) · Estonia marks the anniversary of the Tartu Peace Treaty (Estonian World) · Treaty of Tartu (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
- FINPolitics & Power
Aland Autonomy Act
Finland granted the Swedish-speaking Aland Islands wide-ranging cultural and political autonomy, anticipating the conditions the League of Nations would attach to its sovereignty the following year.
The Aland Islands Dispute and the Interwar Republic
Sources: The special status of the Aland Islands (Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland) · The Aland example: Autonomy protects a minority (thisisFINLAND (Finland Promotion Board))
- HUNPolitics & Power
Hungary · 4 Jun 1920
The Treaty of Trianon
Hungary lost about two-thirds of its territory and population, leaving roughly three million ethnic Hungarians outside the new borders in Romania, Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia and elsewhere; the trauma shaped Hungarian politics for a century.
Trianon and the Shrinking of Hungary
Sources: Treaty of Trianon (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
- IRLPolitics & Power
Ireland · 23 Dec 1920
Government of Ireland Act: six counties
The Act created two Home Rule parliaments and defined Northern Ireland as the six counties of Antrim, Armagh, Down, Fermanagh, Londonderry and Tyrone. In March 1920 the Ulster Unionist Council had rejected a nine-county Ulster, which the 1911 census showed to be only about 56 per cent Protestant, as bringing an anti-unionist representation strong enough to endanger a northern parliament, leaving Cavan, Donegal and Monaghan to the south.
Rising, Independence and Partition
Sources: Government of Ireland Act 1920 (as enacted) (legislation.gov.uk (The National Archives)) · Unionism divided over British plans to partition Ireland (Century Ireland, RTÉ) · Ulster's Lost Counties: A Warning from the Past? (Edward Burke) (Cambridge University Press blog) · A Political Count: Looking ahead to the 2021 Census (Laurence Cooley) (University of Birmingham)
- LVAIndependence
Latvia · 11 Aug 1920
Latvian-Soviet Treaty of Riga
Concluding the War of Independence, Soviet Russia signed the Treaty of Riga, in which it voluntarily and irrevocably renounced all sovereign rights over the Latvian people and territory, recognising Latvia's independence.
National Awakening, Independence and the First Republic
Sources: The centenary of signing the Latvia-Russia Peace Treaty to be marked in Riga (Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Latvia) · Latvia: History (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
- LTUWar & Rupture
Lithuania · Oct 1920
Zeligowski's Mutiny and the seizure of Vilnius
Polish forces under General Zeligowski, secretly directed by Pilsudski, seized Vilnius and its region; a 'Republic of Central Lithuania' was created and annexed by Poland in 1922.
Independence and the Interwar Territorial Disputes
Sources: Vilnius dispute (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
- MDAPolitics & Power
Moldova · 28 Oct 1920
International recognition of the union
A treaty signed in Paris by Romania, Britain, France, Italy and Japan recognized the union of Bessarabia with Romania, though the Soviet Union never accepted it.
Union with Romania and the Soviet Creation of a Moldavian Republic
Sources: Union of 27 March 1918: the National Archive Agency provides access to the Sfatul Tarii collection (Moldpres (Moldova State News Agency)) · Moldova: History (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
- NORPolitics & Power
Norway · 9 Feb 1920
The Svalbard (Spitsbergen) Treaty
Signed in Paris, the treaty recognised Norwegian sovereignty over Svalbard while granting all signatories equal rights to economic activity and barring warlike use; Norway took over administration in 1925.
Independence, Polar Sovereignty and the Second World War
Sources: The Svalbard Treaty (Stortinget (Parliament of Norway)) · Svalbard (Store norske leksikon)
- POLWar & Rupture
Poland · Aug 1920
Battle of Warsaw
Polish forces under Pilsudski halted the advance of the Soviet Red Army outside Warsaw, securing the independence of the young republic in the Polish-Soviet War.
The Second Republic, the Second World War and the Nazi-Soviet Catastrophe
Sources: Jozef Pilsudski (Encyclopaedia Britannica) · Partitions of Poland (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
- ROUPolitics & Power
Romania · 4 Jun 1920
Treaty of Trianon
The Treaty of Trianon formally transferred Transylvania and part of the Banat from Hungary to Romania, stripping Hungary of about two-thirds of its territory and leaving a lasting dispute.
Greater Romania: the Great War and the union of Transylvania
Sources: Treaty of Trianon (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
- SVNPolitics & Power
Slovenia · 10 Oct 1920
The Carinthian Plebiscite
In the disputed southern Carinthian basin, a majority of about 59 per cent voted to remain with Austria rather than join Yugoslavia, leaving a Slovene minority on the Austrian side of the border.
Into Yugoslavia: War, Partition and Contested Borders
Sources: Carinthian Plebiscite, 1920 (Encyclopedia (MDPI)) · Slovenia since 1918 (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
- SVNPolitics & Power
Treaty of Rapallo and the Italian border
Under the Treaty of Rapallo, Italy gained the Slovene Littoral, the Karst and parts of Inner Carniola, subjecting a large Slovene population to Italian and later Fascist rule.
Into Yugoslavia: War, Partition and Contested Borders
Sources: Slovenia since 1918 (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
- CHEPolitics & Power
Joining the League of Nations
Switzerland joined the new League of Nations, headquartered in Geneva, on terms that its permanent neutrality would be respected, confirming Geneva's role as a centre of international diplomacy.
Neutral Switzerland: World Wars, Sovereignty and the Modern Confederation
Sources: The History of Switzerland (Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (aboutswitzerland.eda.admin.ch)) · Neutrality (Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (aboutswitzerland.eda.admin.ch))
North America
- BHSEconomy & Trade
Bahamas · 1920–1933
Prohibition-era rum-running
American Prohibition turned the Bahamas into a base for smuggling liquor across the Gulf Stream, enriching the colony until repeal in 1933 ended the trade.
Wrecking, blockade-running and rum
Sources: The Bahamas — British colonization (History) (Encyclopaedia Britannica) · Bahamas: Local History and Genealogy — Research Guide (Library of Congress)
17 records
Africa
- COGEconomy & Trade
Congo · 1921–1934
Building the Congo-Ocean Railway
The Congo-Ocean Railway was built from 1921 to 1934 by the Société de Construction des Batignolles to link Brazzaville to Pointe-Noire; forced labourers conscripted across French Equatorial Africa died in the thousands, an estimate commonly placed above 17,000.
French Equatorial Africa, forced labour, and the Congo-Ocean Railway
Sources: Congo–Ocean Railway (Wikipedia) · Deadly railroad project in Congo reveals colonial-era abuses (Stanford Report) · Forced Labour and the System of Overburdening in the Interwar Middle Congo, 1918–1948 (International Review of Social History (Cambridge University Press))
- SWZPolitics & Power
Sobhuza II becomes Ngwenyama
Sobhuza II assumes the kingship and makes the recovery of Swazi land lost in the concessions a defining cause of his long reign.
British Territory and the Road to Independence
Sources: Sobhuza II (Encyclopaedia Britannica) · History of Eswatini (Wikipedia)
- KENPolitics & Power
Harry Thuku founds early protest
Harry Thuku establishes the Young Kikuyu Association, one of the first organised African political movements against colonial land and labour policies.
British East Africa and the Settler Colony
Sources: History of Kenya (Wikipedia)
- MARWar & Rupture
Asia
- GEOWar & Rupture
Georgia · Feb–Mar 1921
Red Army conquest
The Soviet Red Army invaded, took Tbilisi after heavy fighting and proclaimed the Georgian SSR on 25 February 1921, incorporating Georgia into the Soviet Union.
Republic, Soviet Conquest and the Georgian SSR
Sources: Georgia: Independent Georgia (Encyclopaedia Britannica) · History of Georgia (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
- IRQPolitics & Power
Iraq · 23 August 1921
Faisal I crowned king of Iraq
Britain installs the Hashemite prince Faisal I, a leader of the wartime Arab Revolt, as king of the new Iraqi state, creating a monarchy and parliament under British supervision.
Ottoman Rule, the British Mandate and the Kingdom
Sources: Faisal I — king of Iraq (Encyclopædia Britannica) · Iraq — British occupation and the mandatory regime (Encyclopædia Britannica)
- JORFormation
Jordan · 11 April 1921
Abdullah founds the Emirate of Transjordan
After the Cairo Conference, Abdullah ibn Hussein formed a government east of the Jordan under British mandate, establishing Hashemite rule and the Emirate of Transjordan.
The Arab Revolt, the Emirate of Transjordan and Independence
Sources: Abdullah I: Biography, History, and Assassination (Encyclopaedia Britannica) · Jordan: Transjordan, the Hashemite Kingdom, and the Palestine war (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
- MNGIndependence
People's Revolution captures the capital
Damdin Sükhbaatar's People's Army, with the Soviet Red Army, drives out the White Russian forces of Baron Ungern-Sternberg and takes Niislel Khüree in July 1921, installing a people's government.
Independence, Revolution, and the People's Republic
Sources: Damdiny Sühbaatar (Encyclopaedia Britannica) · Mongolia: Independence and revolution (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
Europe
- BLRWar & Rupture
Belarus · 18 Mar 1921
Treaty of Riga partitions Belarus
The treaty ending the Polish-Soviet War divided Belarus between Poland and Soviet Russia along the line of the first partition; western Belarus went to Poland and the east became the Byelorussian SSR.
People's Republic, Soviet Republic and Terror
Sources: Belarus: The emergence of the Belorussian S.S.R. (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
- FINPolitics & Power
Finland · Oct 1921
Convention on the demilitarisation of Aland
An international convention confirmed the demilitarisation of Aland dating from the 1856 Treaty of Paris and added its neutralisation, keeping the islands outside any theatre of war.
The Aland Islands Dispute and the Interwar Republic
Sources: The Legal Basis of Aland's Demilitarization and Neutralization (nordics.info (Aarhus University)) · The special status of the Aland Islands (Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland)
- FINPolitics & Power
Finland · 24 Jun 1921
League of Nations awards Aland to Finland
The Council of the League of Nations awarded sovereignty over the Aland Islands to Finland, while obliging it to guarantee the islanders' Swedish language, culture and self-government, a landmark of peaceful conflict resolution.
The Aland Islands Dispute and the Interwar Republic
Sources: The special status of the Aland Islands (Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland) · The Aland example: Autonomy protects a minority (thisisFINLAND (Finland Promotion Board)) · The Aland Islands Solution: a precedent for successful international disputes settlement (United Nations Office of Legal Affairs)
- IRLIndependence
Ireland · 6 Dec 1921
Anglo-Irish Treaty
The Treaty signed in London created the Irish Free State as a dominion within the British Empire; under its Article 12 Northern Ireland, already established by the Government of Ireland Act 1920, could opt out within a month, and a Boundary Commission would then determine the border.
Rising, Independence and Partition
Sources: Irish History Timeline – From 1916 to Today (GPO Witness History Museum, Dublin) · Final text of the Articles of Agreement for a Treaty, 6 December 1921 (Documents on Irish Foreign Policy, Royal Irish Academy)
- LIEPolitics & Power
Liberal constitution of 1921
Following the First World War, Liechtenstein adopted a new constitution that combined the prince with an elected Landtag and instruments of direct democracy, modernising the state as it reoriented toward Switzerland.
The Turn to Switzerland, Neutrality and the Beneš Decrees
Sources: The History of the Princely House of Liechtenstein (Fürstenhaus von Liechtenstein (official Princely House)) · Liechtenstein: History (Alpine, Principality, Sovereignty) (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
- SWEPolitics & Power
Sweden · 1918–1921
Universal suffrage and democracy
Sweden completed its democratic transformation, introducing universal and equal suffrage for men and women, as the Riksdag rather than the crown became the centre of political power.
Neutrality, the People's Home and the Road to NATO
Sources: Decisions that have changed Sweden 1523–2023 (Sveriges Riksdag (Swedish Parliament)) · Sweden: The welfare state (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
- UKRWar & Rupture
Defeat and Soviet incorporation
After years of war between Bolshevik, Polish, White and Ukrainian forces, the People's Republic was defeated; most Ukrainian lands were incorporated into the Soviet state, while Galicia passed to Poland.
National Awakening and the Ukrainian People's Republic
Sources: Ukraine: World War I and the struggle for independence (Encyclopaedia Britannica) · History of Ukraine (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
- GBRFormation
United Kingdom · 22 June 1921
Northern Ireland's Parliament opens
Under the Government of Ireland Act 1920, which defined Northern Ireland as the six counties of Antrim, Armagh, Down, Fermanagh, Londonderry and Tyrone, George V opened the Parliament of Northern Ireland in Belfast City Hall; unionists had won 40 of its 52 seats.
World wars, decolonisation, and the modern UK
Sources: Government of Ireland Act 1920 (as enacted) (legislation.gov.uk (The National Archives)) · 'Who is for the Empire and who is for the Republic?': the 1921 elections to the Northern Ireland parliament (History Ireland)
Oceania
- PNGPolitics & Power
League of Nations mandate over New Guinea
Australia received a Class C League of Nations mandate to administer the former German territory as the Territory of New Guinea, governed from Rabaul and kept separate from Papua.
Australian rule and the highland 'first contact'
Sources: Papua New Guinea — The colonial period (Encyclopædia Britannica) · Class C mandate (Encyclopædia Britannica)
13 records
Africa
- BDIColonisation
League of Nations mandate of Ruanda-Urundi
Belgium receives Ruanda-Urundi as a mandate; rule through Tutsi-favouring indigenous hierarchies deepens ethnic stratification. The mandate became a UN Trust Territory in 1946.
Ruanda-Urundi: German and Belgian Rule
Sources: Ruanda-Urundi (Wikipedia) · Burundi: History (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
- EGYIndependence
Egypt · 28 February 1922
Declaration of Egyptian independence
After the 1919 revolution led by Saad Zaghloul and the Wafd, Britain unilaterally declares Egypt independent; Fuad I becomes king of the new Kingdom of Egypt.
Ottoman Rule, Muhammad Ali and British Occupation
Sources: Egyptian revolution of 1919 (Wikipedia)
- NERColonisation
Niger becomes a French colony
After the desert Tuareg were finally subdued in the early 1920s, Niger was constituted as a colony within French West Africa, administered through the federation's governor-general in Dakar.
Conquest, the Voulet-Chanoine column and colonial Niger
Sources: History of Niger (Wikipedia) · Niger (country) (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
- SDSColonisation
Closed District ordinances
Colonial 'closed district' rules restrict travel and trade between north and south, isolating the southern provinces and curbing northern and Arabic influence.
The Condominium and the Southern Policy
Sources: British policy in Anglo-Egyptian Sudan and the north–south divide (Africa at LSE, London School of Economics) · History of South Sudan (Wikipedia)
- TGOColonisation
Togo · 1919–1922
Partition into British and French mandates
Togoland was divided between Britain and France and formalised by the League of Nations as two mandates — British Togoland in the west and French Togoland in the east — splitting the Ewe and other peoples.
Conquest, partition and the mandates
Sources: Togoland (Wikipedia) · British Togoland (Wikipedia) · Togo (country overview and history) (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
Asia
- PSEColonisation
Palestine · 1920-1923
British Mandate for Palestine
The League of Nations entrusted Britain with governing Palestine; the Mandate incorporated the Balfour Declaration's commitment to a Jewish national home.
The British Mandate and the Nakba
Sources: Origins and Evolution of the Palestine Problem, Part I (1917-1947) (United Nations) · Palestine - region, history (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
Europe
- GRCWar & Rupture
Greece · 1919–1922
Asia Minor Catastrophe
The Greco-Turkish War ended in the rout of Greek forces and the destruction of Smyrna in 1922; the 1923 Treaty of Lausanne mandated a population exchange that brought over a million refugees into Greece.
The Modern Greek State
Sources: Greece (country overview and history) (Encyclopaedia Britannica) · 1919–1922 Greco-Turkish War (Asia Minor Catastrophe) (GlobalSecurity.org)
- IRLWar & Rupture
Ireland · 1922–1923
Civil War over the Treaty
The Treaty split the movement: pro-Treaty forces under Michael Collins fought anti-Treaty republicans under Éamon de Valera in a civil war that the Free State won at heavy cost.
Rising, Independence and Partition
Sources: Irish History Timeline – From 1916 to Today (GPO Witness History Museum, Dublin)
- IRLIndependence
Ireland · 6–7 Dec 1922
The Free State is born; Northern Ireland opts out
The Irish Free State formally came into being on 6 December 1922; the following afternoon the Parliament of Northern Ireland decided to exercise its right under the Treaty to remain outside it.
Rising, Independence and Partition
Sources: 'An end and a beginning': birth of the Irish Free State (RTÉ History) · 7 December 1922: Ulster opts out of the Irish Free State (Century Ireland, RTÉ) · Final text of the Articles of Agreement for a Treaty, 6 December 1921 (Documents on Irish Foreign Policy, Royal Irish Academy)
- ITAPolitics & Power
Italy · October 1922
March on Rome and Mussolini's rise to power
After the Fascist March on Rome, King Victor Emmanuel III appointed Mussolini prime minister, beginning the transition to a Fascist dictatorship.
Liberal Italy, Fascism, War and the Republic
Sources: March on Rome (Encyclopaedia Britannica) · Italy (Fascism, racial laws and the Second World War) (United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, Holocaust Encyclopedia)
- LVAPolitics & Power
Adoption of the Satversme
Latvia adopted its democratic constitution, the Satversme, in 1922, establishing the institutions of the parliamentary first republic.
National Awakening, Independence and the First Republic
Sources: History of Latvia (Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Latvia)
- RUSFormation
Russia · 30 December 1922
Founding of the Soviet Union
The Russian, Ukrainian, Belarusian, and Transcaucasian Soviet republics formally unite to create the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, a federal one-party communist state with its capital at Moscow.
Revolution and the Fall of the Romanovs
Sources: Soviet Union (Encyclopaedia Britannica) · Russia (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
South America
- VENEconomy & Trade
Venezuela · 1922 CE
Oil gusher at Lake Maracaibo
A massive blowout at La Rosa on Lake Maracaibo reveals vast reserves; foreign companies pour in and by 1929 Venezuela is a leading oil exporter.
Caudillos, the Federal War and the Rise of Oil
Sources: Venezuela: The Rise and Fall of a Petrostate (Council on Foreign Relations) · Venezuela: A Country Study (U.S. Library of Congress, Federal Research Division)
9 records
Africa
- LBYWar & Rupture
Libya · 1920s–1932
Pacification of Libya
Italian forces wage a war of 'pacification', crushing resistance and deporting Cyrenaica's population into concentration camps where tens of thousands die.
Italian Colonisation and the Resistance
Sources: Italian concentration camps in Libya (Wikipedia) · Italian colonization of Libya (Wikipedia)
- ZWEPolitics & Power
Zimbabwe · 1 October 1923
Southern Rhodesia becomes a self-governing colony
After a settler referendum, Company rule ended and Southern Rhodesia became a self-governing British colony, with land and political power reserved for the white minority.
The Ndebele kingdom and British conquest
Sources: Zimbabwe: History (Encyclopaedia Britannica) · History of Zimbabwe (Wikipedia)
Asia
- AZEPolitics & Power
Nagorno-Karabakh autonomous oblast created
The Armenian-majority mountainous region of Nagorno-Karabakh was constituted as an autonomous oblast within Soviet Azerbaijan, freezing a contested status that would later erupt.
The Azerbaijan SSR
Sources: Nagorno-Karabakh: conflicts, map and people (Encyclopædia Britannica) · Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia: Country Studies (ed. Glenn E. Curtis) (Library of Congress, Federal Research Division)
- TURPolitics & Power
Türkiye · 24 July 1923
Lausanne draws the Aegean: Articles 12 to 16
The treaty confirmed Greek sovereignty over Lemnos, Samothrace, Mytilene, Chios, Samos and Nikaria (with restrictions on fortification), kept Imbros and Tenedos Turkish, renounced the Dodecanese and Castellorizzo to Italy, and placed islands within three miles of the Anatolian coast under Turkish sovereignty.
World War I, the Armenian Genocide and the War of Independence
Sources: Treaty of Lausanne, Part I Political Clauses (Arts. 6, 12-16) (BYU WWI Document Archive) · The Outstanding Aegean Issues; Background Note on Aegean Dispute (Turkish position) (Republic of Türkiye Ministry of Foreign Affairs)
- TURIndependence
Türkiye · 24 July 1923
Treaty of Lausanne
Replacing the Treaty of Sèvres, the Lausanne treaty secured international recognition of Turkey's sovereignty and borders, the legal foundation of the modern state.
World War I, the Armenian Genocide and the War of Independence
Sources: Kemal Atatürk (Encyclopædia Britannica) · Ottoman Empire (Encyclopædia Britannica)
Europe
- GRCPeoples & Migration
Greece · 30 January 1923
The Convention on the Exchange of Greek and Turkish Populations
Signed at Lausanne: a compulsory exchange from 1 May 1923 of Greek Orthodox Turkish nationals and Muslim Greek nationals, exempting Istanbul, Western Thrace, Imbros and Tenedos. About 1.2 million Orthodox had left Anatolia and Eastern Thrace in total, most before the convention took effect; about 355,000 Muslims left Greece.
The Modern Greek State
Sources: Immigration and Asylum: from 1900 to the Present (exchange figures, citing Ladas 1932 and Eddy 1931) (ABC-CLIO) · Treaty of Lausanne, Part I Political Clauses (Arts. 6, 12-16) (BYU WWI Document Archive)
- LIEEconomy & Trade
Liechtenstein · 1923–1924
Customs union with Switzerland and the Swiss franc
A customs treaty signed in 1923 and in force from 1 January 1924 joined Liechtenstein and Switzerland into a single customs and economic area; Liechtenstein adopted the Swiss franc, binding its economy to its western neighbour.
The Turn to Switzerland, Neutrality and the Beneš Decrees
Sources: Advantages of the customs and monetary union with Switzerland (Liechtenstein Finance) · History of Liechtenstein (Embassy of the Principality of Liechtenstein, Washington D.C.) · Liechtenstein: History (Alpine, Principality, Sovereignty) (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
- LTUWar & Rupture
Lithuania · Jan 1923
The Klaipeda Revolt
Lithuania staged a revolt that seized the Allied-administered Klaipeda (Memel) Territory; the powers accepted the outcome and recognised Lithuanian sovereignty over the port and its region.
Independence and the Interwar Territorial Disputes
Sources: Memel dispute (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
- SMRPolitics & Power
Fascist seizure of power
Amid postwar economic distress the Sammarinese Fascist Party took control in 1923 and dissolved the Grand and General Council, ruling the republic for two decades in step with Mussolini's Italy.
The Arengo, Fascism and the World Wars
Sources: World wars and fascism in San Marino, 1922-1945 (SanMarinoSite) · Anniversary of the Fall of Fascism and Freedom Day (Office Holidays)
9 records
Africa
- ZMBColonisation
Zambia · 1 April 1924
Northern Rhodesia becomes a Crown protectorate
Administration passed from the British South Africa Company to the Colonial Office, making Northern Rhodesia a British protectorate; the capital later moved to Lusaka in 1935.
Company rule, Northern Rhodesia and the Copperbelt
Sources: Northern Rhodesia (Wikipedia) · History of Zambia (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
Asia
- KGZPolitics & Power
Kara-Kyrgyz Autonomous Oblast created
In the Soviet national-territorial delimitation of Central Asia, the Kyrgyz lands were organized as the Kara-Kyrgyz Autonomous Oblast within the Russian SFSR, giving the Kyrgyz their own named territory for the first time.
Soviet Kirghizia
Sources: Kyrgyzstan: A Country Study (in Kazakstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan: Country Studies) (U.S. Library of Congress, Federal Research Division) · Kyrgyzstan: History (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
- MNGFormation
Mongolian People's Republic proclaimed
After the death of the Bogd Khan in May 1924, the monarchy lapses and the Mongolian People's Republic is proclaimed in November, the world's second socialist state and a satellite of the Soviet Union.
Independence, Revolution, and the People's Republic
Sources: Mongolia: Independence and revolution (Encyclopaedia Britannica) · Bogd Gegeen Khan (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
- TJKPolitics & Power
Tajikistan · 1924 CE
Creation of the Tajik ASSR
In the Soviet national delimitation of Central Asia, a Tajik Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic is established within the Uzbek SSR, with Dushanbe as its capital.
Russian Conquest and the Soviet Republic
Sources: Kazakstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan: Country Studies (Federal Research Division, Library of Congress) · History of Tajikistan (Encyclopædia Britannica)
- TURReligion
Türkiye · 3 March 1924
Abolition of the caliphate
The Grand National Assembly abolished the Ottoman caliphate and separated religion from the state, a cornerstone of Atatürk's secular reforms; a new constitution followed in April 1924.
The Republic and Modern Türkiye
Sources: Kemal Atatürk (Encyclopædia Britannica)
- TKMPolitics & Power
Creation of the Turkmen SSR
In the Soviet national delimitation of Central Asia, the Transcaspian and Turkmen lands were combined to form the Turkmen Soviet Socialist Republic, with Ashgabat as its capital.
Soviet Turkmenistan
Sources: Turkmenistan: A Country Study (in 'Kazakstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan: Country Studies') (Library of Congress, Federal Research Division) · Turkmenistan (Encyclopædia Britannica)
- UZBPolitics & Power
Uzbekistan · 1924–1925 CE
Creation of the Uzbek SSR
The Soviet national delimitation of 1924 carves Central Asia into ethnic republics; the Uzbek Soviet Socialist Republic is created and becomes a union republic of the USSR in 1925.
Russian Conquest and Soviet Rule
Sources: Uzbekistan — Russian and Soviet rule (Encyclopaedia Britannica) · Uzbekistan — The Russian Conquest (Country Studies) (U.S. Library of Congress Country Studies)
Europe
- MDAPolitics & Power
Creation of the Moldavian ASSR
Refusing to recognize the loss of Bessarabia, the Soviet Union established the Moldavian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic on the east bank of the Dniester within Soviet Ukraine, as a standing claim to the territory across the river.
Union with Romania and the Soviet Creation of a Moldavian Republic
Sources: Moldova: History (Encyclopaedia Britannica) · Moldavia (historical principality) (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
South America
- PERPolitics & Power
Peru · 1924 CE
Founding of the Aprista movement
Victor Raul Haya de la Torre founds the American Popular Revolutionary Alliance (APRA), a mass movement for social reform that shapes Peruvian politics for decades.
The Young Republic and the War of the Pacific
Sources: Peru: History (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
5 records
Asia
- CYPColonisation
Cyprus made a Crown Colony
Cyprus was formally declared a British Crown Colony, consolidating colonial administration over the island.
British Rule, the Demand for Énosis and the EOKA Campaign
Sources: Cyprus: Ottoman rule (Encyclopaedia Britannica) · Cyprus profile – Timeline (BBC News)
- IRNPolitics & Power
Iran · 1925 CE
Reza Khan founds the Pahlavi dynasty
Having seized power in a 1921 coup, Reza Khan deposes the last Qajar shah and is crowned Reza Shah Pahlavi, launching an authoritarian drive to modernise and centralise Iran.
The Qajars, Constitutional Revolution and the Pahlavi Shahs
Sources: Pahlavi dynasty (Wikipedia) · Iran — history (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
- SAUWar & Rupture
Conquest of the Hejaz and the holy cities
Abdulaziz's forces took Mecca and Medina, ending Hashemite rule in the Hejaz and bringing the holy cities under Saudi control.
Unification and the Founding of the Kingdom (1902-1932)
Sources: Unification of Saudi Arabia (Wikipedia) · Saudi Arabia: The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
Europe
- ALBPolitics & Power
Albania · 1925-1928
The rise of Zog
Ahmed Zogu consolidated power, becoming president in 1925 and in 1928 proclaiming himself King Zog I, ruling an authoritarian monarchy increasingly dependent on Fascist Italy.
Independence, the Conference of London and the Albanian Question
Sources: History of Albania (Encyclopaedia Britannica) · Albania (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
- IRLPolitics & Power
Ireland · 3 Dec 1925
Boundary Commission report suppressed
After the Morning Post revealed in November 1925 that the Treaty's Boundary Commission would propose only a minor two-way transfer of territory, the British, Free State and Northern Ireland governments agreed to revoke Article 12 and confirm the existing border; the report was suppressed and published only in 1969.
Rising, Independence and Partition
Sources: The Boundary Commission debacle 1925: aftermath and implications (History Ireland)
6 records
Africa
- GNQColonisation
Bioko and Río Muni united as Spanish Guinea
From 1926 Spain governed Fernando Pó and the mainland enclave of Río Muni together as the colony of Spanish Guinea, its economy resting on the cocoa plantations of the island.
Spanish Guinea and the road to independence
Sources: Spanish Guinea (Wikipedia) · History of Equatorial Guinea (Wikipedia)
- LBREconomy & Trade
The Firestone rubber concession
The government granted the Firestone Tire and Rubber Company a 99-year concession to lease up to a million acres, creating one of the world's largest rubber plantations and binding Liberia's economy to a single foreign company.
The republic and the True Whig order
Sources: Liberia — History (Colonialism, Civil War, Reconstruction) (Encyclopaedia Britannica) · The Liberian Civil War (1989–2003) and Firestone (Business & Human Rights Resource Centre)
- MOZPolitics & Power
Estado Novo and tightened control
The authoritarian Estado Novo regime takes shape in Portugal, hardening colonial policy and entrenching forced labour and compulsory cultivation in Mozambique.
Chartered Companies and Forced Labour
Sources: Mozambique (Encyclopaedia Britannica) · Chibalo (Wikipedia)
Asia
- BTNPolitics & Power
Accession of the second king
On Ugyen Wangchuck's death the crown passes peacefully to his son Jigme Wangchuck, confirming the stability of the new hereditary monarchy.
Founding of the Wangchuck Monarchy
Sources: Nepal and Bhutan: Country Studies (Federal Research Division, Library of Congress) · Bhutan — History (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
- LBNPolitics & Power
The Lebanese Republic and constitution
Greater Lebanon is reorganised as the Lebanese Republic with a written constitution, though France retains ultimate authority under the mandate.
1860, the Mutasarrifate and the French Mandate
Sources: History of Lebanon (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
Oceania
- PNGEconomy & Trade
Papua New Guinea · 1920s
The Bulolo gold rush
A major find along the Bulolo river draws a second rush, pulling outsiders and aircraft into country that had barely been mapped.
Australian rule and the highland 'first contact'
Sources: Papua New Guinea country profile (BBC News)
4 records
Asia
- IDNPolitics & Power
Sukarno founds the Indonesian National Party
Sukarno establishes the PNI, demanding full independence and giving the nationalist movement a charismatic mass leader.
The Dutch East Indies and the National Awakening
Sources: Indonesia (toward independence; Japanese occupation; after Suharto) (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
- SAUIndependence
Saudi Arabia · 20 May 1927
The Treaty of Jeddah
Britain formally recognized the independence and sovereignty of Ibn Saud's Kingdom of the Hejaz and Nejd, securing its international standing.
Unification and the Founding of the Kingdom (1902-1932)
Sources: Treaty of Jeddah (United Kingdom-Saudi Arabia, 1927) (Encyclopaedia Britannica) · Treaty of Jeddah (1927) (Wikipedia)
Europe
- GBRPolitics & Power
United Kingdom · 12 April 1927
The Royal and Parliamentary Titles Act renames the state
The Act changed the style of Parliament to 'of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland' and let the Crown alter its royal style; the proclamation followed on 13 May 1927.
World wars, decolonisation, and the modern UK
Sources: Royal and Parliamentary Titles Act 1927 (legislation.gov.uk (The National Archives))
North America
- NICWar & Rupture
Nicaragua · 1927–1933
Sandino's resistance
Augusto César Sandino wages guerrilla war against the Marines and National Guard, becoming a hemispheric symbol of resistance to US intervention.
Intervention, Sandino, and the Somoza Dynasty
Sources: César Augusto Sandino (Encyclopædia Britannica)
6 records
Africa
- CAFWar & Rupture
Central African Republic · 1928–1931
Kongo-Wara rebellion
The Gbaya prophet Karinou led a mass revolt against forced labour and railway recruitment; the French killed him in December 1928 and crushed the uprising by 1931, with thousands dead.
French Equatorial Africa to Independence
Sources: Kongo-Wara rebellion (Wikipedia) · Central African Republic — History (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
- NGACulture & Ideas
Nok terracottas first recognised
Terracotta heads unearthed near the village of Nok during tin-mining drew scholarly attention, giving the ancient culture its name and revealing the antiquity of Nigerian art.
The Nok culture and Nigeria's early societies
Sources: Nok Terracottas (Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History) (The Metropolitan Museum of Art) · Nigeria (country overview and history) (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
- ZMBEconomy & Trade
Zambia · late 1920s
Copperbelt copper proven
Rich copper sulphide ores were proven beneath the Copperbelt, and large-scale mining from the 1930s built the industrial economy that came to dominate the territory.
Company rule, Northern Rhodesia and the Copperbelt
Sources: Northern Rhodesia (Wikipedia) · History of Zambia (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
Asia
- IDNPolitics & Power
Indonesia · 28 Oct 1928
The Youth Pledge (Sumpah Pemuda)
Young nationalists vow to recognise one Indonesian motherland, nation and language, a foundational moment in forging a unified national identity.
The Dutch East Indies and the National Awakening
Sources: Indonesian National Awakening (Wikipedia) · Indonesia (toward independence; Japanese occupation; after Suharto) (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
- TURCulture & Ideas
The alphabet and language reforms
Turkey replaced the Arabic script with a new Latin-based Turkish alphabet in 1928, part of reforms that sharply raised literacy and reoriented the nation toward Europe.
The Republic and Modern Türkiye
Sources: Kemal Atatürk (Encyclopædia Britannica)
Europe
- SWEPolitics & Power
The 'people's home' (folkhemmet)
Per Albin Hansson set out the vision of Sweden as a folkhemmet, a good home built on equality and mutual care, which the Social Democrats made the foundation of the modern welfare state.
Neutrality, the People's Home and the Road to NATO
Sources: Sweden: The welfare state (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
9 records
Asia
- AFGPolitics & Power
Amanullah's reforms collapse
Sweeping modernising reforms provoke tribal and religious revolt; Amanullah Khan abdicates and flees into exile in January 1929, plunging the country briefly into civil strife.
Independence, Monarchy and the Republic
Sources: Amānullāh Khan — Reformer, Monarch, Modernizer (Encyclopaedia Britannica) · Afghanistan: A Country Study (Library of Congress, Federal Research Division)
- BRNEconomy & Trade
Oil struck at Seria
The British Malayan Petroleum Company, a Shell enterprise, makes the first commercial oil discovery at Seria, launching the petroleum industry that would make Brunei rich.
Oil, the Japanese Occupation, and the Road to Self-Government
Sources: History of Brunei (Encyclopaedia Britannica) · Brunei (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
- TJKPolitics & Power
Tajikistan · December 1929
The Tajik SSR and the loss of Bukhara and Samarkand
The Tajik ASSR is detached from Uzbekistan and elevated to a full union republic, but the historic Persian-speaking cities of Bukhara and Samarkand are left within the Uzbek SSR.
Russian Conquest and the Soviet Republic
Sources: Kazakstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan: Country Studies (Federal Research Division, Library of Congress) · History of Tajikistan (Encyclopædia Britannica)
Europe
- SRBPolitics & Power
Royal dictatorship and renaming as Yugoslavia
Amid party deadlock King Alexander suspended the constitution, imposed a royal dictatorship and renamed the state the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, deepening tensions among its nations.
The Birth of Yugoslavia and the World Wars
Sources: Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
- VATFormation
Vatican City · 11 Feb 1929
Signing of the Lateran Treaty
The Holy See and Italy signed the Lateran Treaty, signed by Mussolini for Italy and Cardinal Gasparri for the papacy, recognising the Holy See's sovereignty and creating the State of Vatican City.
The Lateran Treaty and the Birth of Vatican City
Sources: Lateran Treaty (Encyclopaedia Britannica) · How the Vatican Became a Country (EWTN Vatican)
- VATPolitics & Power
The Roman Question resolved
The Lateran Treaty ended the nearly sixty-year dispute over the popes' loss of Rome, reconciling the papacy to the Italian state in return for a sovereign territory.
The Lateran Treaty and the Birth of Vatican City
Sources: Lateran Treaty (Encyclopaedia Britannica) · Roman question (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
- VATFormation
Vatican City · 7 Jun 1929
The State of Vatican City comes into being
With the exchange of ratifications on 7 June 1929 the State of Vatican City formally came into existence as an independent sovereign state of about 44 hectares.
The Lateran Treaty and the Birth of Vatican City
Sources: Lateran Treaty (Encyclopaedia Britannica) · How the Vatican Became a Country (EWTN Vatican)
North America
- HNDEconomy & Trade
Honduras · 1929 CE
United Fruit absorbs Cuyamel
Zemurray sells Cuyamel to the United Fruit Company, concentrating the Honduran banana industry as the Depression begins.
The Banana Economy and the Original Banana Republic
Sources: Banana republic (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
- USAEconomy & Trade
Great Depression
The stock market crash of 1929 triggered a decade-long economic collapse, answered by Roosevelt's New Deal programmes of relief, recovery, and reform.
Reconstruction, industrial rise, and the World Wars
Sources: Abraham Lincoln and Emancipation; U.S. History Collections (Library of Congress)