Roman Vishniac

Otto Von Bismarck, the Chancelor of Germany, resigns at Wilhelm III's insistence.

Franco-Russian Agreement of 1891 diplomatically aligns France and Russia.

Strikers at the Carnegie Steel Plant in Homestead, Pennsylvania kill ten Pinkerton detectives and wound many others as they protest pay cuts and demand recognition of their union. In July, the Pennsylvania militia restores order; the strike is not broken until November.

The United States recognizes the Hawaiian Republic.

Following the Panic of 1893, businessman Jacob S. Coxey proposes that the United States government issue $500 million to increase employment and the amount of money in circulation.

William McKinley is elected President.

The USS battleship Maine is blown up in the harbor of Havana, Cuba. The Spanish American War begins and forces from the United States defeat Spanish troops at Guantanamo Bay, El Caney, and San Juan Hill in Cuba.

Britain and France divide Nigeria.

A three-year rebellion against American rule begins in the Philippines.

William McKinley is reelected president.

In Britain, Edward VII becomes the King. 

Czar Nicholas II, who is later executed following the Russian Revolution, visits France.

The Reclamation Act in the United States provides funds for the irrigation of arid Western land by selling publicly owned areas.

In the United States, Theodore Roosevelt is elected president.

Britain and France sign the Entente Cordiale.

The Emperor of Germany visits Tangier, threatening the interests of France in Morocco.

The United States Army starts constructing the Panama Canal.

The French fight a war in Mauritania, Africa, in an effort to colonize the country.

American troops leave Cuba and José Gómez becomes president. For more infomation, see Library of Congress

The Dawson Agreement is signed by leaders of the Nicaraguan Revolution, with oversight by a representative from the United States.

Fighting during the Mexican Civil War occurs so close to the border that United States citizens gather to watch.

Woodrow Wilson is elected president.

World War I (1914-1918) breaks out between the Allies (Britain, France, Russia, Belgium, and Serbia) and the Central Powers (Austria -Hungary and Germany).

President Wilson tells Germany that unless they stop submarine attacks on unarmed ships, the United States will sever relations.

President Wilson signs a resolution declaring war on Germany and Austria.

The Bolsheviks seize power in the Russian Revolution.

In Germany, the Kaiser abdicates his post during the November Revolution. This revolt spreads to cities around Germany, ending when the Weimar Republic is formed in 1919.

After the first World War, the victors assembled a peace conference outside of Paris, France in January, 1919. While there were representatives from over 30 groups, the conference was dominated by the interests of the "Big Four:" France, Great Britain, United States and Italy. In support of the Balfour Declaration of 1918 by the British Foreign Secretary, Chaim Weizmann (1874-1952) led the Zionist Delegation. After the second Word War, he was a major party in the founding of Israel. 
The Treaty of Versailles also organized the League of Nations, a precursor to the United Nations founded in 1947. More isolationist factions in the United States persuaded the government to not sign the Treaty of Versailles. Instead the US signed an independent Treaty of Berlin which left out the League of Nations. See history.state.gov for more information. 

The French colonize Mauritania and Niger.

The Fordney-McCumber Act raises tariffs on certain imports in order to help farmers in the United States.

Calvin Coolidge is elected president.

Charles Dawes develops the Dawes Plan, in an effort to collect German reparations.

In an effort to avoid future wars, France, Germany, and Belgium sign treaties that reaffirm their shared borders.

Rebels in Northern Morocco are defeated by French and Spanish troops.

The Coolidge Conference is held in Geneva, Switzerland. Delegates from a number of countries discuss arms limitations.

The Kellogg-Briand Pact, an attempt to outlaw warfare, is signed by 62 countries.

The French begin building the Maginot Line. These fortifications are intended to protect France's border from invasion; however, the Line does not stop German troops when it enters the country in 1940.

In Russia, Joseph Stalin forces the collectivization of farms.

President Hoover proposes a moratorium on all World War I debts and reparations in an attempt to end the worldwide depression.

The Geneva Disarmament Conference ends in conflict over Germany's demand to have the same military rights as other countries. 

The French annex south Morocco.

Franklin Roosevelt launches The New Deal, intended to lift the country out of an economic depression.

Adolf Hitler is appointed Chancellor of Germany. The Dachau Concentration Camp is opened.

The Dachau concentration camp opens outside of Munich. 

American troops leave Haiti.

Germany renounces the Versailles Treaty's disarmament clause.

The United States Congress passes the Social Security Act, creating a pension system for the elderly, unemployed, and disabled.

George VI becomes the King of England after Edward VIII abdicates the throne. 

An uprising in Morocco is suppressed by the French.

Neville Chamberlain, the British Prime Minister, meets with Adolf Hitler to discuss his demands for Czechoslovakia.

Germany annexes Austria.

On September 1, 1939 Poland was invaded by the Nazi regime and the Soviet Union. This marked the start of World War II. 

French Indochina is invaded by Japan; Saigon comes under Japanese control.

In the Lahore Resolution, the Muslim activist Muhammad Ali Jinnah proposes the creation of a state separate from India for Muslims living in the country.

The United States enters World War II after Japan attacks Pearl Harbor.

Germany invades the Soviet Union. Japan attacks the United States naval fleet at Pearl Harbor. Germany declares war on the U.S. Germany begins mass deportations of Jews to Poland.

The Panama Canal remains open throughout World War II, with the assistance of Colombia.

British and American troops defeat the German army in North Africa.

Allied troops invade Germany and defeat German troops in the Battle of the Bulge.

The United States drops two atomic bombs on Japan, in the cities of Nagasaki and Hiroshima. 

The United Nations is founded in Luxembourg.

The American Bernard M. Baruch represents the United States at the United Nations Atomic Energy Commission and presents his suggestions for controlling atomic energy.

President Truman announces that the United States will support countries that are threatened by communism.

Harry Truman is elected president.

Mahatma Gandhi is assassinated a year after India peacefully gains its independence from Britain.

A United Nations ceasefire ends fighting between India and Pakistan over the territory of Kashmir.

The United States, in the defense of South Korea, fights against North Korea in the Korean War.

North Korea captures Seoul from the South Korean and American troops.

Dwight Eisenhower becomes president.

Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit, who had participated in the movement for Indian independence, becomes the first woman to lead the United Nations General Assembly. 

The Civil Rights Movement wins a significant achievement when the Supreme Court rules against segregation.

Rosa Parks sits at the front of a bus in Montgomery, Alabama.

Israel invades Egypt after Gamal Abdel Nasser, the newly elected president of Egypt, nationalizes the Suez Canal. 

The Berlin Declaration of 1957 reiterates the responsibility of West Germany, France, Britain and the United States to reunify Germany.