The world in
What happened in 1915?
43 events across 9 world regions, each with its sources.
Europe
U-boat campaignDuring World War I, the Imperial German Navy waged a submarine campaign against Allied trade routes, primarily in the waters around the British Isles and the Mediterranean. Germany sought to cut off Britain's overseas supplies with U-boats in response to the Royal Navy's blockade, making this a key part of the Atlantic theatre.
World War IWorld War I was a global military conflict fought from 1914 to 1918 between the Allies and the Central Powers. The war was primarily waged in Europe but extended to the Middle East, Africa, and the Asia-Pacific, causing tens of millions of casualties and witnessing the large-scale use of new weapons. The conflict directly led to the collapse of the German, Russian, Austro-Hungarian, and Ottoman empires.
- Treaty of London (1915)
On 26 April 1915 in London, Italy and the Triple Entente concluded a secret Treaty of London. In exchange for territorial compensations—including gains against Austria-Hungary, the Ottoman Empire, and in Africa—Italy was bound to enter World War I against the Central Powers. The pact was crafted as a covert diplomatic move to shift the balance of the war.
SourcesWikipedia ↗
1915 Avezzano earthquakeOn 13 January 1915, a magnitude 6.7 earthquake struck central Italy near Avezzano, with the epicenter in the city itself and a maximum Mercalli intensity of XI. Around 30,000 people died, making it the second deadliest earthquake in Italian history.
SourcesWikipedia ↗Image: John Lansing Callan / Public domain ↗
Establishment of Étaples Military CemeteryÉtaples Military Cemetery was established during the First World War, located in Étaples near Boulogne on the north-west coast of France. Managed by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, it holds over 11,500 dead from both World War I and World War II, making it one of the largest Commonwealth cemeteries in France.
SourcesWikipedia ↗Image: No machine-readable author provided. Pir6mon assumed (based on copyright claims). / CC BY-SA 3.0 ↗
Second Battle of YpresDuring the First World War, German forces launched an offensive near Ypres, Belgium, from 22 April to 25 May 1915, aiming to seize high ground east and south of the Flemish town. The battle marked the first large-scale use of poison gas, directed by chemist Fritz Haber, resulting in thousands of French and Belgian deaths. The outcome was inconclusive.
Gorlice–Tarnów OffensiveLaunched in May 1915, the Gorlice–Tarnów Offensive was a combined attack on the Eastern Front of World War I. Initially a minor operation to relieve pressure on Austro-Hungarian forces, it became the Central Powers' main offensive of the year, causing Russian lines to collapse and a deep retreat.
SourcesWikipedia ↗Image: Department of Military Art and Engineering, at the U.S. Military Academy (West Point) / Public domain ↗
Siege of PrzemyślDuring the First World War, Russian forces began the investment of the Austro-Hungarian fortress of Przemyśl on 16 September 1914. The siege was briefly lifted on 11 October due to an Austro-Hungarian offensive, then resumed on 9 November. The garrison surrendered on 22 March 1915, after a total of 133 days. It was one of the longest sieges of the war and a severe defeat for Austria-Hungary.
Battles of the IsonzoThe Battles of the Isonzo were a series of twelve engagements fought between Italy and Austria-Hungary from June 1915 to November 1917 along the Isonzo River on the Italian Front. Most battles took place in present-day Slovenia. Despite heavy casualties, the front changed little until the Twelfth Battle, a major Central Powers victory.
SourcesWikipedia ↗Image: USMA (United States Military Academy) / Public domain ↗
- Hyperinflation in the Weimar Republic
The Weimar Republic experienced hyperinflation primarily between 1921 and 1923, peaking in 1923. The German government financed World War I through borrowing and later faced reparations, leading to massive printing of money. This caused a sharp devaluation of the Papiermark, domestic political turmoil, and foreign occupation of the Ruhr. Stability was restored through new currencies like the Rentenmark, and the episode deeply shaped Germany's subsequent fiscal conservatism.
SourcesWikipedia ↗
Inauguration of SkogskyrkogårdenSkogskyrkogården was inaugurated in the early 20th century in Stockholm, Sweden. Designed by architects Gunnar Asplund and Sigurd Lewerentz, its design reflects a progression from Nordic Classicism to mature functionalism. It was later inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List.
SourcesUNESCO World Heritage listing ↗Wikipedia ↗Image: BloodIce / CC BY-SA 3.0 ↗
Establishment of Hyde Park Corner (Royal Berks) CemeteryHyde Park Corner Cemetery is a Commonwealth War Graves Commission burial ground in Ploegsteert, Belgium, containing the graves of soldiers who died on the Western Front during the First World War, specifically in the Ypres Salient.
Establishment of Berks Cemetery ExtensionBerks Cemetery Extension is a burial ground of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission in Belgium, located in the village of Ploegsteert in the Ypres Salient, for the dead of the First World War. It was established during the war on the Western Front.
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Essex Farm Cemetery establishedEssex Farm Cemetery was established within the John McCrae Memorial Site near Ypres, Belgium, as a Commonwealth War Graves Commission burial ground commemorating soldiers who died in World War I. Designed by Sir Reginald Blomfield, the cemetery covers an area of about 0.6 hectares and commemorates 1,204 dead, 104 of whom are unidentified.
SourcesWikipedia ↗Image: ➨ ❝ ЯEDVERS ❞ a reasonably good buy / CC BY 3.0 ↗
Louvencourt Military Cemetery openedThe Louvencourt Military Cemetery was opened during the First World War to bury Commonwealth soldiers who died on the Somme front, located in the village of Louvencourt, north of Amiens, France.
Hedge Row Trench Cemetery establishedA Commonwealth War Graves Commission cemetery was established during the First World War near Ypres, Belgium, on the Western Front, providing a burial ground for fallen soldiers.
Post-war establishment of Bedford House CemeteryBedford House Cemetery is a Commonwealth War Graves Commission burial ground near Zillebeke, close to Ypres, Belgium, for the dead of the First World War on the Western Front. It is maintained by the CWGC as one of many memorial sites from the conflict.
Woods Cemetery openedWoods Cemetery is a Commonwealth War Graves Commission burial ground near Ypres, Belgium, for First World War dead from the Western Front.
Establishment of First DCLI Cemetery, The BluffDuring the First World War, the First DCLI Cemetery, The Bluff, a Commonwealth War Graves Commission burial ground, was established near The Bluff south of Ypres in Belgium on the Western Front. Named after the Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry, it was used for the interment of fallen soldiers.
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Larch Wood (Railway Cutting) CemeteryLarch Wood Cemetery is a Commonwealth War Graves Commission burial ground located in the Ypres Salient, Belgium, containing graves of First World War dead.
Trottoir National CemeteryThe Trottoir National Cemetery is a French national necropolis located in Les Éparges, in the Meuse department, where soldiers of the French army killed in the surrounding area during World War I are buried.
Wettstein National CemeteryThe Wettstein National Cemetery is a French military cemetery from World War I located in Orbey, in the Haut-Rhin department of France. It serves as a burial ground for French soldiers who died in the surrounding battlefields, reflecting national remembrance of World War I casualties.
SourcesWikipedia (FR) ↗Image: Bernard Chenal / CC BY-SA 4.0 ↗
Establishment of La Ferme des Wacques National CemeteryLa Ferme des Wacques National Cemetery was established during World War I in Souain-Perthes-lès-Hurlus, Marne, France, to bury fallen soldiers, gaining significance due to its proximity to the front lines.
Battle of the Frontiers beginsThe Battle of the Frontiers began in August 1914 as a series of major engagements on the Western Front of World War I. French commander Joffre and German commander Moltke the Younger implemented Plan XVII and the Schlieffen-Moltke Plan respectively. Fighting occurred along the Franco-German border and southern Belgium. The French forces were eventually forced to retreat.
West Asia
Armenian GenocideBetween 1915 and 1917, the Ottoman Empire's Committee of Union and Progress systematically destroyed the Armenian people, primarily through death marches and forced Islamization, resulting in approximately one million deaths.
Caucasus campaignThe Caucasus campaign was a series of armed conflicts between the Ottoman and Russian Empires in the Caucasus and eastern Anatolia during World War I, part of the Middle Eastern theatre. After the Russian Revolution, other entities including Armenia, Azerbaijan, the Central Caspian Dictatorship, and the British Empire became involved, with fighting continuing until the armistice in 1918. Naval operations also took place in the Black Sea.
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Defense of Van beginsThe Defense of Van in 1915 was the armed resistance of the Armenian population in Van against Ottoman attempts to massacre them during the Armenian genocide. Contemporary observers and later historians argued that the Ottoman government deliberately provoked this resistance to justify the deportation and slaughter of Armenians empire-wide. The event is central to Armenian genocide denial narratives, used to portray the persecution as a military necessity.
SourcesWikipedia ↗Image: Unknown photographer / Public domain ↗
- Treaty of Darin signed
In 1915, the United Kingdom and Abdulaziz Al Saud, ruler of the Emirate of Nejd and Hasa, signed the Treaty of Darin, making the latter a British protectorate and defining its boundaries. Abdulaziz later founded the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in 1932.
SourcesWikipedia ↗
Battle of SarikamishPart of the Caucasus campaign of World War I, the battle between Russian and Ottoman forces took place from December 1914 to January 1915 at Sarikamish. The Russians won, inflicting a heavy defeat on the Ottoman Empire.
Siege of KutDuring World War I, Ottoman forces besieged the town of Kut, 160 km south of Baghdad, from late 1915 to April 1916. About 8,000 British Indian troops held out for months before surrendering on 29 April 1916. Survivors were marched to Aleppo, with many dying en route. It is considered one of the worst Allied defeats in the war.
SourcesWikipedia ↗Image: British Official Photographer / Public domain ↗
Sub-Saharan Africa
- Maritz Rebellion
The Maritz rebellion was an armed pro-German insurrection in South Africa in 1914, at the start of World War I, led by Boers supporting the re-establishment of the South African Republic. Many government members were themselves Boers who had fought with the rebels against the British in the Second Boer War. The rebellion was suppressed, and its surviving leaders received heavy fines and prison terms, with one executed.
SourcesWikipedia ↗
South West Africa campaign beginsIn September 1914, the South West Africa campaign, a key part of the African theatre of World War I, began. British and South African forces swiftly advanced into German South West Africa, capturing the capital Windhoek in May 1915 and securing German surrender in July. Led by South African Prime Minister Louis Botha, the campaign ended German colonial rule in the region, leading to South African administration until independence as Namibia in 1990.
SourcesWikipedia ↗Image: British Government / Public domain ↗
Outbreak of the East African Campaign in World War IIn 1914, as World War I broke out, a series of battles erupted in East Africa between the German Empire and the British, Belgian, and Portuguese Entente. The fighting began on the borders of German East Africa and later spread to Portuguese Mozambique, Northern Rhodesia, British East Africa, Uganda, and the Belgian Congo. German forces under Lieutenant-Colonel Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck waged a prolonged guerrilla campaign, surrendering only on 23 November 1918.
Kamerun campaignA First World War African theatre campaign in which British, French and Belgian forces invaded the German colony of Kamerun from August 1914 to March 1916. Most fighting occurred within Kamerun, with skirmishes in British Nigeria. By spring 1916, Allied victories forced most German troops and civil administrators to flee into neutral Spanish Guinea. The campaign ended in German defeat and the partition of its former colony between France and Britain.
SourcesWikipedia ↗Image: British Government / Public domain ↗
North America
- Mexican Revolution
A prolonged armed conflict among factions in Mexico from 1910 to 1920, aiming to end dictatorship, culminating in a constitution and a constitutional republic. It caused around one million deaths and profoundly transformed Mexican culture and government.
SourcesWikipedia ↗
Panama–Pacific International ExpositionA world's fair held in San Francisco, United States, from February 20 to December 4, 1915. Ostensibly celebrating the completion of the Panama Canal, it also showcased the city's recovery from the 1906 earthquake. The fair was constructed on a 257-hectare site along the northern shore between the Presidio and Fort Mason.
SourcesWikipedia ↗Image: Unknown author Unknown author / Public domain ↗
North Africa
Rif War beginsIn 1921, armed conflict broke out between Spain and Berber tribes of the Rif region in northern Morocco. Led by Abd el-Krim, Rifian forces used guerrilla tactics and captured Western weaponry to repeatedly defeat Spanish troops. France intervened in 1925, escalating the war, which ended with the surrender of the Rifian resistance.
SourcesWikipedia ↗Image: José Moreno Carbonero / Public domain ↗
Outbreak of the French conquest of MoroccoIn 1907, France began its conquest of the Sultanate of Morocco by occupying Oujda on 29 March. Subsequent military campaigns led to the Treaty of Fes in 1912, establishing the French protectorate, while pacification operations continued until 1934.
East Asia
Reestablishment of National Central University in TaiwanNational Central University was reestablished in Zhongli, Taoyuan City, Taiwan in 1962, prepared by alumni including Dai Yungui. Originally founded in Nanking, capital of the Republic of China, the university moved to its current campus in 1967 and is a public research university in Taiwan.
SourcesWikipedia ↗Image: Mnb at Chinese Wikipedia / CC BY-SA 3.0 ↗
Laying of the Hiroshima Prefectural Industrial Promotion HallThe Hiroshima Prefectural Industrial Promotion Hall, precursor to the Genbaku Dome, was founded in the early 20th century. The building later survived the 1945 atomic bombing and became a peace memorial.
SourcesUNESCO World Heritage listing ↗Wikipedia ↗Image: Oilstreet / CC BY 2.5 ↗
Central & South America
Banana WarsBetween 1898 and 1934, the United States carried out a series of military occupations, police actions, and interventions in Central America and the Caribbean. These operations were primarily conducted by the United States Marine Corps, which compiled the Small Wars Manual (1921) based on its experiences.
SourcesWikipedia ↗Image: A. R. Harrison, United States Marine Corps / Public domain ↗
Central Asian steppe
Signing of the Treaty of KyakhtaIn 1915, the Republic of China, the Russian Empire, and the Bogd Khanate of Mongolia signed a tripartite treaty at Kyakhta, establishing Mongolia's autonomy under Chinese suzerainty and seeking to balance Sino-Russian influence in Mongolia.
SourcesWikipedia ↗Image: Unknown author Unknown author / Public domain ↗
Oceania
Establishment of Lamington National ParkLamington National Park was established in southeastern Queensland, Australia, protecting subtropical and temperate forests on the McPherson Range. Covering over 20,000 hectares, it is renowned for ancient trees, waterfalls, walking tracks and diverse birdlife. It later became part of the UNESCO World Heritage Central Eastern Rainforest Reserves.
Around 1915
These are known only to the century, not to the year. They are listed separately so a rough date is never mistaken for an exact one.
- Completion of the Taipei Grand Mosque
- Establishment of Women's Suffrage Worldwide
- Establishment of Tubbataha Reefs Natural Park
- Construction of Grimeton Longwave Radio Station
- Construction of the Trans-Iranian Railway begins
- Construction of the 20th-Century Architecture of Frank Lloyd Wright Begins
- Construction of the Historic Monuments of Dengfeng in 'The Centre of Heaven and Earth'
- Establishment of the Ancient Building Complex in the Wudang Mountains