The world in
What happened in 1916?
27 events across 8 world regions, each with its sources.
Europe
Battle of VerdunFrom 21 February to 18 December 1916, the Battle of Verdun was fought on the Western Front in the Verdun region of France between French and German forces. It is regarded as the longest battle of the First World War.
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.
Battle of the SommeThe Battle of the Somme was a First World War Western Front battle fought by the British Empire and the French Republic against the German Empire from 1 July to 18 November 1916. Over three million men took part and more than one million were wounded or killed, making it one of the deadliest battles in history.
Brusilov OffensiveFrom June to September 1916, the Russian Empire launched the Brusilov Offensive on the Eastern Front of World War I, its greatest military success in the conflict. Commanded by General Aleksei Brusilov, the offensive aimed to relieve pressure on Italy and on French forces on the Western Front. Despite a breakthrough that severely hurt Austria-Hungary, it resulted in massive casualties on both sides, becoming one of the war's deadliest battles.
SourcesWikipedia ↗Image: Department of Military Art and Engineering, at the U.S. Military Academy (West Point) / Public domain ↗
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 ↗
Founding of the Peace PalaceThe Peace Palace was founded in 1913 in The Hague, Netherlands, to provide a permanent seat for the Permanent Court of Arbitration. After completion, it became a key symbol of international law, also housing the International Court of Justice, and promoting peaceful dispute resolution.
SourcesWikipedia ↗Image: International Court of Justice ; originally uploaded by Yeu Ninje at en.wikipedia . / 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 ↗
Hunter's CemeteryHunter's Cemetery is a Commonwealth War Graves Commission burial ground located within the Newfoundland Memorial Park near Beaumont-Hamel, France, containing graves of World War I dead.
Rancourt Military CemeteryRancourt Military Cemetery is a World War I military cemetery located in Bouchavesnes-Bergen, Somme, northeast of Amiens, France.
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.
Arab RevoltIn June 1916, Arabs of the Hejaz, led by Sharif Hussein bin Ali of Mecca, launched an armed revolt against the Ottoman Empire as part of the Middle Eastern theatre of World War I, aiming to create a unified Arab kingdom stretching from Aleppo to Aden.
SourcesWikipedia ↗Image: Maurice Bauche (1878–1956) / Public domain ↗
Construction of Hassan Bek Mosque beginsConstruction of the Hassan Bek Mosque began in 1916 at the northern boundary of Jaffa. Built in Ottoman style, its location between Arab neighborhoods and emerging Jewish quarters made it a symbolic landmark in the Arab-Jewish conflict.
SourcesWikipedia ↗Image: Patrick Jayne and Thomas / CC BY 2.0 ↗
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
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 ↗
Founding of the University of Fort HareThe University of Fort Hare was founded in Alice, Eastern Cape, South Africa. It is a public university.
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 ↗
- Signing of the Treaty of the Danish West Indies
In 1916, Denmark and the United States signed the Treaty of the Danish West Indies, transferring sovereignty of the Danish West Indies to the U.S. for US$25 million in gold and the U.S. relinquishing claims to Greenland. This transaction marked one of the most recent permanent territorial expansions of the United States.
SourcesWikipedia ↗
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.
Oceania
Establishment of Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National ParkHawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park was established on August 1, 1916, in the U.S. Territory of Hawaii to protect the active volcanoes Kīlauea and Mauna Loa and their unique geological and ecological landscapes. Its creation provided a vital site for volcanological research and preserved landscapes connected to Native Hawaiian culture.
SourcesUNESCO World Heritage listing ↗Wikipedia ↗Image: Jos-uit-boston at Dutch Wikipedia / CC BY-SA 3.0 ↗
Mount Field National Park establishedMount Field National Park was established in 1916 in central Tasmania, Australia. Located about 64 km northwest of Hobart, it features diverse landscapes from eucalyptus temperate rainforest to alpine moorland.
SourcesWikipedia ↗Image: JJ Harrison ( https://www.jjharrison.com.au/ ) / CC BY-SA 3.0 ↗
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
- Outbreak of the Basmachi Movement
In 1916, an uprising by Muslim peoples of Central Asia against tsarist conscription and colonial rule broke out in Turkestan, marking the beginning of the Basmachi movement. This decentralized resistance later turned against Soviet rule and became the most protracted anti-colonial armed struggle in the region, gradually subsiding only by 1934.
SourcesWikipedia ↗
Around 1916
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