Politics
Category
(420)1918
January
- 19
- Key eventDispersal of the Constituent AssemblyAt dawn on 19 January 1918 the guard broke up the Constituent Assembly; that evening Soviet power dissolved it. Russia's first free parliament met only once.
- Mostowfi ol-Mamalek prime minister of Persia againThe British chronology records on 19 January 1918 Mostowfi ol-Mamalek's return as head of Persia's government. Moshaver ol-Mamalek took foreign affairs.
February
- 11
- Suicide of KaledinOn 11 February 1918 the Don Cossack ataman Alexey Kaledin laid down his powers and shot himself in Novocherkassk. The Cossacks would not defend the Don.
- Resignation of the Kucharzewski governmentOn 11 February 1918 Jan Kucharzewski's government resigned in protest against the Treaty of Brest, which gave the Chełm Land to Ukraine.
March
- 12
- Averescu resignsOn 12 March 1918 General Averescu resigned when King Ferdinand admitted that he no longer had confidence in his government. Marghiloman arrived in Iași.
- Moscow becomes the capital of RussiaOn 10–11 March 1918 Lenin's government secretly moved from Petrograd to Moscow, announcing it on 12 March. Moscow was the capital again after 200 years.
April
May
- 09
- Lyzohub governmentIn early May 1918 Hetman Skoropadskyi entrusted the government to Fedir Lyzohub. Kadets dominated the cabinet; the Ukrainian socialists boycotted it.
- Sidónio Pais elected presidentOn 9 May 1918 Sidónio Pais was proclaimed president of Portugal, elected on 28 April in the country's first ever direct election of a head of state.
- 17
- Arrests of Sinn Féin leadersOn the night of 17/18 May 1918 police and troops in Ireland arrested the leaders of Sinn Féin, including de Valera and Griffith, over the "German Plot".
- Independence of the DonOn 17 May 1918 the Krug for the Salvation of the Don adopted the basic laws of the All-Great Don Host. A Cossack state under Ataman Krasnov arose on the Don.
- 28
- Azerbaijan declares independenceOn 28 May 1918 the Azerbaijani National Council proclaimed Azerbaijan's independence in Tiflis. Its capital, Baku, was however in Bolshevik hands.
- Armenian independenceOn 28 May 1918 the Armenian National Council in Tiflis resolved to assume power over the Armenian lands. The day counts as the birth of independent Armenia.
June
July
August
- 30
- Macready resigns as adjutant-generalIn late August 1918, after the London police strike, General Sir Nevil Macready gave up the post of Adjutant-General to become head of the Metropolitan Police.
- Key eventAssassination attempt on LeninOn 30 August 1918 Lenin was gravely wounded in Moscow; that morning Uritsky, the Petrograd Cheka chief, was killed. The Bolsheviks answered with Red Terror.
September
- 29
- Hara cabinetOn 29 September 1918 Seiyūkai leader Takashi Hara became prime minister of Japan, the first premier from outside the aristocracy, heading a party cabinet.
- Key eventLudendorff demands an armisticeOn 29 September 1918 at Spa Hindenburg and Ludendorff demanded an immediate armistice request. The Kaiser agreed to appeal to Wilson and to parliamentary rule.
October
- 03
- Abdication of FerdinandOn 3 October 1918 Tsar Ferdinand I of Bulgaria renounced the throne in favour of his son Boris III and left the country. The dynasty survived the defeat.
- Max von Baden becomes chancellorOn 3 October 1918 Prince Max von Baden became Reich chancellor. For the first time in the Empire's history Social Democrats joined the government.
- 31
- Revolution in Vienna and BudapestOn 31 October 1918 Mihály Károlyi took power in Budapest and soldiers shot István Tisza. In Vienna the first government of German Austria was formed.
- Key eventLiberation of KrakówOn 31 October 1918 Polish soldiers of the Austro-Hungarian army disarmed the Kraków garrison without a shot. The Austrian command handed power to the Poles.
November
- 07
- Bavarian republicIn the night of 7–8 November 1918 Kurt Eisner proclaimed the Free State of Bavaria in Munich and deposed the Wittelsbachs. King Ludwig III fled the city.
- Lublin governmentOn the night of 6/7 November 1918 the pro-independence left set up the Provisional People's Government of the Republic of Poland in Lublin under Daszyński.
- 10
- Kaiser Wilhelm in the NetherlandsOn 10 November 1918 Wilhelm II left Spa and crossed the Dutch border at Eijsden. The government of the neutral Netherlands granted him asylum.
- Piłsudski returns to WarsawOn the morning of 10 November 1918 Józef Piłsudski, freed from Magdeburg, arrived in Warsaw. A dozen people met him; by evening he was talking to the regents.
- 12
- Abdication of Charles IOn 11 November 1918 Charles I renounced any part in state affairs but did not abdicate. On 12 November the Republic of German-Austria was proclaimed in Vienna.
- Women in Germany get the voteOn 12 November 1918 Ebert's revolutionary government announced universal, equal and secret elections for all German men and women aged 20 and over.
- 14
- Masaryk becomes presidentOn 14 November 1918 the National Assembly in Prague deposed the Habsburgs, proclaimed a republic and elected Masaryk president. Kramář became prime minister.
- Dissolution of the Regency CouncilOn 14 November 1918 the regents dissolved the Regency Council and handed all supreme authority to Piłsudski. That day Piłsudski named Daszyński prime minister.
- Founding of the Supreme People's CouncilOn 14 November 1918 Polish leaders in Poznań came out of hiding as the Commissariat of the Supreme People's Council and called a Provincial Sejm for December.
- 28
- Abdication of Wilhelm IIOn 28 November 1918 at Amerongen Wilhelm II signed a renunciation of the crowns of Prussia and the Reich, 19 days after his abdication was announced in Berlin.
- Union of Bukovina with RomaniaOn 28 November 1918 the General Congress of Bukovina in Czernowitz voted to unite the land with Romania. Most Ukrainians boycotted the proceedings.
- Polish women get the voteOn 28 November 1918 Piłsudski signed the electoral law for the Legislative Sejm. The vote went to every citizen aged 21 and over "without distinction of sex".
December
- 01
- Key eventAssembly at Alba IuliaOn 1 December 1918 the Great National Assembly at Alba Iulia proclaimed the union of Transylvania, the Banat and the Romanian lands of Hungary with Romania.
- Key eventProclamation of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and SlovenesOn 1 December 1918 in Belgrade Regent Alexander received the Zagreb National Council's delegation and proclaimed the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes.
- Iceland becomes a kingdomOn 1 December 1918 the Danish–Icelandic Act of Union came into force. Iceland became a sovereign kingdom, linked to Denmark only through the person of the king.
- 14
- Assassination of Sidónio PaisOn 14 December 1918 at Lisbon's Rossio station the former sergeant José Júlio da Costa fatally shot the President of Portugal, Sidónio Pais.
- General election in BritainOn 14 December 1918 women voted for the first time in Britain. Lloyd George's coalition won a landslide, and Ireland backed Sinn Féin.
- Fall of the HetmanateOn 14 December 1918 Directorate troops broke into Kiev, and Hetman Pavlo Skoropadskyi renounced power and went into hiding under German protection.
- 16
- Congress of Councils in BerlinOn 16 December 1918 the first Reich congress of workers' and soldiers' councils met in Berlin. It rejected a council republic and set elections for 19 January.
- Canto e Castro becomes presidentOn 16 December 1918, two days after Sidónio Pais was killed, Congress elected Admiral João do Canto e Castro, a monarchist at heart, president of Portugal.
- 20
- The Directorate in KievOn 19 December 1918 the Directorate of the Ukrainian People's Republic made its ceremonial entry into Kiev. A service and a rally were held on Sofia Square.
- Protić prime minister of the Kingdom of SCSOn 20 December 1918 Regent Alexander formed the first government of the Kingdom of SCS under Stojan Protić. Nikola Pašić, premier since 1912, lost office.
- 26
- West Ukrainian People's RepublicAt the end of 1918 the government of the West Ukrainian People's Republic sat in Tarnopol. It was building an army and preparing union with Dnieper Ukraine.
- Paderewski in PoznańOn 26 December 1918 Ignacy Jan Paderewski arrived in Poznań. Crowds with torches greeted him, and he spoke to the Poles from a window of the Bazar hotel.