1917
The U.S. Supreme Court declares that the Louisville "block" segregation ordinance is unconstitutional.
1917
Some 10,000 blacks parade down New York's Fifth Avenue in protest against lynchings and the East St. Louis riot. Marchers include DuBois and James Weldon Johnson.
1917
Lazar Kaganovich first meets Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev at a
meeting of leather tanners in Yuzovka and soon recruits him into the Bolshevik
party. (Wolf)
1917
Stalin returns to Petrograd after the March Revolution had
overthrown the monarchy.
1917
King George of England changes the name of the British royal family from Saxe-Coburg-Gotha (1901-1917) to Windsor. Low morale and the very real possibility of Germany winning the war had fueled the rumors about the British king being descended from the German Houses of Hanover and Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, and possibly pro-German. An English writer had described him as an "uninspiring alien," and the King relied,"I may be uninspiring, but I'll be damned if I'm an alien." (Documentary)
1917
Eugenio Maria Giuseppe Giovanni Pacelli becomes Papal Nuncio in Germany. He will serve in this position until 1929.
1917
The Allies station 15,000 British and Americans at Archangel. 8,000 more Americans occupy Siberia. These forces will remain in Russia even after the close of the war and will not leave until 1919.
1917
Chaim Weizmann becomes head of the World Zionist Organization. He will hold this office from 1917 to 1931 and again from 1935 to 1946.
1917
Edward R. Stettinius, Sr., is appointed as surveyor-general of all purchases for the U.S. government.
1917 January
Leon Trotsky arrives in New York City and becomes an
editor of the Russian socialist newspaper Novy Mir (New World). He
spends only 10 weeks in America, but long enough to raise millions of dollars
for a revolution in Russia.
1917 January
The Hamburg Chamber of Commerce appeals to the Kaiser
to start unrestricted submarine warfare. Max Warburg voices his opposition even
though he knows his brothers and their associates in America will reap huge
profits (See December 1916). (Warburgs)
1917 January 8
In the Battle of Magruntein, British forces clear
the Sinai Peninsula of all organized Turkish forces. Sir Archibald Murray is
then authorized to begin a limited offensive into Palestine, where the Turks
have established defensive positions along the ridges between Gaza and
Beersheba, the two natural gateways to the region.
1917 January 22
President Wilson appears before Congress and
outlines a plan for a league of peace, an organization designed to bring about a
federation of peaceloving nations.Wilson asks for a "Peace without victory,"
a concept that is unappealing to both warring factions.
1917 January 31
Germany announces it is resuming unrestricted submarine warfare, stating that neutral ships, armed or unarmed, that sail into a German war zone will be attacked without warning On this same day, Max Warburg lunches at his club with Admiral Arndt von Holtzendorff, HAPAG's Berlin agent, and Foreign Minister Arthur Zimmerman. (Warburgs)
1917 February 3
President Woodrow Wilson breaks off all diplomatic
relations with Germany, less than a month after his inauguration for a second
term, citing Germany's renewed submarine warfare as reason enough to intervene.
That same day the the American steamship Housatonic is sunk without warning.
1917 February 22
In Mesopotamia, Sir Frederick Maude skillfully
assaults Kut, forcing the Turks back toward Baghdad.
1917 February 23
Anticipating a major Allied offensive, the Germans
begin withdrawing to a well fortified defensive zone known as the Hindenburg
line, or Siegfried zone, about 20 miles behind the winding and overextended line
from Arras to Soissons (to April 5).
1917 February 24
The Zimmerman note, written by German Foreign
Minister Arthur Zimmerman to the German Ambassador in Mexico, is turned over to
President Wilson by British intelligence, who had earlier intercepted and
decoded the message. The note indicates that if Germany and the United States
were to go to war, Germany would seek an alliance with Mexico -- offering the
Mexicans Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona in return for their efforts. The British
had held onto the note, waiting until the most propitious moment to present it
to Wilson. It now becomes one of the most important factors in leading him to
declare war on Germany. (Tuchman I)
1917 February 25
General Khabalov issues a police proclamation
forbidding all assemblies in the streets of Petrograd and warning that his
troops have been ordered to use their weapons to maintain order. Only hours
later, 300 people are killed near Nicholas Station.
1917 February 26
Wilson asks Congress for permission to arm merchant
ships. Pacifist Senator La Follette leads a filibuster against the legislation.
1917 March
British naval authorities in Halifax, Novia Scotia,
remove Trotsky and five of his companions along with millions of dollars in gold
from the Christiania Fiord.
1917 March 1
Bread riots in Russia are followed by more killings.
1917 March 4
Jeannette Rankin of Montana becomes the first woman elected to the U.S. Congress.
1917 March 8
Food shortages provoke more street demonstrations in
Petrograd (February 23, O.S.), and garrison soldiers refuse to suppress them.
Duma leaders demand that Czar Nicholas transfer power to a parliamentary
government.
