Year	What Was Happening ?
« 1912	At St John's	In & Around Stratford	In The Church	In The World
1913	John Merrin becomes vicar of St John's. The 'Church Institute', the old Working Men's Club building, in Romford Road purchased.			Suffragettes hold demonstrations in London. Mahatma Gandhi is arrested. Woodrow Wilson is elected president in the U. S. There are several wars in the Balkans between the Bulgarians and Turkey; then between Bulgaria, Serbia and Greece, then Russia declares war on Bulgaria, then Serbia invades Albania.
1914			The London over the Border Church Fund is inaugurated, successor to the special funds for the needs of metropolitan Essex set up from the 1860s onwards. The new diocese of Chelmsford; conterminous with the ancient county of Essex, is established with John Edwin Watts-Ditchfield as the first Bishop.	Archduke Francis Ferdinand of Austria-Hungary is assassinated, starting World War I. Germany declares war on Russia and France, and invades Belgium. Great Britain declares war on Germany. Austria declares war on Russia. Serbia declares war on Germany. France declares war on Austria, as does Britain. Austria declares war on Belgium. Russia, Britain and France declare war on Turkey. And then the hostilities begin in one of the bloodiest conflicts on the planet. Mahatma Gandhi returns to India. U.S. troops occupy Vera Cruz, Mexico.
1915				Poison gas is used in battle for the first time by the Germans in the Second Battle of Ypres. The 'Lusitania' is sunk by a German submarine moves America toward entry into the war. Italy declares war on Austria and Hungary. Organized resistance to British rule in India begins under Gandhi.
1916				Zeppelin raids are conducted on Paris. The Germans begin the Battle of Verdun. The British fleet fights the German fleet in the Battle of Jutland. Germany declares war on Portugal. Food rationing begins in Germany. Daylight-savings time ('British Summer Time') is introduced in Britain. David Lloyd George becomes Prime Minister Tanks are used in battle for the first time by the British in the Battle of the Somme in Northern France. The allies lost 600,000 soldiers between July and November, advancing only 20 miles.
1917	New, brick built, building for St Stephen Mission Church, Cedars Road, opened	The Silvertown Explosion		The Germans begin all out submarine warfare. America declares war on Germany. Germany stops the Allies in the third Battle of Ypres. Bolsheviks seize power in Russia. Russia signs an armistice with Germany. The royal family changes their name. They opt for the very British sounding 'Windsor' and abandon 'Saxe-Coburg-Gotha'. The Balfour Declaration states the British governments support for a Jewish homeland in Palestine.
1918				Russia signs the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk. Germany launches an offensive along the Somme. The 'Red Baron', Baron Manfred von Richthofen, was shot down by an RAF fighter. He dies in the crash. France begins the second battle of the Marne. British troops break the line at Amiens. The Allies begin the final offensive on the western front. Czechoslovakia is proclaimed a republic. Germany signs the armistice. Arab forces with T. E. 'Lawrence of Arabia' capture Damascus from the Turks.
1919				Treaty of Versailles is signed officially ending World War I; Germany to pay war damages. Germany adopts Weimar Constitution, adopting democratic government. Sinn Fein Party declares Ireland's independence from Britain. Fighting breaks out between Irish Nationalists and British.
1920				Separate Parliaments are created for Northern and Southern Ireland by Government of Ireland Act carried through British Parliament. The Panama Canal opens. The League of Nations is established. Prohibition arrives in America, the era of the bootlegger begins.
1921		Population of West Ham 300,860.		London's first motor cycle police went on patrol.
1922			The centuries-old Archdeaconry of Essex is divided into two, 'West Ham' and 'Southend'.	Andrew Bonar Law becomes Prime Minister. Court of International Justice holds its first meeting in the Hague, Holland. Egypt is declared independent, ending British seven-year protectorate. Mussolini marches on Rome, forms a Fascist government and becomes dictator. The U.S.S.R. is formed. Gandhi is sentenced to prison for civil disobedience. George Cadbury, chocolate maker, dies. The first woman is called to the English Bar, Dr. Ivy Williams.
1923		Reginald Brackstone Bertin becomes vicar of Christchurch.		Andrew Bonar Law resigns due to bad health, Stanley Baldwin becomes Prime Minister Mustafa Kemal establishes the Republic of Turkey. Oklahoma declares martial law to protect citizens against attacks by Ku Klux Klan. New York's first birth control clinic opens. Paavo Nurmi runs a mile in four-minutes 10.4 seconds. Lagache and Leonard win the first 24 hours Le Mans race at an average speed of 57.2 mph The electric razor is patented by Col. Jacob Schick.
1924				Eric Liddel refuses to run the heats of the 100 meter at the Paris Olympics due to their being held on a Sunday. Lenin, father of the Bolshevik Revolution of 1917, dies in Russia. Calvin Coolidge is elected president of the United States.
1925				Unemployment Insurance Act is carried in Parliament. Cyprus becomes a Crown Colony. Hindenberg is elected German president. Hitler reorganizes the Nazi Party and publishes the first volume of 'Mein Kampf.' Sun Yat-sen dies in China. R. A Millikan discovers cosmic rays in the upper atmosphere.
1926				General Strike Hirohito succeeds as Emperor of Japan. Germany is admitted to the League of Nations. The first liquid fuel rocket is fired by Robert Goddard. Gertrude Ederle, from New York, becomes the first woman to swim the English Channel. She did it in 14 hours 31 minutes, almost two hours faster than men's record holder.
1927 »	Reginald Wragge-Morley becomes vicar of St John's