1894

1894 was a year marked by political upheaval, economic distress, and shifts in global power as industrialization continued to reshape societies. The Panic of 1893 had lasting effects in many countries, contributing to widespread unemployment and social unrest that fed into labor movements and political reform efforts in the United States and beyond.

Major events of the year included the Pullman Strike, a nationwide railway strike in the United States that disrupted transportation and required federal intervention between May and July. In March, Coxey's Army, a protest march led by Jacob Coxey, traveled to Washington, D.C., advocating public works and monetary reform. The United States also passed the Wilson-Gorman Tariff Act on August 28, reducing tariff rates but introducing an income tax provision that would be challenged in court. In Europe, the Dreyfus affair began in December with the conviction of Captain Alfred Dreyfus for treason, a scandal that would deeply divide French society for years. In East Asia, the First Sino-Japanese War began in 1894 over influence in Korea, signaling a major shift in regional power and culminating in the 1895 Treaty of Shimonoseki.

Culturally, the year saw the birth of the American poet E. E. Cummings on October 14, 1894. The global landscape of 1894 reflected ongoing tensions between old empires and new-era nation-states, as economic hardship, military conflicts, and legal-political controversies shaped the decade ahead.

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