February 25

On February 25, 1916, during the Battle of Verdun, German troops seize Fort Douaumont. The fort was key to the French defensive network in northeastern France. Its fall shocks French commanders and boosts German morale. Fort Douaumont changes hands again later in the battle’s long attrition. Verdun becomes a symbol of determination and human cost in WWI. The conflict’s intensity foreshadows modern trench warfare horrors.

In 1918, German forces enter Tallinn, solidifying control over Estonia. The move nearly completes the German occupation of the Baltic region. This follows the disintegration of Russian power during WWI. Local Estonian nationalists watch the occupation with wary anticipation. The event precedes Estonia’s later declaration of independence. Tallinn’s capture highlights the shifting frontiers in Eastern Europe.

After World War I, the Democratic Republic of Georgia had sought independence from Russia. In February 1921, the Red Army launched a major offensive across the Caucasus region. Following weeks of heavy fighting, Soviet forces broke through Georgian defenses and seized Tbilisi on February 25. The fall of the capital marked the end of the First Georgian Republic and the establishment of the Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic. This takeover was part of the wider Soviet campaign to consolidate control over former imperial territories. The incorporation of Georgia into the Soviet Union shaped the region’s political landscape for the next seven decades.

The Warsaw Pact, established in 1955 as a counterbalance to NATO, had bound eight European communist states to the Soviet Union. After the fall of the Berlin Wall and the collapse of communist regimes in Eastern Europe, member states sought to redefine their security arrangements. At a meeting in Budapest on February 25, 1991, representatives from all member countries agreed to disband the alliance. The dissolution reflected the dramatic geopolitical shifts of the era and the weakening of Soviet influence in the region. Former member states subsequently pursued integration with Western institutions, leading many to join NATO and the European Union. The end of the Warsaw Pact symbolized the conclusion of the bipolar Cold War order and the rise of a new European security landscape.

Baruch Goldstein, a U.S.-born physician and member of the radical Kach movement, attacked the Ibrahimi Mosque within the Cave of the Patriarchs compound on a sacred day for Muslims. His assault targeted Palestinian worshippers during morning prayers, killing 29 people and wounding more than 100 before he was overpowered by survivors. The massacre intensified Israeli-Palestinian tensions and sparked widespread condemnation, both locally and internationally. In the aftermath, some Jewish settlers celebrated Goldstein as a hero, leading to further unrest and retaliatory violence. The Israeli government subsequently outlawed extremist groups like Kach and divided the site into separate prayer areas under military protection. To this day, the attack remains one of the deadliest acts of extremist violence in the region.

Staff members of the Bangladesh Rifles, frustrated by pay disparities and leadership issues, launched a mutiny at their headquarters in Pilkhana, Dhaka. The mutineers attacked officers during a coordination meeting, killing 57 army officials and 17 civilians in a brutal siege. Government forces and negotiators engaged with the rebels throughout the day but could not immediately end the violence. By nightfall, the remaining guard battalions quelled the uprising, securing the area and rescuing survivors. The mutiny shocked the nation, leading to a major restructuring of Bangladesh's border security forces. Subsequent trials convicted hundreds of mutineers on charges of murder and sedition, reshaping civil-military relations in Bangladesh.