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Why was 1914 important in Charles Taze Russell’s teachings?

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Three Jehovah's Witnesses stand beside literature carts, holding religious magazines, at the Star Ferry Pier under a blue sign for City Hall and MTR Station in Hong Kong. — Jehovah’s Witness Adherents of the Jehovah's Witness movement distributing literature about their faith in Hong Kong, China.

In the teachings of Charles Taze Russell, the founder of the International Bible Students Association, the year 1914 was significant as the anticipated time for the end of the "Gentile times" and the beginning of a golden age.1

Russell taught that this period would be marked by the establishment of God’s kingdom on earth, which would be headed by Jesus Christ. He believed this event would follow the end of the current order of society, which he predicted would involve a war between capitalism and communism or socialism.12

While Russell had previously calculated that Christ’s "invisible return" had already occurred in 1874, he viewed 1914 as the time when Christ’s visible presence would be manifested through the establishment of his millennial kingdom. Although this kingdom did not appear as predicted, these teachings served as a foundational element of the movement's early eschatology and motivated followers to circulate his literature and continue their evangelism.12