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Begin
The assassination of Archducke Franz Ferdinand and his wife in Sarajevo. Germany declares war on Russia
Great Britain declares war on Germany
Japan declares war on Germany
President Wilson proclaims American neutrality
Germany fine-tunes chemical warfare weapons Battles of Liege, Mons, Ypres, Lodz -
Aug 2 – Belgium was invaded by Germany
On 2 August 1914, the day before Germany declared war on France, the German government wrote to the Belgian government demanding the right of free passage across Belgium for its troops, so that the latter could most efficiently invade France and reach Paris. -
German submarine sank the British ship Lusitania
The “Lusitania” was sunk by a German U-boat. On May 7, the ship neared the coast of Ireland. At 2:10 in the afternoon a torpedo fired by the German submarine U 20 slammed into her side. -
The Allies stop Germans in the Battle of Verdun
At 7:12 a.m. on the morning of February 21, 1916, a shot from a German Krupp 38-centimeter long-barreled gun—one of over 1,200 such weapons set to bombard French forces along a 20-kilometer front stretching across the Meuse River—strikes a cathedral in Verdun, France, beginning the Battle of Verdun, which would stretch on for 10 months and become the longest conflict of World War I. -
April 29 – 10,000 British troops surrender to the Turks
April 29, 1916 - About 10,000 British troops surrender to Ottoman Turks at Al-Kut, Iraq, following a five-month siege during World War I. -
Feb 1 – Germany first used submarine warfare
On this day in 1917, the lethal threat of the German U-boat submarine raises its head again, as Germany returns to the policy of unrestricted submarine warfare it had previously suspended in response to pressure from the United States and other neutral countries. -
The USA declared war on Germany
On April 6, 1917, the United States declared war on Germany. Although President Woodrow Wilson had campaigned for reelection in 1916 emphasizing how he had kept the United States out of the war, he soon realized that the United States could not stand by and remain neutral in the Great War. -
Dec 9 – Jerusalem fell to the Allies
The real story is what happened after the fall of Germany and the Ottoman Empire. The armistice agreement between Germany and the Allied Powers never resulted in the defeat of Germany nor any treaty. -
US President Wilson reveals “Fourteen Points” for peace
Jan. 8, 1918), declaration by U.S. President Woodrow Wilson during World War I outlining his proposals for a postwar peace settlement. -
End
Germany signed an armistice with the Allies – the official date of the end of World War One.
