-
Archduke Franz Ferdinand heir to the throne of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and his wide are assassinated in Sarajevo.
Archduke Franz Ferdinand heir to the throne of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and his wide are assassinated in Sarajevo. -
Emperor Franz Joseph of Austria-Hungary declares war on Serbia.
-
Germany mobilizes her armed forces and declares war on Russia.
-
Germany declares war on neutral Belgium and invades in a right flanking move designed to defeat France quickly. As a result of this invasion, Britain declares war on Germany.
-
Austria-Hungary declares war on Russia.
-
Germany declares a submarine blockade of Great Britain. Any ship approaching England is considered a legitimate target.
-
Allies begin nine-month battle for the Turkish peninsula of Gallipoli.
-
U-boat sinks the Lusitanis. 1,198 civilians, including 128 Americans die.
-
British use gas in battle near Loos, but shifting winds cause 60,000 British casualties.
-
Period: to
The longest battle of the war, the Battle of Verdun, is fought to a draw with an estimated one million casualties.
-
Period: to
The Battle of the Somme results in an estimated one million casualties and no breakthrough for the Allies. British introduce the tank, an effective weapon but far to make much of a difference.
-
Rasputin, the self-avowed holy man and confidant to the Tsarina, is murdered by relatives of the Tsar.
-
Reich Foreign Secretary Zimmermann's telegram to Mexico urging her entry into war against the United States is discovered and translated by the British.
-
Tsar Nicholas II of Russia abdicates. Provisional government is declared.
-
President Wilson asks Congress for a declaration of war with Imperial Germany.
-
Period: to
Third Battle of Ypres, known as Pssschendaele, results in minor gains, but still no breakthrough in the Western front at the cost of 700,000 casualties for both sides.
-
The new Russian government, represented by Leon Trotsky, signs an armistice with Germany.
-
Germans on the banks of the Marne near Paris are stopped by American forces at Chateau-Thierry.
-
Allied counter offensives on the Somme push the German army back and into retreat.
-
Turks sign armistice.
-
At eleven o'clock on the eleventh day of the eleventh month of 1918, the war ends as Germany and Allies sign an Armistice.
