-
Assassination of Archduke Ferdinand
On June 28, 1914, Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife Sophie, Duchess of Hohenberg were assassinated by Gavrilo Princip, in Sarajevo,in Bosnia. During a visit to the city, Bosnian Serb Gavrilo Princip fires two fatal shots at them. The assassination precipitated Austria's declaration of war against Serbia, which in turn triggered World War I. -
Austria-Hungary declares war on Serbia
The Austro-Hungarian Empire blamed Serbia for the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand and demanded concessions from Belgrade. One of these conditions, which would have implied the transfer of national sovereignty by the Serbian government, was rejected by the Kingdom of Serbia and Vienna declared war on July 28, 1914 in Sarajevo. -
Italy declares war on Austria-Hungary
With the aim of conquering the Italian territories under Austro-Hungarian rule, Italy joined the Allies and declared war on the Austro-Hungarian Empire on May 23, 1915. -
United States declares war on Germany
President Wilson decided to declare war on Germany on April 2, 1917 because he feared that it would continue to expand. -
Bolshevik storm the Winter Palace
On November 7, 1917, Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov, Lenin, leader of the Bolshevik Party, led the uprising in Petrograd against the provisional government, which culminated in the assault on the Winter Palace to overthrow the Russian autocracy, carry out the democratic objectives of the revolution and confront the vacillations and betrayals of the bourgeoisie. -
Russia signs armistice with Germany
Germany and the Soviet Union signed a non-aggression treaty, which is known as the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact on December 15, 1917. The countries agree that they will not attack each other and divide, secretly, the countries that are located between them. -
Russia signs the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk
The Treaty of Brest-Litovsk was a separate peace treaty signed on 3 March 1918 between Soviet Russia and the Central Powers (Germany, Austria-Hungary, the Ottoman Empire, and Bulgaria), by which Russia withdrew from World War I. -
German armistice
The Armistice of 11 November 1918 was a treaty signed at Le Francport, near Compiègne, which ended fighting on land, sea and air in the First World War between the Allies and their opponent, the German Empire. -
Treaty of Versailles signed
On June 28, 1919, the Treaty of Versailles was signed at the Palace of Versailles outside Paris, France to formally ending World War One. The terms of the treaty required that Germany pay financial reparations, disarm, lose territory, and give up all of its overseas colonies. -
German troops enter Belgium
On 10 May 1940, Germany invaded the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, and France. After declaring war on France, Germany was now determined to execute its war plan to defeat France first and then concentrate its forces against Russia. The plan required German troops invade Belgium to get to France.