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The Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand
Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria was the heir to the Austria-Hungarian throne. Him and his wife were both assassinated June 28th, 1914. They were both shot at close range while driving through Sarajevo. The motive behind the assassination was to free Bonsia and Herzegovina from Austria-Hungarian rule. -
War Declared
When the Austrian-Hungarian government made demands on the Serbians, they denied them. Austria-Hungary then declared war against Serbia. Which prompted Russia to prepare to protect Serbia, and then Germany declared war on Russia to support Austria-Hungary. -
The Battle of Ypres
The first battle of Ypres in West Flanders, Belgium. It was an attempt by the German army to get through allied lines and get French ports on the English Channel to have access to the North Sea and more. Not much ground was gained by either sides, and many lives were lost; as much as 130,000 German casualties. This was the introduction of trench warfare, however. -
The Gallipoli Campaign
The Allied campaign landed in the Gallipoli peninsula in April 1915. With the intentions of getting through German-allied Ottoman Turkey’s Dardanelles Strait. This would permit them to strike Germany and Austria from the east and link with Russia. This resulted in 180,000 deaths with the withdrawl in Jan 1916. -
Germany sinks HMS Lusitania
May 1915, a German U-boat torpedoed the British-owned steamship Lusitania, resulting in 1,195 casualties. 128 of which were Americans. This enraged the US. This was one of the factors causing the US to enter the war. -
The Battle of Somme
The bloodiest battle of the first World War. The Battle of Somme had over a million deaths over the course of 141 days. The British Allied force was trying to help the French struggling in Verdun by attacking the Germans in Somme. When the battle was over, the allies had only gained a few kilometers. -
US Enters the War
In March 1917, the British intercepted the Zimmermann Telegram, a coded note from Germany proposing that Mexico allies with them if the US were to enter the war. This set the US off into entering WW1. -
The Battle of Passchendaele
British Allied troops attempted to seize key ridges near Ypres. Both sides collapsed. The Allies came out victorious, but only after nearly half a million casualties. -
The Bolshevik Revolution
Between 1914 and 1917, Russia lost more than 2 million soldiers on the Eastern Front. This caused rioting to spike and turn into revolution. They evolved into a more socialist government which struggled to keep control while staying in war. They got a new leader, Lenin Bolsheviks, who had the intention of getting Russia out of the war. In December, Lenin signed an armistice with Germany. In March Russia's population was reduced by nearly a third due to the treaty of Brest-Litovsk. -
The Signing of The Treaty of Versaille
On June 28, 1919, the Treaty of Versaille was signed at the Palace of Versailles outside Paris, France. This treaty was one of several that ended World War 1. It had conditions such as peace between Germany and the victorious allies.