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Assassination of Archduke Ferdinand
Franz Ferdinand was an Archduke of Austria-Este, Austro-Hungarian and Royal Prince of Hungary and of Bohemia, and from 1889 until his death, heir presumptive to the Austro-Hungarian throne. -
Austria-Hungary declares war on Serbia
This set the tage for the first world war. -
Germany declares war on Russia
The German Government were, therefore, obliged to make representations to the Government of His Majesty the Emperor of All the Russias and to insist upon a cessation of the aforesaid military acts. Russia having refused to comply with this demand, and having shown by this refusal that her action was directed against Germany, I have the honour, on the instructions of my Government, to inform your Excellency as follows: His Majesty the Emperor, my august Sovereign, in the name of the German Empir -
Germany declares war on France
Germany declared war on France. German troops poured into Belgium as directed under the Schleiffen Plan, drawn up in 1905. The British foreign secretary, Sir Edward Grey, sent an ultimatum to Germany demanding their withdrawal from the neutral Belgium. -
The United Kingdom declares war on Germany after Germany invades Belgium
German troops have invaded Belgium. The Premier informed the Brussels Chamber yesterday, after King Albert had addressed the Deputies in a speech calling on the nation to defend its integrity. Mr. Asquith knew of the invasion when he made his statement in the Commons. -
Austria-Hungary declares war on Russia and Serbia declares war on Germany.
The 'Great War', which began on 28 July 1914 with Austria-Hungary's declaration of war with Serbia, was the first truly global war. It began in Europe but quickly spread throughout the world. Many countries became embroiled within the war's first month; others joined in the ensuing four years, with Honduras announcing hostilities with Germany as late as 19 July 1918 (with the record going to Romania, who entered the war - albeit for the second time - one day before it finished, on 10 November -
First Battle of the Marne begins
The First Battle of the Marne was conducted between 6-12 September 1914, with the outcome bringing to an end the war of movement that had dominated the First World War since the beginning of August. Instead, with the German advance brought to a halt, stalemate and trench warfare ensued. -
Battle of Ypres
The Battle of Ypres (and the numerous battles that surrounded this Flanders town) has become linked forever with World War One. Along with the Battle of the Somme, the battles at Ypres and Passchendaele have gone down in history The town had been the centre of battles before due to its strategic position, but the sheer devastation of the town and the surrounding countryside seems to perfectly summarise the futility of battles fought in World War One. -
Germany declares a "war zone" around Great Britain
The German government's first steps towards adopting a policy of unrestricted submarine warfare came with the admiralty declaration of 4 February 1915, which warned neutral shipping to stay away from the waters surrounding Britain and Ireland from 18 February 1915 onwards. -
The British ocean liner RMS Lustinania by German U-boat
On May 7, 1915, the British ocean liner RMS Lusitania, which primarily ferried people and goods across the Atlantic Ocean between the United States and Great Britain, was torpedoed by a German U-boat and sunk. Of the 1,959 people on board, 1,198 died, including 128 Americans. The sinking of the Lusitania enraged Americans and hastened the United States' entrance into World War I. -
The U.S. Declares war on Germany
On December 11, 1941, the United States Congress declared war upon Germany, in response to that nation's declaration of war following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor,[1] and only hours after Germany declared war on the United States. -
Zimmerman Telegram
Germany sends the secret Zimmerman Telegram to Mexico in an effort to entice Mexico to join the war. The British intercept and decipher the coded message. -
Bolsheiviks overthrow government
The provisional government came to power after the February Revolution resulted in the Russian monarchy being overthrown in March 1917. Weak and unpopular, the provisional government drew criticism from both the right and left. Lenin, a Marxist revolutionary and founder of the Bolshevik Party, had been exiled by the monarchy, but returned to Russia in April to incite workers and soldiers to rise up against the government. -
Russia withdraws from war
Russia had to withdraw from World War 1 because their time in the war was unsuccessful. They joined the war in 1914, and lost over one million men in the first year. Their second year in the war was just as difficult for Russia, with large percentages of Russian land and the population being forced under Austrian and German rule by the end of 1915. Russia's goal was to assist Serbia in the war, but it did not prove beneficial for Russia. -
Woodrow Wilson’s Fourteen Points
Wilson used several speeches earlier in the year to sketch out his vision of an end to the war that would bring a “just and secure peace,” and not merely “a new balance of power.” He then appointed a committee of experts known as The Inquiry to help him refine his ideas for peace. In December 1917 he asked The Inquiry to draw up specific recommendations for a comprehensive peace settlement. Using these recommendations, Wilson presented a program of fourteen points to a joint session of Congress. -
Germany signs armistice
Armistice Day (which coincides with Remembrance Day and Veterans Day, public holidays) is commemorated every year on 11 November to mark the armistice signed between the Allies of World War I and Germany at Compiègne, France, for the cessation of hostilities on the Western Front of World War I, which took effect at eleven o'clock in the morning—the "eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month" of 1918. While this official date to mark the end of the war reflects the ceasefire on the -
Treaty of Versailles
Officially Ends WW1
