-
Assassination in Sarajevo
Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife are assassinated in Sarajevo by Gavrilo Princip. -
Germany promises to support Austria
On 5 July, Wilheilm II and his chancellor, Bethmann-Holwegg, told the Austrians to take a strong line with Serbia and promised German support if Russia threatened to support Serbia. -
Austria-Hungary sends list of demands to Serbia
Austria-Hungary looked for proof that Serbia had been involved in the Sarajevo assassination, but could find none. Nevertheless, on 23 July they sent a list of demands to Serbia. Serbia agreed to all the demands, except one. This was that Austria-Hungary would send officials to Serbia to make sure that all traces of the Blank Hand organisation had been wiped out. Serbia could not agree to this because it would mean an end to Serbia’s independence. -
War is declared in the Balkans
Austria-Hungary broke off diplomatic relations with Serbia and on 28 July declared war; Austro-Hungarian cannons in Bosnia began shelling Belgrade. -
Russia joins in support for the Serbs
One day after shelling began in Belgrade, Russia announced its support for Serbia. If Germany and Austria-Hungary dominated the Balkans, Russia’s access to the Mediterranean could be threatened. Russia could not allow this to happen, so Tsar Nicholas of Russia ordered the Russian army to mobilise. -
Germany sends warning to Russia
German Kaiser, Wilhelm II, sent an ultimatum to Tsar Nicholas of Russia, ordering him to stop mobilising his army. Russia refused to accept the ultimatum and so Germany declared war on Russia. The German army was mobilised. As France was an ally of Russia, the French government ordered the mobilisation of its army. -
Initiating the Schlieffen Plan
Germany initiated the Schlieffen Plan, which outlined the strategy to occupy France and Belgium. Army trains started leaving Cologne station in Germany at the rate of one every three minutes, heading for the German border with Belgium. -
Britain sends ultimatum to Germany
Germany broke the Treaty of London (1839) by sending its army into Belgium. So a telegram was sent to the German Kaiser, ordering him to call his army back to within the borders of Germany. The German government was given until midnight on 4 August to reply. -
Germany continues into Belgium, towards France
German troops moved quickly into Belgium. Only a small Belgian army opposed them, but the Belgians did manage to blow up the railway lines leading to their border with France. This cut down the speed of the German advance towards France because it slowed down the movement of German supplies and additional soldiers. By midnight, the British government had not received a reply to its telegram to the Kaiser, so Britain was at war with Germany. -
World War I begins
The Triple Alliance (Germany, Austria-Hungary and Italy) and the Triple Entente (Britain and France) were at war with each other.
The involvement of Great Britain, with its worldwide empire, turned what could have been a European war into a world war.