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The main cause of the first world war
Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria was assassinated by a Serbian nationalist in Sarajevo, Bosnia. -
The central powers established
The central powers were Germany, Austria-Hungary, the Ottoman Empire and Bulgaria -
The allies established
The Allied Powers were the countries that opposed the Central Powers in the First World War.
The members of the original Entente Alliance of 1907 were the French Republic, the British Empire and the Russian Empire -
The begining of the war
Austria-Hungary declares war on Serbia, effectively beginning the First World War. -
Germany declared war on Russia
On August 1, 1914, four days after Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia, two more great European powers—Russia and Germany—declare war on each other -
Germany declared war to France
Germany declared war on France and invaded Belgium. Germany had to implement the Schlieffen Plan. -
Britain and France declared war on Germany
On this day, in response to Hitler’s invasion of Poland, Britain and France, both allies of the overrun nation declare war on Germany. -
Japan declared war on Germany
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The first Zeppelin raid on Britain took place
During World War I, Britain suffers its first casualties from an air attack when two German zeppelins drop bombs on the eastern coast of England.
The zeppelin, a motor-driven rigid airship, was developed by German inventor Ferdinand Graf von Zeppelin in 1900. Although a French inventor had built a power-driven airship several decades before, the zeppelin’s rigid dirigible, with its steel framework, was by far the largest airship ever constructed. However, in the case of the zeppelin, size was ex -
Britain bombarded Turkish forts in the Dardanelles
British and French forces launched an ill-fated naval attack on Turkish forces in the Dardanelles in northwestern Turkey, hoping to take control of the strategically vital strait separating Europe from Asia -
Italy declared war on Germany and Austria
On this day in 1915, Italy declares war on Austria-Hungary, entering World War I on the side of the Allies—Britain, France and Russia. -
Start of the Battle of the Somme
was one of the largest battles of the First World War. Fought between July 1 and November 1, 1918 near the Somme River in France, it was also one of the bloodiest military battles in history. On the first day alone, the British suffered more than 57,000 casualties, and by the end of the campaign the Allies and Central Powers would lose more than 1.5 million men. -
First use en masse of tanks at the Somme
During the Battle of the Somme, the British launch a major offensive against the Germans, employing tanks for the first time in history -
The Allies started the evacuation of Gallipoli
On December 15, Allied forces begin a full retreat from the shores of the Gallipoli peninsula in Turkey, ending a disastrous invasion of the Ottoman Empire. The Gallipoli campaign resulted in 250,000 Allied casualties and a greatly discredited Allied military command -
Germany’s unrestricted submarine warfare campaign started
The use of unrestricted submarine warfare was announced by Germany on January of 1917. The use of unrestricted submarine warfare was to have a major impact on World War One as it was one of the main reasons why America joined the war. -
USA declared war on Germany
On this day, Adolf Hitler declares war on the United States, bringing America, which had been neutral, into the European conflict. -
USA joined the allies
The U.S. joined its allies--Britain, France, and Russia--to fight in World War I. -
France launched an unsuccessful offensive on the Western Front
At Vimy Ridge, a strategically important crest of land on the Aisne River, in northwestern France, French troops launched an attack on German positions after firing shrapnel shells for five hours on the morning of May 9, 1915. On the heels of the artillery barrage, the French soldiers left their trenches to advance across No Man’s Land, only to find that the bombardment had failed to break the first German wire. -
Britain launched a major offensive on the Western Front
near the Somme River in France, the German army launches its first major offensive on the Western Front in two years. -
The Treaty of Brest-Litovsk was signed between Russia and Germany.
The Treaty of Brest-Litovsk brought about the end of the war between Russia and Germany in 1918.Lenin had ordered that the Bolshevik representatives should get a quick treaty from the Germans to bring about an end to the war so that the Bolsheviks could concentrate on the work they needed to do in Russia itself. -
Second Battle of the Marne started. The start of the collapse of the German army
On this day in 1918, near the Marne River in the Champagne region of France, the Germans begin what would be their final offensive push of World War I. Dubbed the Second Battle of the Marne, the conflict ended several days later in a major victory for the Allies. -
Germany asked the Allies for an armistice
In the early hours of October 4, 1918, German Chancellor Max von Baden, appointed by Kaiser Wilhelm II just three days earlier, sends a telegraph message to the administration of President Woodrow Wilson in Washington, D.C., requesting an armistice between Germany and the Allied powers in World War I. -
Turkey made peace
The Ottomans accepted the Armistice of Mudros with the Allies on 30 October 1918. -
Austria made peace
The Armistice of Villa Giusti ended warfare between Italy and Austria-Hungary on the Italian Front during World War I. The armistice was signed on 3 November 1918 in the Villa Giusti, outside of Padua in the Veneto, northern Italy, and was to take effect 24 hours later. -
Germany signed an armistice with the Allies – the official date of the end of World War One.
The Armistice of 11 November 1918 was an armistice during the First World War between the Allies and Germany and the agreement that ended the fighting on the Western Front. -
Peace conference met at Paris
The Paris Peace Conference, also known as Versailles Peace Conference, was the meeting of the Allied victors, following the end of World War I to set the peace terms for the defeated Central Powers following the armistices of 1918. It took place in Paris during 1919 and involved diplomats from more than 32 countries and nationalities. -
The Treaty of Versailles was signed by the Germans.
World War I officially ended with the signing of the Treaty of Versailles on June 28, 1919. Negotiated among the Allied powers with little participation by Germany, its 15 parts and 440 articles reassigned German boundaries and assigned liability for reparations.
