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Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand
The assassination of Franz Ferdinand set off a rapidly escalating chain of events: Austria-Hungary, like many in countries around the world, blamed the Serbian government for the attack and hoped to use the incident as justification for settling the question of Serbian nationalism once and for all. -
Archduke Franz Ferdinand
He was shot along with his wife in Sarajevo, Bosnia. Ferdinand was the heir to the throne of the Austrian-Hungarian Empire, which created conflict. -
Kaiser Wilhelm II
He secretly pledged his support, giving Austria-Hungary assurance of Germany’s backing in the case of war. -
World War I Begins
Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia, which lead to the Great Powers to collapse. -
World War I Begins
Convinced that Austria-Hungary was readying for war, the Serbian government ordered the Serbian army to mobilize and appealed to Russia for assistance. On July 28, Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia, and the tenuous peace between Europe’s great powers quickly collapsed. Within a week, Russia, Belgium, France, Great Britain, and Serbia had lined up against Austria-Hungary and Germany, and World War I had begun. -
German Troops Invade Belgium
The German Army quickly overwhelmed Belgian defenses and King Albert was forced to move his government to Le Havre in France. However, the Belgian Army resisted more than the Germans expected and this help to frustrate the Schlieffen Plan. http://www.historyforkids.net/germany-invades-belgium.html -
Battle of Marne
At the end of August 1914, the three armies of the German invasion's northern wing were sweeping south towards Paris. The French 5th and 6th Armies and the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) were in retreat. -
First German Aircraft shot down by Allied Plane
Voisin III became the first Allied plane to shoot down an enemy aircraft. Voisin became the standard Allied bomber in the early years of the war. Successive models were more powerful and over 800 were purchased by the French Army Air Service. -
Turkey Joins Central Powers
A series of military defeats in the 19th century had compelled the Turks to grant zones of influence to European powers: Britain, France, Austria-Hungary, Italy. Russia was interested in Armenia and Italy wanted parts of the eastern Mediterranean. -
Gallipoli Campaign
After a failed attack on the Dardanelles, Allied forces led by Britain launched a large-scale land invasion of the Gallipoli Peninsula in April 1915. The invasion also proved a dismal failure, and in January 1916 Allied forces were staged a full retreat from the shores of the peninsula, after suffering 250,000 casualties. -
Sinking of the Lusitania
A German submarine sinks the passenger liner Lusitania. The ship carries 1,198 people, 128 of them Americans. https://www.history.com/news/how-the-sinking-of-lusitania-changed-wwi -
First Tanks
The British employ the first tanks ever used in battle, at Delville Wood. Although they are useful at breaking through barbed wire and clearing a path for the infantry, tanks are still primitive and they fail to be the decisive weapon, as their designers thought they would be. -
US Declares War on Germany
Congress authorizes a declaration of war against Germany. The United States enters World War I on the side of France and Britain. -
Zimmerman Telegram
British intelligence gives Wilson the so-called Zimmermann Telegram, a message from German foreign secretary Arthur Zimmermann proposing that Mexico side with Germany in case of war between Germany and the United States. https://www.archives.gov/education/lessons/zimmermann -
Wilson Announces 14 Points Peace Programme
On 8th January 1918, President Woodrow Wilson presented his Peace Programme to Congress. Compiled by a group of US foreign policy experts, the programme included fourteen different points. The first five points dealt with general principles. Points 6 to 13 were concerned with specific territorial problems. Wilson insisted that his Fourteen Points should serve as a basis for the signing of the Armistice. -
Battle of Cantigny
The Battle of Cantigny is the first major American offensive of the war. Though small in scale, the Americans fight bravely and soon go on to larger attacks against German positions. -
Start of Belleau Wood
The Battle of Belleau Wood begins as the U.S. Marine Corps attacks the Germans across an open field of wheat, suffering huge casualties. -
End of Belleau Wood
The Battle of Belleau Wood ends with the final expulsion of the Germans from the wood, which marks the farthest German advance on Paris. The area has changed hands six times during the three-week battle, which has caused nearly 10,000 American casualties. -
Battle of St. Mihiel
The Battle of St. Mihiel begins when 300,000 American troops under the direct command of General Pershing fling themselves into the German lines. -
Kaiser Wilhelm II Of Germany Abdicates
William was forced to abdicate on 9th November, 1918. He fled the country with the rest of his family and lived in Holland for the rest of his life. -
Armistice is Signed
On 9th November, the Kaiser abdicated fled to Holland. At 5 a.m. on 11th November 1918, signed the armistice. All territorial conquests achieved by the Central Powers had to be abandoned. -
Paris Peace Conference Opens
Despite Wilson's Fourteen Points, Germany was effectively crippled by British and French demands. Austria-Hungary was dismantled. -
Treaty of Versailles
At the Paris Peace Conference in 1919, Allied leaders would state their desire to build a post-war world that would safeguard itself against future conflicts of such a devastating scale. The Treaty of Versailles, signed on June 28, 1919, would not achieve that lofty goal. As the years passed, hatred of the Versailles treaty and its authors settled into a smoldering resentment in Germany that would, two decades later, be counted among the causes of World War II.
