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The assassination of Arch Duke Franz Ferdinand
The assassination of Arch Duke Franz Ferdinand started ww1. Austria-Hungary, along with many other countries around the world, blamed the Serbian government. Austria-Hungary used this as justification to fight. -
Austria-Hungary declares war on Serbia
Austria-Hungary declaring war on Serbia is the true start of the ww1. -
Russians are Defeated at Battle of Tannenberg
On the eastern front, Germans shatter the Russian Second Army and take over 92,000 prisoners at the Battle of Tannenberg. -
Germans Conduct Air Raid on Paris
The attack has little military value, but is intended to terrorize civilians. They killed 254 people. (Link; https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/germans-bomb-paris) -
Commission for Relief in Belgium Founded
The Commission for Relief in Belgium was founded by Herbert Hoover. The Commission for Relief in Belgium distributes millions of tons of food to civilians in Belgium and northern France. http://www.baef.be/documents/about-us/history/the-commission-for-relief-in-belgium-1914-.xml?lang=en -
Japan Attacks and Captures Tsingtao, China
Tsingtao is a port city on the Yellow Sea and has been held by the Germans since 1898. The Germans surrendered on November 6. -
Christmas Truce Observed on Western Front
Troops from both sides were encouraged to greet one another as Christmas carols sounded across No Man's Land
http://www.bbc.co.uk/guides/zxsfyrd -
Bread Rationing is Introduced in Germany
Each citizen and neutral foreign national is issued a bread card for an initial daily quota of 8 ounces -
Turkish Army Disarms its Armenian Troops
Ottoman Turkish army disarms and segregates Armenian soldiers into labor battalions fearing Christian Armenians are aiding Orthodox Russians in their fight against Turkey. In 1915, 1,000,000 Armenians are forcibly removed to Syria and Mesopotamia.
http://www.historyplace.com/worldhistory/genocide/armenians.htm -
German Saboteurs at Work in America
A German officer, Werner Horn, is arrested in Maine for a bombing that damages the Saint Croix-Vanceboro Railway Bridge, which connects the U.S. and Canada. -
Germany Threatens Submarine Warfare Against Merchant Vessels
Germany warns that neutral vessels in British waters “would be destroyed without it always being possible to warn the crews and passengers.” -
German Women Demonstrate for Peace
Several thousand women demonstrate for peace before the German Reichstag [Parliament]. -
Allies Land in Gallipoli, Italy
Allies, including Australian and New Zealand troops, land in Gallipoli, Turkey at Helles and Anzac Cove. The Turkish controlled peninsula of twisting shorelines protects the Dardanelle Straits- a key international waterway connecting the Mediterranean Sea to the Black Sea. -
German U-Boat Torpedoes the Lusitania
The Cunard passenger ship Lusitania sinks in British waters. A total of 1,198 drown, including many women and children and 128 U.S. citizens. -
German Forces in South-West Africa Surrender to General Botha of South Africa
A six-month campaign conquers the German colony, capturing its wireless stations and strategic harbors. -
Allied Troops Enter Kut-Al-Amara in Mesopotamia
British and Indian forces move up the Tigris River to capture Kut-al-Amara in Mesopotamia from Turkish forces. Their ultimate goal is Baghdad, roughly 100 miles from present-day Baghdad in Iraq. They will surrender their forces in April 1916. -
Serbia invaded by Germany, Austria, and Bulgaria
The Central Powers troops cross the Danube River and within days capture Belgrade. A massive Serbian retreat follows. Soldiers and their families made their way to the Albanian border through mountains and a steady snowfall. -
British Nurse is Executed
British nurse Edith Cavell, a nursing instructor working with the Red Cross, is shot by Germans at 7 a.m. under accusations of being a spy and helping Allied soldiers escape Belgium. She was charged with espionage five days after her execution. -
Belgians Deported to Germany as Forced Labor
German troops begin to round up Belgian workers for deportation to Germany. They are assembled in daily batches of 1,400 men and women in equal numbers. -
Germany Signs Armistice
Three days prior, German delegates were escorted through a devastated French countryside to a railway car in the Compiengne Forest, Marshal Foch’s Headquarters and were presented with terms of the Allied Armistice. Fighting ends on the Western Front Paris time 11:00 a.m. when Germany signs this armistice with the Allied Powers. The terms are harsh, intended to show German acceptance of defeat and to prevent any lengthy break for Germany to regroup and start military action again.
