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Francis Ferdinand Assasinated
During an official visit to the Bosnian capital of Sarajevo on June 28, . Franz Ferdinand of Austria and his wife Sophie are shot to death by a Bosnian Serb nationalist.The killings sparked a chain of events that led to the outbreak of World War I by early August. -
Austria-Hungary declares war on Serbia.
One month to the day after Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria and his wife were killed by a Serbian nationalist in Sarajevo.Austria-Hungary declares war on Serbia, effectively beginning the First World War. With Franz Ferdinand's death, Austria had the pretext it wanted to put the smaller and weaker Serbians in their place. -
Germany invades Luxembourg and Belgium
On May 10, 1940, Germany invaded Belgium, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands. The Netherlands capitulated after 6 days, Belgium after 18. France, which along with Britain had sent troops to Belgium, had to lay down arms three weeks later. -
Austria-Hungary invades Russia.
The Austria-Hungarian Empire declares war on Russia.French and British troops invade the German colony of Togo in West Africa. Twenty days later, the German governor there surrenders. -
Allied forces halt German advance into France during First Battle of the Marne
The military governor of Paris, Joseph Simon Gallieni, wanted the Franco–British units to counter-attack the Germans.along the Marne River and halt the German advance Allied reserves would restore the ranks and attack the German flanks. -
Germany begins naval blockade of Great Britain.
The British, with their overwhelming sea power, established a naval blockade of Germany immediately on the outbreak of war in August 1914. By issuing a comprehensive list of contraband that all but prohibited American trade with the Central Powers. And in early November 1914 by declaring the North Sea to be a war zone, -
Allied forces land on the Gallipoli Peninsula of the Ottoman Empire.
At dawn on 25 April 1915, Allied troops landed on the Gallipoli peninsula in Ottoman Turkey.The Gallipoli campaign was the land-based element of a strategy intended to allow Allied ships to pass through the Dardanelles. Capture Constantinople and ultimately knock Ottoman Turkey out of the war. -
German submarine sinks the passenger liner Lusitania during crossing from New York to Liverpool, England, killing 128 Americans
On the afternoon of May 7, 1915, the British ocean liner Lusitania is torpedoed without warning by a German submarine off the south coast of Ireland.Within 20 minutes, the vessel sank into the Celtic Sea. Of 1,959 passengers and crew, 1,198 people were drowned, including 128 Americans. -
Italy declares war on Austria-Hungary
On May 23, 1915, Italy declared war on Austria-Hungary. The Italian declaration opened up a new front in World War I. Stretching 600 kilometres—most of them mountainous—along Italy's border with Austria-Hungary. -
Germany begins the attack on Verdun.
The Battle of Verdun began on 21 February 1916 at 7.15 am when the German army began pounding the forts and trenches with artillery fire. 1,200 guns smashed the French positions Erich Von Falkenhayn, Commander-in-Chief of the German army, wanted to put an end to the trench warfare that had begun in the autumn of 1914 and get his troops moving again. -
Naval Battle of Jutland takes place between British and German fleets.
Battle of Jutland, also called Battle of the Skagerrak, the only major encounter between the main British and German battle fleets in World War I. Fought near the Skagerrak, an arm of the North Sea, about 60 miles off the west coast of Jutland (Denmark).In late spring 1916, after months of calm in the North Sea following the naval action at the Dogger Bank, -
Allied offensive begins the Battle of the Somme.
The Battle of the Somme, also known as the Somme offensive. It was a battle of the First World War fought by the armies of the British Empire and French Third Republic against the German Empire. It took place between 1 July and 18 November 1916 on both sides of the upper reaches of the Somme, a river in France. -
Battle of Verdun ends with 550,000 French and 450,000 German casualties.
he massive loss of life at Verdun 143,000 German dead out of 337,000 casualties, to France's 162,440 out of 377,231 would come to symbolize, more than that of any other battle, the bloody nature of trench warfare on the Western Front. -
Germany returns to unrestricted submarine warfare halted after the sinking of the Lusitania.
On February 1, 1917, the lethal threat of the German U-boat submarine raises its head again, as Germany returns to the policy of unrestricted submarine warfare it had previously suspended in response to pressure from the United States and other neutral countries. -
United States severs diplomatic relations with Germany.
U.S.-German relations were terminated in 1917 during World War I, and the United States declared war on Germany. Relations were reestablished in 1921 but were severed again in 1941 during World War II when Nazi Germany declared war on the United States. -
The United States declares war on Germany.
On April 2, 1917, President Woodrow Wilson went before a joint session of Congress to request a declaration of war against Germany. Wilson cited Germany’s violation of its pledge to suspend unrestricted submarine warfare in the North Atlantic and the Mediterranean, as well as its attempts to entice Mexico into an alliance against the United States, as his reasons for declaring war. On April 4, 1917, the U.S. Senate voted in support of the measure to declare war on Germany. -
General John J. Pershing, newly selected commander of the American Expeditionary Forces, arrives in England with his staff.
On June 13, 1917, a little more than two months after the United States entered World War I, Gen. John J. Pershing arrived in France with his staff to establish American forces in Europe. Although not the first Americans to arrive, Pershing’s presence served as an important symbol to the British and French. Thousands of Americans were already serving in Allied uniform, or as international medical and relief volunteers. -
American combat forces arrive in France.
The first US troops arrived in France in June 1917. John Figarovsky, of the 1st Infantry Division, was among-st them. When we landed one of the first things we did is to parade through the town. -
Russia signs armistice with Germany.
On March 3, 1918, in the city of Brest-Litovsk, located in modern-day Belarus near the Polish border, Russia signed a treaty with the Central Powers ending its participation in World War I. -
President Woodrow Wilson presents to Congress his outline of Fourteen Points required for peace.
On March 3, 1918, in the city of Brest-Litovsk, located in modern-day Belarus near the Polish border, Russia signed a treaty with the Central Powers ending its participation in World War I. -
The Stars and Stripes begins publication with a first issue of one thousand copies. Second Lieutenant Guy T. Viskniskki is the first managing editor of the newspaper.
In November 1917, Second Lieutenant Guy T. Viskniskki, an American Expeditionary Forces press officer and former censor at the American Field Test Headquarters in Neufchateau, France, was asked to explore the feasibility of publishing a newspaper for the AEF. -
American women recruited to serve as bilingual telephone operators for the AEF arrive in Europe.
The first group of civilian female telephone operators to serve with the AEF arrived in Paris in early 1918. Just over 200 female telephone operators ultimately served in France with the First, Second, and Third Army Headquarters. The women worked in Paris and dozens of other locations throughout France and England. -
Russia signs the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk with Germany.
On March 3, 1918, in the city of Brest-Litovsk, located in modern-day Belarus near the Polish border, Russia signed a treaty with the Central Powers ending its participation in World War I. -
Germany begins its final offensive of the war.
Seventy years ago today, the German Army launched the Ardennes Counteroffensive, better known as the Battle of the Bulge. As the last major German offensive in the west, it was the final attempt to beat back the advancing Allied armies, which since June 6, 1944, had moved rapidly across France and Belgium. -
United States forces are victorious in the Battle of Cantigny, the first independent American operation.
In the first sustained American offensive of World War I, an Allied force including a full brigade of nearly 4,000 United States soldiers captures the village of Cantigny, on the Somme River in France, from their German enemy. -
American forces stop German attempt to cross the Marne River at Chateau-Thierry.
American forces had linked up with their French allies at the Marne River on 3 June 1918 and had forced the Germans back across the river. This set the stage for the action at Château-Thierry and at the Battle of Belleau Wood. However, the later action raged for another three weeks. -
The Stars and Stripes suspends the Sporting Page.
he Stars and Stripes sports page covered professional sports like other United States newspapers, but also carried news of American Expeditionary Forces athletic events at the war front. In addition, the editors used sports terminology and slang in covering the war effort. -
American First Army attacks St. Mihiel salient.
The Battle of Saint-Mihiel was a major World War I battle fought from 12–15 September 1918, involving the American Expeditionary Forces and 110,000 French troops under the command of General John J. Pershing of the United States against German positions. -
Allied forces begin the attack at Meusse-Argonne, the final offensive of the war.
At 5:30 on the morning of September 26, 1918, after a six-hour-long bombardment over the previous night, more than 700 Allied tanks, followed closely by infantry troops, advance against German positions in the Argonne Forest and along the Meuse River. -
Germany signs the Armistice at Compiègne, ending World War I.
Germany signed an armistice agreement with the Allies on November 11, 1918. World War I was known as the “war to end all wars” because of the great slaughter and destruction it caused. -
British and American forces enter Germany.
n the spring of 1945, British and American forces fought their way into the heart of western Germany. Although the first German city to fall to American forces, Aachen, had been captured in October 1944, the invasion of the Third Reich began in earnest in March 1945 when the western Allies crossed the Rhine River. -
Harold Ross assumes editorship of The Stars and Stripes.
Ross was known for his energy but also for his rather abrasive character. It is noteworthy that later [his last superior, Major Mark Watson] recommended Ross and only one other enlisted man for the Distinguished Service Medal observing that his work stood out so conspicuously as to entitle [him] to special mention above even the admirable work performed by [his] associates. -
he Stars and Stripes War Orphans Adoption Campaign ends after raising 123,047 francs and placing 3,444 orphans for adoption.
Typically, when we commemorate World War I, we think of great battles and haunting scenes of European cities’ destruction. The stories of the war’s victims, orphaned children from France and Belgium, are now often forgotten. -
Sporting Page returns to The Stars and Stripes.
The Stars and Stripes sports page covered professional sports like other United States newspapers, but also carried news of American Expeditionary Forces (AEF) athletic events at the war front. In addition, the editors used sports terminology and slang in covering the war effort. -
Peace conference begins at Paris.
On January 18, 1919, in Paris, France, some of the most powerful people in the world meet to begin the long, complicated negotiations that would officially mark the end of the First World War. -
First anniversary of The Stars and Stripes. Circulation surpasses 500,000.
He was a soldier fighting the Germans with words instead of weapons. Then, in 1918, Pvt. Harold W. Ross became the managing editor of a new military newspaper, Stars and Stripes, which became a force in the trenches of France. -
Draft of the covenant of the League of Nations is completed.
With the ground thus well prepared, and under Wilson's resolute leadership, the conference was able to draw up, in a few days of intensive committee work, a document which it called the Covenant of the League of Nations. This text was published, as a draft, on February 14, 1919. -
Last issue of The Stars and Stripes is published.
The final edition was published on June 13, 1919. On June 14, 1919, immediately following suspension of the U.S. military's Stars and Stripes , some of its staff members organized a new Washington-based publishing house known as the Stars and Stripes Corporation. -
Allied and German representatives sign treaty of Versailles. The United States signs treaty of guaranty, pledging to defend France in case of an unprovoked attack by Germany.
The Treaty of Versailles was signed by Germany and the Allied Nations on June 28, 1919, formally ending World War One. The terms of the treaty required that Germany pay financial reparations, disarm, lose territory, and give up all of its overseas colonies. -
United States Senate fails to ratify Treaty of Versailles.
In 1919 the Senate rejected the Treaty of Versailles, which formally ended World War I, in part because President Woodrow Wilson had failed to take senators' objections to the agreement into consideration. They have made the French treaty subject to the authority of the League, which is not to be tolerated. -
Treaty of Versailles takes effect.
The Treaty of Versailles was the primary treaty produced by the Paris Peace Conference at the end of World War I. It was signed on June 28, 1919, by the Allied and associated powers and by Germany in the Hall of Mirrors in the Palace of Versailles and went into effect on January 10, 1920. -
United States Senate fails to ratify Treaty of Versailles for the second time.
When members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee learned of former president Woodrow Wilson’s death in 1924, they asked their chairman, Henry Cabot Lodge, to represent them at the funeral. -
United States signs separate peace treaties with Germany, Austria, and Hungary.
On July 2, 1921, U.S. President Warren G. Harding signed the Knox–Porter Resolution, which had been passed by the U.S. Congress and ended the state of war between the U.S. and Germany, Austria and Hungary, further setting the stage for bilateral peace treaties.