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Late Stages of the War
The German advance through Belgium to France did not go as smoothly as the Germans had hoped. Despite a French counter-attack that saw the deaths of many Frenchmen on the battlefields at Ardennes, the Germans continued to march into France. The British lost a huge number of men at the first battle of Ypres. By Christmas, all hopes that the war would be over had gone and the holiday saw men of both sides digging themselves into the trenches of the Western Front. -
Archduke Ferdinand Francis was assassinated
The assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, heir presumptive to the Austro-Hungarian throne, and his wife Sophie, Duchess of Hohenberg, occurred on 28 June 1914 in Sarajevo when they were mortally wounded by Gavrilo Princip. -
Austria declared war on Serbia
The Austrian government blamed the Serbian government for the assassination of Franz
Ferdinand and his wife and declared war on Serbia.
Although Russia was allied with Serbia, Germany did not believe that she would mobilise
and offered to support Austria if necessary.
However, Russia did mobilise and, through their alliance with France, called on the French
to mobilise. -
Assassination of Franz Ferdinand
The Balkan states of Bosnia and Herzegovina, had been annexed from Turkey and taken
into the Austro-Hungarian Empire. This was strongly resented by many Serbs and Croats
and a nationalist group, The Black Hand, was formed. Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, and his wife, had decided to inspect Austro-
Hungarian troops in Bosnia -
Germany declared war on France
Germany declares war on France, moving ahead with a long-held strategy, conceived by the former chief of staff of the German army, Alfred von Schlieffen, for a two-front war against France and Russia. -
Turkey joined the central power
Turkey entered the war on the side of the central powers and gave help to a Germany naval bombardment of Russia -
Zeppelins
The use of airships by the Germans increased. Zeppelins began attacking London. they were also used for naval reconnaissance, to attack London and smaller balloons were used for reconnaissance along the Western Front. they were only stopped when the introduction of aeroplanes shot them down. -
Dardenelles/Gallipoli
Despite the loss of several ships to mines, the British successfully landed a number of marines in the Gallipoli region of the Dardenelles. Unfortunately the success was not followed up and the mission was a failure -
Germany submarine sank the British ship Lusitania
There outraged protests from the United States at the German U-boat campaign, when the
Lusitania, which had many American passengers aboard, was sank. The Germans
moderated their U-boat campaign. -
Germany first used chloride poisonous gas
German forces shock Allied soldiers along the western front by firing more than 150 tons of lethal chlorine gas against two French colonial divisions at Ypres, Belgium. This was the first major gas attack by the Germans, and it devastated the Allied line. -
italy declared war on Austria-Hungary
Italy entered the war on the side of Allies -
The Allies progress in the Battles of the Somme
The battle was preceded by a week long artillery bombardment of the Germany line which was supposed to destroy the barbed wire defences placed along the German line but only actually succeeded in making no mans land a mess of mud and craters. the five month long battle saw the deaths of 420000 British soldiers (60,00 on the first day), 200,000 Frances soldiers and 500,000 German soldiers all for a total land gain of just 25 miles. -
Winston Churchill
Winston Churchill served in Belgium as lieutenant colonel of the Royal Scots Fusiliers -
British troops withdraw from Gallipoli
The British and German naval forces met again but the battle was inconclusive. The
German ships did a great deal of damage to British ships before once again withdrawing
and the British Admiral Jellicoe decided not to give chase.
Although British losses were heavier than the German, the battle had alarmed both the
Kaiser and the German Admiral Scheer and they decided to keep their fleet consigned to
harbour for the remainder of the war. -
British Army first used tank
The first use of tanks on the battlefield was the use of British Mark I tanks at the Battle of Flers-Courcelette (part of the Battle of the Somme), with mixed results; many broke down, but nearly a third succeeded in breaking through. -
Germany first used submarine warfare
Unrestricted submarine warfare was first introduced in World War I when Germany declared the area around the British Isles a war zone, in which all merchant ships, including those from neutral countries, would be attacked by the German navy. -
Churchill Minister of Munitions
Following the heavy defeat at Passchendale, Lloyd George decided that he wanted Churchill in the Cabinet. Churchill was duly appointed Minister of Munitions -
USA declare war on Germany
The United States of America declared war on Germany in response to the sinking by Germany U boats, of US ship -
RAF formed
The Royal Flying Corps and the Royal Naval Air Service were merged to form the Royal -
The Ottoman Empires signs an armistice
The allies had successfully pushed the Turkish army back and the Turks were forced to ask for an armistice. The terms of the armistice treaty allowed the allies access to the Dardenelles. -
Germany signs an armistice
At 11 am, in the France town of Redonthes, the Armistice was signed brining the war to an end
