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The assassination of the archduke Franz Ferdinand (heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne) and his wife, Sophie by Gavrilo Princip
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Unrestricted Submarine Warfare
German Kaiser Wilhelm II agreed that all allied ships or neutral ships crossing into the waters around the British Isles would be subject to attack with no warning. By aggressively sinking all ships on sight of the pre-announced area, the unrestricted submarine warfare aimed to starve Britain into submission in 4-6 months. It had a very major impact on World War I as it was one of the main reasons why United States entered the war and broke the diplomatic relations with Germany. -
German 'blank cheque' to Austria-Hungary
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Austrian ultimatum to Serbia effectively requiring that they renounce their own sovereignty
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Austria declares war on Serbia
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Russia mobilises army
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Germany declares war on Russia
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Germany declared war on France and invaded Belgium
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Britain declared war on Germany
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Austria-Hungary declares war on Russia
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Russian invasion of East Prussia
It was an attempt by Russia to distract German forces to the Eastern front in order to release stress from the Western front. -
Battle of Mons
First major campaign of the British Expeditionary Force at the French borders, near Mons, where they have inflicted huge amount of casualties against the numerically superior German army. However, the Germans got through eventually. BEF retreated to the outskirts of Paris. -
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Battle of Tannenberg
Russian army defeated at Tannenburg and Masurian Lakes. Russia invaded Germany, but got ambushed. German troops applied Pincer movement to the Russian troops and annihilate it's main troops. -
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First Battle of Marne
Schlieffen Plan was stopped by the Allies. Trench warfare begins as soldiers on both sides dig in. -
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The Race to the Sea
The Race to the Sea covers the reciprocal attempts of the Germans and the allies into advancing northwards to the sea. Eventually both sides failed to outflank each other (stalemate). -
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First Battle of Ypres
The German failure to break the Allied lines in fighting at Ypres during World War I; was the final episode in the 1914 campaign in the west. It marked the end of the war of movement, with both sides constructing an elaborate trench network that stretched from Switzerland to the North Sea. -
Turkey enters the war
The Ottoman Empire joins the central powers to form the Triple Alliance with the signing of the Turco-German Alliance. -
The Dardanelles Campaign
Britain bombarded Turkish forts in the Dardanelles -
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Second Battle of Ypres
First time Germany used poison gas. Initially, it seemed that the Allies had no choice but to give way; thanks to the extraordinary bravery of the Anglo-Canadian forces, the Allied line remained unbroken. -
The Gallipoli Campaign
Intending to secure it, Russia’s allies Britain and France launched a naval attack followed by an amphibious landing on the peninsula with the eventual aim of capturing the Turkish capital of Constantinople (Istanbul). The naval attack was repelled and, after eight months of fighting, with many casualties on both sides, the land campaign also failed and the invasion force was withdrawn to Egypt - a Turkish victory. -
The “Lusitania” was sunk by a German U-boat
The sinking of the Lusitania angered the Americans, and Germany decided to cease her policy of unrestricted submarine warfare. -
Italy declared war on Germany and Austria
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Capture of Warsaw
Germany and Russia Cause: Russian forces moved out of Prussia, Eastern front was no longer a threat, and German troops are freed and can go to the western front. -
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Battle of Loos
The Battle of Loos was the largest British offensive mounted in 1915 on the Western Front during World War I. The first British use of poison gas occurred and the battle was the first mass engagement of New Army units.Better technology, new army units, more ammunition was put into the attack, however the battle remained in stalemate. -
Conscription introduced in Britain
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Battle of Verdun
Battle of Verdun was the longest battle with the biggest casualty in the whole WW1, The Germans believed that by going into a War of Attrition, the French would lose due to shortages. Verdun was a major point of attack. The Germans cleared out trenches and took over some fortresses. However, the French managed to counter attack and pushed the Germans back to where they were before the battle. the French had lost over 500,000 and the Germans 430,000, this was still a French tactical victory -
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Battle of Jutland
It was a naval battle fought between the British royal guard and the German high sea fleet. It was the only full-scale clash of the battleship in this war. The British were were well prepared and equipped. Several of German dreadnought were heavily damaged, which took several month to repair after the fight and Britain had 24 more ships that were ready to sail and fight again. So by the wartime, British won oven the German by number. -
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Brussilov Offensive
This battle was named after the Russian commander Aleksei Brusilov, it is also the greatest military victory of Russia during WWI, however one of the wars with highest casualties. The purpose of this offence was to release military pressure of German troops from the western front. The Russian troops used precise bombing during the battle, followed by Russian shock troops to pierce through the weak points on Austria Hungary’s defense lanes. A minor victory of Russia -
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Battle of the Somme
It was fought near the Somme river, France. This battle was one of the bloodiest battle fought in Human history with more than 100,000 men killed or wounded. Tanks are first introduced into battle by Britain. It ought to release the pressure on the French in Verdun. In the weeks prior to the initial offensive 2,000,000 shells were rained down the German lines. These shells did less to the success of the offensive but warned the Germans about the attack. The result of the battle is inconclusive. -
The Zimmermann Telegram
The Zimmerman Telegram revealed Germany’s plan to restart the unrestricted U-boat campaign and offered Mexico territory from the US if Mexico declared war on America. The British then gave this message to the US and the American public then felt war was being brought to their land, resulting in one of the reasons why USA joined the war. -
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February Revolution and Abdication of the Tsar
This event was a democratic revolution started in St Petersburg. This cause of the revolution includes the damage of WWI on the Russian economy, causing Russian people to be dissatisfied with the government. The Tsar took a train back to St. Petersburg because his children were sick with measles, however the generals asked him to abdicate. It resulted with the abdication of the Tsar and the perish of the Russian empire. -
USA declared war on Germany
There were several reasons why USA joined the war, including the sinking of the Lusitania and unrestricted warfare. -
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Nivelle Offensive
The Nivelle Offensive is a Frenco-British joint offensive started in April of 1917. This offensive comprise of 3 major battles (Arras, 2nd Aisne and Hills) that aimed to breakthrough German lines at Aisne. This offensive eventually failed due to leak of plans. The heavy casualty in this battle lead to mutiny within the French and dismissal of General Nivelle. -
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Third Battle of Ypres (the Battle of Passchendaele)
this battle aimed to capture the Belgian city of Ypres. A railroad junction at Roulers lays just 8km from the city and was critical for supplies to the German 4th army. Furthermore this city is a base to the German U-boats. Making this city a strategical stronghold. The results for this battle is inconclusive, although the Germans have suffer heavy causality and was on the blink of collapse, the bases were not loss, failing the objective of this battle. -
The Russian Revolution of 1917
The Bolsheviks successfully overthrow the Russian government during the 1917 Russian Revolution. -
U.S. President Woodrow Wilson issues his Fourteen Points to peace
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The Treaty of Brest-Litovsk
The new Soviet government signed a peace treaty with the Alliances. The treaty included, 1. Cease fire with Germany, Austria Hungary, Ottoman Empire and Bulgaria. 2. Release nations (Finland, Ukraine and Georgia) 3. The Ottoman Empire occupied the province of Ardakhan, Kars and Batumi. 4. Germany and Austria Hungary gets Poland, lithuania and Kurland. 5. Russia pays 6 billion marks of war reparations. Russia lost 27% of income, 54% of industry, 44% of its population, 1.2 million sq. km of land. -
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Spring Offensive
Also known as the Ludendorff Offensive, was the last major German offensive on the western front. This offensive marks the greatest advance of the German army in French territories, where German long-ranged artilleries could bombard Paris. In this offensive the German applied the tactics o storm troopers and made great progress, however also due to the lengthen of supply lines in which the Germans could not maintain. The offensive failed and eventually lead to German retreat later. -
The Treaty of Versailles
The Versailles Treaty, signed on June 28, 1919 in the Hall of Mirrors in the Palace of Versailles in Paris, was the peace settlement between Germany and the Allied Powers that officially ended World War I. -
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Second Battle of the Marne
This battle was the last major battle in the German Spring offensive. This battle was the closest reach to Paris by the Germans. However, the Germans were outflanked by the French and American joint force, leading directly to the full retreat of the German forces. -
Hindenburg Line broken
After a 56-hour-long bombardment, Allied forces breach the so-called Hindenburg Line, the last line of German defenses on the Western Front during World War I. -
Armistice of 11th November 1918
On the 8th of November 1918, the German delegation lead by Matthias Erzberger travelled to the secret location in the forest of Compègne, France to negotiate terms of an armistice between Germany and the Allies. As a result, there were 35 terms that the German had accepted. The official date of the end of World War One -
German Kaiser Wilhelm II abdicates and flees Germany
"I herewith renounce for all time claims to the throne of Prussia and to the German Imperial throne connected therewith..." Wilhelm's abdication was announced by Chancellor Prince Max von Baden in a 9 November 1918 proclamation and went into exile in Holland.
