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Assassination of Archduke Ferdinand
On June 28, 1914 in Sarajevo, Bosnia, there was an attempt to assassinate Archduke Franz Ferdinand with a bomb (National WWI Museum and Memorial, 2023). It missed and hit people behind them. On his way to visit the victims later that day, the Archduke took a wrong turn and drove by Gravilo Princip. Princip was involved with the assassination attempt (Greenspan, 2020). Princip then shot Archduke Ferdinand and his wife, Sophie the Duchess of Hohenberg (National WWI Museum and Memorial, 2023). -
World War I begins
After Archduke Franz-Ferdinand was assassinated by a Serbian nationalist, Austria-Hungary blamed the Serbian government and sent terms that were almost impossible to follow. Serbia denied and Austria-Hungary declared war on them. This is considered the beginning of World War 1. This took place on July 28, 1914. Serbia was allied with Russia, France, Belgium, and Great Britain. So they all declared war on Germany and Austria-Hungary (History.com Editors, 2021). -
Lusitania sinks
The Lusitania was a passenger ship that traveled across the Atlantic Ocean. In 1914, when World War 1 started, the Lusitania also began to deliver weapons and supplies to Europe from the US (McDermott, 2022). Germany eventually discovered this. On May 7, 1915, they attacked the Lusitania during one of its voyages off the south coast of Ireland with a U-boat, or submarine. The attack caused the ship to sink in less than 20 minutes (The Editors of Encyclopedia Britannica, 2023). -
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Battle of Verdun
The Battle of Verdun took place from February 21 to December 15, 1916 and is the longest battle in history. Germany and France were involved. It took place in Verdun, France. Germany wanted to win over the French army before The Allies became strong with British troops. This would deem the Allies unable to fight on the Western Front. Germany would do this by attacking the city of Verdun where there was strategic advantage. Germany, however, failed to do so. (Imperial War Museums, 2023). -
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Battle of Gallipoli, Somme
The Battle of the Somme was fought between Germany and Allies France and Britain. It lasted for over 5 months and saw over one million deaths. It was a plan for the Allies to win over the trench warfare on th Western front. They would do this by wearing out Germany during The Battle of Verdun. It lasted from July 1 to November 18, 1916 (Imperial War Museums, 2023). It took place near the Somme river in France (History.com Editors, 2023). -
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Russian Revolution
The Russian Revolution was when Russia's government saw major change. Mostly involved was Czar Nicholas II. It began in 1917 after some protests. This happened in Russia. A cause was Nicholas II moving to the front lines to command an army. He was unfit to do this. His wife was also unfit to rule the country from home. The Czar eventually gave up his power and caused civil war. The revolution ended in 1922 when the Bolsheviks won and founded the Union of Soviet Specialists (Kiger, 2021). -
Zimmermann Note
The Zimmermann note was sent byGermany to Mexico. It is a main reason the U.S. entered WW1. It asked Mexico to form an alliance with Germany if the U.S. ever entered WW1. Germany sent this letter because they planned to start unrestricted submarine warfare, something they thought would make America enter the war. They thought Mexico could help slow supply lines if this occurred. America discovered this on March 1 1917 after it was intercepted by Britain (National WWI Museum and Memorial, 2023). -
U.S. enters war
The U.S. officially entered WW1 on April 6, 1917. They joined with the allies against Germany.The U.S. joined for multiple factors such as the sinking of the Lusitania and a telegram sent by Germany in an attempt to work with Mexico to attack the US.The Senate voted 82:6 in favor of declaring war on April 4, 1916. Then, the House of Representatives voted 373:50 in favor of declaring war 2 days later (History.com Editors, 2021). -
Russia withdraws from war
Russia formally withdrew from the war when they accepted The Treaty of Brest-Litovsk. The treaty was an agreement between Russia and the Central Powers. If they agreed, Russia would lose a lot of land. But it would stop war on the Eastern front and allow Russia to recover from revolution and civil war. The treaty was formally signed on March 3, 1918 in Brest-Litovsk (History.com Editors, 2021). -
Armistice of WWI
The Armistice was an agreement between the Allies and Germany. The agreement was to stop all fighting on the Western front. The Armistice started on November 11, 1918. Germany had spent a lot of resources on offense and had to give in to the Allies’ terms. It allowed the two sides time to discuss terms for permanent peace (Sawers, n.d.). -
The Treaty of Versailles signed
The Treaty of Versailles was an agreement between Germany and the Allies in World War 1. It created terms of peace between the two sides with other treaties for other countries in the Central Powers. It was signed on June 28, 1919. It was signed at the Palace of Versailles near Paris, France. It was one of the treaties that officially ended World War 1 (National Geographic Society, 2023). -
First meeting of the League of Nations
The League of Nations was founded on January 10, 1920. After World War 1, “The Covenant of the League of Nations” was written to create it. It had its first meeting on November 15, 1920 at its headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland. 41 members of the participating states attended. These states represented a total of over 70% of the world. This organization was created to keep peace between all countries by giving an opportunity to solve disputes peacefully (United Nations, n.d.).