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Archduke Franz Ferdinand Assasinated
On this day in 1914 Archduke Francis Ferdinand was assasinated in Sarajevo, Bosnia. He and his wife were driving in his car through the city when the driver took a wrong turn and Gavrilo Princip shot both of them. They died almost immediately. This started fueds between the different countries and this assasination was considered the start of World War I. The photo is of Franz Ferdinand himself. -
Period: to
World War 1
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First battle of the First World War - Battle of Liège.
The Battle of Liège was the very first battle of the war, and it was the German's opening engagement in the attempted invasion of Belgium. The battle finished on the 16th of August after the Belgians finally surrendered their forts. This invasion led to the British Empire's involvement in the war, and because the Belgians put up a good defence while it lasted, the Allies had a chance to help defend the French borders. The picture is of Belgian's defending there borders. -
First Battle of Marne begins
This certain battle happened over 8 days, from the 5th to the 12th of Spetember. It resulted in a very strong Allied victory. It ended the German-offensive that had been going on for a month. The battle saved France from a full German invasion, and forced all of their soldiers into the fields northeast of Paris, setting them up for the next great battles to come on the Western Front. This was the very first time trench warfare was used in the war. The photo is of French soldiers in a ditch. -
The First Battle of Ypres
This battle, also known as the First Battle of Flanders, was fought between the German Empire and the British, Belgian and French Millitary. Both alliances were fighting for the town of Ypres as it was located in a strategically perfect place. The British were looking to secure the English channel points for supplies and winning Ypres would have done so. The German's saw Ypres as a key obstacle when looking to invade Boulogne-sur-Mer and Calais. The image shows the leader of the British forces. -
Turkey joins forces with Germany
As the two different alliances started to form, Turkey had presure to choose a side to fight for. They were expected to join the German Empire and this is exatly what they did. Prior to the war, the Ottoman Empire was in a rather ruinous shape. They had lost a lot of territory and the people were all exhausted as they had been involved in many wars around this time period. For many years the Ottoman Empire pledged alliance to the British forces but were repeatedly turned down. -
First major use of Chemical Warfare by the Germans
Although a treaty was signed internationally a few decades before WWI, chemical warfare still did play a major role and killed numurous soldiers and injuring even more. The German's excuse for introducing this on a large scale was that the French soldiers had attacked them with chemically enhanced grenades in August 1914. The German's first large scale use was at Ypres, when they launched a massive chlorine attack on the Allied soldiers. The photo is of British soldiers injured by a gas attack. -
Batlle of Gallipoli Commences
British, Australian and New Zealand troops all land on the Gallipoli Peninsula and this notes the start of a long and unsuccesful battle. The aim of the allies attack was to take over the Peninsula and enter Turkey from that direction. It wasn't very succesful and many lives were lost over the time period. The battle ended when the final troops left on the 9th of January, 1916. The photo is of an unknown Austrlalian soldier standing in a trench. -
Sinking of Lusitania
The cruise-liner known as Lusitania was tropedoed down by a German U-Boat. Almost 1200 people died as it sunk only 18 minutes after getting hit. The ship was owned by the British and was going to be commandeered by the Navy for mercenary purposes but ended up returning to passenger services. The ship being sunk was one of the reasons the USA got involved in the war, as it was carrying regular passengers. The picture is of Lusitania arriving into port. -
Battle of Verdun
The Battle of Verdun was one of the deadliest battles in the war, claiming over 700,000 casualties in total. Roughly 377,000 were French casualties and 337,000 German. This battle finished on the 18th of December 1916, after France claimed victory after recapturing all the land they had lost. They also managed to overpower the centre of all Verdun's defensive system, Fort Douaumont. The image shows a French trench used during this battle. -
Battle of Jutland - Major Naval Battle of the War
This major battle took place between the British Grand Fleet and the German High Seas Fleet. It is considered the largest Naval battle in history because of the sheer number of ships involved. It took place in the North Sea just off the coast of Jutland, Denmark. The result was tactically inconclusive and Britain continued to dominate the North Sea region. The German's planned on luring and destroying a number of ships but failed. The image is of SMS Seydlitz after the battle. -
Battle of the Somme commences
This battle lasted until November 18, 1916 It is considered by many to have opitimised the sheer bloodiness of the Great War. The British Army suffered roughly 420,000 deaths including 60,000 on the very first day alone. The French lost around 200,000 and the German's had 500,000 casualties. The reason for the battle was because the French were losing badly in Verdun so to help relieve the French the Allied High Command decided to attack from above the Germans near Verdun. -
Battle of Fromelles
The Battle of Fromelles was a major battle that Australia and Britain were heavily involved in on the Western Front. The operation was directed against a strong German position known as Sugar Loaf. It was originally intended to distract the German soldiers away from the battle at Somme. 7 hours of bombardment defeated any element of surprise involved in the attack, and the Allies suffered heavily. They were forced to withdraw. The photo is of Australian diggers captured after the failed attack. -
Introduction of the tank in WWI
The first ever tank used in World War I was by the British Empire at the Battle of Flers. The debut of tank warfare was a success. They were used again at the Battle of Somme but with much less sucess. The unreliable tanks were very useful in trench warfare thanks to their mobility. It was the first "fighting vehicle" that was not limited to just normal terrain. The first tanks were much more versatile than any other war vehicle. The photo shows a British Mark V (male) Tank. -
Zimmermann Telegram Intercepted
A telegram sent from German Foreign Minister Arthur Zimmermann to Germany's Mexican correspondant was intercepted by the British Empire. It stated that Germany was going to start using unrestricted submarine warfare, and called for Mexico to join forces with Germany to help defeat the United States if they were to get involved. The telegram was made public to the US citizens and it changed a lot of their viewpoints from neutral to wanting to joing the Allies. The photo is the original telegram. -
USA declares war against Germany
Up until this day, America managed to keep uninvolved in warfare besides trading goods with some of the countries involved. They had let the world know that they would be neutral and isolated. Unrestricted submarine warfare caused President Woodrow Wilson to pledge America's involvement in April 1917 and they declared war on Germany, joining the Allies. The American people were happily uninvolved in the war and so Wilson used this as his marketing idea during the re-election in 1916. -
Battle of Vimy Ridge
The battle of Vimy Ridge was fought mainly between the Canadian Corps and the German Sixth Army. This battle played a key role in starting the British-led Battle of Arras. The Battle of Arras was a diversion for the French Nivelle Offensive. The goal for the Canadians was to take control of the German-occupied high posts in the Arras Offensive area.The whole battle was considered a Canadian and Allied success. The image is a painting of the battle and the artist is Richard Jack. -
Second Battle of Aisne
This battle was considered one of the biggest failures of the war, as French troops attempted to take over the east-west ridges of the Chemin des Dames and then head north to capture the town of Laon. They French troops only ended up making it 500 yards inland and lost over 250,000 men. As soon as they landed on the shore the German's shot at them from every angle imaginable. It was a major victory for the German Empire and an embarassment for the French. The picture shows the French charging. -
Battle of Passchendaele
This is a very famous battle on the Western front and it was fought between Britain and it's Allies against Germany. They were fighting over the control of the ridges south and east of the town of Ypres. The strategy was set-up by the Allies many months prior to the actual battle. It was considered a win for the British Empire. The battle ended on the 6th of November with the British losing 310,000 men and the German's losing 260,000. The photo is of Canadian soldiers carrying trench mats. -
Treaty of Brest-Litovsk signed between Germany and Russia
The Brest-Litovsk was signed betweed the Russian Empire and the German Empire. Discussions between the different parties were originally and organisational failure due to the German's allies not showing up at all at first. On February 18 1918, the German's advanced 100 miles into Russian territory in just 4 days. This led the Russian leaders to appeal for a treaty to be signed. Vladimir Lenin had prmoised his people an end to the war and he either had to go through with a treaty or cause chaos. -
Germany signed an armistice to officially end WWI
On the 11/11 at exactly 11:00, Germany signed an armistice to agree to end all further conflicts with many other conditions to abide by. Some of these conditions were to retreat all soldiers to behind their own borders, to return all prisoners of war, the disposition of German warships ad aircraft and the promise of reperations. Although the German's did admit to defeat by signing this, they did not technically surrender. The photo was taken on the day of the signing.
