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Archduke Franz Ferdinand Was Assassinated
Believing that a royal visit will help charm and win over the people of Bosnia-Herzegovina, the emperor of Austria-Hungary sent his nephew, Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife, Sophie, for a royal visit to the city of Sarajevo. However, a Serb nationalist, namely, Gavrilo Princip saw this opportunity to express his opinion about the rulers by shooting the Archduke and his wife and putting an end to their lives. -
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World War 1
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Austria-Hungary Declares War on Serbia
After Serbia rejects one of Austria-Hungary's ten demands, Austria-Hungary declares war on Serbia. Using nationalism for its favour, Austria-Hungary managed to get Russia to side with them. -
Germany Declares War on Russia
When Russia does not stop preparing for the war as Germany said to, Germany decided to declare war on them, therefore breaking their ally in Triple Alliance. -
Britain Declares War on Germany
The Schlieffen Plan, as developed by Alfred von Schlieffen breaks Britain's neutral status when the German army tried to invade Belgium to get through to France. Britain had signed a treaty with Belgium in 1839 where it is stated that Britain must come to Belgium's defense in case of an invasion. -
Battle of the Frontiers
The battles occured at five locations- Mulhouse, Lorainne, the Ardennes, the Charleroi and Mons. This is the battle that fulfills the Schlieffen Plan. -
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The Western Front Campaign
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Germans and the Allies Face Each Other (The Western Front)
As the Germans proceeded with the Schlieffen Plan, the German army successfully marched through Belgium to France. Even though the British and French were able to hold them back from moving any further, unfortunately, the Allies couldn't. By Christmas 1914, there was a deadlock. The Germans and Allies ended up facing each other across a line of trenches that stretched from the Belgian coast to the Swiss border.It was a trench warfare. -
Allies land in Gallipoli
Australia Imperial Force along with troops from New Zealand, Britain and France land at Gallipolli.The Gallipoli campaign was designed to get troops and supplies to aid the Eastern Front campaign. -
Sinking of Lusitania
America managed to stay out of the war for the first couple of years. However, they still traded with Britain and remained in the Triple Entente's (Britain, France and Russia) side. The German army tried to hinder this by using the submarine warfare. They sunk the British passenger ship "Lusitania" killing 1198 passengers, 128 were Americans. -
Allies Were Ordered to Withdraw From Gallipolli
After eight months of fighting, the Allies were finally ordered to withdraw from Gallipolli. 140,000 soldiers from Britain, Canada, France, Australia, New Zealand, India and Turkey were killed. Half of these deaths were soldiers from Turkey. -
Battle of Somme
The Battle of Somme was another attempt to break the stalemate between the two armies. It was held at an area near the banks of the Somme River, and later on at Pozieres. 19 000 British soldiers died, 35 000 were injured and 2 000 went missing, all on the first day. The French casualties were around 7 000. -
Battle of Fromelles
The first major battle fought by Australian Troops on the Western Front. The main objective was to to draw German troops away from the Somme. It only lasted for a day but there were 5,533 casualties, the British 1,547 and the Germans little more than a thousand. The operation was a complete failure. -
End of Battle of Somme
By the end of the Battle of Somme, approximately 620 000 Allies died or were injured and around 500 000 for the German. -
America Declared War on Germany
After sinking two more British ships, the Gemans signed a pledge agreeing to stop. However this pledge was broken on March 1917 when they sunk more American ships. As a result of this, the Americans declare war on Germany and enter the war on the Triple Entente's side. -
First Battle of Bullecourt
Developed to assist the Arras operations. The attack was not planned properly therefore having disastrous results. There were over 3 300 casualties and 1 170 Australians were taken prisoner. This is the largest number captured in a single engagement during the war. -
Third Battle of Ypres- Passchendaele
It was planned to be the major breakthrough in Flanders. Instead Allied progress was slowed by mud. The British suffered 310,000 casualties, the Germans 260,000. -
Peace Treaty Between Germany and Russia Signed
The new communist government of Russia wanted to focus on internal troubles. They tried to find a way to get out of the war. As a result, they signed the Brest-Litovsk peace treaty with Germany. -
Battle of Le Hamel
The plan for this was originally developed by Australian Lieutenant General John Monash. His tatctics for coordinated infantry, artillery, tank and aircraft attacks allowed the Allies to achieve their objectives in a period of 93 minutes. -
Second Battle of Marne
This is the last battle of the Western Front campaign. It was initially planned to divert the Allies from Flanders. However, the German attack faltered and so victory was achieved by the Allies. 95 000 lives were lost from France, 13 000 from Britain, 12 000 from America and a total of 168 000 for Germany. -
Battle of Amiens
This is the last offensive for th Allies before the war ended. Allied forces managed to gain 7 miles on their first day. The Germans were constantly penetrated and then froced to retreat. The battle marked the end of the trench warfare in Western Front. The Western Front was a success for the Allies, although a lot of sacrices were made. This battle is where ANZAC Day and Rememberance Day originated from and will be forever significant not only for Australia, but other countries as well. -
End of World War 1
The Germans finally surrendered and the head of the German delegation- Mathais Erzberger, signed the Armistice (ceasefire). This was meant to mark the "end of all wars."
