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Assassination of Franz Ferdinand
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world war one began
world war one was a war was a global war centred in Europe. -
Austria declared war on Serbia
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Battle of Dogger Bank between squadrons of the British Grand Fleet and the German Hochseeflotte
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Second Battle of Ypres
Poison gas was used for the first time during this battle. The gas, fired by the Germans claimed many British casualties. -
Italy
Italy entered the war on the side of the Allies. -
Battle of the Somme
The battle was preceded by a week long artillery bombardment of the German 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 420,000 British soldiers (60,000 on the first day), 200,000 French soldiers and 500,000 German soldiers all for a total land gain of just 25 miles -
First Aeroplane raid
The first German air raid on London took place. The Germans hoped that by making raids on London and the South East, the British Air Force would be forced into protecting the home front rather than attacking the German air force. -
USA declares war on Germany
The United States of America declared war on Germany in response to the sinking, by German U boats, of US ships. -
world war one ends