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Archduke Franz Ferdinand & his wife Sophie are assisnated
While visiting Sarajevo, Bosnia, Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife Sophie were assassinated by a Serbian who was part a Serbian terrorist group. This angered the Austrians and caused them to declare war against Serbia. -
Austria declares War on Serbia
Austria declares war on Serbia because a Serbian terrorist killed Archduke Franz Ferdinand. This declaration of war caused Russia to send troops to Serbia to help fight. This caused a chain of declaration of wars against many different countries. -
The First Battle of Marne
Germany attacks France in hopes of trying to continue the Schlieffen Plan. The First Battle of Marne is the largest battle during the war. It ended the Schleiffen plan because Germany lost to France and proved that this war wasn't going to be as short as many thought it to be. -
Trench Warfare Is Used
Trench warfare is used as a straegy to fight during battles. Soldiers dig long trenches and shoot at each other from opposite sides. -
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The Gallipoli Campaign
The Allie's strategy to attack a a region in the Ottoman Empire known as the Dardanelles. They wanted to gain control of Constantinople, the Ottoman capital, and defeat the Turks. This campaign ended because this campaign became another stalemate. -
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Battle of Somme Slaughter Reached Peak
The Battle of Somme created a large amount of causalities. The British and French attacked Germany and won but with a large loss of soldiers. Over 300,000 soldiers were lost on each side of the battle. -
Unrestricted Submarine Warfare
This was a technique used by the Germans during the war In 1915, then again in 1917. Germans used their submarines to sink any ship that came near Britain, without warning the ships. The Americans were very opposed to this, because one of the German submarines had sunk a boat with many Americans on it. -
America joins the war on the Allies side
On April 2, 1917 America joined the War. The first reason why they joined the allies was because the Germans were resorting to unrestricted submarine warfare, and sunk American ships. Also, the Americans found the Zimmerman letter, which showed them that Germany was trying to bribe Mexico to join the Central powers, by offering to help Mexico reconquer land it lost to America. -
Russia withdraws from the war
One reason Russia withdrew was because they were one of the only countries in the War that was not yet industrialized, and this put them at a disadvanage. Another main reason was that Russia's czar stepped down, and a different government took his place. But soon after, a revolution took place, and Vladimir Lenin took control, and signed the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk with Germany, saying they would no longer fight. -
Second Battle of Marne
After Russia withdrew from the war, Germany was free to send all of its troops to the western front. However, after they reached Marne, they became exhausted. This is when the Allies decided to take advantage of the situation and send in fresh troops. The Allies crushed German forces in this battle, known as the Second Battle of Marne, and began advancing toward Germany. -
Germany and France sign an Armistice
The central powers were quickly crumbling, and Austria-Hungary was in a tumoil. Meanwhile, Germany accuired acquired a new republic. Sick of fighting, a representative from the new republic met with a French general, and on November 11, they signed an armistice and World War I ended.
