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Revolution overthrows Austria-Hungary Emperor
In March 1848, revolution erupted in Vienna, forcing Austria's Chancellor Klemens von Metternich to flee the capital. -
Germany officially United
OVB unites Germany. -
France loses Alsace & Lorraine
As soon as war was declared, both the French and Germans used the inhabitants of Alsace-Lorraine as pawns in the growing conflict between France and Germany. -
Triple Alliance formed
the military alliance among Germany, Austria–Hungary, and Italy that lasted from 1882 until World War I in 1914. -
Russo-Japanese War
The Russo-Japanese War (8 February 1904 – 5 September 1905) was "the first great war of the 20th century." It grew out of rival imperial ambitions of the Russian Empire and the Empire of Japan over Manchuria and Korea. -
Triple Entente alliance formed
the alliance linking Russia, France, and the United Kingdom after the signing of the Anglo-Russian Entente on August 31, 1907. -
Austria-Hungary annexes Bosnia
Causes first tensions between Serbia and Austria-Hungary -
Archduke Franz Ferdinand assassinated
Archduke Franz Ferdinand assassinated starting WWI -
Austria declares war on Serbia
Officially began WWI -
Ottoman-Germany Alliance formed
The Ottoman – German Alliance was an alliance between the German Empire and the Ottoman Empire that was ratified shortly following the outbreak of World War I. The alliance was created as part of a joint-cooperative effort that would strengthen and modernize the ailing Ottoman military, as well as provide Germany safe passage into neighboring British colonies. -
Schleiffen Plan put into Action
Germany would travel through Belgium and Luxembourg to sneak attack France, but this action caused Britain to declare war on Germany. -
Japan Declares War on Germany
In 1914, the government of Japan sends an ultimatum to Germany, demanding the removal of all German ships from Japanese and Chinese waters and the surrender of control of Tsingtao—the location of Germany’s largest overseas naval bases, located on China’s Shantung Peninsula—to Japan by noon on August 23. -
Battle of Tannenberg
Eastern Front - The battle resulted in the almost complete destruction of the Russian Second Army, as well as the death of its commander Alexander Samsonov. -
Battle of Marne
The battle effectively ended the month long German offensive that opened the war and had reached the outskirts of Paris. -
Russia-Germany Pact violates Versailles
Russians ran out of ammo and guns, so the front line would have guns and the others behind would follow and pick up the weapons when those on the front lines died. -
Unrestricted submarine warfare commences
A type of naval warfare in which submarines sink vessels such as freighters and tankers without warning. Started in early 1915. -
Battle of Gallipoli
Major Allied failure to secure the Dardanelle Straits, a major shipping route with easy access to the Ottoman Capital. -
Lusitania sinks
British luxury liner sunk by a German submarine in the North Atlantic on May 7, 1915: one of the events leading to U.S. entry into World War I. -
Battle of Verdun
Main French battle on their soil. -
Battle of Jutland
It was the largest naval battle and the only full-scale clash of battleships in WWI -
Battle of Somme
The battle was one of the largest of World War I, in which more than 1,000,000 men were wounded or killed, making it one of humanity's bloodiest battles. -
Zimmerman Telegram found
A 1917 diplomatic proposal from the German Empire for Mexico to join the Central Powers, in the event of the United States entering World War I on the side of the Entente Powers. -
Bolsheviks emerge as a political group
Prefer communism, overthrow Nicholas II, pull Russia out of WWI -
Tsar Nicholas II abdicates
During the February Revolution, Czar Nicholas II, ruler of Russia since 1894, is forced to abdicate the throne by the Petrograd insurgents, and a provincial government is installed in his place. -
US declares war on Germany
On December 11, 1941, the United States Congress declared war upon Germany in response to that nation's declaration of war following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, and only hours after Germany declared war on the United States. -
Battle of Passchendaele
The battle took place on the Western Front, between July and November 1917, for control of the ridges south and east of the Belgian city of Ypres in West Flanders. -
October Revolution
overthrew the czar and brought the Bolsheviks, a Communist party led by Lenin, to power. -
Balfour Declaration
The statement made by Arthur Balfour in 1917 of British support for the setting up of a national home for the Jews in Palestine, provided that the rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine could be safeguarded. -
Vladimir Lenin seizes power in Russia
Vladimir Lenin seizes power from the Tsarist regime in a coup d'etat. Widespread starvation and catastrophic military failure in the First World War left Russia ripe for revolt. Lenin took advantage of this and led the Bolsheviks to victory. -
Influenza Epidemic
1918 Spanish influenza pandemic estimated as being responsible for the deaths of approximately 50 million people or more. -
14 points proposed
United States President Woodrow Wilson declared that World War I was being fought for a moral cause and calling for postwar peace in Europe. -
Russia signed Treaty of Best-Litovsk
The Treaty of Brest-Litovsk was a peace treaty on March 3, 1918, between the new Bolshevik government of Russia (the Russian Soviet Federated Socialist Republic) and the Central Powers (Germany, Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria, and Turkey), which ended Russia's participation in World War I. -
Kaiser Wilhelm II abdicates
With Germany actively seeking an armistice and revolution threatening, calls for Kaiser Wilhelm II to abdicate grew in intensity. Wilhelm was himself deeply reluctant to make such a sacrifice, instead expressing a preference to lead his armies back into Germany from the Western Front. -
Treaty of Versailles signed
the treaty imposed on Germany by the Allied powers in 1920 after the end of World War I which demanded exorbitant reparations from the Germans -
Treaty of Saint-Germain
The Treaty of St. Germain formally dissolved the Austro-Hungarian Empire though this was a ‘done deal’ by the time the treaty was signed. -
New Economic Policy
A Soviet program in effect from 1921 to 1928, reviving the wage system and private ownership of some factories and businesses, and abandoning grain requisitions. -
Stalin takes over Russia
When Lenin died in 1924, everybody expected Trotsky to take over the leadership. Instead, Stalin schemed his way into power, using his position as General Secretary, and a series of ruthless political moves. -
Trotsky flees Russia
Stalin exiled Trotsk because Trotsky believed he had the right to power. Trotsky continued to attack Stalin from abroad until he was murdered by a soviet assassin in Mexico. -
Germany stops reparation payments to France
In March 1930, Germany stopped paying reparation payments which were the result of the Treaty of Versailles which made them pay for repairs after the war they had caused.
