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Franz Ferdinand Assassination
On June 28, 1914, the Archduke Franz Ferdinand was assassinated by Grivilo Princip, a member of a Serbian nationalist group. Franz Ferdinand was the heir to throne in the Austria-Hungary Empire. Princip shot Ferdinand as well as his wife and a few bodyguards. The assassination disrupted the balance between some European countries starting a world war. -
Austria-Hungary declares war on Serbia
Austria-Hungary blamed Serbia for the Archduke's murder. Serbia was given a list of demands from Austria-Hungary and Germany; they refused them. Austria-Hungary then declared war on Serbia on July 28, 1914. -
First use of gas as a weapon by the Germans
The Germans first used poison gas on the Allies in April 1915. A British soldier once described the horrors of people breathing it, and they would be seriously injured or dead.
"They fought with their terror, running blindly in the gas cloud, and dropping in agony." -quoted in Avoiding Armageddon
The Allies started bringing gas masks and their own poison gas to the battlefield as well after the Germans first attack. -
Sinking of the Lusitania
The Germans started using U-boats, submarines, to torpedo any steam ship or vessel coming into it's borders. On February 1915, the Lusitania left British ports. There was a heavy sheet of fog making it very hard for the captain to see the boats course. He traveled until he spotted land to have an idea to where they were. On May 7, 1915, a U-boat torpedoed the Lusitania killing over 1,000 people on board. -
President Woodrow Wilson is reelected
President Woodrow Wilson got reelected for president in 1916. He believed that the U.S. should stay neutral. His slogan was "He kept us out of war!"
The Republican nominee for president was Charles Evans Hughes. He supported neutrality, but one of his huge supporters was former President Theodore Roosevelt who supported the idea of war. This led to Wilson being a candidate of peace and Hughes a candidate of war. -
Zimmermann Note
The Zimmermann Note was sent as a telegram from Arthur Zimmerman to the German Ambassador in Mexico, Heinrich von Eckardt. The telegram was intercepted and decoded by the British. The note stated that the Mexicans had permission to invade the U.S.A. President Woodrow Wilson got the message and put it out in public. This changed Wilson's mind about staying neutral during the war. -
United States declares war on Germany
The United States liked to trade with Britain and Germany. Britain would blockade U.S. trade with Germany by stealing their goods. Germany would blow up any ships coming or leaving British ports. The German submarines torpedoing U.S. ships really bothered them, especially the Lusitania which killed over 1,000 people. Later Arthur Zimmerman sent the Zimmerman Note stating that the Mexicans could invade the U.S. That really angered the Americans to declare war on Germany. -
Bolsheviks, led by Vladimir Lenin, over throw Russian government.
In March 1917, the czar, Nicholas II, was overthrown during the first Russian revolution. The government that replaced the czar supported the war.
In November 1917, riots broke out because of the scarcity of food and fuel. A group called Bolsheviks, led by Vladimir Lenin, overthrew the new government. They wanted to pull out of the war to focus on setting up a Communist state. -
World War I ends
-The governments of Austria-Hungary and the Ottoman Empire surrendered the the Allies
-Poland, Hungary, and Czechoslovakia declared independence
-Austria-Hungary broke apart
-Ottoman Empire was on the brink of collapse
Germans wanted an armistice to end fighting. Pres. Wilson would only do it if they accepted peace and withdraw troops from Belgium and France. The German kaiser stepped down leaving Germany as a republic. Germany's new government agreed to Wilson's terms for an armistice. -
Treaty of Versailles
The Allies and Germany signed the Treaty of Versailles on June 28, 1919. Germany had to accept full responsibility for conflict, and they had to pay the Allies billions of dollars and give up its overseas colonies and some territory in Europe. The Austro-Hungarian and Russian Empires got carved up to form smaller nations and restore old ones. The League of Nations was added to the treaty because the members would prevent further wars and respect and protect everyone's independence.
