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Assassination of Archduke Ferdinand of Austria and his wife by Serbian anarchist.
The assassination occurred in Sarajevo when they were shot dead by Gavrilo Princip. The political objective of the assassination was to break off Austria-Hungary's South Slav provinces so they could be combined into a Yugoslavia. The assassination led directly to the First World War when Austria-Hungary subsequently issued an ultimatum to the Kingdom of Serbia, which was partially rejected.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assassination_of_Archduke_Franz_Ferdinand_of_Austria -
Austria Declares War on Serbia
On July 28, 1914, one month to the day after Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria and his wife were killed by a Serbian nationalist in Sarajevo, Austria-Hungary declares war on Serbia, effectively beginning the First World War.
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/austria-hungary-declares-war-on-serbia -
Germany Declares war on Russia and France.
4 days after Austria declared war on Serbia, Germany declared war on Russia and then 2 days after it declared war on France
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/germany-and-france-declare-war-on-each-other
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/first-world-war-erupts-in-europe -
England Declares War on Germany.
Britain had given Germany an ultimatum to get out of Belgium by midnight of August 3rd. In fear of being surrounded by the might of Russia and France, Germany had put into being the Schlieffen Plan. Asquith could either turn a blind eye to a war in mainland Europe that might have little impact on Britain if she stood as a neutral. Or the British public could see Asquith as the man who stood up to the perceived bullying of Germany and who stood for righteousness and decency. -
Miracle on the Marne
Poorly equipped and badly organized, the French Army was in dire straits, retreating on all fronts alongside its newly arrived British allies. But in one final surge from Sept. 6 to 9, they somehow managed to halt the German advance and change the course of World War I in the Battle of the Marne — talked of as a “miracle” by those who witnessed it.
http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2014/09/05/world/miracle-marne-world-war-battle-changed-history/#.V0JT0ZErK01 -
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The Race to the Sea
The term described reciprocal attempts by the Franco-British and German armies to envelop the northern flank of the opposing army through Picardy, Artois and Flanders, rather than an attempt to advance northwards to the sea. The "race" ended on the North Sea coast of Belgium when the last open area from Dixmude to the North Sea was occupied by Belgian troops. The outflanking attempts had resulted in a number of encounter battles but neither side was able to gain a decisive victory. -
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Gallipoli Campaign
This was an unsuccessful attempt by the Allied Powers to control the sea route from Europe to Russia during World War I. The campaign began with a failed naval attack by British and French ships on the Dardanelles Straits in February-March 1915 and continued. By mid-October, Allied forces had suffered heavy casualties and had made little headway from their initial landing sites. Evacuation began in December 1915, and was completed early the following January. -
Italy Joins the Allies
On April 26, 1915, after receiving the promise of significant territorial gains, Italy signs the Treaty of London, committing itself to enter World War I on the side of the Allies.
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/allies-sign-treaty-of-london -
German U-boat sinks British ocean liner Lusitania
The earlier German attacks on merchant ships off the south coast of Ireland prompted the British Admiralty to warn the Lusitania to avoid the area or take simple evasive action as zigzagging to confuse U-boats plotting the vessel’s course. The captain of the Lusitania ignored these recommendations, and at 2:12 p.m. on May 7, in the waters of the Celtic Sea, the 32,000-ton ship was hit by an exploding torpedo on its starboard side. The torpedo blast was followed by a larger explosion, probably. -
Central Powers Defeat Serbia
In the autumn of 1915, the Serbian army was still a participant in the First World War. The Serbian army was underestimated in the early portion of the war and faced an invasion by Austro-Hungarian forces under Marshall Conrad. The Austro-Hungarian forces invaded Serbia from the west and were intent upon destroying the Serbs and exacting revenge for the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand.
http://www.worldwar1.com/tgws/serbinv.htm -
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Battle of Verdun
German forces advanced quickly in February 1916, claiming Fort Douaumont and Fort Vaux after brutal subterranean melees. Despite coming within two miles of Verdun cathedral, the Germans called off their offensive in mid-July, and Falkenhayn was relieved of his position. The French retook their forts and pushed back the line, and by the time their forces ground to a halt in December, both sides were left with more than 600,000 casualties. -
Battle of Jutland
Involving some 250 ships and 100,000 men, this battle off Denmark’s North Sea coast was the only major naval surface engagement of World War I. When the main warships met, British Admiral John Jellicoe maneuvered his boats to take advantage of the fading daylight, scoring dozens of direct hits that eventually forced German Admiral Reinhard Scheer into retreat. Both sides claimed victory in this indecisive battle, though Britain retained control of the North Sea. -
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The Somme Offensive
The Battle of the Somme, also known as the Somme Offensive, was one of the largest battles of the First World War. Fought between July 1 and November 1, 1918 near the Somme River in France, it was also one of the bloodiest military battles in history. On the first day alone, the British suffered more than 57,000 casualties, and by the end of the campaign the Allies and Central Powers would lose more than 1.5 million men.
http://www.history.com/topics/world-war-i/battle-of-the-somme -
Zimmerman Note
In the telegram, intercepted and deciphered by British intelligence in January 1917, Zimmermann instructed the ambassador, Count Johann von Bernstorff, to offer significant financial aid to Mexico if it agreed to enter any future U.S-German conflict as a German ally. If victorious in the conflict, Germany also promised to restore to Mexico the lost territories of Texas, New Mexico and Arizona. President Wilson proposed that they should start arming its ships against possible German attacks. -
Russian Revolution Begins
On March 8, 1917, demonstrators clamoring for bread took to the streets of the Russian capital of Petrograd. Supported by 90,000 men and women on strike, the protesters clashed with police, refusing to leave the streets. On March 10, the strike spread among Petrograd’s workers, and irate mobs of workers destroyed police stations. Several factories elected deputies to the Petrograd Soviet (“council) of workers, following the model devised during the Revolution of 1905. -
United States Declares War on Germany.
Two days after the U.S. Senate voted 82 to 6 to declare war against Germany, the U.S. House of Representatives endorses the declaration by a vote of 373 to 50, and America formally enters World War I. -
Bolshevik Revolution in Russia
In 1917, two revolutions swept through Russia, ending centuries of imperial rule and setting in motion political and social changes that would lead to the formation of the Soviet Union. In March, growing civil unrest, coupled with chronic food shortages, erupted into open revolt, forcing the abdication of Nicholas II (1868-1918), the last Russian czar. Just months later, the newly installed provisional government was itself overthrown by the more radical Bolsheviks, led by Vladimir Lenin. -
British Capture Jerusalem from Turks
On the morning of this day in 1917, after Turkish troops move out of the region after only a single day s fighting, officials of the Holy City of Jerusalem offer the keys to the city to encroaching British troops. The British, led by General Edmund Allenby entered with respect into the city., by walking in.
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/jerusalem-surrenders-to-british-troops -
U.S President Wilson Proposes 14 Points for World Peace
In an address before a joint meeting of Congress, U.S. President Woodrow Wilson discusses the aims of the United States in World War I and outlines his famous “Fourteen Points” for achieving a lasting peace in Europe.
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/wilson-outlines-the-fourteen-points -
Treaty of Brest-Litovsk Pulls Russia Out of War
On March 3, 1918, in the city of Brest-Litovsk, located in modern-day Belarus near the Polish border, Russia signs a treaty with the Central Powers ending its participation in World War I.
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/treaty-of-brest-litovsk-concluded -
Bulgaria Surrenders to Allies
The Armistice of Salonica was signed on 29 September 1918 between Bulgaria and the Allied Powers in Thessaloniki. The convention followed after a request by the Bulgarian government on 24 September asking for a ceasefire. The armistice effectively ended Bulgaria's participation in World War I on the side of the Central Powers and came into effect on the Bulgarian front at noon on 30 September. The armistice regulated the demobilization and disarmament of the Bulgarian armed forces. -
Turkey Surrenders to the Allies
On October 30, 1918, aboard the British battleship Agamemnon, anchored in the port of Mudros on the Aegean island of Lemnos, representatives of Great Britain and the Ottoman Empire sign an armistice treaty marking the end of Ottoman participation in the First World War.
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/ottoman-empire-signs-treaty-with-allies -
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Armistice Day
At the 11th hour on the 11th day of the 11th month of 1918, the Great War ends. At 5 a.m. that morning, Germany, bereft of manpower and supplies and faced with imminent invasion, signed an armistice agreement with the Allies in a railroad car outside Compiégne, France. The First World War left nine million soldiers dead and 21 million wounded, with Germany, Russia, Austria-Hungary, France, and Great Britain each losing nearly a million or more lives. In addition five million civilians died.
