World war I/ Russian Revolution Timeline Project

  • France loses Alsace & Loraine to Germany

    France loses Alsace & Loraine to Germany
    Because of its ancient German associations and because of its large German-speaking population, Alsace-Lorraine was incorporated into the German Empire after France’s defeat in the Franco-German War. The loss of Alsace-Lorraine was a major cause of anti-German. France also suffered economically from the loss of Alsace-Lorraine’s valuable iron ore deposits, iron- and steelmaking plants, and other industries to Germany.
  • Russo Japanese War

    Russo Japanese War
    The Russo Japanese War was fought between the Russian Empire and the Empire of Japan over rival imperial ambitions in Manchuria and Korea. The major theatres of operations were the Liaodong Peninsula and Mukden in Southern Manchuria, and the seas around Korea, Japan, and the Yellow Sea.
  • Bloody Sunday

    Bloody Sunday
    in the Bogside area of Derry, Northern Ireland. British soldiers shot 26 unarmed civilians during a protest march against internment. Fourteen people died: thirteen were killed outright, while the death of another man four months later was attributed to his injuries. Many of the victims were shot while fleeing from the soldiers and some were shot while trying to help the wounded. Other protesters were injured by rubber bullets or batons, and two were run down by army vehicles
  • Austria Hungary annexes Bosnia

    Serbia saw the annexation as a threat from Austria, and mobilized its army to respond to the perceived threat from Austria. The Turks, who had ruled Bosnia and Herzegovina and Bulgaria for hundreds of years, was understandably unhappy with the annexation and the independence of Bulgaria.
  • Assassination of Archdruke Franz Ferdinand

    Assassination of Archdruke Franz Ferdinand
    heir presumptive to the Austro-Hungarian throne, and his wife Sophie, Duchess of Hohenberg, In Sarajevo when they were shot dead by Gavrilo Princip
  • Austria-Hungary declares war on Serbia

    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.Threatened by Serbian ambition in the tumultuous Balkans region of Europe, Austria-Hungary determined that the proper response to the assassinations was to prepare for a possible military invasion of Serbia.
  • Russia Mobilizes Army

    Russia Mobilizes Army
    One of the main causes of World War I was the mobilization of Russia. After facing defeat in the Franco Prussian War, Russia did not want to seem vulnerable to the other European countries. Therefore, Russia promised to support France when it found out that Germany had declared war on France. Soon after, France urged Russia to mobilize because it was afraid of immediate attack from the Germans and they were right.
  • Gemany Invades Belgium

    Gemany Invades Belgium
    the Belgian government had announced that if war came it would uphold its historic neutrality. The Belgian government mobilised its armed forces on 31 July and a state of heightened alert was proclaimed in Germany. On 2 August the German government sent an ultimatum to Belgium, demanding passage through the country and German forces invaded Luxembourg. Two days later, the Belgian Government refused the demands and the British Government guaranteed military support to Belgium.
  • Schlieffen Plan put into action

    Schlieffen Plan put into action
    The Schlieffen Plan was created by General Count. The Schlieffen Plan was the operational plan for a designated attack on France once Russia, in response to international tension, had started to mobilise her forces near the German border. The execution of the Schlieffen Plan led to Britain declaring war in Germany
  • Start of the Battle of Marne

    Start of the Battle of Marne
    the French 6th Army under the command of General Michel-Joseph Manoury attacks the right flank of the German 1st Army, beginning the decisive First Battle of the Marne at the end of the first month of World War I.
  • Sinking of the Lusitania

    Sinking of the Lusitania
    The Lusitania immediately began to sink. The captain of the Lusitania, Captain William Turner, ordered that the ship head for the Irish coast, but it was no use. Within a few minutes the captain gave the order to abandon ship. Many people had difficulty in getting off the ship because it was tilted so far to the side and sinking so fast. Within twenty minutes of being struck, the Lusitania had sunk. Of the 1,959 people on board, only 761 survived and 1,198 were killed.
  • Start of the Battle of Verdun

    Start of the Battle of Verdun
    It was one of the largest battles of the First World War on the Western Front between the German and French armies. The battle took place on the hills north of Verdun-sur-Meuse in north-eastern France. The German 5th Army attacked the defences of the (RFV) and those of the Second Army garrisons on the right bank of the Meuse,
  • Zimmerman telegraph found

    Zimmerman telegraph found
    It was an internal diplomatic communication issued from the German Foreign Office that proposed a military alliance between Germany and Mexico in the event of the United States' entering World War I against Germany. The proposal was intercepted and decoded by British intelligence.
  • Russian Czar Nicholas II abdicates

    Russian Czar Nicholas II abdicates
    Nicholas was neither trained nor inclined to rule, which did not help the autocracy he sought to preserve in an era desperate for change. The disastrous outcome of the Russo-Japanese War led to the Russian Revolution of 1905, which the czar diffused only after signing a manifesto promising representative government and basic civil liberties in Russia.
  • U.S Enters World War I

    U.S Enters World War I
    After two and a half years of efforts by President Woodrow Wilson to keep the United States neutral during World War I. Americans had no idea that war was imminent in Europe in the summer of 1914, and tens of thousands of tourists were caught by surprise.
  • October Revolution

    October Revolution
    It followed and capitalized on the February Revolution of the same year, which overthrew the Tsarist autocracy and resulted in a provisional government after a transfer of power proclaimed by Grand Duke Michael, brother of Tsar Nicolas II, who declined to take power after the Tsar stepped down. During this time, urban workers began to organize into councils wherein revolutionaries criticized the provisional government and its actions.
  • Russian Cilvil War

    Russian Cilvil War
    The Russian Civil War was a multi-party war in the former Russian Empire immediately after the Russian Revolutions of 1917, as many factions vied to determine Russia's political future. The two largest combatant groups were the Red Army, fighting for the Bolshevik form of socialism, and the loosely allied forces known as the White Army, which included diverse interests favoring monarchism, capitalism and alternative forms of socialism, each with democratic and antidemocratic variants
  • Fourteen Points proposed

    Fourteen Points proposed
    The Fourteen Points was a statement of principles for world peace that was to be used for peace negotiations to end World War I. The principles were outlined in a January 7, 1918 speech on war aims and peace terms to the United States Congress by President Woodrow Wilson. Europeans generally welcomed Wilson's points.
  • Russia Signs Treaty of Brest- Litovsk

    Russia Signs Treaty of Brest- Litovsk
    between the new Bolshevik government of Soviet Russia and the Central Powers (Germany, Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria, and Ottoman Empire), that ended Russia's participation in World War I. The treaty was signed at Brest-Litovsk after two months of negotiations. The treaty was forced on the Bolshevik government by the threat of further advances by German and Austrian forces. According to the treaty, Soviet Russia defaulted on all of Imperial Russia's commitments to the Triple Entente alliance.
  • Start of the battle of the Somme

    Start of the battle of the Somme
    Somme Offensive, was a battle of the First World War fought by the armies of the British and French empires against the German Empire. It was one of the largest battles of World War I, in which more than 1,000,000 men were wounded or killed, making it one of the bloodiest battles in human history.
  • Germany Invades Belgium

    Germany Invades Belgium
    The Belgian government mobilised its armed forces and a state of heightened alert was proclaimed in Germany. Also the German government sent an ultimatum to Belgium, demanding passage through the country and German forces invaded Luxembourg. Two days later, the Belgian Government refused the demands and the British Government guaranteed military support to Belgium.
  • Kaiser Wilhelm II abdicates

    Kaiser Wilhelm II abdicates
    Wilhelm's abdication was announced by Chancellor Prince Max von Baden. Before Wilhelm had in fact consented to abdicate (but after Social Democrat Philipp Scheidemann had announced the Kaiser's departure from the balcony of the Reichstag).
  • Armistice Signed

    Armistice Signed
    After the location in which it was signed – and the agreement that ended the fighting on the Western Front. It went into effect at 11 a.m. Paris time on 10 November 1918.and marked a victory for the Allies and a complete defeat for Germany, although not formally a surrender.
  • Treaty of Versailles signed

    Treaty of Versailles signed
    Was one of the peace treaties at the end of World War I. It ended the state of war between Germany and the Allied Powers. Exactly five years after the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand. The other Central Powers on the German side of World War I were dealt with in separate treaties
  • Stalin takes over Russia

    Stalin takes over Russia
    Joseph Stalin was the dictator of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. Under Stalin, the Soviet Union was transformed from a peasant society into an industrial and military superpower. However, he ruled by terror, and millions of his own citizens died during his brutal reign. Born into poverty, Stalin became involved in revolutionary politics, as well as criminal activities, as a young man.