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Austria-Hungarian Revolution
With violence erupting in Vienna, the Chancellor of Vienna, Klemens von Metternich, fled in terror; This led to confusion and terror in Austria. -
France Losses Alsace and Lorraine
Otto van Bismarck. chancellor of Prussia, during the German unification process, decided to take Alsace and Lorraine for cultural purposes. For France, World War I provided the perfect opportunity to try and get their former providences back. -
The Official Unification of Germany
At the Palace of Versailles, the new German Empire was made officially known. Known as the Reich, the country was lead by their leader, the Kaiser. -
The Formation of the Triple Alliance
The alliance between Germany, Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria, and Turkey. -
Period: to
World War I: The Great War
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The Russo-Japanese War begins
Following the Russian rejection of a Japanese plan to divide Manchuria and Korea into spheres of influence, Japan launches a surprise naval attack against Port Arthur, a Russian naval base in China. The Russian fleet was decimated. -
The Formation of the Triple Entente
An alliance between France, Great Britain, and Russia; Became a military alliance in 1911. -
The Annexation of Bosnia
The Dual Monarchy of Austria-Hungary announced the annexation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (former providences of the Ottoman Empire). -
Assassination of Austrian Monarchs
Austrian Archduke Ferdinand, and his wife Sophie, were fatally shot by a Bosnian Serb extreme nationalist on their visit to the capital of Sarajevo. -
Austria declares war on Serbia
One month after the assassination of their beloved Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife, Austria declares war on Serbia, effectively starting World War I. -
The Formation of the Ottoman-German Alliance
The Germans and the Ottomans, the two contracting parties, agreed to observe strict neutrality in regard to the present conflict between Austria-Hungary and Serbia; and in case Russia should intervene with active military measures, and should thus bring about a casus foederis for Germany with relation to Austria-Hungary, this casus foederis would also come into existence for Turkey. -
The Schlieffen Plan is put into action
With the invasions of Luxembourg and Belgium, the German Schlieffen PLan goes into effect. -
Japan Declares War on Germany
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. -
The Battle of Tannenberg
On August 26, 1914, the German 8th Army (under the leadership of Paul von Hindenburg and Erich Ludendorff), strikes with lethal force against the advancing Russian 2nd Army, led by General Aleksandr Samsonov, in East Prussia. -
The Battle of Marne
The French 6th Army (under General Michel-Joseph Manoury) attacks the right flank of the German 1st Army; A decisive victory for the Allied Powers (as well as the Triple Entente). -
The Battle of Gallipoli
Also known as the Gallipoli Campaign, the battle was carried out on the Gallipoli Peninsula; It was one of the greatest Allied Powers' failures in World War I. -
The Sinking of the "Lusitania"
the British ocean liner Lusitania is torpedoed without warning by a German submarine off the south coast of Ireland. Within 20 minutes, the vessel sank into the Celtic Sea. Of 1,959 passengers and crew, 1,198 people were drowned, including 128 Americans. The attack aroused considerable indignation in the United States, but Germany defended the action, noting that it had issued warnings of its intent to attack all ships, neutral or otherwise, that entered the war -
The Battle of Verdun
A shot from a German Krupp 38-centimeter long-barreled gun strikes a cathedral in Verdun, France, beginning the Battle of Verdun, which would stretch on for 10 months and become the longest conflict of World War I. -
The Battle of Jutland
Just before four o'clock on the afternoon of May 31, 1916, a British naval force commanded by Vice Admiral David Beatty confronts a squadron of German ships, led by Admiral Franz von Hipper, some 75 miles off the Danish coast. The two squadrons opened fire on each other simultaneously, beginning the opening phase of the greatest naval battle of World War I. -
Germany Begins Unrestricted Submarine Warfare
Germany declared the area around the British Isles a war zone, in which all merchant ships, including those from neutral countries, would be attacked by the German navy. -
The Zimmermann Telegram Discovered
On this day in 1917, the text of the so-called Zimmermann Telegram, a message from the German foreign secretary, Arthur Zimmermann, to the German ambassador to Mexico proposing a Mexican-German alliance in the case of war between the United States and Germany, is published on the front pages of newspapers across America. -
The Abdication of Czar Nicholas II
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. -
The United States Declares War on Germany
President Woodrow Wilson made a joint session of Congress on April 4th, 1917, about the proposal of declaring war on Germany; The Senate agreed, as well as the House two days later. -
The Emmergence of the Bolsheviks
The arrival of the very popular Boshevik Party throws the country of Russia into a sweeping revolution -
The Battle of Passchendaele
The Battle of Passchendaele, fought July 1917, is sometimes called the Third Battle of Ypres. For the soldiers who fought at Passchendaele, it was known as the 'Battle of Mud'. Few battles encapsulate World War One better than the Battle of Passchendaele. The attack at Passchendaele was Sir Douglas Haig's attempt to break through Flanders. -
The Balfour Declaration
Foreign Secretary Arthur James Balfour wrote to Baron Lionel Walter Rothschild (Britain's most illustrious Jewish citizen), expessing the support of the British government for the Jewish homeland to be Plaestine. -
The October Revolution
On the night of Nov. 6 (Oct. 24, O.S.), the Bolsheviks staged an coup, engineered by Trotsky; aided by the workers' Red Guard and the sailors of Kronstadt, they captured the government buildings and the Winter Palace in Petrograd. -
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. -
The Fourteen Points Proposal
Proposed by U.S. President Woodrow Wilson, these Fourteen Points were a list of actions that all countries involved in the Great War needed to know and abide by to maintain peace. -
The Russia-Germany Pact violates Versailles
Russia and Germany violate Versailles with Russia supplying food, money, and military supplies to Germany to increase military power; Germany invades 2 years later. -
The Influenza Epidemic
With starting symptoms of "three-day fever" in the beginning stages, the flu spread to kill over an estimated 50 million people. -
The Treaty of Brest-Litovsk
Russia signed a treaty with the Central Powers that ended full participation for the country in the first World War. -
The Battle of Somme
Fought near the Somme river, this battle was one of the largest in World War I, as well as one of the bloodiest battles in history; The first major offense by the British. -
The Signing of the "Armistice"
Signed between France, Germany, and Britain, the document brought the "Great War" to an end. -
The Abdication of Kaiser Wilhelm II
Germany demanded a war-like, strict military government during the first World War; One that Wilhelm II wasn't willing to rule; After the kaiser's abdication,Germany was launched into a militaristic nation, one that will eventually be ruled by Adolf Hitler and his Nazi Party. -
The Signing of the Treaty of Versailles
World War I officially ended with the signing of the Treaty of Versailles on June 28, 1919. Negotiated among the Allied powers with little participation by Germany, its 15 parts and 440 articles reassigned German boundaries and assigned liability for reparations. After strict enforcement for five years, the French assented to the modification of important provisions. Germany agreed to pay reparations under the Dawes Plan and the Young Plan, but those plans were cancelled in 1932. -
The Treaty of Saint-Germain Signed
The Treaty of St. Germain formally dissolved the Austro-Hungarian Empire though this was a ‘done deal’ by the time the treaty was signed.It also recognised the independence of Hungary, Poland, Yugoslavia and Czechoslovakia. -
The New Economic Policy (NEP)
The New Economic Policy (NEP), introduced by Lenin at the Tenth Party Congress in March 1921, represented a major departure from the party's previous approach to running the country. Under NEP the Soviet economy revived. -
Stalin Takes Over Russia
After Lenin's death, the Bolsheviks move aside and crumble; Stalin, with his new Communist Party, takes Russia by storm. -
Trostsky Flees Russia
Trotsky was next in line after the death of Lenin, but Josef Stalin's rise to power made him, and the old Bolshevik ideas, run with terror. -
Germany ceases paying reparations to France
Germany stops paying reparations because of the Global Depression, and with Adolf Hitler's rise to power (in 1933). -
Russia's Army low on Ammuntion
In aiding the Eastern Germans in constructing the Berlin Wall, the U.S. gives aid to the Russians.
