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Franz Ferdinand Assassinated
Gavrilo Princip assassinated Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife in Sarajevo on June 28th 1914. This assassination started a chain of events which leaad to the first world War. -
Austria Declares War
One month after the assassination of ArchDuke Franz Ferdinand, Austria-Hungary declares war on Serbia for a failure to fulfill an ultimatum set after the ArchDuke's assassination. This declaration begins World War One. -
Period: to
World War One
From Austria's declaration of war on Serbia to the armstice in 1918. -
Germany Engages Schlieffen Plan
Germany Declares War on France and Belgium in order to engage their Schlieffen plan. The Schlieffen plan was orginally designed by Alfred von Schlieffen in december of 1905. it consists of using 90% of germany's forces to invade France through Belgium while the other 10% held the line against Russia and then turning around to fight Russia. The Schlieffen plan relied on Russia taking 6 weeks to mobilize their army and Germany being able to capture France in 6 weeks. -
German Schlieffen Plan Fails
The one month German advance is stopped when they lost the first Battle of the Marne, allowing the allied forces to push back 12 Km and more importanly giving them time to set up a defensive position that will remain for years to come. The loss stops the German's Shlieffen Plan of captuing france in only 6 weeks. -
First Canadian Troops land in France
Princess Patricia's Candian Light infantry reached the french front in december of 1914 and saw action near St. Eloi and in the Ypres Salient. -
The RMS Lusitania was Sunk
The RMS Lusitania carrying a majority of American passengers was sunk by a German U-Boat off the coast of England. This bothered many Americans and spread the notion throughout the united states that while they may be neutral they are not immune to the war. -
Second Battle for Ypres ends
The second battle for Ypres ends in a stalemate. During the battle the infamous poem "In Flanders Fields" was Written By John MacRae. Their were 6035 Canadian Casualties including 2000 people dead. -
Battle of the Somme
In late august to early october 1916 the battle of the Somme took place. This battle distinguished Canadians as hardened shock troops despite the fact that their were 24,029 Canadian Casualties. -
ZImmerman Telgram Recieved
The Zimmerman Telegram was a message sent from Arthur Zimmerman to the German ambassador in Mexico, saying that Germany intends to resume unrestricted submarine warfare and believes this may bring the U.S. into the war. Zimmerman requested that the ambassador speak to the mexican president about declaring war on the U.S. with german aid. This message was intercepted and decoded by Britain then sent to the U.S. infuriating many of it's citizens and drawing the united states into the war. -
United States Enters War
The United States enter the war on the side of the allies. The fresh troops arriving from the United States were a huge help to the ally side and may have been the tipping point of world war 1. -
Battle of Vimy Ridge ends
The Canadian Forces have succeeded where both the French and the British have failed, they successfully captured Vimy Ridge. Many new tactics were employed in this fight including the Vimy Glide (a slow march right behind a rolling barage) and the use of machine guns as a secondary form of artillery instead of attacking single targets. This victory did not come without a cost however as there were 13000 casualties including 3598 dead. Vimy ridge helped solidify Canada as an independent nation. -
Victory at Passchendaele
The Canadian Corps have successfully captured what remains of Passchendaele Ridge and the battle for Passchendaele is at an end. This victory did not come without a cost however as there were 15,654 Canadian Casualties including 4,028 dead. -
The 100 Day Offensive Begins
With the successful battle of the Amiens the allies have began pushing back against the Germans. Both the American and the Canadian armed forces participated in this final push that would eventually lead to the resolution of the first World War. -
Armstice in effect, The War is Over.
The Germans have surrendered and agreed to an armsticve to discuss treaty terms. A full four years of bloody fighting has finally ended with the allies (France Britain and Russia, aided by many other countries including Canada and the United States) as the victors. -
Treaty of Versailles Signed
The Treaty of Versailles is signed, with Canada getting to sign underneath Great Britain and recieving a seat in the league of nations. It is a large step towards Canadian independence.
