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Germany declares war on France
Germany declares war as a preemptive strike of France. As they have already broken the peace, they hope to get France out of the way to lessen the resistance. Picture of French soldiers from WWI era
http://17thdivision.tripod.com/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderpictures/imag1102.jpg -
Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria
Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria assassinated at The Latin Bridge in Sarajevo by Gavrilo Princip, one of 6 Serbian assassins coordinated by Danilo Ilić. -
Period: to
Lead up to World War One
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Austria-Hungary declares war on Serbia
Threatened by the uprising of the Serbs and the assassination of Franz Ferdinand, Austria-Hungary decides the only solution is a full scale invasion of Serbia. This picture is of the New York Times reporting on the unrest in Europe http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0728.html -
Russia mobilizes
Russia mobilizes it's army to defend Serbia. This causes Germany to become wary, ready to support Austria-Hungary if Russia were to get involved. Image of Russian soldiers from http://jsydneyjones.files.wordpress.com/2010/06/russian-soldiers-wwi.jpg -
Period: to
World War One
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Germany declares war on Russia
Due to Russia refusing to back down, Germany declares war in defence of Austria-Hungary. This, ultimately, is what goes on to start the chain reaction of declarations of war that causes World War 1. German flag at the time
http://acenturyofnovember.com/html/gallery_axis.php -
German invasion of Belgium
Germany invades Belgium as part of the Schlieffen Plan in order to hook around and attack France frome the north; the idea being they would take out France quickly and get back to defend their borders from (and then take over) Russia. Picture of the Schlieffen Plan on a map
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fe/Schlieffen_Plan.jpg -
Britain declares war on Germany
Britain declares war on Germany because Britain is allies with Belgium, which was invaded by Germany as part of the Schlieffen plan in order to get to France and be back in time to protect it self from Russia. Confusing? Yes. Picture of the New York Times reporting these circumstances
http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0804.html -
Austria-Hungary declares war on Russia, Serbia declares war on Germany
Due to the alliances in place and the other countries declaring war around them, BECAUSE of them, Austria-Hungary and Serbia declare war on Russia and Germany respectively. Picture of Austro-Hungarian soldiers from WWI
http://www.austro-hungarian-army.co.uk/sturmtruppen.html -
The First Battle of The Marne
This battle marks the beginning of Trench Warfare of The Western Front, with trenches being one of the most terrible memories of World War 1 Picture of French soldiers at the First Battle of The Marne
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/83/French_soldiers_ditch_1914.jpg -
The first Zeppelin raid on Britain
Zeppelins were used as war aircraft due to their light weight and capacity to hold arms. 19th of January 1915 marked the first zeppelin bomb raid on Britain. Image of a British propoganda poster featuring a zeppelin -
The Second Battle of Ypres
The Second Battle if Ypres was the first time poison gas was used as a mass weapon on the Western front. Poison gas became one of the most terrible, most feared weapos dure=ing World War One. Picture of a French Soldier wearing an early gas mask
http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/fileadmin/historyLearningSite/poison4.jpg -
The Gallipoli Campaign
The Gallipoli Campaign is another of the most famous (possibly the most famous in Australia) battles in World War One. This battle is remembered by Australians and New Zealanders on the 25th of April, ANZAC Day. Compilation of pictures from the Gallipoli Campaign http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:G.C._18_March_1915_Gallipoli_Campaign_Article.jpg -
RMS Lusitania sunk by German U-Boat
Germany had declared the seas around the United Kingdom to be a war-zone. On the afternoon of May 7, the Lusitania was torpedoed by a German U-Boat, 11 miles off the southern coast of Ireland and inside the declared “zone of war”. A second internal explosion sent her to the bottom in 18 minutes, claiming the lives of 1198 people. Image of Lusitania
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d9/RMS_Lusitania_com -
The Battle of Verdun
The Battle of Verdun was the longest battle of World War One, lasting from the 21st of February to the 18th of December. It was one of the most devastating battles in WWI, and even human history. Modern estimates put the number of casualties at 976,000. Picture of a trench at Verdun
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/06/French_trench_battle.jpg -
The Battle of Jutland
The Battle of Jutland was the largest naval battle in World War One, and the only battle to feature full-scale clashes between battleships. Picture of a map of where the battle took placehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Map_of_the_Battle_of_Jutland,_1916.svg -
The Battle of The Somme
The Battle of The Somme is one of the most famous battles from World War One, and was the bloodiest battle recorded in human history, with the casualties count being over a million. The Battle of The Somme also marked the first use of tanks in warfare. Picture of men in a trench during The Battle of The Somme
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fa/Cheshire_Regiment_trench_Somme_1916.jpg -
The Battle of Arras
Planned as a quick finish to the war, the Battle of Arras essentialy failed. For more info, see second timeline. Picture of a tank at the Battle of Arras (link is on the event with the same picture in the other timeline, so look there as I can't find it at the moment.) -
The Red Baron shot down
The famous German pilot Baron Manfred von Richthofen (more commonly known as the Red Baron), was shot down. His death has been claimed as caused by Canadian, Australian and British soldiers. Image of The Red Baron
http://www.awm.gov.au/exhibitions/1918/people/rbaron.asp -
Germany signs the Armistice of Compiègne
The Armistice of Compiègne was signed by representatives of the countries involved. It came into effect on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month, which is remembered as Remebrance Day in Australia and other Commonwealth contries. Image of representatives at the signing of the armistice
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2f/Armisticetrain_%28slight_crop%29.jpg -
The Treaty of Versailles
The Treaty of Versailles was a peace treaty signed by The Allied Powers and Germany, signaling the end of war between them, officially ending World War One. Image of the English Version of The Treaty
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b8/Treaty_of_Versailles%2C_English_version.jpg
