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Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand
The archduke and his wife, Sophia, visited Bosnian city of Sarajevo, while he was heir to the Austria-Hungary throne. The Black Hand, a group of conspirators, wanted to become a big part of a Serbian Kingdom, and to be free of A-H. They planned to kill the archduke and wife, and tried to throw a bomb at their car. It missed and hit the car behind them. Gavrilo Princip later then successfully shot them, killing them, and Austria-Hungary wanting revenge. -
Germany Invades Belgium
A-H declared war on Serbia, which made Germany mad. They couldn't just demand mobilization on A-H, so they also wanted Russia to mobilize. Russia ignored them, so the "Schlieffen Plan" called for Germany to fight France, then move to Russia. Then, Belgium demanded the right for German troops to pass through their territory, even tthough they were a neutral nation. Great Britain got mad over Germany for violating the Belgium's neutrality, so they declared war. So all main nations became at war. -
1st Battle of the Marnes
Since the Schlieffen Plan meant Germany going in and attacking France, they were stopped close to Paris for this first battle, which lasted 4 days. This led to the beginning of trench warfare. -
Sinking of The Lusitania
The Lusitania was a passenger ship owned by the British. it was shot down by a German submarine. The ship had over 100 U.S. citizens inside, which made the rest of the U.S. angry, leading to them entering WWI. -
Battle of Jutland
The German and British rarely got into direct battle, but the one time was the Battle of Jutland, when nobody had a conclusive winning victory. -
Entry of the United States
The United States entered WWI in April. There was no specific date, because there were many steps involved in the process. But large numbers of troops didn't arrive until 1918. The entry of the U.S. provided a psychological boost, and a much better source of war goods and money. -
2nd Battle of the Marnes
When Germany was going to attack France, they got close to Paris, but got stopped about 50 miles away for the 2nd battle. Moroccan, French, and American troops threw the Germans back over the Marne with the help of many tanks. Ludendorff, who guided the German military, demanded peace afterwards. -
Armistice Signed
An armisrtice is a truce or an agreement to end fighting. This was signed by the new German government in order to get peace. -
Allies Sign Treaty of Versailles
There were five seperate treaties for the final peace settlement of Paris. All for the defeated nations: Turkey, Bulgaria, Austria, Germany, and Hungary. This was the most important treaty. The Germans thought this way of peace was harsh, because they were blamed for starting the war, along with Austria. They had to pay for all the damage, and reduce their its army, navy, and air force. But still accepted the treaty.
