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Start of the First World War
The assassination of Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand by a Serbian national precipitated the beginning of this war. Since Austria-Hungary had a treaty with Russia, who had treaties with Britain and France, and Serbia had a treaty with Germany nearly all of Europe was entangled in the war right from the start. -
Start of Battle of Verdun
Fought by French and German forces. Longest and most involved battle of the First World War. Took place in north-eastern France. Yet another battle of attrition -
Start of Battle of the Somme
This battle lasted 141 days and is still the deadliest battle in British military history. The battle occurred along a 15 mile front between the British and the Germans. The goal of the battle was to relieve the French army at Verdun. Essentially a stalemate, neither side made any major headway. A battle of attrition. At the end more than a million dead and wounded -
The End of The Battle of The Somme
This battle lasted 141 days and is still the deadliest battle in British military history. The battle occurred along a 15 mile front between the British and the Germans. The goal of the battle was to relieve the French army at Verdun. Essentially a stalemate, neither side made any major headway. A battle of attrition. At the end more than a million dead and wounded -
End of Battle of Verdun
Fought by French and German forces. Longest and most involved battle of the First World War. Took place in north-eastern France. Yet another battle of attrition -
Start of American Involvement in World War I
This was precipitated by the sinking of the Lusitania, and the extensive attacks by German submarines on American vessels. -
End of World War I
The first world war was mostly one of attrition. Meaning who ever had the most men at the end would win since there were so many casualties. Russia ended its' involvement due to the start of the Russian Revolution and the ousting of the Czar. An armistice began on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month of 1918 and the Treaty of Versailles was signed on June 28th 1919. This all set the stage for the Second World War -
Start of World War II
World War I officially began after Germany invaded Poland causing England and France to declare war -
Pearl Harbor
Beginning of American involvement in World War II -
VE Day
The official end of World War II in Europe. The official acceptance of the Nazi's unconditional surrender -
The bombing of Hiroshima
The dropping of the first atomic bomb on Japan near the end of the Second World War. Killed millions of civilians, and was meant to break Japanese morale to force their hand into a surrender -
The Bombing of Nagasaki
The second detonation of a nuclear bomb on Japanese soil, killed even more civilians and pushed the Japanese to surrender. This led into the official end of World War II -
End of World War II
Also known as VJ Day because this was the date of formal surrender by the Japanese combatants following the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki