-
Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand
Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, and his wife, Sophie, were shot dead in Sarajevo, by Gavrilo Princip, one of a group of six Bosnian Serb assassins coordinated by Danilo Ilic. The political objective of the assassination was to break off Austria-Hungary's south-Slav provinces so they could be combined into a Greater Serbia. -
Austria Hungary Declares War on Serbia
On July 28, 1914, one month to the day after Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria and his wife were killed by a Serbian nationalist in Sarajevo, Austria-Hungary declares war on Serbia, effectively beginning the First World War. -
Germany Declares War on France
Two days after declaring war on Russia, Germany declares war on France, moving ahead with a long-held strategy, conceived by the former chief of staff of the German army, Alfred von Schlieffen, for a two-front war against France and Russia. -
Battle of Marne Starts
It resulted in an Allied victory against the German Army. The battle effectively ended the month long German offensive that opened the war and had reached the outskirts of Paris. -
The “Lusitania” was sunk by a German U-boat
The sinking of the Lusitania enraged Americans and hastened the United States' entrance into World War I.The Lusitania sunk within 18 minutes. Americans were outraged to learn 128 U.S. civilians were killed in a war in which they were officially neutral. -
The Germans Captured Warsaw from the Russians
On 5 August the Russians pulled out of Warsaw, and the Germans were able to capture the city without a fight. Inexplicably the Russians decided to defend the fortress of Novo-Georgievsk, which lost its purpose with the fall of Warsaw, a decision that would cost them 90,000 men. -
Start of the Battle of the Somme
The Battle of the Somme was one of the largest battles of the war; by the time fighting paused in late autumn 1916, the forces involved had suffered more than 1 million casualties, making it one of the bloodiest military operations ever recorded. -
USA Declared War on Germany
During a wartime conference that month, representatives from the German navy convinced the military leadership and Kaiser Wilhelm II that a resumption of unrestricted submarine warfare could help defeat Great Britain within five months. German policymakers argued that they could violate the “Sussex pledge,” because the United States could no longer be considered a neutral party after supplying munitions and financial assistance to the Allies. -
Armistice between Germany and Russia
The armistice between the Allies and Germany was an agreement that ended the fighting in the First World War. It went into effect at 11 am on 11 November 1918, and marked a victory for the Allies and a complete defeat for Germany, although not technically a surrender. -
The Treaty of Versailles
The Treaty of Versailles was one of the peace treaties at the end of World War I. It ended the state of war between Germany and the Allied Powers. It was signed on 28 June 1919, exactly five years after the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand.
