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Francis Ferdinand assassinated at Sarajevo
On 28 June 1914, Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, heir presumptive to the Austro-Hungarian throne, and his wife, Sophie, Duchess of Hohenberg, were shot dead in Sarajevo, by Gavrilo Princip, one of a group of six assassins coordinated by Danilo Ilić. 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 or a Yugoslavia. -
Kaiser William II promised German support for Austria against Serbia
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Austria declared war on Serbia
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Germany declared war on Russia
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Germany declared war on France and invaded Belgium. Germany had to implement the Schlieffen Plan.
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Britain declared war on Germany
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The BEF started its retreat from Mons. Germany invaded France.
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Russian army defeated at Tannenburg and Masurian Lakes.
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Battle of the Marne started
The Battle of the Marne also known as the Miracle of the Marne was a First World War battle fought from 5–12 September 1914. It resulted in an Allied victory against the German Army under Chief of Staff Helmuth von Moltke the Younger. The battle was the culmination of the German advance into France and pursuit of the Allied armies which followed the Battle of the Frontiers in August, which had reached the outskirts of Paris. -
First Battle of Ypres
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Turkey entered the war on Germany’s side. Trench warfare started to dominate the Western Front.
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The first Zeppelin raid on Britain took place
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Allied troops landed in Gallipoli
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Italy declared war on Germany and Austria
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British forces surrendered to Turkish forces at Kut in Mesopotamia
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First use en masse of tanks at the Somme
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USA declared war on Germany
At 8:30 on the evening of April 2, 1917, President Wilson appeared before a joint session of Congress and asked for a declaration of war against Germany in order to "make the world safe for democracy." On April 4, Congress granted Wilson's request. -
Start of the Third Battle at Ypres
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The Treaty of Brest-Litovsk was signed between Russia and Germany.
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Germany signed an armistice with the Allies – the official date of the end of World War One.
On November 9 the Kaiser abdicated; slipping across the border into the Netherlands and exile. A German Republic was declared and peace feelers extended to the Allies. At 5 AM on the morning of November 11 an armistice was signed in a railroad car parked in a French forest near the front lines.
