WW1 Timeline

Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand

Jun 28, 1914

Archduke Franz Ferdinand was assassinated via gunshots just hours after they escaped from another assassination attempt by a bomb. He was killed by an Bosnian Serb student named Gavrilo Princip, also known as the Black Hand. He was assassinated because was a threat to Serbian independence.

Austria-Hungary declares war on Serbia

Jul 28, 1914

This is the main event that started WW1. The reason why Austria-Hungary delcared war on Serbia is because an Serbian terrorist killed the Archduke. So they wanted to punish Serbia for it's Serbian nationalism.

First Battle of the Marne

Sep 9, 1914

Allied forces halt German advance into France during First Battle of the Marne.

Italy declares war on Austria-Hungary

May 23, 1915

Italy declared war on Austria-Hungary after the allied powers proposed Italy a offer saying if they helped defeat the central powers, they would get a piece of the Ottoman Empire

Russia signs armistice with Germany

Dec 15, 1915

Russia signs an armistice with Germany to ceasefire in exchange of large areas of Russian territory. Which left the Germans without to fight on both fronts. Russia did this to not only get out of the war but to also ensure the safety of it's land and citizens.

Battle of Verdun

Feb 21, 1916

Germany begins the attack on Verdun. This was a battle between the Germans and the French. It was one of the longest, bloodiest and most ferocious battles. There were 400,000 French causalities and 350,000 German causalities . This battle ended on December 18, 1916. So in total this battle lasted the whole year.

Battle of Somme

Jul 1, 1916

The battle of Somme was a battle on the western front with it's fighters being British and French forces fighting against German forces. This battle last 5 months long, over one million casualties. 420,000 British casualties, 200,000 French, and 450,000 German casualties. This battle ended on November 18, 1916. This battle lasted a total of 4 months. It was also the most brutal battle of ww1

U.S declares war on Germany

Apr 6, 1917

The U.S declares war on Germany after issues with their U-boats sinking their ships after they were told to stop sinking innocent ships which also had Americans on the ship, which therefore was also bringing down the relationship between them slowly overtime.

Brest-Litovsk treaty

Mar 3, 1918

This treaty between Russia and Germany was a win for both sides. Germany gains money and territory for the war, and Russia is no longer fighting in the war so it ensures the safety of Russia and it's citizens. So this treaty profited the Germans more.

Paris peace conference

Jan 18, 1919

This conference was to establish a treaty between all the nations. The people involved in this conference were the Big 4, which are Lloyd George of Britain, Vittorio Emanuele Orlando of Italy, Georges Clemenceau of France, and Woodrow Wilson of the U.S.

Treaty of Versailles

Jun 28, 1919

This was the treaty that actually ended WW1. The allied forces and Germany signed this treaty but this treaty was also very unfair to Germany. This treaty meant if Germany signed it, they would be blamed for the whole cause of WW1. They also had to give back all the land they have taken in the war, and they also had to give up 13% of their pre war territory.