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The Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand
Archduke Franz Ferdinand was shot and killed after escaping a previous bombing attempt earlier that day. The death of Archduke Franz Ferdinand started the first world war. -
War is Declared
On July 28th, 1914, a month after the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife, Austria-Hungary declares war on Serbia. -
Germany Declares war on Russia
Germany decided to declare war on Russia when Russia decided to defend Serbia. Russia was an ally of Serbia so when Russia's army began to fight on Serbia's side, Germany decided to fight along side Austria-Hungary. -
Germany Declares War on France
After Germany declared war on Russia, 2 days later Germany declares war on France. German forces feared that French armies would fight along side Russia so they were quick to declare war on France. The declaration of war was a part of a strategy to avoid war on 2 fronts. -
Germany Invades Belgium
The invasion of Belgium happened by German forces planed to attack the French by going through Belgium which was neutral territory. When Belgium refused to let Germany pass through, German forces decided to invade Belgium. This violated Belgium's neutrality which prompted Britain to declare war on Germany. -
The Battle of Tannenburg
The battle of Tannenburg started on August 26th, 1914 and ended 4 days later on August 30th, 1914. The battle took place on the Eastern front between German and Russian forces. In the battle of Tannenburg, Germany won the battle. -
The First Battle of Yrpes
The first battle of Yrpes started on October 19th, 1914 and ended on November 22nd, 1914. This battle took place on the Western front in Belgium. This battle was between allied forces, such as French and Britain, and Germany. Both sides had significant casualties of over 100,000 men killed during this battle. This battle was over control of the town of Yrpes in Belgium with Yrpes remaining under the control of allies by the end of the battle. -
The Sinking of the Lusitania
On May 7th, 1915 Germany sank the Lusitania which was a passenger ship traveling from New York to Liverpool. Germany claimed it was an unfortunate mistake as they had thought the ship was a British cargo ship. 1,200 people died including 128 Americans. -
Battle of Verdun
The battle of Verdun was the longest and bloodiest battle of World War 1. It lasted 10 months starting on February 21st 1916 and ending December 18th 1916. There were 400,000 French casualties and almost the same amount for Germany. The Germans wanted to destroy all of France's resources. There was no winner in the battle of Verdun. -
The Battle at the Somme
This battle lasted 5 months starting on July 1st and ending in November. This battle was to pull German troops away from Verdun. Both sides lost a significant number of troops.It was an allied victory between British and French forces causing Germany to retreat. -
America Enters The War
America joined world war 1 on April 6th, 1917. President Wilson tried to keep America out of the war for as long as possible but decided to declare war after the sinking of the Lusitania and The Zimmerman telegram. The Zimmerman telegram was a message Germany sent Mexico asking them to join the war if the United States did but Mexico refused. President Wilson was also angered by the renewal of unrestricted submarine warfare. -
Russian Revolution
Russia withdrew from World War 1 on March 3rd, 1918. Because of this there was no more eastern front. -
Treaty of Brest-Litovsk
The Treaty of Brest-Litovsk was a treaty signed by Germany and Russia. It officially ended Russia's involvement in Word War 1 with ending the fighting on the Eastern front. With the signing of this treaty, Russia did loose a lot of territory. -
Armistice
The Armistice was to stop the fighting of World War 1. The Armistice would start on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month in 1918. After WW1 Europe was left with millions of dollars in damages and 9 million deaths. -
The Treaty of Versailles
Negotiations started in January of 1919 and continued to June of that same year. The United States eventually left the conference due to disagreements with Italy, but President Wilson did share his Fourteen Points. In the treaty, France and Britain created it in a way to punish Germany. Germany had to agree to war guilt clause and return territory to France with having to keep an area near France demilitarized. The treaty officially ended WW1.