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Period: to
WW1
This timeline displays events that caused and ended the first world war. -
Immediate Cause
-Assassination of Franz Ferdinand
-He was next in line for the throne and his plans for the Austria-Hungarian Empire upsetted the Serbians because they believed that the annexed territories should be apart of Serbia. -
Battles on the Eastern Front- Battle of Tannenberg
-Battle between Russia and Germany
-Major defeat for Russia
-Russia suffered very high casualties -
Battles of the Western Front
The Marne- Costly allied victory
-British and French armies battle Germans who invaded Belgium and northeastern France.
-Since fighting on elevated land was not successful, Germans created the trench warfare by fighting in trenches below the opponent which eventually led to death. -
Sinking of the Lusitania
-Lusitania sunk by a German U-Boat
-Kills 1,000
-Of the 1,000 killed, 130 were Americans -
Battle of Verdun
Long and deadly battle throughout 1916
-Amounted to nearly 400,000 French casualties and 350,000 German casualties
-Nearly 300,000 were killed -
The Somme
-Costly and unsuccessful allied battle
-The horrendous bloodshed demonstrated a metaphor for pointless and arbitrary slaughter -
Revolution of 1917
-Forces Russia to leave the war
-It was the collapse of the Russian Empire and the rise of socialism for the Bolsheviks -
The Zimmerman Telegraph
-Secret message from Germany to Mexico proposing an alliance against the U.S.
-Mexico would declare war on America and get lost territory after victory, causing an outrage in America
-Congress officially declares war on Germany -
America Joins the War
-Most of America were isolationists
-President Wilson campaigns on keeping America out of the war
-2.8 million "doughboys" drafted
-Fresh American troops turn the tide for allies
-Within months the war was over -
The 14 Points
-Woodrow Wilson's plan for long-lasting peace
-Conflicts with Europeans desire to punish Germany -
Russia's Revolution
-Russia signs the treaty of Brest-Litovsk with Central Powers in 1918 -
The Treaty of Versailles
-Forced Germany to accept full responsibility for the war
-Loses all its territories
-Must only have a very limited military
-The Central Powers on the Germans side of WWI signed separate treaties
