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Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand
The cars carrying Ferdinand turned onto a side street right where Princip happened to be standing.
As the cars tried to reverse back onto the Quay, Princip took out a gun and fired two shots at the archduke, piercing him and also hitting Sophie. Within minutes, both passed away. -
Austria-Hungary declares war
Austria-Hungary gained german allies for action against Serbia. Soon sending Serbia an ultimatum worded that made acceptance unachievable.
Serbia proposed arbitration to resolve the dispute, but Austria-Hungary declared war, exactly a month after Ferdinand’s death. -
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Chain Reactions of War on the Nations
Germany soon after declares war on Russia, France, and Belgium. After Britain takes revenge on Germany.
Austria soon starts declaring war on Russia.
Montenegro, France, Britain started declaring war on Austria. Montenegro declares war on Germany.
Japan declares war on Germany.
Austria declares war on Belgium. -
1st Battle of Marines
Germans had advanced within 30 miles of Paris.
Over the next few days, the French are reinforced by infantrymen who are moved to the front lines.
The Germans soon began to dig in the North of the Aisne River, and trench warfare begins for the next four years. -
Declaring War
Britain and France declared war on the Ottoman Empire, Both nation soon began to launch a counter on the Empire with a sneak attack, although the events that transpired were a neutral benefit for the two nations. -
2nd Battle of Ypres
The German army initiates the modern era of chemical warfare by launching an attack on Allied trenches.
5,000 French and Algerian troops are killed.
By the end, both sides have used massive quantities of chemicals, causing 1,300,000 casualties and 91,000 fatalities. -
Landings on the Gallipoli Peninsula
Cape Helles and ANZAC's attempt to force the Dardanelles to obey and capture the Ottoman capital was a failure. The Allies suffered more than 200,000 casualties during the campaign.
The failed offensive became the war’s signal event for Australian and New Zealand troops which eventually lead to the collapse of the British government. -
Lusitania Sinks
The ship Lusitania is torpedoed by a German U-boat off the southern coast of Ireland. Almost 1,200 people are killed, including 128 U.S. citizens.
The ship had been carrying over 170 tons of ammunition and artillery shells, and Germany felt it was justified in treating the Lusitania as a target. -
Battle of Verdun
Battle of Verdun begins, and France suffers greatly. The battle concluded with over 700,000 casualties, entire French villages had been destroyed, and over a million shells still remaining in the soil around Verdun, and to this day people continue to remove tons of the unexploded ammunitions from the area. -
Battle of Germany and Britain's Naval ships
British and German fleets meet 60 miles off the coast of Denmark. It was the only major encounter between the world’s largest sea powers.
Although a naval arms race between Britain and Germany had been one of the causes of World War I. -
Battle of the Somme begins
The British offensive intended to draw German attention from Verdun, and in that could be considered a success.
The nearly 20,000 killed in action on July 1 marks the bloodiest day in the history of the British army.
By the time the Somme stopped four and a half months later, the combined casualties of both sides topped 1,000,000. -
Tsar Nicholas II Renounces his Throne
After a week of riots in the Russian capital.
The Russian Revolution saw the overthrow of the Romanov dynasty, which led to the rise of Vladimir Lenin and the Bolsheviks. -
The U.S declared war on Germany
President Woodrow Wilson addresses to Congress four days earlier about Germany’s practice of unrestricted submarine warfare and “Zimmermann Telegram” as the reasons behind the abandonment of his policy of neutrality. -
Marks the full usage of Tanks
Attacking with complete surprise, the British tanks broke through German defenses. The British army managed to take 7,500 prisoners with little to no casualties.
Bad weather intervened, and infantry reinforcements were not available to help the breakthrough, within two weeks the British had been pushed back to their original positions. -
Soviet Gov and Central Powers makes Peace
Soviet Government signs the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk.
Russia surrenders its rule of Ukraine, Finland, and its territories. -
Germany and the Allies makes an Armistice
Due to Wilson’s Fourteen Points, and Allied armies on the verge of flanking the entire German defensive line with the threat of revolution gripping German industrial centers.
Germany trying to continue the war seemed impossible. Which a group led by Erich Ludendorff would say that Germany was “stabbed in the back”, claiming that Germany had been betrayed, and that the military had been undefeated. This would help the ascent of Adolf Hitler to power in 1933.
