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Germany officially unified
Otto von Bismarck led many battles to unifiy the German countries. This would prepare WWI because of the Arms Race and Alliance System starting from his actions. -
Triple Alliance formed
An alliance between Germany, Italy, and Austria - Hungary. -
Russo - Japanese War
It began to show the shift in power and caused Russian revolts prestaging the ones in 1917. -
End of Russo - Japanese War
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Triple Entente Alliance formed
An alliance between Great Britain, France, and Russia. -
Austria - Hungray annexes Bosnia
When Austria - Hungary claimed Bosnia, the Serbians were angered because they believed the land was their's. This caused tensions to grow higher. -
Archduke Franz Ferdinand Assassinated
The event that triggered the war, because this made Austria - Hungray declare war on Serbia. -
Austria - Hungary declares war on Serbia
The true beginning of the first World War. By declaring war on Serbia, Austria - Hungary also declared war on its ally: Russia. -
Ottoman - Germany alliance formed
The Turks allied themselves with the Germans, because they had hostile relations with England, France, and Russia. -
Schlieffen Plan put into action
A German plan to invade France going through Belgium. However it failled, because Belgium was given machine guns. -
France loses Alsace and Lorraine to Germany
Advancement for Germany. France got the land back after the war in 1919. -
Japan declares war on Germany
The Japanese sent an ultimatum to the Germans. They wanted German ships to be removed from Japanese and Chinese waters. They also wanted Tsingtao back. -
Battle of Marne
The French and British fended off invading Germans in Belgium and northeastern France. -
End of Battle of Marne
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Lusitania sinks
A passenger ship heading to Britain that was sunk by Germans. Over 120 Americans were killed causing the US to enter the war. -
Battle of Verdun
Lasted 10 months. It was completely pointless as both the French and German lost around half a million men, and no advancements on either sides were made. -
End of Battle of Verdun
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Unrestricted submarine warfare commences
Germans began a naval warfare where they can use submarines to sink boats without warning. This was a cause for the American involvement in the war. -
Zimmerman Telegraph found
A coded message for the Germans that promised Mexico land back if they attacked the US. The Mexicans refused and gave the message to the US. This was the last straw for America. -
Tsar Nicholas II abdicates
Lenin and the Bolsheviks take command and create the Soviet Union. -
US declares war on Germany
US is outraged by Germany's actions and decides to enter the war. -
Bolsheviks emerge as a political group
The Bolsheviks took over Russia, creating the Soviet Union. They sign the Treaty of Brest - Litovsk with Germany and ended the war in the East. -
Vladimir Lenin seizes power in Russia
Leader of the Bolsheviks. Took over Russia and signed a treaty with Germany to exit the war. -
Fourteen Points proposed
The United States' Wilson proposed these points as a way of stabilizing Europe after war. -
Russia signed Treaty of Brest - Litovsk
Russia signs this treaty with Germany, ending the war in the East. -
Battle of Somme
The British and French vs. Germans. It lasted 6 months. While the Allies won, they only gained a 5 mile advancement. Around 1 million were killed. -
End of Battle of Somme
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Kaiser Wilhelm II abdicates
Caused by revolutions back in Germany, showing that they were going to lose the war. -
Revolution overthrows Austria - Hungarian Emperor
(Unknown day) Austria - Hungary was dissolved by the victora after the war, and the countries could never form an empire again. -
Treaty of Versailles signed
This is the offical end to WWII. -
Germany stops reparation payments to France
Germany had to pay reparations $33 billion US for the damages of WWI. -
Stalin takes over Russia
(Unknown month and day) After the death of Lenin, Stalin took over and began a process of rebuilding and reunifying Russia.
