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Period: to
Pre WWI
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Triple Alliance Formed
The Triple Alliance is formed between Germany, Italy and Austra-Hungary. -
Triple Entente Formed
The Triple Entente is foremd between Britain, France and Russia. -
Period: to
WWI
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Assasination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand
Heir to the throne of Austria-Hungary, Arch Duke Franz Ferdinand and his wife were assassinated in Sarajevo, Bosnia by a Serbian nationalist student, Gavrilo Princip. This set off many traumatic events that led to the outbreak of war in late July 1914. -
Austria-Hungry declares war on Serbia
Convinced that the Serbian government had conspired against them, Austria-Hungary issued Serbia an unacceptable ultimatum, then they declared the war on Serbia on 28th July 1914. -
Wolrd War One begins
Germany declares war on Russia and France, and invades neutral Luxembourg and Belgium. Thus WWI begins. -
Germany declared war on France
Germany declared war on France Germany declareD war on France. German troops invade Belgium. Germany had to execute the Schlieffen Plan. This Plan was a strategic plan for a possible victory in a war fighting on two fronts (fighting on the Western Front and Eastern Front). British foreign secretary demanded Germany to withdraw from neutral Belgium. -
Britain declares war on Germany
Great Britain declares war on Germany and its Allies because Germany did not withdraw from Belgium. The Australian government also pledged full support for Britain in the war against Germany. -
The First Battle of the Marne begins
Trench warfare begins as soldiers on both sides dig in. -
The First Battle of Ypres
Ypres was a town in Belgium, it was always a target because it provided a strategic advantage to both the British and German forces in the great war. -
The Second Battle of Ypres begins
It is during this battle that the Germans first use poison gas. -
ANZACs land in Gallipoli
The Australian Imperial Force land at Gallipoli together with troops from New Zealand, Britain, and France to fight the Turks. The troops were very conjested on the small beach and they were also faced with steep cliffs which they had to climb to get off the beach. -
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Gallipoli Campaign
The reasons for the Gallipoli campaign was so that the Allies would be able to control the 67 kilometre stretch of the Dardanelles waterway. This would then enable them to invade and occupy Constantinople in the hope that with the downfall of the capital, Turkey would soon follow. It would also allow them to be able to get supplies to Russia. The type of warfare that happened in Gallipoli was a form of trench warfare. The most successful part of the campaign for the ANZACs was the evacuation. -
Battle of Lone Pine, Gallipoli
This fierce battle was the only successful Australian attack against the Turkish trenches. It was intended to divert attempts made by NZ and Australian units to breakout from the ANZAC perimeter battlefield. This battle of intense hand-to-hand fighting resulted in over 2,000 Australian casualties. Seven Victoria Crosses were awarded for bravery to Australian troops. -
Russian Army
Tsar Nicholas II takes personal control over Russia's armies. -
Last Australian troops evacuate from Gallipoli Peninsula
The Allies evacuate 83,000 troops from the battlefields of Suvla Bay at ANZAC Cove in Gallipoli. There were virtually no casualities in this withdrawal and the Turkish were unaware of this evacuation taking place. Many men were saddened by having to leave behind the graves of their dead comrades. -
The Battle of Verdun begins
The Battle of Verdun was the longest battle of World War I and was one of the bloodiest. -
AIF join fight on Western Front
In early 1916 it was decided that the infantry divisions would be sent to France, where they took part in many of the major battles fought on the Western Front. -
Battle of Jutland
The only major navy battle of World War 1 between the British Royal Navy's Grand Fleet and the Imperial German Navy's High Seas Fleet. -
Start of the Battle of the Somme
This battle was intended as a joint French-British attack trying to drain the German forces of reserves. The attack sees 750,000 allied soldiers set upon a 30 km front from north of the Somme river between Arras and Albert. On the first day nearly 60,000 soldiers were wounded, dead or missing, It is the worst single day's fighting in British military history. This enormous loss of life was for little territorial gain. Tanks were also used for the first time in battle. -
Battle of Fromelles
This was the first major battle on the Western Front fought by Australian troops. The attack was intended to deceive German troops away from the Somme offensive then being pursued further to the south. The 5th Australian Division suffered 5,533 casualties and the 61st British Division suffered 1,547. The German's lost a little more than a 1,000. -
Tsar Nicholas II
Russian Tsar Nicholas II abdicates -
The Third Battle of Ypres begins
Also known as the Battle of Passchendaele. This battle was mostly fought in shocking weather conditions until the fall of Passchendaele village on 6 November. The Allies attacked the Flanders, a French region on the German front, but only gained a few kilometres. It was a costly battle taking the lives of 310,000 British men and 260,000 German men. -
The Bolsheviks
The Bolsheviks successfully overthrow the Russian government during the 1917 Russian Revolution. -
Armstice
The armistice agreed upon between the new Russian government and the Central Powers goes into effect. -
Treaty of Brest Litovsk
Russia signs the Treaty of Brest Litovsk, which is a peace treaty between Russia and the Central Powers. -
Kaiser Wilhelm II
German Kaiser Wilhelm II abdicates and flees Germany. -
Armstice signed by Germany
During WW1 over 35 million people were killed, wounded or missing. After four long years of fighting, in the French town of Redonthes, Germany signed an Armistice with the Allies. The official date and time of the end of WW1 was 11.00 am on the 11th day of the 11th month. This is known as Armistice Day. -
The Treaty of Versailles
The Paris Peace Conference was an international meeting convened in January 1919 at Versailles just outside Paris. The purpose of the meeting was to establish the terms of the peace after World War. The Treaty of Versailles was the peace settlement signed after World War One had ended in 1918.
