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Archduke Franz Ferdinand is assassinated, World War I begins
Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria and his wife Sophie are shot to death by a Bosnian Serb nationalist during an official visit to the Bosnian capital of Sarajevo. The killings sparked a chain of events that led to the outbreak of World War I by early August. -
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First Battle of the Marne
Germany hoped to avoid fighting on two fronts by knocking out France before turning to Russia, France’s ally. The initial German offensive had some early success, but there were not enough reinforcements immediately available to sustain momentum. The French and British launched a counter-offensive at the Marne. And after several days of bitter fighting, the Germans retreated. -
Lusitiania has been sunk
There were protests from the United States at the German U-boat campaign, when the Lusitania, which had many American passengers aboard, was sunk. -
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Battle of Verdun
The longest/costliest battle of the whole World War 1. It began in February 1916 with a German attack on the fortified French town of Verdun, where bitter fighting would continue for most of the year. -
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Battle of Jutland
First true naval battle fought by Britain's Royal Navy Grand Fleet under Admiral Sir John Jellicoe, against the Imperial German Navy's High Seas Fleet under Vice-Admiral Reinhard Scheer -
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Battle of the Somme
A week-long artillery bombardment of the German line which was supposed to destroy the barbed wire defences placed along the German line but only actually succeeded in making no man land a mess of mud and craters -
First Airplane raid
The first German air raid on London took place. The Germans hoped that by making raids on London and the South East, the British Air Force would be forced into protecting the home front rather than attacking the German air force. -
Zimmerman Telegram
A telegram that proposed a military alliance between Germany and Mexico in the event that the United States entered World War I against Germany -
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Revolution of 1917
Russia is forced to exit out of the war because of sereis of revolution was occuring within the country which led to the fall of Tsarist autocracy to the rise of the Soviet Union -
USA declares war on Germany
U.S. had desperately tried to stay neutral, but ties to Britain, propaganda, the sinking of ships by German U-boats, and a German attempt in the Zimmermann Note to get Mexico to declare war on the U.S. pushed the U.S. to getting involved. -
Battle of Cantigny
The first major American offensive battle of World War 1. Allied force full brigade of nearly 4,000 United States soldiers captures the village of Cantigny, on the Somme River in France from the German enemy -
World War I ends
Germany is forced to sign an armistice agreement with the Allies in a railroad car outside Compiégne, France.
