-
Archduke Franz
Ferdinand, heir to
the throne of the
Austro-Hungarian
Empire, and his wife
are assassinated in
Sarajevo. -
Emperor Franz Joseph of
Austria-Hungary declares
war on Serbia. -
The Ottoman Empire signs a secret alliance with
Germany agreeing to enter the war once Germany
declares war on Russia. They formally enter the
war several months later on October 28, 1914 when they bomb Russian sea ports. -
Germany declares war
on neutral Belgium and
then invades Belgium
and Luxemburg as part of
their Schlieffen Plan to
quickly defeat France
and avoid a two-front war. -
The United
States declares
neutrality in
the war. -
The German army defeats Russia at the
Battle of Tannenberg. -
The German invasion of France is halted
at the First Battle of the Marne. -
The Race to the Sea ends when the
Germans withdraw at the
1st Battle of Ypres. -
Unofficial Christmas Truce is declared by
German and Allied soldiers in the
trenches along the Western Front. -
The Germans
use poison gas
at the 2nd
Battle of Ypres. -
Armenian Genocide begins. -
Allies begin a nine-month battle for
the Turkish
peninsula of
Gallipoli. -
A German U-boat sinks the Lusitania
killing 1,198 civilians,
including 128 Americans. -
Italy joins the allies -
British nurse,
Edith Cavell, is
executed by the
Germans. -
The Battle of
Verdun is fought
resulting in an
estimated one
million casualties. -
The British
introduce the tank
during the Battle of
the Somme. The battle results in
an estimated one
million casualties. -
Austria-Hungary declares war on Russia. -
Woodrow Wilson is
re-elected President
of the United States. -
British cryptographers decipher a telegram from
German Foreign Minister Arthur Zimmermann to
the German Minister of Mexico. -
The Germans resume unrestricted
submarine warfare. -
Tsar Nicholas
II of Russia
abdicates. -
President Wilson asks the U.S. Congress for
a declaration of war against Germany. -
The Third Battle of Ypres, also known as
Passchendaele, results in minor gains
for the Allies and a total of 700,000
casualties. -
The Balfour Declaration is
presented in London. -
President Wilson
outlines his
Fourteen Points
in a speech before
Congress. -
Treaty of Brest-Litovsk is
signed between
Russia and
Germany. -
Germans on the banks of the Marne near
Paris are stopped by American forces at
Chateau-Thierry. -
Kaiser Wilhelm II of
Germany abdicates. -
At eleven o'clock on this day, war on the
western Front ends as Germany and the Allies sign an Armistice. -
.Sign the Treaty of
Versailles.
The U.S. Senate
later refuses to
ratify it. -
The Treaty of Sevres ends the war on the
Eastern Front with the Ottoman Empire.