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Assassination of Archduke
On 28 June 1914, Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, heir apparent to the Austro-Hungarian throne, and his wife, Sophie, Duchess of Hohenberg, were shot dead in Sarajevo, by Gavrilo Princip, one of a group of six Bosnian Serb assassins coordinated by Danilo Ilić. The political objective of the assassination was to break off Austria-Hungary's south-Slav provinces so they could be combined into a Greater Serbia or a Yugoslavia. -
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World War I
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Germany Declares War On Russia
Germany mobilizes her armed forces and declares war on Russia because the Gremans claimed that the Russians crossed the frontier and already started the war. -
Submarine Blockade
Germany declares a submarine blockade of Great Britain. Any ship approaching England is considered a legitimate target. Militarily, unrestricted submarine warfare was proving a great success, and the U-boats stood a good chance of starving Britain into surrender. However, in terms of the propaganda war, it was a great disaster for Germany. America wanted to stay out of the European war, -
Lusitania Sunk
U-boat sinks the Lusitania. 1,198 civilians, including 128 Americans die. The Germans Made the waring that all ships entering the exclusion zone were legitimate targets. -
Unrestricted Submarine Warfare
The United States is still outraged about the sinking of the Lusitania. US President Wilson publicly warns Germany to to not continue unrestricted submarine policies and stop sinking ships without warning. -
The Battle of the Somme
The Battle of the Somme (July1-November 18) results in an estimated one million casualties and no breakthrough for the Allies. British introduce the tank, an effective weapon but far to few to make much of a difference. -
Zimmermann Note
Reich Foreign Secretary Zimmermann's telegram to Mexico urging her entry into war against the United States is discovered and translated by the British.The proposal was declined by Mexico, but angered Americans and led in part to a U.S. declaration of war in April. -
Selective Service Act
The United States passes the Selective Service Act empowering the Federal Government to draft men for the armed forces. By the guidelines set down by the Selective Service Act, all males aged 21 to 30 were required to register for military service. At the request of the War Department, Congress amended the law in August 1918 to expand the age range to include all men 18 to 45, and to bar further volunteering. The Act was canceled with the end of the war on November, 1918. -
Tsar_Nicholas_II Killed_
Former Tsar Nicholas II, his wife, children, and members of his entourage are murdered by the Bolsheviks. Tsar Nicholas II was shot by firing squad in the year of 1918, in a house in Ekaterinburg. The Romanovs' bodies were buried near the location of their death but have since been exhumed and venerated in the Peter-and-Paul Cathedral in St. Petersburg, Russia as martyred saints. -
The End of WWI
At eleven o'clock on the eleventh day of the eleventh month of 1918, the war ends as Germany and Allies sign an Armistice. While this official date to mark the end of the war reflects the cease fire on the Western Front, hostilities continued in other regions, especially across the former Russian Empire and in parts of the old Ottoman Empire.
