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The assassination of Archuduke Franz Ferdinand
The hear of the Austro-Hungarian Throne and his wife were assassined by six Bosnian Serb assassins. Although the only intention of the assassination was to break off Austria-Hungary's south-Slav provinces so they could be combined into a Greater Serbia, it led to an invasion of Serbia, marking the beginning of World War I. -
First Battle of Marne
The first World War battle. The Allie Powers (French for this battle) defeated an invading Geman Army. Casualties toll about 250,000 for each Army. -
Italy declared war on Austria and Hungry
It opened up a new front of the war, mostly mountainous. The Austrians and Italians had fought no fewer than 11 battles along the Isonzo River, with negligible progress and heavy losses on both sides. Italians suffered about 300,000 in losses. -
Battle of Verdun
This battle between the French and the Germans lasted from February 21 to December 18 in 1916. This battle was one of the longest and most devastating battles in the history of warfare....and has come to represent the horrors of war. The death toll was around 300,000 between the two armies. -
Battle of Somme
This battle between British, France vs. Germany lasted from July 1 through November 18 1916. This was one of the largest battles of WWI, with a death toll of 1.5 million, making it one of the deadliest battles of all time. -
Air Raids by Germans
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. -
U.S.A. declares war on Germany
In Germany, orders were given to step up the U-boat campaign. All allied or neutral ships were to be sunk on sight and in one month almost a million tons of shipping was sunk. Neutral countries became reluctant to ship goods to Britain and Lloyd George ordered all ships carrying provisions to Britain to be given a convoy. The United States of America declared war on Germany in response to the sinking, by German U boats, of US ships. -
Treaty of Brest-Litovsk
Following the successful revolution by the Bolsheviks, the Russians signed an Armistice with Germany at Brest-Litovsk. The terms of the treaty were harsh: Russia had to surrender Poland, the Ukraine and other regions. They had to stop all Socialist propaganda directed at Germany and pay 300 million roubles for the repatriation of Russian prisoners. -
Battle of Amiens
The British general, Haig, ordered the attack of the German sector at Amiens. At the same time the news came through that the allies had broken through from Salonika and forced Bulgaria to sue for peace. -
End of World War I
Later known at Armistice Day, on the 11th hour, the war between the Central and the Allied Powers ended. By the war's end, four major imperial powers—the German, Russian, Austro-Hungarian and Ottoman Empires—had been militarily and politically defeated. The latter two ceased to exist. The revolutionised Soviet Union emerged from the Russian Empire. The League of Nations was established in hope of preventing another such huge conflict.
