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Archduke Franz Ferdinand is Assassinated
To release tensions in the Balkans the emporer of Austria- Hungary sent his nephew (Ferdinand) and his wife to charm over the people. A Serbian nationalist called Gavrilo Princip took this as an opportunity to show his feelings towards the rulers and shot both him and his wife. This is the catalyst for World War One -
Austria-Hungary presents 10 demands to Serbia
Nearly a month after the assassinations Austria-Hungary presents 10 demands to Serbia -
Serbia agrees to 9 of the demands
Serbia only agrees to 9 of the 10 demands from Austria-Hungary -
Austria-Hungary declares war on Serbia
After Serbia disagrees to the demands Austria-Hungary declares war on Serbia -
Russia promises support for Serbia
As the war dawns upon Serbia, Russia promises to back up the country and offer support -
Germany declares war on Russia
As Russia promises it's support to Serbia, Germany then joins Austria-Hungary and declares war on Russia -
Germany declares war on France and invades Belgium
Germany asked France what it's intentions were in the war in which they replied with a vague response. This then worried Germany as armies were preparing for war on both it's Eastern and Western borders. Germany did not want this and declared war on France. The German armies invaded Belgium to go and attack France -
Britain declares war on Germany (Australia becomes involved)
Belgium and Britain had signed a contract that Britain would come to Belgiums defence if any country tried to invade it's borders. This led to Britain declaring war on Germany when they invaded Belgium. Australia pledged to help Britain it is a memeber of the commonwealth, so Australia was also dragged into the conflict -
German New Guinea
New Guinea was under the control of the Germans, seeing how close New Guinea and Australia are the Australians saw this as a threat. Australian and New Zealand forces then went to New Guinea to fight the Germans. The Aussies won and there was no loss of life. -
Turkey joins the war and sides with Germany
Being enemies with Russia and also having a grudge with Britain was all it took for Turkey to side with the Germans. -
The Christmas Truce
On Christmas day soldiers from both parties held an unofficial cease fire. Soldiers swapped gifts and partoke in a joint burial ceremony. They also began playing games of soccer -
Australian Forces Arrive at Gallipoli
The ANZAC's landed at Gallipoli to open up access for the allies. The plan went horribly wrong and 600 Australian's were killed on the first day. -
Sinking of the Luistania
The Luistania was sunk by a German submarine killing 128 Americans. Germany agreed to stop sinking ships carring civilians after two more sunken ships. Germany abided by this agreement until March 1917 when they started sinking more American Ships -
Italy enters the war on the side of the Triple Entente
Italy was orginially apart of the Triple Alliance but argued that they were to defensive in nature. Italy also had a secret alliance with France, these reasons are why Italy joined the war on the side of the Triple Entente -
Battle of Fromelles
Fromelles was one of the two most destructive battles forAustralia. In 24 hours 1917 people were killed and 3600 were injured, this day has been named as the worst 24 hours in Australia's history -
Australian and New Zealand Troops Fight at Pozières as a part of the Somme Campaign
The aim of the battle was to push the German Forces back, which it did but at a heavy cost. 1.5 million shells were used throughout the week. Throughout the whole Battle of Somme 600,000 allies were killed and 500,000 wounded. -
America Joins the war
After the Germans sunk more American ships killing many innocent Americans America joined the war -
Start of the Battle of Ypres
The battle of Ypres was designed to break the strong German trenches enclosing the Ypres salient. In the eight weeks of fighting the Australians suffered 38,000 casualties. -
Russia leaves the war
Russia was suffering from an internal revoloution and needed to leave to war to focus on that. They signed the Brest-Litovsk peace treaty and Russia left the war -
Australian Troops Take back the town of Villers-Bretonneux
The town was taken by the Germans, the Australians were given the task of re-capturing the town. 1200 men were lost but the Germans were defeated -
'Black Day for the German Army'
The Battle if Amiens was the last offensive for the allies. They advenced over 7 miles and continued to push the Germans back. This battle also marked the end of trench warfare on the Western Front, as fighting became mobile once again. -
The Last Fight
From their retreated position at the Hindenburg Line, the Germans were infiltrated by the Allies in only hours. German commanders began accepting that defeat was imminent. -
The end of the war
The Armstice was signed by Matthais Erzberger. It was written by the french and declared that at 11am the Germans must withdraw troops, surrender artillery, trucks, aircraft and naval vessels, return prisoners of war, and make promises about repatriation. -
The Treaty of Versailles
The treaty was created by the victoirous nations at the Paris Peace Conference in January 1919. The treaty made Germany responsible for the war and had to pay back all of the conflict. This is rumoured to be around $33 billion USD
