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Archduke Ferdinand assassinated
On this day in 1914, 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. -
Period: to
Word War I
Timeline -
one month to the day after Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria and his wife were killed by a Serbian nationalist in Sarajevo
Austria-Hungary declares war on Serbia, effectively beginning the First World War. -
Germany declares war on Russia.
Germany declares war on Russia. France and Belgium begin full mobilization -
Germany declares war on France
Germany declares war on France, and invades neutral Belgium. Britain then sends an ultimatum, rejected by the Germans, to withdraw from Belgium. -
German troops reconquer Mulhouse in Elzas
At Liege, German 12"/16.5" guns reach Belgian boundary.
German battle cruiser Goeben reaches Dardanellen/Turkey joins Germany.
WWI: French fall back at Alsace. -
On the afternoon of May 7, 1915
The British ocean liner Lusitania is torpedoed without warning by a German submarine off the south coast of Ireland. Within 20 minutes, the vessel sank into the Celtic Sea. Of 1,959 passengers and crew, 1,198 people were drowned, including 128 Americans. -
President Woodrow Wilson
President Woodrow Wilson threatens to sever diplomatic ties between the United States and Germany following the sinking of the passenger ferry Sussex by a U-Boat in the English Channel. The attack marked the beginning of a new U-Boat campaign around the British Isles. But in response to Wilson, the Germans call off the U-Boats. -
The United States severs diplomatic ties
The United States severs diplomatic ties with Germany after a U-Boat sinks the American grain ship Housatonic. Seven more American ships are sunk in February and March as the Germans sink 500 ships in just sixty days. -
April 2, 1917
President Woodrow Wilson asked a special joint session of the United States Congress for a declaration of war against the German Empire. Congress responded with the declaration on April 6. -
Anglo-French Conference
Anglo-French Conference assembles in London to discuss the deposition of King Constantine of Greece and the occupation of Athens and Thessaly -
M. Zaimis
M. Zaimis, Greek Premier, resigns. M. Venizelos appointed Greek Premier -
Qasr-i-Shirin Western Persia
Qasr-i-Shirin (Western Persia) occupied by British forces.
President Wilson delivers Message to Congress laying down the "Fourteen Points".
Russian Bolshevik Government withdraw demand for transfer to Stockholm and resume negotiations at Brest-Litovsk. -
Meshed (Persia)
Meshed occupied by troops of British East Persia Cordon.
Peace signed between Bolshevik Russia and Central Powers, Bulgaria and Turkey at Brest-Litovsk, together with supplementary treaties by the signatories.
German Govermnent notify Swedish Government of occupation of the Aaland Islands. -
Peace Treaty signed
Soissons again taken by German forces.
Peace Treaty signed at Vienna between Austria-Hungary and Finland. -
Mons retaken by British forces
Mons retaken by British forces.
Armistice concluded between the Allied and Associated Powers and Germany. Signed in Marshal Foch's special train at Rethondes, station in the Forest of Compiègne. Hostilities on the Western front cease at 11 a.m.
British Government recognise Latvian Provisional Government as independent.
New National Government formed in Estonia. -
Western Front comprises the Franco-German-Belgian
Western Front comprises the Franco-German-Belgian front and any military action in Great Britain, Switzerland, Scandinavia and Holland. Eastern Front comprises the German-Russian, Austro-Russian and Austro-Romanian fronts. Southern Front comprises the Austro-Italian and Balkan -
Germany and the Allies signed the Treaty of Versailles
On June 28th, 1919, Germany and the Allies signed the Treaty of Versailles, formally ending World War I and providing for the creation of the League of Nations. -
the Treaty of Versailles came into effect
the Treaty of Versailles came into effect, thus officially ending the First World War or the Great War. The treaty had been signed between the Allied Powers (Great Britain, France, and Russia) and Germany earlier in June 1919 – five years after the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand. -
United States Senate fails
United States Senate fails to ratify Treaty of Versailles for the second time. -
United States sign
United States signs separate peace treaties with Germany, Austria, and Hungary.
