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Germany invades Belgium, beginning World War I.
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Gavrilo Principe fried two shots and kills the Archduke and his wife
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Archduke Franz Ferdinand is assassinated in Sarajevo. His death is the event that sparks World War I.
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Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria and is wife were killed by a Serbian nationalist in Sarajevo.
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Russia mobilizes its vast army to intervene against Austria-Hungary in favor of its ally, Serbia.
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Russia's support of Serbia brought France into the conflict
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Germany declares war on France, moving ahead with a long-held strategy, conceived by the former chief of staff of the German army
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To push Germany out of Belgium and away from France.
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The Germans fire shells filled with chlorine gas at Allied lines. This is the first time that large amounts of gas are used in battle, and the result is the near-collapse of the French lines.
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A German submarine sinks the passenger liner Lusitania. The ship carries 1,198 people, 128 of them Americans.
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Reacting to international outrage at the sinking of the Lusitania and other neutral passenger lines, Kaiser Wilhelm suspends unrestricted submarine warfare.
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Attack the Germans from all sides. Push then back to the border.
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The British employ the first tanks ever used in battle, at Delville Wood.
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Take the ridge from the Germans to gain higher ground.
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Take out Germans ports and sink their u-boats.
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Germany resumes unrestricted submarine warfare in European waterways.
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President Wilson outlines his case for war to Congress.
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british intelligence gives Wilson the so-called Zimmermann Telegram, a message from German foreign secretary Arthur Zimmermann proposing that Mexico side with Germany
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Congress authorizes a declaration of war against Germany. The United States enters World War I on the side of France and Britain.
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Congress passes the Selective Service Act authorizing the draft. Although criticized for destroying democracy at home while fighting for it abroad
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The Germans sign a peace treaty with the new Bolshevik government of Russia.
