World War 1 to the Cold War

By Comfort
  • Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand

    Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand

  • Austria-Hungary declares war on Serbia.

    Austria-Hungary declares war on Serbia.

  • Germany declares war on Russia.

    Germany declares war on Russia.

  • The United Kingdom declares war on Germany, after Germany invades Belgium.

    The United Kingdom declares war on Germany, after Germany invades Belgium.

  • Austria-Hungary declares war on Russia and Serbia declares war on Germany.

    Austria-Hungary declares war on Russia and Serbia declares war on Germany.

  • The Battle of Tannenberg begins.

    The Battle of Tannenberg begins.

  • First Battle of the Marne

    First Battle of the Marne

  • Battle of Ypres begins.

  • The Dardanelles Campaign begins.

    The Dardanelles Campaign begins.

  • Second Battle of Ypres

    Second Battle of Ypres

  • The Battle of Gallipoli begins.

    The Battle of Gallipoli begins.

  • The Battle of Verdun begins

    The Battle of Verdun begins

    The Battle of Verdun was the longest battle of World War I and was one of the bloodiest.
  • The Battle of Jutland

    The Battle of Jutland

    the major naval battle of the war, begins.
  • Battle of the Somme

    Battle of the Somme

    During the Battle of the Somme, tanks are first introduced into battle.
  • The United States declares war on Germany.

    The United States declares war on Germany.

  • The Battle of Passchendaele

    The Battle of Passchendaele

  • Russia signs the Treaty of Brest Litovsk,

    Russia signs the Treaty of Brest Litovsk,

    A peace treaty between Russia and the Central Powers.
  • Second Battle of the Marne

    Second Battle of the Marne

  • The armistice

    The armistice

    Germany signs the armistice at Compiegne, France. Fighting ends on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month
  • The Treaty of Versailles

    The Treaty of Versailles

    The Versailles Treaty, signed on June 28, 1919 in the Hall of Mirrors in the Palace of Versailles in Paris, was the peace settlement between Germany and the Allied Powers that officially ended World War I. However, the conditions in the treaty were so punitive upon Germany that many believe the Versailles Treaty laid the groundwork for the eventual rise of Nazis in Germany and the eruption of World War II.
  • Hitler Becomes Chancellor

    Hitler Becomes Chancellor

    Adolf Hitler becomes Chancellor of Germany.

  • Germany invades Poland

    World War II begins.

  • France and Great Britain declare war on Germany.

  • Japanese attack the US Navy

    Japanese attack the US Navy

    The Japanese attack the US Navy in Pearl Harbor. The next day the US enters World War II on the side of the Allies.

  • D-day

    D-day and the Normandy invasion. Allied forces invade France and push back the Germans.
  • World War II allies attend the Yalta Conference.

    World War II allies attend the Yalta Conference.

    The United States and the Soviet Union attend the Yalta Conference after World War II to discuss what to do with Germany.
  • Bombing of Hiroshima

    Bombing of Hiroshima

    On August 6, 1945, an American B-29 bomber dropped the world’s first deployed atomic bomb over the Japanese city of Hiroshima. The explosion wiped out 90 percent of the city and immediately killed 80,000 people; tens of thousands more would later die of radiation exposure.
  • Another atomic bomb is dropped on Nagasaki, Japan

    Another atomic bomb is dropped on Nagasaki, Japan

    Japan. A-bomb on Nagasaki, killing an estimated 40,000 people
  • End of WW2

    End of WW2

    Japan surrenders to US General Douglass MacArthur and the Allies.
  • The Russians test an atomic bomb.

    The Russians test an atomic bomb.

    The Soviet Union successfully tests its first atomic bomb, which the U.S. calls Joe 1. In addition to the U.S., there are now two countries in the world with nuclear weapons.

  • The Korean War begins.

    Korea invades South Korea, starting the Korean War. The U.S. gets involved in the war to try and stop the spread of communism.

  • The Korean War ends.

    North and South Korea agree to end fighting in the war. The country is still divided, though, and North Korea remains communist.

  • Cuba has a revolution.

    Fidel Castro becomes the president of Cuba after a revolution that overthrows Fulgencio Batista. Castro does not say that Cuba is communist, but Cuba becomes an ally of the Soviet Union.
  • The Berlin Wall is built.

    The Berlin Wall is built.

    The Soviet Union, which occupies East Germany, builds a large wall that divides the city of Berlin. People who live in East Germany are not allowed to cross over into West Germany.