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On June 28, 1914, a teenage Serbian nationalist gunned down Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife, Sophie, as their motorcade maneuvered through the streets of Sarajevo. Next in line for the Austro-Hungarian throne, Ferdinand had not been particularly well liked in aristocratic circles.
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Due to the assassination, the Austrian-Hungarian Empire declared what was expected to be a short war on Serbia.
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The German invasion of Belgium was a military campaign which began on 4 August 1914. Earlier, on 24 July, the Belgian government had announced that if war came it would uphold its historic neutrality. The Belgian government mobilised its armed forces on 31 July and a state of heightened alert (Kriegsgefahr) was proclaimed in Germany.
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Germans defeated the Russian army on its way to invade Germany.
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The Allies stopped the German invasion of Paris.
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A British passenger ship, sunk by a German U-Boat.
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The French held their line against a German offensive until December of the same year, during the longest battle of the war.
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An indecisive naval battle between German and British fleets.
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A disastrous Allied offensive at the Somme, where Allied casualties numbered in the millions.
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The United States enters into the first World War, declaring war on the Central Powers.
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Russian revolutionaries setup a Communist goverment, attempting to make peace with the Central Powers.
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A series of German Attacks along the Western Front.
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The british Royal Air Force is formed.
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The Battle of Belleau Wood begins as the U.S. Marine Corps attacks the Germans across an open field of wheat, suffering huge casualties.
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The turning point of the war, in which the Allies defeated the Central Powers and advanced continuously until the end of the war.
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General Pershing leads the American Army to Victory.
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The Austrian-Hungarian Empire surrenders.
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Wilhem II is overthrown, and a German Republic is made.
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The Central Powers, tired of fighting, sign the armistice that ends World War 1
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An Armistice is signed ending fighting on the Western Front.
