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Assassination of the Archduke in Serbia
Archducal party left Philipovic arm camp around 10:00 a.m. Franz Ferdinand had spoken to his troops briefly, giving them a reveiw, They headed for City Hall for a reception hosted by Sarajevo's mayor. This event is what started a war within Europe. The war we all know as The Great War. -
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World War 1
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Austria-Hungary declares war on Serbia
On July 28, 1914, 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 and then France
On August 1st Germany declared war on Russia.
Two days later, on August 3rd, they declared war on France. -
South African forces occupy Swakopmund
As part of an attempt to display its loyalty to the British empire and, perhaps more importantly, enlarge its own sphere of influence on the African continent, South Africa sends troops to occupy Swakopmund, a seaside town in German-occupied Southwest Africa. When war broke out in 1914, South African Prime Minister Louis Botha immediately pledged full support for Britain, antagonizing a portion of South Africa's ruling Afrikaner population, who were still resentful of their defeat. -
Edith Cavell executed
Edith Cavell’s execution and final shot to the head was an act of barbarism without noting that she may have still been alive after the initial firing. -
Hindenburg becomes German Chief of Staff
Paul von Hindenburg was born in Posen in 1847. He fought at the Battle of Koniggratz and in the Franco-Prussian War. Promoted to the rank of general in 1903, Hindenburg retired from the army in 1911. On the outbreak of the First World War Hindenburg was recalled to the German Army and after being sent to the Eastern Front won decisive victories over the Russians at Tannenberg and the Masaurian Lakes. Seen as the saviour of East Prussia, he was promoted to field marshal. -
French recapture Douaumont Fort at Verdun
Chief among these French gains was the recapture of Fort Douaumont on October 24, 1916. Under a cover of fog, French forces attacked the German-occupied fort from atop nearby Souville Hill, swarming down and taking some 6,000 German prisoners by the end of that day. -
Battle of Gaza begins
The First Battle of Gaza was fought in and around the town of Gaza on the Mediterranean coast in the southern region of Ottoman Palestine on 26 March 1917 during World War I.
Also, the United States declared war on Germany.At 8:30 on the evening of April 2, 1917, President Wilson appeared before a joint session of Congress and asked for a declaration of war against Germany in order to "make the world safe for democracy." On April 4, Congress granted Wilson's request. -
Car Schneider Tank
At the end of 1914 the French Army began to consider how it was going to overcome the machine-guns and barbed wire of trench warfare. French tanks used for the first time in battle on this day. -
End of WWI
The last day of World War One was November 11th 1918, known as Armistice Day.After three days of intense negotiations in a rail siding just outside of Compiegne (see photo), the German delegation that had been brought to the personal carriage of Marshall Ferdinand Foch was ordered by its government in Berlin to sign any terms put on the table by the Allies.