-
Archduke Franz Ferdinand heir to the throne of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and his wife are assassinated in Sarajevo.
-
-
Emperor Franz Joseph of Austria-Hungary declares war on Serbia.
-
As an ally of Serbia, Russia announces full mobilization of her armed forces.
-
Germany mobilizes her armed forces and declares war on Russia.
-
Germany declares war on France.
-
Germany declares war on neutral Belgium and invades in a right flanking move designed to defeat France quickly. As a result of this invasion, Britain declares war on Germany.
-
Austria-Hungary declares war on Russia.
-
"The Battle of the Frontiers" -- 27,000 French soldiers die on this single day in an offensive thrust to the east of Paris, towards the German borders.
-
German army, led by Erich Ludendorff and Paul von Hindenburg achieves its greatest victory of the war on the Eastern front against Russia at the Battle of Tennenberg.
-
First Battle of the Marne halts German invasion in France.
-
First trenches of the Western front are dug.
-
Unofficial Christmas Truce declared by soldiers in the trenches along the Western Front.
-
War becomes "Total War" with German Zeppelin air raid on England
-
Germany declares a submarine blockade of Great Britain. Any ship approaching England is considered a legitimate target.
-
Allies begin nine-month battle for the Turkish peninsula of Gallipoli.
-
U-boat sinks the Lusitania. 1,198 civilians, including 128 Americans die.
-
Germany responds to U.S. anger by ceasing to sink ships without warning.
-
Tsar Nicholas takes command of the Russian armies.
-
British use gas in battle near Loos, but shifting winds cause 60,000 British casualties.
-
Sir Douglas Haig becomes commander of British Expeditionary Force.
-
Allies begin withdrawal of troops from Gallipoli.
-
British conscription law goes into effect
-
The longest battle of the war, the Battle of Verdun, is fought to a draw with an estimated one million casualties.
-
Canadians take Vimy Ridge
-
US President Wilson publicly warns Germany not to continue unrestricted submarine warfare policies
-
The Battle of Jutland, the only major naval engagement of the war is fought with no clear winner.
-
The Battle of the Somme results in an estimated one million casualties and no breakthrough for the Allies. British introduce the tank, an effective weapon but far to few to make much of a difference.
-
Woodrow Wilson re-elected President of the United States with campaign slogan: "He kept us out of the war"
-
David Lloyd George becomes Prime Minister of Britain.
-
Rasputin, the self-avowed holy man and confidant to the Tsarina, is murdered by relatives of the Tsar.
-
Reich Foreign Secretary Zimmermann's telegram to Mexico urging her entry into war against the United States is discovered and translated by the British.
-
Germany again declares unrestricted submarine warfare.
-
Tsar Nicholas II of Russia abdicates. Provisional government is declared.
-
President Wilson asks Congress for a declaration of war with Imperial Germany
-
French launch disastrous offensive at Chemin des Dames, advancing only 500 yards at the cost of 250,000 plus casualties.
-
Over half a million French soldiers mutiny, or "go on strike" and refuse to continue the failed offensive.
-
The United States passes the Selective Service Act empowering the Federal Government to draft men for the armed forces.
-
Russian Army lead by Alexander Kerensky begins last -- and disastrous -- offensive in Galicia.
-
The first wave of the American Expeditionary Force lands in France.
-
Third Battle of Ypres, known as Passchendaele, results in minor gains, but still no breakthrough in the Western front at the cost of 700,000 casualties for both sides.
-
American troops in France fire their first shot in trench warfare.
-
Bolshevik socialists, led by Lenin, overthrow Kerensky's government.
-
The new Russian government, represented by Leon Trotsky, signs an armistice with Germany.
-
British capture Jerusalem from the Turks and her Arab allies.
-
Two waves of influenza kill more people than did the war
-
President Woodrow Wilson declares his 14 points as the path to permanent world peace.
-
Germans launch the first of five major offensives to win the war before American troops appear in the trenches. German advance is finally stopped in late June
-
Baron von Richthofen, "the Red Baron" is killed in air dog-fight
-
British and Australian troops stop the German advance near Amiens.
-
German shells land on Paris.
-
Germans on the banks of the Marne near Paris are stopped by American forces at Chateau-Thierry.
-
German troops being shipped from the Eastern to Western Front begin to desert in large numbers from their transport trains
-
Former Tsar Nicholas II, his wife, children, and members of his entourage are murdered by the Bolsheviks.
-
President Wilson agrees to co-operate with Allies in sending "volunteer" troops into Russia.
-
Allied counter offensives on the Somme push the German army back and into retreat
-
Allied troops break through the German fortifications at the Hindenberg line.
-
German sailors mutiny at port when asked to sail and fight a hopeless navel battle.
-
Turks sign armistice
-
Kaiser Wilhelm II abdicates.
-
A German republic is founded.
-
At eleven o'clock on the eleventh day of the eleventh month of 1918, the war ends as Germany and Allies sign an Armistice.
-
