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Revolution overthrows Austria-Hungarian Emperor
Radicals became angry at the Emperor and caused him to flee the country. A national government was set up in place of the emperor. -
France loses Alsace & Lorraine to Germany
Otto von Bismark takes Alsace & Lorraine from France when he unifies Germany because they have the same cultural similarities. -
Germany officially unified
Princes of the German states gathered there to proclaim Wilhelm of Prussia as Emperor Wilhelm of the German Empire after the French capitulation in the Franco-Prussian War. -
Triple Alliance formed
This was a secret agreement between Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Italy. They agreed to militarily help each other if they were to be attacked. -
Bolsheviks emerge as a political group
Bolsheviks were members of a wing of the Russian Social-Democratic Workers' Party. They were led by Vladimir Lenin -
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Russo-Japansese War
Japan forced Russia to abandon its expansionist policy in the Far East, becoming the first Asian power in modern times to defeat a European power. Japan gained the position of a world power, becoming the first non-European and non-American imperialist modern state. -
Triple Entente Alliance formed
This was an agreement between Britain, France, and Russia before World War I. It developed from the Franco-Russian Alliance formed to counterbalance the threat posed by the Triple Alliance of Germany, Austria, and Italy. The Triple Entente and Triple Alliance came into conflict during WWI. -
Austria-Hungary Annexes Bosnia-Herzegovina
The Dual Monarchy of Austria-Hungary announced the annexation of the dual provinces, Bosnia and Herzegovina, in the Balkan region of Europe formerly under he control of the Ottoman empire. Austria-Hungary had adminstered the provinces since the Congress of Berlin in 1878. The annexation upset the fragile balance of power in the Balkans, enraging Serbia and pan-Slavic nationalists throughout Europe. -
Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand
The immediate cause of WWI was the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand of Austria-Hungary. The Archduke and his wife were gunned down by Gavrilo Princip, a Serbian nationalist. -
Austria declares war on Serbia
Emperor Franz Joseph's declaration of war effectively began WWI. -
Schlieffen Plan Put Into Action
It was the operational plan for a designated attack on France once Russia, in response to international tension, had started to mobilize its forces near the German border. The execution of the Schlieffen Plan led to Britain declaring war on Germany. -
Ottoman-Germany Alliance formed
The Ottoman Empire joined the Central Powers to form the Triple Alliance with the signing of the August 1914 Turco-German Alliance. This treaty was meant to go into effect in the event of war between Germany and Russia. -
Japan Declares War on Germany
The Japanese prepared to assist their British allies in expelling the Germans from the Far East by declaraing war on Germany. -
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The Battle of Tannenberg
A battle in modern-day Poland that ended in a German victory against Russia. Russia almost lost an entire army, but Russian action diverted the Germans from their attack on France and allowed the French to counter-attack at the Marne. -
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First Battle Of Marne
This battle brought German forces to a halt. It was fought between Germany and the allies of France and Britain. -
Russian army out of ammunition
Russia ran out of ammunition for its infantrymen in December 1914. When they ran out of ammunition, they fought with their bayonets. -
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Battle of Gallipoli
The battle was an unsuccessful attempt by the Allied Powers to control the sea route from Europe to Russia during World War I. It took place on the Gallipoli peninsula of the Ottoman Empire. The doomed campaign was thought up by Winston Churchill to end the war early by creating a new war front that the Ottomans could not cope with. -
Sinking of the RMS Lusitania
The British ocean liner, the RMS Lusitania, was torpedoed without warning by a German U-boat. The United States was outraged at the loss of the 123 Americans on the RMS Lusitania. This attack was one of the events that led up to the US entering the war. -
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Battle of Verdun
This battle was one of the longest, bloodiest, and most-ferocious battles of WWI on the Western Front. It was fought by the German and French armies, with the victor being France. -
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Battle of Jutland
This battle was the only major naval battle of WWI. The British and German fleets were the most powerful naval forces at the time. Jutland witnessed the British Navy losing more men and ships but the verdict of the Battle of Jutland was that the German Navy lost and was never in a position again to put to sea during the war. -
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Battle of Somme
Allied commanders sought to relieve pressure on the French defenders of Verdun to the south by inflicting heavy losses on German forces farther north and drawing German reserves into the battle. By the end of the campaign, the Allies and Central Powers lost more than 1.5 million men. -
Zimmermann Telegram found
A telegram from Germany to Mexico telling Mexico that the Germans will support them if they fight in the war and target the United States . It was intercepted by the British and shown to the US. The Zimmermann Telegram helped bring the United States into WWI. -
Unrestricted submarine warfare commences
Germany declared the area around the British Isles a war zone, in which all merchant ships, including those from neutral countries, would be attacked by the German navy. A string of attacks on merchant ships followed, culminating in the sinking of the British ship Lusitania by a German U-boat on May 7, 1915. -
Czar Nicholas II abdicates
He was forced to abdicate the throne by the Petrograd insurgents, and a provincial government is installed in his place. He was the Tsar of Russia prior to the Bolshevik Revolution. Czar Nicholas II was he last Russian emperor. -
America Declares War on Germany
President Wilson appeared before a joint session of Congress and asked for a declaration of war against Germany on April 2nd. The United States officially entered WWI. -
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Battle of Passchendaele
It was fought by the Allies against German forces. The British offensive in Flanders had aimed to drive the Germans away from the essential Channel Ports and to eliminate U-Boat bases on the coast. -
Vladmir Lenin Seizes Power in Russia
He presided over the first government of Soviet Russia and then that of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR). He was also the founder of the Bolshevik party. -
October Revolution
This was a seizure of state power that was very important in the larger Russian Revolution of 1917. -
Balfour Declaration
Foreign Secretary Arthur James Balfour writes a letter to Britain’s most illustrious Jewish citizen, Baron Lionel Walter Rothschild, expressing the British government’s support for a Jewish homeland in Palestine. The British supported the Zionist movement. -
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Influenza Epidemic
The epidemic infected about 1/3 of the world's population and killed 20-50 million people. It also decreased the US life expectancy by 10 years. -
Fourteen Points proposed
A statement by the US President Woodrow Wilson declaring that World War I was being fought for a moral cause and calling for postwar peace in Europe. -
Russia Signs Treaty of Brest-Litovsk
This treaty was an agreement between the new Bolshevik government of Soviet Russia and the Central Powers, that ended Russia's participation in World War I. -
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Second Battle of Marne
This battle marked the last German offensive push of WWI. The Allies won this battle. -
Armistice Signed
The Armistice was an agreement to stop fighting. It was signed between France, Britain, and Germany and it ended the fighting of WWI. -
Kaiser Wilhelm II's Abdication Proclamation
He was a German Emperor and the king of Prussia. Germany lost their strong leader. -
Treaty of Versailles Signed
The Treaty of Versailles was a peace treaty created by the Allied Powers to end WWI, but it also led to the start of WWII. -
Signing of Treaty of Saint-Germain
It was a treaty concluding WWI and it was signed by Austria and the Allied Powers. The treaty officially registered the breakup of the Habsburg empire, recognizing the independence of Czechoslovakia, Poland, Hungary, and the Kingdom of the Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes (Yugoslavia) and ceding eastern Galicia, Trento, southern Tirol, Trieste, and Istria. This new Austria, was militarily and financially weak. -
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New Economic Policy
This was the economic policy of the government of the Soviet Union, representing a temporary retreat from its previous policy of extreme centralization and doctrinaire socialism. It replaced the economic policies of "war Communism", an emergency program established by Lenin during the civil war. -
Stalin takes over Russia
Joseph Stalin was the leader of the Soviet Union from the mid-1920s until his death in 1953. A struggle for power developed between Stalin, the secretary of the Communist Party, and Trotsky, the brilliant Commissar for War. His Red Army helped defeat Nazi Germany during WWII. -
Trotsky flees Russia
Trotsky waged Russia's 1917 revolution alongside Vladimir Lenin. Fought with Stalin over Russia. Stalin came to power, causing Trotsky to flee Russia in fear of being killed. -
Russia-Germany Pact violates Versailles
Russia and Germany's pact to be allies breaks the Treaty of Versailles causing a problem. Germany rises again and starts WWII. -
Germany stops reparation payments to France
Germany was already in bankrupcy so they had to quit making these reparations and furthering their debts.