-
Archduke Franz Ferdinand was assassinated and this event sparks WWI
-
Austria-Hungary issues an ultimatum to Serbia with 10 requests to be met in order to avoid military action. Serbia’s response effectively accepted all terms of the ultimatum but one: it would not accept Austria-Hungary’s participation in any internal inquiry, stating that this would be a violation of the Constitution and of the law of criminal procedure
-
Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia because they only granted nine out of ten requests on the ultimatum which made it incomplete
-
Russia mobilizes its vast army to intervene against Austria-Hungary in favor of its ally, Serbia. This leads to the mobilization of the rest of the European Great Powers.
-
Germany declares war against Russia under the terms of its alliance with Austro-Hungary. Germany also mobilizes against the French because they realize that France will come in on the side of Russia
-
Germany invades Luxembourg because it was part of the passageway to France
-
Germany invades Belgium to execute the Schlieffen Plan, which was a plan for war with Russia calling for an attack on France first. Also, the roads of Belgium were needed for the German Army to reach the French.
-
Germany declares war on France moving ahead with a long-held strategy conceived by the former chief of staff of the German army, Alfred von Schlieffen, for a two-front war against France and Russia. The British foreign secretary, Sir Edward Grey, sent an ultimatum to Germany demanding their withdrawal from the neutral Belgium.
-
Germany did not withdraw from Belgium and Britain declared war on Germany
-
Japan declared war on Germany due to their alliance with Great Britain that was signed in 1902
-
The Germans used their railway system to surround the Russian Second army at Tannenberg. This ensuing battle was a heavy defeat for the Russians with thousands of men killed and 125,000 taken as prisoners. Although the Germans won the battle, 13,000 men were killed.
-
This was the second defeat for the Russian Army in World War I
-
Allied and German forces begin the first of what would be three battles to control the city and its advantageous positions on the north coast of Belgium during the First World War
-
The Zeppelins struck Great Britain for the first time, dropping bombs on the seaside towns of Great Yarmouth and King’s Lynn. Modern warfare had arrived!
-
German forces shock Allied soldiers along the Western Front by firing more than 150 tons of lethal chlorine gas against two French colonial divisions at Ypres in Belgium
-
Lusitania, which had many American passengers aboard, was sank by a German U-boat.
-
The Germans mounted an attack on the French at Verdun designed to ‘bleed the French dry’. Although the fighting continued for nine months, the battle was inconclusive
-
This was the only truly large-scale naval battle of the war. German forces, confined to port by a British naval blockade, came out in the hope of splitting the British fleet and destroying it ship by ship. The exchange of fire was brief and the German’s withdrew.
-
The first German air raid on London took place. The Germans hoped that by making raids on London and the South East, the British Air Force would be forced into protecting the home front rather than attacking the German air force
-
In Germany, orders were given to step up the U-boat campaign. All allied or neutral ships were to be sunk on sight and in one month almost a million tons of shipping was sunk. Neutral countries became reluctant to ship goods to Britain and Lloyd George ordered all ships carrying provisions to Britain to be given a convoy
-
The United States of America declared war on Germany in response to the sinking, by German U boats, of US ships
