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Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand and wife
On 28 June 1914, Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, heir presumptive to the Austro-Hungarian throne, and his wife, Sophie, Duchess of Hohenberg, were shot dead in Sarajevo by Gavrilo Princip, one of a group of six assassins (five Serbs and one Bosniak) coordinated by Danilo Ilić, a Bosnian Serb and a member of the Black Hand secret society. The political objective of the assassination was to break off Austria-Hungary's South Slav provinces so they could be combined into a Yugoslavia. -
Austria-Hungary declares war on Serbia
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Germany declares war on Russia
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Germany declares war on France
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Germany invades Belgium
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Great Britain declares war on Germany
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Battle of Marne
The Battle of the Marne was the first battle in World War I, lasting from September 5, 1914 – September 12, 1914. It ended with victory to the allies against the German army. -
Sinking of Luistania
On May 7, 1915 Germany waged submarine warfare on Great Britain and Ireland. Luistania was identified and torpedoed by the German U-boat U-20 and was sunk in 18 minutes. -
Battle of Verdun
The Battle of Verdun in 1916 was the longest single battle of World War I. The battle lasted almost 10 months, from Febuary 21, 1916 to December 18, 1916. -
Sinking of Sussex
On March 24, 1916 the Sussex was torpedoed by a German submarine, leaving 80 casualties, including two Americans wounded. The German government responded with the Sussex pledge, agreeing to give warning before sinking merchant and passenger ships. The pledge was upheld until February 1917, when unrestricted submarine warfare continued. -
Battle of Somme
The Battle of the Somme is famous because of the loss of 58,000 British troops (one third of them killed) on the first day of the battle. The battle lasted from July 1, 1916, which to this day is a one-day record, until November 18, 1916, wwhen it was finally called off. -
The Zimmerman Note is intercepted
There is no exact date, but in January 1917 a telegram was intercepted from German by British intelligence. Zimmermann instructed the ambassador, Count Johann von Bernstorff, of Mexic that he would offer a large amount of financial aid to Mexico if it agreed to engage in any future U.S vs. German conflict as a German ally. -
US declares war against Germany
On April 2, 1917, President Woodrow Wilson went before Congress to ask for a declaration of war against Germany. After hearing Wilson's reasoning for this: Germany violated its pledge to stop unrestricted submarine warfare, and its attempts to get Mexico to form an alliance against the United States. On April 4, 1917, the U.S. Senate voted to declare war on Germany. -
Russian Revolution breaks out
In March, 1917 Nicholas II gave up his throne. He was replaced by a war supporting government. In November riots broke out, and the Bolsheviks group overthrough the government. They then signed a treaty with Germany relinquishing land to German and getting Russia out of the war. -
Battle of Argonne Forest
On September 26, 1918 a million U.S. troops joined the allies in the battle of Argonne Forest. It was very rough terrain and may soldiers died, but the Allies still came out victorius on November 11, 1918.
