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Germany, Austria Hungary, and Italy form the Triple Alliance, gaining them allies for any furture wars. This alliance was formed by Otto Von Bismarck whose goal was to isolate France so that if war were to erupt, France would fall quickly.
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Russia and Germany join in an alliance, securing Germany's eastern borders. Otto von Bismarck knew that if war were to erupt and Germany did not have Russia as an ally that Germany would end up fighting a two front war. A two front war would quickly deplete Germany's resources so Bismarck knew this alliance with Russia was very important.
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Kaiser Wilhelm II changes Germany's foreign policy, forcing Otto von Bismark to resign. He didn't want to share his power with Bismarck and wanted to show how powerful he could make Germany.
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Kaiser Wilhelm II wanted to show the world how strong and powerful Germany was and that it didnt need Russia as an ally. This caused Russia to become an enemy of the triple alliance and to seek other alliance.
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Since the alliance between Russia and Germany expired, Russia sought out a defensive military alliance with France. This is precisely what Otto von Bismarck feared because Russia and France border Germany on opposite sides. If war were to erupt while the alliance between Russia and France was still active, Germany would have to fight a two front war.
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Great Britain became threatened by Germany's sudden naval militarism so it sought out an alliance with France. They signed the Entente Cordiale or "friendly agreement." This would drag Great Britain into the war.
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France, Britain and Russia entered into an alliance with eachother, creating the triple entente. This entente meant that France, Britain, and Russia would not incite conflict amongst each other.
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Franz Ferdinand, the heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, and his expectant wife Sophie visit Sarajevo, the capital of Bosnia. They were there to negotiate a peace treaty with the Serbs. However, they visited on the day that marked the loss of Serbian independence. Outraged, a Serbian nationalist group entitled The Black Hand comissioned nineteen year old Gavrilo Princip to assassinate the couple. This event sparked conflict between Austria-Hungary and Serbia.
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This ultimatum had many demands on Serbia, all of which Serbia complied with save for one; the investigation of the assassination of the Ferdinands. Serbians feared that if they let A-H inside their borders, their independence would be non-existant.
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Because Serbia did not comply with all of Austria-Hungary's demands presented in the ultimatum, Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia. Russia, because of the similar Slavic culture, mobilized toward Austrian borders to help out it's ally Serbia. Because of the alliances that had been created, other nations would be dragged into the conflict, creating more conflict until these conflicts would turn into the first World War.
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Because Germany had and alliance with Austria-Hungary and Russia had an alliance with Serbia, they both joined the war between Austria-hungary and Serbia. This dragged two large world powers into the conflict.
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Britain had alliances with both Russia and France who had already been brought into the war. In order to defend its allies, Britain declared war on Germany, bringing another country into the war.
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Germany attacks Russia at Tannenberg creating a four day long battle in response to Russia's mobilization on Austria-HUngary's eastern front. Since Russia was less industrialized than other nations Germany gained the upper hand on them.
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Since Russia had an alliance with France, Germany knew that sooner or later France would join the war so Germany declared war on France, drawing yet another world power into the conflict.
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The Alllies attacked Germany at the First Battle of the Marne in France. This battle destroyed the Germans' Shcleiffen Plan which would have made the war quick and easy. Because of this loss, Germany was forced to fight a two front war.
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The Ottoman Empire joined the Central Powers because they wanted to regain lost lands and they believed the Central Powers was the best way to do so. This greatly strengthened the Central Powers' forces.
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Despite the Russians' early success in the war, The Austrians, along with German assisstance, pusshed Russian forces out of Austria-Hungary.
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The Gallapoli Campaign was in effort to take the Dardanellas strait. The Allies thought that if they could take the Dardanellas strait that they could gain clear passage to Costantinople and defeat the Turks and provide Russia with supplies. The campaign failed in December of 1915 and prompted Bulgaria to join the Central Powers.
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Italy had formerly been an ally of Germany but their alliance only covered a defensive war and since Germany had incited the conflict Italy did not have to help them. After being promised some Austrian lands, Italy joined the Allied Forces, making them much stronger.
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Germany had enacted the policy of unrestricted submarine warfare and sunk the Britich passenger ship the Lustania which resuled in 1,198 deaths, 128 of which were American ciizens. This outraged American citizens, enciting actions toward joining the war.
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This was a German offensive battle in which over one million troops lost their lives. It lasted until November of the same year when German forces retreated back to the Hindenberg line. This greatly depleted resources and soldiers on both sides.
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British forces intercepted the Zimmerman Note from Germany headed to Mexico. This note promised that Germany would help Mexico regain lands lost to the US if Mexic allied themselves with Germany. Britain gave this note to the US, thus inspiring the US to join the War.
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Because of the Zimmerman Note and American deaths as a result of Germany's unrestricted submarine warfare policy, Pres. Woodrow Wilson asks congress to declare war on Germany, allying themselves with the Allied Forces.
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Russia's resources were becoming scarce due to the war so revolutions broke out. Lenin took power and began drawing up a treaty with Germany to end fighting with them.
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THis treaty let Russia out of the war but it was also very harsh on Russia. Russia had to hand over much of its land to Germany. This also caused the Entente to lose an ally and made it so that Germany no longer had to fight a two front war.
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The Allies pushed forward to crush German lines and with the help of over 2 million fresh American soldiers, the Allies won the battle, signifying that the war was coming to a close.
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As German forces began to fail, Germans began to turn on the Kaiser, eventually forcing him to step down, leading to German surrender.
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Germany finally agrees to end the war and a representative from both sides sign an armistice, officially ending the war.
