World War I Timeline

  • Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand

    Archduke Ferdninand was assassinated by someone from the Black Hand in Sarajevo. The Black Hand was a secret society during the 1900's that was committed to ridding Bosnia of the Austrian rule. The assassination of the archduke started a chain reaction of many events that pretty much started World War I.
  • Austria Declares War

    Austria had rejected Serbia's offer for a conference to talk about impending war. At this same day, Russia - Serbia's ally - took action. And the Russian leaders ordered troops to head to the Austrian border.
  • Schlieffen Plan

    This plan is where a large part of the German army would race west to defeat France, and then turn and fight Russia in the east.
  • Eastern Front Takes A Stand

    Russia was back at the eastern front and they invadded Germany. And Germany was forced to fight in both the east and the west.
  • Battle of Marne

    The first battle of Marne. It was against the Germans and the Allies. The Allies had attacked the Germans in the northeast of Paris, the Marne River.
  • Battle to take the Dardanelles strait

    This event was known as the Gallipoli campaign. British, Australlian, New Zeland and French troops kept on fighting at the Gallipoli Peninsula. Turkish troops were commanded by the Germans and protected the region.
  • German Attack against the French

    This was when slaughter reached a peak and the Germans attacked the French near Verdun. Each side loosing more than 300,000 men.
  • Period: to

    Battle on the Western front

    On July, 1916, the British army tried to put some pressure off the French and attacked the Germans on the northwest of Verdun. This started the battle on the Western front at the Somme River. It lasted three months.
  • Unrestricted Submarine Warfare

    This was a strategy development where the Germans announced that Britain submarine warships would sink without warning any other ship around the waters near Britain.
  • Congress Declares War

    President Wilson asked congress to declare war, and the United Sates went with the Allies in the war.
  • Vladimir Ilyich Lenin siezes power

    Lenin was a Communist leader and seized power in November 1917. He wanted to end his countries part in the war. He offered Germany a truce.
  • Treaty of Brest-Litovsk

    Germany and Russia signed this treaty (Treaty of Brest-Litovsk) that ended war against them.
  • 2nd Battle of the Marne

    Allies and Germans fought at this second battle. This was when allied forces stared to advance to Germany.
  • End of World War I

    World War I ended. A representative of the new German government met with Marshal Foch. And they signed an agreement to stop fighting, this led to the end of World War I.
    People were left feeling bitter and betrayed after the peace settlement.
  • Treaty of Versailles

    Germany and the Allied powers signed this treaty and created a League of Nations. The league was an international association where people wanted to keep peace among the other nations.