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Archduke Ferdiand is assassinated
Archduke Ferdinand was the heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne. He and his wife Sophie took a trip to Bosnia where they were shot by a Serbian. The Serbian was a member of The Black Hand whose main purpose was to overthrow their ruler which angered the Austrians. This assasination gave the Austro-Hungarians a reason to start a war against Serbia. -
Austria-Hungary declares war on Serbia
This declaration of war was caused by the assasination of Ferdinand and his wife Sophie. Austria placed an ultimatum on Serbia with many demands, and Serbia didn't comply with all of them, so a war started. Russia stepped in to aid Serbia, and other European nations urged the warring countries to negotiate, but it was too late. -
Period: to
World War I
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Sides of the war are drawn between the Central Powers and the Allies
The Central Powers consisted of Germany and Austria-Hungary because they were in central Europe. They were later joined by Bulgaria and the Ottoman Empire. the Allies were Grat Britian, France, and Russia. They were later joined by Japan and Italy. With thse sides drawn, the war changed from a squirmish between two countries to a war over an entire continent. -
First Battle of the Marne
Since the Germans could be attacked on two sides, they had to develpoe the Schlieffen Plan. The Germans fiirst went for France, but the Allies regrouped and met the Germans in the valley of the Marne River. The battle went on for four days, but by then, the German generals had to order a retreat. -
Gallipoli Campaign
The Allies wanted to establish a trade route to Russia through the Dardanelles straight, but in order to do that, they had to attack a region of the Ottoman Empire. The battle raged on for eleven months before the Allies finally decided to pull out. The Allies suffered 250,000 casualties total. -
Sinking of the Lusitania
Germany began using unrestricted submarine warfare. They announced that they would shoot at any ship that came near Britain. When the Lusitania was hit, 128 U.S. citizens were killled which angered other U.S. citizens, so President Wilson sent a protest to Germany and after a few other attacks, Germany agreed to stop attacking neutral ships. -
U.S. intercepts German telegram
In 1917, U.S. officials intercepted a telegram that was going from Germany to Mexico. In the telegram, they were plotting to help Mexico reclaim the lands that they had lost to the United States if Mexico would take up arms with them against the Allies. This was the spark that made the U.S. join WWI. -
Russia steps out of the war
<--the image shows Russian protestors asking for the war to end Russia was experienceing unrest in their own country, so the people wanted to pull out of the war. However, not until Vladimir Ilyich Lenin did a ruler want to get out of the war. Lenin signed a treaty with Germany to end the fighting between them -
U.S. enters the war
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Treaty of Brest-Litovsk
In 1918, Russia finally decided to step out of the war, but in order to do so, they had to make a truce with Germany. Both countries signed the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk which ended the war between the two rival countries. Russia's withdrawl allowed for all the German soldiers to go to the Western front where the war raged on. -
Second Battle of the Marne
In July of 1918, the Allies launched a counterattack on German soldiers at the Second Battle of the Marne. Germany's army was weakened and lacked supplies, while the Allies just gained fresh American troops. The Allies mowed through the Central Power's lines and marshed towards Germany.
