World War I timeline

  • revolution overthrows Austria-Hungarian emperor

    They wanted to achieve autonomy, independence, and hegemony over other nationalities which went against what Germany wanted.
  • Germany officially unified

    The German Empire came together and unified which got them prepared to go against many other countries. This was one of the small causes of World War I.
  • France loses Alsace and Lorraine to Germany

    This only increased the size of Germany's empire and they had more resources to help their success in later wars.
  • triple alliance formed

    This was a result of France losing Alsace and Lorraine to Germany that created this alliance that contributes to the success of Germany and their allies.
  • Trotsky flees Russia

    Leon Trotsky gave the move for revolution both drive and organisation. He was an essential part to getting Russia out of the war with Germany.
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    Russo-Japenesse war

    Russia started to work with China to expand important trading routes but ran into trouble when they tried to use Japanese land, causing a war. The Japanese won in the end when the Russians withdrew, they both lost many troops.
  • Triple entente alliance formed

    The alliance was between Italy, Germany, and Austria-Hungary. It took in more allies as the years went on but eventually collapsed in 1913, right before the beginning of World War I.
  • Austria-Hungary annexes Bosnia

    Austria and Hungary were a dual monarchy that took over and shared Bosnia and Herzegovina.
  • Archduke Franz Ferdinand assassinated

    Archduke Franz Ferdinand Was the heir to the Austro-Hugarian empire but was shot by a Siberian nationalist. This was a main trigger to the start of World War I.
  • Austria declares war on Siberia

    This was a result of the assassination of the heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne by a Siberian nationalist.
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    Battle of Tannenberg

    German armies strike against Russian armies in East Prussia during the beginning of World War I.
  • Ottoman-Germany alliance formed

    The Germans offered to help the Ottoman Empire in exchange for military arms. They later turned this into an alliance because they both offered each other things and they had a common enemy, Britain.
  • Schlieffen Plan put into action

    The Schlieffen Plan was the plan for an attack on France once Russia had started to mobilise its forces near the German border. This caused Britain to declare war on Germany.
  • Japan declares war on Germany

    Japan sends an ultimatum to Germany, saying that Germany need to remove all their ships in Japanese and Chinese waters. Germany refused causing Japan to declare war on Germany.
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    Battle of Marne

    The Britain and French forces against the Germans who had already invaded Belgium and northeastern France.
  • Russian army out of ammunition

    Russia had no intentions of participating in the war but the French had helped Russia after a failed war, therefore, Russia owed France this.
  • Unrestricted submarine warfare commences

    Germany decides to take their warfare submarine into restricted waters, where they aren't allowed to be.
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    Battle of Gallipoli

    It was an unsuccessful attempt by Allied Powers to control the sea route from Europe to Russia during World War I.
  • Lusitania sinks

    A German submarine shot down a British ship off the coast of Ireland.
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    Battle of Verdun

    German forces were close to claiming Verdun but they backed off.
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    Battle of Jutland

    This was one of the only naval fights between Germany and Britain. Germany had to retreat but they both claim victory.
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    Battle of Somme

    This was one of the largest battles of World War I with one of the largest body counts.
  • Vladimir Lenin seizes power in Russia

    He was so determined to win the battle against Russian forces that he started something known as the Red Terror which was a brutal and vicious campaign to eliminate the opposition within the civilian population.
  • Zimmerman Telegram found

    The telegram was a to send a secret coded message to someone else created by Zimmerman used to send messages to fellow Germans. American forces intercepted a message and worked for months to finally decode it and create a telegram of their own.
  • Tsar Nicholas II abdicates

    Czar Nicholas II, ruler of Russia since 1894, is forced to abdicate the throne by the Petrograd insurgents and a government was installed in his place after his departure.
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    Battle of Passchendaele

    This was also known as the 'battle of mud' by soldiers and was an attack on Germany by the British.
  • October Revolution

    Revolutionaries returned to Russia and fought against the non-revolutionist in what was known as the October Revolution. Lenin later took control of Russia after this.
  • Bolsheviks emerge as a political group

    A Bolshevik is a member of a wing of the Russian Social-Democratic Workers’ Party, which, led by Lenin, seized control of the government in Russia. They emerged as their own political group on October of 1917 after the October Revolution.
  • Balfour declaration

    A letter from the United Kingdom's Foreign Secretary Arthur James Balfour to Walter Rothschild, a leader of the British Jewish community, for transmission to the Zionist Federation of Great Britain.
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    Influenza epidemic

    This disease that seemed like just a cold killed between 20-40 million people (more than WWI).
  • fourteen points

    It was a statement of principles for world peace that was to be used for peace negotiations in order to end World War I.
  • Russia signed treaty of Brest

    In Brest-Litovsk Russia signed a treaty with the Central Powers ending its participation in World War I.
  • Kaiser Wilhelm II abdicates

    He was forced to abdicate and spent the rest of his life exiled in the Netherlands.
  • Armistice signed

    Germany signed an armistice agreement with the Allies after they ran out of supplies and manpower.
  • Treaty of Versailles signed

    This was a treaty that was signed and ended World War I. Germany didn't like the treaty but they did agree and sign it.
  • Treaty of Saint-Germain

    This was a treaty signed by representatives of Austria on one side and the Allied Powers.
  • New economic Policy (NEP)

    The economic policy of the government took a temporary retreat from its previous policy of extreme centralization and doctrinaire socialism.
  • Russia-Germany pact violates Versailles

    Germany violated the treaty of Vercailles when Hilter had control.
  • US declares war on Germany

    The US declares war against Germany a little after Germany declares war on the US after Pearl Harbor.
  • Germany stops reparation payments to France

    Germany made its last reparations payment for World War I on Oct. 3, 2010 settling its outstanding debt from the 1919 Versailles Treaty.