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The assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand is considered the one of the key events that lead to World War I. Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, heir presumptive to the Austro-Hungarian throne, and his wife, Sophie, Duchess of Hohenberg, were assassinated on 28 June 1914 by Bosnian Serb student Gavrilo Princip. They were shot at close range while being driven through Sarajevo, the provincial capital of Bosnia-Herzegovina, formally annexed by Austria-Hungary in 1908. -
A month after the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife Sophie on July 28, 1914, the Austro-Hungarian government declares war on Serbia. Immediately, and within a period of six days, European countries declare war upon one another. -
The Schlieffen Plan established that, in case of the outbreak of war, Germany would attack France first and then Russia. Instead of a head-on engagement, which would lead to position warfare of inestimable length, the opponent should be enveloped and its armies attacked on the flanks and rear. Devised by Germany, was intended to force France into submission and then invade Russia. It didn't work because Russian troops attacked Germany while German troops were busy invading France. -
The Battle of Tannenberg was one of the first major battles of World War I. It took place from August 23 - 30 in 1914. It was a resounding victory for the German army and proved that they could defeat larger armies through superior tactics and training. -
The battle at the Masurian Lakes was not as one-sided as Tannenburg had been. The Germans started their attack on September 7th 1914. By September 9th, Rennenkampf, his army outnumbered by 3 to 1, ordered an orderly withdrawal. Two divisions were left behind to slow down the German advance and to allow the Russians the opportunity to withdraw unhindered. Germans=VICTORY -
The First Battle of the Marne was a battle of the First World War fought from 5 to 12 September 1914. It was fought in a collection of skirmishes around the Marne River Valley. It resulted in an Entente victory against the German armies in the west. -
The aim was to crush the French army before the Allies grew in strength through the full deployment of British forces. The battle of Verdun, beginning as a brilliant German offensive, ended as an offensive victory for the French. -
This telegram, written by German Foreign Secretary Arthur Zimmermann, is a coded message sent to Mexico, proposing a military alliance against the United States. The note revealed a plan to renew unrestricted submarine warfare and to form an alliance with Mexico and Japan if the United States declared war on Germany. The message was intercepted by the British and passed on to the United States; its publication caused outrage and contributed to the U.S. entry into World War I. -
On April 2, 1917, President Woodrow Wilson went before a joint session of Congress to request a declaration of war against Germany. Wilson cited Germany’s violation of its pledge to suspend unrestricted submarine warfare in the North Atlantic and the Mediterranean, as well as its attempts to entice Mexico into an alliance against the United States, as his reasons for declaring war. On April 4, 1917, the U.S. Senate voted in support of the measure to declare war on Germany. -
The treaty that ended Russia’s participation in the First World War was signed on 3 March 1918. -
The influenza epidemic that swept the world in 1918 killed an estimated 50 million people. One fifth of the world's population was attacked by this deadly virus. Within months, it had killed more people than any other illness in recorded history. -
The Second Battle of the Marne is considered to be one of the most important victories of the Allied forces in World War I. This battle was the last German offensive and by the time the German army reached the Marne River, soldiers were exhausted and there was a lack of food, ammunition, and supplies. the Germans begin what would be their final offensive push of World War I. Dubbed the Second Battle of the Marne,it ended several days later in a major victory for the Allies -
the armistice between Germany and the Allies was the first step to ending World War I. that the Armistice was signed on 11 November 1918 at 5:15 AM between the Allies (represented by France and Great Britain) and the German plenipotentiaries. The need became more urgent as Germany's allies began to drop out of the war. The German government approached the United States with a request for an armistice. -
The Treaty of Versailles was signed by Germany and the Allied Nations on June 28, 1919, formally ending World War One. The terms of the treaty required that Germany pay financial reparations, disarm, lose territory, and give up all of its overseas colonies. -
The League of Nations aimed to stop wars, improve people's lives and jobs, encourage disarmament and enforce the Treaty of Versailles. On November 15 1920, 41 members states gathered in Geneva for the opening of the first session of the Assembly. This represented a large portion of existing states and corresponded to more than 70% of the world's population. At the end of World War I it was formally disbanded on April 19, 1946.