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Triple Alliance was formed between Germany, A-H, Italy
Otto von Bismarck wanted to do all that he could to isolate France because he believed that France was Germanys biggest threat. Germany, Austria- Hungary, and Italy then formed an military alliance promising support for eachother in the event that one were to get attacked by another world power. This alliance led to a rise in tensions and threatened peace within the Great Powers. -
Kaiser Wilhelm II took leadership
Kaiser Wilhem II was in inflexible man and he did not want to share power with anyone so he forced Bismarck to resign. Wilhelm was very proud of his army and he wanted to show off just how great Germany had become. He then dismantled the alliance system that was formed with Russia and enforced an aggressive foreign policy which aloud an European war more likely to take place due to the mistrust that took arose within. -
Russia formed defensive military alliance with France
This alliance had been Bismarck's fear from the beginning. War with either of these countries would then make Germany the enemy of both, which now forced Germany to fight a two-front war. -
Triple Entente
Wilhelm began a hug shipbuilding project in order to make his army equivalent to the size of Britains. Great Britain was alarmed and they formed an alliance with France, and then both France and Russia. This alliance was called the Triple Entente and they promised not to fight with eachother. There were now two rivals in Europe, The Triple Alliance and The Triple Entente. Any disputes could now lead to a major war between forces. -
Assassination of Franz Ferdinand and his wife Sophie
Franz Ferdinand was the archduke of Austria-Hungary and when he and his wife came to Sarajevo, the capital of Bosnia, they were shot by Gavrilo Princip, a ninteen year old Serbian who was a member of the Black Hand. The Black Hand was a group whose main goal was to rid Bosnia of Austrian rule. Since the murder was Serbian, it was an excuse for Austria- Hungary to punish Serbia. This led to Austria-Hungray presenting Serbia a ultimatum. -
Austria presented Serbia with the ultimatum
Wanting to punish Serbia for the murder of their Archduke, Austria presents Serbia a list of demands to agree to or else war will erupt. The Serbian leaders agreed to only certain demands and offered for the others to be settled in a national conference. Austria was not in a mood to negotiate so they regected Serbia's offers and had their minds settled on war. -
Austria Declared War Against Bosnia, Russia Ordered Mobilization
Austria declared war on Bosnia. Russia, an ally of Serbia due to their largely Slavic population, ordered mobilization of their troops to the Austrian border to help with the war. Leaders all over the war could tell this was the start of a big conflict, this event was the start of the downward spiral. -
Germany Declared War on Russia
On August 1st, Germany declared war on Russia. This decision made it clear that there was defintally going to be war taking place and allies will now fight for one another. Once Germany declared war on Russia, the battle that was originally between Serbia and Austria-Hungary is now a bigger war. -
Germany Declared War on France
Once Germany declared war on Russia, Russia was looking for its ally, France, for support. Germany did not even wait for France to respond before they declared war on France. Germany was declaring all these different wars in the battle, showing that they were a big player of the war. -
Britain Declared War on Germany
Soon after Germany declared war on two of its allies, Britain decided to declare war on Germany. The effect was that this ment most of the world was now involved in war. -
Battle of Tannenberg
Lasting for four days, the Battle of Tannenberg was fought between the Russian and German armies. This battle severly damanged the Russian army. The German army only had 12,000 casualties while the Russian army had a total of 170,000 casualties. -
1st Battle of the Marne
The Germans were planning a quick victory over France using the Schlieffen Plan and it appeared that may happen, until the Allies regrouped and attacked the Germans outside of Paris in the valley of the Marne River. The German general gave the order to retreat. This defeat left the Schlieffen Plan in ruins and a quick victory was no longer possible. -
Ottoman Empire joins Central Powers
Bulgaria and the Ottoman Empire joined the Central Powers in hope of regaining lost territories. The effect this had was that it helped draw clearer distinctions between territories of opposing sides, leaving only the United States and Italy as unallied strong powers. -
Gallipoli Campaign
The Gallipoli Campaign took place on the pennisula of Gallipoli. This resulted in many casualties on both sides. This event was considered one of the Turks greatest accomplishments but it was big failure for the Allies. Eventually, this ended as a deadlock. -
Germany sinks the U.S.S. Lusitania
When Germany sunk one of Britian's ships, it resulted in over 1,000 casualties. America was outraged and sent a protest to Germany. -
The Battle of Verdun
This battle was fought between the German and French armies on the Western Front. The Battle of Verdun was considered to be one of the longest and most devastating battles in World War One with an average of 70,000 deaths for each of the ten months of battle. It ended with a victory for France, so it was another positive for the allied side. -
Battle of the Somme
The Battle of the Somme was fought between France and Britain on the German forces. It was and still is one of the bloodest battles in history. The British army lost 60,000 men in the first day of the battle. It was discovered that it would not be very productive trying to cross into No Mans Land when the enemy was firing machine guns. -
Unrestricted Submarine Warfare
Germans announced that their ships would sink without any warning to this ships around them, and it was called Unrestricted Submarine Warfare. Even though President Wilson warned them not to, they ignored what he asked and continued to use this technique. This event pushed the United States closer to join the war. -
Zimmermann Note
The British intercepted a telegram from Germany which was suppose to be going to Mexico telling them that they could reclaim their lands they lost to the United States if they allied themselves with Germany. Once the United States heard about the telegram, this was the last they could stand from Germany and they went to war on the side of the Allies. -
United States Declares War on Germany
President Wilson asked Congress to declare war on Germany. Before the United States even heard of the note, they had already decided who they would side with. They had a close connection with England and they had strong economic ties with the Allies. Once US joined the war, this was a big help for the Allies considering that the United States was a major power. -
Vladimir Ilyich Lenin ended Russia’s involvement in WWI
There was civil unrest in Russia, mainly because of war-related shortages and fuel. Vladimir llyich Lenin, a communist leader, came to power in 1917 and insisted in taking Russia out of the war. He decided that they would have to offer Germany a truce. -
Treaty of Brest-Litovsk
Germany and Russia signed the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk which ended the war between them. This agreement was very hard on Russia because it required Russia to surrender lands to Germany. Russia leaving the war aloud Germany to send all of their troups to the Western Front, due to the fact that they would only have to be fighting a one front war from now on. -
Second Battle of the Marne
The battle between the Allies and the Germans turned out to be a failure to the Germans. The Allied forces began to move toward Germany, and the Central Forces began to crumble. This was the last battle of World War One. -
Germany Declared Itself a Republic
The public turned on Kaiser and he was forced to step down, Germany was now declared a republic. Germany was crumbling and the Allies were still holding strong, this led to Germany leaving the war. -
Armistice Was Signed
A German representative and French Commander Marshal Foch signed a armistice agreeing to stop fighting. After four long years of slaughter, the war had finally come to an end.
