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World War 1 started when Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria was assassinated on June 28, 1914.
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Austria-Hungary declares war on Serbia
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Germany declares war on Russia.
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Germany declares war on Russia.
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The Battle of Tannenberg is fought between Germany and Russia. The Germans defeat the Russian Second Army.
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Germany declares war on France as part of the Schlieffen Plan
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Germany invades Belgium. Britain declares war on Germany
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The advancing German army is stopped before Paris by the British and French at the First Battle of the Marne. The Germans dig in and four years of trench warfare begins.
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The Allies defeat the Germans at the First Battle of Ypres
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The British begin a naval blockade of Germany.
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The Ottoman Empire declares war on the Allies.
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German use of submarines to sink neutral shipping including, most famously, the sinking of the Lusitania in 1915 with the death of almost 1,200 people, 128 of them Americans
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The Lusitania, a luxury British passenger ship, is sunk by a German submarine. 1,195 civilians were killed. This act sparks international outrage and contributes to the United States joining the war against Germany.
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The Battle of the Somme begins. Over 1 million soldiers will be wounded or killed.
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The British intercept the Zimmerman Telegram in which Germany tries to convince Mexico to join the war. This will result in the United States declaring war on Germany.
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Constant British propaganda efforts, culminating in the Zimmermann Telegram of February 1917, coupled with the German resumption of unrestricted submarine warfare and drew America into the war.
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The Russians agree to peace with the Central powers and leave the war.
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President Woodrow Wilson issues his "Fourteen Points" for peace and an end to the war.
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Germany agrees to an armistice and the fighting comes to an end at 11am on the 11th day of the 11th month.
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Germany agrees to an armistice and the fighting comes to an end at 11am on the 11th day of the 11th month.
