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Archduke Francis Ferdinand is assassinated
Heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, and his wife Sophie in Sarajevo (the capital of the Austro-Hungarian province of Bosnia-Herzegovina) on 28 June 1914 eventually led to the outbreak of the First World War. Gavrilo Princip who shot and killed Franz Ferdinand and his wife at point-blank range. Austria-Hungary was furious and, with Germany's support, declared war on Serbia on July 28. -
Germany begins naval blockade of Great Britain
The German government regarded the blockade as an attempt to starve the country into defeat and wanted to retaliate in kind. The German High Seas Fleet set out multiple times from 1914 to 1916 to reduce the British Grand Fleet and to regain access to vital imports. -
Allied forces land on the Gallipoli Peninsula of the Ottoman Empire
The Anzacs landed around Ari Burnu on the western side of the Gallipoli peninsula with the loss of 5,000 casualties. The landing site became known as Anzac Cove. Allied success in the campaign could have weakened the Central Powers, allowed Britain and France to support Russia and helped to secure British strength in the Middle East. But success depended on Ottoman Turkish opposition quickly crumbling -
Germany begins the attack on Verdun
When the German army began pounding the forts and trenches with artillery fire. 1,200 guns smashed the French positions. Erich Von Falkenhayn, Commander-in-Chief of the German army, wanted to put an end to the trench warfare that had begun in the autumn of 1914 and get his troops moving again. -
The United States declares war on Germany
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. -
Harold Ross assumes editorship of The Stars and Stripes
Was the service newspaper of the American Expeditionary Forces, written, edited and published by men from the ranks, the paper appeared weekly thereafter until June 13, 1919. It was one of the greatest aids in keeping up the spirit and morale of the men overseas, and at the height of its popularity had a circulation of 522,000 -
Russia signs the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk with Germany
Located in modern-day Belarus near the Polish border, Russia signed a treaty with the Central Powers (Germany, Austria-Hungary, Ottoman Empire, Bulgaria) ending its participation in World War I -
Allied forces begin the attack at Meusse-Argonne
The final offensive of the war, after a six-hour-long bombardment over the previous night, more than 700 Allied tanks, followed closely by infantry troops, advance against German positions in the Argonne Forest and along the Meuse River; carried out by 37 French and American divisions, was even more ambitious -
British and American forces enter Germany
he Occupation of the Rhineland from 1 December 1918 until 30 June 1930 was a consequence of the collapse of the Imperial German Army in 1918, after which Germany's provisional government was obliged to agree to the terms of the 1918 armistice. This included accepting that the troops of the victorious powers occupied the left bank of the Rhine and four right bank "bridgeheads" with a 30-kilometres -
Peace conference begins at Paris
Some of the most powerful people(France, Great Britain, the United States and Italy) in the world meet to begin the long, complicated negotiations that would officially mark the end of the First World War. Would make most of the crucial decisions in Paris over the next six months. -
Treaty of Versailles
Codified peace terms between Germany and the victorious Allies. The Treaty of Versailles held Germany responsible for starting the war and imposed harsh penalties on the Germans, including loss of territory, massive reparations payments and demilitarization.