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Bismarck completes efforts to unify Prussia and the German kingdoms into a single nation and has King Wilhelm I proclaimed Kaiser.
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France is forced to sign humiliating treaty with Germany that ends the 1870-71 Franco-Prussian War. This treaty served to increase the distain for Germany felt by the French people and government.
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After his father, Federick III's untimely death, 29 year-old Wilhelm II becomes ruler, Kaiser Wilhelm II, of Germany. Wilhelm would later be a major player in the war. Interestingly, he was actually the grandson of British Monarch Queen Victoria.
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Great Britain's Queen Victoria, whose bloodline runs through most of the ruling houses of Europe, dies. Like the death of any monarch, this has a destablizing effect on Britians government.
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Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to the throne of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and his wife are assassinated in Sarajevo. I see this as the primary event that set in motion the events of the First World War, and the turning point for the nations of Austia-Hungry and Serbia.
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Emperor Franz Joseph of Austria-Hungary declares war on Serbia. Threatened by Serbian ambition in the Balkans region of Europe, Austria-Hungary determined that the proper response to the assassinations was to prepare for a possible military invasion of Serbia. I see this is the turning point in the war for Russia, as it was the threat to its ally, Serbia, that led to her full military moblization.
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As an ally of Serbia, Russia announces full mobilization of her armed forces. Ruissia was the first superpower to become involved in the war and the mobilization of her military is noteworthy.
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As an ally of Austria-Hungary, Germany mobilizes her armed forces and declares war on Russia. These where the first two superpowers in the war to announce an open conflict.
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Two days after declaring war on Russia, Germany declares war on France, Hours later, France makes its own declaration of war against Germany, readying its troops to move into and retake lands which it had forfeited to Germany in the settlement that ended the Franco-Prussian War in 1871. I feel this is a turning point in the war for both France and Germany. The German military made a strong move against the superpowes of Russia and France and the French met them with equal agression.
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As a result of Germany declaring war on and invading the neutral nation of Belgium, Britain declares war on Germany.
I feel this was a turning point in the war for both Germany and Britian. The invasion of Belgum launched the superpowers of Europe into a full on conflict, now joined by the massive military force of the United Kingdom. Britians declaration of war also automatically caused Canada to join the war as one of Britians dominions. -
Austria-Hungary declares war on Russia in support of Germany.
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Though the brutal Easter Monday battle killed thousands of Canadians, it was a turning point for the Allies in the First World War and for Canada as a nation. It was the first time Canadians had fought and won a battle of importance, not as a unit in the British army, but on our own.
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Finally ending the state of war between Germany and the Allied Powers, the Treaty of Versailles marks the end of a dark point in humanity's history.
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As a result of the Paris Peace Conference that ended the First World War, it was decided that the first international organization whose principal mission was to maintain world peace, called the League of Nations, should be created to help ensure humanity would never have to see war on this scale again. It was the precurser to our modern day United Nations.
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The Washington Conference was first arms control conference in history. Without it, the US, Britain and Japan would have engaged in an expensive arms buildup, with each worried the other two might be getting too powerful.
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Nazi leader Adolf Hitler is appointed Chancellor of Germany by President Paul von Hindenburg.
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All non-Nazi parties are banned in Germany.
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Adolf Hitler was planning on expanding Germany with force throughout Europe. He prepared his country for war by vastly expanding his military and airforce.
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The Reichstag passes the Nuremberg Laws, introducing antisemitism in German legislation
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The Spanish Civil War was a conflict between republicans loyal to the republic, and discontent nationalists led by General Francisco Franco. Franco would be victorious and rule for 36 years. Hitler and Mussonli's troops gained valuable combat experince.
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Mere months after renouncing the German–Polish Non-Aggression Pact, Germany invades Poland starting the World War II. Britain and France declare war on Germany two days later.
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Germany invades and takes control of Denmark and Norway.
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Germany uses quick strikes called blitzkrieg, meaning lightning war, to take over much of western Europe including the Netherlands, Belgium, and northern France.
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Germany, Italy, and Japan sign the Tripartite Pact creating the Axis Alliance.
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The Japanese attack the US Navy in Pearl Harbor. Though the United States had been neutral in the war, they had been supplying ammunition and other goods to allied nations. The next day the US enters World War II on the side of the Allies.
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Italy surrenders to the Allies, however Germany helps Mussolini to escape and set up a government in Northern Italy.
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D-day and the Normandy invasion. Allied forces invade France and push back the Germans. This is seen by many as the turning point in the war when Germany's failure became inevitable.
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Knowing he had lost the war, Adolf Hitler takes his own life.
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With their leader dead, Germany surrenders to the Allies.
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The United States drops the Atomic Bomb on Hiroshima, Japan. The city is devastated. A few short days later, a second bomb is dropped on the city of Nagasaki.
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On this day in 1945, an official announcement of Japan’s unconditional surrender to the Allies is made public to the Japanese people.
