How WW1 Started

  • Assassination

    Assassination

    Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife were both shot to death on this date. Archduke Franz Ferdinand was supposed to be next in line to rule the Austro-Hungarian Empire. The attack was blamed on the Serbian government and this set off a chain of events.
  • Austia

    Austia

    Austria was angry about the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife. They blamed Serbia for the assassination and so they declared war on Serbia.
  • Scheifflen Plan

    Scheifflen Plan

    Once the Germans had declared war on France their plan had begun. It was intended to bring Germany a fast victory by having a war with Russia and France at the same time. They wanted to use a different amount of time that other countries would use to prepare for battle but it didn't work out how they thought and it ended in failure.
  • Germany Declares war

    Germany Declares war

    The Russians were obliged to defend and help Serbia if they were to be attacked. So Germany declared war on Russia.
  • Defeated

    Defeated

    At the beginning of the war the Russians and Germans had battled in the East of Prussia. It ended with a win for the Germans.
  • Battle of Marne

    Battle of Marne

    This battle was at the beginning of trench warfare. The Germans were within 30 miles of Paris but the French managed to save it. The French and Germans had lost about 250,000 soldiers and the British Expeditionary Force had lost about 13,000 soldiers.
  • Zeppelin raid

    Zeppelin raid

    Zeppelins were relatively new to this time period. A zeppelin could hold about 4,400 pounds of bombs and five machine guns. They raided the East coast of England and bombed Yarmouth and Kings Lynn.
  • President Wilson

    President Wilson

    Germany had made threats to the United States so President Wilson warned them that they would hold them accountable for damage and lost lives. Wilson then announced to congress that they would be breaking diplomatic relationships with Germany.
  • Zimmerman note

    Zimmerman note

    The Zimmerman note was a telegram that was from Germany but was intercepted by the British. The message was meant for the German ambassador of Mexico. It says if the U.S. joins the war with the allies then Von Eckardt would offer Mexico an alliance.
  • Treaty of Versailles

    Treaty of Versailles

    This was a very important peace treaty that had brought World War 1 to an end. It was signed June 28, 1919 five years after Archduke Franz Ferdinand had been shot and set it all in motion.