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France loses Alsace & Lorraine to Germany
The Imperial Territory of Alsace-Lorraine was a territory created by the German Empire in 1871 after it annexed most of Alsace and the Moselle department of Lorraine following its victory in the Franco-Prussian War. -
Germany Officially Unified
Alsace-Lorraine was transferred to Germany in the peace settlement, allowing Prussia to declare the German Empire. -
Bolsheviks emerge as a political party
Bolshevik, member of a wing of the Russian Social-Democratic Workers’ Party, led by Lenin, seized control of the government in Russia (October 1917) and became the dominant political power. -
Austria-Hungary annexes Bosnia
The Dual Monarchy of Austria-Hungary announces its annexation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, dual provinces in the Balkan region of Europe formerly under the control of the Ottoman Empire. -
Archduke Franz Ferdinand Assassinated
In an event that is widely acknowledged to have sparked the outbreak of World War I, Archduke Franz Ferdinand, is shot to death along with his wife by a Serbian nationalist in Sarajevo, Bosnia, on this day in 1914. -
Austra-Hungary declares war on Serbia
On July 28, 1914, one month to the day after Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria and his wife were killed by a Serbian nationalist in Sarajevo, Austria-Hungary declares war on Serbia, effectively beginning the First World War. -
Battle Of Marne
The World War I First Battle of the Marne featured the first use of radio intercepts and automotive transport of troops in wartime. -
Japan declares war on Germany
On August 15th, Japan issued Germany an ultimatum demanding that the German fleet be withdrawn from the Far East and that Kiaochow be surrendered within the week. When nobody agreed, they declared war on Germany. -
Lusitania sinks
On May 7, 1915, less than a year after World War I erupted across Europe, a German U-boat torpedoed and sank the RMS Lusitania, a British ocean liner. this was carrying over 100 Americans. -
Battle of Verdun
The Battle of Verdun, fought from 21 February – 18 December 1916, was one of the largest battles of the First World War on the Western Front between the German and French armies. -
Battle Of Somme
The Battle of the Somme, also known as the Somme Offensive, was one of the largest battles of the First World War. It was also one of the bloodiest military battles in history. -
Fourteen Points Proposed by Woodrow Wilson
In an address before a joint meeting of Congress, U.S. President Woodrow Wilson discusses the aims of the United States in World War I and outlines his famous “Fourteen Points” for achieving a lasting peace in Europe. -
Kaiser Wilhelm II abdicates
He gained a reputation as a powerful militarist through his speeches and ill-advised newspaper interviews. While Wilhelm did not actively seek war, he tried to hold back his generals from mobilizing the German army -
Germany Stops Reparation Payments to France
World War I reparations were compensation imposed during the Paris Peace Conference upon the Central Powers following their defeat in the First World War by the Allied and Associate Powers. Each of the defeated powers was required to make payments in either cash or kind.