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Assassination of Franz Ferdinand
Assassination of Franz Ferdinand. Franz and his Wife Sophia were touring though Sarajevo to check on his troops. As they were riding in a car in a parade a Serbian terrorist group called the Black Hand tried by throwing grenades. The first attempt failed , second attempt was successful. The assassin was Gavrilo Princip. This event caused the war because of the alliance system. -
War Begins
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. -
Uh Oh
Germany declares war on Russia. France and Belgium begin full mobilization. -
War Begins
Germany declares war on France, and invades neutral Belgium. Britain then sends an ultimatum, rejected by the Germans, to withdraw from Belgium. -
British Troops Arrive
The first British troops land in France. -
Britain and France Declare War!
Great Britain and France declare war on Austria-Hungary. Serbia is invaded by Austria-Hungary. -
Battle of Mons
The last of four “Battles of the Frontiers” that took place over as many days on the Western Front between Allied and German forces in the opening month of World War I. -
Battle of Coronel
British squadron commanded by Rear-Admiral Sir Christopher Cradock met and was defeated by superior German forces led by Vice-Admiral Maximilian von Spee in the eastern Pacific. Cradock perished in the battle, along with 1,570 sailors, when both HMS Good Hope and HMS Monmouth were sunk. -
Germany Interferes With Trade Routes
Germany declared the waters about the British Isles a "war zone" in which submarines would destroy every enemy merchant vessel found there. This was quite a different matter from the interference of the British with the trade rights of the United States. Compensation for property losses might be made after the war, but compensation for loss of lives as a result of the new German rules of submarine warfare was impossible. -
Armenian Genocide
The Armenian Genocide, also known as the Armenian Holocaust, was the Ottoman government's systematic extermination of 1.5 million Armenians, mostly citizens within the Ottoman Empire. -
Allies sign Treaty of London
After receiving the promise of significant territorial gains, Italy signs the Treaty of London, committing itself to enter World War I on the side of the Allies. -
Lusitania sinks
The British ocean liner Lusitania is torpedoed without warning by a German submarine off the south coast of Ireland -
Battle of the Somme
A battle of the First World War fought by the armies of the British Empire and France against the German Empire. -
Hospital ship HMHS Britannic
Designed as the third Olympic-class ocean liner for White Star Line, sank in the Kea Channel of the Aegean Sea after hitting a mine, with 30 lives lost. At 48,158 gross register tons, she was the largest ship lost during the war. -
Battle of Rafa
The Desert Column of the Egyptian Expeditionary Force captured the last substantial Ottoman Army garrison on the Sinai Peninsula. Ottoman casualties included 1,434 prisoners, 200 killed and 168 wounded. British casualties were 71 killed and 415 wounded. -
US Strains to Remain Neutral
German Foreign Secretary Arthur Zimmermann publicly admits the "Zimmermann Telegram" is genuine. Generates support for the US declaration of war on Germany in April. -
U.S. Enters World War I.
The United States formally declared war against Germany and entered the conflict in Europe. Fighting since the summer of 1914, Britain, France, and Russia welcomed news that American troops and supplies would be directed toward the Allied war effort. -
American Troops Land in France.
The first American troops land in France. -
China declared war on Germany and Austria-Hungary.
An explosion and fire at a weapons manufacturing plant in Kazan, Russia killed 21 people and injured another 172, including 30 children in the surrounding neighborhoods. -
US Troops on Western Front
Gen Pershing & US troops see action on Western Front for 1st time -
Fourteen Points
Woodrow Wilson's statement of principles for peace that was to be used for peace negotiations in order to end World War I. -
Armistice of 11 November 1918
The armistice that ended fighting on land, sea and air in World War I between the Allies and their opponent, Germany. Previous armistices had eliminated Bulgaria, the Ottoman Empire and the Austro-Hungarian Empire. -
Paris Peace Conference
A few months after the end of World War I, leaders from the Allied nations began a series of discussions that became known as the Paris Peace Conference to settle issues raised by the war and its aftermath. -
Treaty of Versailles
The Treaty ended the state of war between Germany and the Allied Powers. It was signed on 28 June 1919 in Versailles, exactly five years after the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand which directly led to World War I.
