WWI

Germany invades Luxembourg and Belgium

1940 BCE

German troops overran Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, and France in six weeks starting in May 1940. France signed an armistice in late June 1940, leaving Great Britain as the only country fighting Nazi Germany.

Treaty of Versailles

1919 BCE

The Treaty of Versailles, signed in June 1919 at the Palace of Versailles in Paris at the end of World War I, codified peace terms between the victorious Allies and Germany. The Treaty of Versailles held Germany responsible for starting the war and imposed harsh penalties in terms of loss of territory, massive reparations payments and demilitarization. Far from the “peace without victory” that U.S.

Submarine warfare

1915 BCE

During the First World War, the United Kingdom introduced Q-ships with concealed deck guns and armed many merchantmen, leading Germany to ignore the prize rules. In the most dramatic episode they sank Lusitania in 1915 in a few minutes because she was carrying war munitions

Allied forces land on the Gallipoli Peninsula of the Ottoman Empire

1915 BCE

At dawn on 25 April 1915, Allied troops landed on the Gallipoli peninsula in Ottoman Turkey. The Gallipoli campaign was the land-based element of a strategy intended to allow Allied ships to pass through the Dardanelles, capture Constantinople (now Istanbul) and ultimately knock Ottoman Turkey out of the war.

Italy declares war on Austria-Hungary.

1915 BCE

On May 23, 1915, Italy declares war on Austria-Hungary, entering World War I on the side of the Allies—Britain, France and Russia. ... The decision to join the fray on the side of the Allies was based largely on the assurances Italy received in the Treaty of London, signed in April 1915.

Alliances

1914 BCE

The Allies of World War I or Entente Powers were a coalition of countries led by France, Britain, Russia, Italy, Japan, and the United States against the Central Powers of Germany, Austria-Hungary, the Ottoman Empire, Bulgaria, and their colonies during the First World War (1914–1918).

Assassination of the Archduke

1914 BCE

The assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand in 1914 started a chain of events leading to the conflict which cost millions of lives. But exactly 100 years ago, and just months before his death, the heir to the Austro-Hungarian Empire narrowly avoided being killed in a freak accident.

Austria-Hungary invades Russia.

1914 BCE

August 6, 1914 - The Austro-Hungarian Empire declares war on Russia. August 6, 1914 - French and British troops invade the German colony of Togo in West Africa. Twenty days later, the German governor there surrenders.

Germany begins naval blockade of Great Britain.

1914 BCE

The British—with their overwhelming sea power—established a naval blockade of Germany immediately on the outbreak of war in August 1914, issuing a comprehensive list of contraband that all but prohibited American trade with the Central powers.