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The Triple Alliance (Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Italy) was formed before WW1. They were first formed against France, because these European countries found France a threat.
During WW1, German and Italy helped Austria-Hungary because of this alliance. This also turned the Austria-Serbian war into a World War as more countries joined in. -
This day, Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria-Hungary was inspecting their colony, Sarajevo, with his wife. During the inspection, a Serbian student, Gavrilo Princip, fired two shots at them and killed both. This assassin came from a radical political group, The Black Hand, who wanted Serbia independence and thought that the Archduke would be a threat.
This was one of the most important events that led to WW1. It angered Austria-Hungary and made them declare war on Serbia. -
After the assassination, the angered Austria-Hungary government forced some impossible demands upon Serbia, such as letting Austria conduct their own investigation of the case on Serbian land. Of course Serbia refused, so Austria-Hungary declared war.
“The war between Serbia and Austria [...] is inevitable. If Serbia wants to live in honor, she can only do this by war” (Colonel Dragutin Dimitrijević, 1912.) -
The Germany troop invaded Luxemburg on this day. This was the first actual battle of WW1. They took over it in November 1914. -
The Triple Entente (Russia, France, and England) was formed on this day. Since there are a lot of Serbian people in Russia, the country chose to help Serbia in this war. And since the Triple Alliance are all firing against France, France had to join this alliance too to protect themself.
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The battle of Marne was a fight between France & England and Germany. They fought against the advancing Germans, who were almost to Paris, the capitol of France. -
Although submarine was already invented years ago, it was first used in war during WW1. It was also used to sink the cruise ship Lusitania (see sinking of the lusitania.) -
On this day, the German troops smothered a wave of asphyxiating mustard gas into their enemy's land, causing panic and struggles to survive, since this was a newly-introduced weapon. -
On this day, a German submarine attacked and sank a British cruise, the Lusitania. This event killed about 1195 people, almost all civilians. -
The first use of tanks on the battlefield was the use of British Mark I tanks by the Britains. Most of it broke down, but about 1/3 successfully broke through the front lines. -
During this time, Germany adopted a defensive strategy on the Western Front to counter the growing strength of their enemies. The troops withdrew to a new fortified position known as the Hindenburg Line, which gave the Germans a stronger position to defend. -
On this day, the United States severed their diplomatic relation with Germany. They later allied with the Triple Entente. -
The United States declared war on Germany. Woodrow Wilson, the US. president at the time, cited "Germany's violation of its pledge to suspend unrestricted submarine warfare in the North Atlantic and the Mediterranean" as his reasons for declaring war (US. Department of State.) -
Russian Communists, also known as the Bolsheviks, took over the Russian government near this day. They withdrew Russia from WW1 by signing a ceasefire with Germany. -
The Armistice was signed on this day, promising the end to fights between most countries in the WW1. It was signed by Bulgaria, the Ottoman Empire, and Austria-Hungary. -
Although the other countries have already signed a peace treaty, the United States were still fighting. They signed a ceasefire treaty 3 years after WW1 ended.