WWI Outbreak Events Manning

Archduke Francis Ferdinand assassinated

Jun 28, 1914

1. Franz Ferdinand shot to death with his wife by a Serbian nationalist on this day in Bosnia
2. Franz traveled to Sarajevo in June 1914 to inspect the imperial armed forces in Bosnia and Herzegovina

Austria- Hungary declares war on Serbia

Jul 28, 1914

1. one month to the day of Ferdinand and his wife killed
2. this war effectively began the first world war

Germany declares war on Russia

Aug 1, 1914

1. Germany declared war on the czarist empire on August 1
2. August 2, the first German army units crossed into Luxembourg as part of a long-planned German strategy to invade France through neutral Belgium

Germany declares war on France

Aug 3, 1914

1. on August 3, the first wave of German troops assembled on the frontier of neutral Belgium
2. two days after declaring war on Russia, Germany declares war on France

Germany Invades Belgium

Aug 4, 1914

1. 24 July, the Belgian government had announced that if war came it would uphold its historic neutrality
2. 2 August the German government sent an ultimatum to Belgium, demanding passage through the country and German forces invaded Luxembourg

German U-Boats sink the Lustiania

May 7, 1915

1. Germany justified the attack by stating, correctly, that the Lusitania was an enemy ship, and that it was carrying munitions
2. May 7, 1915, the British ocean liner Lusitania is torpedoed without warning by a German submarine off the south coast of Ireland.

Germany resumes unrestricted submarine warfare

Feb 1, 1917

1. 1917, the supreme army command endorsed the navy’s opinion that unrestricted U-boat warfare against the British at sea could result in a German victory by the fall of 1917
2. January 31, 1917, Bethmann Hollweg went before the German Reichstag government and made the announcement that unrestricted submarine warfare would resume the next day, February 1

Zimmerman note is discovered

Mar 1, 1917

1. a message from the German foreign secretary to the German ambassador to Mexico proposing a Mexican- German alliance in the case of war between the United States and Germany
2. when President Wilson found out about this the next day he proposed to Congress that the U.S. should start arming its ships against possible German attacks

The Russian Monarchy is Overthrown

Nov 17, 1917

1. The provisional government came to power after the February Revolution resulted in the Russian monarchy being overthrown in March 1917.
2. On Nov. 6 and 7, Bolshevik forces began occupying government offices in Saint Petersburg in preparation for seizing the government.

United States declares war on Germany

Dec 11, 1941

1. hours after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor
2. Japan informed Germany in an attempt to be an ally of a future war