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Revolution Overthrows Austria-Hungarian Emperor
The 1848 revolutions in Austria came to an end, restoring order in the Empire. -
Germany Officially Unified
The Unification brought Austrian dominance of the German Confederation to an end. -
France Loses Alsace and Lorraine to Germany
France had one objective when it came to Alsace and Lorraine during World War 1, and that was to get the territory back. When Germany took the land, it created an enviornment for revenge for the French; so when World War 1 broke out, they set everything up to make big pushes to the east to take back what had been taken from them. -
Triple Alliance Formed
The Triple Entente and the Triple Alliance were two international combinations of states that dominated the diplomatic history of Western Europe from 1882 until they came into armed conflict in World War I. -
Russo-Japanese War
This was the first war in which an "enlightened" European power was defeated by a non-European nation. -
Triple Entente Alliance Formed
The Triple Entente and the Triple Alliance were two international combinations of states that dominated the diplomatic history of Western Europe from 1882 until they came into armed conflict in World War I. -
Austria Hungary Annexes Bosnia
The announcement upset the fragile balance of power in the Balkans, enraging Serbia and pan-Slavic nationalists throughout Europe. -
Archduke Franz Ferdinand Assassination
This event led to Austria-Hungary declaring war on Serbia due to suspicions that the Serbian government was involved; this led to chaos rapidly engulfing Europe, leading to the start of World War I. -
Austria-Hungary Declares War on Serbia
In response to this, Russia formally ordered mobilization in the four military districts facing Galicia;that night, Austrian artillery divisions initiated a brief bombardment of Belgrade across the Danube River. -
Ottoman-Germany Alliance Formed
The alliance was created as part of a joint-cooperative effort that would strengthen and modernize the failing Ottoman military, as well as provide Germany safe passage into neighboring British colonies. -
Schlieffen Plan Put into Action
The German hopes of a swift victory had been defeated, however, the German Army had not been beaten and its successful retreat and the building of trenches between the North Sea to the Swiss Frontier destroyed all hope of a short war. -
Japan Declares War on Germany
For his part, Japan’s foreign minister, Kato Tataki, would skillfully use World War I to redefine his country’s relationship with its most important rival, China, and to assert its supremacy in the Far East. -
Battle of Marne
The Battle of the Marne was the first significant Allied victory of World War I, it saved Paris and stopped Germany's plan for a fast victory over France. -
Lusitania Sinks
The sinking of the Lusitania enraged Americans and hastened the United States' entrance into World War I. -
Battle of Somme
It led to the slaughter of hundreds of thousands of people. An estimated 300,000 on both sides. Outside of this, it had little clear impact on the way the war was fought or its outcome; to many historians, it was a horrible miscalculation. -
Battle of Verdun
This battle was fought from 21 February – 18 December 1916, it is considered one of the largest battles of World War I on the Western Front between the German and French armies; it caused an estimated 700,000 casualties (dead, wounded and missing). -
Zimmerman Telegraph Found
Public opinion in the United States now wanted the United States to enter the war; on April 2, Wilson went before Congress to deliver a message of war: the United States formally entered World War I four days later. -
Unrestricted Submarine Warfare Commences
The sinking of the Lusitania prompted United States President Woodrow Wilson to send a strongly worded note to the German government demanding an end to German attacks against unarmed merchant ships. -
Tsar Nicholas II Abdicates
After Tsar Nicholas II's abdication of the throne the 300 year old Romanov dynasty came to an end. -
Bolsheviks Emerge as a Political Group
Led by Bolshevik Party leader Vladimir Lenin, leftist revolutionaries launch a bloodless coup d’État against Russia’s ineffectual Provisional Government; the Bolsheviks and their allies occupied government buildings and other strategic locations in the Russian capital of Petrograd and within two days had formed a new government with Lenin as its head. Bolshevik Russia, later renamed the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR), was the world’s first Marxist state. -
Vladimir Lenin Seizes Power in Russia
Lenin led what was soon to be known as the October Revolution, but was essentially a coup d’état; he was seen as a significant force in the revolutions, giving citizens a new hope. -
Fourteen Points Proposed
The Fourteen Points set out Wilson's goals for postwar Europe. It preserved the goals of exporting free trade, democracy, and self-determination into American foreign policy, and also built the framework for the League of Nations, which the modern day United Nations is based upon. -
Russia Signed Treaty of Brest-Litovsk
Russia ended its participation in World War 1. Germany was forced to give up its territorial gains from the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk. -
Kaiser Wilhelm II Abdicates
Even though he was a supported ruler, his own nation turned against him. Wilhelm was shocked by the Nazis’ thuggish tactics. In 1938, Wilhelm remarked that for the first time he was ashamed to be a German. -
Treaty of Versailles Signed
The Treaty of Versailles ended the state of war between Germany and the Allied Powers, but it made Germany accept full responsbility for the war, which was a signficant factor in the start of World War II. -
Stalin Takes Over Russia
The Soviet Union was transformed from a peasant society into an industrial and military superpower. -
Germany Stops Reparation Payments to France
As the economic crisis got worse, and Germany fell into chaos, the Allies agreed to suspend all reparations indefinitely. -
United States Declares War on Germany
The United States delivered $46 billion worth of defense technology to the countries of the anti-Hitler coalition; in total, the USA supplied arms to 42 countries.