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Archduke Francis Ferdinand is assassinated.
Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria and his wife Sophie are shot to death by a Bosnian Serb nationalist during an official visit to the Bosnian capital of Sarajevo on June 28, 1914. The killings sparked a chain of events that led to the outbreak of World War I by early August. -
Austria-Hungary declares war on Serbia, beginning WWI.
On July 28, 1914, 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. -
Austria-Hungary invades Russia.
By now, knew this risked war with Russia, Serbia's supporter. Austria-Hungary was prepared to risk war because it had the guarantee of German support. The Balkan crisis now threatened a European-wide war. -
Allied forces halt German advance into France during First Battle of the Marne.
An offensive during World War I by the French army and the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) against the advancing Germans who had invaded Belgium and northeastern France. The French threw back the massive German advance and thwarted German plans for a quick and total victory on the Western Front. -
Germany begins naval blockade of Great Britain.
Prolonged naval operation conducted by the Allied Powers, especially Great Britain, during and after World War I to restrict the maritime supply of goods to the Central Powers, which included Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Turkey. -
Allied forces land on the Gallipoli Peninsula of the Ottoman Empire,
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 and ultimately knock Ottoman Turkey out of the war. -
German submarine sinks the passenger liner Lusitania during crossing from NY to Liverpool, England, killing 128 Americans.
The British ocean liner Lusitania is torpedoed without warning by a German submarine off the south coast of Ireland. Within 20 minutes, the vessel sank into the Celtic Sea. Of 1,959 passengers and crew, 1,198 people were drowned, including 128 Americans. -
Italy declares war on Austria-Hungary.
The Italian declaration opened up a new front in World War I, stretching 600 kilometers—most of them mountainous—along Italy’s border with Austria-Hungary. -
Germany begins the attack on Verdun.
A shot from a German Krupp 38-centimeter long-barreled gun—one of over 1,200 such weapons set to bombard French forces along a 20-kilometer front stretching across the Meuse River—strikes a cathedral in Verdun, France, beginning the Battle of Verdun. -
Allied offensive begins the Battle of the Somme.
The Battle of the Somme, which took place from July to November 1916, began as an Allied offensive against German forces on the Western Front and turned into one of the most bitter and costly battles of World War I.
