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The spark that started World War I was the assassination of Austria's Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife Sophie. The assassination occurred on June 28, 1914 while Ferdinand was visiting the city of Sarajevo in the Austro-Hungarian province of Bosnia-Herzegovina.
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Germany declares war on Russia
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This time, Germany declares war with France.
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The United Kingdom delcares war on Germany after Germany invaded Belgium.
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Austria-Hungary declares war on Russia and Serbia declares war on Germany.
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Perhaps the most spectacular and complete German victory of the First World War, the encirclement and destruction of the Russian Second Army in late August 1914 virtually ended Russia's invasion of East Prussia before it had really started.
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Strategically located along the roads leading to the Channel ports in Belgian Flanders, the Belgian city of Ypres had been the scene of numerous battles since the sixteenth century. With the German failure at the Battle of the Marne in September 1914 and the subsequent Allied counter attacks, the "Race to the Sea" began.
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In this battle, the Germans use posion gas for the first of many times.
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The Battle of Verdun was the longest battle of World War 1 and was one of the bloodiest.
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The United States declares war on Germany.
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Germany signs the armistice at Compiegne, France. Fighting ends on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month.
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The Treaty of Versailles officially ends World War 1.
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Germany invades Poland
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Auschwitz, the famous concentration camp, was established.
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The United States begins its first peacetime draft.
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Germany invades the Soviet Union (Operation Barbarossa).
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The Japanese launch a sneak attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.
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Germany and Italy declare war on the United States; then the United States declares war on Germany and Italy.
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The Allies invade North Africa (Operation Torch).
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The Germans surrender at Stalingrad, Soviet Union.
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Italy surrenders.
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160,000 Allied troops landed along a 50-mile stretch of heavily-fortified French coastline to fight Nazi Germany on the beaches of Normandy, France. General Dwight D. Eisenhower called the operation a crusade in which “we will accept nothing less than full victory.” More than 5,000 Ships and 13,000 aircraft supported the D-Day invasion, and by day’s end on June 6, the Allies gained a foot- hold in Normandy. The D-Day cost was high -more than 9,000 Allied Soldiers were killed or wounded.
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Adolf Hitler commmitted suicide gunshot in his Führerbunker in Berlin.
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Because the Germans no longer had Hitler to lead them, they signed an unconditional surrender.
