First world war

By José Antonio Vicioso

  • Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife in Sarajevo by Serbian nationalist Gavrilo Princip.

  • Austria-Hungary's ultimatum to Serbia

  • Austria-Hungary declares war on Serbia

  • Russia mobilizes its troops to the south, in clear support of Serbia

  • Germany declares war on Russia

  • Germany declares war on France

  • Germany, under the command of General Von Hindenburg, defeats the Russians at the Battle of Tannenberg. This battle would become a symbol of Germanic pride.

  • The French army stops the German advance on the Marne, a river in France, thanks to the skill of General Joseph Joffre

  • Battle of Ypres. The British would stop the German attempt to conquer Belgium in this battle.

  • Start of the submarine war.

  • Beginning of the Second Battle of Ypres, Belgium, where Germany used poison gases for the first time.

  • Treaty of London between Italy and the United Kingdom

  • Italy declares war on Austria-Hungary

  • Bulgaria agrees with Germany to enter the war.

  • Bulgaria declares war on Serbia and obtains Macedonia

  • Start of the Battle of Verdun, France, also known as the "Hell of Verdun," which claimed 700,000 casualties between German and French forces.

  • Sykes-Picot Agreement, a secret agreement between France and Great Britain regarding the Middle East.

  • Start of the Battle of the Somme, Picardy, where tanks were used for the first time in warfare.

  • Secret Russian-Japanese treaty concerning China.

  • Italy declares war on Germany.

  • Charles I of Austria and IV of Hungary ascends to the throne of the Austro-Hungarian Empire after the death of Franz Joseph I of Austria, whose death symbolized the end of 19th-century dominance.

  • End of the Battle of Verdun, the longest battle of World War I, after ten months.

  • Peace proposal by U.S. President Woodrow Wilson.

  • Germany declares unrestricted submarine warfare on merchant ships.

  • U.S. President Woodrow Wilson proclaims "peace without victory."

  • Diplomatic relations between Germany and the USA are severed due to naval incidents and submarine warfare.

  • Abdication of the last Tsar, Nicholas II of Russia, and the beginning of the Provisional Government.

  • The United States declares war on Germany.

  • The Battle of Cambrai, France, begins, where the British use tanks and mobile artillery on a massive scale for the first time.

  • An armistice is signed, ending hostilities on the Eastern Front between Russia, Germany, and Austria-Hungary.

  • U.S. President Woodrow Wilson proclaims the Fourteen Points, a peace program aimed at addressing the causes of the conflict and preventing future wars.

  • Treaty of Brest-Litovsk: Russia, under Bolshevik rule, signs peace with Germany, withdrawing from World War I.

  • Armenia declares its independence from the Russian Empire, establishing the First Republic of Armenia.

  • Execution of Tsar Nicholas II and his family in Yekaterinburg, marking the end of the Romanov dynasty.