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Beginning of World War 1:The Assassination of Austria's Archduke
Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, and his wife, had decided to inspect Austro-Hungarian troops in Bosnia. The date chosen for the inspection was a national day in Bosnia. The Black Hand supplied a group of students with weapons for an assassination attempt to mark the occasion. A Serbian nationalist student, Gavrilo Princip, assassinated the Austrian Archduke Ferdinand and his wife, when their open car stopped at a corner on its way out of the town. -
Austria declared war on Serbia
The Austrian government blamed the Serbian government for the assassination of Franz Ferdinand and his wife and declared war on Serbia. -
Germany declared war on Russia
Although Russia was allied with Serbia, Germany did not believe that she would mobilise and offered to support Austria if necessary. However, Russia did mobilise and, through their alliance with France, called on the French to mobilise.Because of this, Germany declared war on Russia -
Germany declared war on France
Germany declared war on France. German troops poured into Belgium as directed under the Schleiffen Plan, drawn up in 1905. The British foreign secretary, Sir Edward Grey, sent an ultimatum to Germany demanding their withdrawal from the neutral Belgium. -
British declaration of war
Germany did not withdraw from Belgium and Britain declared war on Germany. -
Japan declared war on Germany
Japan declared war on Germany through her alliance with Great Britain, signed in 1902 -
Battle of Tannenberg
The Russian army marched into Prussia. However, because of the differences in railway gauge between Russia and Prussia it was difficult for the Russians to get supplies through to their men. The Germans, on the other hand, used their railway system to surround the Russian Second army at Tannenberg before it’s commander could realise what was happening. The ensuing battle was a heavy defeat for the Russians with thousands of men killed and 125,000 taken prisoner. -
Battle of Masurian Lakes
Having defeated the Russian Second army, the Germans turned their attention to the Russian First army at Masurian Lakes. Although the Germans were unable to defeat the army completely, over 100,000 Russians were taken prisoner -
Turkey
Turkey entered the war on the side of the central powers and gave help to a German naval bombardment of Russia -
Russia declared war on Turkey
Because of the help given by Turkey to the German attack of Russia, Russia declared war on Turkey. -
Britain and France declared war on Turkey
Britain and France, Russia’s allies, declared war on Turkey, because of the help given to the German attack on Russia. -
Zeppelins
The first Zeppelins appeared over the English coast. -
Early stages of the war
British troops had advanced from the northern coast of France to the Belgian town of Mons. Although they initially held off the Germans, they were soon forced to retreat. The British lost a huge number of men at the first battle of Ypres. By Christmas, all hopes that the war would be over had gone and the holiday saw men of both sides digging themselves into the trenches of the Western Front. -
Zeppelin bombing
Zeppelin airships dropped bombs on Yarmouth. -
Dardenelles
The Russians appealed for help from Britain and France to beat off an attack by the Turkish. The British navy responded by attacking Turkish forts in the Dardenelles. -
More Zeppelins
Zeppelins The use of airships by the Germans increased. Zeppelins began attacking London. They were also used for naval reconnaissance, to attack London and smaller balloons were used for reconnaissance along the Western Front. They were only stopped when the introduction of aeroplanes shot them down. -
Second Battle of Ypres
Poison gas was used for the first time during this battle. The gas, fired by the Germans claimed many British casualties. -
Lusitania sunk
There outraged protests from the United States at the German U-boat campaign, when the Lusitania, which had many American passengers aboard, was sank. The Germans moderated their U-boat campaign. -
Italy
Italy entered the war on the side of the Allies. -
Battle of Verdun
The Germans mounted an attack on the French at Verdun designed to ‘bleed the French dry’. Although the fighting continued for nine months, the battle was inconclusive. Casualties were enormous on both sides with the Germans losing 430,000 men and the French 540,000. -
Romania enter the war
Romania joined the war on the side of the Allies. But within a few months was occupied by Germans and Austrians. -
Battle of Jutland
This was the only truly large-scale naval battle of the war. German forces, confined to port by a British naval blockade, came out in the hope of splitting the British fleet and destroying it ship by ship. -
Battle of Jutland 2
The British and German naval forces met again but the battle was inconclusive. The German ships did a great deal of damage to British ships before once again withdrawing and the British Admiral Jellicoe decided not to give chase.
Although British losses were heavier than the German, the battle had alarmed both the Kaiser and the German Admiral Scheer and they decided to keep their fleet consigned to harbour for the remainder of the war. -
Beginning of Battle of the Somme
The battle was preceded by a week long artillery bombardment of the German line which was supposed to destroy the barbed wire defences placed along the German line but only actually succeeded in making no mans land a mess of mud and craters. The five month long battle saw the deaths of 420,000 British soldiers (60,000 on the first day), 200,000 French soldiers and 500,000 German soldiers all for a total land gain of just 25 miles. -
End of Battle of Verdun
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End of Battle of Somme
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First Aeroplane raid
The first German air raid on London took place. The Germans hoped that by making raids on London and the South East, the British Air Force would be forced into protecting the home front rather than attacking the German air force. -
The Zimmermann Telegram
In January of 1917, Germany didn't think the United States was prepared to join the war.
Arthur Zimmermann, a German leader, sent a telegram to Mexico asking the country to start a border war with the United States. In return, Germany would get back Mexican land that had become Texas, New Mexico and Arizona. The English got a copy of the telegram, broke the secret code and sent the information to Wilson. -
Wilson asks Congress for War
After the Zimmermann Telegram, Wilson asked Congress for a declaration of war on April 2, 1917. -
USA declares war on Germany
The United States of America declared war on Germany in response to the sinking, by German U boats, of US ships. -
Battle of Amiens
The British general, Haig, ordered the attack of the German sector at Amiens. At the same time the news came through that the allies had broken through from Salonika and forced Bulgaria to sue for peace. -
Armistice with Turkey
The allies had successfully pushed the Turkish army back and the Turks were forced to ask for an armistice. The terms of the armistice treaty allowed the allies access to the Dardenelles. -
Kaiser abdicated
Kaiser Wilhelm II abdicated. -
Armistice signed
At 11 am, in the French town of Redonthes, the Armistice was signed bringing the war to an end.