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Austro-Hungarian Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife, Sophie Chotek, are assassinated by Bosnian Serb nationalist Gavrilo Princip. Austria suspects Serbia is responsible.
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Germany declares war on Russia, France and Belgium.
Britain declares war on Germany.
Austria-Hungary declares war on Russia.
France and Britain declare war on Austria-Hungary.
Japan declares war on Germany.
Austria-Hungary declares war on Belgium. The United States declares its neutrality. -
Germany invades Belgium, but is stopped at the First Battle of the Marne. The Schlieffen Plan fails.
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Attempting to outflank each other, Allied and German troops were unable to win a decisive victory, leading to the onset of trench warfare.
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Bringing the war home to British civilians
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Whereby all merchant ships, including those of neutral countries, would be subject to attack.
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Germans launch the first successful gas attack in history. By the end of the war, both Allied and Central Powers will have used chemical weapons.
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German U-boat torpedoes the Lusitania, a British passenger liner. 128 Americans are killed.
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Entering World War I on the side of the Allies.
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After weeks of stubborn fighting, the Serbian Army was forced to retreat through Montenegro and Albania.
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Hoping to “bleed France white,” the German Army launches a major offensive against the symbolic fortress of Verdun. Fighting will not end until December.
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To perform forced agricultural work in other parts of occupied France.
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Assuming they will defeat the Ottoman Empire, they divide the Middle East. France claims Syria and Lebanon. Britain claims Jordan, Iraq, the Gulf states and the Palestine Mandate.
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In the largest naval battle of the war, Britain’s Royal Navy Grand Fleet and the German Navy’s High Seas Fleet fought to a draw, though both sides claimed victory.
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After a seven-day artillery bombardment, Allied troops launch an offensive meant to divert German troops from Verdun. The British suffered around 50,000 casualties on the first day and fighting continued until November.
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A secret communication from Germany proposing an alliance with Mexico should the United States enter World War I.
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Famously stating that “the world must be made safe for democracy.”
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Initiating the first military draft since the Civil War.
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Making it a crime for any person to convey information intended to interfere with the prosecution of the war effort or to promote the success of the country’s enemies.
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Allied troops, largely those from the British Empire, launch an attack to seize key ridges near Ypres. They achieve victory, but only after months of fighting in horrific conditions and sustaining heavy casualties.
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A statement of support for the establishment of a Jewish nation in Palestine.
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Officially removing Russia from World War I.
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In its first major battle of World War I, American troops captured the town of Cantigny, depriving the Germans of an important observation point.
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Marks a major turning point in the fighting on the Western Front. Two days after its conclusion, the British attack at Amiens is called the “Black Day of the German Army.”
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First major offensive operation by General John J. Pershing’s American Expeditionary Forces.
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After a short artillery bombardment, American and French troops advance toward German positions in the Argonne Forest and along the Meuse River. The largest offensive in U.S. history, it played a major role in bringing about an end to the war.
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Austro-Hungarian forces are severely defeated by the Italian Army, ending the war on the Italian Front and ushering in the final dissolution of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
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German Republic (later the Weimar Republic) proclaimed.
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Supreme Allied Commander Marshal Ferdinand Foch orders that all hostilities on the Western Front cease at 11 a.m. Paris time.
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Allied nations propose constitution for the League of Nations to promote international cooperation.
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Germany cedes Alsace-Lorraine to France, recognizes Belgian sovereignty, disarms and agrees to pay war reparations. U.S. Senate refuses to ratify the Treaty of Versailles, thus preventing the country from joining the League of Nations.
