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Franz Ferdinand the Archduke of Austria Hungary and his wife Sophie were assassinated by Serbian Terrorists in Sarajevo.
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Austria Hungary declares war on Serbia after assassination of Franz Ferdinand.
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Germany sneaks through Belgium for a stealthy strike against France declaring a war. This was known as the Schlieffen Plan.
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The day after Germany declares war on France, Britain enters the war after warning Germany to get out of Belgium. Germany not knowing about their discreet alliance, found themselves at war with Britain.
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Austria-Hungary Declares War on Russia,
Serbia Declares War on Germany,
Battle of Frontiers begins in France, -
Great Britain and France formally declare war on Turkey
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During Christmas Eve and Christmas Day 1914, an unofficial ceasefire occurred between the fighting men in the trenches. Soldiers crossed trenches into no man's land to exchange greetings, mingle and to exchange food and souvenirs. There were also joint burial ceremonies and prisoner swaps.
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Britain suffers its first casualties from an air attack when two German zeppelins drop bombs on Great Yarmouth and King’s Lynn on the east coast of England. The zeppelin was the largest aircraft that had ever been manufactured. The raid lasted two days.
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Orders issued for employment at the Dardanelles of the Australian and New Zealand troops who had been training in Egypt. The Dardanelles Campaign had begun as a naval operation to try and overcome the Ottoman (Turkey) defences. When this failed an invasion of the Gallipoli peninsula was planned.
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After Turkey defeats a final attempt by the British and French naval fleet to conquer the Dardanelles, resulting in three battleships sunk by mines and a battlecruiser badly damaged,the British decide it is time to make an amphibious landing on the Gallipoli peninsula.
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On this day in, German forces shocked Allied soldiers along the Western Front by firing over 150 tons of lethal chlorine gas at two divisions of troops at Ypres in Belgium. The Germans, were as shocked as the Allies by the devastating effects of the poison gas and failed to take full advantage as the Allies managed to hold their positions.
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On the 25th April 1915, Australian and New Zealand troops landed on beach of Gallipoli Cove only to be cut down by Turkish soldiers before they reached the shore.The plan was to secure the Gallipoli Peninsula, allowing the navy to attack the Turkish capital Constantinople. The initial campaign was a failure.
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The first hospital ship, the Gascon, started to evacuate the wounded from Anzac Peninsula. Of the 548 casualties carried, 14 died on the voyage which took one and a half-days to reach Alexandria in Egypt.
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On 19th May, 42,000 Turks launched an attack in an effort to push 17,000 Australians and New Zealanders back into the sea. Because they didnt have enough artillery and ammunition, the Turks relied on surprise and weight of numbers. The prparations were seen on 18 May by a flight of British aircraft and the ANZAC's were warned. The Turks suffered 13,000 casualties, 3,000 men were killed; ANZAC soldiers had 160 killed and 468 wounded.
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Italy anounces joining the Triple Aliance. Italy's decision to enter the war was largely due to the terms of the secret 1915 Treaty of London where they had been promised large territorial gains at the end of the war. On 23 May 1915, the day Italy joined the war, the Italian Prime Minister, Antonio Salandra, issued the following declaration of support for the Allies.
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An armistice was declared on this day for 8 hours to give time for the Turkish and Anzac Soldiers to bury their fallen comrades.
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The British government finally gave approval for the remaining troops to be evacuated from Gallipoli. It took over two weeks with hardly any casualties, but by the 19–20th December, the last Anzac and British troops had been evacuated.
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It has been said that the campaign at Gallipoli had no influence on the course of WW1 even though there were 26,111 Australian casualties, including 8,141 deaths. The troops that were still able to fight were then sent to do battle at the Western Front.
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On this day, the most important naval battle of the war began between the British Royal Navy and the Imperial German Navy and took place near the coast of Denmark. It was the largest naval battle and the only full-scale clash of battleships during WW1. Both sides claimed victory although the British lost more ships and twice as many sailors.
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The Battle of the Somme was fought by the armies of the British and French against the German Empire. It took place between 1 July and 18 November 1916 on the River Somme in France. More than 1,000,000 men were wounded or killed during this battle making it one of the bloodiest in human history.
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On the 6th April 1917, America declares war on Germany.
The US Congress declared that the German Government had committed repeated acts of war against its Government and the people of the United States of America. The President at the time was Woodrow Wilson. -
On the 7th November, 1917 the Bolsheviks (backed with German money) overthrow the Russian Government during the Russian Revolution. The very next day Lenin declares the new Communist Government.
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At the 11th hour on the 11th day of the 11th month, World War 1 officially ended. The German Government were desperate to agree to any terms outlined by the Allies. Fighting continued as normal for the next few days as the news filtered down to the soldiers. In London, Big Ben rang for the first time in 4 years.
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The Treaty of Versailles was one of the peace treaties to end the
state of war between Germany and the Allied Powers. It was signed in the Hall of Mirrors at Versailles on the 28th June, 1919, exactly 5 years after the assisanation of Archduke Franz Ferdinand which started the war.
