-
Assassination of Archduke Ferdinand
On June 28, Ferdinand and his wife were shot dead in Sarajevo by Gavrilo Princip, which is one of the six assassins who is coordinated by Danilo Ilic, who is a Bosnian Serb and a member of the Black Hand secret society. -
Schlieffen Plan
The Schlieffen Plan was the operational plan for a designated attack on France once Russia, in response to international tension, had started to mobilise forces near the German border. This execution led to Britain declaring war on Germany. -
Period: to
Trench Warfare
Trench warfare is the first world war can be said to have begun in September of 1914 and it ended when the Allies made a breakthrough attack that began in late July of 1918. Before and after these dates there were wars of movement, in between it was a war of entrenchment. -
Christmas Truce along Western Front
During World War I, on and arond Christmas Day in 1914, the sounds of rifles firing and shells exploding faded in a number of places along the Western Front in favor of the holiday celebrations in the trenches and gestures of goodwill between enemies. On Christmas Eve, German and British troops sang Christmas carols to each other across the lines, and at certain points the Allied soldiers even heard brass bands joining the Germans in their joyous singing. -
Germans introduce poison gas
On April 22nd, German forces shock Allied soldiers along the western front by firing more than 150 tons of lethal chlorine gas against two French colonial divisions at Ypres, Belgium. This was the major gas attack by the Germans, and it devestated the Allied line. Since then, toxic smoke has been used occasionally in warfare since ancient times, in 1912 the French used small amounts of tear gas in police operations. -
Sinking of Lusitania
On May 7, 1915, less than a year after World War I erupted across Europe, and German U-boat torpedoed and sank the RMS Lusitania, a British ocean liner en route from New York to Liverpool, England. More than 1,900 passengers and crew members on board, more than 1,100 perished, including more than 120 Americans. Two years pass before the United States formally entered World War I, but the sinking of Lusitania played a significant role in turning public opinion against Germany. -
Period: to
Battle of Verdun
This was one of the largest battles of the First World War I on the Western Front between the German and French armies. German forces advanced quickly in Feburary 1916, claiming Fort Douaumont and Fort Vaux after brutal subterranean melees. The Germans called off their offensive in mid-July, and Falkenhayn was relived of his position. -
Sussex Pledge
This pledge was a promise given by the German Government to the United States of America on May 4th, 1916 in response to US demands relating to the conduct of the First World War. Germany promised to alter their naval and submarine policy of unrestricted submarine warfare and stop the indiscriminate sinking of non-military ships. Merchant ships would be searched and sunk only if they contained contraband, and then only after safe passage had been provided for the crew and passengers. -
Zimmerman Telegram
In Jan. of 1917, the text of the so-called Zimmerman Telegram, a message from the German foreign secretary, Arthur Zimmermann, to the German ambassador to Mexico proposing a Mexican-German alliance in the case of war between the United States and Germany. -
President Woodrow Wilson asked for declaration of war
On this day, Wilson asks Congress to send U.S troops into battle against Germany in World War I. In his adress to Congress that day, Wilson lamented it is a fearful thing to lead this great peaceful people into war. Four days later, Congress obliged and declared war on Germany. -
Committee on Public Information Formed
Committee on Public Information, also known as the CPI or the Creel Committee, was an independent agency of the government of the United States created to influence U.S. public opinion regarding American participation in World War I. -
Selective Service Act became law
The Selective Service Act authorized the federal government to raise a national army for the American entry into World War I through the compulsory enlistment of people. President Woodrow Wilson shortly after the break in relations with Germany in February 1917. The act itself was drafted by then Captain Hugh S. Johnson after the United States entered World War I by declaring war on Germany. -
General John J. Pershing became AEF leader
U.S. Army general John J. Pershing commanded the American Expeditionary Force in Europe during World War I. The president and first captain of the West Point class of 1886, he served in the Spanish- and Philippine- American Wars and was asked to lead a punitive raid against the Mexican revolutionary Pancho Villa. -
Period: to
Battle of Argonne Forest
This was a major part of the final Allied offensive of World War I that stretched along the entire Western Front. It was fought from September 26,1918, until the Armistice of November 11, 1918 which was a total of 47 days. -
World War I ended
War ended on the 11th hour of the 11th month of 1918. Germany bereft of manpower and supplies and faced with imminent invasion, who signed an armistice agreement with the Allies in a railroad car outside Compiegne, France. This war left nine million soldiers dead and 21 million wounded, with Germany, Russia, Austria-Hungary, France, and Great Britain each losing nearly a million or more lives. In addition, at least 5 million civilians died from disease, starvation, or exposure.
