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Archduke Franz Ferdinand was murdered
In an event that is widely acknowledged to have "sparked" the outbreak of World War I. Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife were shot to death by Serbian Nationalist in Sarajevo, Bosnia. -
Germany declares war on Russia
After Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia because of the "Spark". Two European Powers (Germany & Russia) declare war on each other four day later; on the same day, France orders a general mobilization. This leads to 20 million deaths of soldiers and civilians. -
Germany declares war on France
two day after declaring war on Russia, Germany declares war on France, moving ahead with a long-held strategy, for a two-front war against France and Russia. -
The United Kingdom declares war on Germany
Great Britain declared war on Germany. It was a decision that is seen as the start of World War One. Britain, led by Prime Minister Herbert Asquith, had given Germany an ultimatum to get out of Belgium by midnight of August 3rd. In fear of being surrounded by the might of Russia and France, Germany had put into being the Schlieffen Plan in response to the events that had occurred in Sarajevo in June 1914. By doing this, the German military hierarchy had doomed Belgium to an invasion. -
U.S. President Woodrow Wilson announced the U.S. will remains neutral
President Woodrow Wilson formally proclaims the neutrality of the United States, a position that a vast majority of Americans favored. -
The Battle of Tannenberg begins
the German 8th Army, under the leadership of Paul von Hindenburg and Erich Ludendorff, strikes with lethal force against the advancing Russian 2nd Army, led by General Aleksandr Samsonov, in East Prussia during the opening weeks of the First World War. -
Continue of The Battle of Tannenberg
Russia sent two armies into East Prussia, while Germany, according to its war strategy, had the bulk of its forces concentrated to the west, against France. Samsonov’s troops began their retreat. Confronting the reality of his army’s collapse, Samsonov went into the forest, away from his staff, and shot himself. In total, over 50,000 Russian soldiers were killed and some 92,000 taken as prisoners in the Battle of Tannenberg -
The First Battle of the Marne begins
Also known as the Miracle of the Marne) was a First World War battle fought from 5–12 September 1914. It resulted in an Allied victory against the German Army -
The unofficial Christmas truce is declared
During World War I, on and around Christmas Day 1914, the sounds of rifles firing and shells exploding faded in a number of places along the Western Front in favor of holiday celebrations in the trenches and gestures of goodwill between enemies. -
Germany declares a "war zone" around Great Britain
A full two years before Germany’s aggressive naval policy would draw the United States into the war against them, Kaiser Wilhelm announces an important step in the development of that policy, proclaiming the North Sea a war zone, in which all merchant ships, including those from neutral countries, were liable to be sunk without warning.
Allies for the British-imposed blockade of Germany in the North Sea, an important part of Britain’s war strategy aimed at sttrangling its enemy economically. -
The Battle of Gallipoli begins
the Battle of Gallipoli or the Dardanelles Campaign, was an unsuccessful attempt by the Allied Powers to control the sea route from Europe to Russia during World War I. The campaign began with a failed naval attack by British and French ships on the Dardanelles Straits in February-March 1915 and continued with a major land invasion of the Gallipoli Peninsula on April 25, involving British and French troops as well as divisions of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC). -
The British ocean liner RMS Lusitania is sunk by German U-boat
less than a year after World War I (1914-18) erupted across Europe, a German U-boat torpedoed and sank the RMS Lusitania, a British ocean liner en route from New York to Liverpool, England. Of the more than 1,900 passengers and crew members on board, more than 1,100 perished, including more than 120 Americans. Nearly two years would pass before the United States formally entered World War I, but the sinking of the Lusitania played a significant role in turning public opinion against Germany. -
the Battle of the Somme begins
The Battle of the Somme, also known as the Somme Offensive, was one of the largest battles of the First World War. Fought between July 1 and November 1, 1918 near the Somme River in France, it was also one of the bloodiest military battles in history. On the first day alone, the British suffered more than 57,000 casualties, and by the end of the campaign the Allies and Central Powers would lose more than 1.5 million men. -
Zimmerman Telegram
The Zimmermann Telegram (or Zimmermann Note) was an internal diplomatic communication issued from the German Foreign Office in January, 1917 that proposed a military alliance between Germany and Mexico in the event of the United States entering World War I against Germany. -
The United States declares war on Germany
President Wilson appeared before a joint session of Congress and asked for a declaration of war against Germany in order to "make the world safe for democracy." America thus joined the carnage that had been ravaging Europe since 1914. Germany's renewal of unrestricted submarine warfare and the revelation of a proposed German plot to ally with Mexico against the US prompted Wilson's action. -
U.S. President Woodrow Wilson issues his Fourteen Points
President Woodrow Wilson delivers his Fourteen Points speech to Congress. Wilson itemized 14 strategies to ensure national security and world peace. Several points addressed specific territorial issues in Europe; however the most significant sections set the tone for post-war American diplomacy. -
German flying ace Baron Manfred von Richthofen is shot down
In the skies over Vauz sur Somme, France, Manfred von Richthofen, the notorious German flying ace known as “The Red Baron,” is killed by Allied fire. -
The Treaty of Versailles officially ends WWI
World War I officially ended with the signing of the Treaty of Versailles. Negotiated among the Allied powers with little participation by Germany, its 15 parts and 440 articles reassigned German boundaries and assigned liability for reparations.