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Battle of Tannenberg
The Russian army marched into Prussia. 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 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. Although the Germans won the battle. -
Battle of Masurian Lakes
Having defeated the Russian Second army, the Germans turned their attention to the Russian First army at Masurian Lakes. The Germans were unable to defeat the army completely. Over 100,000 Russians were taken prisoner. -
Assassination of Franz Ferdinand
Gavrilo Princip of the black hand assassinated him and his wife in Bosnia. -
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. Russia was allied with Serbia, Germany did not believe that they would mobilise and offered to support Austria if necessary. Russia did mobilise though and, through their alliance with France, called on the French to mobilise -
Germany declared war on Russia and Germany
Germany declared war on France. German troops poured into Belgium as directed under the Schleiffen Plan, written in 1905. The British foreign secretary, Sir Edward Grey sent an ultimatum to Germany demanding their withdrawal from the neutral Belgium. -
Britian 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 -
Turkey enters the war
Turkey enters the war on the allies side. -
Britain and France declared war on Turkey
The German advance through Belgium to France did not go as well as the Germans had hoped. The Belgium people put up a good fight destroying railway lines to slow the transport of German supplies. -
Zeppelin bombing
Airships dropped bombs on Yarmouth -
Winston Churchill resigns
Winston Churchill resigned as First Lord of the Admiralty. He rejoined the army as a battalion commander. -
Second Battle of Ypres
Mustard gas was used for the first time. -
Lusitania sunk
The peoples 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 enters war
Italy enters the war on the allies side -
Romania enters war
They joined on the side of the allies but within a few months was occupied by Germans and Austrians