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Tripe Alliance is formed between Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Italy
Bismarck formed the Dual Alliance between Germany and Austria-Hungary. Three years later, Italy joined the two countries, forming the Triple Alliance. -
Kaiser Wilhelm II changes foreign policy, forced Bismarck to resign.
Kaiser Wilhelm II force Bismarck to resign because he did not want to share power with anyone. He was eager to show the world just how mighty Germany had become. -
Wilhelm II allows alliance with Russia to expire.
He did not want to share any power with anyone. Since Russia was now the opponent with their ally, Austria-Hungary, Germany had to fight against them. -
Britain formed entente alliance with France.
Wilhelm began a tremendous shipbuilding program in an effort to make the German navy equal to the mighty British fleet. Alarmed, Great Britain formed an alliance with France. -
Britain made another entente with France and Russia, forming the Triple Entente.
In 1907, Britain made another entente, this time with both France and Russia. The Triple Entente did not bind Britain to fight with France and Russia. However, it did almost certainly
ensure that Britain would not fight against them. -
Ferdinand and Sophie visit Sarajevo and are assassinated by Gavrilo Princip
The royal pair was shot by Gavrilo Princip, a member of the Black Hand, which was a secret society committed to ridding Bosnia of Austrian rule. -
Austria presented Serbia with the Ultimatum.
Germany had given A-H a “blank check” for military support.
Following the assassination, A-H gave Serbia a severe ultimatum which requested:
-Suppression of all anti-Austrian activity in Serbia.
-Called for the dismissal of all Serbian officials whom A-H objected.
-Demanded the right for Austrian officials to enter Serbia to investigate the assassination. -
Austria declared war on Serbia. Russia also ordered mobilization toward the Austrian border.
Austria decided to use the murders as an excuse to punish Serbia. Austria declared war because Serbia rejected the idea for Austria to invade the country and perform an investigation. Since Russia was a ally of Serbia order mobilization to the Austria borders. -
Germany declared war on Russia.
In response to Austria's decalaration of war, Russia, Serbia's ally, began moving its army toward the Russian-Austrian border. Expecting Germany to join Austria, Russia also mobolized along the German border. To Germany, Russia's mobilization began the declaration of war. -
Germany counterattacked the Russians at Tannenberg, four day battle.
At the beginning of the war, Russian forces had launched an attack into both Austria and Germany. At the end of August, Germany counterattacked near the town of Tannenberg. During the four-day battle, the Germans crushed the invading Russian army and drove it into full retreat. More than 30,000 Russian soldiers were killed. -
Germany declared war on France
France was Russia's ally s Germany did not wait for them to react,so Germany declared war on them too. -
Britain declares war on Germany
Britain declared war on Germany in response to the German invasion of Belgium. -
The Allies attack Germany at the 1st Battle of the Marne
The Allies attacked the Germans northeast of Paris, in the valley of the Marne River. Every available soldier was hurled into the struggle. When reinforcements were needed, more than 600 taxicabs rushed soldiers from Paris to the front. After
four days of fighting, the German generals gave the order to retreat. Although it was only the first major clash on the Western Front, the First Battle of the Marne was perhaps the single most important event of the war. -
Ottoman Empire formally joins Central Powers
The Ottoman Empire later joined the Central Powers in the hopes of regaining lost territories. -
Austrians, with German assistance counter the Russians at the Battle of Limanowa
Battle of Limanowa took place from December 1 and December 13, 1914, between Austro-Hungarian Army and Russian Army near the town of Limanowa (near Kraków). The Austro-Hungarian high command had assumed that German success would weaken Russian forces in the north and that the Galician front would remain quiet. Both these assumptions were incorrect.In the end, the threat to the Hungarian plains disappeared. -
The Allies launched the Gallipoli campaign
The Gallipoli Campaign, also known as the Battle of Gallipoli took place at the peninsula of Gallipoli in the Ottoman Empire (in modern day Turkey). The Allies launched the Gallipoli Campaign and it was a failure, and prompted Bulgaria to join the Central Powers in September.
The Allies abandoned attempts to land in Balkans after losing. -
Germany sinks the U.S.S. Lusitania.
A German submarine, or U-boat, had sunk the British passanger ship Lusitania. The attack left 1,198 people dead, including 128 U.S. citizens. The American public became outraged. -
Germans announce their policy of unrestricted submarine warfare.
The Germans announced that their subarines would sink without warning any ship in the waters around Britain. -
U.S. intercepts the Zimmerman Note
The British intercepted a telegram from Germany's foreign secretary, Arthur Zimmerman, to the German ambassador in Mexico. The message said that Germany would help Mexico reconquer the land it had lost to the United States of Mexico would ally itself with Germany. The British decoded the message and gave it to the U.S. government. -
Woodrow Wilson asks Congress to declare war on Germany.
The Zimmerman Note simply proved to be the last straw. President Wilson asked Congress to declare war. The United States entered the war on the side of the Allies. -
Vladimir Ilyich Lenin ended Russia's involvemnet in WWI.
Lenin insisted on ending his country's involvement in the war. One of his first acts was to offer Germany a truce. -
Germany and Russia sign the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk
Germany and Russia signed the treaty, which ended the war between them. The treaty was extremely hard on Russia. It required the Russian government to surrender lands to Germany that now include Finland, Poland, Ukraine, Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. Even though the treaty became invalid after the war, these nations still gained their independance. -
Second Battle of the Marne
The Allies and Germans clashed at the Second Battle of the Marne. Leading the Allied attack were 350 tanks that smashed through the German lines. With the arrival of 2 million American troops, the Allied forces began to advance toward Germany. -
Kaiser Wilhelm stepped down from power, Germany declared itself a republic.
Soldiers refused to obey order, and the public turned on Kaiser. He was forced to step down and Germany declared itself a republic. -
A German representative and FrenchCommander Marshal Foch signed an armistice.
Marshal Foch and a representative of the German government signed the armistice, an agreement to stop fighting. On November 11, World War I came to an end.
