WWW I

WORLD WAR I

Assassination of Franz Ferdinand and his wife

The Germans declare a submarine blockade of Britain

1914

1917

1916

1915

Emperor Franz Joseph of Austria-Hungary declares war on Serbia and its ally Russia.

Germany declares war on Russia, France, and Belgium. Austria declares war on Russia and Belgium. Britain and Montenegro declare war on Germany and Austria. Japan declares war on Germany; and France declare war on Austria.

The Battle of the Frontiers begins.

Battle of Tannenberg.

Through her alliance with Britain, Japan declares war on Germany and attacks the German colony of Tsingtau in China.

British and French forces invade and occupy Togoland, a German protectorate in West Africa.

Australian forces occupy German New Guinea.

South African troops invade German South-West Africa.

The First Battle of Ypres

Turkey enters the war on Germany’s side.

British naval forces bombard Turkish forts in the Dardenelles.

Britain announces a blockade of German ports.

The Second Battle of Ypres begins.

British liner Lusitania is sunk by a German U-Boat

Italy joins the Allies by declaring war on Germany and Austria.

Germany stops sinking ships without warning.

Battle of Loos

Conscription is introduced in Britain.

The British intercept and decode a telegram from the German Foreign Secretary Arthur Zimmermann to Mexico urging her entry into war against the United States.

1918

A peace treaty is signed between Soviet Russia and the Central Powers (Germany, Austria-Hungary and Turkey) at Brest-Litovsk.

Germans launch a massive attack against the French at Verdun, in what will become the longest and one of the bloodiest battles of the war.

British Secretary of State for War, asks for US military participation in Europe.

British Empire forces surrender to Turkish forces at Kut in Mesopotamia

After heavy losses on both sides, the Trentino Offensive stabilises.

Battle of the Somme

Romania enters the war on the side of the Allies.

Tanks are introduced for the first time on the Somme battlefield by the British.

Russia’s Brusilov Offensive, and Battle of the Somme ends.

The first German airplane air-raid on London.

The Battle of the Frontiers begins.

Germany resumes unrestricted U-boat warfare

The United States of America severs diplomatic ties with Germany.

The Zimmermann Telegram is passed to the United States government by the British.

British troops capture Baghdad.

The United States of America declares war on Germany.

The Nivelle Offensive begins

The first U.S. troops, men of the 1st Division, begin to arrive in France.

Greece enters the war on the side of the Allies.

Third Battle of Ypres

Battle of Cambrai

The United States declares war on Austro-Hungary.

Battle of the Lys

The Zeebrugge Raid

Third Battle of the Aisne

Battle of Cantigny.

Second Battle of Marne

The former Russian Tsar Nicholas II, his wife, and children, are murdered by the Bolsheviks.

Battle of Amiens

Battle of Megiddo

The Meuse-Argonne offensive begins

Austro-Hungary concludes an armistice with the Allies.

At the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month, in the French town of Redonthes, Germany signs an armistice with the Allies – the official date of the end of World War One.