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The Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand And His Wife
The assassination of Archduke Ferdinand and his wife by Serbian Gavrilo Princip set off a chain of events which caused WW1. The assassination was an accident with the Serbian activists first throwing a bomb at the Archdukes car but missing. When Gavrilo Princip was walking home, the archdukes car drove down the street. He pulled out a gun and then shot the Archduke and his wife.This event took place in the Balkan States which was politically unstable at the time. -
Period: to
WW1
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Germany Declares War On Russia
On the 31st of July Germany demanded that Russia stopped preparing for the war. When Russia didn't respond, on the 1st of August,Germany declared war on Russia. -
Germany Declares War On France And Invades Belgium
Germany, when threatened by war from Russia and France developed the Schieffen plan.This plan was to attack France through Belgium, the plan relied on the fact that France would be easily defeated, Belgium wouldn't resist and Britain remained neutral. But as Britain had signed a treaty earlier on with Belgium, Britain was brought into the war when Germany invaded. -
Britain Declares War On Germany
On 3 August 1914, British Prime Minister Herbert Asquith sent a message to the German government announcing that Britain would declare war if Germany did not withdraw its troops from Belgium by midnight. With no reply Britain declared war on the 4th of August. -
Austria- Hungary Declares War On Serbia
Exactly one month after the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand, Austria–Hungary declared war on Serbia. Serbia turned to its ally Russia for help and Russia was brought into the war. -
Japan Declares War On Germany
The Japanese sent an ultimatum to the Germans, demanding all German ships to be removed from Japanese and Chinese waters and the surrender of control of Tsingtao on China’s Shantung Peninsula to Japan,by twelve o'clock on August 23. -
The Battle Of Tanneberg
In August, two large Russian armies under General Pavel Rennenkampf and General Alexander Samsonov attacked around the Masurian lakes. The Germans heard of the plan and drove the Russians into the water. They then mowed them down with machine guns. The Russian lost 130,000 men. It worked out well though for the allies because the German soldiers came from the Western Front and this helped the British and French soldiers win in the Battle Of Marne. -
Battle Of Masurian Lakes
After defeating the Russian second army, the Germans then went on to fight the Russian first army at Masurian lakes. The Germans were defeated by the Russians but they had taken over 100,000 Russian soldiers prisoner. So both sides counted it as a win. -
The Battle Of Marnes
The German soldiers who had traveled from Germany to France and now to fight Russia in eastern Europe had been covering 50km per day, they had also lost 100,000 men who had been sent to fight the Russians already. The British and French gathered along the River Marne and made a stand against the Germans, the battle lasted for five days with the Germans being exhausted and pushed back 60 kilometres to the river Aisne,it was a great win for the allies. -
Trench Warfare Starts On The Western Front
The Western Front stretched 750 kilometres from the Belgian coast, through France to the Swiss border.This campaign used the trench system where the forces would shoot at each other in the trench and then one would charge trying to take over the other forces land. Australian troops and New Zealand were heavily involved in the Western Front campaign. The sides in the Western Front campaign were Great Britain, France and the ANZACS against Germany. -
The Gallipoli Campaign
The landing at Gallipoli was made in complete darkness. The 80,000Turkish soldiers were scattered waiting ready above on the rugged terrain. The first wave of Australian solidiers landed ashore at 4:25am under the cover of darkness at Gallipoli. It was a proud day for Australia and seen to be Australias 'baptism in blood' and coming of age but it was also the final day for many Australian soldiers. Australia held Gallipoli but 1700 casualties had occurred. -
Italy Enters The War On The Side Of The Triple Entente
Italy was a member of the Triple Alliance but did not fight and joined the Triple Entente in May 1915 and entered the war. -
Withdrawal Of Anzac Soldiers From Gallipoli
The troops of Gallipoli were organised to be withdrawed over two nights. The evacuation was undertaken in the cover of night and the evacuation ships were docked at the North beach piers. An invention called the Drip rifles,were self-firing rifles used at Gallipoli to deceive the Turks during the evacuation of December 1915. The drip rifles were self firing rifles that tricked the Turks into thinking the ANZACS were still there. -
The Battle Of Jutland
The Battle of Jutland is considered to be the only major naval battle of World War One. The battle was fought out in the North Sea. Britain lost many ships but the Germans navy was so badly damaged it never went to sea again after this battle meaning that Britain had naval supremacy. -
The Battle Of Somme
The Somme Offensive, was one of the largest battles of the First World War.It was fought between July 1 and November 1 1918 near the Somme river in France. It was one of the most bloody and violent wars ever. The campaign was one of the first great offensive attacks from the British but many casualties were lost. -
First Aeroplane Raid
The first German air raid of London was on the 28th of November. The intention by the Germans was to scare Britain into protecting its own country rather than attacking the Germans. -
Hill 60 Campaign
The Hill 60 campaign was a phantom campaign with over 4585 Australian miners digging 30 metres underground to plant 53,500 lbs of high explosives. Hill 60 was only a small hill made from the construction dirt of the railway line to the city of Ypres in Belgium. But was a major obstacle to Berlin. It was a great success with the invasions of German lines and the opening up of a road to Berlin from the explosions.At the time is was the biggest explosion recorded ever. -
The Battle Of Cambrai
The plan for the Battle Of Cambrai was to first attack the Germans with a wave of tanks, then the infantry would move in and clear the German soldiers out of the trenches and the cavalry would then move in and take over the town of Cambrai. 378 tanks were used and were supported by 289 aircraft. At the end of the day six kilometres of territory was gained. But when the cavalry moved in they were driven back by the Germans with a fierce counter attack. -
Russian Revolution: Russia Pulls Out Of The War
Due to the Russians' army lack of success in World War 1 soldiers began to desert the army in their thousands. At home there was many riots in major cities. Tsar Nicholas II was the one to blame for the lack of success and in March 1917 was forced to resign from the throne. In 1917, the Bolsheviks seized power and turned Russia into a communist country. On 3 March 1918 Russia signed the Treaty of Brest Litovsk with Russia and pulled all Russian soldiers out of the war. -
The Battle Of Amiens
The British General Haig ordered that the allies attack Germany at Amiens. The battle of Amiens was the final and most important battle of WW1. The Germans lost more ground on August 8th than on any other day on the Western Front, proving it was a great success by the allies. -
The Armistice Signed
At 11am, in the French town of Rendothess, the Armistice was signed bringing the war to an end. Germany agreed to an armistice on November 11 but Turkey, Bulgaria and Austria-Hungary all called it quits before the Germans. But the most significant armistice was signed at 5 a.m. on the morning of 11 November 1918.
