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THE ASSASSANATION
The assassination of Franz Ferdinand, the archduke of Austria-Hungary, died by the hands of Gavrilo Princip. He was a Serbian nationalist with ties to the secretive military group known as the Black Hand. -
Russia Mobilizes
Russia mobilizes its vast army to intervene against Austria-Hungary in favor of its ally, Serbia. This move starts a chain reaction that leads to the mobilization of the rest of the European Great Powers, and inevitably to the outbreak of hostilities. -
World War 1
The Allies included Britain, France, Russia, Italy and the United States. These countries fought against the Central Powers which included Germany, Austria-Hungary, Ottoman Empire and Bulgaria. When Franz Ferdinand, of Austria-Hungary was assasinated. Then thats when Germany invades Belgium and thats when World War 1 starts -
Germans Fire
The Germans fire shells filled with chlorine gas at Allied lines. This is the first time that large amounts of gas are used in battle, and the result is the near-collapse of the French lines. However, the Germans are unable to take advantage of the breach -
First Tanks
The British employ the first tanks ever used in battle, at Delville Wood. Although they are useful at breaking through barbed wire and clearing a path for the infantry, tanks are still primitive and they fail to be the decisive weapon, as their designers thought they would be. -
Battle of Somme
After two years of trench warfare, the Allies attempt to break through German lines on the Western Front. This is when the tanks were introduce to the war. 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. -
Selective Service Act
Congress passes the Selective Service Act authorizing the draft. Authorized the federal government to raise a national army for the American entry into World War I through the compulsory enlistment of people. Although criticized for destroying democracy at home while fighting for it abroad, President Wilson claims he sees no other option and signs the bill into law. -
Germany and Russia Peace
The Germans sign a peace treaty with the new Bolshevik government of Russia. The terms of the treaty give Germany huge tracts of land that had been the Ukraine and Poland, and peace on the Eastern Front allows Germany to shift soldiers to the Western Front, causing serious problems for the French, British, and Americans -
Wilhelm Abdicates
Nov 9, 1918
Wilhelm Abdicates Kaiser Wilhelm abdicates, ending all German hope for a victory. He and his retinue quietly slip over the border into the Netherlands where he lives out the remainder of his life in relative peace and writes a self-promoting memoir defending his actions in the war -
Armistice Day
Armistice Day is commemorated every year on 11 November to mark the armistice signed between the Allies of World War I and Germany at Compiègne, France, for the cessation of hostilities on the Western Front of World War I, which took effect at eleven o'clock in the morning—the "eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month" of 1918.
