World war i timeline

1. World War I Timeline

2. June 28, 1914 Archduke of Austria Franz Ferdinand and his wife Sophie are assassinated by Gavrilo Princip of the Black Hand (a Serbian Nationalist group).

3. July 23, 1914 Austria issues an ultimatum to Serbia. They tell Serbia if they do not meet the terms of the ultimatum there will be war.

4. July 28, 1914 Serbia accepts some terms of the ultimatum, but would like to conference about other terms. Austria rejects Serbia’s offer and declares war on Serbia. Russia mobilizes their troops along Austria’s border.

5. Late Summer 1914 Millions of soldiers happily march off to war, convinced the war will be short.

6. Fall 1914 Germany’s Schlieffen Plan, which was supposed to be quick turns into a stalemate on the Western Front.

7. August 1914 Germany crushes Russia’s invading army and forces them to retreat on the Eastern Front.

8. September 5, 1914 Allies attacked the Germans northeast of Paris in the valley of the Marne River.

9. December 1914 Austrians and Germans defeated the Russians and drove them eastward.

10. Early 1915 Opposing armies on the Western Front had dug miles of parallel trenches to protect themselves from enemy fire.

11. December 1915 Allies give up Galllipoli campaign after 250,000 casualties.

12. February 1915 Gallipoli campaign – Britain, Australia, New Zealand and France attacked west side of Straits of Dardenelles near Constantinople.

13. July 1916 British forces try to help the French by attacking the Germans at the Battle of Somme. They suffer more than half a million casualties.

14. 1916 Russia is suffering from a lot of political turmoil, and their war effort is on the verge of collapsing.

15. January 1917 Germans announce that they will bring back their policy of unrestricted submarine warfare and will sink any ship around British waters without warning.

16. February 1917 British intercept the Zimmerman Telegram.

17. March 1917 Civil unrest in Russia is bringing the Tsar Nicholas’s government to brink of collapse.

18. April 2, 1917 President Wilson asks Congress to declare war on the side of the Allies.

19. November 1917 Communist leader Lenin seized power in Russia.

20. March 1918 Treaty of Brest-Litovsk is signed by the German’s and Russian’s. This ends Russia’s involvement in World War I, and all of Germany’s army now heads to the western front.

21. July 1918 Things were looking bad for the Allies, but then new American troops come over and help push the Germans out of France.

22. November 11, 1918 Kaiser Wilhelm steps down and a new representative from Germany signs an armistice with the Allies.

23. January 1919 Treaty of Versailles conference begins in France. Over the next year the Allies and neutral countries decide how to punish Germany/Central Powers.

24. What should I study? Vocabulary – look through PowerPoints and book notes to see what key vocab words are – use the unit outline too. Unit Questions Countries in the Allies, Central Powers, Triple Alliance, and Triple Entente. There are no timelines, but you should know the major events of the war and their order. Know and be able to explain the causes of World War I: MAIN (militarism, alliances, imperialism, nationalism) Know and be able to explain what was decided at the Treaty of Versailles conference.