1914
June 28,1914
Archduke Franz Ferdinand heir to the throne of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and his wife are assassinated in Sarajevo.
July 28
Emperor Franz Joseph of Austria-Hungary declares war on Serbia.
July 31
As an ally of Serbia, Russia announces full mobilization of her armed forces.
August 1
Germany mobilizes her armed forces and declares war on Russia.
August 3
Germany declares war on France.
August 4
Germany declares war on neutral Belgium and invades in a right flanking move designed to defeat France quickly. As a result of this invasion, Britain declares war on Germany.
August 6
Austria-Hungary declares war on Russia.
August 22
"The Battle of the Frontiers" -- 27,000 French soldiers die on this single day in an offensive thrust to the east of Paris, towards the German borders.
August 26-30
German army, led by Erich Ludendorff and Paul von Hindenburg achieves its greatest victory of the war on the Eastern front against Russia at the Battle of Tennenberg.
September 5-10
First Battle of the Marne halts German invasion in France.
September 15
First trenches of the Western front are dug.
December 25
Unofficial Christmas Truce declared by soldiers in the trenches along the Western Front.
1915
January, 1915
War becomes "Total War" with German Zeppelin air raid on England
February 4
Germany declares a submarine blockade of Great Britain. Any ship approaching England is considered a legitimate target.
April 25
Allies begin nine-month battle for the Turkish peninsula of Gallipoli.
May 7
U-boat sinks the Lusitania. 1,198 civilians, including 128 Americans die.
August 30
Germany responds to U.S. anger by ceasing to sink ships without warning.
September 5
Tsar Nicholas takes command of the Russian armies.
September 15
British use gas in battle near Loos, but shifting winds cause 60,000 British casualties.
December 19
Sir Douglas Haig becomes commander of British Expeditionary Force.
December 28
Allies begin withdrawal of troops from Gallipoli.
February 10, 1916
British conscription law goes into effect
1916
February 21 - December 18
The longest battle of the war, the Battle of Verdun, is fought to a draw with an estimated one million casualties.
April 9
Canadians take Vimy Ridge
April 19
US President Wilson publicly warns Germany not to continue unrestricted submarine warfare policies
May 31-June 1
The Battle of Jutland, the only major naval engagement of the war is fought with no clear winner.
July 1-November 18
The Battle of the Somme results in an estimated one million casualties and no breakthrough for the Allies. British introduce the tank, an effective weapon but far to few to make much of a difference.
November 7
Woodrow Wilson re-elected President of the United States with campaign slogan: "He kept us out of the war"
December 7
David Lloyd George becomes Prime Minister of Britain.
December 31
Rasputin, the self-avowed holy man and confidant to the Tsarina, is murdered by relatives of the Tsar.
1917
January 19, 1917
Reich Foreign Secretary Zimmermann's telegram to Mexico urging her entry into war against the United States is discovered and translated by the British.
February 1
Germany again declares unrestricted submarine warfare.
March 15
Tsar Nicholas II of Russia abdicates. Provisional government is declared.
April 6
President Wilson asks Congress for a declaration of war with Imperial Germany. (Link goes to PBS: American Experience)
April 16-29
French launch disastrous offensive at Chemin des Dames, advancing only 500 yards at the cost of 250,000 plus casualties.
April - June
Over half a million French soldiers mutiny, or "go on strike" and refuse to continue the failed offensive.
May 18
The United States passes the Selective Service Act empowering the Federal Government to draft men for the armed forces.
July 1 - 16
Russian Army lead by Alexander Kerensky begins last -- and disastrous -- offensive in Galicia.
July 3
The first wave of the American Expeditionary Force lands in France.
July 31-November 10
Third Battle of Ypres, known as Passchendaele, results in minor gains, but still no breakthrough in the Western front at the cost of 700,000 casualties for both sides.
October 23
American troops in France fire their first shot in trench warfare.
November 7
Bolshevik socialists, led by Lenin, overthrow Kerensky's government.
December 3
The new Russian government, represented by Leon Trotsky, signs an armistice with Germany.
December 9
British capture Jerusalem from the Turks and her Arab allies.
1918
1918-1919
Two waves of influenza kill more people than did the war. (Link goes to PBS: American Experience)
January 8, 1918
President Woodrow Wilson declares his 14 points as the path to permanent world peace.
March 21
Germans launch the first of five major offensives to win the war before American troops appear in the trenches. German advance is finally stopped in late June
April 22
Baron von Richthofen, "the Red Baron" is killed in air dog-fight. (Link goes to PBS: Nova)
April 25
British and Australian troops stop the German advance near Amiens
May 23
German shells land on Paris.
May 31
Germans on the banks of the Marne near Paris are stopped by American forces at Chateau-Thierry.
July
German troops being shipped from the Eastern to Western Front begin to desert in large numbers from their transport trains
July 16-17
Former Tsar Nicholas II, his wife, children, and members of his entourage are murdered by the Bolsheviks.
August 3
President Wilson agrees to co-operate with Allies in sending "volunteer" troops into Russia.
August 8
Allied counter offensives on the Somme push the German army back and into retreat
September 27
Allied troops break through the German fortifications at the Hindenberg line.
October 28
German sailors mutiny at port when asked to sail and fight a hopeless navel battle.
October 30
Turks sign armistice
November 9
Kaiser Wilhelm II abdicates.
November 10
A German republic is founded.
November 11
At eleven o'clock on the eleventh day of the eleventh month of 1918, the war ends as Germany and Allies sign an Armistice.
Photo: American soldiers celebrate end of war
American soldiers celebrate end of war
December 4
Woodrow Wilson sets sail for the Paris Peace conference. (Link goes to PBS: American Experience)
Photo: President Woodrow Wilson aboard the "George Washington" headed for Europe
1919
Demobilization of the armies, millions return home.
1919
1919-1921
Russian civil war fails to unseat the Bolsheviks.
January 10-15, 1919
A coup launched by German revolutionaries in Berlin is suppressed by paramilitary units.
January 15
German socialist rebels Karl Liebknecht and Rosa Luxemburg are murdered.
February
Allies' military intervention in Russia is secretly agreed to.
June 28
Peace Treaty signed by German delegates and Allies in Versailles.
July 19
The Cenotaph is unveiled in London.
August-September
President Wilson brings his campaign for the ratification of the Treaty of Versailles and its League of Nations to the American people. (Link goes to PBS: American Experience)
September 25
Wilson collapses and his whistle-stop tour of the country is over.
*This page is created to http://www.pbs.org/greatwar/timeline/time_1919.html
German soldiers celebrating the start of the war.
German troops crossing into France from Belgium
French soldiers building a trench
Western Front trench covered with snow, modern footage
German U boat on the hunt for Allied shipping
Australian headquarters staff wading ashore at Gallipoli, 1915
Mass grave for Lusitania victims
Allied ship attacked by German U-boat
Poison gas attack, Flanders, Belgium
Dead French soldiers in trench
President Woodrow Wilson
President Wilson in the White House
Detail of the Zimmermann Telegram
German submarine
President Wilson addressing Congress
Selective Service goes into effect
George Patton with tank
American artillery gun, nicknamed Calamity Jane
A smiling Vladimir Lenin
President Wilson
American soldiers in trenches
Tsar Nicholas II and family in captivity
German World War 1 battleship
Kaiser Wilhelm II
American soldiers celebrate end of war
President Woodrow Wilson aboard the "George Washington" headed for Europe
Black American troops return home
Rosa Luxemburg
The Big Four at the Paris Peace Conference. Lloyd George, Vittorio Orlando, George Clemenceau and Woodrow Wilson from Britain, Italy, France and the United States, respectively.
A stricken Woodrow Wilson
