World War I Timeline Pre1914 1918 Pre 1914

World War I Timeline Pre-1914 - 1918

Pre 1914 • France signs • • humiliating treaty after defeat in the Franco Prussian War France loses Alsace and Lorraine Wilhelm II becomes Kaiser of Germany

Pre 1914 • Nicholas II (Romanov) becomes tsar of Russia

1914 • Austrian Archduke • • • Franz Ferdinand assassinated in Sarajevo Austria declares war on Serbia Russia mobilizes Germany declares war on Russia

1914 • Germany declares war • • • on France Invades neutral Belgium Britain declares war on Germany Austria-Hungary declares war on Russia

1914 • First Battle of the • • Marne halts German invasion of France Trenches dug Western front created

1914 • Christmas Truce • Unofficial truce among soldiers along the Western Front

1915 • U-Boat sinks British • • passenger liner, Lusitania 128 Americans die Germans claim munitions on board

1915 • British use poison gas near Loos, but shifting winds cause 60, 000 British casualties

1916 • Longest battle, • • Verdun, ends in a draw with 1 million casualties Battle of the Somme, first use of tanks by British Woodrow Wilson reelected, “He kept us out of war. ”

1917 • Zimmerman Note is • • discovered Germany urged Mexico to enter war against U. S. – would regain lost territory German resumes unrestricted submarine warfare

1917 • First wave of the • American Expeditionary Force (AEF) arrives in France Doughboys

1917 • Americans fire first • • shots in the war Bolshevik socialists led by Lenin overthrow Kerensky’s provisional government Russia signs armistice with Germany

1918 • Flu epidemic begins – • • kills more people than the war Americans stop Germans at Chateau Thierry Baron von Richthofen (Red Baron) killed in air dog-fight

1918 • Allied forces push Germans back into retreat

1918 • Germans mutiny and • • • desert Kaiser Wilhelm II abdicates Nov. 11, 1918 (11: 00 am) – armistice War is over

1918 • Pres. Wilson sails to • • • Paris Treaty of Versailles 14 Points Harsh punishment for Germany