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28 June 1914: Assassination of Franz Ferdinand, causing WWI outbreak

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28 June 1914: Assassination of Franz Ferdinand, causing WWI outbreak

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On the 28th of June 1914, the Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria was assassinated by Gavrilo Princip, a Bosnian Serb nationalist, during a drive through Sarajevo, the capital of Bosnia-Herzegovina.

Bosnia-Herzegovina had previously been annexed by Austria-Hungary. Outraged by this, Bosnian nationalists along with members of the Black Hand, a Serbian nationalist group, planned an attack on Franz Ferdinand.

The assassination led to Austria-Hungary declaring war on Serbia. The Serbian Army, and later the Austria-Hungarian army, mobilized a part of their armies to face each other on the 28th of July 1914. Because Austria-Hungary was part of the Triple Alliance, along with Germany and Italy, Russia and France were forced to mobilize their armies as well, according to the Secret Treaty of 1892. This led to Germany declaring war on Russia, marking the official start of WWI.

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4 August 1914: Britain declares war on Germany and Austria-Hungary

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4 August 1914: Britain declares war on Germany and Austria-Hungary

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On the 3rd of August 1914, Germany declares war on France and sends troops into Belgium. In 1839, the UK, France and Prussia declared Belgium's independence and sovereignty with the Treaty of London. Because of this, Britain was forced to demand that Germany withdraws its forces from Belgium. This was done by Sir Edward Grey, the Foreign Secretary. Germany ignored this ultimatum, leading the UK to declare war on Germany.

Additionally, the Committee of Imperial Defence, a committee of the UK's government responsible for their military strategy, endorsed the UK's Cabinet to capture Germany's overseas colonies and to encourage Australia and New Zealand to do the same.

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The Battle of Mons was a clash between the Allies and Germany in the Belgian city of Mons. It was the first major military action of the British army in WWI. Despite being massively outnumbered by the Germans, the UK still managed to withstand the Germans. However, because the French Army suddenly retreated, the British Army was forced to retreate as well.

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19 Oct 1914-22 Nov 1914: First battle of Ypres

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19 Oct 1914-22 Nov 1914: First battle of Ypres

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On October 1914, German and Allied forces began the first of three battles near the Belgian town of Ypres. The town was a coveted target due to its advantageous position on the coast of Belgium and its easy access to the English Channel.

The First Battle of Ypres was preceded by the Battle of the Marne in September 1914, where the Allied forces reached an important victory. As a result of this, the ‘Race to the Sea’ began, where each party tried to attack the other via the north coast of Belgium. This race came to an end at the Battle of Ypres.

Earlier in October, the Germans captured Antwerp. Because of this, the Belgian forces withdrew to Ypres, accompanying the France and British forces. At the same time, the Germans were preparing an attack near Ypres to break the Allied collaboration and gain access to the North Sea.

The battle lasted until November 22. Because of the strong winter, both parties were forced to put their attacks on a halt.

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8 December 1914: Battle of the Falkland Islands

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8 December 1914: Battle of the Falkland Islands

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The Battle of the Falkland Islands was a battle between the British and German armies on the 8th of December 1914 on the South Atlantic Falkland Islands, just off the coast of Argentina. This battle was the result of a British defeat off the coast of Chile, near the town of Coronel on 1 November, called the Battle of Coronel.

The British, who arrived at the island a day prior to the Germans, detected the German ships at an early stage, resulting in a British victory.

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16 December 1914: Raid on Scarborough, Hartlepool and Whitby

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16 December 1914: Raid on Scarborough, Hartlepool and Whitby

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On the 16th of December 1914 the German forces attacked the British at the docks of Scarborough, Hartlepool and Whitby. The bombings resulted in 137 fatalities and 592 casualties. Many of the victims were innocent civilians, resulting in public outrage due to the German army’s attack on civilians and the British army’s lack of prevention.

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28 March 1915: Sinking of the RMS Falabia by the Germans

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28 March 1915: Sinking of the RMS Falabia by the Germans

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On March 28 1915, for the first time, a British steamship, called the RMS Falaba was sunk by the Germans, which became known as the Thrasher incident. Out of the 104 people killed, one was an American passenger, Leon Chester Thrasher. This officially resulted in the USA’s involvement in WWI.

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22 Apr-25 May 1915: Second battle of Ypres

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22 Apr-25 May 1915: Second battle of Ypres

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From the 22th of April until the 25th of May 1915, the Second Battle of Ypres took place. The result of the battle was a British withdrawal to new line 3 miles closer to Ypres.

It was the first time the Germans used poison gas during a large-scale battle.

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On the 25th of September 1915, the biggest British attack in the First World War, the Battle of Loos, took place. It was the first time the British army used poison gas. It took place at the French town of Loos, where the French attempted to break through the German defences. The town was taken quickly and a myriad of German defences collapsed. However, on the second day, the Germans struck back. The Germans took a new position and the British failed to anticipate on this.

The battle caused 60.000 British casualties, almost twice as much as German casualties, making the Battle of Loos a failure for the Allies.

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29 April 1916: British forces surrender to Turkish forces in Kut, Mesopotamia

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29 April 1916: British forces surrender to Turkish forces in Kut, Mesopotamia

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From 7 December 1915 until 29 April 1916, the first battle of Kut-al-Amara, Iraq took place.

This battle resulted in the captivity of 13000 British soldiers by the Turkish Army. This became known as one of the biggest losses in the British army’s history. The soldiers were transported to various camps in Turkey. The living conditions there were very poor and the soldiers were already fatigued and diseased from the battle prior to the captivity. Some soldiers tried to escape, but few succeeded.

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31 May 1916-1 Jun 1916: Battle of Jutland

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31 May 1916-1 Jun 1916: Battle of Jutland

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The Battle of Jutland was the largest naval battle of WWI. It was fought from the 31st of May until the 1st of June 1916 and was the only official battleship clash between the British and Germans during WWI. It took place in the North Sea near the Danish island of Jutland. The Germans objective was to break the British naval line across the North Sea and gain full access of the North Sea. Meanwhile, the British tried to destroy German’s battle fleet, the High Seas Fleet, and keep the German ships away from Britain’s shipping lanes.

Even though the British lost fourteen ships and Germany eleven, and the British lost twice as many sailors, it’s uncertain which party won the battle, because the British still managed to contain the German’s High Seas Fleet.

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1 Jul-18 Nov 1916: Start of the battle of the Somme

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1 Jul-18 Nov 1916: Start of the battle of the Somme

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On the 1st of July the Somme offensive began. It was a series of battles between the British and French against the Germans, near the French river Somme. The aim of the battle was to gain a quick victory for the Allies, but the battle lasted until 18 November. With around one million casualties, it is one of the deadliest battles in history.

The battles began on the morning of the 1st of July, when the British army began travelling across the north of the Somme River. Meanwhile, French forces travelled across the south of the river. The German forces on the north side were stronger than expected. About 19240 British soldiers were killed on the first day alone. On the south, the French forces were slightly more successful, but they fell short compared to the losses.

On the 15th of July, the British planned an attack on the Germans on the Bazentin Ridge. Because this caught the German forces by surprise, the British managed to advance into enemy territory, but casualties kept increasing.

Near the end of August, the Germans changed its strategy due to a change in their army’s General. This resulted in more victories for the Germans.

In October, the Allied struggled to advance in German territory due to bad weather. They made their final attack on the Germans in November.

As the winter weather reached an all-time high on the 18th of November, attacks were put on hold.

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7 December 1916: David Lloyd George becomes Prime Minister

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7 December 1916: David Lloyd George becomes Prime Minister

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After H.H. Asquith was forced to resign as Prime Minister in December 1916, David Lloyd George took his place, as the leader of the Liberal Party. Lloyd George had previously served as Secretary of State and Chancellor of the Exchequer.

Lloyd George would later player a major role in the Paris Peace Conference, a meeting between the Allies in 1919 following their victory against the Central Powers, and the Irish Free State, that would establish the Republic of Ireland and end the Irish War of Independence.

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9 April 1917: Start of the Nivelle offensive

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9 April 1917: Start of the Nivelle offensive

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The Nivelle Offensive, named after the French Army’s Commander-in-Chief Robert Nivelle, was a series of attacks planned by the Allies on the Germans. The strategy of the Nivelle Offensive was not unlike the strategy used during the Battle of the Somme in 1916. The plan was to quickly and unexpectedly attack Germany by outnumbering them in just 48 hours.

This attack started on 9 April 1917. The first major battle was the Second Battle of Aisne, which lasted from the 16th of April until mid-May 1917. The French suffered 187,000 casualties and the British 130,000. A significant amount of land was taken, though. However, the Allies had to retreat.

Because of the bad result of Novelle’s strategy, he was fired and replaced by Philippe Petain. Even though the attack didn't turn out as catastrophically compared to other attacks, Novelle was sacked because he had promised a much better outcome.

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7 June 1917: British mining in the battle of Messines

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7 June 1917: British mining in the battle of Messines

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The Battle of Messines was an attack by the British Army on the Germans in the Belgian town of Messines. The battle was a reaction to the disappointing Novelle offenses. The British came out victorious.

The main reason for Britain’s victory was the use of land mines. The British forces secretly planted mines in underground tunnels near German territory. Around 10,000 Germans soldiers were killed. It remains as one of the deadliest bombings in history.

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The Third Battle of Ypres lasted for more than three month, starting on the 31st of July and ending on the 10th of November 1917. It is also known as the Battle of Passchendaele. Whereas the previous two battles of Ypres were initiated by the Germans, the third one was planned by the British Commander-in-chief Douglas Haig. Haig’s idea was that the British army should keep moving forward with attacking, following the disappointing Novelle Offensive. Haig believed that the German army was on the brink of collapsing and that this aggressive attack would result in a definitive Allied victory.

After many attacks and casualties, the Allied recached near-exhaustion, while the Germans were still holding on. Haig planned three final attacks in the Belgian village of Passchendaele in October 1917. The British forces, accompanied by the Canadians, eventually managed to capture the town and claim victory, even though the Germans suffered less casualties than the British.

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21 March 1918: Germans begin the Ludendorff offensive against the British

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21 March 1918: Germans begin the Ludendorff offensive against the British

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The Ludendorff offensive, also known as the German spring offensive, or the Kaiserschlacht, was an offensive executed by the Germans. It lasted rom the 21st of March to the 18th of July 1918. Germany’s plan was to quickly start an attack on the Allied forces before the American soldiers arrived at the battlefront. Germany knew that the USA’s involvement would drastically decrease their chances of victory.

The Germans regained much of the territory they had lost the previous years. However, they suffered a lot of casualties and much of the ground they gained was of little importance. Due to this, you could question whether this was a victory for the Germans at all.

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On the 15h of July 1918, the German Army started its last major attack in WWI, along the Marne River near Paris. Germany’s intention was to draw Allied forces away from Flanders, where Germany’s previous attacks were successful, and instead advance via the Marne River, in order to have open access through Flanders.

However, the Allied forces, now accompanied by the USA, quickly proved to be a lot stronger. Germany suffered more than 160,000 casualties and about 30,000 soldiers were captured.

It was the beginning of a series of German losses that would eventually be recognized as the beginning of the end of World War I.

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8 Augustus 1918: Start of the Hundred Days Offensive

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8 Augustus 1918: Start of the Hundred Days Offensive

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From the 8th of August to the 11th of November 1918, the Hundred Days Offensive took place. This was the final series of attacks by the Allied forces in WWI. It was a response to the German Spring Offensive.

The offensive started on the 8th of August with the Battle of Amiens. On the first day, the Allied forces gained more than 11 kilometres of territory, which was one of the biggest advances of the First World War. This day became known as ‘the black day of the German Army’.

From the 21 August to 3 September 1918, the Second Battle of the Somme took place. Whereas the first Battle of the Somme on the 21st March 1918 was a failure, this time it resulted in an Allied victory.

What followed was a series of attacks that brought the Germans back to the Hindenburg Line and further (e.g. Battle of the Scarpe, Battle of St. Quentin Canal, Fifth Battle of Ypres). Fighting continued until Armistice of 11 November was signed.

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The very last attack of the First World War was the Battle of Megiddo, which took place from 19 to 25 September 1918. The allied forces planned their final offense against the Ottoman and German empire.

The Allied force had previously declared war on the Ottoman Empire in 1914 after the Ottomans secretly joined the war, thinking they could occupy Egyptian and Balkan territory while the Allied forces were preoccupied with other duties.

After several battles, the Allied forces came out victorious, which would eventually lead to the Armistice of 11 November and thus the end of WWI.

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11 November 1918: Armistice is signed, WWI ends

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11 November 1918: Armistice is signed, WWI ends

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After previously signing armistices with Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria and the Ottoman Empire, the Allies signed one with Germany, marking the official end of the First World War. the armistice was a result of a speech by American president Woodrow Wilson, in which he presented the ‘Fourteen Points’, which were the principles of peace that would be used during the Paris Peace Conference a year later.

The armistice was signed on the 11th of November 1918 in the French commune Compiegne and would mean the official victory for the Allies and loss for the Central Powers.

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The Treaty of Versailles was the final treaty that officially declared peace between the Allies and Germany. The treaty was signed on the 28th of June 1919 after six months of negotiations following the Armistice of 11 November 1918. It was signed in the Palace of Versailles, located about 19 km west of Paris.

The most controversial and most important agreement in the treaty stated that Germany was given full responsibility for the war and was obliged to pay for all the loss and damages: "The Allied and Associated Governments affirm and Germany accepts the responsibility of Germany and her allies for causing all the loss and damage to which the Allied and Associated Governments and their nationals have been subjected as a consequence of the war imposed upon them by the aggression of Germany and her allies."

This would later play a prominent role in the build op to World War II. Many economists believed that the treaty was too harsh on the Germans. The treaty led to a huge economic crash in German and great outrage among its people. Many historians even believed this to be the indirect cause of World War II.