June 28, 1914 Archduke Franz Ferdinand heir to the throne of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and his wife are assassinated in Sarajevo.
July 28, 1914 Emperor Franz Joseph of Austria-Hungary declares war on Serbia.
July 31, 1914 As an ally of Serbia, Russia announces full mobilization of her armed forces.
August 1, 1914 Germany mobilizes her armed forces and declares war on Russia.
August 3, 1914 Germany declares war on France.
August 4, 1914 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, 1914 Austria-Hungary declares war on Russia.
August 22, 1914 "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, 1914 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, 1914 First Battle of the Marne halts German invasion in France.
September 15, 1914 First trenches of the Western front are dug.
December 25, 1914 Unofficial Christmas Truce declared by soldiers in the trenches along the Western Front.
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 British conscription law goes into effect
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.
January 19 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.
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.
1918-1919 Two waves of influenza kill more people than did the war.
January 8 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. 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.
Demobilization of the armies, millions return home.
