Timeline of WWI

1914

    • June 28 - Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria-Hungary's and his wife are assassinated by Serbian Gavrilo Princip while visiting Bosnia.

    • July 28 - Austria-Hungary declares war on Serbia.

    • August 1 - Germany declares war on Russia.

    • August 3 - Germany declares war on France.

    • August 4 - The United Kingdom declares war on Germany, after Germany invades Belgium.

    • August 6 - Austria-Hungary declares war on Russia and Serbia declares war on Germany.

    • August 19 - U.S. President Woodrow Wilson announces the U.S. will remain neutral.

    • September 5 - Trench warfare begins on both sides.

    • November 3 - The United Kingdom says the North Sea is a military area, effectively creating a blockade of supply shipments going into Germany.

    • December 24 - The unofficial Christmas truce is declared.

1915

    • February 4 - Germany declares a "war zone" around Great Britain to help get civilians out of harm's way.

    • May 7 - The British ocean liner "Lusitania" is sunk by German U-boat, killing 128 Americans.

1916

    • February 21 - The Battle of Verdun begins. The Battle of Verdun was the longest battle of the Great War.

    • July 1 - The Battle of the Somme begins. This battle featured the first tanks in action.

1917

    • January 19 - Germany sends the secret Zimmerman Telegram to Mexico in an effort to persuade Mexico to join the fighting. The British intercept and decipher the coded message.

    • March 15 - Russian Tsar Nicholas II steps down as leader of Russia.

    • April 6 - The United States declares war on Germany.

    • November 7 - The Bolsheviks successfully overthrow the Russian government.

    • December 17 - The truce agreement between the new Russian government and the Central Powers takes effect.

1918

    • January 8 - United States President Woodrow Wilson issues his Fourteen Points to peace.

    • March 3 - Russia signs the Treaty of Brest Litovsk, which is a peace treaty between Russia and the Central Powers.

    • November 9 - German Kaiser Wilhelm II resigns and flees Germany.

    • November 11 - Germany signs the armistice at Compiegne, France and the fighting ends at 11 a.m. that day.

1919

    • June 28 - The Treaty of Versailles officially brings an end to the Great War.