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Events / Stories
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Event Timeline
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Sarajevo
On 28 June 1914 the nephew of the Emperor of Austro-Hungary, Archduke Franz Ferdinand was assassinated by a Serbian revolutionary called Gavrilo Princip. The death of Franz Ferdinand is often seen as the event that triggered a series of international actions that led to the First World War.
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Liege (Belgium)
On 4 August 1914, German troops entered Belgium and attacked the town of Liege. Belgium had wanted to remain neutral in the event of war, but the entry of German troops meant it had to defend itself. In 1839 Great Britain had been one of the countries that had agreed to help Belgium remain neutral in the event of any war, by signing the Treaty of London. In 1914, now German troops were in Belgium, Britain had to defend it.
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Warsaw
In 1914, Warsaw was part of Russia and the country of Poland did not exist. As part of German attacks on Russian territory, airships bombed Warsaw in 1914. In England airships bombed ports like Dover and Great Yarmouth.
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Baltic Sea
A number of British submarines sailed into the Baltic Sea to assist Russia in a sea war against Germany there.
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Marseilles
After Britain declared war on Germany, it recalled its Imperial troops to try and win a war in Europe quickly. Soldiers from the Indian Army entered Europe from September 1914 and they arrived first at Marseilles on 26 September. Over 1 million Indian troops fought in the War.
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Odessa
In October 1914 the Ottoman navy attacked the Russian-held city of Odessa. This led Russia to declare war on the Ottoman Empire.
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North Sea
On 3 November 1914 Great Britain declared the North Sea a military area. This meant that commercial traffic stopped, creating a blockade around Germany. This was done to stop Germany receiving raw materials and food.
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Brest-Litovsk
A treaty was signed at Brest-Litovsk on 3 March 1918 which ended the war between Russia (now under a new Bolshevik government) and the central powers (Germany, Austro-Hungary, Bulgaria and the Ottoman Empire). It ended the stalemate on the Eastern Front and allowed the central powers to focus all their efforts on the Western Front.
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Vienna
In August 1918, to appeal to the Austro-Hungarian government, Italian forces flew over Vienna and dropped 400,000 propaganda leaflets. This was done to try and persuade Austro-Hungary to conclude its alliance with Germany and bring the War to an end faster.
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Versailles
It took six months after the Armistice was signed in November 1918 for the terms of the peace to be agreed. The Treaty of Versailles was finally signed on 28 June 1919 exactly five years after Gavrilo Princip assassinated Archduke Franz Ferdinand.