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EL · Ελληνικά

Chronicle IX of XI

The First World War

The Great War

One assassination in Sarajevo, four years of trenches, and four empires gone.

Span
1914 – 1918
Entries
17

  1. OutbreakPolitical

    Assassination at Sarajevo

    Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria-Hungary and his wife Sophie are shot dead in Sarajevo on 28 June by Gavrilo Princip, a Bosnian Serb nationalist.

    Meanwhile, elsewhere · 3

  2. OutbreakMilitary

    Europe goes to war

    Within a week the alliance system pulls in Russia, Germany, France, and Britain. Germany invades neutral Belgium on 4 August, triggering British entry into the war.

    Meanwhile, elsewhere · 3

  3. OutbreakMilitary

    First Battle of the Marne

    From 5-12 September French and British forces halt the German advance forty kilometres from Paris, ending hopes of a short war.

    Meanwhile, elsewhere · 3

  4. OutbreakMilitary

    Ottoman Empire enters the war

    On 29 October Ottoman warships, joined by two German cruisers, bombard Russian Black Sea ports, bringing the Sublime Porte into the war on the Central Powers' side.

    Meanwhile, elsewhere · 3

  5. Stalemate & New FrontsMilitary

    Second Battle of Ypres — first poison gas

    On 22 April the German army releases 168 tons of chlorine gas against French colonial troops at Ypres, opening the era of chemical warfare.

    Military

    Gallipoli Campaign begins

    Anglo-French and ANZAC forces land on the Gallipoli peninsula on 25 April. After eight months of trench warfare and over 250,000 Allied casualties, the operation is abandoned.

    Political

    Armenian Genocide begins

    On 24 April the Ottoman authorities arrest hundreds of Armenian intellectuals in Constantinople, opening a campaign of deportation and massacre that will kill some 1.5 million Armenians.

    Meanwhile, elsewhere · 3

  6. Stalemate & New FrontsPolitical

    Italy enters the war

    On 23 May Italy, lured by the secret Treaty of London promising Trentino, South Tyrol, Trieste, and Dalmatian gains, declares war on Austria-Hungary.

    Meanwhile, elsewhere · 3

  7. Year of AttritionMilitary

    Battle of Verdun begins

    On 21 February Falkenhayn launches Operation Gericht against the French fortress city. The ten-month battle that follows will produce more than 700,000 casualties.

    Meanwhile, elsewhere · 3

  8. Year of AttritionPolitical

    Easter Rising in Dublin

    Irish republicans seize the General Post Office and proclaim a republic on 24 April. The rising is crushed in six days; the execution of its leaders transforms Irish politics.

    Meanwhile, elsewhere · 3

  9. 9 more entries, to November 1918