By Ana Lucía Campos

WWI chronology

1871 End of the War between France and the confederation of Germany along side the German state of the south.
France is defeated and the German empire is formed. Alsace loraine and Moselle are annexed to the Empire.

1870s
German technological and economical advance. Alliance with the Austro-Hungarian empire and Italy (Triple
To
Alliance). Germany begins colonizing African territories.

1907 France allies with Russia. Sign a secret non aggression pact with Italy. Britain joins this alliance (Triple
Entente).

1908 AH empire annexed Bosnia. Serbia disagreed as they wanted to unify the Slab people.

1913 Russia allies with Serbia.

1914 A Serbian Nationalist from Bosnia kills Franz Ferdinand and his wife in Sarajevo. AH acuses Serbia of
organizing the attack and declares war the following month after ignoring Russian threads. The other
countries join but Italy stays neutral.

Schliefen Plan: They wanted to over come the French army in the western front, to do so they invade
Belgium and Luxembourg, ignoring their state of neutrality. The French, British and Belgium armies are
forced to retreat as Germany advances into France. They are attacked by the army of Paris which forces the
to retrieve to the north, their plan failed.

Race to the sea: The new German plan is to take over French ports that supplied Britain. The Belgium army
can’t resist and is pushed back by Germany. Lock-gates from the sea are opened to fleet the German army.
They have to stop and they star to build 700km of trenches.

East Front: Germany sends their troops to secure the Russian front, this puts pressure on AH. The Ottoman
Empire decides to support Germany, which creates several new fronts: one with Russia, one with Britain in
the protectorate of Egypt, and an other with Britain in the protectorate of Kuwait.

1915 Italy declares war on AH, to gain territory.

Internationalization: Japan went to war against Germany, with their colonies in the pacific and China. German
colonies in Africa are surrounded by French, British, and Belgium power. Britain and France recruit meant
from their dominated territories and colonies.

Bulgaria joins the central Empire. Serbia is attacked by Germany and Bulgaria, it is quickly invaded.

1916 War Technology: Germany proceeds with their military innovations. In the west front, Germany uses
Zeppelins to attack London and Paris. They all start using planes with machine-guns to fight in the air. In the
trenches, they use toxic gasses which creates many casualties.

1917 Russia has suffered over 1 700 000 casualties due to war, the morale is extremely low. A revolution begins
that ends the tsar regime.

The US is victims of the German commercial blockade in the Atlantic. Along with other factors, they decide to
enter the war for the Entente.

Another revolution in Russia gives power to the Bolsheviks who quickly sign a Cease Fire with the central
Empires.

1918 After Russia dropped out, Germany concentrated their troops on the west front. They break through the
tranches and advance towards Paris. The French defend and are able to push back the French, the allies
lead on all fronts.

A rising revolutionary wave makes the emperor to abdicate, this allowed the signing of the armistice.

1919
A peace treaty is at Versailles, German representatives are excluded and forced to accept the consequences
And
of their actions as they and their allies are heavily responsible for the damage caused by the war. They
1920 colonies are divided amongst the allies and 15% of their territory given to other nations. The AH and OE are
broken down to form new nations. Germany is still intact as no fighting was carried on in the country and their
industries are still growing.

Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SLj5r2nZHB8