How it began (Great Global War)

1914 June - Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand is assassinated in Sarajevo. Austria-Hungary issues an ultimatum to the Serbian government. July - Russia promises to protect the Serbs, Germany promises a "blank check" to AH. Serbs reject ultimatum. Austria declares war on Serbia, Russia on Austria, and Germany on Russia. Germany decides not to attack France but concentrates on Russia. Germany does fortify the French border. August - Britain declares neutrality. France bides its time but does not enter the war yet. Germans press into Poland and sweep through. Austria attacks Serbia October - French hawks win out and France decides to help its Russian allies and attacks Alsace-Lorraine. Strong German defenses keep the French out. November - German advance into Russia halts for the winter. December - France and Russia demand British involvement, but Britain refuses. 1915 March - Germany begins its continued advance into Russia. France throws attacks at Germany but is rebuffed. April - France demands that Italy renounce the Triple Alliance. She refuses and France declares war (Italy was prepared for this - she had signed a secret pact to enter the war anyway). After another French demand of British entry into the war, Britain renounces the Triple Entente and remains neutral throughout the war. (Lack of a British navy to fight against preempts the idea of "unrestricted submarine warfare", thereby keeping the US out as well.) June - Italian troops enter French territory with heavy resistance. July - Bulgaria, Turkey, and Greece enter the war on the German side. They meet the Austrian army in Serbia by the end of the month. Romania also joins in, seizing Bessarabia from the Russians. August - German troops have swept through much of European Russia. Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Ukraine, Byelorussia, and Poland welcome the German "liberators". September - Germans take Moscow. Russian discontent blows up and a Revolution ensues. Emperor Nicholas II sues for peace. October - German-Russian armistice is signed. Germany occupies the Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Poland, Byelorussia, and Ukraine; Nicholas II keeps his throne because German troops put down the revolution. 1916 --Austrian Kaiser Franz Josef dies, Karl I succeeds him January – France sues for peace with Germany. March – Treaty of Berlin is signed. Germany will gain the Pas-de-Calais, Byelorussia, the Baltics, Poland, and Ukraine. Austria will gain Serbia and Montenegro as protectorates while Turkey, Greece, and Bulgaria will gain nothing. France and Russia are forced to pay reparations. June – Revolution sweeps France. Communist forces storm the National Assembly while French police tries to maintain order. July – Street fighting erupts in Paris while the government looks for a strong leader to end the revolution. August – Prince Victor Napoleon Bonaparte is elected President of France by the assembly. Germany annexes Luxembourg. October – Revolution sweeps Russia, this time Nicholas II is killed while fleeing from Petrograd. His family escapes to Finland. Nicholas II’s son, Alexis is crowned Alexis II. In France, President Victor Napoleon suspends the constitution and crowns himself Napoleon IV 1917 January – Russian communist Vladimir Lenin is assassinated by a German secret agent. Second- in-Command Leon Trotsky takes control of the country. In Germany, an obscure corporal, Adolf Hitler is killed while trying to kill the German Prime Minister. April – Emperor Napoleon IV meets with Kaiser Wilhelm II in the Netherlands. At the end, France buys back Alsace-Lorraine from Germany July – Secretary-General Leon Trotsky declares the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics of Russia as a “free and sovereign entity” August – Trotsky mobilizes the Red Army against Romania, accusing the King of plotting “against the Soviet state”. Romania denies and mobilizes. September – Russian forces enter neutral Romania, the Triple Alliance (Germany, Italy, Austria-Hungary) condemns the attack, and demands Russian withdrawal, the Kremlin refuses. Fighting is fierce between the outdated Romanian army and the Red Army. By the 30th, Soviet troops control every major city except the capital. October – Bucharest surrenders and the King is sent in exile. Trotsky declares the Socialist Republic of Romania (SRR). He mobilizes against Bulgaria and Greece, accusing them of plotting for a counter-revolution. November – SRR and Soviet troops cross the border into Bulgaria. Tsar Ferdinand I of Bulgaria implores to Turkey and Serbia for help, but his call falls on deaf hears. Meanwhile, Soivet troops have captured Varna, Plodiv, and Stara Zagora. December – Sofia surrenders to Soviet troops. Tsar Ferdinand flees to Berlin. Without wasting time, the Soviet army marches on Greece. On New Year’s Eve, the Soviet Army entered Greece. 1918 January – By the 12th, Thessaloniki is under Soviet hands, and by the end of the month, only Athens resists. Bulgaria proclaims itself as the Socialist Republic of Bulgaria (SRB) February – After fierce fighting around the city, Athens falls. The Greek King, Constantine accepts surrender and flees to Berlin. March – Turkish troops invade Thrace to “defend themselves from the Reds”. The weak SRB army defending Thrace surrender and fall back to Mount Athos. Meanwhile, the 5th Soviet Army retakes Kavala in an amphibious attack. The Turkish divisions fall back on Edirne. April – Soviet and SRB troops cross into Turkey, capturing village after village. The Sultan’s weak government collapses. May – The Republic of Turkey is proclaimed by the new Soviet occupiers. In the meantime, Serbia mobilizes against Soviet Greece. June – Soviet and Greek troops invade Serbian Macedonia. The Triple Alliance, which now includes Great Britain and France send advisors to Serbia. July – In Asia, after a Chinese Nationalist attack on a Japanese Korean border post, Japan invades Manchuria, immediately sending the Chinese Army in a retreat. Japan concludes a pact with the USSR. August – Mao’s Chinese communists were continuing attacks on Japanese troops, while they received support from the USSR. Japan asked that Mao stop all attacks on Japanese troops. The request was fulfilled. October – While fierce fighting was raging in Macedonia, Japanese troops declared the “Empire of Manchukuo” in Manchuria. In the mean time, Thailand joined the new USSR-Japan alliance, along with Manchukuo and Mao’s communists. The new group was called the Big 5. November – The USSR, accusing the Triple Alliance, now known as the European Alliance (EA) of helping Serbian forces, cut off diplomatic relations with the 5 EA nations. In Arabia, the Soviets set up the Democratic Republic of Arabia (DRA) December – After months of fighting, the Soviet troops finally gained Skopje and Macedonia. On Christmas Day 1918, Kaiser Wilhelm II and King Petr I of Serbia announced that an agreement had been reached that Serbia would join the EA. The USSR declared war on the EA.