Indian Expeditionary Force arrives on the Western Front

Vienna delivered a severe ultimatum to Serbia, including demands that Serbian officials permit Austro-Hungarian participation in the investigation. Serbia accepted most demands but not all....

Austria-Hungary declared war after receiving Germany’s support. Mobilizations and declarations followed across Europe. The chain was not an automatic mechanical effect of alliances: political...

Germany invaded neutral Belgium as part of its western campaign. Britain declared war on Germany the same day. Belgium’s resistance and occupation became central to Allied war narratives, while the...

Fighting spread to German colonies in Togo, Cameroon, and German East Africa. African soldiers served in colonial forces, while large numbers of civilians were recruited—often forcibly—as carriers....

Union forces occupied the German port at Lüderitz as part of the campaign against German South-West Africa (today Namibia). South African participation was shaped by imperial allegiance but deeply...

Lieutenant-Colonel Manie Maritz defied the Union government’s order to participate in the invasion of German South-West Africa and aligned his force with Germany. The rebellion reflected Afrikaner...

Ottoman naval forces attacked Russian Black Sea ports, drawing the empire into the war on the side of Germany and Austria-Hungary. The conflict opened campaigns in the Caucasus, Mesopotamia, Sinai,...

After a siege involving Japanese and British forces, the German garrison at Qingdao surrendered. Japan’s occupation of the German concession in China gave Tokyo a stronger position in East Asia. The...

Japan presented China with demands that would expand Japanese control over German rights in Shandong and privileges in Manchuria and elsewhere. China negotiated under pressure and rejected the most...

Led by Baptist minister John Chilembwe, insurgents attacked the A.L. Bruce plantation in Nyasaland. The uprising grew from grievances over forced labor, racial discrimination, land, and wartime...