1914 - 1918

We are about to start a series of memorials of events in the so called Great War, 100 years ago.

To help with this, there is a good timeline of events on Wikipedia

This timeline starts on July 28 when Archduke Ferdinand was assassinated, but of course events were already happening before this which would affect the course of the war.

For example, about 100 years ago, 2 submarines were commissioned for the Royal Australian Navy. One of these, the AE2 would soon be involved in attacks on German New Guinea, and later would be towed to the Mediterranean and take part in the naval campaign in the Dardanelles.

Another event was the completion of two Dreadnaoughts in a British shipyard, which were being bought by the Turkish navy. As the war started, Turkey made the final payment, but Britain requisitioned the ships and never handed them over (or the money back)

Turkey then bought ships from Germany instead. If Turkey had received the ships from Britain, would she have joined Britain instead of Germany in the war? Would there have been any campaign in Gallipoli? Would any Austealians have died there?

As part of the commemorations, a Belgian radio station is playing music from the period