The Titanic sinks and 1,500 people perish (Picture: Getty) At Downton Abbey... James Crawley and his brother Patrick drown leaving the Earl of Grantham without an heir. The Duke of Crowborough visits and the family feel he is a good match for Lady Mary. However, it transpires that he had an affair with footman Thomas. Below stairs, the Earl’s former batman, Bates, is hired as his valet. This causes problems for the ambitious Thomas, while head housemaid Anna takes quite a shine to him.

The First Balkan War. The Balkan League fights Turkey, leading to the London Peace Conference Fatal attraction: Lady Mary and Kemal Pamuk At Downton Abbey... Turkish diplomat Kemal Pamuk arrives in Downton after the conference and dies, following a scandalous liaison with Lady Mary. Housekeeper Mrs Hughes turns down a former suitor. Anna tells Mr Bates she loves him but he says that there is a reason why they can’t be together.

Women in the UK fight for universal suffrage and many are imprisoned Suffragettes on a 'poster parade' in 1914 (Picture: Getty) At Downton Abbey... Lady Sybil takes up the Suffragettes' cause. Matthew asks Mary to marry him but she turns him down, owing to the scandal that is still circulating concerning she and Pamuk.

Archduke Franz Ferdinand is assassinated The Daily Telegraph, June 29 1914 At Downton Abbey... the Earl of Grantham announces that Britain is at war with Germany. Cora, Countess of Grantham, discovers that she is pregnant but suffers a fall and miscarries. Anna learns that Bates went to prison because he took the blame for his wife’s theft.

Nearly 20,000 British men die on the first day of the Battle of the Somme Matthew Crawley (Picture: Nick Briggs/Carnival Films) At Downton Abbey... Matthew Crawley, heir to Downton, meets footman Thomas Barrow in the trenches. Matthew becomes engaged to Lavinia Swire. Bates plans to get a divorce but his wife turns up at Downton and threatens to blackmail Anna due to her part in covering up Pamuk’s death.

Homes, schools and other institutions open their doors to tend to the wounded Injured Indian soldiers in a makeshift ward at the Brighton Pavilion (Photo: Royal Pavilion and Museums) At Downton Abbey... the residence is turned into a convalescent home. Isobel Crawley heads to northern France to work for the Red Cross. Footman William, who is fighting on the Front, asks kitchen maid Daisy to marry him. Thomas returns from the war and starts working with Lady Sybil at the local hospital.

The Armistice is signed Armistice Day in London in 1918 (Photo: Getty) At Downton Abbey... Matthew returns from the war paralysed from the waist down. William is seriously wounded and later dies, but not before marrying Daisy. Chauffeur Branson proposes to Lady Sybil. Bates visits London only to discover that his wife, from whom he is seeking a divorce, has died. A badly disfigured Canadian serviceman arrives at Downton claiming to be heir Patrick Crawley. However, the Earl casts doubt over the veracity of his story and the man soon disappears.

Spanish flu sweeps through the UK claiming up to 250,000 lives Lavinia Swire dies in Britain's flu epidemic (Picture: ITV) At Downton Abbey... Lavinia Swire, who is engaged to Matthew, dies in the epidemic. Lady Sybil’s plan to marry Branson splits the household and they plan to elope (although the Earl ultimately gives them his blessing). Bates learns that his wife poisoned herself so that he could be framed for her murder. He and Anna marry in secret.

The Irish War of Independence sees republicans attack the homes of Irish aristocrats Chauffeur Branson and Lady Sybil (Picture: ITV) At Downton Abbey... Chauffeur Branson goes on the run after he becomes involved in burning down a castle. Matthew proposes to Lady Mary and she accepts and Lady Sybil and Branson marry, too. Sybil becomes pregnant but develops eclampsia and dies in childbirth. Her daughter is named in her honour. Bates is sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder of his wife, although Anna later discovers evidence that proves he is innocent and he is later released.

US President Harding’s administration is beset by corruption Mary becomes a young widow (Photo: Nick Briggs/Carnival Films) At Downton Abbey... The Earl of Grantham sails to the US to support Cora’s brother who has become embroiled in the 'Teapot Dome scandal'. Lady Mary gives birth to a baby boy who is later christened George. Matthew is killed in a car accident on the way home from visiting her in hospital.

India struggles to gain independence from Britain and Gandhi preaches non-violent civil disobedience Freedom fighter Gandhi with his followers (Picture: AFP) At Downton Abbey... Cora’s maid moves to Bombay to work for the Marchioness of Flintshire, whose husband is posted there. Lady Mary has been named sole heir of Downton. Anna is raped by a valet who is visiting the house as a servant of a weekend guest. Eventually she tells Bates who vows revenge.

The Sturmabteilung, the paramilitary wing of the Nazi Party, are on the rise Hitler (Photo: AFP/Getty) At Downton Abbey... Lady Edith’s lover, Michael Gregson, goes missing following a fight with a gang of brownshirts. She later discovers that he died in the Beer-Hall Putsch, a failed attempt by Hitler to seize power in Germany. Lady Edith becomes pregnant out of wedlock by Michael Gregson. When he disappears she vows to have the baby who is eventually given to a tenant farmer. Lord Gillingham and Mr Blake fight for the hand of Lady Mary. Lady Mary later has an assignation with Gillingham in a hotel in Liverpool.