Timeline (ww i)

Timeline Of World War I
1914

This timeline covers all the political and military events that spread across Europe and the rest of
the world during 1914. The flames of war were fanned with the assassination of Arch Duke
Ferdinand in Sarajevo, plunging Europe into a war the like of which had never been seen before,
although hope still remained as German and British soldiers celebrated a Christmas truce that
winter.

Archduke Francis Ferdinand heir to the Austria-Hungary throne and his wife are
28/06/1914
assassinated by a Serbian Nationalist in Sarejevo.

05/07/1914Kaiser William II promises German support for Austria against Serbia.
28/07/1914Emperor Franz Joseph of Austria-Hungary declares war on Serbia and Russia.
29/07/1914Russia begins to mobilise her armed forces. Austria-Hungarian troops invade Serbia.

01/08/1914Official outbreak of World War I. Germany declares war on Russia.
02/08/1914Germany invades Luxembourg.
03/08/1914Germany declares war on France.
Germany declares war on neutral Belgium and invades in a right flanking move
designed to defeat France quickly. This violates a treaty signed by Prussua
04/08/1914respecting Belgian neutrality. As a result of this invasion, Britain declares war on
Germany and Austria-Hungary. Canada follows suit and joins the war. U.S
President Woodrow Wilson declares policy of American neutrality.
The British Expeditionary Force lands in France to assist the French and Belgians in
07/08/1914
stopping the German offensive.
14/08/1914The Battle of the Frontiers begins.
17/08/1914Russia invades East Prussia.
U.S President Wilson appeals for neutrality. The Canadian Parliament authorises the
19/08/1914raising of an expeditionary force to send overseas and constructs Valcartier Camp to
give basic training to new recruits.
27,000 French soldiers are killed on this single day in an offensive thrust to the east
22/08/1914
of Paris, towards the German borders.
The BEF started to retreat from Mons. Austria-Hungary launches an invasion of
23/08/1914Russian Poland. Japan declares war on Germany and attacks the German colony of
Tsingtau in China.
26/08/1914Battle of Tannenberg begins.
The Battle of Tannenberg ends in total Russian defeat. This becomes Germany's
30/08/1914
greatest victory of the war inflicting over 250,000 casualties on the Russians.
Battle of Togoland. The German Cruiser Goeben and Breslau are pursued by British
Aug 1914
warships into Turkish waters.

05/09/1914First Battle of the Marne begins.
09/09/1914First Battle of the Masurian Lakes begins.
First Battle of the Marne ends in a French Victory, thus halting the German advance
10/09/1914
towards Paris, which results in stalemate.
Russia loses the First Battle of Masurian Lakes. First Battle of Aisne begins. Troops
14/09/1914
starts to construct trenches across the entire length of the western front.
17/09/1914Austro-German forces launch an attack into western Poland
Sep 1914 Battle of Lemberg begins.

First Battle of Ypres begins. The Canadian Expeditionary Force of 32,000 men
14/10/1914
lands at Plymouth, England, to prepare for fighting at the Front.
29/10/1914Turkey enters the war on the side of the Central Powers.

22/11/1914First Battle of Ypres ends.
Nov 1914 Battle of Lodz begins.

08/12/1914Battle of the Falkland Islands between British and German Naval units.
21/12/1914First German air raid on Britain.
25/12/1914An unofficial Christmas truce is declared by soldiers along the Western Front.

1915

This timeline covers all the political and military events that occurred across Europe and the rest
of the world during 1915. This is the year that see's unrestricted sinking of ships by German U-
Boats and the defeat of British forces at Gallipoli.

01/01/1915Allied offensive in Artois and Champagne begins.
15/01/1915Japan's makes 21 demands on China.
19/01/1915First German zeppelin air raid on England.

Germany declares a submarine blockade of Great Britain. Any ship approaching
04/02/1915
England is considered a legitimate target.
07/02/1915Second Battle of Masurian Lakes begins.
19/02/1915British naval units bombard Turkish forts in the Dardenelles.
Russians lose the Second Battle of Masurian Lakes, suffering heavy loses in the
21/02/1915
process.

American citizen die as the British liner Falaba, becomes the first passenger ship to
01/03/1915
be sunk by U-boats. Captain George Van Horn Moseley of U.S. War College

Divison suggests a plan for universal military training to the Chief of Staff.
11/03/1915Britain announces a blockade of all German ports.
30/03/1915Allied offensive in Artois and Champagne ends.
Mar 1915 Battle of Neuve-Chapelle.

The Second Battle of Ypres begins. Poison gas is used for the first time by Germans
22/04/1915
in an attack on the Canadian sector.
23/04/1915Allied forces make landings an Gallipoli, Turkey.
26/04/1915France, Russia, Italy and Britain conclude secret Treaty of London.
The Germans, focusing on Eastern Front, launch an offensive against the Russians
Apr 1915
breaking through Gorlice-Tarnow in Poland.

02/05/1915Austro-German offensive begins into Russian Poland.
05/05/1915Second Battle of Ypres ends.
The British liner Lusitania is sunk by a U-Boat with the loss of 1,198 civilians,
07/05/1915
including 128 American lives, creating a US-German diplomatic crisis.
09/05/1915Second Battle of Artois begins.
Ignoring treaty agreements with the Central Powers, Italy declares war on Austria-
23/05/1915
Hungary.
British Prime Minister Asquith reorganises his Liberal government as a coalition of
25/05/1915
the parties.

The Italians launch an unsuccessful attack against Austro-Hungary at what will be
29/06/1915
called the 1st Battle of Isonzo. There will be 12 in total.

President Wilson sends notes to Secretary of War Garrison and Secretary of Navy
21/07/1915
Daniels directing them to draft a defense program.

04/08/1915German troops capture Warsaw.
19/08/1915Two Americans die in sinking of ship Arabic, off the coast Ireland by a U-boat.
The Washington Post carries story that General Staff are planning to send a force of
21/08/1915
1 million soldiers overseas.
Another U.S paper, this time the Baltimore Sun carries the story that General Staff is
planning to send a million soldiers overseas. The War College Division denies the
allegations in Washington Post and Baltimore Sun. The American General Staff, in
24/08/1915
response to request from Secretary of War Lindley M. Garrison, devotes much of
the year to preparing the "Statement of a Proper Military Policy for the United
States".
30/08/1915Responding to American demands, Germany stops sinking ships without warning.
The Germans end their offensive against the Russians having forced Russia out of
31/08/1915much of Poland. The Gallipoli debacle ends, with the Turkish siege of the remaining
Allied forces.

05/09/1915Tsar Nicholas takes commands of Russian armies.
British forces use gas in battle near Loos, but shifting winds cause 60,000 British
15/09/1915
casualties.
22/09/1915The Second Battle of Champagne begins.
Sep 1915 Battles of Artois starts. Battle of Loos starts.

03/10/1915Anglo-French force lands at Salonika in Greece.
Battles of Artois & Champagne ends. Battle of Loos ends. Austro-German-
Oct 1915
Bulgarian forces invade Serbia, expelling the Serbian army from the country

04/11/1915Henry Ford's peace ship, Oskar II, begins its voyage to Europe.

General Sir Douglas Haig takes Field Marshal Sir John French's position as
15/12/1915Commander-in Chief of the British Forces in France. This also gave him control of
the Canadian Forces in Europe.
28/12/1915The Allies begin the withdrawal of troops from Gallipoli.

1916

of the world during 1916. In this year the name Verdun will be burned into French and German
military legend, whilst the USA will come ever closer to joining the war.

President Wilson launches a nationwide whistle-stop campaign to generate support
27/01/1916
for Preparedness and the Continental Army with three speeches in New York.
The U.S War College Division warns its civilian employees "to engage in no
31/01/1916
discussion whatever concerning the progress of the European War".

03/02/1916President Wilson delivers his final speech of Preparedness in Saint Louis.
10/02/1916British conscription law goes into effect.
The Battle of Verdun begins as the Germans launch a massive attack against Verdun
21/02/1916
in what will become the longest battle of the war.
Acting Secretary of War Hugh L. Scott asks United States War College Division if
24/02/1916
any plans exist in the event "of a complete rupture" with Germany.

09/03/1916Pancho Villa's raid on Columbus, New Mexico.
15/03/1916Pershing starts pursuit of Villa into Mexico.
24/03/1916The French passenger ship, Sussex is torpedoed.

The American naval and military attaches in Paris and London draft a plan for
04/04/1916mobilizing US shipping to carry an American army to Europe, but their plan is
ignored.
President Wilson, publicly calls for the German's to stop their submarine policy of
19/04/1916
sinking all ships in enemy waters without warning.
24/04/1916The Easter rebellion starts in Ireland.
Field Marshal Lord Kitchener, the British Secretary of State for War, asks for
27/04/1916
American military participation in Europe.
29/04/1916British forces surrender to Turkish forces at Kut in Mesopotamia.
Apr 1916 British forces in Mesopotamia begin advance on Baghdad.

04/05/1916Germany renounces submarine policy.
15/05/1916Canadians troops capture Vimy Ridge.
19/05/1916Britain and France conclude Sykes-Picot agreement.
31/05/1916Battle of Jutland begins between British and German naval forces.
May 1916 The Italians begin the Trentino Offensive.

Having been the biggest naval battle in history, the battle of Jutland ends without a
01/06/1916
clear victor.
The National Defense Act authorizes a five-year expansion of US Army, but at the
03/06/1916
same time drastically limits size and authority of US War Department General Staff.
04/06/1916The Russians launch their Brusilov Offensive against Austro-Hungary in Carpathia.
With British support (led by T.E. Lawrence), Hussein, grand sherif of Mecca, leads
05/06/1916
an Arab revolt against the Turks in the Hejaz.
Jun 1916 Trentino Offensive ends.

Start of the Battle of the Somme, with the British military suffering its greatest
01/07/1916
number of casualties in a single day, 60,000.
29/07/1916US marines land in Haiti.
The Black Tom Island munitions plant is destroyed by an explosion. It is suspected
30/07/1916
that it was German sabotage.

Aug 1916 Romania enters the war on the Allies side.
31/08/1916Germany suspends U-boat attacks.

15/09/1916Tanks introduced for the first time on the Somme battlefield by the British.
Russia's Brusilov offensive in Carpathia comes to an end, having nearly knocked
20/09/1916
Austria-Hungary out of the war.

15/10/1916Germany resumes U-boat attacks under search and destroy rules.

Woodrow Wilson is re-elected in the USA with a campaign slogan of "He kept us
07/11/1916
out of the war".
18/11/1916Battle of the Somme ends.
28/11/1916The First German airplane (as opposed to zeppelin) air-raid is conducted on Britain
29/11/1916US occupation of Santa Domingo proclaimed.

07/12/1916David Lloyd George replaces Asquith as British Prime Minister.
12/12/1916Germany issues peace note suggesting a compromise peace.
German attack on Verdun ends, with the French holding their positions, with great
18/12/1916losses to both sides. US President Woodrow Wilson requests statements of war
objectives from warring nations in peace note.
Rasputin the self-avowed holy man and confidant to the Russian Tsarina, is
31/12/1916
murdered by relatives of the Tsar.

1917

of the world during 1917. In this year the USA will enter the war, tanks will start to be seen on
the Wesetrn front in large numbers and the Germans force Russia to withdraw from the war.

09/01/1917German leaders decide to launch unrestricted U-boat warfare.
Allies state peace objectives in response to US President Woodrow Wilson's
10/01/1917
December 1916 peace note.
Reich Foreign Secretary Zimmermann's telegram to Mexico urging her entry into
19/01/1917
war against the United States is discovered and translated by the British.
22/01/1917"Peace without Victory." speech is made by President Wilson.
Germany announces that it will resume unrestricted U-boat warfare from the 1st
31/01/1917
February.

01/02/1917Germany resumes unrestricted U-boat warfare.
03/02/1917US severs diplomatic ties with Germany.
The British General Staff estimates that no more than 250,000 American soldiers
05/02/1917
could be in Europe even after a year.
The Chief of British Imperial General Staff Sir William Roberston expresses grave
13/02/1917
doubts about American fighting capabilities.
23/02/1917German forces begin withdrawal to strong positions on the Hindenburg Line.
The Sinking of the Laconia. The Zimmermann Telegram is passed to the US by
24/02/1917Britain, detailing alleged German proposal of an alliance with Mexico against the
US.
26/02/1917US President Woodrow Wilson requests permission from Congress to arm US

merchantmen.

Zimmermann Telegram is released to press by US State Department. The Armed
01/03/1917
Ship Bill is passed by Congress.
The US Senate adjourns without passing Armed Ship Bill, after a successful
04/03/1917
filibuster.
11/03/1917British troops capture Baghdad.
US President Woodrow Wilson announces arming of US merchantmen by executive
12/03/1917
order after failing to win approval.
15/03/1917Tsar Nicholas II of Russia abdicates as a consequence of Russian Revolution.
US President Woodrow Wilson's war cabinet votes unanimously in favour of
20/03/1917
declaring war on Germany.
War College Division issues a report: Calling for a large force of between 500,000
and 1,000,000, and optimistically estimates that at least ten months would be
required to ship a force of 500,000 to Europe once it was raised and trained, putting
the earliest effects of US involvement in mid- to late-1918. The War College
29/03/1917
Division openly plans to send US forces overseas, but argues against offensives
through Macedonia or Holland and repeats its opposition to sending an untrained
American army overseas. Wilson publicly calls for a national army to be "raised and
maintained exclusively by selective draft".

President Woodrow Wilson delivers war address to Congress at 8:32 pm and asks
02/04/1917
the House of Representatives to declare war on Germany.
05/04/1917German forces finish their withdrawal to the Hindenburg Line.
United States comes out of neutrality and declares war on Germany, thus entering
06/04/1917
the First World War.
09/04/1917The Nivelle Offensive begins.
Sir William Robertson advocates to Haig the dispatch of immediate American
10/04/1917expeditionary force "to get some Americans killed and so get the country to take a
real interest in the war".
Canadian troops take Vimy Ridge and the surrounding area in one of Canada's finest
13/04/1917
battles of the war.
16/04/1917Chemin des Dames Offensive begins. Lenin arrives in Russia.
The Nivelle Offensive, which includes the Second Battle of Aisne and the Third
20/04/1917
Battle of Champagne ends in French Failure.
Chemin des Dames Offensive ends in disastrous failure for the French having
29/04/1917advanced only 500 yards at the cost of 250,000 casualties. A month long series of
mutinies break out amongst the French army.
The German submarine campaign exacts its heaviest damage of war sinking 881,027
Apr 1917
gross tons, 500,000 of which are British.

12/05/1917The 10th battle of Isonzo begins.
20/05/1917A month of sporadic mutinies in the French army finally fizzle out.
28/05/1917U.S. Brigadier General Pershing leaves New York for France.

07/06/1917The British explode 19 large mines under the Messines Ridge.
15/06/1917U.S. Espionage Act is passed.
The first U.S. troops begin arriving in France. These are men of the U.S. 1st
26/06/1917
Division.
27/06/1917Greece enters the war on the side of the Allies.
Jun 1917 Battle of Messines.

02/07/1917U.S. Brigadier General Pershing makes his first request for army of 1,000,000 men.
06/07/1917Aquaba captured by Arabs led by T.E.Lawrence.
U.S. Brigadier General Pershing Pershing revises his army request figures upwards
11/07/1917
to 3,000,000 men.
16/07/1917Third Battle of Ypres (Passchendaele) begins.
31/07/1917Another major British offensive is launched at Ypres.

06/08/1917Aleksander Fyodorovich Kerensky appointed Prime Minister of Russia.

German troops break through the northernmost end of the Russian front during the
01/09/1917
Riga offensive.

The 12th battle of Isonzo ends in Italian failure. Austria-German forces
24/10/1917
breakthrough at Caporetto on Italian front.

The Bolshevik overthrow the Kerensky's government and install of a Communist
07/11/1917
one under Lenin.
10/11/1917British reach Passchendaele. Third Battle of Ypres ends.
20/11/1917Battle of Cambrai begins with a surprise tank attack by the British.

German-Russian armistice is signed by the new Russian government, represented by
03/12/1917
Leon Trotsky.
07/12/1917The United States declares war on Austro-Hungary.
09/12/1917Jerusalem captured from the Turks by the British.
22/12/1917Russia opens separate peace negotiations with Germany at Brest-Litovsk.

1918

of the world during 1918. In this year the Germans launch a final desperate offensive on the

Western front designed to defeat the French and British. However, this is defeated which forces
the Germans to seek an Armistice to end World War 1.

08/01/1918President Woodrow Wilson delivers his fourteen points speech to the U.S. Congress.

11/02/1918The U.S. President Woodrow Wilson makes "Four Principles" speech to Congress.

A separate peace treaty is signed by Soviet Russia and the Central Powers
03/03/1918
(Germany, Austria-Hungary and Turkey) at Brest-Litovsk.
15/03/1918Soviets ratify the Brest-Litovsk Treaty.
The Ludendorff Offensive begins with Germany launching its Spring push with the
21/03/1918Battle of Picardy against the British. This will eventually amount to five major
offensives against Allied forces.
Doullens Agreement gives General Ferdinand Foch "co-ordinating authority" over
26/03/1918
the Western Front.

Germany launches second Spring offensive, the Battle of the Lys, in the British
09/04/1918
sector of Armentieres.
14/04/1918Foch appointed Commander-in-Chief of Allied forces on Western Front.
Apr 1918 Zeebruggge Raid.

16/05/1918Espionage Act is passed.
25/05/1918German U-boats appear in US waters for first time.
Third German Spring offensive, Third Battle of the Aisne, begins in French sector
27/05/1918
along Chemin des Dames.
U.S. forces (28th Regiment of 1st Division) are victorious in their first major action,
28/05/1918
Battle of Cantigny.

06/06/1918US 3rd Division captures Bouresches and southern part of Belleau Wood.
The Germans launch the fourth Spring offensive, Battle of the Matz, in French
09/06/1918
sector between Noyan and Montdider.
15/06/1918The Italians prevail against Austro-Hungarian forces at the Battle of Piave.

06/07/1918US President Woodrow Wilson agrees to US intervention in Siberia.
The final phase of great German Spring push, the Second Battle of the Marne,
15/07/1918
begins. This was to be the last major German offensive on the Western Front.
16/07/1918Former Tsar Nicholas II, his wife, and children, are murdered by the Bolsheviks.
17/07/1918Archangel expedition
A French led counterattack smashes into weakened German forces on the Marne,
18/07/1918
halting the German forward momentum during the Second Battle of the Marne and

seizing the initiative for the Allies on the Western Front.
Jul 1918 The Italian Piave Offensive ends.

03/08/1918Allied intervention begins at Vladivostok in Siberia.
Haig directs the start of a successful Amiens offensive, forcing all German troops
08/08/1918back to the Hindenburg Line. Ludendorff calls it a "black day" for the German
Army.

American forces attack the Germans as they are in the process of retreating from the
St.-Mihiel salient. This was part of a plan designed by General Pershing in which
12/09/1918
the Americans would break through the German lines and capture the fortified city
of Metz.
The British begin an offensive against Turkish forces in Palestine, the Battle of
19/09/1918
Megiddo.
The Battle of the Vardar is fought against the Bugarians by Serb, Czech, Italian,
26/09/1918French and British forces. The Meuse-Argonne offensive begins. this wll be the
final Franco-American offensive of the war.
27/09/1918Haig's forces storm the Hindenburg Line, breaking through at several points.
28/09/1918Belgian forces launch an offensive at Ypres.
29/09/1918Bulgaria concludes armistice negotiations with the Allies.

Germany and Austria send peace notes to US President Woodrow Wilson requesting
03/10/1918
an armistice.
The British begin their advance to the Sambre and Schledt rivers, taking many
17/10/1918
German prisoners.
21/10/1918Germany ceases unrestricted submarine warfare.
27/10/1918Ludendorff resigns.
30/10/1918Turkey concludes an armistice with the Allies.

The German fleet mutinies at Kiel. Trieste falls to the Allies as Austro-Hungary
03/11/1918
concludes an armistice.
05/11/1918Allies accept the fourteen points.
Germany begins negotiations for an armistice with the Allies in Ferdinand Foch's
07/11/1918
railway carriage headquarters at Compiegne.
09/11/1918Kaiser Wilhelm abdicates.
10/11/1918German republic founded as Kaiser Wilhelm II flees to Holland.
Armistice day as fighting ceases at 11am - World War I ends. Central Powers are
11/11/1918
forced to annul the Brest-Litovsk Treaty.

1919

of the world during 1919. With World War 1 over, the Allies squable between themselves over
the terms of the treaty of versailles, whilst Germany sinks into violence and chaos as the
Freikorps puts down various Communists attempts to seize power.

10/01/1919Communists begin a revolt in Berlin.
The revolt by Communists in Berlin is crushed. German socialist rebels Karl
15/01/1919
Liebknecht and Rosa Luxemburg are murdered.
18/01/1919Start of peace negotiations in Paris.
25/01/1919Peace conference accepts principle of a League of Nations.

06/02/1919German National Assembly meets in Weimar.
14/02/1919Draft covenant of League of Nations completed.
24/02/1919President Wilson arrives at Boston aboard the George Washington
28/02/1919The campaign against the League of Nations starts in the US.
Feb 1919 The Allies secretly agree to military intervention in the Russian Civil War.

04/03/1919Founding of Comintern (Third International) at Moscow.
13/03/1919Admiral Kolchak begins his offensive against Bolsheviks in Russian Civil War.
14/03/1919Wilson returns to Paris after a month's absence.

03/04/1919Wilson becomes sick with influenza.
07/04/1919The Allies evacuate Odessa.
Wilson appeals directly to the Italians in an effort to gain their support for his views
23/04/1919
on the peace settlement.
24/04/1919The Italian Premier Orlando walks out of peace conference over the Fiume issue.
28/04/1919The League of Nations is founded.

06/05/1919Peace conference disposes of German colonies.
07/05/1919Treaty of Versailles is drafted and submitted to the German delegation.

The German High Seas Fleet is scuttled at Scapa Flow after Rear Admiral Ludvig
von Reuter, the officer in command of the 74 interned German Navy ships gives the
21/06/1919
order, in an attempt to prevent them from from falling into British hands. Nine
German sailors are shot dead by the british whilst attempting to scuttle their ships.
Five years after the assassination of the Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand by a
Serbian Nationalist in Sarejevo, the Treaty of Versailles is signed between the Allies
and Germany in Hall of Mirrors at Versailles, officially ending the Great War. The
28/06/1919
treaty was very harsh on Germany forcing her to accept full responsibility for the the
war and pay reparations, give up territories and reduce the army size to just 100,000
men.

19/07/1919The Cenotaph is unveiled in London.

10/09/1919The peace Treaty of St Germain-en-Laye is signed between the Allies and Austria.
President Woodrow Wilson's campaign for the ratification of the Treaty of
25/09/1919Versailles and the League of Nations ends as he collapses during whistle-stop tour
of the country.

Timeline (ww i)

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