World War I -- Timeline

1914  

  June 28th                Francis Ferdinand assassinated at Sarajevo

  July 5th                   Kaiser William II promised German support for Austria
                                  against Serbia

  July 28th                 Austria declared war on Serbia

  August 1st              Germany declared war on Russia

  August 3rd              Germany declared war on France and invaded Belgium.
                                   Germany had to  implement the Schlieffen Plan.

  August 4th               Britain declared war on Germany

  August 23rd             The BEF started its retreat from Mons. Germany invaded France.

  August 26th             Russian army defeated at Tannenburg and Masurian Lakes.

  September 6th          Battle of the Marne started

  October 18th            First Battle of Ypres

  October 29th            Turkey entered the war on Germany’s side. 

                                     Trench warfare started to  dominate the Western Front.

 

    1915  

  January 19th            The first Zeppelin raid on Britain took place
  February 19th  Britain bombarded Turkish forts in the Dardanelles
  April 25th                Allied troops landed in Gallipoli
  May 7th                   The “Lusitania” was sunk by a German U-boat
  May 23rd                 Italy declared war on Germany and Austria
  August 5th               The Germans captured Warsaw from the Russians
September 25th          Start of the Battle of Loos
 December 19th The Allies started the evacuation of Gallipoli
 

   1916  

  January 27th             Conscription introduced in Britain
  February 21st            Start of the Battle of Verdun
  April 29th                  British forces surrendered to Turkish forces at Kut in Mesopotamia
  May 31st                    Battle of Jutland
  June 4th                      Start of the Brusilov Offensive
  July 1st                       Start of the Battle of the Somme
  August 10th                End of the Brusilov Offensive
  September 15th          First use en masse of tanks at the Somme
  December 7th             Lloyd George becomes British Prime Minister
 

  1917  

  February 1st           Germany’s unrestricted submarine warfare campaign started
  April 6th                 USA declared war on Germany
  April 16th               France launched an unsuccessful offensive on the Western Front
  July 31st                 Start of the Third Battle at Ypres
  October 24th           Battle of Caporetto – the Italian Army was heavily defeated
  November 6th         Britain launched a major offensive on the Western Front
  November 20th       British tanks won a victory at Cambrai
  December 5th          Armistice between Germany and Russia signed
  December 9th          Britain captured Jerusalem from the Turks
 

   1918  

  March 3rd           The Treaty of Brest-Litovsk was signed between Russia and Germany.
  March 21st          Germany broke through on the Somme
  March 29th          Marshall Foch was appointed Allied Commander on the Western Front
  April 9th              Germany started an offensive in Flanders
  July 15th              Second Battle of the Marne started. The start of the collapse of the German                                                                                               army
  August 8th           The advance of the Allies was successful
  September 19th   Turkish forces collapsed at Megiddo
  October 4th          Germany asked the Allies for an armistice
  October 29th        Germany’s navy mutinied
  October 30th        Turkey made peace
  November 3rd      Austria made peace
  November 9th       Kaiser William II abdicated
  November  11th   Germany signed an armistice with the Allies – the official date of the
                                                                                                       end  of World War One.
 

  Post-war – 1919  

 
  January 4th          Peace conference met at Paris
  June 21st             The surrendered German naval fleet at Scapa Flow was scuttled.
  June 28th             The Treaty of Versailles was signed by the Germans.