World War One timeline, starting in 1914:

1914

28th June – Archduke Franz Ferdinand assassinated in Sarajevo

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

28th July – Austria declared war on Serbia

1st August – Germany declared war on Russia

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

4th AugustBritain declared war on Germany

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

26th August – Russian army defeated at Tannenberg and Masurian Lakes.

6th September  – Battle of the Marne started.

18th October  – First Battle of Ypres.

29th October – Turkey entered the war on Germany’s side. Trench warfare started to dominate the Western Front.

1915

19th January – The first Zeppelin raid on Britain took place

19th February – Britain bombarded Turkish forts in the Dardanelles

25th April  – Allied troops landed in Gallipoli

7th May – the “Lusitania” was sunk by a German U-boat

23rd May – Italy declared war on Germany and Austria

5th August – The Germans captured Warsaw from the Russians

25th September – Start of the Battle of Loos

19th December – The Allies started the evacuation of Gallipoli

1916

27th January – Conscription introduced in Britain

21st February – Start of the Battle of Verdun

29th April – British forces surrendered to Turkish forces at Kut in Mesopotamia

31st May – Battle of Jutland

4th June – Start of the Brusilov Offensive

1st July – Start of the Battle of the Somme

10th August – End of the Brusilov Offensive

15th September  -First use en-masse of tanks at the Somme

7th December  – Lloyd George becomes British Prime Minister

1917

1st February – Germany’s unrestricted submarine warfare campaign started

6th April – USA declared war on Germany

16th April– France launched an unsuccessful offensive on the Western Front

31st July – Start of the Third Battle at Ypres

24th OctoberBattle of Caporetto – the Italian Army was heavily defeated

6th November – Britain launched a major offensive on the Western Front

10th November – British tanks won a victory at Cambrai

5th December – Armistice between Germany and Russia signed

9th December – Britain captured Jerusalem from the Turks

1918

3rd MarchThe Treaty of Brest-Litovsk was signed between Russia and Germany

21st MarchGermany broke through on the Somme

29th MarchMarshall Foch was appointed Allied Commander on the Western Front

9th April  – Germany started an offensive in Flanders

15th July – Second Battle of the Marne started. The start of the collapse of the German army

8th August – the advance of the Allies was successful

19th September – Turkish forces collapsed at Megiddo

4th October – Germany asked the Allies for an armistice

29th October – Germany’s navy mutinied

30th October – Turkey made peace

3rd November – Austria made peace

9th November  – Kaiser William II abdicated

11th November – Germany signed an armistice with the Allies – the official date of the end of World War One.

Post-war 1919

4th January – Peace conference met at Paris

21st June – The surrendered German naval fleet at Scapa Flow was scuttled.

28th JuneThe Treaty of Versailles was signed by the Germans.

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