1916 and World War One

1916 witnessed two of the most decisive battles of World War One – at Verdun and the Somme. 1916 is seen as the year when the armies of Britain, France and Germany were bled to death.

January 1^st: Riots in Austria-Hungary forced down the price of grain and flour as set by the government.

 

February 21^st: Start of the Battle of Verdun; Germany bombarded French positions for 9 hours and then occupied the first line of French trenches.

 

February 25^th: Fort Douaumont, Verdun, was captured by the Germans. Pétain was put in charge of the defence of Verdun.

 

February 21^st: Germany informed America that armed merchant ships would be treated in the same manner as cruisers.

 

February 26^th: Germany ended her first offensive against Verdun.

 

March 18^th: Russia started an offensive against German positions in Vilna. Made limited territorial gains but suffered very heavy casualties.

 

March 24^th: British cross-channel steamer ‘Sussex’ was torpedoed with Americans among those lost.

 

April 9^th: The Germans launched a major offensive against Le Mort Homme at Verdun but failed to capture it.

 

April 25^th: The German Navy bombarded Great Yarmouth and Lowestoft.

 

April 29^th: British forces surrendered to Turkish forces at Kut in Mesopotamia.

 

May 1^st: British Summer Time introduced as a “daylight saving” measure. Nivelle appointed commander of the French 2^nd Army.

 

May 25^th: Universal conscription introduced to Great Britain.

 

May 31^st: Battle of Jutland.

 

June 4^th: The Brusilov Offensive started.

 

June 7^th: French defenders at Fort Vaux, Verdun, surrendered to the Germans.

 

June 8^th: The fortification at Thiaumont is taken by the Germans but immediately retaken by the French. During the Battle of Verdun, the fortification changed hands 16 times.

 

July 10^th: Start of the cruise by U-35, which proved the most destructive of the war with 54 ships sunk totalling 90,000 tons.

 

June 22^nd: Phosgene gas used at Verdun by the Germans.

 

June 24^th: The Allies opened up an artillery barrage along a 25-mile front against German trenches on the Somme.

 

July 1^st: Start of the Battle of the Somme. Allied air supremacy was confirmed with 386 Allied fighters pitted against 129 German aircraft.

 

July 7^th: British troops made an unsuccessful attempt to capture Mametz Wood, Somme.

 

July 10^th: Start of the final German offensive at Verdun.

 

July 19^th: Battle of Fromelles started

 

July 20^th: The British attacked High Wood, but it was not captured until September 15^th.

 

August 27^th: Romania declared war on Austria-Hungary.

 

August 28^th: Falkenhayn was dismissed from his post as commander-in-chief and replaced by Hindenburg. Italy declared war on Germany.

 

August 29^th: Under the Hindenburg Programme, Germany was organised for a war economy.

 

September 15^th: First en masse use of tanks at the Somme – the Battle of Flers-Courcelette.

 

September 20^th: The Brusilov Offensive ended.

 

September 26^th: The British captured Thiepval in the Somme.

 

October 8^th: The German Air Force was created, amalgamating the various units of the German Air Service.

 

October 15^th: Mata Hari executed.

 

October 24^th: A French offensive captured Fort Douaumont.

 

October 28^th: Oswald Boelke was killed in action. Boelke was credited with introducing new tactics that gave the German Air Force greater aerial dominance.

 

November 2^nd: Fort Vaux recaptured by the French.

 

November 13^th: Beaumont Hamel in the Somme was captured.

 

November 18^th: Battle of the Somme ended.

 

December 7^th: David Lloyd George became British Prime Minister. The new War Cabinet organised Great Britain for ‘total war’.

 

December 15^th: Final French offensive in the Battle of Verdun.

 

December 16^th: End of the Battle of Verdun

 

1914    1915    1917    1918
April 2009

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