1918 and World War One

World War One ended in November 1918. During 1918, two major offensives took place on the Western Front, both based on movement as opposed to the trench mentality of the previous years.

 

January 14^th: Great Yarmouth bombarded by the German Navy.

 

January 24^th: Russia rejected Lenin’s peace at all costs for Trotsky’s “no war, no peace.”

 

February 1^st: Mutiny in the Austrian Navy at Cattaro.

 

February 18^th: Germany resumed her war against Russia after the failure to secure a peace settlement.

 

February 24^th: Russia accepted Germany’s peace terms.

 

March 3^rd: Treaty of Brest-Litovsk was signed between Germany and Russia.

 

March 21^st: Germany broke through in the Somme at the start of its ‘Spring Offensive’. 65 divisions attacked along a 60-mile front. The German Air Service launched a major campaign against the Royal Flying Corps but it failed.

 

March 23^rd: The Germans made major advances using Storm Troops. Paris was hit with long-range artillery. The British 5^th Army suffered major losses.

 

March 28^th: First signs seen that Germany’s offensive was losing its impetus with the failed attack on Arras.

 

March 29^th: Marshal Foch was appointed Allied Commander on the Western Front.

 

April 1^st: The Royal Flying Corps and the Royal Navy Air Service combined to form the Royal Air Force (RAF)

 

April 4^th: The German Spring Offensive (the ‘Michael Offensive) petered out and the line stabilised.

 

April 9^th: Germany started an offensive in Flanders.

 

April 21^st: The German fighter ace, Baron Manfred von Richthofen, the ‘Red Baron’, was killed.

 

April 23^rd: An Allied attack on the harbours of Zeebruge and Ostend (to block their use as bases for U-boats) took place but was only partially successful.

 

May 13^th: The RAF formed a specific strategic bombing force.

 

May 24^th: A British squadron landed at Murmansk.

 

May 30^th: German troops reached the River Marne.

 

June 3^rd: American forces at Chateau Thierry helped to end the German advance.

 

June 6^th: American troops counter-attacked German forces at Belleau Wood.

 

June 25^th: Last German troops forced out of Belleau Wood by the Americans.

 

July 9^th: Flying ace James McCudden killed in a flying accident.

 

July 15^th: Last major German offensive of the war when 52 divisions attacked in the Marne-Reims Offensive.

 

July 31^st: British forces took Archangelsk in northern Russia.

 

July 15^th: Second Battle of the Marne started, which saw the collapse of the German army on the Western Front.

 

July 26^th: Flying ace Edward ‘Mick’ Mannock was killed in action.

 

August 1^st: French forces occupied Soissons.

 

August 3^rd: Germany completed her withdrawal from the Marne salient.

 

August 8^th: The Allies continued their advance against the Germans. The RAF dropped 1,563 bombs and fired 122,150 rounds of ammunition in support of ground forces. This day is known as the “Black Day of the German Army”.

 

August 18^th: A British offensive in Flanders began. A French offensive captured Aisne Heights.

 

August 21^st: The British renewed their offensive on the Somme.

 

August 22^nd: British forces captured Albert.

 

August 28^th: Canadian troops broke through the Hindenburg Line.

 

August 29^th: New Zealand troops occupied Baupanne.

 

September 2^nd: Australian forces occupied Péronne. Canadian troops continued their advance past the Hindenburg Line.

 

September 12^th: 1,476 Allied aircraft supported an US attack at St. Mihiel.

 

September 16^th: US forces occupy St. Mihiel.

 

September 19^th: Turkish forces collapsed at Megiddo.

 

September 26^th: French and American forces started an offensive against German positions at Argonne.

 

September 27^th: New British offensive started.

 

September 28^th: Fourth Battle of Ypres started.

 

September 29^th: Luderndorff asked for an immediate armistice.

 

October 1^st: Damascus taken by Australian and Arab forces.

 

October 4^th: Germany asked the Allies for an armistice based on Woodrow Wilson’s ‘Fourteen Points’.

 

October 9^th: British troops advanced to the last line of trenches in the Hindenburg Line.

 

October 13^th: French troops occupied Laon.

 

October 14^th: German troops started to abandon the Belgian coastline.

 

October 17^th: British troops occupied Lille. Belgian troops reoccupied Ostend.

 

October 19^th: Zeebruge occupied by the British.

 

October 24^th: Start of the Battle of Vittorio Veneto.

 

October 26^th: Luderndorff dismissed by Wilhelm II.

 

October 29^th: The German Army experienced mutinies in certain sectors.

 

October 30^th: Turkey made peace with the Allies. The Italians captured Vittorio Veneto.

 

November 1^st: A major French-US offensive started in the Aisne-Meuse sector.

 

November 3^rd: Austria-Hungary signed an armistice with Italy. A mutiny occurred within the High Seas Fleet based at Kiel – generally seen as the spark that caused the German Revolution.

 

November 4^th: The poet Wilfred Owen was killed. Start of the final Allied offensive on the Western Front.

 

November 5^th: General retreat of German forces along the Meuse started.

 

November 8^th: German representatives arrived at Compiègne and are handed the terms of an armistice.

 

November 9^th: Wilhelm II of Germany abdicated. Belgian forces occupied Ghent.

 

November 10^th: Wilhelm II crossed into the Netherlands after it became clear that the German Army and Navy no longer supported him.

 

November 11^th: Germany signed an armistice with the Allies, which came into force at 11.00. World War One ended.

 

1914   1915   1916   1917

 

April 2009

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