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 August – Britain 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 October – Battle 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 March – The Treaty of Brest-Litovsk was signed between Russia and Germany
21st March – Germany broke through on the Somme
29th March – Marshall 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 June – The Treaty of Versailles was signed by the Germans.
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