FIRST WORLD WAR

Summary Timeline: 1914

June 28: Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to the throne of Austro-Hungarian Empire, in Sarajevo, Bosnia.

June 28: Austria-Hungary declares war on Serbia.
July 29 - December 9: Austria-Hungary repeatedly invades Serbia but is repeatedly repulsed.
August 1: Outbreak of warGermany declares war on Russia.
August 3:Germany declares war on France.
August 4:Germany invades neutral Belgium;Britain declares war on Germany; US President Woodrow Wilson declares policy of US neutrality.
August 14: Battle of the Frontiers begins
August 17-19: Russia invades East Prussia
August 23: Japan declares war on Germany
August 23-September 2: Austria-Hungary invades Russian Poland (Galicia)
August 26-30: Battle of Tannenberg, which Russia loses; Germany's greatest success of the war on Eastern Front
September 5-10: First Battle of Marne, halts German advance, resulting in stalemate and trench warfare
September 9-14: First Battle of Masurian Lakes, which Russia again loses
September 14: First Battle of Aisne begins
September 15 - November 24: The "race to the sea", trenches appear on September 15
September 17-28: Austro-German attack western Poland
October 14 - November 22: First Battle of Ypres
October 29: Turkey enters the war on the side of the Central Powers
December 8: Battle of the Falkland Islands
December 21: First German air raid on Britain
December 25: Unofficial Christmas truce declared by soldiers along the Western Front

Summary Timeline: 1915

January 1 - March 30: Allied offensive in Artois and Champagne
January 15: Japan's 21 demands on China
January 19-20: First German zeppelin attack on England
February 4: German U-boat attacks on Allied and neutral shipping; declares blockade of Britain
February 7-21: Russians suffer heavy losses at Second Battle of Masurian Lakes (also known as the Winter Battle)
February – April: Austro-Hungarian attack on Russian Poland (Galicia) collapses, with the Russians counterattacking
February 19-August: Allied amphibious attack on the Dardanelles and Gallipoli (initiated by Winston Churchill, who resigns as a consequence) ends with the Turkish siege of the Allied forces
March 1: First passenger ship sinks, the British linerFalaba
March 11: Britain announces blockade of German ports
April-June: Germans focus on Eastern Front, breaking through Gorlice-Tarnow and forcing Russia out of much of Poland
April 22 - May 25: First use of poison gas by Germany starts Second Battle of Ypres
April 25: Allied landing at Gallipoli
April 26: France, Russia, Italy and Britain conclude secret Treaty of London
May 2: Austro-German offensive on Galicia begins
May 7: U-boat sinks British linerLusitania with the loss of American lives, creating a US-German diplomatic crisis

May 9: Second Battle of Artois begins
May23: Ignoring treaty agreements with the Central Powers, Italy declares war on Austria-Hungary
May 25: British Prime Minister Asquith reorganises his Liberal government as a coalition of the parties
June 29 - December 2: Italians launch unsuccessful attack on Hungarians at 1st, 2nd, 3rd & 4th Battles of Isonzo; there are to be 12 in total
September 5: Tsar Nicholas takes command of Russian armies
September 22: Second Battle of Champagne begins
October 3: Anglo-French force lands at Salonika in Greece
October-November: Austro-German-Bulgarian forces invade Serbia, expelling Serbian army from the country
December 19: Sir Douglas Haig replaces Sir John French as commander of British Expeditionary Force
December 28: Allies begin withdrawal of troops from Gallipoli

Summary Timeline: 1916

February 21 - December 18: German attack on Verdun in the longest battle of the war, ultimately defended by the French at great cost to both sides
March 11 - November 14: 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th and 9th Battles of Isonzo between Italy and Austria-Hungary
March 9: Pancho Villa's raid on Columbus, New Mexico
March 24: French passenger ship,Sussex, torpedoed
April 24: Easter rebellion starts in Ireland
May 4: Germany renounces submarine policy
May 19: Britain and France conclude Sykes-Picot agreement
May 31-June 1: Battle of Jutland, the biggest naval battle in history, ultimately without a clear victor
June – August: Turkish forces, led by Enver Pasha, are defeated by the Russians in the Caucasus
June 4 - September 20: Russian Brusilov offensive in Carpathia nearly knocks Austria-Hungary out of the war
June 5: With British support (led by T.E. Lawrence), Hussein, grand sherif of Mecca, lead an Arab revolt against the Turks in the Hejaz
July 1: Start of the Battle of the Somme, with the greatest number of casualties in British military history, 60,000
July 29: US marines land in Haiti
August – December: Romania enters the war with the Allies, but is quickly overrun by German forces
August 28: Italy declares war on Germany
August 31: Germany suspends submarine assaults
September 15: Tanks introduced for the first time on the Somme battlefield by the British
October 15: Germany resumes U-boat attacks
November 7-9: US President Woodrow Wilson secures re-election|

November 18: End of the Battle of the Somme
November 28: First German airplane (as opposed to zeppelin) air-raid on Britain
November 29 : US occupation of Santa Domingo proclaimed
December 7: David Lloyd George replaces Asquith as British Prime Minister
December 12: Germany issues peace note suggesting compromise peace
December 18: US President Woodrow Wilson requests statements of war objectives from warring nations in peace note

Summary Timeline: 1917

January 10: Allies state peace objectives in response to US President Woodrow Wilson's December 1916 peace note
January 31: Germany announces unrestricted submarine warfare
February 1: Germany resumes unrestricted submarine warfare
February 3: US severs diplomatic ties with Germany
February 23 - April 5: German forces begin withdrawal to strong positions on the Hindenburg Line
February 24: Zimmerman Telegram is passed to the US by Britain, detailing alleged German proposal of an alliance with Mexico against the US
February 26: US President Woodrow Wilson requests permission from Congress to arm US merchantmen
March 1: Zimmerman Telegram published in US press
March 11: British capture Baghdad
March 12: US President Woodrow Wilson announces arming of US merchantmen by executive order after failing to win approval from Congress
March 15: Tsar Nicholas II abdicates as a consequence of Russian Revolution
March 20: US President Woodrow Wilson's war cabinet votes unanimously in favour of declaring war on Germany
April 2: US President Woodrow Wilson delivers war address to Congress
April 6: US declares war on Germany
April 9-20: Nivelle Offensive (Second Battle of Aisne, Third Battle of Champagne) ends in French failure
April 16: Lenin arrives in Russia
April 29 - May 20: Mutiny breaks out among French army
May 12 - October 24: 10th, 11th and 12th Battles of Isonzo fought, ending in Italian failure
May 28: Pershing leaves New York for France
June 7: British explode 19 large mines under the Messines Ridge
June 15: US Espionage Act passed
June 26: First US troops arrive in France, 1st Division
June 27: Greece enters the war on the side of the Allies
July 2: Pershing makes first request for army of 1,000,000 men
July 6: T.E. Lawrence and the Arabs capture Aquaba
July 11: Pershing revises army request figures upwards to 3,000,000
July 16: Third Battles of Ypres (Passchendaele) begins
July 31: Major British offensive launched at Ypres.
September 1: Germany takes the northernmost end of the Russian front in the Riga offensive
October 24: Austria-Germany breakthrough at Caporetto on Italian front
November 7: Bolshevik Revolution in Russia results in Communist government under Lenin taking office
November 20: British launch surprise tank attack at Cambrai
December 7: US declares war on Austria-Hungary
December 9: Jerusalem falls to Britain
December 22: Russia opens separate peace negotiations with Germany (Brest-Litovsk)

Summary Timeline: 1918

January – September: T.E. Lawrence leads Arab guerrillas in successful campaign against Turkish positions in Arabia and Palestine
January 8: US President Woodrow Wilson makes "Fourteen Points" speech to Congress
March 3: Soviet Russia concludes separate peace negotiations in treaty of Brest-Litovsk
March 21: Germany launches Spring push, eventually mounting five major offensives against Allied forces, starting with the Battle of Picardy against the British
March 26: Doullens Agreement gives General Ferdinand Foch "co-ordinating authority" over the Western Front
April 9: Germany launches second Spring offensive, the Battle of the Lys, in the British sector of Armentieres
April 14: Foch appointed Commander-in-Chief of Allied forces on Western Front
May 25: German U-boats appear in US waters for first time
May 27: Third German Spring offensive, Third Battle of the Aisne, begins in French sector along Chemin des Dames
May 28: US forces (28th Regiment of 1st Division) victorious in first major action, Battle of Cantigny
June 6: US 3rd Division captures Bouresches and southern part of Belleau Wood
June 9: Germans launch fourth Spring offensive, Battle of the Matz, in French sector between Noyan and Montdider
June 15: Italians prevail against Austro-Hungarian forces at Battle of Piave
July 6: US President Woodrow Wilson agrees to US intervention in Siberia
July 15: Final phase of great German Spring push, the Second Battle of Marne, begins
July 16-17: Former Tsar Nicholas II, his wife, and children, are murdered by the Bolsheviks
July 18: Allies counterattack against German forces, seizing initiative
August 3: Allied intervention begins at Vladivosto
August 8: Haig directs start of successful Amiens offensive, forcing all German troops back to the Hindenburg Line; Ludendorff calls it a "black day" for German army
September 12: US forces clear the St.-Mihiel salient, during which the greatest air assault of the war is launches by the US
September 19: Start of British offensive in Palestine, the Battle of Megiddo
September 26: Battle of the Vardar pits Serb, Czech, Italian, French and British forces against Bulgarian forces
September 26: Meuse-Argonne offensive opens; the final Franco-American offensive of the war
September 27 - October 17: Haig's forces storm the Hindenburg Line, breaking through at several points
September 29: Bulgaria concludes armistice negotiations
September 28 - October 14: Belgian troops attack at Ypres
October 3-4: Germany and Austria send peace notes to US President Woodrow Wilson requesting an armistice
October 17 - November 11: British advance to the Sambre and Schledt rivers, taking many German prisoners
October 21: Germany ceases unrestricted submarine warfare
October 27: Erich Ludendorff resigns
October 30: Turkey concludes an armistice with the Allies
November 3: German fleet mutinies at Kiel
November 3: Trieste falls to the Allies; Austria-Hungary concludes an armistice
November 7-11: Germany negotiates an armistice with the Allies in Ferdinand Foch's railway carriage headquarters at Compiegne
November 9: Kaiser Wilhelm II abdicates
November 10: Kaiser Wilhelm II flees to Holland
November 10: German republic is founded
November 11: Armistice day; fighting ceases at 11am

Summary Timeline: 1919

January 10-15: Communist revolt in Berlin
January 18: Start of peace negotiations in Paris
January 25: Peace conference accepts principle of a League of Nations
February 6: German National Assembly meets in Weimar
February 14: Draft covenant of League of Nations completed
May 6: Peace conference disposes of German colonies
May 7 - June 28: Treaty of Versailles drafted and signed
June 21: German High Seas Fleet scuttled at Scapa Flow
July 19: Cenotaph is unveiled in London

Taken from:
http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/FWW.htm