How World War One Started and the Timeline That Followed
1914
June 28th
Francis Ferdinand assassinated at Sarajevo
July 5th
Kaiser William II promised German support for Austria against Serbia
July 28th
Austria declared war on Serbia
August 1st
Germany declared war on Russia
August 3rd
Germany declared war on France and invaded Belgium. Germany had to implement the Schlieffen Plan.
August 4th
Britain declared war on Germany
August 23rd
The BEF started its retreat from Mons. Germany invaded France.
August 26th
Russian army defeated at Tannenburg and Masurian Lakes.
September 6th
Battle of the Marne started
October 18th
First Battle of Ypres
October 29th
Turkey entered the war on Germany’s side. Trench warfare started to dominate the Western Front.
1915
January 19th
The first Zeppelin raid on Britain took place
February 19th
Britain bombarded Turkish forts in the Dardanelles
April 25th
Allied troops landed in Gallipoli
May 7th
The “Lusitania” was sunk by a German U-boat
May 23rd
Italy declared war on Germany and Austria
August 5th
The Germans captured Warsaw from the Russians
September 25th Start of the Battle of Loos
December 19th
The Allies started the evacuation of Gallipoli
1916
January 27th
Conscription introduced in Britain
February 21st
Start of the Battle of Verdun
April 29th
British forces surrendered to Turkish forces at Kut in Mesopotamia
May 31st
Battle of Jutland
June 4th
Start of the Brusilov Offensive
July 1st
Start of the Battle of the Somme
August 10th
End of the Brusilov Offensive
September 15th
First use en masse of tanks at the Somme
December 7th
Lloyd George becomes British Prime Minister
1917
February 1st
Germany’s unrestricted submarine warfare campaign started
April 6th
USA declared war on Germany
April 16th
France launched an unsuccessful offensive on the Western Front
July 31st
Start of the Third Battle at Ypres
October 24th
Battle of Caporetto – the Italian Army was heavily defeated
November 6th
Britain launched a major offensive on the Western Front
November 20th
British tanks won a victory at Cambrai
December 5th
Armistice between Germany and Russia signed
December 9th
Britain captured Jerusalem from the Turks
1918
March 3rd
The Treaty of Brest-Litovsk was signed between Russia and Germany.
March 21st
Germany broke through on the Somme
March 29th
Marshall Foch was appointed Allied Commander on the Western Front
April 9th
Germany started an offensive in Flanders
July 15th
Second Battle of the Marne started. The start of the collapse of the German army
August 8th
The advance of the Allies was successful
September 19th
Turkish forces collapsed at Megiddo
October 4th
Germany asked the Allies for an armistice
October 29th
Germany’s navy mutinied
October 30th
Turkey made peace
November 3rd
Austria made peace
November 9th
Kaiser William II abdicated
November 11th
Germany signed an armistice with the Allies – the official date of the end of World War One.
Post-war – 1919
January 4th
Peace conference met at Paris
June 21st
The surrendered German naval fleet at Scapa Flow was scuttled.
June 28th
The Treaty of Versailles was signed by the Germans