Chronology

Every dated event in the chronicle, 427 in all, from the Congress of Vienna to the Treaty of Lausanne.

427 events

1815

9 JUN 1815

Final Act of the Congress of Vienna

Vienna, Austria

The victors over Napoleon sign the Final Act, redrawing Europe around a balance of power. Strong states ring France, Austria presides over a German Confederation of 39 states, and the Concert of Europe is born. Its system will keep the great powers from a general war for a century.

On the map Chapter I

1848

13 MAR 1848

Metternich falls; revolutions sweep Europe

Vienna, Austria

Crowds in Vienna force the resignation of Prince Metternich, architect of the post-1815 order, who flees to England. Revolutions across Europe demand constitutions and national unity; most are crushed by 1849, a failure Bismarck would later cite when arguing that unity must come by force.

On the map Chapter I

1853

16 OCT 1853 –
30 MAR 1856

Crimean War

Crimea and the Black Sea

Britain, France, Piedmont and the Ottoman Empire fight Russia in the first major war among the great powers since 1815. Austria's refusal to help Russia ends the conservative bond that held the Concert together, and Russia's humiliation leaves it nursing a grudge against Vienna.

perhaps half a million dead, mostly from disease

On the map Chapter I

1859

24 JUN 1859

Battle of Solferino

Solferino, Lombardy

Franz Joseph and Napoleon III lead nearly 300,000 men in the largest European battle since Leipzig in 1813. The French and Piedmontese win, ending Austrian rule in Lombardy, and the suffering of the wounded moves a Swiss witness, Henri Dunant, to found the Red Cross.

about 40,000 casualties

On the map Chapter I

1866

3 JUL 1866

Battle of Königgrätz

Sadová near Königgrätz (Hradec Králové), Bohemia

Moltke's Prussian armies, using railways and breech-loading rifles, destroy the Austrian army in a single day. Austria is shut out of Germany, and Bismarck, against the advice of his generals, offers a lenient peace so that Vienna can later become a partner.

over 40,000 Austrian and Saxon casualties, about 9,000 Prussian

On the map Chapter I

1867

8 JUN 1867

Franz Joseph crowned King of Hungary

Buda, Hungary

The Compromise of 1867 turns the Habsburg empire into the Dual Monarchy of Austria-Hungary: two states under one ruler, with common ministries for foreign affairs, war and finance. It secures Hungarian loyalty, but leaves millions of Slavs and Romanians under Magyar rule.

On the map Chapter I

1870

1 SEP 1870

Battle of Sedan

Sedan, France

German armies encircle the French army on the Meuse. Napoleon III surrenders with about 100,000 men the next day, the Second Empire falls, and the war becomes a siege of Paris. The speed of the victory fixes in German minds the idea that a decisive campaign can be won in weeks.

about 100,000 French captured

On the map Chapter I

1871

18 JAN 1871

German Empire proclaimed at Versailles

Versailles, France

In the Hall of Mirrors, King Wilhelm I of Prussia is proclaimed German Emperor. By the Treaty of Frankfurt in May, France loses Alsace and part of Lorraine and pays an indemnity of five billion francs. The new Reich dominates the continent, and France dreams of revenge.

On the map Chapter I

1875

8 APR 1875

'War in Sight' crisis

Berlin, Germany

A Berlin newspaper article asks "Is War in Sight?" as Germany worries about French rearmament. Britain and Russia intervene to protect France, and Bismarck learns that Europe will not tolerate a second blow against it.

On the map Chapter I

1878

13 JUN 1878 –
13 JUL 1878

Congress of Berlin

Berlin, Germany

Bismarck, as "honest broker," hosts the powers to revise the Treaty of San Stefano. Bulgaria shrinks, Austria-Hungary gains the right to administer Bosnia-Herzegovina, Britain takes Cyprus, and Russia leaves feeling cheated by Germany.

On the map Chapter I

1879

7 OCT 1879

Dual Alliance signed

Vienna, Austria-Hungary

Germany and Austria-Hungary pledge mutual support if either is attacked by Russia. Bismarck threatens to resign to overcome the reluctance of Wilhelm I. The pact, secret until 1888, will outlast every other treaty of the era and bind Berlin to Vienna's fortunes.

On the map Chapter I

1882

20 MAY 1882

Triple Alliance signed

Vienna, Austria-Hungary

Italy, angered by France's seizure of Tunisia, joins Germany and Austria-Hungary in a defensive alliance. It is renewed in 1887, 1891, 1902 and 1912, but Italy's loyalty is always doubtful, for it covets territory Austria rules.

On the map Chapter I

1887

18 JUN 1887

Reinsurance Treaty with Russia

Berlin, Germany

Bismarck's secret treaty promises neutrality between Germany and Russia unless Germany attacks France or Russia attacks Austria-Hungary. It is meant to keep Russia from drifting toward France. It will not be renewed.

On the map Chapter I

1890

18 MAR 1890

Bismarck forced to resign

Berlin, Germany

After clashing with the young Kaiser Wilhelm II, Bismarck offers his resignation, which is accepted two days later. That summer the Reinsurance Treaty is allowed to lapse, and Russia begins to look to France.

On the map Chapter I

1894

4 JAN 1894

Franco-Russian alliance confirmed

Paris, France

A military convention agreed in 1892 is approved by both governments, binding France and Russia to attack Germany if either is attacked by it or its allies. French loans pay for Russian railways, and Germany now faces the two-front war Bismarck feared.

On the map Chapter I

1898

28 MAR 1898

First German Navy Law

Berlin, Germany

Tirpitz's first law authorizes a fleet of 19 battleships. The Second Navy Law of 1900 doubles it to 38 on the "risk theory" that a strong enough fleet will deter even the Royal Navy. Britain reads it as a challenge.

On the map Chapter I

1899

11 OCT 1899 –
31 MAY 1902

Second Boer War

South Africa

Britain fights the Boer republics and takes three years and some 450,000 troops to win. Europe's hostile press and governments show Britain how isolated it is, and its poor performance prompts army reforms and the search for friends.

over 20,000 British dead, mostly from disease

On the map Chapter I

1903

11 JUN 1903

May Coup in Belgrade

Belgrade, Serbia

Serbian army officers led by Captain Dragutin Dimitrijević ("Apis") murder King Alexander and Queen Draga and put Peter Karađorđević on the throne. The new regime breaks with Vienna and turns to Russia and France.

On the map Chapter I

1904

8 FEB 1904 –
5 SEP 1905

Russo-Japanese War

Port Arthur and Manchuria

Japan attacks Port Arthur without warning and defeats Russia on land and sea, ending at Tsushima in May 1905. Russia is weakened, shaken by revolution and willing to seek friends in the west; the balance of Europe shifts.

On the map Chapter I
8 APR 1904

Entente Cordiale signed

London, United Kingdom

Britain and France settle their colonial quarrels: a free hand for Britain in Egypt, for France in Morocco. It is not an alliance but ends a century of rivalry, and Germany soon tries to test it.

On the map Chapter I

1905

22 JAN 1905

Bloody Sunday

St. Petersburg, Russia

Troops fire on a peaceful workers' procession carrying a petition to the Tsar (9 January in the Russian calendar). The massacre sets off the Revolution of 1905 and forces Nicholas II to grant a parliament, the Duma, in October.

On the map Chapter I
31 MAR 1905

Kaiser Wilhelm lands at Tangier

Tangier, Morocco

Wilhelm II declares that Germany supports Morocco's independence, hoping to humiliate France and split the new Entente Cordiale. It backfires: at the Algeciras Conference in 1906 Germany is isolated and Britain and France draw closer.

On the map Chapter I

1906

16 JAN 1906 –
7 APR 1906

Algeciras Conference

Algeciras, Spain

Thirteen nations meet to settle the Moroccan dispute. Only Austria-Hungary backs Germany, and France keeps the upper hand in Morocco. Britain authorizes secret staff talks with French generals.

On the map Chapter I
10 FEB 1906

HMS Dreadnought launched

Portsmouth, England

Edward VII launches a battleship with ten 12-inch guns and steam turbines; she will be ready for trials a year and a day after her keel was laid. She makes every earlier battleship obsolete and begins a new phase of the naval race with Germany.

On the map Chapter I

1907

31 AUG 1907

Anglo-Russian Convention

St. Petersburg, Russia

Britain and Russia divide Persia into spheres of influence and settle Afghanistan and Tibet. With the Franco-Russian alliance and the Entente Cordiale it completes the Triple Entente, which Germans call encirclement.

On the map Chapter I

1908

6 OCT 1908

Austria-Hungary annexes Bosnia-Herzegovina

Sarajevo, Bosnia

Vienna formally annexes the provinces it has occupied since 1878, humiliating Russia and enraging Serbia. Germany backs Austria with a near-ultimatum to St. Petersburg in March 1909. Russia gives way, but vows not to do so again.

On the map Chapter I

1911

9 MAY 1911

Black Hand founded

Belgrade, Serbia

Serbian officers around Dragutin Dimitrijević ("Apis") found the secret society Unification or Death, known as the Black Hand. It dreams of uniting all Serbs and builds networks across the Austrian border.

On the map Chapter I
1 JUL 1911

Panther arrives at Agadir

Agadir, Morocco

Germany sends a gunboat to Morocco's Atlantic coast to demand compensation for France's tightening grip. Britain backs France; Lloyd George's Mansion House speech warns Berlin. The crisis ends in November with Germany gaining a strip of the French Congo.

On the map Chapter I
29 SEP 1911 –
18 OCT 1912

Italy attacks the Ottoman Empire

Tripoli, Libya

Italy seizes Tripolitania and Cyrenaica and the Dodecanese Islands, and uses aircraft for the first time in war. The ease of the victory shows how weak the Ottomans are and encourages the Balkan states to strike.

On the map Chapter I

1912

8 FEB 1912 –
10 FEB 1912

Haldane mission to Berlin

Berlin, Germany

Britain's War Minister seeks a naval slowdown in return for a British pledge not to join an attack on Germany. Berlin wants unconditional neutrality; London will not give it. The mission fails and the naval race continues.

On the map Chapter I
8 OCT 1912 –
30 MAY 1913

First Balkan War

Kumanovo, Macedonia

Serbia, Bulgaria, Greece and Montenegro attack the Ottoman Empire and overrun almost all its European provinces within weeks. The powers create Albania to keep Serbia from the Adriatic, and Austria-Hungary sees a stronger, bolder Serbia at its door.

On the map Chapter I
8 DEC 1912

German War Council

Berlin, Germany

Wilhelm II meets his army and navy chiefs after a British warning. Moltke says war is unavoidable and the sooner the better; Tirpitz asks for 18 months to ready the navy. Historians debate whether it was a decision for war or just loose talk.

On the map Chapter I

1913

29 JUN 1913 –
10 AUG 1913

Second Balkan War and Treaty of Bucharest

Bregalnica, Macedonia

Bulgaria attacks its former allies over the spoils and is crushed by Serbia, Greece, Romania and the Ottomans. The Treaty of Bucharest enlarges Serbia by about 80 percent, leaves Bulgaria bitter and convinces Vienna that Serbia must be curbed.

On the map Chapter I
14 DEC 1913

Liman von Sanders affair

Constantinople (Istanbul)

A German general arrives to reorganize the Ottoman army and command the corps guarding the Straits. Russia protests furiously and a compromise is reached in January 1914, but Russian ministers conclude that Germany threatens their access to the world.

On the map Chapter I

1914

28 JUN 1914

Franz Ferdinand and Sophie assassinated

Sarajevo, Bosnia

A bomb thrown by Nedeljko Čabrinović at ten past ten misses the Archduke's car. Some forty minutes later, after a wrong turn, Gavrilo Princip shoots the Archduke and his wife from a few feet away. The assassins are Bosnian Serbs, armed and trained by Serbian officers.

2 killed by the shots; up to 20 hurt by the earlier bomb

On the map Chapter II
29 JUN 1914

Vienna weighs war

Vienna, Austria-Hungary

Chief of Staff Conrad demands immediate war on Serbia. Foreign Minister Berchtold wants to wait for proof and for German backing, and the Hungarian prime minister Tisza opposes a hasty attack. Vienna turns to Berlin.

On the map Chapter II
5 JUL 1914

The blank check

Potsdam, Germany

Over lunch at the New Palace, Wilhelm II tells the Austrian ambassador that Austria-Hungary can count on Germany's full support even if war with Russia results. He urges Vienna to act quickly. Berlin has handed Vienna what later critics call a blank check.

On the map Chapter II
6 JUL 1914

Bethmann Hollweg confirms support

Berlin, Germany

The Chancellor repeats the promise to Hoyos and Szögyény and urges Austria to move against Serbia quickly. The Kaiser leaves for his Norwegian cruise, Moltke goes to Karlsbad and Tirpitz to Switzerland, to give an impression of calm.

On the map Chapter II
7 JUL 1914

Joint Council of Ministers

Vienna, Austria-Hungary

Austro-Hungarian ministers agree Serbia must be rendered harmless, but Tisza insists on a formal ultimatum before any attack. The minutes record Berchtold's wish for demands so stringent that refusal is likely. Final decisions are postponed.

On the map Chapter II
13 JUL 1914

Wiesner reports from Sarajevo

Sarajevo, Bosnia

The Foreign Ministry's investigator cables that nothing proves the Serbian government ordered, prepared or armed the plot, though Serbian officers and officials helped the conspirators. Vienna's ultimatum is drafted anyway.

On the map Chapter II
14 JUL 1914

Tisza gives way

Vienna, Austria-Hungary

The Hungarian prime minister, who had resisted war, agrees to a harsh note provided Austria-Hungary annexes no Serbian territory. The last internal obstacle to an ultimatum is removed.

On the map Chapter II
19 JUL 1914

Ultimatum text approved

Vienna, Austria-Hungary

A ministerial council approves the final note and fixes delivery for 23 July, after the French leaders have left Russia. The text is shown to Berlin on 22 July, which makes no objection.

On the map Chapter II
20 JUL 1914 –
23 JUL 1914

Poincaré and Viviani in Russia

Peterhof and St. Petersburg, Russia

The French president and prime minister visit the Tsar amid reviews and banquets while strikes rock the capital. They reaffirm the alliance and discuss Austria's likely move in the Balkans. They sail for home on the night of 23 July, hours after the ultimatum is delivered.

On the map Chapter II
23 JUL 1914

Austro-Hungarian ultimatum to Serbia

Belgrade, Serbia

Baron Giesl delivers ten demands at 6 p.m., with a 48-hour deadline. Points 5 and 6, allowing Austrian officials to take part in an inquiry on Serbian soil, are meant to be unacceptable. Serbia is given until 6 p.m. on 25 July.

On the map Chapter II
24 JUL 1914

Russian Council of Ministers meets

St. Petersburg, Russia

Sazonov and his colleagues decide to ask for more time, to counsel Serbia against resistance, and to begin military preparations. The Foreign Minister is said to have told Austria's ambassador that his government was setting Europe on fire.

On the map Chapter II
25 JUL 1914

Serbia replies to the ultimatum

Belgrade, Serbia

Pašić delivers a conciliatory reply at 5:58 p.m., accepting most demands but refusing Austrian officials a role in Serbia's inquiry and offering arbitration. Giesl judges it insufficient and leaves on the 6:30 train. Serbia, already mobilizing, moves its government to Niš.

On the map Chapter II
25 JUL 1914

Russia's "Period Preparatory to War"

Krasnoye Selo, Russia

With the Tsar presiding, the Council of Ministers approves precautionary military measures across the empire from 26 July and a plan to mobilize 13 army corps against Austria if it attacks Serbia. Historians debate whether this was a deterrent or the true start of mobilization.

On the map Chapter II
26 JUL 1914

Grey proposes a four-power conference

London, United Kingdom

Sir Edward Grey proposes that Britain, Germany, France and Italy mediate between Austria and Russia. France and Italy accept; Germany declines on the 27th, saying it cannot treat Austria like a defendant before a tribunal.

On the map Chapter II
28 JUL 1914

Austria-Hungary declares war on Serbia

Vienna, Austria-Hungary

Berchtold persuades the Emperor to sign a declaration of war, sent over the open telegraph to Niš. Conrad concedes that the army cannot attack before 12 August, but Vienna wants war declared before mediation can intervene.

On the map Chapter II
28 JUL 1914

Wilhelm's "Halt in Belgrade"

Potsdam, Germany

Reading Serbia's reply, the Kaiser decides that every reason for war has disappeared and proposes that Austria occupy Belgrade as a pledge and negotiate. The Chancellor sends a diluted version to Vienna late that night, by which time war has been declared.

On the map Chapter II
29 JUL 1914

Belgrade bombarded

Belgrade, Serbia

In the early hours Austro-Hungarian guns and Danube river monitors begin shelling Belgrade from across the Danube. It is among the first acts of what will become the First World War.

On the map Chapter II
29 JUL 1914

Royal Navy goes to its war station

Portland, England

The First Fleet, kept together after the Spithead review, leaves Portland for Scapa Flow in the north of Scotland, passing the Strait of Dover in darkness. Britain's government War Book enters its precautionary period.

On the map Chapter II
29 JUL 1914

The Willy-Nicky telegrams

Potsdam, Germany

Kaiser Wilhelm and Tsar Nicholas exchange anxious telegrams in English, each urging the other to restrain his government. Nicholas proposes the Hague tribunal; Wilhelm warns that Russian military measures would jeopardize his role as mediator.

On the map Chapter II
30 JUL 1914

Russia orders general mobilization

Peterhof, Russia

Having canceled one order the night before, Nicholas II yields to Sazonov and the generals at about 4 p.m. and approves general mobilization, effective 31 July. Germany reads it as the decisive step toward war.

On the map Chapter II
30 JUL 1914

Berlin sends opposite messages to Vienna

Berlin, Germany

Bethmann Hollweg cables that Germany will not be dragged into a world conflagration by Vienna and that Austria should halt in Belgrade. The same day Moltke wires Conrad that Austria should mobilize against Russia at once. Vienna is left confused.

On the map Chapter II
31 JUL 1914

Germany proclaims "imminent danger of war"

Berlin, Germany

After news of Russia's general mobilization, Germany declares a state of imminent danger of war and sends ultimatums to Russia (demobilize within 12 hours) and France (declare neutrality within 18 hours). Austria-Hungary orders general mobilization the same day.

On the map Chapter II
31 JUL 1914

Jean Jaurès assassinated

Paris, France

The leading French socialist and antiwar campaigner is shot dead in the Café du Croissant by a nationalist fanatic, Raoul Villain. His death removes the most prominent voice for peace on the French left.

On the map Chapter II
1 AUG 1914

Germany declares war on Russia

St. Petersburg, Russia

Germany orders mobilization at 5 p.m., and a few hours later Ambassador Pourtalès hands Sazonov the declaration of war. France orders general mobilization the same day. That evening a misunderstanding about British neutrality briefly tempts the Kaiser to turn the army east.

On the map Chapter II
2 AUG 1914

Germany occupies Luxembourg

Luxembourg City, Luxembourg

German troops enter the neutral grand duchy to seize the railways the western deployment needs. Luxembourg's government protests but does not resist.

On the map Chapter II
2 AUG 1914

German ultimatum to Belgium

Brussels, Belgium

Germany demands free passage through Belgium within 12 hours, alleging a French plan to invade. In return it promises to respect Belgium's independence after the war; otherwise Belgium will be treated as an enemy.

On the map Chapter II
2 AUG 1914

Italy declares neutrality

Rome, Italy

Italy announces that it will not join its Triple Alliance partners, arguing that the alliance is purely defensive and that Austria did not consult it before moving against Serbia. It stays neutral until May 1915.

On the map Chapter II
2 AUG 1914

Secret Ottoman-German alliance

Constantinople (Istanbul)

Ottoman leaders including the Grand Vizier and Enver Pasha sign a secret treaty of alliance with Germany. The Ottoman Empire will not enter the war until October, but the treaty ties its fate to the Central Powers.

On the map Chapter II
2 AUG 1914

Germany and France mobilize

Berlin, Germany

Germany and France, which had both ordered general mobilization on 1 August, put their reservists on the trains on 2 August. Within weeks several million men were in uniform. The railway timetables of both armies were now the engine of the war.

On the map Chapter III
2 AUG 1914

Secret Ottoman-German alliance signed

Constantinople (Istanbul), Ottoman Empire

Grand Vizier Said Halim and the German ambassador sign a secret treaty, negotiated with Enver Pasha, committing the Ottomans to fight beside Germany if Russia enters the war. It opens the way to the Ottoman fronts in the Caucasus, Mesopotamia and Sinai.

On the map Chapter XIII
3 AUG 1914

Belgium rejects the ultimatum

Brussels, Belgium

After a Crown Council under King Albert, Foreign Minister Davignon delivers Belgium's refusal at 7 a.m. The reply calls the German demand a flagrant violation of international law. Belgium appeals to Britain and the other guarantors.

On the map Chapter II
3 AUG 1914

Grey's speech to the Commons

London, United Kingdom

The Foreign Secretary lays out Britain's obligations to France and Belgium in a speech of over an hour. The House cheers, and even the Irish Nationalist leader John Redmond pledges support. Public opinion shifts decisively toward war.

On the map Chapter II
3 AUG 1914

Germany declares war on France

Paris, France

Ambassador Schoen delivers the declaration at 6:45 p.m., citing alleged French air raids on Nuremberg and Karlsruhe, which never happened, and French violations of Belgian neutrality. The real reason is that the German plan requires an immediate attack on France.

On the map Chapter II
4 AUG 1914

German troops cross into Belgium

Gemmenich, Belgium

At about 8 a.m. German forces cross the frontier near Aachen and march on Liège, which they attack the following night. King Albert appeals to the guarantor powers for help.

On the map Chapter II
4 AUG 1914

Reichstag votes war credits

Berlin, Germany

In the White Hall the Kaiser declares that he knows no parties, only Germans, and the Reichstag, including the Social Democrats, votes the war credits. Bethmann Hollweg admits that the invasion of Belgium is a wrong to be made good later.

On the map Chapter II
4 AUG 1914

Britain's ultimatum expires

London, United Kingdom

Germany ignores Britain's demand to respect Belgian neutrality by midnight Berlin time. At 11 p.m. in London Britain is at war with Germany, and the Admiralty cables the fleet to commence hostilities. A European war has become a world war.

On the map Chapter II
4 AUG 1914

Germany invades Belgium

Gemmenich, Belgium

After Belgium refused a German ultimatum, German troops crossed the frontier near Gemmenich on the morning of 4 August. The violation of Belgian neutrality brought Britain into the war that night, and it began the German march on Paris.

On the map Chapter III
4 AUG 1914

Reichstag votes war credits: the Burgfrieden

Berlin, Germany

The Kaiser declares that he no longer recognizes parties, only Germans, and the Social Democrats join all other parties in voting war credits. The political truce, called the Burgfrieden after the medieval peace within a besieged castle, lasts until it is gradually eroded by hunger and war weariness.

On the map Chapter XII
5 AUG 1914 –
16 AUG 1914

Siege of Liège

Liège, Belgium

Six German brigades tried to rush the fortress ring of Liège on the night of 5 to 6 August and failed with heavy losses, though Ludendorff took the city and the citadel. Siege howitzers, including the Austrian Skoda 30.5 cm mortars and Krupp's 42 cm monsters, then pounded the twelve forts to rubble, and the last fell on 16 August.

over 300 killed in Fort Loncin alone

On the map Chapter III
7 AUG 1914

First British shot of the war

Nuatja (Notsé), Togoland

A Gold Coast Regiment patrol is fired on by German-led police near the Gold Coast frontier, and Regimental Sergeant Major Alhaji Grunshi fires the first British shot of the war. Togoland falls to Anglo-French forces within three weeks.

On the map Chapter XIII
8 AUG 1914

Defence of the Realm Act

London, United Kingdom

Parliament passes DORA in a single sitting. It lets the government make regulations by decree, from censorship to the requisition of land and factories, and is extended repeatedly. It becomes the legal foundation of the British wartime state.

On the map Chapter XII
10 AUG 1914

Goeben and Breslau reach the Dardanelles

The Dardanelles, Ottoman Empire

Rear Admiral Souchon's battlecruiser and light cruiser escaped the British Mediterranean Fleet and entered the Dardanelles. The Ottoman government "bought" both ships the next day, and they became the instrument that brought the Ottoman Empire into the war in October.

On the map Chapter III
10 AUG 1914

Goeben and Breslau reach the Dardanelles

Dardanelles, Ottoman Empire

Eluding the British Mediterranean fleet, the German battlecruiser and light cruiser entered the Dardanelles and were transferred to the Ottoman navy. Their raid on Russian ports on 29 October brought the Ottoman Empire into the war.

On the map Chapter XI
13 AUG 1914

War Raw Materials Department founded

Berlin, Germany

On the proposal of Walther Rathenau and Wichard von Moellendorff, the Prussian War Ministry creates the Kriegsrohstoffabteilung to requisition, ration and allocate scarce raw materials. It is the model for German war economy and for later state-run economies.

On the map Chapter XII
14 AUG 1914 –
25 AUG 1914

Battle of Lorraine

Morhange, Lorraine

The French First and Second Armies attacked into German Lorraine under Plan XVII. The German Sixth and Seventh Armies fell back, then counterattacked on 20 August with machine guns and heavy artillery and drove the French back toward Nancy.

On the map Chapter III
15 AUG 1914 –
24 AUG 1914

Battle of Cer

Cer Mountain, Serbia

Serbian forces under Putnik's command counterattacked Potiorek's Austro-Hungarian invasion on the slopes of Cer, often at night and at close quarters. The invaders were driven back across the Drina in what was the first Allied victory of the war.

about 25,000 to 40,000 Austro-Hungarian and 18,000 Serbian casualties (estimates vary widely)

On the map Chapter III
15 AUG 1914

Siege guns destroy Fort Loncin

Liège, Belgium

German 42-centimeter and Austrian 30.5-centimeter howitzers shattered the forts of Liège. A shell hit the magazine of Fort Loncin, which exploded and killed most of its garrison. Concrete and steel forts proved useless against modern heavy artillery.

about 350 of the 550-man garrison killed

On the map Chapter X
20 AUG 1914

Battle of Gumbinnen

Gumbinnen (Gusev), East Prussia

Rennenkampf's Russian First Army, advancing into East Prussia, threw back a German attack by Hermann von François's I Corps. The German Eighth Army commander, Prittwitz, panicked and talked of retreating behind the Vistula, which led to his dismissal and the arrival of Hindenburg and Ludendorff.

On the map Chapter III
21 AUG 1914 –
23 AUG 1914

Battle of the Ardennes

Rossignol and Neufchâteau, Belgium

The French Third and Fourth Armies attacked into the wooded, fog-bound Ardennes and met the German Fourth and Fifth Armies marching the other way. The French were beaten back with huge losses, among them the 3rd Colonial Division at Rossignol on 22 August.

about 27,000 French killed on 22 August alone, across the front

On the map Chapter III
21 AUG 1914 –
23 AUG 1914

Battle of Charleroi

Charleroi, Belgium

Bülow's German Second Army crossed the Sambre against Lanrezac's French Fifth Army while Hausen's Third Army threatened its flank at Dinant. On 23 August Lanrezac ordered a retreat, and the whole Allied left wing began the Great Retreat.

On the map Chapter III
23 AUG 1914

Battle of Mons

Mons, Belgium

The British Expeditionary Force held the Mons-Condé canal against Kluck's First Army, its rapid rifle fire cutting down the German columns. With the French on its right in retreat, the BEF had to pull back the next morning.

about 1,600 British casualties

On the map Chapter III
23 AUG 1914

Massacre of Dinant

Dinant, Belgium

Saxon troops, believing that civilians had fired on them, shot 674 inhabitants of Dinant, including women and children, and burned much of the town. Hundreds of men were deported to Germany. It was one of the worst of the German massacres of civilians in the 1914 invasion.

674 civilians shot

On the map Chapter III
23 AUG 1914 –
11 SEP 1914

Battle of Galicia

Lemberg (Lviv), Galicia

Conrad's offensive north into Russian Poland won two battles, at Kraśnik and Komarów, but a Russian advance from the east took Lemberg on 3 September and forced Conrad into a general retreat to the Carpathians. The Habsburg army never fully recovered.

roughly 325,000 to 420,000 Austro-Hungarian casualties (estimates vary)

On the map Chapter III
23 AUG 1914

Japan declares war on Germany

Tokyo, Japan

After an ultimatum of 15 August demanding the surrender of Tsingtao, Japan declares war on Germany under its alliance with Britain. It will use the war to seize German possessions in China and the Pacific.

On the map Chapter XIII
25 AUG 1914 –
28 AUG 1914

Sack of Leuven (Louvain)

Leuven (Louvain), Belgium

German troops, believing that civilians were firing on them, burned much of the university town, shot about 250 inhabitants and expelled thousands more. The university library, with some 230,000 volumes, was destroyed. The event became a symbol of German "frightfulness" in Allied propaganda.

about 250 civilians killed; 230,000 books burned

On the map Chapter III
26 AUG 1914 –
30 AUG 1914

Battle of Tannenberg

Tannenberg, East Prussia

Hindenburg and Ludendorff, using Hoffmann's plan and intercepted Russian radio messages, encircled Samsonov's Russian Second Army in the forests of East Prussia. Samsonov shot himself. It was one of the great victories of encirclement of the war.

traditional German count: about 92,000 Russians captured and 50,000 killed or wounded (recent estimates are lower)

On the map Chapter III
26 AUG 1914

Battle of Le Cateau

Le Cateau, France

General Smith-Dorrien disobeyed an order to continue the retreat and turned his II Corps to fight for most of a day against three German corps. The BEF lost heavily but broke away, and the stand slowed the German pursuit.

about 7,800 British casualties and 38 guns lost

On the map Chapter III
26 AUG 1914

Togoland surrenders

Kamina, Togoland

Small British and French colonial forces from the Gold Coast and Dahomey overran the German colony of Togoland, whose garrison destroyed its great wireless station at Kamina before surrendering. It was the first Allied conquest of the war.

On the map Chapter III
27 AUG 1914 –
7 NOV 1914

Siege of Tsingtao

Tsingtao (Qingdao), China

About 23,000 Japanese and 1,500 British troops besiege the German naval base, defended by about 3,600 men. After a heavy bombardment the Germans surrender on 7 November, giving Japan control of Shandong.

about 700 Japanese and 200 German dead

On the map Chapter XIII
28 AUG 1914

Battle of Heligoland Bight

Heligoland Bight, North Sea

British light forces raided the German patrol lines, and Beatty's battlecruisers arrived to turn the fight. Three German light cruisers and a destroyer were sunk. The Kaiser ordered his fleet to avoid risks.

On the map Chapter XI
29 AUG 1914

New Zealand occupies German Samoa

Apia, Samoa

A New Zealand expeditionary force escorted by British and French warships lands at Apia and takes the islands without resistance. It is the first Allied occupation of a German colony in the Pacific.

On the map Chapter XIII
2 SEP 1914 –
7 NOV 1914

Siege of Tsingtao

Tsingtao (Qingdao), China

Japan, which had declared war on Germany on 23 August, landed troops and, with a small British contingent, besieged Germany's naval base in China. The garrison surrendered on 7 November; Japan had already occupied Germany's Pacific islands in October.

On the map Chapter III
5 SEP 1914 –
12 SEP 1914

First Battle of the Marne

The Marne and Ourcq rivers, France

Joffre's counteroffensive struck the German right wing as Kluck's First Army passed east of Paris. A gap opened between the First and Second German Armies, the German high command lost its nerve, and the Germans retreated to the Aisne. The Schlieffen Plan had failed.

about 300,000 to 500,000 casualties on all sides combined (estimates vary widely)

On the map Chapter III
5 SEP 1914

U-21 sinks HMS Pathfinder

Firth of Forth, Scotland

A single torpedo from a German submarine sank the British scout cruiser, the first warship sunk by a submarine's self-propelled torpedo. Admirals realized how vulnerable surface ships were.

On the map Chapter XI
7 SEP 1914

The taxis of the Marne

Paris, France

General Gallieni requisitioned more than a thousand Paris taxis (about 600 in the first convoy), which carried perhaps 3,000 to 5,000 soldiers of the 7th Division toward the fighting on the Ourcq. Militarily it was a small reinforcement, but the story became the great popular symbol of the battle.

On the map Chapter III
9 SEP 1914 –
14 SEP 1914

Battle of the Masurian Lakes

Masuria, East Prussia

Reinforced after Tannenberg, the German Eighth Army attacked Rennenkampf's First Army and drove it out of East Prussia. Rennenkampf avoided encirclement but lost many men and guns.

Russian First Army lost roughly 60,000 to 125,000 men (estimates vary widely)

On the map Chapter III
11 SEP 1914

Battle of Bita Paka

Rabaul, German New Guinea

Australian naval reservists and infantry land near Rabaul and fight German-led Melanesian police at Bita Paka; seven Australians are killed. The German governor surrenders on 17 September, ending German rule in New Guinea.

7 Australians and about 30 defenders killed

On the map Chapter XIII
13 SEP 1914 –
28 SEP 1914

Battle of the Aisne

The Aisne valley, France

The Allied pursuit halted at the Aisne, where the Germans had dug in on the heights of the Chemin des Dames. Frontal attacks failed, and both sides began to dig the first real trenches of the Western Front.

On the map Chapter III
14 SEP 1914

The armies dig in on the Aisne

Aisne valley, France

After the Marne, the German retreat halted on the heights north of the Aisne and the Germans entrenched. British and French attempts to dislodge them failed, and the first lasting trench lines of the Western Front appeared in the middle of September.

On the map Chapter IX
22 SEP 1914

U-9 sinks three armored cruisers

Broad Fourteens, North Sea

Otto Weddigen's submarine sank HMS Aboukir, Hogue and Cressy within about an hour. Hogue and Cressy had stopped to pick up survivors. The disaster raised the prestige of the submarine.

nearly 1,500 British sailors killed

On the map Chapter XI
27 SEP 1914

Allies capture Duala

Duala, Kamerun

An Anglo-French naval and land force takes Kamerun's main port. The Germans retreat inland, where the campaign continues until early 1916.

On the map Chapter XIII
28 SEP 1914 –
10 OCT 1914

Siege of Antwerp

Antwerp, Belgium

German heavy howitzers shattered the outer forts of Antwerp, the last Belgian stronghold. A hasty British intervention, personally encouraged by Churchill, could not save it, and the city fell on 10 October while the Belgian field army escaped to the coast.

On the map Chapter III
9 OCT 1914

Maritz Rebellion begins

Upington, South Africa

Lieutenant Colonel Manie Maritz, commanding border troops, defects to the Germans, and several thousand Afrikaners rise against South Africa's entry into the war. Botha puts down the rebellion by early 1915 with mostly Afrikaner loyalist troops.

On the map Chapter XIII
16 OCT 1914 –
31 OCT 1914

Battle of the Yser

Nieuwpoort and Diksmuide, Belgium

The Belgian army, with French marines at Diksmuide, held the Yser line against the German Fourth Army. Over the nights of 26 to 30 October the Belgians opened the sluices at Nieuwpoort and flooded the plain, which stopped the German advance and fixed the northern end of the Western Front.

On the map Chapter III
19 OCT 1914 –
22 NOV 1914

First Battle of Ypres

Ypres, Belgium

The German Fourth and Sixth Armies, with new reserve corps, made a final attempt to break through to the Channel ports. The thin British, French and Belgian line held at Gheluvelt, Nonne Bosschen and Langemarck, and the old British regular army was all but destroyed in doing so.

tens of thousands of casualties on each side

On the map Chapter III
29 OCT 1914

Ottoman raid on Russian Black Sea ports

Sevastopol, Black Sea

The Ottoman fleet under the German admiral Souchon, including the Goeben and Breslau, shelled Odessa, Sevastopol, Feodosia and Novorossiysk without a declaration of war. Russia declared war on 2 November, Britain and France on 5 November.

On the map Chapter III
29 OCT 1914

Ottoman fleet bombards Russian ports

Odessa, Russian Empire

The German-commanded Ottoman fleet, led by the Goeben, bombards Odessa and other Black Sea ports without warning. Russia declares war on 2 November, and Britain and France follow.

On the map Chapter XIII
31 OCT 1914

Marie Curie's mobile X-ray units

Paris, France

From the autumn of 1914 Marie Curie equipped cars with X-ray apparatus and sent them to field hospitals. Around 20 mobile units and some 200 fixed installations helped surgeons locate shrapnel and fractures.

On the map Chapter X
1 NOV 1914

Battle of Coronel

Off Coronel, Chile

Admiral von Spee's German East Asia Squadron sank the British armored cruisers Good Hope and Monmouth off the coast of Chile in the fading light. It was the first British naval defeat in a century, and it brought two battlecruisers to the South Atlantic.

about 1,600 British sailors killed

On the map Chapter III
1 NOV 1914

Battle of Coronel

Off Coronel, Chile

Vice-Admiral von Spee's squadron sank the British armored cruisers Good Hope and Monmouth with all hands. It was Britain's first naval defeat in a century.

about 1,600 British dead

On the map Chapter XI
2 NOV 1914 –
5 NOV 1914

Battle of Tanga

Tanga, German East Africa

An Indian expeditionary force of about 8,000 men landed at Tanga and was repulsed by Lettow-Vorbeck's tiny force of Germans and askaris, helped by a swarm of bees that scattered both sides. The defeat left Lettow-Vorbeck with captured rifles and ammunition and began his four-year guerrilla campaign.

about 800 British casualties

On the map Chapter III
2 NOV 1914 –
5 NOV 1914

Battle of Tanga

Tanga, German East Africa

About 8,000 British and Indian troops land at Tanga and are routed by Lettow-Vorbeck's much smaller force, with swarms of bees harassing both sides. The victory gives the Germans arms and confidence for a four-year campaign.

about 800 to 1,000 British and Indian casualties

On the map Chapter XIII
9 NOV 1914

HMAS Sydney destroys the Emden

Cocos (Keeling) Islands

After two months of raiding in the Indian Ocean, the German light cruiser Emden sent a landing party to destroy the wireless station on the Cocos Islands and was caught and wrecked by the Australian cruiser HMAS Sydney. A landing party under von Mücke escaped and made its way home.

about 130 German sailors killed

On the map Chapter III
9 NOV 1914

HMAS Sydney destroys Emden

Cocos (Keeling) Islands

After two months of raiding in the Indian Ocean, the German cruiser was caught by the Australian cruiser Sydney and run aground. Her captain, Karl von Müller, was treated as a gentleman by his captors.

134 German dead

On the map Chapter XI
9 NOV 1914

Emden destroyed at the Cocos Islands

North Keeling, Cocos Islands

HMAS Sydney catches the German raider Emden off the Cocos Islands after the cruiser's three-month spree in the Indian Ocean. About 130 of her crew die; a landing party escapes and reaches Constantinople.

On the map Chapter XIII
11 NOV 1914 –
6 DEC 1914

Battle of Łódź

Łódź, Russian Poland

A German offensive in Poland under Hindenburg's Ober Ost nearly encircled a Russian army at Łódź, but the Russians broke out and the Germans themselves had to fight their way out of a pocket. The Germans took Łódź on 6 December without destroying the Russian armies.

On the map Chapter III
14 NOV 1914

Ottoman call for holy war

Constantinople (Istanbul), Ottoman Empire

Religious authorities proclaim a jihad against the Entente powers in the name of the Sultan-Caliph. Germany hopes for Muslim uprisings in India, Egypt and North Africa, but the main effect is to make Britain and France fear for their colonies.

On the map Chapter XIII
16 NOV 1914 –
15 DEC 1914

Battle of Kolubara

Kolubara river, Serbia

Potiorek's third invasion took Belgrade on 2 December, but the Serbian army, resupplied with ammunition, counterattacked the next day. By 15 December the Austro-Hungarians had been thrown out of the country again.

On the map Chapter III
22 NOV 1914

First Ypres ends; the front becomes continuous

Ypres, Belgium

As the first battle of Ypres died away, a continuous line of trenches ran from the North Sea to the Swiss border, some 440 miles. The mobile war was over in the west, and siege warfare on a continental scale had begun.

On the map Chapter IX
1 DEC 1914 –
31 MAR 1915

The first winter: trench foot

Armentières sector, France

Standing in flooded trenches without waterproof boots, thousands of British soldiers developed trench foot. The army answered with whale oil, dry socks, daily foot inspections and a rule that commanding officers were responsible for their men's feet.

about 20,000 British cases

On the map Chapter IX
8 DEC 1914

Battle of the Falkland Islands

Port Stanley, Falkland Islands

Spee's squadron came to raid Port Stanley and found Sturdee's battlecruisers Invincible and Inflexible in the harbor. Four of his five ships were sunk in the chase, and the German cruiser threat to Allied shipping in the open ocean was largely ended.

about 1,870 German sailors killed, including Spee and his two sons

On the map Chapter III
8 DEC 1914

Battle of the Falkland Islands

Off the Falkland Islands

Sturdee's battlecruisers ran down von Spee's squadron. Four German cruisers were sunk and Spee and both his sons died. The threat to Allied trade in the oceans largely disappeared.

nearly 1,900 German dead

On the map Chapter XI
16 DEC 1914

German raid on Scarborough, Whitby and Hartlepool

Scarborough, England

German battlecruisers shelled three English coastal towns at dawn. The raid killed many civilians and provoked an outcry in Britain, where "Remember Scarborough" became a recruiting slogan.

more than 100 civilians killed

On the map Chapter III
16 DEC 1914

German raid on Scarborough, Hartlepool and Whitby

Scarborough, England

German battlecruisers shelled three English coastal towns. More than a hundred civilians died. Britain was outraged and the Admiralty, which had intercepted German signals, nearly caught the raiders.

On the map Chapter XI
16 DEC 1914

German raid on Scarborough, Whitby and the Hartlepools

Scarborough, England

German battlecruisers shell three English coastal towns for about 90 minutes, killing some 130 people (counts run from 122 to 137) and wounding several hundred. The attack on undefended resorts brings the war to British civilians and fuels the recruiting slogan 'Remember Scarborough'.

about 130 killed (estimates 122–137), several hundred wounded

On the map Chapter XII
22 DEC 1914 –
17 JAN 1915

Battle of Sarikamish

Sarikamish, Ottoman Empire

Enver Pasha's winter offensive tried to encircle the Russian Caucasus Army. Ottoman troops, many in summer uniform, froze in the mountains, and the Russian counterattack destroyed much of the Third Army.

roughly 30,000 to over 60,000 of about 90,000 Ottoman troops lost (estimates vary widely)

On the map Chapter III
22 DEC 1914 –
17 JAN 1915

Battle of Sarikamish

Sarikamish, Ottoman-Russian frontier

Enver Pasha sends the Ottoman Third Army over snow-covered mountains to encircle a Russian force. Cold and typhus destroy most of it, and the Russians retain the initiative in the Caucasus.

Ottoman losses estimated at 60,000 or more

On the map Chapter XIII
24 DEC 1914 –
26 DEC 1914

The Christmas Truce

Ploegsteert and Flanders, Belgium

In scattered sectors of the Western Front, mostly where British troops faced Saxons and other southern Germans, soldiers sang carols, left their trenches, exchanged gifts and buried their dead in no man's land. It was a spontaneous, patchy event, not a general armistice, and it was never repeated on the same scale.

On the map Chapter III
24 DEC 1914 –
26 DEC 1914

The Christmas Truce

Ploegsteert, Belgium

Along parts of the line, soldiers sang carols, exchanged cigarettes and went into no man's land to bury the dead. It was the most famous eruption of the live-and-let-live instinct, and orders were issued to prevent it from happening again.

On the map Chapter IX
25 DEC 1914

Cuxhaven raid

Cuxhaven, Germany

Seven seaplanes from three converted ferries attacked Zeppelin sheds and ships near Cuxhaven. Damage was small, but it was the first seaborne air attack by the Royal Navy.

On the map Chapter XI

1915

18 JAN 1915

Japan presents the Twenty-One Demands

Beijing, China

Japan presents China's president Yuan Shikai with demands that would make China a virtual protectorate. After Western protests Japan drops the most extreme group, and China gives way to an ultimatum in May.

On the map Chapter XIII
19 JAN 1915

First Zeppelin raid on Britain

Great Yarmouth and King's Lynn, England

Two German naval airships crossed the North Sea at night and dropped bombs on Great Yarmouth, King's Lynn and nearby villages. It was the first aerial bombardment of Britain, and it killed four people.

4 killed

On the map Chapter IV
19 JAN 1915

First Zeppelin raid on Britain

Great Yarmouth, England

Two naval Zeppelins bombed Great Yarmouth, King's Lynn and nearby villages. It was the first strategic air raid in history, and the beginning of a campaign against British cities.

4 killed

On the map Chapter XI
19 JAN 1915

First Zeppelin raid on Britain

Great Yarmouth, England

Two German naval airships drop bombs on Great Yarmouth and King's Lynn, killing four people. It is the first air attack on British soil, and the first sign that the home front can be reached by air.

On the map Chapter XII
24 JAN 1915

Battle of the Dogger Bank

North Sea, east of the Dogger Bank

Warned by Room 40, Beatty's battlecruisers intercepted Hipper's raiders. The armored cruiser Blücher was sunk, and the German Seydlitz nearly blew up from a turret fire. Both sides drew lessons about flash protection.

Blücher sunk, about 800 dead

On the map Chapter XI
31 JAN 1915

German gas shells at Bolimów

Bolimów, Poland

The Germans fired shells filled with xylyl bromide tear gas against the Russians on the Eastern Front. The intense cold prevented the liquid from evaporating and the attack failed, but it showed that chemical warfare was coming.

On the map Chapter X
3 FEB 1915

Ottoman attack on the Suez Canal

Suez Canal, Egypt

An Ottoman force crosses the Sinai desert and attempts to cross the canal, but is repulsed by British and Indian troops. It shows that the canal can be threatened but not taken, and persuades Britain to garrison Egypt heavily.

On the map Chapter XIII
4 FEB 1915

Germany declares a submarine war zone

Berlin, Germany

The German Admiralty declared the waters around the British Isles a war zone, in which enemy merchant ships would be sunk from 18 February without warning. The announcement began the first U-boat campaign against commerce.

On the map Chapter IV
13 FEB 1915

Myers names 'shell shock'

London, England

In The Lancet, Charles Myers published the first medical account of shell shock, based on three soldiers. The term became universal, while the debate over its cause and the treatment of its victims lasted for decades.

On the map Chapter IX
18 FEB 1915

Germany opens its first submarine blockade

Waters around the British Isles

The waters around the British Isles were declared a war zone in which Allied merchant ships would be sunk without warning. It was the first of Germany's three submarine campaigns.

On the map Chapter XI
26 FEB 1915

First flamethrower attack

Malancourt, France

German pioneers used portable flamethrowers against French trenches near Verdun. The weapon spread terror but had limited range, and its crews became prime targets.

On the map Chapter X
10 MAR 1915 –
13 MAR 1915

Battle of Neuve Chapelle

Neuve Chapelle, France

After a short, intense bombardment, the British First Army overran the German front line and took the village. Broken communications and the arrival of German reserves stopped the advance within days, and the battle showed both the promise and the limits of a surprise attack.

some 11,000 to 13,000 British and Indian casualties (counts vary)

On the map Chapter IV
17 MAR 1915

Four corporals shot at Souain

Souain, France

Four French corporals were shot as an example after their company refused an order to attack. The case became the symbol of the fusillés pour l'exemple, and the men were rehabilitated in 1934 after a long campaign by one of the widows.

4 executed

On the map Chapter IX
18 MAR 1915

Naval attack on the Dardanelles

The Narrows, Dardanelles

An Anglo-French fleet of 16 battleships tried to force the strait. A line of mines laid by the small Ottoman minelayer Nusret sank the French Bouvet and the British Irresistible and Ocean, and the admiral called off the attack.

three battleships lost; more than 600 men on the Bouvet died

On the map Chapter IV
18 MAR 1915

Naval attack on the Dardanelles fails

The Narrows, Dardanelles

An Anglo-French fleet tried to force the Straits but ran into an unsuspected line of mines. Three battleships were lost and three more damaged, and the army was called in to take the peninsula.

On the map Chapter XI
22 MAR 1915

Fall of Przemyśl

Przemyśl, Galicia

After a siege of more than four months, the Austro-Hungarian fortress of Przemyśl surrendered to the Russians. It was the largest capitulation of the war so far.

about 120,000 Austro-Hungarian troops surrendered

On the map Chapter IV
17 APR 1915

Mines explode under Hill 60

Hill 60, Ypres Salient, Belgium

British tunnelers blew a series of mines under the German positions at Hill 60, and infantry occupied the shattered crest. It was the first major British use of mine warfare, and the hill was fought over, above and below ground, for the rest of the war.

On the map Chapter X
22 APR 1915 –
25 MAY 1915

Second Battle of Ypres

Ypres, Belgium

On 22 April the Germans released chlorine gas against French colonial and territorial troops north of Ypres, opening a four-mile gap. The Canadians and British filled it, and the Germans, with few reserves, failed to exploit their gain.

tens of thousands of casualties on each side

On the map Chapter IV
22 APR 1915

Chlorine gas at Ypres

Langemarck, Belgium

The Germans released about 168 tons of chlorine from 5,730 cylinders against French colonial and Territorial troops. The line broke over four miles, but the attackers could not exploit it. The age of chemical warfare had begun.

estimates range from about 800 to 5,000 dead

On the map Chapter X
24 APR 1915

Arrest of Armenian leaders in Constantinople

Constantinople (Istanbul)

Ottoman police arrested some 250 Armenian writers, clergymen, doctors and politicians in the capital and sent them into the interior; most were later killed. The date marks the beginning of the Armenian genocide and is commemorated each year.

On the map Chapter IV
25 APR 1915

Landings at Cape Helles

Cape Helles, Gallipoli

The British 29th Division landed on five beaches at the tip of the Gallipoli peninsula, while French troops made a diversionary landing at Kum Kale on the Asian shore. The British were cut down at V Beach below Sedd el Bahr and at W Beach, but gained a foothold that they could not extend.

On the map Chapter IV
25 APR 1915

Landing at Anzac Cove

Anzac Cove, Gallipoli

About 16,000 Australian and New Zealand troops landed a mile north of their planned beach and were halted on the ridges by Turkish counterattacks led by Mustafa Kemal. The date is commemorated as Anzac Day.

about 2,000 Anzac casualties on the first day (estimates vary)

On the map Chapter IV
26 APR 1915

Secret Treaty of London

London, England

Britain, France and Russia promised Italy the Trentino, South Tyrol, Trieste, Istria and part of Dalmatia if it entered the war within a month. The secret agreement brought Italy in and caused disputes at the peace conference.

On the map Chapter IV
28 APR 1915 –
1 MAY 1915

International Women's Congress at The Hague

The Hague, Netherlands

About 1,200 women from belligerent and neutral countries, presided over by Jane Addams, meet to demand a negotiated peace. The congress founds the group that becomes the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom.

On the map Chapter XII
2 MAY 1915 –
10 MAY 1915

Gorlice-Tarnów breakthrough

Gorlice, Galicia

Mackensen's German Eleventh Army and the Austro-Hungarian Fourth Army opened with an enormous bombardment and broke through the Russian Third Army. The advance forced the whole Russian front into the Great Retreat.

On the map Chapter IV
7 MAY 1915

Sinking of the Lusitania

Off the Old Head of Kinsale, Ireland

The German submarine U-20 torpedoed the Cunard liner Lusitania, which sank in about 18 minutes. The loss of life, including 128 Americans, caused international outrage and led the United States to press Germany to end unrestricted submarine warfare.

1,198 killed, including 128 Americans

On the map Chapter IV
7 MAY 1915

Sinking of the Lusitania

Off Old Head of Kinsale, Ireland

U-20 torpedoed the liner Lusitania, which sank in 18 minutes. Germany said she carried munitions (she did, in small quantities); the world saw the killing of civilians. American opinion hardened.

nearly 1,200 dead, including 128 Americans

On the map Chapter XI
7 MAY 1915 –
13 MAY 1915

Anti-German riots after the Lusitania

Liverpool, England

News of the Lusitania's sinking brings mobs onto the streets of Liverpool, London and other cities, wrecking shops with German names. The government responds by interning all enemy-alien men of military age.

On the map Chapter XII
9 MAY 1915

Battle of Aubers Ridge

Aubers Ridge, France

A British attack after a short bombardment with too few high-explosive shells failed to cut the German wire. Most of the casualties were suffered in the first hours, and the blame placed on the shortage of shells led to the shell scandal.

about 11,000 British casualties in a day

On the map Chapter IV
9 MAY 1915 –
18 JUN 1915

Second Battle of Artois

Vimy Ridge and Notre-Dame-de-Lorette, France

The French Tenth Army attacked after a five-day bombardment. Moroccan troops reached the crest of Vimy Ridge on the first day, but reserves were too far behind and the Germans retook it.

about 100,000 French casualties

On the map Chapter IV
12 MAY 1915

Bryce Report on German atrocities published

London, United Kingdom

A committee chaired by Viscount Bryce publishes its findings on 'alleged German outrages' in Belgium, based on unsworn refugee testimony. It mixes real massacres with unverifiable atrocity stories, and is translated worldwide as British propaganda.

On the map Chapter XII
14 MAY 1915

The Shell Crisis breaks in Britain

London, England

The Times published Repington's report blaming a shortage of high-explosive shells for the failure at Aubers Ridge. The scandal, combined with the Dardanelles quarrel, helped to end the Liberal government.

On the map Chapter X
23 MAY 1915

Italy declares war on Austria-Hungary

Rome, Italy

After months of bargaining and street demonstrations, Italy renounced the Triple Alliance and declared war on Austria-Hungary. It did not declare war on Germany until August 1916.

On the map Chapter IV
27 MAY 1915

Ottoman law of deportation

Constantinople (Istanbul)

The Ottoman government issued a Temporary Law of Deportation, which gave the army the power to deport any population regarded as a danger to security. It provided the legal cover for the deportations and massacres of the Armenians.

estimated 600,000 to 1.5 million Armenian deaths in 1915 and 1916

On the map Chapter IV
31 MAY 1915

First Zeppelin raid on London

London, England

A German army Zeppelin dropped bombs on the eastern districts of London at night, after the Kaiser had lifted his ban on attacks on the capital. The raid killed seven people and began the air raids on London.

7 killed

On the map Chapter IV
9 JUN 1915

Ministry of Munitions created

London, England

David Lloyd George took charge of a new ministry that mobilized industry, national shell factories and women workers. It became the model for the state-run war economy.

On the map Chapter X
23 JUN 1915 –
2 DEC 1915

First to Fourth Battles of the Isonzo

Isonzo front, near Gorizia

Cadorna's Italian army attacked the Austro-Hungarian positions above the Isonzo river in four battles, in June-July, July-August, October-November and November-December. The Austrians held the heights, and the Italians gained a few hills at heavy cost.

well over 100,000 casualties on each side (estimates vary)

On the map Chapter IV
2 JUL 1915

Munitions of War Act

London, United Kingdom

In response to the Shell Crisis, the act places war industries under state control, bans strikes in controlled firms and introduces 'leaving certificates'. Lloyd George's new Ministry of Munitions becomes the largest employer-manager in Britain.

On the map Chapter XII
9 JUL 1915

Germans surrender in South West Africa

Khorab, near Otavi, South West Africa

After Botha takes Windhoek in May, the German governor surrenders the colony to the South African forces. South Africa will rule the territory as a League of Nations mandate.

On the map Chapter XIII
11 JUL 1915

Königsberg destroyed in the Rufiji delta

Rufiji River, German East Africa

After nine months of blockade, two shallow-draft monitors with aerial spotting finally destroyed the cruiser. Her guns and sailors were salvaged for the East African campaign.

On the map Chapter XI
30 JUL 1915

Liquid fire at Hooge

Hooge, Belgium

The Germans used flamethrowers against the British at Hooge, driving a battalion from its trenches. The sudden jets of flame left British soldiers shaken, and the weapon became a symbol of the war's cruelty.

On the map Chapter X
5 AUG 1915

Germans enter Warsaw

Warsaw, Russian Poland

Russian forces evacuated Warsaw as German armies closed in from north and south, and German troops entered the city. The loss of Poland was the heart of the Russian Great Retreat.

On the map Chapter IV
6 AUG 1915 –
21 AUG 1915

August offensive and Suvla Bay landing

Suvla Bay, Gallipoli

A new Allied landing at Suvla Bay and a breakout from Anzac toward Sari Bair were meant to win the peninsula. The Suvla force advanced too slowly, the New Zealanders' hold on Chunuk Bair was lost to a Turkish counterattack, and the offensive failed.

On the map Chapter IV
12 AUG 1915

First aerial torpedo attack on a ship

Sea of Marmara

A Short 184 seaplane from HMS Ben-my-Chree, flown by Charles Edmonds, torpedoed a Turkish supply ship that a British submarine had already crippled. Five days later he sank another vessel outright, the first ship sunk by this method alone.

On the map Chapter XI
1 SEP 1915

France issues the steel helmet

Paris, France

From the late summer of 1915 the French army began to replace the cloth kepi with the steel Adrian helmet, the first steel helmet issued to an army in the war. Army doctors credited it with reducing fatal head wounds. The British Brodie helmet followed within months.

On the map Chapter IX
5 SEP 1915

Tsar Nicholas II takes command of the Russian army

Mogilev, Russia

After the Great Retreat the tsar dismissed his cousin, Grand Duke Nicholas, and took personal command, against the advice of most of his ministers. In his absence the government in Petrograd came increasingly under the influence of the empress and Rasputin.

On the map Chapter IV
5 SEP 1915 –
8 SEP 1915

Zimmerwald Conference

Zimmerwald, Switzerland

Thirty-eight socialist delegates from 11 countries meet in a Swiss village to condemn the war and demand a peace without annexations. Lenin's minority faction calls instead for war to be turned into revolution.

On the map Chapter XII
25 SEP 1915 –
8 OCT 1915

Battle of Loos

Loos-en-Gohelle, France

The British First Army attacked with the first British use of poison gas and with New Army divisions in action for the first time. It broke into the German line, but reserves arrived late and exhausted and were shot down in front of the second position.

some 50,000 to 60,000 British casualties

On the map Chapter IV
25 SEP 1915 –
6 NOV 1915

Second Battle of Champagne

Champagne, France

Joffre's main autumn offensive broke into the first German position and took some 25,000 prisoners, but failed to get through the second line on the reverse slope. The French stopped the attack in early November.

about 145,000 French casualties

On the map Chapter IV
25 SEP 1915

Britain's first gas attack at Loos

Loos, France

The British released chlorine against the German line at the start of the battle of Loos. In places the wind failed or reversed and blew the gas back onto British trenches, an early sign of how unreliable cloud attacks could be.

On the map Chapter X
5 OCT 1915

Allied landing at Salonika

Salonika (Thessaloniki), Greece

British and French troops landed at the Greek port to help Serbia, on the invitation of the Greek prime minister Venizelos, who was dismissed by the king the same day. The force arrived too late to save the Serbs and stayed for three years.

On the map Chapter IV
5 OCT 1915

Allied troops land at Salonika

Salonika (Thessaloniki), Greece

French and British units landed in neutral Greece to aid Serbia and held on to a front in Macedonia for three years. The army, dug in around Salonika, lost many more men to malaria than to enemy action.

On the map Chapter IX
6 OCT 1915 –
24 NOV 1915

Conquest of Serbia

Belgrade, Serbia

German, Austro-Hungarian and, from 11 October, Bulgarian armies under Mackensen invaded Serbia. Belgrade fell on 9 October, the Bulgarians cut the railway to Salonika, and the Serbian army was driven into Kosovo.

On the map Chapter IV
12 OCT 1915

Execution of Edith Cavell

Brussels, Belgium

The British nurse Edith Cavell was shot by a German firing squad in Brussels for helping Allied soldiers escape from occupied Belgium. Her death was seen as an atrocity and was used widely in Allied propaganda.

On the map Chapter IV
12 OCT 1915

Edith Cavell executed

Brussels, Belgium

The English nurse Edith Cavell is shot in Brussels for helping Allied soldiers escape. The execution was legal under German military law but is a worldwide propaganda disaster for Germany.

On the map Chapter XII
14 OCT 1915

Bulgaria declares war on Serbia

Sofia, Bulgaria

Bulgaria, which had signed an alliance with the Central Powers on 6 September, declared war on Serbia. The prize it hoped for was Macedonia, lost in the Second Balkan War of 1913.

On the map Chapter IV
24 OCT 1915

McMahon's letter to Sharif Hussein

Cairo, Egypt

The British High Commissioner promises to recognize Arab independence in most of the Arab provinces, with exclusions. Its ambiguity, especially over Palestine, makes the correspondence an enduring source of dispute.

On the map Chapter XIII
17 NOV 1915

Glasgow rent strikers march on the Sheriff Court

Glasgow, Scotland

A huge crowd gathers in support of tenants who are resisting evictions, and shipyard workers threaten a strike. The government gives way and passes the Rent Restrictions Act before the year is out, freezing rents at pre-war levels.

On the map Chapter XII
22 NOV 1915 –
25 NOV 1915

Battle of Ctesiphon

Ctesiphon, Mesopotamia

Townshend's 6th Division attacked an Ottoman position about 20 miles from Baghdad and took the first line but lacked reserves. After four days of fighting it retreated down the Tigris.

about 4,600 British and Indian casualties, some 40 percent of the force

On the map Chapter IV
25 NOV 1915 –
31 JAN 1916

Retreat of the Serbian army across Albania

Albanian mountains

Putnik ordered the Serbian army and thousands of civilians to retreat over the snow-bound mountains of Montenegro and Albania to the Adriatic. The survivors were carried by Allied ships to Corfu to be rebuilt.

tens of thousands died on the march

On the map Chapter IV
6 DEC 1915 –
8 DEC 1915

Chantilly conference

Chantilly, France

Allied military representatives meet at Joffre's headquarters and agree on coordinated offensives on the Western, Eastern and Italian fronts in 1916, so that the Central Powers cannot shift reserves between them. An Anglo-French offensive astride the Somme becomes the centerpiece of the plan.

On the map Chapter V
7 DEC 1915 –
29 APR 1916

Siege of Kut-al-Amara

Kut-al-Amara, Mesopotamia

Townshend's force, retreating from Ctesiphon, was surrounded at Kut by the Ottoman army. Several relief attempts failed, and the garrison surrendered in April 1916.

On the map Chapter IV
7 DEC 1915 –
29 APR 1916

Siege of Kut-al-Amara

Kut, Mesopotamia

Townshend's British Indian division is besieged for 147 days by Ottoman forces and surrenders on 29 April 1916. About 13,000 men enter captivity, and thousands die there.

about 13,000 captured; tens of thousands of relief-force casualties

On the map Chapter XIII
18 DEC 1915 –
9 JAN 1916

Evacuation of Gallipoli

Anzac, Suvla and Helles, Gallipoli

The Allies withdrew from Suvla and Anzac in the nights of 18 to 20 December and from Helles on 8 and 9 January, with hardly any loss of life. It was the best-run operation of the campaign.

On the map Chapter IV
19 DEC 1915

Haig replaces French

St Omer, France

Sir Douglas Haig took command of the British armies in France in place of Sir John French, who had lost the government's confidence after the failures of the year and the dispute over the reserves at Loos.

On the map Chapter IV
19 DEC 1915

Phosgene attack at Wieltje

Wieltje, Belgium

The Germans released a mixture of chlorine and phosgene, a deadlier agent that was harder to detect, near Ypres. British casualties were heavy before masks improved.

On the map Chapter X

1916

10 JAN 1916 –
16 FEB 1916

Erzurum offensive

Erzurum, Ottoman Empire

General Yudenich attacks in deep snow and takes the fortress of Erzurum on 16 February after storming the Deve Boynu ridge. It is the Russians' biggest success against the Ottomans and opens eastern Anatolia.

On the map Chapter V
10 JAN 1916 –
16 FEB 1916

Russian capture of Erzurum

Erzurum, Ottoman Empire

General Yudenich's winter offensive storms the fortress city of Erzurum and opens Anatolia to the Russian army. Trebizond on the Black Sea falls in April.

On the map Chapter XIII
27 JAN 1916

Military Service Act

London, United Kingdom

Parliament passes the first British conscription law, which takes effect on 2 March and applies to single men aged 18 to 41. Married men are added in May, ending the era of the all-volunteer army.

On the map Chapter V
27 JAN 1916

British Military Service Act

London, England

Parliament introduced conscription for single men aged 18 to 41, which took effect in March, and extended it to married men in May. It ended the era of the all-volunteer British army.

On the map Chapter IX
27 JAN 1916

Military Service Act passed

London, United Kingdom

Britain abandons volunteer-only recruiting. The Act makes single men from 18 to 41 liable to be called up from 2 March, with exemptions for essential workers and a conscience clause. A second Act in May extends compulsion to married men.

On the map Chapter XII
1 FEB 1916

The German Stahlhelm appears at Verdun

Verdun, France

The new German steel helmet, with its sloping coal-scuttle shape and neck guard, went first to troops fighting at Verdun. It became the symbol of the German soldier for the next generation.

On the map Chapter IX
2 FEB 1916

The first tank trials at Hatfield Park

Hatfield Park, England

The prototype 'Mother' crossed trenches and an earthwork before government and army officials. It was approved for production, and the vehicles were disguised in shipping as water tanks, which gave them their name.

On the map Chapter X
12 FEB 1916

First issue of the Wipers Times

Ypres, Belgium

Captain F. J. Roberts and Lieutenant J. H. Pearson of the 12th Sherwood Foresters printed the first number on a press found in the ruins of Ypres. Its jokes, parodies and poems made it the most famous of the trench newspapers.

23 issues, 1916–1918

On the map Chapter IX
21 FEB 1916 –
18 DEC 1916

Battle of Verdun

Verdun, France

Falkenhayn attacks the fortress ring of Verdun to force the French to defend it to the last and bleed their army. The battle, rotated through by most of the French army, lasts 300 days and ends with the French back near their starting lines.

about 700,000 casualties, both sides

On the map Chapter V
22 FEB 1916

The Sacred Way feeds Verdun

Bar-le-Duc to Verdun, France

As the battle began, the French organized a vast motor convoy on the one road still open into Verdun. At its peak a lorry passed about every 14 seconds, bringing men, shells and food to the fortress.

On the map Chapter X
25 FEB 1916

Fall of Fort Douaumont

Fort Douaumont, France

A patrol of the 24th Brandenburg Infantry Regiment walks into the largest fort at Verdun, held by a caretaker garrison of about 60 to 70 men. Germany rejoices, but the French decide to hold the east bank and send Pétain to take command.

On the map Chapter V
6 MAR 1916 –
29 MAY 1916

Mort-Homme and Hill 304

West bank of the Meuse, France

To silence the French guns that are enfilading the east bank, the Germans extend the offensive across the river. Three months of fighting for two bare hills end with both in German hands and tens of thousands dead on each side.

On the map Chapter V
18 MAR 1916 –
30 MAR 1916

Lake Naroch offensive

Lake Naroch, Belarus

At Joffre's request the Russians attack to relieve Verdun. The thaw turns the ground to bog, the bombardment is wasted, and the attack costs the Russians tens of thousands of men for almost no gain.

76,000 to 110,000 Russian casualties, depending on the count

On the map Chapter V
17 APR 1916

Italians blow up the Col di Lana

Col di Lana, Italian Alps

After months of tunneling, the Italians exploded a huge charge under the summit of the Col di Lana, a mountain held by Austria-Hungary, and stormed the shattered crest. Mine warfare in the Dolomites was fought at altitude in solid rock.

On the map Chapter X
18 APR 1916

Russians take Trebizond

Trebizond (Trabzon), Ottoman Empire

With support from the Black Sea Fleet and an amphibious landing, Yudenich's army captures the Black Sea port, which becomes a supply base for the Caucasus front. Erzincan follows in July.

On the map Chapter V
24 APR 1916 –
29 APR 1916

Easter Rising

Dublin, Ireland

About 1,200 Irish rebels seize the General Post Office and other buildings and proclaim an Irish Republic. British artillery and reinforcements crush the Rising in six days, and the executions of the leaders turn defeat into a national cause.

about 485 dead, more than half civilians

On the map Chapter V
29 APR 1916

Surrender of Kut

Kut-al-Amara, Mesopotamia

After nearly five months under siege and failed relief attempts that cost more than 20,000 men, Major-General Townshend surrenders about 13,000 British and Indian troops to Khalil Pasha. Thousands of the prisoners die in captivity.

about 13,000 captured

On the map Chapter V
4 MAY 1916

The Sussex pledge

Berlin, Germany

After a U-boat torpedoed the Channel steamer Sussex on 24 March, President Wilson threatened to break relations. Germany promised not to sink merchant ships without warning, and the first phase of the campaign ended.

On the map Chapter XI
15 MAY 1916 –
27 JUN 1916

Strafexpedition (Asiago)

Asiago plateau, Italy

Conrad von Hötzendorf attacks from the Trentino to break out into the Venetian plain and cut off the Italian armies on the Isonzo. The offensive gains ground but stalls, and Brusilov's attack forces Conrad to send troops east.

On the map Chapter V
16 MAY 1916

Sykes-Picot agreement

London, United Kingdom

Britain and France exchange notes confirming a secret plan to divide the Ottoman Arab provinces into zones of direct control and influence, with Russian assent. The Arabs are not told, and the plan conflicts with promises already made to Sharif Hussein.

On the map Chapter V
16 MAY 1916

Sykes-Picot agreement concluded

London, United Kingdom

Britain and France secretly agree to divide the Ottoman Arab provinces into zones of direct control and influence, with Russian assent. Revealed by the Bolsheviks in November 1917, it becomes a symbol of imperial betrayal.

On the map Chapter XIII
31 MAY 1916 –
1 JUN 1916

Battle of Jutland

North Sea, off Denmark

The British Grand Fleet and the German High Seas Fleet meet in the largest battleship clash in history. Germany sinks more ships, but Scheer escapes in the night and the High Seas Fleet never again seeks a decisive battle.

6,094 British dead, 2,551 German

On the map Chapter V
31 MAY 1916 –
1 JUN 1916

Battle of Jutland

North Sea, west of Jutland

The only fleet action of the war. The Germans sank more ships and killed more men, but the High Seas Fleet escaped, and the British blockade stayed in place. Flaws in British shells, flash protection and signals were exposed.

6,094 British and 2,551 German dead

On the map Chapter XI
4 JUN 1916 –
20 SEP 1916

Brusilov Offensive

Lutsk, Galicia

Brusilov attacks the Austro-Hungarian front on a 300-mile front with many simultaneous assaults after short, precise bombardments. The Austro-Hungarian line collapses, some 150,000 men are taken prisoner in the first ten days, and the Habsburg army never fully recovers.

Russian losses estimated at 500,000 to about 1,400,000; Central Powers losses at 1,000,000 to 1,500,000

On the map Chapter V
4 JUN 1916

Brusilov breaks the Austrian trenches

Lutsk, Ukraine

General Brusilov's armies attacked on several points after a short, concentrated bombardment and broke through the Austro-Hungarian lines. The Eastern Front, with fewer men per mile, remained vulnerable to a break that the west rarely saw.

On the map Chapter IX
7 JUN 1916

Fall of Fort Vaux

Fort Vaux, France

After a week of subterranean fighting in the tunnels, thirst finishes the garrison under Major Raynal and the fort surrenders. The Germans pay tribute to the defense, and push on toward Fleury.

On the map Chapter V
10 JUN 1916

Arab Revolt begins

Mecca, Hejaz

Sharif Hussein of Mecca launches an uprising against Ottoman rule with the support of Britain. His sons Ali, Abdullah and Faisal lead the tribes; Mecca and Jeddah fall within weeks, but Medina holds.

On the map Chapter V
10 JUN 1916

Arab Revolt begins

Mecca, Hejaz

Sharif Hussein proclaims a revolt against Ottoman rule, and his sons Faisal and Abdullah lead tribal forces down the Hejaz. The revolt ties down Ottoman troops and enters Damascus in October 1918.

On the map Chapter XIII
22 JUN 1916 –
23 JUN 1916

Phosgene attack and Fleury

Fleury-devant-Douaumont, France

A bombardment of more than 100,000 phosgene shells silences French batteries, and German infantry storm Fleury and the Thiaumont work, reaching a point about three miles from Verdun. It is the closest the Germans come.

On the map Chapter V
22 JUN 1916

Green Cross gas at Verdun

Verdun, France

The Germans fired more than 100,000 shells filled with diphosgene at French artillery positions around Fort Souville. Gas by shell had replaced cloud gas as the main method.

On the map Chapter X
1 JUL 1916 –
18 NOV 1916

Battle of the Somme

The Somme, France

The Anglo-French offensive meant to break the German line and relieve Verdun wears down both armies through chalk and mud for 141 days. It gains about six miles at the deepest point and marks the British Army's transformation into a modern force.

roughly 1,000,000 casualties, all sides; estimates vary

On the map Chapter V
1 JUL 1916

First day of the Somme

La Boisselle, France

At 7:30 a.m. 13 British divisions attack after a week-long bombardment. In the north the wire is uncut and the machine-guns survive, while in the south, with the French, the attackers reach their objectives.

57,470 British casualties, 19,240 killed

On the map Chapter V
1 JUL 1916

Newfoundlanders at Beaumont-Hamel

Beaumont-Hamel, France

The 1st Newfoundland Regiment attacks at 9:15 a.m. across open ground swept by German machine-guns. Of about 800 who go forward, only 68 answer the roll call next morning.

about 700 casualties in half an hour

On the map Chapter V
1 JUL 1916

The Accrington Pals at Serre

Serre, France

On the first day of the Somme, the Accrington Pals (11th East Lancashires) advanced against Serre and were cut down by machine guns within half an hour. The small town lost most of its young men in a single morning.

about 580 casualties among some 720 men

On the map Chapter IX
1 JUL 1916

Lochnagar and the Somme mines

La Boisselle, France

A series of mines was fired along the Somme front, the largest at Lochnagar with 60,000 pounds of ammonal, fired at 7:28 a.m. The crater remains a monument today. At Hawthorn Ridge a mine fired at 7:20 was filmed by Geoffrey Malins.

On the map Chapter X
14 JUL 1916

Battle of Bazentin Ridge

Bazentin, France

After a five-minute hurricane bombardment, British troops attack from a night assembly and break the German second position. Cavalry charge at High Wood later in the day, but reserves are slow and the German line holds.

On the map Chapter V
15 JUL 1916 –
3 SEP 1916

Delville Wood

Longueval, France

The South African Brigade takes the wood on 15 July and holds it for six days against repeated counter-attacks, losing about four men in five. The wood is fought over until early September.

On the map Chapter V
23 JUL 1916 –
3 SEP 1916

Pozières and Mouquet Farm

Pozières, France

Australian divisions capture Pozières village and the ridge above it, then endure some of the heaviest bombardment of the war. They lose about 23,000 men in six weeks.

about 23,000 Australian casualties

On the map Chapter V
6 AUG 1916 –
17 AUG 1916

Sixth Battle of the Isonzo (Gorizia)

Gorizia, Italy

Cadorna's Third Army storms Monte Sabotino and the Podgora heights and enters Gorizia on 8 August. It is Italy's first real victory of the war, but later Isonzo battles in the autumn gain little.

On the map Chapter V
21 AUG 1916

The Battle of the Somme film released

London, United Kingdom

The British army's film of the Somme offensive opens in cinemas and is seen by an estimated 20 million people in six weeks. It is the first time the public sees anything like the reality of the Western Front, though some of its footage is staged.

On the map Chapter XII
24 AUG 1916

The Vickers barrage at High Wood

High Wood, France

Ten Vickers guns of the 100th Company, Machine Gun Corps, fired continuously for about 12 hours over the heads of British infantry, using close to a million rounds. It was a landmark in the use of machine guns as artillery.

about 1,000,000 rounds fired

On the map Chapter X
27 AUG 1916

Romania enters the war

Bucharest, Romania

Encouraged by Brusilov's success, Romania declares war on Austria-Hungary and invades Transylvania. The Central Powers counter-attack from north and south, and the Romanian army is driven back within weeks.

On the map Chapter V
29 AUG 1916

Hindenburg and Ludendorff take over

Pless, Silesia

The Kaiser dismisses Falkenhayn and appoints Hindenburg as chief of the General Staff, with Ludendorff as First Quartermaster-General. They halt the offensive at Verdun and launch the Hindenburg Program of total industrial mobilization.

On the map Chapter V
31 AUG 1916

Hindenburg Programme announced

Berlin, Germany

The new High Command of Hindenburg and Ludendorff demands a doubling of munitions and a tripling of artillery and machine-gun output. Its labor consequence, the Auxiliary Service Law of December 1916, subjects most German men to war work.

On the map Chapter XII
3 SEP 1916

SL 11 shot down over Cuffley

Cuffley, England

Lieutenant William Leefe Robinson attacked the army airship with incendiary ammunition. The blazing wreck was seen across London, and Robinson was awarded the Victoria Cross. It marked the turning point against the Zeppelin.

On the map Chapter XI
4 SEP 1916

Dar es Salaam falls

Dar es Salaam, German East Africa

Smuts's columns take the colony's capital and main port, and the Central Railway falls soon afterwards. Lettow-Vorbeck declines a decisive battle and withdraws south into the bush.

On the map Chapter XIII
15 SEP 1916 –
22 SEP 1916

Flers-Courcelette and the first tanks

Flers, France

Haig commits 49 Mark I tanks in a big attack that also includes the Canadians and New Zealanders. The tanks are slow and unreliable, but they frighten the Germans, and High Wood falls at last.

On the map Chapter V
15 SEP 1916

Tanks go into action at Flers-Courcelette

Flers, France

Forty-nine Mark I tanks advanced on the Somme. Many broke down or were ditched, but some reached the German lines and helped to capture Flers. Critics said Haig had used them too soon, forfeiting surprise.

On the map Chapter X
26 SEP 1916 –
28 SEP 1916

Battle of Thiepval Ridge

Thiepval, France

Gough's Reserve Army captures Thiepval, an objective for the first day, 87 days late. The Schwaben Redoubt holds out for weeks more.

On the map Chapter V
21 OCT 1916

Austrian Prime Minister assassinated

Vienna, Austria-Hungary

The Socialist Friedrich Adler shoots Count Stürgkh dead in a restaurant to protest at a government that has ruled without parliament since 1914. Adler is sentenced to death but reprieved, and is freed in 1918.

On the map Chapter XII
24 OCT 1916

French retake Douaumont

Fort Douaumont, France

Nivelle and Mangin attack behind a rolling barrage with 400 mm howitzers, and the Moroccan Colonial Infantry Regiment and others recapture Douaumont. A second assault on 15 December recovers most of the lost ground and takes more than 11,000 prisoners.

On the map Chapter V
28 OCT 1916

First Australian conscription referendum

Melbourne, Australia

Australian voters narrowly reject overseas conscription, with about 52 percent voting No. Prime Minister Hughes is expelled from the Labor Party and forms a new coalition government.

On the map Chapter XII
1 NOV 1916 –
31 MAR 1917

The German 'turnip winter'

Germany

After the potato crop fails, Germans are forced to live on swedes, ersatz foods and small rations of bread. Food riots and black-market trading spread, and the winter marks the point at which civilian morale begins to crack.

Chapter XII
13 NOV 1916 –
18 NOV 1916

Battle of the Ancre

Beaumont-Hamel, France

In fog and then snow, Gough's Fifth Army takes Beaumont-Hamel and Beaucourt, closing the Somme offensive on 18 November. Bapaume, a first-day objective, remains in German hands until the next spring.

On the map Chapter V
21 NOV 1916

Death of Franz Joseph

Schönbrunn, Vienna

Emperor Franz Joseph dies at 86 after 68 years on the throne. His great-nephew Karl succeeds him, young, inexperienced and eager for peace.

On the map Chapter V
1 DEC 1916

German doctrine of defense in depth

German Supreme Command

Drawing on the lessons of Verdun and the Somme, the German high command issued its Principles of Command in the Defensive Battle: a thinly held forward zone, a deep battle zone and mobile counterattack divisions. It changed the shape of the front.

Chapter IX
6 DEC 1916

Fall of Bucharest

Bucharest, Romania

Mackensen's army crosses the Danube and Falkenhayn's comes through the Carpathians, and Bucharest falls after the Battle of the Argeș. The Romanian government retreats to Iași, and the Central Powers take the wheat and oil of Wallachia.

On the map Chapter V
7 DEC 1916

Lloyd George becomes Prime Minister

London, United Kingdom

After a political crisis, Asquith resigns and Lloyd George forms a five-man War Cabinet and a new Cabinet Secretariat. The Liberal Party splits, and the war is to be run with more drive.

On the map Chapter V
12 DEC 1916

German peace note

Berlin, Germany

Bethmann Hollweg proposes negotiations to the Entente without naming terms. The Allies reject the offer as a maneuver, and Wilson's note of 18 December asks both sides to state their aims.

On the map Chapter V
13 DEC 1916

White Friday: avalanches in the Dolomites

Marmolada, Italian Alps

Heavy snow and avalanches struck the Alpine front, burying soldiers in barracks and positions on both sides. The mountain war in the Alps killed many men through cold and avalanche as well as combat.

estimates range from 2,000 to 10,000

On the map Chapter IX

1917

9 JAN 1917

Pless decision on U-boat war

Pless (Pszczyna), Silesia

At a Crown Council, the Kaiser accepts the Navy's claim that unrestricted submarine warfare will force Britain to sue for peace within five months. Chancellor Bethmann Hollweg, fearful of American intervention, is overruled by Hindenburg and Ludendorff.

On the map Chapter VI
16 JAN 1917

Zimmermann Telegram sent

Berlin, Germany

German Foreign Secretary Zimmermann proposes to Mexico an alliance against the United States, offering the return of Texas, New Mexico and Arizona. British codebreakers intercept the message, and its publication on 1 March inflames American opinion.

On the map Chapter VI
16 JAN 1917

Zimmermann Telegram sent

Berlin, Germany

Germany's foreign secretary proposes an alliance with Mexico, with the return of Texas, New Mexico and Arizona, in case the United States enters the war. British codebreakers intercept and decipher it; its publication on 1 March pushes American opinion toward war.

On the map Chapter XIII
1 FEB 1917

Unrestricted submarine warfare begins

Western approaches, Atlantic

German U-boats begin sinking merchant ships without warning in a zone around Britain, France and Italy. In April they sink more than 850,000 tons, and Britain's grain reserves run short, until convoys turn the tide.

more than 850,000 tons sunk in April 1917

On the map Chapter VI
1 FEB 1917

Unrestricted submarine warfare resumes

Waters around the British Isles

On the advice of Admiral Holtzendorff, Germany staked everything on starving Britain in five months. The United States broke relations on 3 February and entered the war on 6 April.

about 860,000 tons sunk in April 1917

On the map Chapter XI
7 FEB 1917

Women's Army Auxiliary Corps formed

London, United Kingdom

The British army creates a women's corps to take over cooks', clerks', drivers' and other support jobs in France and at home, freeing men for the front. About 57,000 women serve in the WAAC, renamed Queen Mary's Army Auxiliary Corps in 1918.

On the map Chapter XII
21 FEB 1917

SS Mendi sinks

English Channel, off the Isle of Wight

The troopship carrying men of the South African Native Labour Corps to France is rammed in fog by another vessel and sinks with the loss of 646 lives, including 607 black South African laborers.

646 killed

On the map Chapter XIII
8 MAR 1917 –
12 MAR 1917

February Revolution

Petrograd, Russia

Bread riots begin on International Women's Day (23 February in the Russian calendar) and grow into a general strike. On 12 March the garrison mutinies, and the Duma and the Petrograd Soviet set up rival centers of authority, the Dual Power.

On the map Chapter VI
11 MAR 1917

British capture Baghdad

Baghdad, Mesopotamia

General Maude's well-organized army, having retaken Kut, enters Baghdad as the Ottomans withdraw. It restores British prestige after the surrender at Kut.

On the map Chapter VI
11 MAR 1917

British capture Baghdad

Baghdad, Mesopotamia

General Maude's Anglo-Indian army, built up slowly after the humiliation at Kut, takes the Ottomans' major Mesopotamian city and avenges the earlier disaster.

On the map Chapter XIII
15 MAR 1917

Abdication of Nicholas II

Pskov, Russia

Pressed by his generals, the Tsar signs an abdication in his train at Pskov in favor of his brother Michael, who declines the throne the next day. The Romanov dynasty ends after more than 300 years.

On the map Chapter VI
16 MAR 1917 –
20 MAR 1917

German withdrawal to the Hindenburg Line

Noyon to Arras, France

In Operation Alberich the Germans retire from the Noyon salient to a stronger and shorter line, devastating the ground they leave. The front is shortened by about 25 miles, and a number of divisions are freed, upsetting Allied plans.

On the map Chapter VI
16 MAR 1917 –
20 MAR 1917

Germans withdraw to the Hindenburg Line

Péronne, France

Operation Alberich pulled the German army back to a shorter, stronger line, shortening the front by some 25 miles (40 kilometers), leaving a devastated no man's land of felled trees, poisoned wells and booby traps. It shortened the front and freed 13 or 14 divisions.

On the map Chapter IX
26 MAR 1917 –
27 MAR 1917

First Battle of Gaza

Gaza, Palestine

Fog and poor communications lead the British to break off an attack on Gaza when the town was nearly taken. The failure, with about 4,000 casualties, reveals weaknesses in command.

On the map Chapter VI
1 APR 1917 –
30 APR 1917

Bloody April

Arras, France

During the Arras offensive the Royal Flying Corps, flying inferior aircraft in an aggressive policy, suffered its worst losses of the war against the new German Jastas.

about 245 British aircraft lost

On the map Chapter XI
6 APR 1917

United States declares war on Germany

Washington, United States

After Wilson's address of 2 April, the Senate (82 to 6) and the House (373 to 50) vote for war. The United States joins as an Associated Power, with a small army that will take more than a year to grow into a decisive force.

On the map Chapter VI
6 APR 1917

United States declares war on Germany

Washington, United States

After Germany's resumption of unrestricted submarine warfare and the Zimmermann Telegram, Congress votes for war. Over the next year millions of American soldiers will be mobilized and billions of dollars lent to the Allies.

On the map Chapter XIII
9 APR 1917 –
16 MAY 1917

Battle of Arras

Arras, France

The British Third Army attacks east of Arras after a huge bombardment and advances three and a half miles on the first day. The battle then stalls and ends in costly attrition in mid-May.

about 158,000 British casualties

On the map Chapter VI
9 APR 1917 –
12 APR 1917

Capture of Vimy Ridge

Vimy, France

All four Canadian divisions attack together for the first time, behind a creeping barrage and after months of rehearsal, and take the ridge by 12 April. The victory becomes a symbol of Canadian nationhood.

about 10,600 Canadian casualties

On the map Chapter VI
16 APR 1917

Lenin arrives in Petrograd

Finland Station, Petrograd

Lenin, brought across Germany by train with the connivance of the German government, reaches the Finland Station and the next day presents the April Theses: no support for the Provisional Government, all power to the soviets.

On the map Chapter VI
16 APR 1917 –
9 MAY 1917

Nivelle Offensive (Chemin des Dames)

Chemin des Dames, France

General Nivelle's promised breakthrough on the Aisne fails against a prepared German defense. Heavy casualties and unfulfilled hopes bring the French army to the edge of collapse.

roughly 190,000 French casualties

On the map Chapter VI
16 APR 1917

German April Strike

Berlin, Germany

About 300,000 workers in Berlin, Leipzig and other cities stop work after a cut in the bread ration, demanding peace and reform. It is the largest strike in wartime Germany so far and a rehearsal for the larger strikes of 1918.

On the map Chapter XII
17 APR 1917 –
19 APR 1917

Second Battle of Gaza

Gaza, Palestine

A frontal attack with tanks and gas shells fails against a strengthened Ottoman defense. General Murray is soon replaced by Allenby.

more than 6,000 British casualties

On the map Chapter VI
29 APR 1917

The French army mutinies

Soissons, France

After the failure of the Nivelle offensive, units across the French army refused to go back into the line, reaching their peak in late May and June. Pétain restored order with better leave, better food and an end to costly offensives.

554 death sentences, roughly 30 to 50 carried out

On the map Chapter IX
3 MAY 1917

French army mutinies begin

Aisne front, France

From early May, French units refuse to attack. The movement spreads through many divisions during May and June, though soldiers continue to defend their trenches.

On the map Chapter VI
10 MAY 1917

First experimental convoy

Gibraltar

After months of Admiralty resistance and pressure from Lloyd George, a convoy sails from Gibraltar to Britain and arrives between 20 and 22 May without loss. Convoys are extended to the Atlantic, and by the end of the year monthly sinkings fall sharply from April's peak.

On the map Chapter VI
10 MAY 1917

First convoy sails from Gibraltar

Gibraltar

After months of Admiralty reluctance, the first experimental convoy left for Britain. In the course of the year the system reduced losses so that fewer than one in a hundred ships in convoy was sunk.

On the map Chapter XI
15 MAY 1917

Pétain replaces Nivelle

Paris, France

Pétain becomes commander-in-chief of the French armies. He restores discipline with some executions, but also with better leave, food and rest, and stops the great offensives.

On the map Chapter VI
15 MAY 1917

Horthy's raid on the Otranto Barrage

Strait of Otranto

Captain Miklós Horthy led three Austro-Hungarian cruisers against the Allied drifters and sank 14 of them. Horthy was wounded, and the barrage stayed porous.

On the map Chapter XI
7 JUN 1917

Battle of Messines

Messines, Belgium

Plumer's Second Army detonates 19 mines under the Messines Ridge at 3:10 a.m. and storms it behind a creeping barrage. It is a model of a limited objective achieved by careful planning.

about 25,000 casualties on each side

On the map Chapter VI
7 JUN 1917

The Messines mines

Messines Ridge, Belgium

At 3:10 a.m. nineteen mines, from a system of 26 charged with nearly a million pounds of ammonal, blew the top off the ridge. The explosion was reportedly heard in London. Plumer's Second Army then took the ridge in a classic bite-and-hold operation.

disputed: 10,000 Germans is often claimed, perhaps only hundreds died in the blasts

On the map Chapter X
13 JUN 1917

Gotha raid on London

London, England

Fourteen Gotha bombers attacked London in broad daylight. Eighteen children died at a school in Poplar. The deadliest air raid of the war on Britain led to the Smuts report.

162 killed

On the map Chapter XI
13 JUN 1917

Gotha raid on London

London, United Kingdom

Fourteen Gotha bombers attack London in daylight, killing 162 people and injuring 432. A bomb on a Poplar school kills 18 children. The raid triggers a reorganization of British air defenses and the creation of the Royal Air Force.

162 killed, 432 injured

On the map Chapter XII
15 JUN 1917

US Espionage Act

Washington, United States

Two months after joining the war, the United States criminalizes obstruction of the draft and the passing of information to the enemy. The Act, expanded by the Sedition Act of May 1918, is used to prosecute roughly 2,000 people for speech.

On the map Chapter XII
1 JUL 1917 –
19 JUL 1917

Kerensky Offensive

Zborów, Galicia

Russia's last offensive makes early gains in Galicia but collapses when the Germans counter-attack on 19 July. The army disintegrates, with mass desertion, and Galicia and Bukovina are lost.

On the map Chapter VI
6 JUL 1917

Capture of Aqaba

Aqaba, Jordan

Arab irregulars under Auda abu Tayi, with T. E. Lawrence, cross the desert and attack the Ottoman port from the landward side. Aqaba gives the Arab Revolt a base and a link to the British in Sinai.

On the map Chapter VI
6 JUL 1917

Arab forces capture Aqaba

Aqaba, Hejaz

An Arab force led by Auda Abu Tayi and accompanied by T. E. Lawrence takes the Red Sea port from its landward side after an overland march across the desert. It opens a supply line to the Arab army and the British in Sinai.

On the map Chapter XIII
12 JUL 1917

Mustard gas at Ypres

Ypres, Belgium

The Germans fired shells filled with a persistent blistering agent, later called mustard gas, at British troops massing for Third Ypres. It killed relatively few but caused thousands of painful casualties, and contaminated the ground for days.

On the map Chapter X
16 JUL 1917 –
20 JUL 1917

July Days

Petrograd, Russia

Armed soldiers, sailors and workers demonstrate against the Provisional Government. The uprising fails, Lenin flees to Finland, Trotsky is arrested, and on 21 July Kerensky becomes prime minister.

On the map Chapter VI
17 JUL 1917

Royal house renamed Windsor

London, United Kingdom

George V proclaims that his family will be known as the House of Windsor and not Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. The change, urged by advisers worried by anti-German feeling, shows how far the war had changed public attitudes.

On the map Chapter XII
19 JUL 1917

Reichstag Peace Resolution

Berlin, Germany

The Reichstag votes by 212 or 216 to 126 (sources differ) for a peace of understanding without forced annexations. The Chancellor accepts it only 'as I understand it', and the generals ignore it.

On the map Chapter VI
30 JUL 1917

Sassoon's protest read in Parliament

London, England

Siegfried Sassoon's declaration that the war was being prolonged was read in the House of Commons. Instead of a court-martial he was sent for treatment to Craiglockhart, where he met Wilfred Owen.

On the map Chapter IX
31 JUL 1917 –
10 NOV 1917

Third Battle of Ypres (Passchendaele)

Ypres Salient, Belgium

Haig's offensive from the Ypres salient bogs down in the worst rain in decades and a German defense in depth. Plumer's bite-and-hold attacks succeed in September, but the Canadians take Passchendaele village only on 6 November.

British Empire estimates 240,000 to over 400,000; German 217,000 to 400,000

On the map Chapter VI
31 JUL 1917 –
10 NOV 1917

Rain and mud at Passchendaele

Passchendaele, Belgium

Rain began on the first day of the British offensive. Shelling had destroyed the drainage of the Flanders plain, and the battlefield became a swamp where men, mules and guns sank. It became the war's emblem of mud.

On the map Chapter IX
1 AUG 1917

Pope Benedict XV's peace note

Vatican, Rome

The Pope appeals to the belligerents to end the 'useless slaughter' and return to the pre-war situation. Neither side accepts, and Wilson replies on 27 August that he cannot trust the German government.

On the map Chapter VI
2 AUG 1917

First landing on a moving ship

Scapa Flow, Scotland

Squadron Commander Edwin Dunning landed his Sopwith Pup on HMS Furious while she steamed into the wind. He drowned in a third attempt five days later.

On the map Chapter XI
14 AUG 1917

China declares war on Germany

Beijing, China

China, hoping to recover the German concessions in Shandong and to be at the peace conference, joins the Allies. About 140,000 Chinese laborers work behind the lines in France.

On the map Chapter VI
14 AUG 1917

China declares war on Germany and Austria-Hungary

Beijing, China

China enters the war on the Allied side hoping for a seat at the peace conference and the return of German concessions in Shandong. It sends laborers, not soldiers, and is disappointed at Versailles.

On the map Chapter XIII
17 AUG 1917

The Smuts report on air organization

London, England

General Smuts recommended merging the Royal Flying Corps and the Royal Naval Air Service under a single Air Ministry, and predicted that air operations might become the principal operations of war.

On the map Chapter XI
18 AUG 1917

Queen's Hospital opens at Sidcup

Sidcup, England

Harold Gillies's facial injuries hospital moved to Sidcup in 1917 and treated thousands of men. Its surgeons refined the tubed pedicle skin flap and laid the foundations of modern plastic surgery.

about 5,000 patients

On the map Chapter X
1 SEP 1917 –
5 SEP 1917

Fall of Riga

Riga, Latvia

Hutier's Eighth Army crosses the Dvina behind a short hurricane bombardment designed by Bruchmüller and infiltration by small groups, and takes Riga on 3 September. The method is repeated at Caporetto and Cambrai.

On the map Chapter VI
9 SEP 1917 –
14 SEP 1917

Kornilov Affair

Petrograd, Russia

General Kornilov sends cavalry toward Petrograd, and Kerensky denounces him as a traitor. The Soviet arms the workers, the troops halt, and Kornilov is arrested, while Kerensky loses the officers and the Bolsheviks gain.

On the map Chapter VI
9 SEP 1917 –
12 SEP 1917

The Étaples mutiny

Étaples, France

Soldiers at the vast base camp at Étaples, enraged by harsh training and military police behavior, rioted for several days. One corporal, Jesse Short, was shot for his part in what the army called a mutiny.

On the map Chapter IX
24 OCT 1917 –
19 NOV 1917

Battle of Caporetto

Caporetto (Kobarid), Slovenia

A German-Austro-Hungarian offensive breaks the Italian Second Army with gas and infiltration. The Italians retreat 90 miles to the Piave, and Cadorna is replaced by Diaz.

about 265,000 Italian prisoners

On the map Chapter VI
24 OCT 1917

Gas and fire at Caporetto

Caporetto (Kobarid), Slovenia

Austro-German forces opened the battle with a short, surprise bombardment mixed with gas shells, planned on Bruchmüller's methods, and broke the Italian line in a day.

On the map Chapter X
26 OCT 1917

Brazil declares war on Germany

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

After German submarines sink several Brazilian ships, the largest Latin American country joins the Allies. It seizes German ships in its ports and sends a naval division and a medical mission.

On the map Chapter XIII
31 OCT 1917

Capture of Beersheba

Beersheba, Palestine

Allenby turns the Ottoman line at its desert end. At dusk the 4th Light Horse Brigade charges across four miles of open ground, takes the town and saves its wells.

On the map Chapter VI
31 OCT 1917

Beersheba: a charge through Turkish trenches

Beersheba, Palestine

After a flank march across the desert, Australian light horsemen charged the Turkish trenches at Beersheba at the gallop and seized the wells. The open desert flank allowed a mobility the western trench line never had.

On the map Chapter IX
31 OCT 1917

Capture of Beersheba

Beersheba, Palestine

Allenby's army breaks the Gaza-Beersheba line at its eastern end, in a charge by the Australian 4th Light Horse Brigade. Jerusalem falls on 9 December.

On the map Chapter XIII
2 NOV 1917

Balfour Declaration

London, United Kingdom

The British government promises to view with favor the establishment of a national home for the Jewish people in Palestine, without prejudice to the rights of existing non-Jewish communities. It conflicts with other wartime promises.

On the map Chapter VI
2 NOV 1917

Balfour Declaration

London, United Kingdom

Britain's Foreign Secretary writes to Lord Rothschild that the government favors 'a national home for the Jewish people' in Palestine, provided the rights of existing communities are protected. The text becomes one of the most contested documents of the century.

On the map Chapter XIII
7 NOV 1917

October Revolution

Petrograd, Russia

The Bolsheviks seize the capital's bridges, stations and telegraph and storm the Winter Palace, with almost no bloodshed. The Congress of Soviets approves the seizure of power, and Lenin heads a Council of People's Commissars.

On the map Chapter VI
8 NOV 1917

Decree on Peace

Petrograd, Russia

The Congress of Soviets adopts Lenin's call to all belligerents for an immediate peace without annexations or indemnities. The Allies refuse to respond, and the Bolsheviks open talks with the Central Powers.

On the map Chapter VI
20 NOV 1917 –
7 DEC 1917

Battle of Cambrai

Cambrai, France

476 tanks, with infantry, aircraft and predicted artillery fire, break the Hindenburg Line on 20 November. A German counter-attack on 30 November using infiltration recovers much of the ground.

about 44,000 British casualties; German 45,000–55,000

On the map Chapter VI
20 NOV 1917

Cambrai: tanks and predicted fire

Cambrai, France

Some 476 tanks and about 1,000 guns attacked the Hindenburg Line with no preliminary bombardment. The British penetrated about five miles on the first day. A German counterattack on 30 November regained much of the ground.

On the map Chapter X
6 DEC 1917

Halifax Explosion

Halifax, Canada

The French munitions ship Mont-Blanc and the Norwegian Imo collide in Halifax harbor, and the burning Mont-Blanc blows up. The blast kills about 1,782 people and injures around 9,000, destroying the north end of the city.

about 1,782 killed, about 9,000 injured

On the map Chapter XII
9 DEC 1917 –
11 DEC 1917

Fall of Jerusalem

Jerusalem, Palestine

The Ottomans evacuate the city and its mayor surrenders it on 9 December. Allenby enters on foot through the Jaffa Gate on 11 December and promises protection for the holy places of all three religions.

On the map Chapter VI
10 DEC 1917

MAS boats sink the Wien

Trieste, Austria-Hungary

Luigi Rizzo's motor torpedo boats entered Trieste harbor and sank the old Austro-Hungarian coastal defense ship Wien. It was the first of two Italian successes against the Austro-Hungarian fleet.

On the map Chapter XI
15 DEC 1917

Armistice of Brest-Litovsk

Brest-Litovsk, Belarus

Russia's Bolshevik government signs an armistice with the Central Powers, ending fighting on the Eastern Front. Germany can now shift divisions west.

On the map Chapter VI
17 DEC 1917

Canadian 'conscription election'

Ottawa, Canada

Borden's Unionist coalition wins a large majority on a platform of conscription, helped by the Wartime Elections Act, but wins hardly any seats in Quebec. The result exposes a deep split between English and French Canada.

On the map Chapter XII
20 DEC 1917

Second Australian conscription referendum

Melbourne, Australia

Australians again reject overseas conscription, this time by about 54 percent. The AIF stays all-volunteer to the end of the war.

On the map Chapter XII
31 DEC 1917

Sugar rationing begins in Britain

London, United Kingdom

After months of queues, Britain introduces its first compulsory food rationing, for sugar. Meat, butter and margarine follow in February and April 1918.

On the map Chapter XII

1918

8 JAN 1918

Wilson delivers the Fourteen Points

Washington, D.C., United States

President Woodrow Wilson tells a joint session of Congress that the war should end with open diplomacy, free seas, reduced arms, national self-determination in Europe and a League of Nations. The speech answers both the Bolsheviks and the German government, and it becomes the basis of Germany's request for an armistice in October.

On the map Chapter VII
14 JAN 1918

Austrian January strikes

Vienna, Austria-Hungary

A cut in the flour ration sets off strikes that spread to some 700,000 workers across Austria, who demand peace and bread. Workers' councils on the Russian model appear in Vienna.

On the map Chapter XII
28 JAN 1918

German January strike

Berlin, Germany

About a million German workers, including 400,000 in Berlin, strike for peace without annexations, food and democratic reform. The Social Democratic leaders join the strike committees to bring it to an end, and the army arrests radicals.

On the map Chapter XII
6 FEB 1918

Representation of the People Act

London, United Kingdom

The Act enfranchises all men over 21 and women over 30 who meet property qualifications, adding some 8.4 million women to the electorate. It is the biggest single extension of the British franchise.

On the map Chapter XII
9 FEB 1918 –
10 FEB 1918

The bread peace with Ukraine; Trotsky quits the talks

Brest-Litovsk, Belarus

The Central Powers sign a separate treaty with the Ukrainian People's Republic, which promises grain in return for military protection. The next day Trotsky declares that Russia will neither sign the German terms nor continue the war, a gesture that invites the German advance.

On the map Chapter VII
18 FEB 1918 –
3 MAR 1918

Operation Faustschlag

Dvinsk (Daugavpils), Latvia

Germany ends the armistice and sends 53 divisions across the shattered Russian front. Small detachments in trains take towns and prisoners by the thousand, Kiev falls on 1 March, and the Bolsheviks are forced back to the conference table.

On the map Chapter VII
3 MAR 1918

Treaty of Brest-Litovsk

Brest-Litovsk, Belarus

Soviet Russia signs away Poland, the Baltic provinces, Ukraine and Finland, and the districts of Kars, Ardahan and Batum. It is the harshest peace of the war, and the model for what Germany hopes to impose in the west.

about a third of Russia's population, by the usual estimates

On the map Chapter VII
4 MAR 1918

First wave of influenza

Camp Funston, Kansas, United States

Cases of a sudden flu are recorded in a crowded army camp in Kansas, and within weeks it spreads with the troop convoys to France. The origin of the pandemic is still debated, but this first, mild wave travels with the American build-up and reaches both armies by May and June.

On the map Chapter VII
21 MAR 1918 –
5 APR 1918

Operation Michael

Somme, Picardy, France

After a five-hour bombardment planned by Georg Bruchmüller, German storm troops overrun the British Fifth Army and part of the Third in thick fog. They advance up to 40 miles, retake the old Somme battlefield and come within sight of Amiens before supply and exhaustion halt them.

about 239,000 German and 255,000 Allied casualties

On the map Chapter VII
21 MAR 1918

Operation Michael: the trench zone overrun

St Quentin, France

German storm detachments overran the British forward zone in fog after a short, massive bombardment. The British defense in depth was unfinished, especially in the south, and the trench system gave way.

On the map Chapter IX
21 MAR 1918

Bruchmüller's bombardment opens Operation Michael

St Quentin, France

About 6,500 guns and 3,500 mortars fired more than a million shells in five hours on a front of some 40 miles, mixing gas and high explosive. Stormtroopers then broke through the British Fifth Army.

more than 1,000,000 shells in 5 hours

On the map Chapter X
23 MAR 1918

The Paris Gun opens fire

Crépy-en-Laonnois, France

A long-barreled Krupp gun in the forest of Crépy shells Paris from 75 miles away, and the 106-kilogram shells climb to the stratosphere. On Good Friday, 29 March, one hits the church of Saint-Gervais and kills 91 people.

about 250 killed in Paris by August

On the map Chapter VII
23 MAR 1918

The Paris Gun opens fire

Paris, France

A German long-range gun in the forest of Crépy fired shells 75 miles into Paris, the longest-range gun built up to that time. It was more a terror weapon than a military one, killing about 250 people in total.

On the map Chapter X
23 MAR 1918 –
9 AUG 1918

The Paris Gun shells Paris

Paris, France

A Krupp super-gun about 75 miles from the city fires shells into Paris from the stratosphere. On Good Friday, 29 March, a shell hits the church of Saint-Gervais and kills 91 worshippers; about 250 people die in all.

about 250 killed, about 620 wounded

On the map Chapter XII
26 MAR 1918

Foch given coordination at Doullens

Doullens, France

In the town hall of Doullens, French and British leaders agree to give Marshal Ferdinand Foch the task of coordinating the action of the Allied armies on the Western Front. His powers are widened at Beauvais on 3 April, and it is the first real step toward a unified Allied command.

On the map Chapter VII
1 APR 1918

Royal Air Force formed

London, United Kingdom

The Royal Flying Corps and the Royal Naval Air Service merge into the Royal Air Force, the first independent air service in the world. By the Armistice it has roughly 300,000 personnel and over 20,000 aircraft, many of them training machines.

On the map Chapter VII
1 APR 1918

The Royal Air Force is born

London, England

The Royal Flying Corps and the Royal Naval Air Service merged to form the RAF, the first independent air force in the world, with more than 20,000 aircraft by the end of the year.

On the map Chapter XI
5 APR 1918

Robert Prager lynched

Collinsville, Illinois, United States

A mob seizes the German-born miner Robert Prager and hangs him from a tree. A jury acquits the men tried for the killing within half an hour, a symptom of the anti-German hysteria of 1917–18.

On the map Chapter XII
9 APR 1918 –
29 APR 1918

Operation Georgette (the Battle of the Lys)

Armentières, France

The German Sixth and Fourth Armies attack the Lys valley, breaking the Portuguese 2nd Division on the first morning. The British abandon the whole Passchendaele ridge, and Haig issues his "backs to the wall" order on 11 April, but the Germans fail to take the railway junction of Hazebrouck.

about 80,000 to 110,000 casualties on each side, depending on the source

On the map Chapter VII
21 APR 1918

Death of the Red Baron

Vaux-sur-Somme, France

Manfred von Richthofen, the leading ace of the war with 80 confirmed victories, is killed by a single bullet while chasing a British Camel at low level. Credit was officially given to a Canadian pilot, but many modern studies point to Australian ground gunners.

On the map Chapter VII
23 APR 1918

The Zeebrugge raid

Zeebrugge, Belgium

On St George's Day the Royal Navy attacked the Mole and sank blockships in the canal mouth to bottle up the Flanders U-boat flotilla. Eight Victoria Crosses were won, but the channel was reopened within days.

about 230 British dead

On the map Chapter XI
24 APR 1918

First tank-against-tank battle at Villers-Bretonneux

Villers-Bretonneux, France

German A7V tanks help to capture the village overlooking Amiens, and British tanks fight them. That night two Australian brigades retake the village with a pincer attack, and Amiens is saved.

On the map Chapter VII
24 APR 1918

First tank-against-tank battle

Villers-Bretonneux, France

Three German A7V tanks met British Mark IVs and Whippets near Villers-Bretonneux. A British male tank knocked out an A7V in the first tank duel in history. The village changed hands again that night to Australian troops.

On the map Chapter X
7 MAY 1918

Treaty of Bucharest

Bucharest, Romania

Romania, isolated and starved, signs away Southern Dobruja and the Carpathian passes, hands its surplus grain to the Central Powers, and leases its oilfields to Germany for 90 years. King Ferdinand never signs it, and Romania re-enters the war on 10 November.

On the map Chapter VII
25 MAY 1918

The Czechoslovak Legion rises

Chelyabinsk, Russia

Trotsky orders the 40,000 men of the Czechoslovak Legion disarmed as they wait for trains to Vladivostok. They rebel instead and seize the Trans-Siberian railway, and the anti-Bolshevik forces in Russia gain a protector, and the Allies a pretext for intervention.

On the map Chapter VII
27 MAY 1918 –
6 JUN 1918

Operation Blücher-Yorck

Chemin des Dames, France

After a Bruchmüller bombardment, German armies overrun the French Sixth Army, take Soissons, and reach the Marne within three days, about 35 miles from Paris at their closest. The advance creates a deep salient that is hard to supply, and it is stopped by French reserves and Americans.

about 130,000 German and 127,000 Allied casualties

On the map Chapter VII
28 MAY 1918

Americans take Cantigny

Cantigny, France

The US 1st Division captures the village in about 30 minutes with French artillery and tanks, and holds it through two days of counterattacks. It is the first American offensive of the war, and it convinces the French that the Americans can fight.

On the map Chapter VII
31 MAY 1918

The Renault FT enters combat

Forest of Retz, France

France's light two-man tank, with its all-round rotating turret, first fought east of the Forest of Retz, near Ploisy. About 2,700 were delivered by the Armistice, and its layout became the standard for tanks.

On the map Chapter X
6 JUN 1918 –
26 JUN 1918

Battle of Belleau Wood

Belleau, France

The US 2nd Division, including the Marine Brigade, attacks German positions in a wood near the Marne. It takes three weeks of costly fighting to clear it, and the battle's reputation, like the wood's name, remains in American memory.

On the map Chapter VII
6 JUN 1918

The Independent Force is formed

Nancy, France

The new strategic bombing force, commanded from mid-June by Hugh Trenchard, was meant to attack German industry. It dropped about 550 tons of bombs before the Armistice.

On the map Chapter XI
10 JUN 1918

MAS 15 sinks the Szent István

Off Premuda, Adriatic Sea

Luigi Rizzo's motor torpedo boat torpedoed the Austro-Hungarian dreadnought during Horthy's second raid on Otranto. The ship capsized after about three hours, and the raid was abandoned.

fewer than 100 crew killed

On the map Chapter XI
16 JUN 1918

Eugene Debs's Canton speech

Canton, Ohio, United States

The Socialist leader Eugene V. Debs visits jailed antiwar activists at the Canton workhouse, then addresses a rally in a park nearby. He is arrested under the Espionage Act and sentenced to ten years, a sentence commuted by President Harding in 1921.

On the map Chapter XII
1 JUL 1918

Chilwell shell-filling factory explosion

Chilwell, England

A huge explosion at the National Shell Filling Factory kills 134 people, many of them women, and injures about 250. Only 32 of the dead are identified, and censorship keeps the details out of the press.

134 killed

On the map Chapter XII
4 JUL 1918

Monash's battle of Hamel

Hamel, France

General John Monash's Australian Corps took the village in about 93 minutes with infantry, 60 tanks, artillery and aircraft, working to a rehearsed plan. It was the model for the attacks of the Hundred Days.

On the map Chapter X
15 JUL 1918 –
6 AUG 1918

Second Battle of the Marne

Marne, France

Ludendorff's last offensive crosses the Marne but is stopped by Gouraud's elastic defense east of Reims and by American and French troops west of it. Three days later the Allies counterattack, and by 6 August the Germans are back on the Vesle.

On the map Chapter VII
18 JUL 1918

Mangin's counterstroke at Soissons

Villers-Cotterêts, France

General Mangin's Tenth Army, with hundreds of tanks and the American 1st and 2nd Divisions, attacks the flank of the Marne salient without a preliminary bombardment. The Germans lose the initiative for good.

On the map Chapter VII
19 JUL 1918

The Tondern raid

Tondern, Germany

Seven Sopwith Camels launched from HMS Furious bombed the Zeppelin sheds at Tondern and destroyed two airships. It was the first air strike from an aircraft carrier.

On the map Chapter XI
2 AUG 1918

Allied intervention at Archangel

Arkhangelsk, Russia

British and French troops land in northern Russia to guard war stores and support anti-Bolshevik forces, with American infantry following in September. Japanese, British and American forces arrive at Vladivostok the same month, and the intervention drags on after the Armistice.

On the map Chapter VII
8 AUG 1918 –
12 AUG 1918

Battle of Amiens

Amiens, France

Canadian, Australian, British and French troops, with nearly 600 tanks and 2,000 guns, advance up to 8 miles in a day in fog. Ludendorff calls it the black day of the German Army, and the Hundred Days begin.

about 12,000 Allied casualties on the first day; German losses about 30,000, with over 15,000 prisoners

On the map Chapter VII
8 AUG 1918

Amiens: the black day of the German Army

Amiens, France

Over 500 tanks, 2,000 guns and hundreds of aircraft supported a surprise attack by the British, Australian, Canadian and French. The Germans lost the equivalent of several divisions, many of them prisoners, and Ludendorff called it the black day of his army.

On the map Chapter X
12 SEP 1918 –
15 SEP 1918

Battle of Saint-Mihiel

Saint-Mihiel, France

The American First Army, in its first independent operation, eliminates the German salient south of Verdun in two days, helped by a large Allied air force under Billy Mitchell. The Germans were already withdrawing, but the offensive proves that the AEF can plan and carry out a big battle.

On the map Chapter VII
15 SEP 1918

Breakthrough at Dobro Pole

Dobro Pole, North Macedonia

French and Serbian troops take the heights of Dobro Pole on the Macedonian front, and the Bulgarian First Army breaks and mutinies. Bulgaria is out of the war two weeks later.

On the map Chapter VII
19 SEP 1918 –
25 SEP 1918

Battle of Megiddo

Plain of Sharon and Esdraelon, Palestine

Allenby breaks the Ottoman line near the coast and sends his cavalry deep into the enemy rear. The Turkish Seventh and Eighth Armies are destroyed, and Palestine and Syria are open.

about 75,000 Turkish prisoners in the campaign

On the map Chapter VII
19 SEP 1918 –
25 SEP 1918

Battle of Megiddo

Megiddo, Palestine

Allenby's surprise breakthrough and cavalry sweep destroys two Ottoman armies in a week. Damascus falls on 1 October, and the Ottomans sign an armistice at Mudros on 30 October.

On the map Chapter XIII
26 SEP 1918 –
11 NOV 1918

Meuse-Argonne Offensive

Meuse-Argonne, France

The American First Army and the French Fourth Army attack in the Meuse valley and the Argonne forest in a battle that lasts until the Armistice. It is the largest in American history, and it forces the Germans to move their reserves from other fronts.

26,277 Americans killed and 95,786 wounded

On the map Chapter VII
28 SEP 1918 –
31 JAN 1919

Second and deadliest wave of influenza

Philadelphia, United States

A war-bond parade of some 200,000 people in Philadelphia is followed within days by an overwhelming outbreak, and the autumn wave spreads around the world along ports, railways and troop movements. It kills young adults at an unusual rate and reaches its peak in October 1918.

commonly 25 to 50 million dead worldwide over four waves; estimates run from 17 to 100 million

On the map Chapter VIII
29 SEP 1918

Ludendorff demands an armistice

Spa, Belgium

After Bulgaria's collapse Ludendorff tells the Kaiser that an armistice must be sought at once. On 3 October Prince Max of Baden becomes chancellor to lead the request, and on 4 October his government sends its first note to Wilson.

On the map Chapter VII
29 SEP 1918

Bulgaria signs an armistice

Thessaloniki, Greece

The Armistice of Salonika takes Bulgaria out of the war, effective noon on 30 September. Tsar Ferdinand abdicates a few days later, and the Allied armies can march north into Serbia.

On the map Chapter VII
29 SEP 1918

Breaking the Hindenburg Line at the St Quentin Canal

Bellicourt, France

The British Fourth Army, with Australians and Americans, attacks the strongest part of the German defensive system after days of bombardment. The 46th Division crosses the canal by lifebelts and rafts and seizes the Riqueval bridge, and by 5 October the entire Hindenburg Line is broken.

On the map Chapter VII
1 OCT 1918

Fall of Damascus

Damascus, Syria

Australian Light Horse and Arab troops enter the Syrian capital as the Ottoman army collapses. The Arab Revolt achieves its main goal, and arguments about who is to rule Syria begin immediately.

On the map Chapter VII
24 OCT 1918 –
3 NOV 1918

Battle of Vittorio Veneto

Vittorio Veneto, Italy

Italian, British, French, Czechoslovak and American troops cross the flooded Piave and break the Austro-Hungarian front. As the army dissolves along national lines, the Habsburg command asks for an armistice.

On the map Chapter VII
29 OCT 1918 –
6 NOV 1918

The fleet mutinies at Wilhelmshaven and Kiel

Kiel, Germany

Sailors refused to sail on a last, hopeless sortie ordered by the Admiralty. The revolt spread from the ports to the whole of Germany and helped to bring down the Kaiser.

On the map Chapter XI
30 OCT 1918

Armistice of Mudros

Mudros, Lemnos, Greece

The Ottoman Empire signs an armistice aboard HMS Agamemnon, effective on 31 October. The Straits are opened to the Allies, the army is demobilized, and the Allies reserve the right to occupy strategic points.

On the map Chapter VII
3 NOV 1918

Kiel mutiny

Kiel, Germany

Sailors who refused to sail for a final battle with the Royal Navy rise in the port of Kiel after a demonstration is fired on. Their councils take the port, and in six days the revolution reaches Berlin.

On the map Chapter VII
3 NOV 1918

Armistice of Villa Giusti

Padua, Italy

Austria-Hungary signs an armistice with Italy, effective at 3 p.m. on 4 November. The Italians keep advancing until it takes effect, and Diaz's bulletin of 4 November claims about 300,000 prisoners for the whole offensive.

On the map Chapter VII
4 NOV 1918

Wilfred Owen killed

Ors, France

The poet Wilfred Owen is killed leading his men across the Sambre-Oise Canal, a week before the armistice. Only a handful of his poems had been published; his collected poems, edited by Sassoon, appear in 1920.

On the map Chapter XII
9 NOV 1918

The Kaiser's abdication and the German Republic

Berlin, Germany

Prince Max announces the Kaiser's abdication and hands the chancellorship to Ebert, and Scheidemann proclaims a republic from a Reichstag window. Wilhelm II crosses into the Netherlands the next day.

On the map Chapter VII
11 NOV 1918

The Armistice at Compiègne

Rethondes, Forest of Compiègne, France

German envoys led by Matthias Erzberger sign the terms in Foch's railway carriage at about 5 a.m., and the fighting ends at 11 a.m. The last-day toll is about 11,000 casualties, including 2,738 dead.

about 2,738 killed on the last day

On the map Chapter VII
11 NOV 1918

Piłsudski takes command in Warsaw

Warsaw, Poland

Józef Piłsudski, released from a German prison the day before, takes command of Polish forces as German garrisons disarm. Poland, which has not existed as a state for 123 years, is reborn, though its borders are still to be fought for.

On the map Chapter VIII
11 NOV 1918

The Armistice ends the trench war

Mons, Belgium

Fighting went on until 11 a.m. The last Commonwealth soldier killed, Private George Price of Canada, died near Ville-sur-Haine at 10:58. After four years the trenches fell silent.

On the map Chapter IX
12 NOV 1918

Republic of German-Austria proclaimed

Vienna, Austria

After Emperor Charles renounces any share in affairs of state, the Austrian parliament proclaims a republic and declares it part of the German Republic. The Allies forbid the union at Saint-Germain.

On the map Chapter VIII
25 NOV 1918

Lettow-Vorbeck surrenders

Abercorn, Northern Rhodesia

Learning that the war is over, Lettow-Vorbeck lays down his arms two weeks after the armistice. His force of about 150 Europeans and 1,100 askari is the last German army in the field.

On the map Chapter XIII
1 DEC 1918

Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes proclaimed

Belgrade, Serbia

Regent Alexander of Serbia accepts the union of the South Slav lands of the former Austria-Hungary with Serbia and Montenegro. The new state, renamed Yugoslavia in 1929, is the product of a union that its different peoples understood in very different ways.

On the map Chapter VIII

1919

5 JAN 1919 –
15 JAN 1919

Spartacist uprising in Berlin

Berlin, Germany

Radical socialists try to seize Berlin and are crushed by regular troops and Freikorps volunteers called in by the Social Democratic government. On 15 January Rosa Luxemburg and Karl Liebknecht are murdered by Freikorps officers.

On the map Chapter VIII
18 JAN 1919

Paris Peace Conference opens

Paris, France

Delegates of 27 states meet at the Quai d'Orsay on the anniversary of the German Empire's proclamation in 1871. The decisions are soon taken by a small group of the heads of government, Wilson, Clemenceau, Lloyd George and Orlando, without the defeated powers.

On the map Chapter VIII
21 JAN 1919

First Dáil meets; the Irish War of Independence begins

Dublin, Ireland

Sinn Féin members elected in December 1918 meet in Dublin and declare Irish independence. The same day, volunteers kill two policemen at Soloheadbeg, County Tipperary, in an ambush often seen as the start of the war.

about 2,000 to 2,500 dead by the truce of July 1921

On the map Chapter VIII
6 FEB 1919

National Assembly meets at Weimar

Weimar, Germany

The elected German National Assembly meets in the theater of Goethe's town, far from the street fighting of Berlin. It elects Friedrich Ebert provisional president and adopts the Weimar Constitution on 31 July.

On the map Chapter VIII
21 MAR 1919 –
1 AUG 1919

Hungarian Soviet Republic

Budapest, Hungary

Béla Kun's communists and the Social Democrats proclaim a Soviet republic after the Allies demand more territory from Hungary. It collapses in August under Romanian invasion, and Admiral Horthy's National Army takes over Budapest in November.

On the map Chapter VIII
13 APR 1919

Amritsar massacre

Amritsar, India

General Reginald Dyer's troops open fire without warning on a crowd of thousands in the Jallianwala Bagh, a walled garden with few exits. The massacre turns a generation of Indians against British rule.

379 dead by the official British count; Indian estimates above 1,000

On the map Chapter VIII
4 MAY 1919

May Fourth Movement

Beijing, China

Some 3,000 Beijing students march against the decision at Paris to give Germany's Shandong concessions to Japan. The protests spread across China, the delegation refuses to sign the treaty, and a new nationalist movement is born.

On the map Chapter VIII
15 MAY 1919

Greek troops land at Smyrna

Smyrna (Izmir), Turkey

With Allied approval, Greek troops land in the Ottoman port of Smyrna, where there is a large Greek population. Killings accompany the landing, and Turkish resistance begins to organize.

On the map Chapter VIII
19 MAY 1919

Mustafa Kemal lands at Samsun

Samsun, Turkey

Mustafa Kemal arrives on the Black Sea coast as an Ottoman army inspector and soon starts to organize the national movement. It is traditionally taken as the beginning of the Turkish War of Independence.

On the map Chapter VIII
21 JUN 1919

The High Seas Fleet scuttles itself

Scapa Flow, Orkney

Rear-Admiral von Reuter signaled his interned fleet to open their sea cocks. 52 of 74 ships went down in the course of the day. Nine German sailors were shot by British guards.

52 of 74 ships sunk

On the map Chapter XI
28 JUN 1919

Treaty of Versailles signed

Versailles, France

Germany signs in the Hall of Mirrors, five years to the day after Sarajevo. It loses 13 percent of its territory and all its colonies, its army is limited to 100,000 men, and it accepts responsibility for the war under Article 231.

about 65,000 sq km and 7 million people lost

On the map Chapter VIII
10 SEP 1919

Treaty of Saint-Germain

Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France

Austria is reduced to a small republic of about 6.5 million people, forbidden to unite with Germany, and its army limited to 30,000. Czechoslovakia, Poland, Yugoslavia, Romania and Italy take its former lands.

On the map Chapter VIII
12 SEP 1919 –
29 DEC 1920

D'Annunzio seizes Fiume

Fiume (Rijeka), Croatia

The poet Gabriele D'Annunzio leads about 2,500 Italian nationalist soldiers into the Adriatic port that the peace conference had refused to give Italy. He rules it for 15 months, until the Italian navy shells the city.

On the map Chapter VIII
19 NOV 1919

US Senate rejects the Treaty of Versailles

Washington, D.C., United States

Wilson's refusal to accept the Republican reservations leads the Senate to reject the treaty with and without them. A second vote in March 1920 falls seven votes short of two thirds, and the United States stays out of the League.

On the map Chapter VIII
27 NOV 1919

Treaty of Neuilly

Neuilly-sur-Seine, France

Bulgaria cedes Western Thrace to the Allies (it will go to Greece) and border districts to Yugoslavia, pays reparations of 2.25 billion gold francs, and is limited to an army of 20,000.

On the map Chapter VIII

1920

10 JAN 1920

The League of Nations comes into being

Geneva, Switzerland

The Treaty of Versailles enters into force and the League of Nations is born, with 42 founding members and headquarters in Geneva. The United States, the Soviet Union and, at first, Germany are outside.

On the map Chapter VIII
13 MAR 1920 –
17 MAR 1920

Kapp Putsch

Berlin, Germany

The Ehrhardt Brigade occupies Berlin and installs the nationalist Wolfgang Kapp as chancellor. The government flees but calls a general strike, and the putsch collapses in four days.

On the map Chapter VIII
4 JUN 1920

Treaty of Trianon

Versailles, France

Hungary loses about 70 percent of its prewar territory and nearly two thirds of its population to Romania, Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia and Austria. More than three million ethnic Hungarians are left outside its borders.

On the map Chapter VIII
24 JUL 1920

Battle of Maysalun

Maysalun, Syria

French troops defeat the small army of Faisal's Syrian kingdom west of Damascus, killing the war minister Yusuf al-Azma. The French enter Damascus the next day, and Faisal goes into exile.

On the map Chapter VIII
10 AUG 1920

Treaty of Sèvres

Sèvres, France

The Ottoman government signs a treaty that would reduce Turkey to a rump in Anatolia, give Smyrna and Eastern Thrace to Greece, and leave room for Armenian and Kurdish states. The Turkish nationalists reject it, and it is never ratified.

On the map Chapter VIII
12 AUG 1920 –
25 AUG 1920

Battle of Warsaw

Warsaw, Poland

The Red Army reaches the gates of Warsaw, but Piłsudski's counterstroke from the south on 16 August breaks Tukhachevsky's armies. The "Miracle on the Vistula" saves Poland and ends Lenin's hopes of carrying the revolution to Germany.

On the map Chapter VIII
11 NOV 1920

Unknown Warrior buried; Cenotaph unveiled

London, United Kingdom

On the second anniversary of the Armistice, Britain buries an unidentified soldier in Westminster Abbey, and George V unveils the Cenotaph in Whitehall. France chooses its unknown soldier the same week and buries him under the Arc de Triomphe in January 1921.

On the map Chapter VIII

1921

18 MAR 1921

Treaty of Riga

Riga, Latvia

Poland and Soviet Russia divide the disputed borderlands of Ukraine and Belarus, leaving millions of Ukrainians and Belarusians within Poland. The frontier it creates will last until 1939.

On the map Chapter VIII
5 MAY 1921

London Schedule of Payments

London, United Kingdom

The Allies present the bill of 132 billion gold marks fixed by the Reparations Commission on 27 April, in three series of bonds, and an ultimatum threatens the occupation of the Ruhr. Germany accepts on 11 May.

132 billion gold marks (A: 12 billion, B: 38 billion, C: 82 billion)

On the map Chapter VIII
23 AUG 1921 –
13 SEP 1921

Battle of the Sakarya

Sakarya River, Turkey

The Greek army, advancing deep into Anatolia, fails to break through the Turkish defense about 50 kilometers (31 miles) from Ankara after three weeks of fighting. Mustafa Kemal is given the title of Gazi.

On the map Chapter VIII
6 DEC 1921

Anglo-Irish Treaty

London, United Kingdom

Michael Collins and Arthur Griffith sign a treaty creating the Irish Free State as a dominion, with Northern Ireland remaining in the United Kingdom. It divides Irish nationalists and leads to a civil war in 1922.

On the map Chapter VIII

1922

13 SEP 1922 –
22 SEP 1922

Great Fire of Smyrna

Smyrna (Izmir), Turkey

Days after Turkish troops retake Smyrna, a fire destroys the Greek and Armenian quarters while hundreds of thousands of refugees crowd the waterfront and warships of the Allied powers look on. It marks the end of the Greek presence in Asia Minor.

estimates range from about 10,000 to 180,000 dead

On the map Chapter VIII
27 OCT 1922 –
31 OCT 1922

March on Rome

Rome, Italy

Thousands of Blackshirts converge on Rome, the king refuses to sign a decree of martial law, and on 29 October he asks Mussolini to form a government. He is 39, the youngest prime minister in Italian history.

On the map Chapter VIII
1 NOV 1922

Ottoman sultanate abolished

Ankara, Turkey

The Grand National Assembly abolishes the sultanate, and on 17 November the last sultan, Mehmed VI, leaves Constantinople on a British warship. The Ottoman dynasty, which ruled for over 600 years, comes to an end.

On the map Chapter VIII

1923

11 JAN 1923

French and Belgian troops occupy the Ruhr

Essen, Germany

After Germany is declared in default on deliveries, French and Belgian troops enter the Ruhr. Berlin calls for passive resistance and pays the strikers by printing money, which sends the mark into hyperinflation.

On the map Chapter VIII
24 JUL 1923

Treaty of Lausanne

Lausanne, Switzerland

The treaty with the new Turkey recognizes its borders, abolishes the capitulations and imposes no reparations. A separate convention provides for a compulsory exchange of populations between Greece and Turkey.

about 1.2 million Orthodox Christians and 350,000 to 400,000 Muslims exchanged

On the map Chapter VIII
8 NOV 1923 –
9 NOV 1923

Beer Hall Putsch

Munich, Germany

Adolf Hitler and Erich Ludendorff try to start a national revolution in Munich, and the march of some 2,000 Nazis is stopped by police fire at the Feldherrnhalle. Sixteen Nazis and four policemen are killed, and Hitler is sent to prison, where he writes Mein Kampf.

On the map Chapter VIII

1815

Final Act of the Congress of Vienna

1848

Metternich falls; revolutions sweep Europe

1853

Crimean War

1859

Battle of Solferino

1866

Battle of Königgrätz

1867

Franz Joseph crowned King of Hungary

1870

Battle of Sedan

1871

German Empire proclaimed at Versailles

1875

'War in Sight' crisis

1878

Congress of Berlin

1879

Dual Alliance signed

1882

Triple Alliance signed

1887

Reinsurance Treaty with Russia

1890

Bismarck forced to resign

1894

Franco-Russian alliance confirmed

1898

First German Navy Law

1899

Second Boer War

1903

May Coup in Belgrade

1904

Russo-Japanese War

Entente Cordiale signed

1905

Bloody Sunday

Kaiser Wilhelm lands at Tangier

1906

Algeciras Conference

HMS Dreadnought launched

1907

Anglo-Russian Convention

1908

Austria-Hungary annexes Bosnia-Herzegovina

1911

Black Hand founded

Panther arrives at Agadir

Italy attacks the Ottoman Empire

1912

Haldane mission to Berlin

First Balkan War

German War Council

1913

Second Balkan War and Treaty of Bucharest

Liman von Sanders affair

1914

Franz Ferdinand and Sophie assassinated

Vienna weighs war

The blank check

Bethmann Hollweg confirms support

Joint Council of Ministers

Wiesner reports from Sarajevo

Tisza gives way

Ultimatum text approved

Poincaré and Viviani in Russia

Austro-Hungarian ultimatum to Serbia

Russian Council of Ministers meets

Serbia replies to the ultimatum

Russia's "Period Preparatory to War"

Grey proposes a four-power conference

Austria-Hungary declares war on Serbia

Wilhelm's "Halt in Belgrade"

Belgrade bombarded

Royal Navy goes to its war station