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Assassination on Francis Ferdinand
Francis Ferdinand assassinated at Sarajevo on the 28th of June, 1914 -
Period: to
1914
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Kaiser Wilhelm II
Kaiser William II promised German support for Austria against Serbia -
Austria declares war
Austria declared war on Serbia -
Germany declared war
Germany declared war on Russia -
Germany decares war on nations
Germany declared war on France and invaded Belgium. Germany had to implement the Schlieffen Plan. -
Australian Federal Government
The Australian Federal Government decided that in the event of war it would offer to Great Britain a military force of 20,000 men and place the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) under the control of the British Admiralty. -
Period: to
Australia and the Gallipoli Campaign
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Brirain declared war
Britain declared war on Germany -
Major-General William Throsby Bridges
Major-General William Throsby Bridges was appointed to command the proposed Australian military force. Bridges eventually chose the name for the new force — the Australian Imperial Force (AIF). -
AIF
Between 5 August and the end of October the first units of the AIF — infantry, engineers, artillery, field ambulances, casualty clearing stations, general hospitals and light horse AIF — were raised throughout Australia. These units were allocated to either the 1st Australian Infantry Division or the 1st and 2nd Light Horse Brigades. -
BEF
The BEF started its retreat from Mons. Germany invaded France. -
Russia defeated
Russian army defeated at Tannenberg and Masurian Lakes. -
Battle of Marne started
Battle of the Marne started. The First Battle of the Marne was conducted between 6-12 September 1914, with the outcome bringing to an end the war of movement that had dominated the First World War since the beginning of August. -
First Battle of Ypres
First Battle of Ypres. Strategically located along the roads leading to the Channel ports in Belgian Flanders, the Belgian city of Ypres had been the scene of numerous battles since the sixteenth century. With the German failure at the Battle of the Marne in September 1914 and the subsequent Allied counter attacks, the "Race to the Sea" began. -
Turkey entered the war
Turkey entered the war on Germany’s side. Trench warfare started to dominate the Western Front. -
Convoy of transport ships
First convoy of transport ships carrying the AIF and the New Zealand Expeditionary Force departed for Europe from King George Sound, Albany, Western Australia. -
Units of the AIF began disembarking
Units of the AIF began disembarking in Egypt. They were sent to Mena Camp where training commenced. It had been decided to hold the Australians and New Zealanders in Egypt because proper camps in England were not ready to receive them. -
Major-General Sir William Birdwood
Major-General Sir William Birdwood took command of the Australian and New Zealand units in Egypt. These units were formed into an army corps of three divisions — 1st Australian Division, the New Zealand and Australian Division and a mounted division. The corps was known as the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps. This was abbreviated later to ANZAC and those who served in it became known as Anzacs. -
Zeppelin raid
On the 19th of january, 1915, the first Zeppelin raid on Britain took place -
Period: to
1915
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Britain Bombarded Turkish forts
Britain bombarded Turkish forts in the Dardanelles on 19th of February, 1915. The Dardanelles Campaign began as a purely naval operation. When that failed to overcome Ottoman defences, an invasion of the Gallipoli peninsula was launched in which naval forces were heavily involved. Throughout the campaign, attempts were made by submarines to pass through the Dardanelles and disrupt Ottoman Empire shipping in the Sea of Marmara. -
Allied troops landed in Gallipoli
The Gallipoli Campaign (Battle of Gallipoli) was one of the Allies great disasters in World War One. It was carried out between 25th April 1915 and 9th January 1916 on the Gallipoli peninsula in the Ottoman Empire. The doomed campaign was thought up by Winston Churchill to end the war early by creating a new war front that the Ottomans could not cope with. -
The “Lusitania” was sunk by a German U-boat
On May 7, 1915, the British ocean liner RMS Lusitania, which primarily ferried people and goods across the Atlantic Ocean between the United States and Great Britain, was torpedoed by a German U-boat and sunk. Of the 1,959 people on board, 1,198 died, including 128 Americans. The sinking of the Lusitania enraged Americans and hastened the United States' entrance into World War I. -
Italy declared war on Germany and Austria
On this day in 1915, Italy declares war on Austria-Hungary, entering World War I on the side of the Allies Britain, France and Russia. When World War I broke out in the summer of 1914, Italy declared itself neutral in the conflict, despite its membership in the so-called Triple Alliance alongside Germany and Austria-Hungary since 1882. -
The Germans captured Warsaw from the Russians
Reproduced below is a German account of the events preceding, and during, the capture of Warsaw from Russian control on 4 August 1915. Von der Boeck's account - resolutely one-sided in its roll-call of German triumphs - portrayed the seizure of Warsaw as a necessary consequence of superior German strategy and tactics against a sluggish, beaten foe. -
Start of the Battle of Loos
Compared with the small-scale British efforts of spring 1915, this attack of six Divisions was a mighty offensive indeed - so much so that it was referred to at the time as 'The Big Push'. Taking place on ground not of their choosing and before stocks of ammunition and heavy artillery were sufficient, the opening of the battle was noteworthy for the first use of poison gas by the British Army. Despite heavy casualties, there was considerable success on the first day in breaking into the deep ene -
The Allies started the evacuation of Gallipoli
On December 15, Allied forces begin a full retreat from the shores of the Gallipoli peninsula in Turkey, ending a disastrous invasion of the Ottoman Empire. The Gallipoli campaign resulted in 250,000 Allied casualties and a greatly discredited Allied military command. Roughly an equal number of Turks were killed or wounded. -
Conscription introduced in Britain
Within a year of Great Britain declaring war on Germany in August 1914, it had become obvious that it was not possible to continue fighting by relying on voluntary recruits. -
Period: to
1916
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Start of the Battle of Verdun
The Battle of Verdun in 1916 was the longest single battle of World War One. The casualties from Verdun and the impact the battle had on the French Army was a primary reason for the British starting the Battle of the Somme in July 1916 in an effort to take German pressure off of the French at Verdun. The Battle of Verdun started on February 21st 1916 and ended on December 16th in 1916. It was to make General Philippe Pétain a hero in France. -
British forces surrendered to Turkish forces at Kut in Mesopotamia
In the single largest surrender of troops in British history to that time, some 13,000 soldiers under the command of Sir Charles Townshend give in on April 29, 1916, after withstanding nearly five months under siege by Turkish and German forces at the town of Kut-al-Amara, on the Tigris River in the Basra province of Mesopotamia (modern-day Iraq). -
Battle of Jutland
The Battle of Jutland is considered to be the only major naval battle of World War One. Jutland witnessed the British Navy losing more men and ships but the verdict of the Battle of Jutland was that the German Navy lost and was never in a position again to put to sea during the war. Admiral John Jellicoe's tactics were criticised by some, but after the battle the British Navy remained a powerful fighting force whereas the German High Seas fleet was not. -
Start of the Brusilov Offensive
The Brusilov Offensive took place in 1916. The offensive started in June 1916 and ended in August of the same year. The Brusilov Offensive ironically was nearly a major success in a war that had been a disaster for the Russians up to that year. -
Start of the Battle of the Somme
The Battle of the Somme started in July 1st 1916. It lasted until November 1916. For many people, the Battle of the Somme was the battle that symbolised the horrors of warfare in World War One. This one battle had a marked effect on overall casualty figures and seemed to epitomise the futility of trench warfare. -
End of the Brusilov Offensive
The Brusilov Offensive took place in 1916. The offensive started in June 1916 and ended in August of the same year. The Brusilov Offensive ironically was nearly a major success in a war that had been a disaster for the Russians up to that year. -
First use en masse of tanks at the Somme
During the Battle of the Somme, the British launch a major offensive against the Germans, employing tanks for the first time in history. -
Lloyd George becomes British Prime Minister
Lloyd George was one of the great reforming British chancellors of the 20th century and prime minister from 1916 to 1922. -
Germany’s unrestricted submarine warfare campaign started
The use of unrestricted submarine warfare was announced by Germany on January 9th, 1917. The use of unrestricted submarine warfare was to have a major impact on World War One as it was one of the main reasons why America joined the war. -
Period: to
1917
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USA declared war on Germany
At 8:30 on the evening of April 2, 1917, President Wilson appeared before a joint session of Congress and asked for a declaration of war against Germany in order to "make the world safe for democracy." On April 4, Congress granted Wilson's request. -
France launched an unsuccessful offensive on the Western Front
Alfred Graf von Schlieffen was a Field Marshal and Chief-of- Staff of the German Army. In 1905/6 he formulated a plan for war on two fronts: against France in the West and her ally in the East, Russia. The initial massive blow was to fall on France on the Western Front, whilst Russia, the arch-enemy, was held in constraint. Once the French were defeated, the whole force of the Germany military machine was to be transferred by rail to attack the Russians on the Eastern Front. -
Start of the Third Battle at Ypres
The Third Battle of Ypres was the major British offensive in Flanders in 1917. It was planned to break through the strongly fortified and in-depth German defences enclosing the Ypres salient, a protruding bulge in the British front line, with the intention of sweeping through to the German submarine bases on the Belgian coast. -
Battle of Caporetto – the Italian Army was heavily defeated
The Battle of Caporetto, which began on October 24, 1917, is the most famous and most misunderstood battle of the Italian front. At Caporetto, the Italian Army suffered one of the most stunning defeats of the entire First World War. Italian casualties totaled 40,000 dead and wounded, over 280,000 prisoners and 3,150 artillery pieces captured. -
Britain launched a major offensive on the Western Front
On the 6th of November, Britain launched a major offensive on the Western Front. -
British tanks won a victory at Cambrai
The Battle of Cambrai, 20 November-7 December 1917, was the first large scale tank battle in history. It was launched after the general failure of the main British autumn offensive of 1917, the Third Battle of Ypres, famous for the Passchendaele mud. Ironically the poor weather at Ypres had preserved the Tank Corps, which by November could field over 300 tanks. -
Armistice between Germany and Russia signed
Reproduced below is the text of the preliminary armistice agreed by Bolshevik Russia and Germany in December 1917. This followed a formal statement by Trotsky in late November in which he outlined Russia's intention to seek an early armistice. -
Britain captured Jerusalem from the Turks
On the morning of this day in 1917, after Turkish troops move out of the region after only a single day s fighting, officials of the Holy City of Jerusalem offer the keys to the city to encroaching British troops. -
The Treaty of Brest-Litovsk was signed between Russia and Germany.
The Treaty of Brest-Litovsk brought about the end of the war between Russia and Germany in 1918. The German were reminded of the harshness of Brest-Litovsk when they complained about the severity of the Treaty of Versailles signed in June 1919. -
Period: to
1918
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Germany broke through on the Somme
German forces cross the Somme River, achieving their first goal of the major spring offensive begun three days earlier on the Western Front. -
Marshall Foch was appointed Allied Commander on the Western Front.
Reproduced below is the official Allied order placing overall command of the Allied armies on the Western Front under Ferdinand Foch. -
Germany started an offensive in Flanders
Despite profound achievements ‘Operation Michael’ failed in its purpose decisively to destroy British Forces on the Western Front; Ludendorff’s attention turned to alternative offensive designs foremost amongst which was a scheme to smash British forces in Flanders – detailed planning for which had been in preparation since December 1917. -
Second Battle of the Marne started. The start of the collapse of the German army
In what began as the last major German offensive of the First World War, the Second Battle of the Marne developed into a significant Allied victory. After it became clear that the Germans had not only failed in their aim to win the war in this offensive, but had in fact lost ground, a number of German commanders, including Crown Prince Wilhelm, believed the war was lost. -
The advance of the Allies was successful 1918
The Battle of Amiens, which started on August 8th 1918, proved to be the most decisive battle against the Germans on the Western Front. The Allies won the battle and the plan was succsseful. -
Turkish forces collapsed at Megiddo
The ancient fortress of Megiddo appears in the New Testament as Armageddon, the location of the millennial battle between the forces of good and evil. The battle of Megiddo was the name given to the action that launched the final Allied offensive against the Turks in Palestine and Syria. -
Germany asked the Allies for an armistice
The term "armistice" means a cessation of hostilities as a prelude to peace negotiations. In the context of the First World War 'the armistice' is generally referred to in context of the agreement between the Germans and the Allies to end the war on November 11, 1918 -
Germany’s navy mutinied
On this day in 1918, sailors in the German High Seas Fleet steadfastly refuse to obey an order from the German Admiralty to go to sea to launch one final attack on the mighty British navy, echoing the frustrated, despondent mood of many on the side of the Central Powers during the last days of World War I. -
Turkey made peace
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Austria made peace
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Kaiser Wilhelm II abdicated
With Germany actively seeking an armistice and revolution threatening, calls for Kaiser Wilhelm II to abdicate grew in intensity. Wilhelm was himself deeply reluctant to make such a sacrifice, instead expressing a preference to lead his armies back into Germany from the Western Front. Upon being informed by his military advisers that the army could not be relied upon not to harm him Wilhelm abandoned the notion. -
Germany signed an armistice with the Allies – the official date of the end of World War One.
The last day of World War One was November 11th 1918, known as Armistice Day. Despite November 11th being the last day of the war, on many parts of the Western Front fighting continued as normal. This meant, of course, that casualties occurred even as the people of Paris, London and New York were celebrating the end of the fighting. -
Peace conference met at Paris, 1919
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Period: to
Post War 1919
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The surrendered German naval fleet at Scapa Flow was scuttled.
The handing over to the Allies of the German high seas fleet was one of the terms of the armistice that ended the First World War in November 1918. -
The Treaty of Versailles was signed by the Germans.
The Treaty of Versailles was the peace settlement signed after World War One had ended in 1918 and in the shadow of the Russian Revolution and other events in Russia. The treaty was signed at the vast Versailles Palace near Paris, hence its title, between Germany and the Allies. The three most important politicians there were David Lloyd George, Georges Clemenceau and Woodrow Wilson.
