In late July and early August 1914, the great powers of Europe embarked on a course of action that would claim millions of lives, topple empires, reshape the political structure of the continent, and contribute to an even more destructive conflict a generation later. Known at the time as the Great War or simply the World War, the conflict that is today called World War I was characterized by British tactician and historian Sir Basil Liddell Hart in this manner:
The World War may be briefly epitomized as a progress from convention through chaos to co-operation. The nations entered upon the conflict with the conventional outlook and system of the 18th century merely modified by the events of the 19th century. Politically, they conceived of it as a struggle between rival coalitions based on the traditional system of diplomatic alliances, and militarily as between professional armies—swollen, it is true, owing to the continental system of conscription, yet, essentially fought out by soldiers while the mass of the people watched, from seats in the amphitheatre, the efforts of their champions.
Liddell Hart, who was writing for the 13th edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica (1926), continued:
The Germans alone had a glimpse of the truth, but—one or two prophetic minds apart—the “Nation in Arms” theory evolved by them during the 19th century visualized the nation rather as a reservoir to pour its reinforcements into the army than as a mighty river in which are merged many tributary forces, of which the army is but one. Their conception was the “Nation in Arms,” hardly the “Nation at War.” Even today this fundamental truth has yet to be grasped in its entirety and its full implications understood. Progressively throughout the years 1914–18 the warring nations enlisted the research of the scientist, the inventive powers and technical skill of the engineer, the manual labour of industry and the pen of the propagandist. For long this fusion of many forces tended to a chaotic maelstrom of forces; the old order had broken down, the new had not yet evolved. Only gradually did a working co-operation emerge, and it is a moot point whether even in the last phase co-operation of forces had attained to the higher level of co-ordination—direction by unity of diversity.
As Liddell Hart made clear, the concept of a “Nation in Arms” was not a new one. Prussian military scholar Carl von Clausewitz had advocated a form of total war in his classic work Vom Kriege (1832; On War). Although Clausewitz later modified his position to state that military aims were subordinate to political necessity, the concept was made manifest in the structure of the German military. On the eve of World War I, conscription was an established practice in Germany, and an able-bodied German man was subject to up to three years of full-time military service, followed by more than two decades of progression through numerous tiers of reserve status. At the commencement of hostilities, German land forces numbered almost two million troops, divided among 98 regular divisions as well as 27 Landwehr reserve brigades. Reserve units had traditionally been relegated to noncombat duties, but German reserves were of such high quality that they were utilized as an integral part of the frontline advance. At the core of this sizable conscript force was perhaps the German military’s greatest strength, its career commissioned and noncommissioned officers.
In contrast, the British army could field just 120,000 men in August 1914, but it had benefited from a series of organizational reforms implemented by Secretary of State for War Richard Burdon Haldane. Haldane had restructured the army into an expeditionary force of six infantry divisions and a cavalry division, supplemented by a 14-division Territorial Force that, while committed primarily to the defense of the British Isles, could, at the discretion of the unit’s commander, volunteer for deployment abroad. Haldane also reformed the top levels of command by creating a general staff inspired by the German model. The British Expeditionary Force (BEF) that embarked for France in August and September 1914 would prove crucial in checking the advance of the German right flank and frustrating the Schlieffen Plan, Helmuth von Moltke’s modification of Count Alfred von Schlieffen’s proposal that Germany strike a rapid, decisive blow with a large force at France’s flank through Belgium, then sweep around and crush the French armies against a smaller German force in the south. But the BEF would achieve that at an enormous cost.
French military planners had grossly miscalculated German strength on the Western Front, most notably failing to account for the combat readiness of German reserves. That failure produced troop estimates that were roughly half their actual levels. Thus, from the Battle of Mons (August 23, 1914) to the First Battle of Ypres (October 12–November 11, 1914), the BEF consistently faced superior numbers but still performed admirably, thanks largely to the remarkable discipline and enviable marksmanship exhibited by its soldiers. However, the attrition that would characterize the war as a whole meant that few of the men and officers of the BEF remained in action by the end of 1914. The burden of service would shift to the Territorial Forces, Lord Horatio Kitchener’s “New Army” divisions, and troops from Britain’s colonies and dominions. By war’s end, almost 9,000,000 men would serve in the British army: more than 4,000,000 came from England, 1,300,000 from India, more than 600,000 from Canada, roughly 560,000 from Scotland, almost 420,000 from Australia, 270,000 from Wales, 136,000 from South Africa, 134,000 from Ireland, 124,000 from New Zealand, 26,000 from British East Africa, approximately 16,000 from Nigeria, an additional 16,000 from Britain’s Caribbean possessions, almost 11,000 from Nyasaland, 10,000 from Gold Coast, and thousands of others from throughout the British Empire. According to official records, 908,371 of those men were killed, and an additional 2,000,000 were wounded.
What, then, was the result of this sacrifice? Liddell Hart, writing in the 1920s, viewed the war’s outcome through a lens that was uncoloured by the later horrors of World War II:
It is…futile to ask which country won the war; France did not win the war, but unless she had held the fort while the forces of Britain were preparing and those of America still a dream the release of civilization from this nightmare of militarism would have been impossible. Britain did not win the war, but without her command of the sea, her financial support and her army to take over the main burden of the struggle from 1916 onwards, defeat would have been inevitable. The United States did not win the war, but without their economic aid to ease the strain, without the arrival of their troops to turn the numerical balance, and, above all, without the moral tonic which their coming gave, victory would have been impossible. And let us not forget how many times Russia had sacrificed herself to save her Allies; preparing the way for their ultimate victory as surely as for her downfall. Finally, whatever be the verdict of history on her policy, unstinted tribute is due to the incomparable endurance and skill with which Germany more than held her own for four years against superior numbers, an epic of military and human achievement.
What follows is a survey of the political and military leaders of World War I, the technology that forever changed the nature of armed conflict, and the battles that claimed the lives of millions. It examines the war’s cultural impact through poetry and the visual language of wartime propaganda. Also included is a timeline of significant events of the war.
Political leaders
Four imperial dynasties—the Habsburgs of Austria-Hungary, the Hohenzollerns of Germany, the sultanate of the Ottoman Empire, and the Romanovs of Russia—would collapse as a direct result of the war, and peace was merely a prelude to revolution in numerous countries.
Poetry
It is hard to overstate the enduring effect of World War I on the arts, given the cultural blossoming of the Weimar Renaissance and the emergence of the Lost Generation of writers in the 1920s, to cite two notable examples. The mood during the war, however, is perhaps best captured by the poetry of the period, which reveals a progression of popular sentiment from patriotic idealism to anger to despair and disillusionment. Some of these works are made especially poignant by the fact that their authors did not survive the conflict that they chronicled.
Thomas Hardy: “Men Who March Away”
Thomas Hardy was an established English novelist and poet when war broke out. At age 74, he was also a half-century older than many of the men who would fight and die on the Western Front. This poem, written in the style of a marching song, captures the enthusiasm of the early weeks of the war, when quick victory seemed assured. It was first published in The Times on September 9, 1914.
What of the faith and fire within us
Men who march away
Ere the barn-cocks say
Night is growing gray,
Leaving all that here can win us;
What of the faith and fire within us
Men who march away?
Is it a purblind prank, O think you,
Friend with the musing eye,
Who watch us stepping by
With doubt and dolorous sigh?
Can much pondering so hoodwink you!
Is it a purblind prank, O think you,
Friend with the musing eye?
Nay. We well see what we are doing,
Though some may not see—
Dalliers as they be—
England’s need are we;
Her distress would leave us rueing:
Nay. We well see what we are doing,
Though some may not see!
In our heart of hearts believing
Victory crowns the just,
And that braggarts must
Surely bite the dust,
Press we to the field ungrieving,
In our heart of hearts believing
Victory crowns the just.
Hence the faith and fire within us
Men who march away
Ere the barn-cocks say
Night is growing gray,
Leaving all that here can win us;
Hence the faith and fire within us
Men who march away.
Rupert Brooke: “The Soldier”
A wellborn English poet gifted with charm, good looks, and a circle of friends that included Virginia Woolf, Rupert Brooke would become a symbol of young promise snuffed out by the war. His poems were boldly optimistic, expressing a confidence that sacrifices, if they must be made, would be for the greater good. “The Soldier,” his best-known work, was published in 1915 in the collection 1914. Brooke died of septicemia on a hospital ship off the coast of the Greek island of Skyros on April 23, 1915.
If I should die, think only this of me:
That there’s some corner of a foreign field
That is for ever England. There shall be
In that rich earth a richer dust concealed;
A dust whom England bore, shaped, made aware,
Gave, once, her flowers to love, her ways to roam,
A body of England’s, breathing English air,
Washed by the rivers, blest by suns of home.
And think, this heart, all evil shed away,
A pulse in the eternal mind, no less
Gives somewhere back the thoughts by England given;
Her sights and sounds; dreams happy as her day;
And laughter, learnt of friends; and gentleness,
In hearts at peace, under an English heaven.
John McCrae: “In Flanders Fields”
Lieut. Col. John McCrae was unusual among the “trench poets” in that he was a senior officer with prior combat experience. Having previously served in the South African (Boer) War, the Canadian physician enlisted in the Canadian Contingent of the BEF upon the outbreak of World War I. He served as a medical officer at the Second Battle of Ypres, an experience that inspired him to pen “In Flanders Fields.” The poem was first published in the December 8, 1915, issue of the British magazine Punch. McCrae died of pneumonia on January 28, 1918, while supervising a Canadian field hospital near Boulogne, France.
In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky,
The larks, still bravely singing, fly,
Scarce heard amid the guns below.
We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.
Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.
Wilfred Owen: “Dulce et decorum est”
By late 1917 the enthusiasm and sense of noble sacrifice that typified earlier trench poems had given way to fatalism, anger, and despair. Wilfred Owen was an experienced, if unpublished, English poet when the war began, but his personal style underwent a transformation in 1917. Diagnosed with shell shock (combat fatigue), Owen was sent to recuperate in a hospital near Edinburgh, where he met Siegfried Sassoon, a pacifist poet of some renown. The two shared their views about the futility of war, and Owen went on to produce a poem that captured the essence of trench warfare in a shockingly descriptive manner. The poem’s title is taken from Horace’s Odes: “Dulce et decorum est, pro patria mori” (“It is sweet and fitting to die for one’s country”). After his hospital stay, Owen returned to the front lines. He was awarded the Military Cross for bravery in October 1918. He was killed in action on November 4, 1918, just a week before the signing of the armistice that ended the war.
Bent double, like old beggars under sacks,
Knock-kneed, coughing like hags, we cursed through sludge,
Till on the haunting flares we turned our backs
And towards our distant rest began to trudge.
Men marched asleep. Many had lost their boots
But limped on, blood-shod. All went lame; all blind;
Drunk with fatigue; deaf even to the hoots
Of tired, outstripped Five-Nines that dropped behind.
Gas! Gas! Quick, boys!—An ecstasy of fumbling,
Fitting the clumsy helmets just in time;
But someone still was yelling out and stumbling
And flound’ring like a man in fire or lime…
Dim, through the misty panes and thick green light
As under a green sea, I saw him drowning.
In all my dreams, before my helpless sight,
He plunges at me, guttering, choking, drowning.
If in some smothering dreams you too could pace
Behind the wagon that we flung him in,
And watch the white eyes writhing in his face,
His hanging face, like a devil’s sick of sin;
If you could hear, at every jolt, the blood
Come gargling from the froth-corrupted lungs,
Obscene as cancer, bitter as the cud
Of vile, incurable sores on innocent tongues,—
My friend, you would not tell with such high zest
To children ardent for some desperate glory,
The old Lie: Dulce et decorum est
Pro patria mori.
Weapons of war
World War I saw the debut of the tank and chemical weapons, the widespread use of machine guns and aircraft, improvements in artillery, and the pinnacle of the age of battleships.
Michael RayChronology of World War I
1914
June- 28. Archduke Franz Ferdinand and wife, of Austria-Hungary, assassinated by Bosnian Serb nationalist in Sarajevo, Bosnia.
- 23. Austria-Hungary sends Serbian government 48-hour ultimatum.
- 25. Austria not satisfied with reply to ultimatum by Serbia.
- 28. Austria-Hungary declares war on Serbia.
- 29. Russia begins mobilization. Austria bombards Belgrade, Serbia.
- 31. Germany sends ultimatum to Russia to cease mobilization. France receives note from Germany demanding that it remain neutral in war.
- 1. Germany declares war on Russia. France mobilizes.
- 2. Germany sends ultimatum to Belgium demanding that German troops be allowed to cross Belgium unresisted. German troops enter Luxembourg.
- 3. Albert I, king of Belgium, appeals to King George V of Britain. Germany declares war on France.
- 4. Britain demands Germany respect Belgian neutrality. Germany declares war on Belgium, invades Belgium, bombards Liège fortress. Britain declares war on Germany.
- 5. Russians invade East Prussia. British destroyer sinks German minelayer Königin Luise.
- 6. Austria declares war on Russia. British vessel Amphion sunk.
- 7. Germans take Liège, Belgium. Main Russian forces enter East Prussia.
- 8. Montenegro declares war on Austria.
- 9. France declares war on Austria. Austria invades Russian Poland.
- 12. War declared by Britain on Austria and by Montenegro on Germany. Austria takes Shabatz, Serbia, on drive south into Serbia.
- 14. France begins offensive into Alsace-Lorraine. Russians defeat Austrians at Sokal, Galicia (Austrian Poland), on Bug River.
- 15. Japanese ultimatum to Germany to remove vessels from Japanese waters and return Jiaozhou territory to China.
- 17. Belgian government moves from Brussels to Antwerp. Serbs check Austrian advance near Shabatz. Last Belgian fort at Liège falls.
- 18. Serbs victorious over Bosnian troops in Jadar River battle. France takes Saarburg, on Saar River, driving into Lorraine.
- 19. Belgian army retires to Antwerp. Germans take Leuven, Belgium.
- 20. Germans occupy Brussels. Russians capture Gumbinnen, East Prussia.
- 21. French are defeated and retire from Alsace-Lorraine.
- 22. French are defeated at Battle of Charleroi. Belgians retreat to Sambre River.
- 23. Japan declares war on Germany and bombards Qingdao, China. Germans attack British in Belgium, opening Battle of Mons Canal. Germans take Namur, Belgium, on Sambre River. French retreat to Paris area. Austrians evacuate Shabatz and retire from Serbia, behind Save River.
- 25. Austria declares war on Japan. Germans take Landrecies and Sedan, northern France. Russians approach Königsberg, East Prussia.
- 26. French retreat south of Le Cateau. Battle of Tannenberg, East Prussia, begins.
- 27. Longwy, France, surrenders to Germans. Russians advance on Lemberg, Galicia. Allies capture German colony of Togoland, Africa.
- 28. Austria declares war on Belgium. New Zealand fleet takes German Samoa. British defeat Germans in naval battle off Helgoland, North Sea.
- 31. Russia is defeated at Tannenberg and begins evacuating East Prussia.
- 1. Germans take Soissons, France, as French retreat to Aisne River; Russians and Austrians begin battle for Lemberg, Galicia.
- 3. French government moves from Paris to Bordeaux. British retreat to Marne River. Russians take Lemberg.
- 6. Allies in France cease retreat and begin First Battle of the Marne. Austrians and Russians battle at Rawa Ruska, Galicia. Serbs invade southern Austria and capture Semlin.
- 8. Battle of Masurian Lakes, East Prussia, begins.
- 10. Germans retreat north to Soissons as First Battle of the Marne ends. Germans entrench on Aisne River. Russians defeat Austrians at Rawa Ruska, driving them back to San River and Przemyśl.
- 13. Battle of Aisne River begins.
- 15. Germans defeat Russians in Masurian Lakes battle. Russians retreat to Niemen River. Czernowitz, Galicia, falls to Russians in drive to capture Carpathian mountain passes.
- 22. British cruisers Aboukir, Cressy, and Hogue sunk by German submarines. Russians take Jarosław and lay siege to Przemyśl, controlling Galicia.
- 23. Germans take Saint-Mihiel salient.
- 8. Antwerp bombarded as Belgian troops evacuate city.
- 10. Antwerp falls to Germans.
- 13. Germans take Lille, France, in drive to English Channel ports.
- 16. Battle of Yser River opens as Germans attack Dixmude, Belgium.
- 19. First Battle of Ypres, Belgium, begins.
- 21. German offensive at Arras, France.
- 24. Boer rebellion under Christiaan Rudolf de Wet begins in South Africa.
- 25. Germans fail in first attempt to take Warsaw.
- 27. Belgians end Battle of Yser River by opening dikes and flooding area.
- 29. Ottoman Turks raid Odessa, Russian Black Sea port, with warships. German cruiser Emden sinks Allied ships off Penang, an island off the Malay Peninsula.
- 1. Germans defeat British in naval battle off Coronel, Chile.
- 3. Germans bombard Yarmouth, England. Allies bombard Dardanelles forts. Russia declares war on Ottoman Empire.
- 5. Britain and France declare war on Ottoman Empire.
- 7. Qingdao, China, falls to Japanese.
- 9. Emden destroyed by Australian cruiser Sydney.
- 10. Germans take Dixmude, Belgium.
- 17. Allies hold their lines as First Battle of Ypres ends.
- 8. De Wet’s rebellion suppressed. British navy victorious at Falkland Islands. German naval squadron destroyed.
- 12. Russians retreat from Kraków and Galicia.
- 15. Serbs defeat Austrians, driving them across Drina River.
- 16. Scarborough and Hartlepool, England, bombarded by German cruisers.
- 25. British air raids on Brussels, Belgium, and Cuxhaven, Germany. Second German attack on Warsaw fails. First zeppelin raid on England.
- 27. Russians secure central passes through the Carpathian Mountains.
1915
January- 8. French offensive opens Second Battle of Soissons.
- 15. French retreat from Soissons.
- 17. Russians control Bukovina, south of Czernowitz, Galicia.
- 18. Austrians recapture Czernowitz.
- 24. British navy defeats Germany in North Sea battle. German ship Blücher sunk off Dogger Bank.
- 2. Turks open attack on Suez Canal.
- 6. Russians advance in East Prussia to Tilsit.
- 12. Germans drive Russians from East Prussia.
- 18. German naval blockade of Britain begins.
- 19. Allied naval attack on Dardanelles forts.
- 21. Zeppelin raid on Calais, France.
- 28. Germans retreat from northern Poland.
- 10. British gain local successes at Neuve-Chapelle, France.
- 14. German warship Dresden sunk.
- 17. Russians take Memel, in northern Prussia, a Baltic Sea port.
- 18. Allied naval attack on Dardanelles abandoned, and in retreat the British ships Irresistible and Ocean and the French ship Bouvet are sunk.
- 20. Zeppelin raid on Paris.
- 21. Germans retake Memel.
- 22. Besieged Austrian city of Przemyśl taken by Russians.
- 14. Zeppelin raid on Northumberland, England.
- 22. Second Battle of Ypres begins; first use of poison gas by Germans, on French defenders at Ypres, breaks Allied lines.
- 25. British troops land on Gallipoli Peninsula, Dardanelles.
- 26. Treaty of London signed by Italy and Allies.
- 1. Turks attack Gallipoli.
- 7. British passenger ship Lusitania sunk. Germans advance over Wisłoka River at Jasło, Galicia.
- 8. Libau, a Baltic Sea port, is taken by Germans.
- 9. French offensive in Artois. End of Second Battle of Ypres.
- 11. Russians retreat to San River as their lines are broken in Galicia.
- 12. Allied troops under General Louis Botha take Windhoek, capital of German Southwest Africa.
- 15. Battle of San River begins. Austrians retreat to Perth River. Germans take Jarosław.
- 16. British offensive at Festubert, near Ypres.
- 23. Italy declares war on Austria.
- 24. Austrian navy raids Italian coast.
- 30. Italians capture Cortina d’Ampezzo in the Alps.
- 3. Germans recapture Przemyśl. Al-ʿAmārah, Turkey, on Tigris River, taken by British.
- 9. Italians take Monfalcone, Austrian port on Gulf of Trieste. German South West Africa surrenders to British.
- 11. Russian victory on Dniester River in battle at Zhuravno.
- 17. Russians evacuate Lemberg. French take German “labyrinth” of trenches north of Arras in Battle of Artois.
- 18. Italian victory at Plava.
- 20. Russians defeated at Rawa Ruska.
- 22. Austrians take Lemberg and control Galicia.
- 1. Germans drive French back in Argonne.
- 2. Italian offensive on Isonzo River.
- 9. Austrian defeat at Krasnik, Galicia.
- 15. Allied conquest of German South West Africa complete.
- 18. Austrian submarine sinks Giuseppe Garibaldi in Adriatic Sea.
- 22. Germans lay siege to Ivangorod, Russian Poland.
- 25. Italians take Austrian island of Pelagosa, Adriatic Sea.
- 26. Russians evacuate Warsaw.
- 4. Germans take Ivangorod.
- 5. Germans take Warsaw.
- 6. British land at Suvla Bay, Dardanelles.
- 14. British transport Royal Edward sunk.
- 18. Germans cut Brest-Litovsk Railway.
- 20. Russians defeat German landing operations in Gulf of Riga. Italy declares war on Ottoman Empire.
- 21. Germans evacuate Gulf of Riga. British attack at Suvla Bay fails.
- 23. Allied fleet bombards Zeebrugge, a Belgian seaport.
- 25. Germans take Brest-Litovsk.
- 26. Germans take Białystok, Russian Poland.
- 4. British ship Hesperian sunk by submarine.
- 5. Tsar Nicholas II takes command of Russian armies.
- 14. Germans cut Petrograd-Vilna Railway in Russia.
- 16. Germans take Pinsk, Russia.
- 18. Germans take Vilnius, Russian Poland.
- 20. Bulgarians mobilize.
- 25. British take Loos, France. French victorious in Champagne area.
- 4. Allied troops land at Salonika, Greece. Russia declares war on Bulgaria.
- 7. Germans and Bulgarians invade Serbia.
- 9. Germans capture Belgrade, Serbia.
- 14. Bulgaria declares war on Serbia.
- 15. Britain declares war on Bulgaria.
- 16. France declares war on Bulgaria.
- 18. Italy declares war on Bulgaria.
- 24. Germans open Danube River route to Constantinople.
- 29. British minesweeper Hythe sunk at Gallipoli.
- 5. United States protests against maritime policy of England and France.
- 6. Fall of Niš, Serbia.
- 11. Russians again repulse German attack on Riga.
- 12. Germans take Belgrade-Constantinople Railway.
- 15. Austrians drive Russians across Styr River, Galicia.
- 17. British hospital ship Anglia sunk by mine.
- 23. Serbia taken by Central Powers; Serbian army retreats to Albania.
- 3. British retreat from Ctesiphon (south of Baghdad) to Al-Kūt, Turkey.
- 8. British begin evacuating Gallipoli Peninsula, Dardanelles.
- 9. Allied forces retreat from Serbia to Greece.
- 10. Greece surrenders Salonika harbour to Allies.
- 16. German cruiser Bremen sunk in Baltic Sea.
- 21. Italians land at Avlona, Albania.
- 27. Russian victory at Toporoutz, between Perth and Dniester rivers.
1916
January- 8. British warship King Edward VII sunk in North Sea.
- 9. British evacuation of Gallipoli Peninsula completed.
- 16. Russian offensive on Ottoman Empire’s Armenian forts.
- 18. Allied warships bombard Bulgarian coast.
- 23. Austrians control Montenegro and Shkodër area.
- 8. French cruiser Amiral Charner sunk by submarine.
- 14. Austrian air raid on Milan, Italy.
- 16. Russians take Erzurum, an Ottoman city in Asia Minor.
- 18. British take German Kamerun, Africa.
- 21. Germans attack Verdun forts.
- 28. Naval battle between British Alcantara and German raider Greif in North Sea; both ships sunk.
- 9. Germany declares war on Portugal.
- 17. Heavy bombardment of Verdun.
- 25. British destroyers and seaplanes raid zeppelin sheds in Schleswig.
- 30. Hospital ship Portugal sunk by Turks in Black Sea.
- 10. Germans gain at Verdun.
- 14. British air raids on Constantinople.
- 17. Italians take Col di Lana summit in Alps.
- 21. German cruiser and submarine attempt to land arms in Ireland.
- 24. Irish rebellion against British.
- 29. British surrender to Turks at Al-Kūt.
- 1. Zeppelin raids on Scotland and England.
- 2. Irish rebellion suppressed.
- 15. Struggle for Vimy Ridge, near Verdun.
- 31. Naval Battle of Jutland begins.
- 1. British defeat Germans in Battle of Jutland.
- 5. British ship Hampshire sunk off Orkney Islands, Lord Kitchener on board.
- 7. Germans take Fort Vaux, Verdun.
- 10. Austrians defeated by Russians near Czernowitz.
- 16. Germans push within 4 miles (6.4 km) of Verdun.
- 17. Russians recapture Czernowitz.
- 21. Arabs capture Mecca, Jiddah, and Al-Ṭāʾif from Turks.
- 23. Fall of Thiaumont and Fleury, France, to the Germans.
- 24. Russians again hold most of Bukovina.
- 29. Russians take Kolomea, Galicia.
- 1. Allied offensive on Somme River diverts fighting from Verdun.
- 19. Russians cross Carpathian Mountains, threaten Hungary.
- 23. German line at Riga pierced by Russian offensive.
- 28. Russians capture Brody, Galicia.
- 3. French recapture Fleury and Thiaumont forts.
- 9. Italians take Gorizia, north of Trieste.
- 10. Russians take Stanislav, Galicia.
- 25. Bulgarians enter Kavalla Forts, Macedonia.
- 27. War declared by Romania on Austria and by Italy on Germany.
- 28. Germany declares war on Romania; fighting begins on Transylvania front.
- 30. Romanians drive Austrians out of Kronstadt; Ottoman Empire declares war on Romania.
- 4. Dar es Salaam, German East Africa, surrenders to British.
- 12. French advance on Somme River.
- 7. German submarine U-53 reaches Newport, Rhode Island.
- 8. U-53 torpedoes five ships outside Nantucket. Austrians and Germans retake Kronstadt. Romanians retreat.
- 10. Italians take Corso heights, north of Trieste.
- 11. Greek fleet surrenders to Allies. Austro-Germans invade Romania.
- 23. Romanians lose Constanţa, a Black Sea port.
- 2. Germans evacuate Fort Vaux, France.
- 4. Russian navy bombards Constanţa.
- 15. British victory on Ancre River, France, captures Beaumont-Hamel.
- 18. End of Battle of the Somme.
- 24. British hospital ship Braemar Castle sunk in Aegean Sea.
- 6. Germans take Bucharest, Romania.
- 8. Allies blockade Greece.
- 15. French victory at Verdun.
- 16. Marshal Joseph-Jacques-Césaire Joffre retires and is succeeded by General Robert-Georges Nivelle as commander in chief of French armies.
- 21. British take Al-ʿArīsh, Sinai Peninsula.
1917
January- 1. British transport Iberian sunk by submarine in Mediterranean Sea.
- 5. Russian offensive near Riga.
- 1. Russian lines broken at Halicz.
- 14. British drive through to third German line near Arras, France.
- 22. Seven Dutch ships torpedoed and three sunk outside Falmouth, England.
- 1. Zimmermann Telegram published in the American press.
- 5. Germans drive on Verdun.
- 8. Russian Revolution begins with workers’ strikes.
- 9. Revolts in Petrograd, Russia.
- 11. Baghdad falls to British.
- 12. French victories in Champagne area.
- 15. Russian government overthrown; Tsar Nicholas II resigns.
- 17. British take Bapaume, France.
- 19. Allies drive on Hindenburg Line, Western Front.
- 2. American armed liner Aztec torpedoed off French coast.
- 3. Germans retreat to Hindenburg Line.
- 6. United States declares war on Germany. Second Battle of Aisne River begins.
- 8. Cuba declares war on Germany.
- 9. Panama declares war on Germany. Allied offensive opens Battle of Arras.
- 10. British hospital ships Donegal and Lanfranc sunk. Allies take Vimy Ridge.
- 23. British take Sāmarrāʾ station, north of Baghdad.
- 28. Battle of Scarpe River, France.
- 12. Zeebrugge, Belgian port, bombarded by Allies.
- 16. General Philippe Pétain succeeds General Nivelle as commander in chief of Allied troops in France. Aleksandr Fyodorovich Kerensky becomes minister of war in Russia.
- 4. Italians proclaim Albania an independent state under Italian protection.
- 7. Fight for Messines Ridge, France.
- 12. Abdication of pro-German king of Greece.
- 17. Russian offensive in Galicia; Aleksey Alekseyevich Brusilov commander in chief of Russians.
- 29. General Edmund Allenby takes command of British in Palestine.
- 1. Russians advance on Lemberg.
- 2. Greece declares war on Central Powers.
- 5. German counteroffensive on Aisne River.
- 16. Kerensky becomes premier of Russia.
- 22. Siam declares war on Central Powers.
- 24. Germans take Tarnopol, Russian Poland. Russo-Romanian attacks fail.
- 27. British and French cross Yser Canal, Belgium.
- 31. Allied offensive opens Third Battle of Ypres.
- 3. Russians retreat from Bukovina, abandon Czernowitz.
- 4. Liberia declares war on Germany.
- 14. China declares war on Germany and Austria.
- 17. Germans fire on Saint-Quentin Cathedral, France.
- 21. Germans attack near Riga, cross Dvina River.
- 24. French take Hill 304, Verdun.
- 2. Russians retreat from Riga.
- 3. Germans capture Riga.
- 8. French capture Chaume Wood, Verdun.
- 20. Battle of the Menin Road, France.
- 28. British defeat Turks at Al-Ramādī, on Euphrates River.
- 4. Battle of Broodseinde Ridge.
- 16. British destroyers Mary Rose and Strongbow sunk by Germans off Shetland Islands.
- 17. American transport Antilles torpedoed.
- 24. Italian lines broken in Battle of Caporetto, start retreat to Piave River.
- 27. Brazil declares war on Germany. Italians lose Gorizia.
- 31. British take Beersheba, Palestine.
- 2. British navy sinks German ship Marie and 10 patrol boats in the Kattegat, a strait between the Baltic and North seas.
- 7. British take Gaza, Palestine.
- 8. Bolsheviks overthrow Kerensky.
- 17. British take Jaffa, evacuated by Turks.
- 20. British attack Germans at Cambrai, France.
- 23. Austro-Germans checked in advances in Italy.
- 1. Allies take German East Africa. Allies retreat from Cambrai, France.
- 7. United States declares war on Austria-Hungary.
- 9. British take Jerusalem.
- 10. Panama declares war on Austria-Hungary. Italian cruiser torpedoes Austrian ship Wien in harbour of Trieste.
- 22. Russians begin peace negotiations with Central Powers at Brest-Litovsk.
1918
January- 6. Armistice on Eastern Front.
- 7. German sailors mutiny at Kiel.
- 8. President Woodrow Wilson of the United States presents his Fourteen Points.
- 10. Mutiny of Russian Black Sea fleet.
- 1. Russian Ukrainian Republic recognized by Central Powers.
- 9. Peace treaty signed at Brest-Litovsk between Ukrainians and Central Powers.
- 10. Russia announces its withdrawal from the war.
- 18. Germany reopens war against Russians.
- 20. British take Khan Abu Rayot, north of Al-Ramādī.
- 21. British take Jericho, Palestine.
- 24. Turkey takes Trebizond, on Black Sea.
- 25. Germans take Revel, on Gulf of Finland.
- 3. Bolsheviks sign peace treaty at Brest-Litovsk with Central Powers; peace negotiations begin between Romania and Central Powers.
- 9. British take Hit, on Euphrates River.
- 11. Turks take Erzurum.
- 13. Germans enter Odessa, Russia, on the Black Sea.
- 19. Allies protest Russo-German peace treaty.
- 21. German offensive on Somme River, at Saint-Quentin (Battle of Picardy).
- 24. Germans retake Bapaume and Péronne, France.
- 5. Japanese and British marines land in Vladivostok, Russia, on Sea of Japan.
- 6. German offensive on Somme River dies down.
- 11. Germans take Armentières, France.
- 14. General Ferdinand Foch becomes supreme commander of Allied forces.
- 22. British navy blocks harbours at Zeebrugge and Ostend, Belgium.
- 25. Guatemala declares war on Germany.
- 26. Germans take Kemmel Hill, Flanders.
- 27. Kifrī, north of Baghdad, taken by British.
- 30. Germans enter Vyborg, Russia (north of Petrograd).
- 1. Germans occupy Sevastopol and find Russian Black Sea fleet.
- 7. Nicaragua declares war on Germany. Germany and Romania sign peace treaty at Bucharest, Romania.
- 25. Costa Rica declares war on Germany.
- 27. German offensive on Aisne River.
- 29. Germans capture Soissons.
- 30. Germans advance within 2 miles (3.2 km) of Reims, France.
- 31. American transport President Lincoln sunk.
- 1. Germans take Neuilly Heights and reach Château-Thierry, France.
- 6. German offensive on Aisne River ends.
- 11. Allied counteroffensive from Montdidier and Noyon, France.
- 14. Turks occupy Tabrīz, Persia.
- 1. Fort Vaux reoccupied by Allies.
- 7. British air raid on Constantinople.
- 11. American ship Westover sunk by submarine.
- 15. Haiti declares war on Germany. German offensive west of Reims begins Second Battle of the Marne.
- 18. End of Second Battle of the Marne.
- 19. Honduras declares war on Germany. American cruiser San Diego sunk off Fire Island.
- 21. Allies retake Château-Thierry.
- 2. Germans retreat from Soissons.
- 3. Allies advance to Aisne and Vesle rivers on 30-mile (48-km) front in France.
- 7. German sailors mutiny at Wilhelmshaven.
- 8. Allied offensive on the Somme.
- 15. Allies move 100 miles (161 km) from Arkhangelsk, Russia, along Vologda Railway line.
- 29. Allies take Bapaume and Noyon, France.
- 30. Germans retreat in Flanders.
- 31. Kemmel Hill retaken by Allies.
- 1. Péronne retaken by Allies.
- 3. Germans retreat from Scarpe River, France.
- 13. Americans capture Saint-Mihiel salient; Verdun-Toul Railway open to Allies.
- 15. British defeat first and second Bulgar lines in Macedonia.
- 19. British break Turkish lines in Palestine.
- 22. British advance beyond Nazareth, Palestine.
- 23. French capture Prilep, Macedonia; Allies pursue Bulgarian retreat to Doiran area.
- 25. Bulgarians seek armistice.
- 26. Allies attack Germans in Argonne, France.
- 29. Allies break Hindenburg Line.
- 30. Bulgaria surrenders.
- 1. French take Saint-Quentin. Damascus taken by British.
- 2. Serbs enter Niš, Serbia.
- 5. First peace note sent by Germans to President Wilson. King Ferdinand of Bulgaria abdicates.
- 6. Americans take Saint-Étienne, France; Le Cateau evacuated by Germans.
- 8. President Wilson replies to German peace note by requesting withdrawal of German forces from all foreign soil.
- 9. Cambrai and Rocroi, France, taken by Allies.
- 12. Germany sends second peace note to President Wilson.
- 13. Tripoli, North Africa, occupied by British.
- 14. President Wilson in reply to peace note demands that inhumane practices stop and that Germany change its form of government. Italians take Durazzo, Albania.
- 15. Czech revolution breaks out in Austria.
- 17. Ostend, Brugge, and Lille recaptured by Allies on Western Front.
- 26. Aleppo, Turkey, occupied by British.
- 27. British and Italians advance across Piave River in Battle of Vittorio Veneto.
- 30. Turkish forces on Tigris River surrender to British.
- 31. Ottoman Empire signs armistice.
- 2. Italians invade Austria.
- 3. Italians take Trento. Serbians reoccupy Belgrade, Serbia.
- 4. Valenciennes taken by British. Austrians accept truce terms.
- 7. Americans take Sedan, cutting one main German line of communication. German seamen revolt at Kiel and Hamburg; German navy in control of revolutionaries.
- 10. Kaiser William II flees to the Netherlands. British advance in Belgium to Mons Canal area.
- 11. Germany signs armistice; hostilities cease at 11:00 AM.
- 21. German fleet surrenders to the British.
- 25. Surrender of last German forces in East Africa.