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First World War: military and political         military and political         military and political         military and political         military and political         military and political         military and political         < back
•28th: Archduke Ferdinand of Austria is assassinated at Sarajevo by Gavrilo Princip, a member of Bosnian revolutionary group the Black Hand. Archduke Ferdinand in Sarajevo before the assassination. •23rd: Austria-Hungary issues a fifteen point ultimatum to Serbia, which includes the demand that Austria would be part of the judicial process bringing the revolutionaries to justice. Serbia accepts most of the ultimatum but not this issue (25th).
• Edward Grey, the British Foreign secretary, suggests mediation talks on the Balkan crisis, but Germany rejects the proposal.
• 26th: Austria mobilises its troops on the Russian border.
•28th: Austria-Hungary declares war on Serbia.
• 30th:Germany demands that Russia stop its mobilisation.		 • 1st: Germany declares war on Russia.
• 2nd: Russia advances into East Prussia.
• 3rd: Germany declares war on France.
• 4th: Britain declares war on Germany.
• 4th: Moltke, German C-in-C, orders the Schlieffen Plan to proceed; German troops enter Belgium.
• 4th: the US declares its neutrality.
• 5th: Austria-Hungary declares war on Russia.
• 12th: the first British troops reach France.
• Austro-Hungarian troops invade Serbia.
• Hindenberg, at the age of 67, is given command of German armies in the East.
• 20th: German troops capture Brussels.
• 23rd: the Battle of Mons begins, it turns into an Allied retreat.
• 23rd: Battle of Frankenau, East Prussia; a Russian victory.
• 22-30th: Battle of Tannenberg; a massive German victory over the Russians.
•28th: Battle of Heligoland Bight; a Royal Navy raid on the German naval base. 		• 1st: St Petersburg is renamed with the Russian name of Petrograd. Russia 1914-17
• 3rd:HMS Pathfinder is sunk by a torpedo from a German U-boat, the first warship to suffer this fate.
• 4th: Pact of London; Britain, France and Russia commit not to agree a separate peace.
•5th: the Battle of Marne begins, forcing a German retreat.
• 9-12th: Battle of Masurian Lakes, East Prussia; Russian forces retreat.
• 13th: French troops attack the Germans at the River Aisne.
• 14th: Erich von Falkenhayn becomes German C-in-C.
• 15th: Germany surrenders New Guinea.
• 27th: Russia invades Hungary. 		• 1st: the Battle of Arras begins.
• 1st: Turkey closes the Dardanelles, the straits that link the Aegean and the Sea of Mamara.
• 5th: the first German aircraft is shot down by an Allied plane.
• 9th: Antwerp falls to the Germans.
• 13th: in South Africa there is a Boer revolt against British rule.
• 14th: Canadian troops reach Britain.
• 15-20th: Battle for Warsaw; Russia forces a German retreat from Poland.
• 15th-21Nov: first Battle of Ypres; Germany fails to break the Allied line.
• 29th; Turkey joins forces with Germany and the Central Powers.		 • 1st: Battle of Coronel(naval); the German Pacific squadron under von Spee is intercepted off Chile by the Royal Navy. The better equipped German force sinks most of the RN ships.
• 5th: Britain and France declare war on Turkey.
• 21st: an Anglo-Indian force invades Mesopotamia capturing Basra.		 • 8th: Battle of the Falkland Islands (naval): the German pacific squadron, returning to Germany, is defeated off the Falklands by the Royal Navy.
• 17th: a British Protectorate is declared in Egypt.
• 25th: a spontaneous Christmas truce breaks out across the Western Front.		 • 24th: Battle of Dogger Bank( naval);German battle-cruisers are intercepted by Admiral Beaty's squadron. The Blücher is sunk.
• South African forces occupy Swakopmund.		 • 4-27th: Battle of Masuria; the Germans advance in East Prussia.
• 18th: the German U-Boat blockade of Britain begins.
• 19th: The Allies commence a naval attack in the Dardanelles.
• 27th: the Russians retreat from East Prussia.		 • 10th: British forces attack at Neuve Chapelle.
• 11th: Britain's naval blockade of Germany begins.
• 18th: the Allied bombardment of the Dardanelles fails. 		• 22nd:at the second Battle of Ypres(22nd April-25 May) the Germans use chlorine gas for the first time.
25th: the Allies change their tactics in the Dardanelles, landing troops at Gallipoli in an attempt to break through to Constantinople.		 •7th:the Lusitania, a British liner, is sunk by a German U Boat; 1198 lives are lost and the US is close to entering the war.
•9th: the Artois offensive begins.
•23rd: Italy declares war on Austria-Hungary, having been neutral.
• 25th: Germany abandons the Ypres offensive.
• 25th: In Britain a coalition government is formed by Asquith.
• 31st: a Zepplin bomber raids London for the first time.		 • 3rd:the Germans recapture the Polish town of Przemysl, leading to a collapse of the Russian southern front.
• 3rd: Mesopotamia capitulates to Britain.
• Lloyd George becomes minister of munitions.
• 29rd-7th July: Battle of Isonzo; Italy attacks Austro-Hungarian forces.		 •18th-10 Aug: second Battle of Isonzo between Italy and Austria-Hungary. •5th: German forces enter Warsaw.
• 6th: the Suvla Bay offensive begins at Gallipoli.
• 26th: the Germans take Brest-Litovsk.		 • 5th: Grand Duke Nikolai is dismissed as Commander -in-Chief of Russian forces. Tsar Nicholas II takes command.
• 11th: the first tank is demonstrated to British leaders.
• 25-8th Oct: the Battles of Loos and Champagne begin - the British and French intending to relieve pressure from the Russian armies. The French offensive achieves limited success but the British suffer huge casualties for no gain at Loos.
• 29th: the US grants war loans of $500m to Britain and France.		 • 5th:Allied troops land at Salonika in Greece.
• 11th: Edith Cavell is executed in Brussels. Working as a nurse in Belgium she helped hundreds of Allied fugitives escape from the Germans.
• 12th: Greece refuses to aid Serbia, despite the Serbo-Greek Treaty of 1913.
•29th: Aristide Briand forms a government in France.		 •5th: Yüan Shih-kai becomes emperor in China.
• 6th: the Sophocles Skouloudis government comes to power in Greece; it favours the Allies.
• 13th:Winston Churchill resigns as chancellor of the duchy of Lancaster, because of his lack of influence over government policy. 		• 3rd: Joseph Joffre becomes Commander-in-Chief of French forces.
• 19th: Sir Douglas Haig becomes the Commander of the British Expeditionary Force.
• 19th-8th Jan: Allied forces withdraw from Gallipoli.		 • 19th: a Russian offensive in Galicia is mounted.
• 24th: the British Labour Party vote against conscription.
• 29th: the first Zepplin raid is mounted on Paris.		 • 2nd: Britain introduces conscription.
• 21st-16th Dec: a German offensive launches the first Battle of Verdun.
• 22nd: the Russian Duma is opened by Tsar Nicholas II.		 • 9th: Germany declares war on Portugal.
 • 21st: aided by the Germans, Roger Casement lands in Ireland to raise support for the Easter Rising. He is arrested (24th) and executed (3rd Aug).
• 24th-1 May: Easter Rising in Dublin against British rule in Ireland.		 • 8th: Australian and New Zealand troops arrive in France.
• 31st: Battle of Jutland (naval); for once the German fleet engages the Royal Navy. It inflicts the greater damage, but the British blockade of Germany holds. 		• 2nd: the Germans launch an offensive against the British lines in the Ypres Salient. They make small gains but there is no breakthrough.
• 4th: the Russians launch the Brusilov offensive.

• 5th: Lord Kitchener (above), secretary of state for war, is killed when HMS Hampshire, carrying him to Russia, is sunk by a German mine.
• 6-24th: Greece is blockaded by the Allies and forces her demobilisation.
• 21st: Battle of Carrizal between the U.S. and Mexico.
French troops on the Somme 1916
•1st-8th Nov: Battle of the Somme; Anglo-French troops attempt to break through the German lines. They fail, incurring massive casualties - 60,000 British casualties on the first day alone.
• 6th: Lloyd George succeeds Lord Kitchener as war secretary. 		• 9th: Italy launches the Gorizia offensive.
• 28th: Italy declares war on Germany.
• 29th: Hindenberg becomes German Chief of Staff		 • 1st: Bulgaria declares war on Roumania.


• 15th: British tanks (above) are used for the first time at Flers-Courcelette.
•The Russian Brusilov offensive is halted by Germany. 		• 24th: at Verdun the French recapture Douaumont Fort.
• 11th: Greece surrenders its fleet to the Allies.
• 16th: Athens is occupied by the Allies.		 • 18th: the Somme offensive ends.
• 29th: Beaty replaces Jellicoe as Commander-in-Chief of the British Grand Fleet.
• 21st: Emperor Francis Joseph of Austria dies and is succeeded by Charles I.		 • 3rd: Robert Nivelle becomes French C-in-C, taking over from Joffe.
• 6th: German forces capture Bucharest.

• 7th: Lloyd George (above) becomes British Prime Minister, having resigned from Asquith's cabinet (5th).
• 13th: Britain launches another offensive in Mesopotamia.
• 15-17th: France attacks between the river Meuse and Woëvre Plain.		  
First World War: cultural and social         cultural and social         cultural and social         cultural and social         cultural and social         cultural and social         cultural and social         < back
In this year :
• Germany introduces maternity benefits for women.
• Matisse, The Red Studio		 In this year :
• Braque, The Guitarist
• Vaughan Williams, A London Symphony (no. 2); Lark Ascending 		• 15th: the Panama canal is opened to shipping. • The British parliament suspends the Home Rule and Welsh Church bills while the war lasts.     • 12th: in the US the House of Representatives rejects women's suffrage. In this year:
• The Women's Institute is founded in Britain.
• Einstein, General Theory of Relativity
• Weneger, theory of continental drift
• Duchamp,The Bride Stripped Bare by Bachelors		 In this year:
• Gustav Holst, The Planets
• John Buchan, The Thirty-Nine Steps
• Joseph Conrad, Victory
• D. H. Lawrence, The Rainbow
• D. W. Griffiths, Birth of a Nation (film)		    • 5th: women's suffrage is introduced in Denmark. • 4th: the remains of de Lisle, composer of La Marseillaise, are brought to Les Invalides in Paris.   • 26th: James Keir Hardie, founder of the Independent Labour Party, dies aged 59. • 23rd: W. G. Grace, cricketer, dies aged 67. • Endurance, the ship of the British Antartic Expedition led by Ernest Shackleton, is crushed by ice. After an heroic journey the men are saved.   In this year:
• FW Mott develops his theory of shell-shock.
• Pareto, Treatise of General Sociology
• Monet, Water Lilies
• Harold Brighouse, Hobson's Choice		 In this year:
• G. D'Annunzio, La Leda Senza Gigno
• James Joyce, Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man
• Harold Wilson, Edward Heath and François Mitterand are all born in this year. 		• 22nd: Yüan Shih-kai, the Chinese emperor, dies.
In this year:
• The hangers at Orly, France, built to house airships, are the first buildings to use reinforced concrete on a massive scale.		        • 7th: Woodrow Wilson, Democrat, is re-elected US president.
• 7th: Janet Rankin is the first woman to be elected to the US Congress. 		   
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