Chronology of Events

1914

June 28 Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand
July 23 Austro-Hungarian ultimatum to Serbia
July 28 Austria-Hungary declares war on Serbia
August 1 Germany declares war on Russia
August 3 Germany declares war on France
August 4 Germany invades Belgium; Britain declares war on Germany
August 8 British Parliament passes DORA
August 23 Battle of Mons
August 26-29 Battle of Tannenberg
September 6-11 Battle of the Marne
September 1 Falkenhayn replaces Moltke as German commander-in-chief
September 15 Germans complete retreat to the Aisne
September 22 German U-boat sinks three British cruisers off Dutch coast
October 20-November 22 First Battle of Ypres
October 27 German U-boat sinks battleship Audacious off Irish coast
November 1 Battle of Coronel; Turkey enters the war
December 8 Battle of the Falklands
December 16 German cruisers raid Yorkshire coast

1915

March 10-14 Battle of Neuve Chapelle
March 18 British naval attack fails at Dardanelles
March 22 Besieged Austro-Hungarian army at Przemysl surrenders to Russians
April 22 Second Battle of Ypres begins with German gas attack
May 2 Central Powers attack Russians at Gorlice-Tamow
May 7 German submarine sinks Lusitania off coast of Ireland
May 9 French launch attack in Artois
May 23 Italy enters the war
May 25 Coalition government takes office in Britain
June 8 William Jennings Bryan resigns as U.S. secretary of state
June 29 First Battle of the Isonzo begins
September 22 French begin offensive in Champagne
September 24 Tsar Nicholas II takes command of Russian armies
September 25-26 Battle of Loos
October 6 Central Powers attack Serbia
October 11 Bulgaria enters the war with attack on Serbia
December 15 Douglas Haig named commander-in-chief of BEF

1916

February 21 Battle of Verdun begins
April 2 Easter Rebellion in Ireland
May 10 Austrian offensive against Italy begins
May 17 British government adopts conscription
May 31-June 1 Battle of Jutland
June 4 Brusilov offensive begins
July 1 Battle of the Somme begins
August 3 Central Powers set up unified command on eastern front
August 27 Rumania enters the war
August 29 Hindenburg and Ludendorff take over the German high command
September 6 Germany and Austria-Hungary set up unified command in all theaters
October 21 Prime Minister Sturgkh assassinated in Vienna
November 7 Woodrow Wilson reelected as president of the United States
November 21 Death of Emperor Franz Joseph
November 23 Venizelos government in Greece enters war
November 25 Jellicoe named First Sea Lord
December 7 Lloyd George becomes prime minister of Great Britain; Germans capture Bucharest
December 1 Nivelle takes over as French army commander-in-chief

1917

February 1 Germany renews submarine warfare
March 1 United States government releases the Zimmermann telegram to public
March 8 Russian Revolution starts
March 15 Tsar Nicholas II abdicates; Germans begin retreat to Hindenburg line
April 6 United States enters the war
April 16 Nivelle (Chemin des Dames) offensive begins; Lenin returns to Petrograd and denounces Provisional Government
May 4 First American destroyers reach British waters
May 10 First successful British merchant convoy leaves Gibraltar for home waters
May 17 Petain replaces Nivelle as commander-in chief of French army
May 19 French armies begin to mutiny
May 26 Pershing named commander of AEF
June 5 United States Congress passes Espionage Act
July 1 Kerensky offensive begins
July 21 Kerensky becomes Russian prime minister
July 31 Third Battle of Ypres (Passchendaele) begins
October 23 Restored French army begins series of limited offensives
October 24 Central Powers defeat Italians at Caporetto
October 26 Orlando becomes Italian prime minister
November 7 Bolshevik Revolution in Russia
November 9 Diaz replaces Cadoma as commander of Italian army
November 16 Clemenceau becomes premier of France
November 20-29 Battle of Cambrai
December 22 Peace negotiations start at Brest-Litovsk

1918

Jamtaiy 1 United States government takes control of railroad system
January 8 Wilson presents Fourteen Points
February 1 Mutiny in Austro-Hungarian navy
February 6 British women receive the vote
March 3 Peace treaty signed at Brest-Litovsk; Russia leaves the war
March 4 Bernard Baruch takes over War Industries Board
March 21 Ludendorff offensive begins
March 26 Foch named Allied supreme commander
April 23-24 British attack submarine bases at Zeebrugge and Ostend
May 7 Rumania leaves the war
May 31 Americans go into combat at Chateau-Thierry
June 6 Americans attack at Belleau Wood
July 16-17 Tsar Nicholas II and his family are murdered by Communist officials
July 18 Second Battle of the Mijme begins
August 9 Britain recognizes Czech National Council
September 3 United States recognizes Czech National Council
September 12 American offensive at St. Mihiel
September 15 General Franchet d’Esperey begins Allied offensive at Salonika
September 26 General Allied offensive begins on western front; American offensive begins in Meuse-Argonne
September 29 Bulgaria leaves the war
October 3 Max von Baden named German prime minister
October 16 Emperor Charles announces federation in Austria
October 26 Ludendorff resigns as leader of German high command
October 29 Austria leaves the war
October 30 Turkey leaves the war
October 31 Mutiny in German navy at Kiel; start of revolution in Germany
November 9 Germany becomes a republic; Rumania reenters the war
November 11 Germans sign Armistice
December 4 Woodrow Wilson arrives in Europe to lead American peace delegation

1919

January IS Paris Peace Conference convenes
June 21 German fleet scuttled at Scapa Flow
June 2S Treaty of Versailles signed
September 26 Woodrow Wilson taken ill while touring the United States
October 2 Wilson suffers a stroke
November 19 U.S. Senate rejects peace treaty

1921

August 25 United States signs separate peace with Germany (Treaty of Berlin)