The First World War: A Chronology 1914 28 June Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand in Sarajevo by a member of the Serbian Black Hand group 5 July Austria requests German support if Russia moves to aid Serbia 23 July Austrian ultimatum to Serbia 24 July Serbia appeals to Russia for help 25 July Serbia refuses to permit Austrian troops to enter and search for the conspirators 28 July Austria mobilizes and declares war on Serbia 30 July Russia orders general mobilization 31 July Germany orders general mobilization 1 August Germany declares war on Russia 3 August Germany declares war on France; demands free passage through Belgium 4 August Germany invades Belgium; Britain declares war on Germany 4 August Woodrow Wilson declares a policy of US neutrality 7 August Russia invades East Prussia 7 August Lord Kitchener calls for 100,000 volunteers to join the British army 12 August Britain declares war on Austria; Austria invades Serbia and is repulsed 14 August French frontier battles: French troops enter Lorraine
16 August Liege captured 17 August Russia invades East Prussia 18 August Russia invades Galicia 22 August British Expeditionary Force (BEF) arrives in France 23 August Japan declares war on Germany 24 August Plan 17 abandoned by the French army 24 August Retreat from Mons 26 August Battle of Tannenberg begins 28 August Battle of the Heligoland Bight 31 August Russians defeated at Tannenberg; retire into Russia 5 September Battle of the Marne 7 September Second Austrian invasion of Serbia; repulsed 11 September Austrians beaten in Galicia, retire to the Dunajec River 13 September German army attacked by French troops on the River Aisne 14 September Race to the Sea' begins 22 September Germany invades Russian Poland, aims for Warsaw 25 September Battle of Albert 1 October Battle of Arras 5 October First German aircraft shot down by an Allied plane 15 October First Battle of Ypres begins 16 October Canadian troops arrive in Great Britain
29 October Turkey joins central powers 1 November Battle of Coronel 2 November Russia declares war on Turkey 6 November Britain and France declare war on Turkey 7 November Japanese and British force captures Tsingtao 7 November British troops land in Mesopotamia 8 November Third Austrian invasion of Serbia 2 December Austrians occupy Belgrade 5 December Russians push Austrians west from Dunajec line, almost reach Cracow, are defeated and fall back to the Dunajec 8 December Battle of the Falkland Islands 21 December First German air raid on Britain 25 December Unofficial Christmas truce on the Western Front 1915 14 January Swakopmund occupied by South African forces 24 January Naval battle of the Dogger Bank 1 February Gas shells first used at Bolimov 19 February Naval bombardment of the Dardanelles 10 March Battle of Neuve Chapelle 18 March Naval attack against the Dardanelles fails 22 April First use of cloud gas opens Second Battle of Ypres
25 April Landings at Gallipoli 2 May Opening of the Gorlitz- Tarnow offensive 7 May Sinking of the Lusitania 9 May Artois offensive 22 May Germans capture Przemysl 23 May Italy declares war on Austria 25 May Germany abandons the Ypres offensive 25 May Prime Minister Asquith forms coalition government 31 May First Zeppelin raid on London 22 June Austrians take Lemberg 23 June First Isonzo offensive 9 July German surrender in South- West Africa 6 August Germans take Warsaw 6 August Suvla Bay offensive at Gallipoli 5 September Grand Duke Nikolai sacked as Russian Commander- in- Chief; Tsar Nicholas II takes command of the army 18 September Germans take Vilna 25 September British/French offensive at Artois- Loos 26 September First battle of Kut- al- Imara 5 October Allied troops land at Salonika 6 October Bulgaria declares war on Serbia 9 October Bulgarian invasion of Serbia
12 October Austrian invasion of Serbia 12 October Nurse Edith Cavell executed November Retreat from Kossovo begins; Serbia occupied 7 December Siege of Kut- al- Imara begins 19 December Sir Douglas Haig replaces Sir John French as Commander- in- Chief of the BEF 20 December Gallipoli (Suvla and Anzac Cove evacuated) 1916 5 January Conscription begins in Britain 9 January Gallipoli (Helles) evacuation completed 13 February Battle of Erzerum 21 February Battle of Verdun begins 9 March Germany declares war on Portugal 15 April Battle of Lake Naroch 29 April Kut- al- Imara surrendered 31 May Naval battle of Jutland 4 June Brusilov offensive begins 5 June HMS Hampshire sunk off Orkney islands - death of Lord Kitchener 7 June Arabs rise in revolt against Turkey 1 July First Battle of the Somme begins 9 August Italian Gorizia offensive
27 August Romania invades Transylvania 27 August Italy declares war on Germany 28 August Paul von Hindenburg replaces Falkenhayn on the Western Front 15 September First tanks used in battle on the Somme at Flers- Courcelette 24 October Fort Douaumont recaptured by the French at Verdun 18 November Battle of the Somme ends 21 November Emperor Franz Josef of Austria dies 29 November David Beatty replaces Sir John Jellicoe as Commander- in- Chief of the Grand Fleet 6 December Austrian and German forces take Bucharest 7 December David Lloyd George becomes British Prime Minister 9 December British capture Jerusalem 12 December Robert Nivelle replaces Joseph Joffre as Commander- in- Chief of the French army 18 December Battle of Verdun ends 1917 19 January Zimmermann telegram intercepted by Great Britain 1 February Germany declares unrestricted U- Boat campaign 24 February British recapture Kut- al- Imara 11 March First Russian revolution begins 11 March British capture Baghdad 15 March Tsar Nicholas II abdicates
26 March Battle of Gaza begins 6 April USA declares war on Germany 9 April Arras offensive begins 9 April Nivelle offensive begins 12 April Canadian army captures Vimy Ridge 16 April Second Battle of the Aisne begins 7 May British naval raid on Zeebrugge 15 May Henri- Philippe Petain replaces Robert Nivelle as Commander- in- Chief of the French Army 16 May Kerensky becomes Russian war minister 19 May John Pershing appointed Commander- in- Chief of the American Expeditionary Force (AEF) 7 June British attack at Messines 25 June First US troops arrive in France 29 June Greece declares war on the central powers 1 July Second Brusilov (Kerensky) offensive begins 6 July T. E. Lawrence and the Arabs capture Aquaba 10 July Kerensky becomes Russian Premier 17 July George V changes the British royal family name from Saxe- Coburg- Gotha to Windsor 31 July Third battle of Ypres (Passchendaele) begins 3 September Germany captures Riga 15 September Kerensky declares Russian Republic 24 October Battle of Caporetto
6 November Bolshevik Revolution in Russia 20 November Battle of Cambrai 7 December US declares war on Austria 17 December Armistice between Germany and Russia 1918 8 January President Wilson declares his Fourteen Points 1 February Austrian naval mutiny 18 February Germans move into Ukraine 21 February British take Jericho 3 March Treaty of Brest- Litovsk between Germany and Russia 7 March Peace between Germany and Finland 21 March German Spring Offensive on Western Front 29 March Ferdinand Foch appointed Allied coordinator in France 22 April British naval raids on Ostend and Zeebrugge 7 May Treaty of Bucharest between Romania and the Central Powers 27 May Third Battle of the Aisne begins 4 July Battle of Le Hamel 15 July Second Battle of the Marne 16 July Former Tsar Nicholas II and his family are murdered by Bolsheviks 18 July Allied offensive on Western Front begins
20 July German retreat at the Marne 8 August Second Battle of the Somme 21 August British breakthrough at Albert 26 August Assault on the Hindenburg Line begins 12 September Battle of St Mihiel 19 September Battle of Megiddo begins British offensive in Palestine 26 September Meuse- Argonne offensive 27 September British Canal du Nord offensive 30 September British occupy Damascus 30 September Armistice between Allies and Bulgaria 3 October Max von Baden appointed Chancellor of Germany 4 October Germany and Austria request armistice talks with President Wilson 5 October British forces breach the Hindenburg Line 23 October President Wilson rejects Austrian peace offers 24 October Battle of Vittorio Veneto (third battle of the Piave) 29 October German naval mutines at Kiel 30 October Armistice between Allies and Turkey 1 November Serbs capture Belgrade 3 November Armistice between Allies and Austria 3 November German fleet mutinies at Kiel 3 November Trieste falls to the Allies
9 November Kaiser Wilhelm II abdicates 10 November German Republic founded 11 November Armistice between Allies and Germany begins at 11am 12 November Emperor Karl of Austria abdicates 17 November Allied occupation armies advance to the Rhine 13 December Armistice prolonged to 17 January 1919 14 December David Lloyd George wins the British General Election 1919 16 January Armistice prolonged indefinitely 18 January Paris Peace Conference opens 7 May Allied peace terms handed to Germany 2 June Allied peace terms handed to Austria 28 June Treaty of Versailles signed (Germany) 19 July Cenotaph unveiled in London 10 September Treaty of St Germain signed (Austria) 27 November Treaty of Neuilly signed (Bulgaria) 1920 10 January Treaty of Versailles ratified
11 May Allied peace terms handed to Turkey 4 June Treaty of Trianon signed (Hungary) 10 August Treaty of Sevres signed (Turkey) 25 August Polish army defeats Bolsheviks in the Battle of the Vistula 1921 18 March Treaty of Riga between Russia and Poland