History of the World War — Summarized Chronology of the War
June 28. --Assassination of Archduke Francis Ferdinand, heir to throne of Austria-Hungary, and his wife at Sarajevo, Bosnia.
July 28. --Austria-Hungary declares war on Serbia.
29. --Russian mobilization ordered.
August 1. --Germany declares war on Russia.
1. --France orders mobilization.
2. --Germany demands free passage through Belgium.
3. --Germany declares war on France.
3. --Belgium rejects Germany's demand.
4. --Germany at war with Belgium.
Troops under Gen. Von Kluck cross border.
Halted at Liege.
4. --Great Britain at war with Germany.
Kitchener becomes Secretary of War.
5. --President Wilson tenders good offices of United States in interests of peace.
6. --Austria-Hungary at war with Russia.
7. --French forces invade Alsace.
Gen. Joffre in supreme command of French army.
7. --Montenegro at war with Austria.
7. --Great Britain's Expeditionary Force lands at Ostend, Calais and Dunkirk.
8. --British seize German Togoland.
8. --Serbia at war with Germany.
8. --Portugal announces readiness to stand by alliance with England.
11. --German cruisers Goeben and Breslau enter Dardanelles and are purchased by Turkey.
12. --Great Britain at war with Austria-Hungary.
12. --Montenegro at war with Germany.
17. --Belgian capital removed from Brussels to Antwerp.
19. --Canadian Parliament authorizes raising expeditionary force.
20. --Germans occupy Brussels.
23. --Japan at war with Germany.
Begins attack on Tsingtau.
24. --Germans enter France near Lille.
25. --Austria at war with Japan.
26. --Louvain sacked and burned by Germans.
Viviani becomes premier of France.
28. --British fleet sinks three German cruisers and two destroyers off Heligoland.
28. --Austria declares war on Belgium.
29. --Russians invest Konigsberg, East Prussia.
New Zealanders seize German Samoa.
30. --Amiens occupied by Germans.
31. --Russian army of invasion in East Prussia defeated at Tannenberg by Germans under Von Hindenburg.
31. --St. Petersburg changed to Petrograd by imperial decree.
September 3. --Paris placed in state of siege; government transferred to Bordeaux.
3. --Lemberg, Gallicia, occupied by Russians.
4. --Germans occupy Rheims.
6-10. --Battle of Marne.
Von Kluck is beaten by Gen. Joffre, and the German army retreats from Paris to the Soissons-Rheims line.
10. --Emden, German cruiser, carries out raids in Bay of Bengal.
14. --French reoccupy Amiens and Rheims.
19. --British forces begin operations in Southwest Africa.
20. --Rheims cathedral shelled by Germans.
24. --Allies occupy Peronne.
25. --Australians seize German New Guinea.
28. --Anglo-French forces invade German colony of Kamerun.
29. --Antwerp bombardment begins.
October 2. --British Admiralty announces intention to mine North Sea areas.
6. --Japan seizes Marshall Islands in Pacific.
9. --Antwerp surrenders to Germans.
Government removed to Ostend.
13. --British occupy Ypres.
14. --Canadian Expeditionary Force of 32,000 men lands at Plymouth.
15. --Germans occupy Ostend.
Belgian government removed to Havre, France.
November 1. --Monmouth and Good Hope, British cruisers, are sunk by German squadron off Chile under command of Admiral Von Spee.
5. --Great Britain and France declare war on Turkey.
5. --Cyprus annexed by Great Britain.
7. --German garrison of Tsingtau surrenders to Japanese.
9. --Emden, German cruiser, which had carried out raiding operations for two months, is destroyed by Australian cruiser Sydney off the Cocos Islands, southwest of Java.
16. --Prohibition of sale of intoxicants in Russia enforced.
27. --Czernowitz, capital of Bukowina, captured by Russians.
December 2. --Belgrade occupied by Austrians.
3. --Cracow bombarded by Russians.
8. --Off the Falkland Isles, British squadron under command of Rear-Admiral Sturdee, sinks three of the German cruisers which had destroyed the Good Hope and Monmouth on Nov.
1. The Dresden escapes.
14. --Austrians evacuate Belgrade.
16. --German squadron bombards Hartlepool, Scarborough and Whitby on east coast of England.
23. --Siege of Cracow raised.
Russians retire.
1915 January 24. --British fleet puts to flight a German squadron in North Sea and sinks the battle cruiser Blucher.
28. --American bark, William P. Frye, sunk by German cruiser in South Atlantic.
February 10. --Russians defeated by Germans in Battle of Masurian Lakes.
18. --German submarine "blockade" of British Isles begins.
25. --Allied fleet destroys outer forts of Dardanelles.
March 2. --Allied troops land at Kum-Kale, on Asiatic side of Dardanelles.
10. --British take Neuve Chapelle in Flanders battle.
14. --Dresden, German raiding cruiser, is sunk by British squadron off the Chilean coast.
22. --Austrian fortress of Przmysl surrenders to Russians.
April 22. --Poison gas first used by Germans in attack on Canadians at Ypres, Belgium.
May 1. --American steamer Gulflight torpedoed off Scilly Isles by German submarine; 3 lives lost.
2. --British South Africa troops under General Botha capture Otymbingue, German Southwest Africa.
7. --Germans capture Libau, Russian Baltic port.
7. --Lusitania, Cunard liner, sunk by German submarine off Kinsale Head, Irish coast, with loss of 1152 lives; 102 Americans.
23. --Italy declares war on Austria-Hungary and begins invasion on a 60-mile front.
24. --American steamer Nebraskan torpedoed by German submarine off Irish coast, but reaches Liverpool in safety.
31. --German Zeppelins bombard suburbs of London.
June 1. --Germany apologizes for attack on Gulflight and offers reparation.
3. --Austrians recapture Przmysl.
3. --British forces operating on Tigris capture Kut-el-Amara.
4-6. --German aircraft bombs English towns.
7. --Bryan, U. S.
Secretary of State, resigns.
15. --Allied aircraft bombs Karlsruhe, Baden, in retaliation.
22. --Lemberg recaptured by Austrians.
26. --Montenegrins enter Scutari, Albania.
July 9. --German Southwest Africa surrenders to British South African troops under Gen. Botha.
25. --American steamer, Leelanaw, Archangel to Belfast with flax, torpedoed off Scotland.
31. --Baden bombarded by French aircraft.
August 5. --Warsaw captured by Germans.
6. --Ivangorod occupied by Austrians.
6. --Gallipoli Peninsula campaign enters a second stage with the debarkation of a new force of British troops in Suvla Bay, on the west of the peninsula.
8. --Russians defeat German fleet of 9 battleships and 12 cruisers at entrance of Gulf of Riga.
19. --Arabic, White Star liner, sunk by submarine off Fastnet; 44 lives lost; 2 Americans.
25. --Brest-Litovsk, Russian fortress, captured by Austro-Germans.
28. --Italians reach Cima Cista, northeast of Trent.
30. --British submarine attacks Constantinople and damages the Galata Bridge.
31. --Lutsk, Russian fortress, captured by Austrians.
September 2. --Grodno, Russian fortress, occupied by Germans.
6. --Czar Nicholas of Russia assumes command of Russian armies.
Grand Duke Nicholas is transferred to the Caucasus.
15. --Pinsk occupied by Germans.
18. --Vilna evacuated by Russia.
24. --Lutsk recaptured by Russians.
25. --Allies open offensive on western front and occupy Lens.
27. --Lutsk again falls to Germans.
October 5. --Greece becomes political storm center.
Franco-British force lands at Salonika and Greek ministry resigns.
9. --Belgrade again occupied by Austro-Germans.
11. --Zaimis, new Greek premier, announces policy of armed neutrality.
12. --Edith Cavell, English nurse, shot by Germans for aiding British prisoners to escape from Belgium.
13. --London bombarded by Zeppelins; 55 persons killed; 114 injured.
14. --Bulgaria at war with Serbia.
14. --Italians capture Pregasina, on the Trentino frontier.
15. --Great Britain declares war on Bulgaria.
17. --France at war with Bulgaria.
18. --Bulgarians cut the Nish-Sulonika railroad at Vranja.
19. --Italy and Russia at war with Bulgaria.
22. --Uskub occupied by Bulgarians.
28. --Pirot captured by Bulgarians.
29. --Briand becomes premier of France, succeeding Viviani.
November 5. --Nish, Serbian war capital, captured by Bulgarians.
9. --Ancona, Italian liner, torpedoed in Mediterranean.
17. --Anglo-French war council holds first meeting in Paris.
20. --Novibazar occupied by German troops.
22. --Ctesiphon, near Bagdad, captured by British forces in Asia Minor.
23. --Italians drive Austrians from positions on Carso Plateau.
24. --Serbian government transferred to Scutari, Albania.
December 1. --British Mesopotamian forces retire to Kut-el-Amara.
2. --Monastir evacuated by Serbians.
4. --Henry Ford, with large party of peace advocates, sails for Europe on chartered steamer Oscar II, with the object of ending the war.
13. --Serbia in hands of enemy, Allied forces abandoning last positions and retiring across Greek frontier.
15. --Gen. Sir Douglas Haig succeeds Field Marshal Sir John French as Commander-in-Chief of British forces in France.
20. --Dardanelles expedition ends; British troops begin withdrawal from positions on Suvla Bay and Gallipoli Peninsula.
22. --Henry Ford leaves his peace party at Christiania and returns to the United States.
1916 January 11. --Greek island of Corfu occupied by French.
13. --Cettinje, capital of Montenegro, occupied by Austrians.
23. --Scutari, Albania, taken by Austrians.
29-31. --German Zeppelins bomb Paris and towns in England.
February 1. --Appam, British liner, is brought into Norfolk, Va.
, by German prize crew.
10. --British conscription law goes into effect.
16. --Erzerum, in Turkish Armenia, captured by Russians under Grand Duke Nicholas.
19. --Kamerun, German colony in Africa, conquered by British forces.
21. --Battle of Verdun begins.
Germans take Haumont.
25. --Fort Douaumont falls to Germans in Verdun battle.
27. --Durazzo, Albania, occupied by Austrians.
March 5. --Moewe, German raider, reaches home port after a cruise of several months.
9. --Germany declares war on Portugal on the latter's refusal to give up seized ships.
15. --Austria-Hungary at war with Portugal.
24. --Sussex, French cross-channel steamer, with many Americans aboard, sunk by submarine off Dieppe.
No Americans lost.
31. --Melancourt taken by Germans in Verdun Battle.
April 18. --Trebizond, Turkish Black Sea port, captured by Russians.
19. --President Wilson publicly warns Germany not to pursue submarine policy.
20. --Russian troops landed at Marseilles for service on French front.
24. --Irish rebellion begins in Dublin.
Republic declared.
Patrick Pearse announced as first president.
29. --British force of 9000 men, under Gen. Townshend, besieged in Kut-el-Amara, surrenders to Turks.
30. --Irish rebellion ends with unconditional surrender of Pearse and other leaders, who are tried by court-martial and executed.
May 8. --Cymric, White Star liner, torpedoed off Irish coast.
14. --Italian positions penetrated by Austrians.
15. --Vimy Ridge gained by British.
26. --Bulgarians invade Greece and occupy forts on the Struma.
31. --Jutland naval battle; British and German fleets engaged; heavy losses on both sides.
June 5. --Kitchener, British Secretary of War, loses his life when the cruiser Hampshire, on which he was voyaging to Russia, is sunk off the Orkney Islands, Scotland.
6. --Germans capture Fort Vaux in Verdun attack.
8. --Lutsk, Russian fortress, recaptured from Germans.
17. --Czernowitz, capital of Bukowina, occupied by Russians.
21. --Allies demand Greek demobilization.
27. --King Constantine orders demobilization of Greek army.
28. --Italians storm Monte Trappola, in the Trentino district.
July 1. --British and French attack north and south of the Somme.
9. --Deutschland, German submarine freight boat, lands at Baltimore, Md.
14. --British penetrate German second line, using cavalry.
15. --Longueval captured by British.
25. --Pozieres occupied by British.
30. --British and French advance between Delville Wood and the Somme.
August 3. --French recapture Fleury.
9. --Italians enter Goritzia.
10. --Stanislau occupied by Russians.
25. --Kavala, Greek seaport town, taken by Bulgarians.
27. --Roumania declares war on Austria-Hungary.
28. --Italy at war with Germany.
28. --Germany at war with Roumania.
30. --Roumanians advance into Transylvania.
31. --Bulgaria at war with Roumania.
Turkey at war with Roumania.
September 2. --Bulgarian forces invade Roumania along the Dobrudja frontier.
13. --Italians defeat Austrians on the Carso.
15. --British capture Flers, Courcelette, and other German positions on western front, using 'tanks.'
26. --Combles and Thiepval captured by British and French.
29. --Roumanians begin retreat from Transylvania.
October 24. --Fort Douaumont recaptured by French.
November 1. --Deutschland, German merchant submarine, arrives at New London, Conn.
, on second voyage.
2. --Fort Vaux evacuated by Germans.
7. --Woodrow Wilson re-elected President of the United States.
13. --British advance along the Ancre.
19. --Monastir evacuated by Bulgarians and Germans.
21. --Britannic, mammoth British hospital ship, sunk by mine in Aegean Sea.
22. --Emperor Franz Josef of Austria-Hungary, dies.
Succeeded by Charles I. 23. --German warships bombard English coast.
28. --Roumanian government is transferred to Jassy.
29. --Minnewaska, Atlantic transport liner, sunk by mine in Mediterranean.
December 1. --Allied troops enter Athens to insist upon surrender of Greek arms and munitions.
6. --Bucharest, capital of Roumania, captured by Austro-Germans.
7. --David Lloyd George succeeds Asquith as premier of England.
15. --French complete recapture of ground taken by Germans in Verdun battle.
18. --President Wilson makes peace overtures to belligerents.
26. --Germany replies to President's note and suggests a peace conference.
30. --French government on behalf of Entente Allies replies to President Wilson's note and refuses to discuss peace till Germany agrees to give 'restitution, reparation and guarantees.'
1917 January 1. --Turkey declares its independence of suzerainty of European powers.
1. --Ivernia, Cunard liner, is sunk in Mediterranean.
22. --President Wilson suggests to the belligerents a 'peace without victory.'
31. --Germany announces intention of sinking all vessels in war zone around British Isles.
February 3. --United States severs diplomatic relations with Germany.
Count Von Bernstorff is handed his passports.
7. --California, Anchor liner, is sunk off Irish coast.
13. --Afric, White Star liner, sunk by submarine.
17. --British troops on the Ancre capture German positions.
25. --Laconia, Cunard liner, sunk off Irish coast.
26. --Kut-el-Amara recaptured from Turks by new British Mesopotamian expedition under command of Gen. Sir Stanley Maude.
28. --United States government makes public a communication from Germany to Mexico proposing an alliance, and offering as a reward the return of Mexico's lost territory in Texas, New Mexico and Arizona.
28. --Submarine campaign of Germans results in the sinking of 134 vessels during February.
March 3. --British advance on Bapaume.
3. --Mexico denies having received an offer from Germany suggesting an alliance.
8. --Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin dies.
10. --Russian Czar suspends sittings of the Duma.
11. --Bagdad captured by British forces under Gen. Maude.
11. --Revolutionary movement starts in Petrograd.
14. --China breaks with Germany.
15. --Czar Nicholas abdicates.
Prince Lvoff heads new cabinet.
17. --Bapaume falls to British.
Roye and Lassigny occupied by French.
18. --Peronne, Chaulnes, Nesle and Noyon evacuated by Germans, who retire on an 85-mile front.
18. --City of Memphis, Illinois, and Vigilancia, American ships, torpedoed.
19. --Alexander Ribot becomes French premier, succeeding Briand.
21. --Healdton, American ship, bound from Philadelphia to Rotterdam, sunk without warning; 21 men lost.
26-31. --British advance on Cambrai.
April 1. --Aztec, American armed ship, sunk in submarine zone.
5. --Missourian, American steamer, sunk in Mediterranean.
6. --United States declares war on Germany.
7. --Cuba and Panama at war with Germany.
8. --Austria-Hungary breaks with United States.
9. --Germans retreat before British on long front.
9. --Bolivia breaks with Germany.
13. --Vimy, Givenchy, Bailleul and positions about Lens taken by Canadians.
20. --Turkey breaks with United States.
May 9. --Liberia breaks with Germany.
11. --Russian Council of Workmen's and Soldiers' Delegates demands peace conference.
15. --Gen. Petain succeeds Gen. Nivelle as Commander-in-Chief of French armies.
Gen. Foch is appointed Chief of Staff.
16. --Bullecourt captured by British in the Arras battles.
17. --Honduras breaks with Germany.
18. --Conscription bill signed by President Wilson.
19. --Nicaragua breaks with Germany.
22-26. --Italians advance on the Carso.
June 4. --Senator Root arrives in Russia at head of commission appointed by President.
5. --Registration day for new draft army in United States.
7. --Messines-Wytschaete ridge in English hands.
8. --Gen. Pershing, Commander-in-Chief of American expeditionary force, arrives in England en route to France.
18. --Haiti breaks with Germany.
July 1. --Russians begin offensive in Gallicia, Kerensky, minister of war, leading in person.
3. --American expeditionary force arrives in France.
6. --Canadian House of Commons passes Compulsory Military Service Bill.
12. --King Constantine of Greece abdicates in favor of his second son, Alexander.
14. --Bethmann--Hollweg, German Chancellor, resigns; succeeded by Dr. Georg Michaelis.
16--23. --Retreat of Russians on a front of 155 miles.
20. --Alexander Kerensky becomes Russian premier, succeeding Lvoff.
20. --Drawing of draft numbers for American conscript army begins.
22. --Siam at war with Germany and Austria.
24. --Austro-Germans retake Stanislau.
31. --Franco-British attack penetrates German lines on a 20-mile front.
August 1. --Pope Benedict XV makes plea for peace on a basis of no annexation, no indemnity.
3. --Czernowitz captured by Austro-Germans.
7. --Liberia at war with Germany.
8. --Canadian Conscription Bill passes its third reading in Senate.
14. --China at war with Germany and Austria-Hungary.
15. --St. Quentin Cathedral destroyed by Germans.
