|
3
March |
A peace treaty is
signed between Soviet Russia and the Central Powers
(Germany, Austria-Hungary and Turkey) at
Brest-Litovsk. The treaty marks Russia's final
withdrawal from World War I. The humiliating
terms of the treaty effectively surrenders one
third of Russia's population, half of her
industry and 90% of her coal mines. Russia also
cedes lands including
Poland, Ukraine and Finland, and cash payments
are made to release Russian prisoners. |
|
21
March |
With 50 divisions
now freed by the surrender of Russia, Germany
realises that its only chance of victory is to
defeat the Allies quickly before the huge human
and industrial resources of America are
deployed. Germany launches the Ludendorff (or
first Spring) Offensive against the British on the
Somme. |
 |
|
26
March |
The French Marshall
Ferdinand Foch is
appointed Supreme Allied Commander on the Western Front. |
|
1
April |
The Royal Flying
Corps and the Royal Naval Air Service are merged
to form the Royal Air Force. |
|
9
April |
Germany launches a
second Spring Offensive, the Battle of the Lys,
in the British sector of Armentieres. The front
line Portuguese defenders were quickly overrun
by overwhelming numbers of German troops.
The capture of the Channel supply ports at
Calais, Dunkirk and Boulogne could choke the
British into defeat. |
|
23
April |
The Zeebrugge Raid
was an attempt by the British Royal Navy to
block the Belgium port of Bruges-Zeebrugge. The
port was an important base for German U-boats.
The raid was only a partial military success but
an important propaganda victory for the Allies. |
|
25
May |
German U-boats
appear in U.S. waters for first time. |
|
27
May |
The Third German
Spring Offensive, Third Battle of the Aisne,
begins in the French sector along Chemin des
Dames. The main objective of the German's was to
split French and British forces in an attempt to
gain a quick victory before American troops were deployed in
greater numbers on the battlefields of Europe. |
|
28
May |
U.S. forces, some
4,000 troops, are victorious in their first
major action of the war at the Battle of
Cantigny. |
|
15
July |
The final phase of
the great German spring push, the Second Battle of
Marne begins. The heavy toll on the German Army
from the previous Spring Offences was
beginning to show, with depleted and
exhausted troops. |
|
16
July |
The former
Russian Tsar Nicholas II, his wife, and
children, are murdered by the Bolsheviks. |
|
18
July |
The Allies
counterattack against German forces, seizing the
initiative on the Western Front. |
|
8
Aug |
Start of the
Battle of Amiens, the opening phase of the
Allied Hundred Days Offensive, that would
ultimately lead to the end of World War I.
Allied armoured divisions smash through the once
impregnable German trenches. Erich Ludendorff
calls it "the black day of the German Army." |
|
15
Sept |
Start of an Allied offensive against
Bulgarian forces. The Vardar Offensive would
last little over a week with Bulgaria eventually
signing an armistice and exiting the war.
Bulgaria's King Ferdinand would abdicate shortly
afterwards. |
|
19
Sept |
The British begin an
offensive against Turkish forces in Palestine,
the Battle of Megiddo. The battle would prove to
be the final victory of British General Edmund
Allenby's conquest of Palestine. Unlike most
other offences of World War I, Allenby's
campaigns had succeeded with relatively little
cost. |
|
26
Sept |
The Meuse-Argonne
offensive begins, this will be the last
Franco-American offensive of the war. It was
during this battle that Corporal (later
Sergeant) Alvin York made his famous capture of
132 German prisoners. |
Sergeant
Alvin York |
|
4
Oct |
Germany asks the
Allies for an armistice. |
|
mid
Oct |
The Allies have
taken control of almost all of German-occupied
France and part of Belgium. |
|
21
Oct |
Germany ceases its
policy of unrestricted submarine warfare. |
|
30
Oct |
After refusing
orders to put to sea in a bid to launch a final
suicide attack on the British Royal Navy,
sailors of the German Navy mutiny at the port of
Kiel,
After being forced back by Allied
troops, Turkey requests an armistice. |
|
3
Nov |
Following the fall
of Trieste, Austro-Hungary concludes an
armistice with the Allies. |
|
7
Nov |
Germany begins
negotiations for an armistice with the Allies in
Ferdinand Foch's railway carriage headquarters
at Compiegne. |
|
9
Nov |
The German Kaiser Wilhelm II
abdicates. |
|
11
Nov |
At the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th
month, in the French town of Redonthes, Germany
signs an armistice with the Allies - the
official date of the end of World War One. |
|
Post-war 1919 |
With the war now
over the Allies squabble as to the terms of the
Treaty of Versailles. Germany is plagued by
chaos and violence as Communists attempt to
seize power. |
|
12
Jan |
Diplomats from more
than 30 countries met at the Paris Peace
Conference in an attempt to form a lasting peace
throughout the world. |
|
7
May |
A draft copy of the
Treaty of Versailles is submitted to the German
delegation. |
|
21
June |
After waiting for
the British fleet to leave its base on exercise, Rear Admiral Ludvig
von Reuter, the officer in command of the 74
interned German Navy ships being held at Scapa
Flow, gave the order to scuttle his ships
to prevent them falling into British hands. Nine
German sailors were shot as they attempted to
scuttle their ship, the last
casualties of the First World War. |
|
28
June |
Exactly five years
after the assassination of the Austrian Archduke
Franz Ferdinand, the Treaty of Versailles is
signed between the Allies and Germany at Versailles,
officially ending the Great War.
Many people in France and Britain
were appalled that there was to be no trial for the
German Kaiser
or the other war leaders of the Central Powers. |
|
10
Sept |
Treaty of St Germain-en-Laye signed between the
Allies and Austria. |
|
4
June 1920 |
Treaty of Trianon signed between the Allies and
Hungary. |
|
24
July 1923 |
Treaty of Lausanne signed between the Allies and
Turkey |
