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Chronology Of World War 1
WESTERN FRONT
1914
Aug. 2-Germans invade Luxembourg.
Aug. 4-Germans invade Belgium.
Aug. 7-Germans enter Liege; French invade Alsace; British troops begin
to land in France.
Aug. 8-Belgian Army falls back; limited French success is achieved in
Alsace.
Aug. 9-French cavalry enters Belgium.
Aug. 10-French advance in Lorraine.
Aug. 20-Germans enter Brussels.
Aug. 21-Reverses force French from Alsace-Lorraine.
Aug. 22-French are defeated at Charleroi.
Aug. 23-Namur falls to Germans; Battle of Mons begins.
Aug. 24-British fall back from Mons; a general Allied retreat takes
place.
Aug. 25-Gen. Joseph Joffre orders troops from the west to build up Sixth
Army near Paris.
Aug. 26-Battle of Le Cateau; British are driven back.
Aug. 27-Lille and Mezieres are occupied by the Germans.
Aug. 31-French Army falls back to line Aisne-ReimsVerdun.
Sept. 1-Germans take Soissons.
Sept. 2-Germans reach the Marne.
Sept. 3-French government moves to Bordeaux.
Sept. 5-Battle of the Marne begins.
Sept. 6-French Sixth Army attacks German flank from west in Battle of
the Ourcq, with modest success.
Sept. 9-Marne battle ends; Germans begin retreat.
Sept. 14-First Battle of the Aisne begins (ends Sept.28); this is the
introduction of trench warfare.
Sept. 18-Stalemate on the Aisne; opponents begin series of attempts
to outflank each other on the west, which develops into the Race for
the Sea.
Sept. 23-Germans take St.-Mihiel, forming salient.
Oct. 9-Germans take Antwerp.
Oct. 12-First Battle of Ypres begins (ends Nov. 11) as Germans try to
break front; Allies hold.
Oct. 16-Battle of the Yser ends race for the sea; neither side succeeds
in outflanking the other; this is beginning of the stabilized front.
1915
During the year the front remains essentially stabilized.
There are local actions with few gains.
Jan. 8-Battle of Soissons begins (ends Jan. 15); French drive is repulsed.
Feb. 3-German attacks in Champagne are repulsed.
March 10-Battle of Neuve-Chapelle; British achieve limited success in
three-day battle.
March 14-Battle of St.-Eloi begins (ends March 15); initial German gains
are erased by British counterattacks.
April 22-Second Battle of Ypres begins (ends May 24-25); costly and
futile attacks are made by both sides; Germans introduce poison gas
in war.
May 9-Second Battle of Artois begins (ends June 18); French make small
gains at heavy cost.
May 15-Battle of Festubert begins (ends May 25 ); Allies obtain limited
successes.
June 20-German offensive in the Argonne begins (ends July 14); attempt
to break French line fails.
Sept. 25-Allied offensives begin at Loos and in Champagne (end Nov.
6); good initial successes are obtained; fighting is violent, however,
and final gains are limited.
1916
During the year only two major engagements take place,
at Verdun and on the Somme; 38 air raids, mostly by zeppelins, are made
over England.
Feb. 21-Battle of Verdun begins; Germans attack to deplete limited French
manpower.
Feb. 25-Germans advance 3 miles at Verdun; capture Fort Douaumont.
March 16-Five German attacks are repulsed at Verdun.
June 7-Germans take Fort de Vaux at Verdun.
July 1-Franco-British offensive begins Battle of the Somme.
July 3-Allies obtain local successes on Somme.
July 12-Battle of the Somme continues; British take Mametz Wood.
July 14-British capture Trones Wood; first phase of Battle of the Somme
ends.
July 17-British capture German second Somme defense line.
Sept. 15-British introduce tanks in war on the Somme.
Oct. 5-British and French have limited successes on the Somme.
Oct. 13-40 Allied bombers raid factory in Oberndorf.
Nov. 13-Battle of the Ancre (part of Somme battle) begins (ends Nov.
18) ; British achieve success.
Nov. 18-Battle of the Somme ends; there are 650,000 German, 420,000
British, and 195,000 French casualties.
Dec. 12-Gen. Robert Georges Nivelle succeeds Joffre in command of the
French.
Dec. 15-Great French attacks at Verdun make important gains.
Dec. 18-Battle of Verdun ends; there are 550,000 French and 450,000
German casualties.
1917
February-The Allies, now possessing superior manpower,
plan offensive in Noyon salient.
Feb. 23-Apprised of coming offensive, Germans begin withdrawal from
salient to Hindenburg Line.
March 18-Following up the German withdrawal, British occupy Peronne,
and French Noyon.
April 5-Germans complete withdrawal.
April 6-United States enters war.
April 9-Battle of Arras begins (ends May 3); Canadians capture Vimy
Ridge.
April 16-Second Battle of the Aisne (ends May 9); Nivelle hurls French
against impregnable defenses with staggering losses; French troops mutiny.
May 3-British break Queant position; move on Cambrai.
May 4-French take Craonne and Chemin des Dames on the Aisne.
May 15-Gen. Philippe Petain replaces Nivelle in command of French.
June 7-Battle of Messines begins (ends June 8); British capture ridge.
June 25-First American fighting troops land in France.
July 31-Third Battle of Ypres begins; British continue attacks until
Nov. 6 to occupy Germans while French recuperate from Aisne debacle;
there are tremendous casualties but meager successes.
Aug. 20-French make limited gains near Verdun.
Nov. 6-Canadians capture Passchendaele Ridge; Third Battle of Ypres
ends.
Nov. 9-Allies form Supreme War Council.
Nov. 20-Battle of Cambrai begins (ends Dec. 3); British first massed
tank attack surprises Germans and breaks line; lack of reserves limits
British success.
Nov. 30-Germans counterattack at Cambrai (attack ends Dec. 1).
Dec. 4-British withdraw at Cambrai, losing much ground (withdrawal ends
Dec. 7).
1918
Collapse of Russia permits transfer of German troops to west, giving
the Germans numerical superiority; they plan supreme effort to win in
France before United States can intervene.
March 21-Some offensive begins; the first German drive to split French
and British, it achieves good initial gains.
March 22-A German breakthrough at St.-Quentin on Somme forces British
retreat.
March 23-Germans reach Somme River; Big Bertha begins harassing firing
on Paris from 74 miles away.
March 28-Germans are held up in north on Somme but advance in south.
April 4-German Somme offensive runs down after gain of 30 miles for
lack of reserves and supplies; Germans are left in salient.
April 9-Lys offensive begins; second German drive, designed to shatter
British, wins 10 miles; it is stopped April 29 by lack of reserves and
Allied counterattacks, and Germans are left in salient.
April 14-Gen. Ferdinand Foch is appointed supreme Allied commander.
May 27-Aisne offensive (third German drive), designed to break French,
reaches Marne in four days.
May 28-Battle of Cantigny; in first independent American operation,
1st Division captures Cantigny.
June 2-French hold on the Marne; Americans stop German crossings of
the river at Chateau-Thierry.
June 6-Aisne offensive ends; Germans are left in salient.
June 9-Noyon-Montidier offensive begins; the fourth German drive, it
is designed to threaten Paris; French hold with new defensive system,
and drive ends June 13.
July 15-Champagne-Marne offensive (Second Battle of the Marne) begins
(ends July 17) ; the last German drive, it is stopped by the French.
July 18-Foch begins to reduce German salients prior to launching general
attack; Aisne-Marne offensive against Marne salient begins; 8 American
divisions participate.
July 27-Germans in Marne salient are in general retreat.
Aug. 6-Allies reach the Vesle and eliminate the Marne salient.
Aug. 8-British and French begin attacks to reduce Amiens salient.
Aug. 18-French advance between Oise and Aisne rivers in Amiens salient.
Aug. 21-British achieve success in Battle of Bapaume in Amiens salient
(battle ends Aug. 31); German troops begin to break.
Sept. 3-Germans retreat to Hindenburg Line; the Amiens salient is reduced.
Sept. 6-Germans complete withdrawal from Lys salient.
Sept. 12-Newly created American First Army, aided by French, attacks
St.-Mihiel salient and gains 5 miles; Battle of Epehy, on Cambrai front,
begins (ends
Sept. 18); British obtain successes.
Sept. 13-Germans withdraw from St.-Mihiel salient under American and
French pressure.
Sept. 26-Foch's final general offensive begins; Americans and French
begin Meuse-Argonne offensive and advance several miles; 1,200,000 Americans
participate.
Sept. 27-British start Second Battle of Cambrai and Battle of St.-Quentin,
piercing Hindenburg Line.
Sept. 28-Battle of Flanders begins with Anglo-Belgian success on 23-mile
front.
Oct. 3-In the Meuse-Argonne offensive there occurs stiff American fighting
in the Argonne Forest.
Oct. 5-Second Battle of Cambrai and Battle of St: Quentin end; Germans
fall back.
Oct. 8-A great British-French-American advance on St.Quentin-Cambrai
front progresses 3 miles.
Oct. 9-Advance continues; British take Cambrai.
Oct. 10-British capture Le Cateau.
Oct. 14-Allies start Flanders offensive and advance 5 miles.
Oct. 17--Battle of the Selle; British-American attack on 9-mile front
captures part of Selle position.
Oct. 19-Belgians occupy Zeebrugge and attack Bruges.
Oct. 25-Stiff American fighting occurs north of Verdun in Meuse-Argonne
offensive.
Oct. 27-Gen. Erich F. W. Ludendorff, German supreme commander, resigns.
Nov. 3-Americans and French clear Argonne Forest and move into open
country; French reach the Aisne.
Nov. 4-British-French offensive takes Oise-Sambre Canal.
Nov. 6-Germans are in general retreat; Americans and French reach river
at Sedan; German armistice delegates leave Berlin for western front.
Nov. 11-Armistice is signed at 5 A.M.; firing stops at 11 A.M.; almost
2,000,000 Americans are now in France.
Nov. 18-Belgians re-enter Brussels.
Dec. 1-British and American troops cross German frontier.
Dec. 8-Americans enter their occupation zone at Coblenz.
Dec. 9-French enter their occupation zone at Mainz.
Dec. 12-British enter their occupation zone at Cologne.
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