THE WAR YEARS: AUGUST 1914 – November 1918
1914
June 28 1914
Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to the Austrian-
The Irish novelist James Joyce publishes Dubliners, a collection of short stories. His best known works include A Portrait of the Author as a Young Man (1916), and Ulysses (1922).
July 23rd 1914
Austria sends an ultimatum, making demands that Serbia could clearly not accept. The Serbs refuse; Austria declares war; and Russia promises aid to the Balkan provinces.
August 3rd – 4th 1914: Germany declares war on Russia, France and Britain. THE FIRST WORLD WAR (or The Great War) is under way. It lasts for over four years and costs an estimated 90 million dead and wounded.
August 4th 1914
The opening of the WESTERN FRONT. The Germans launch their Schlieffen Plan, designed to invade France via Belgium and capture Paris. It is later defeated at the Battle of the Marne.
August 6th – 26th 1914
The AFRICAN FRONT opens with the British and French seizing the German colony of Togoland, and the French invading the German protectorate of Kamerun in West Africa.
August 7th 1914
Anxious to gain a quick victory, the French invade the provinces of Alsace and Lorraine, but, met with heavy artillery and machine gun fire, they have to fall back towards Paris.
August 7th – 9th 1914
On the EASTERN FRONT the Russians are badly defeated in East Prussia (The Battles of Tannenberg and the Musurian Lakes), but in the south they take the province of Galicia from Austro-
The WAR AT SEA produces a number of battles between the British and German fleets, but the major conflict revolves around the German attempt to starve Britain into submission by a ruthless U-
After ten years in the making, the Panama Canal is officially opened. The grand ceremony planned for the event is not held because of the outbreak of the First World War.
August 23rd 1914
In the Far East, Japan, allied to the United Kingdom since 1902, declares war on Germany and Austria-
The French sculptor Raymond Duchamp-
August 26th – September 6th 1914
By the battles of the Marne and the Aisne (September 12th – 28th), French and British forces halt the German advance on Paris, but the increase made in fire power forces both sides to “dig in”.
WAR IN THE AIR advances rapidly over the next four years, both in the part it played on the battlefield by way of reconnaissance and tactical support, and by the the ever increasing use of the long range bombing of both strategic and civilian targets. And it was also to bring a new dimension to the War at Sea.
Shackleton sets out on an expedition to cross the Antarctic, but his ship is crushed by ice. He and five others make a perilous, 800 mile journey to get help and save the stranded crew.
August 28th 1914
The British win the First Battle of Heligoland Bight. The British Grand Fleet sink three German light cruisers and a torpedo boat. Four British ships are damaged in the encounter.
October 19th – November 22nd 1914
A German attempt to reach the Channel Ports (“the Race to the Sea”) is halted by the Entente at the First Battle of Ypres, but both sides suffer extremely heavy casualties.
October 29th 1914
The MIDDLE EAST FRONT: The Ottoman Empire declares war on the Allied Powers. This leads to the Caucasus Campaign against Russia, and the opening of six other battlefields in the Middle East, including Gallipoli.
November 1st 1914
In the Battle of Coronel, fought in the Pacific, a German task force sinks two British cruisers. In December, the British destroy four German cruisers off the Falkland Islands.
November 6th 1914
British and Indian troops invade Mesopotamia to protect vital oil supplies. They advance to within 20 miles of Baghdad, but are eventually defeated at the Battle of Ctesiphon.
November 1914
The British government, fearing that the Ottomans might seize the Mediterranean island of Cyprus, a British protectorate since 1878, sets up a military occupation throughout the war.
Following the suicide of her first love, the Chilian poet Gabriela Mistral gains fame with her Sonnets on Death, but her large collection of poems, Despair, is not published until 1922.
December 17th 1914 – March 20th 1915
The “Race to the Sea” having ran its course, the French open the First Battles of Artois and Champagne in an attempt to drive the Germans out of the large Noyon Salient.
THE DATELINE
Acknowledgements
1914: The Great War: ebay.co.uk Battle of Heligoland Bight:britishbattles.com Middle East: Horsetalk.co. Aircraft: flitetest.com
1915: Zeppelin: picclick.co.uk Bell: westminstercollection.com Armenian Genocide: shutterstock.com Lusitania: history.com Italian Flag: oneplj.com Bulgarian Flag: en.wikipedia.com
1916: Portuguese Flag: hyperionhistory.blogsot.com Jutland: book cover, amazon.co.uk, artist unknown Lawrence of Arabia: book cover, by Welsh artist Augustus John Romanian Flag: en.wikipedia.org
1917: Tsar Nicholas: (detail) en.wikipedia.org by Russian artist Ernst von Liphart USA Flag: freepik.com
Lenin: en.wikipedia.org Greek Flag: teepublic.com China Labour Corps: thechairmansbao.com
Brazilian Flag: en.wikipedia.org October Revolution: timetoast.com Tank: blogs.loc.gov
1918: Per Ardua ad Astra: amazon.co.uk Poppies: Lancashire Fusiliers.
WW1-
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1915
January 19th – 20th 1915
The first of over fifty zeppelin raids is made upon Britain. Bombs are dropped on three towns in Norfolk, and attacks upon London begin in May. Raids are also launched on France, Italy and Poland.
China, confronted by Japan with the so-
The Avezzano earthquake shakes the province of L’Aquila in Italy. Some 30,000 people are killed. The tremor, a minute in length, is felt throughout central and southern Italy.
January 24th 1915
The British navy wins the Battle of Dogger Bank, and the Kaiser, retaliating against the British blockade of Germany, declares the waters around the British Isles a “war zone” (February 4th)
In the United States, the showing of the motion picture The Birth of a Nation, romanticising as it did the part played by the Ku Klux Klan, leads to serious race riots across the country.
The Scottish-
February 11th 1915
After a delayed start, South African forces invade the German colony of South-
The American James Earle Fraser, one of the foremost portrait sculptors of his generation, produces his moving image of an exhausted native American Indian at The End of the Trail.
March 10th – 15th 1915
In the Battle of Neuve Chapelle, the first in which the Royal Flying Corps plays a significant role, the British take some ground, but fail to break through the German lines.
March 28th 1915
The British steamship RMS Falaba becomes the first passenger ship to be sunk by a U-
The English novelist Virginia Wolfe completes her first novel, The Voyage Out. Noted for her impressionistic style, she is best known for Mrs Dalloway and To the Lighthouse in the 1920s.
April 1915: The Turks begin the forced expulsion of Armenians. Over the next two years the “Armenian Genocide” sees an estimated one and a half million die of starvation, thirst or mass killing.
April 22nd – May 25th 1915
The Second Battle of Ypres marks the first use of poison gas on the Western Front. Launched by the Germans, it enables them to cap
ture land in the north of the salient.
The famous British comic actor Charlie Chaplin (1889-
April 25th 1915 – January 9th 1916
Attempting to knock the Ottoman Empire out of the war, Allied troops land on the GALLIPOLI PENINSULA in western Turkey, but the Turks, aware of their coming, offer strong resistance.
Research by the German physicist and astronomer, Karl Schwarzschild, provides the ground work for the identification of black holes. He served in the army, but died of an illness in 1916.
May 2nd – 18th September 1915
The Great Retreat. In the East, the Central Powers open the Gorlice-
May 3rd 1915
Italy declares war on Austria-
May 9th – June 18th 1915
The Second Battle of Artois, involving French and British attacks upon the German strongholds of Vimy Ridge and Aubers Ridge, ends in failure and heavy casualties.
May 17th 1915
Following the German re-
August 1915 – April 1916
For the next eight months, the German Fokker fighter – extremely manoeuvrable and able to fire bullets through the spinning propeller – dominates the skies on the Western Front. The Allies suffer heavy loses.
Civil War breaks out in Mexico. The military dictator Victoriano Huerta is forced into exile, and there follows a long period of anarchy and bloodshed, not brought to an end until 1920.
September 5th 1915
Czar Nicholas takes over command of his army, but the continued lack of basic military equipment and the shortage of food continues to stir up political and social unrest.
The Scottish novelist and statesman John Buchan completes his adventure story The Thirty Nine Steps. As a war correspondent, he covered the Second Battle of Ypres for The Times.
September 25th – November 6th 1915
In the Third Battle of Artois, the French again fail to take Vimy Ridge, and the British lose the Battle of Loos. Meanwhile, the French are repulsed in the Second Battle of Champagne.
October 11th 1915
Bulgaria enters the war and supports Germany and Austria-
The German physicist Albert Einstein, famous innovator in the fields of quantum mechanics and relativity, produces his paper on the gravitational field equation of general relativity.
December 8th 1915 – January 9th 1916
Having totally failed in their major objective, the Allies carry out the evacuation of Gallipoli. In an efficient operation, all troops are taken off the peninsula within three weeks.
The Finnish composer Jean Sibelius gives his first performance of his famous Fifth Symphony (8th December). He is best known for his tone poem Finlandia, premiered in 1899.
Henry Ford, the famous American car-
An imposing statue of Joan of Arc, the work of American artist Anna Hyatt Huntington -
1916
1st January – 5th August 1916
In Egypt, the British face three attacks upon the Suez Canal; the Senussi Rebellion from the west (begun in November 1915), and two Ottoman Raids, launched from Palestine in January and August. All three fail.
January – December 1916
The Russians launch an offensive in the Caucasus. They take the fortress town of Erzurum and the ports of Rite and Trebizonda in the north, and gain land as far south as Lake Van.
February 21st – December 16th 1916
A German offensive against the French stronghold of Verdun starts a ten month campaign. The French manage to hold onto the town, but casualties are horrendous on both sides.
The German writer Hugh Ball forms the Dada Movement, a protest against the horrors and folly of war, and the art form of the day. Members include Marcel Duchamp and Max Ernst.
March 9th 1916
Germany declares war on Portugal following the seizure of German and Austro-
The English composer Gustav Holst begins work on his orchestral suite The Planets, the opus by which he is best known. He also wrote operas, ballets, choral works and folk songs.
March 18th – 26th 1916
The Russians launch an attack aimed at diverting German resources from the battle at Verdun, but, despite superiority in numbers, they lose the costly Battle of Lake Naroch.
March 24th 1916
US President Wilson threatens to break of diplomatic ties with Germany following the sinking of the French passenger ferry Sussex by a U-
In Dublin, the Easter Rising, organised by the Irish Republican Brotherhood (IRB), is put down after a week of heavy fighting, but unrest spreads to other parts of southern Ireland.
April 29th 1916
In Mesopotamia 13,000 British and Indian troops, besieged at the city of Kut for five months, are forced to surrender. British rule is not restored until the taking of Baghdad in March 1917. Meanwhile, British interests are threatened in Persia.
May 1916
In the continuing battle for German East Africa, begun in August 1914, General Smuts opens a three-
May 15th – June 10th 1916
The Austro-
May 1916
Following attacks on the Suez Canal, the Egyptian Expeditionary Force launches an invasion of Sinai. It occupies the peninsula by the end of the year, but is twice repulsed at Gaza.
May 19th 1916
The Sykes-
May 3
1st – June 1st 1916
The only significant naval battle between Britain and Germany takes place off the west coast of Jutland. It proves indecisive, but the German fleet does not venture out again in full, and the blockade of Germany continues.
The Welsh poet W.H.Davies publishes his famous poem Leisure. He spent much of his life living rough in the UK and abroad, gathering material for his Autobiography of a Supertramp.
June 4th 1916
Four Russian armies, under their new commander, General Alexei Brusilov, launch a highly successful offensive in Galicia, but it is halted and pushed back after four months.
June 5th 1916
The Arab Revolt against Ottoman rule breaks out in the Hejaz Region of the Arabian Peninsula. Associated with the legend of “Lawrence of Arabia”, it provides strong support to the British Palestine campaign following the capture of Gaza in October.
The death of Yuan Shikai, President of the Republic of China, ushers in the Warlord Era, twelve years of military conflict up to the establishment of the Chinese Nationalist Party.
July 1st – November 18th 1916
The Battle of the Somme begins. During the next five months the Allies gain a little ground, but casualties are monumental on both sides. Tanks are used for the first time.
August 27th
1916
Romania joins the Allies, declares war on Austria-
August 27th 1916
Italy officially declares war on Germany. However, the Germans had already sent troops to assist the Austrians, and sunk a large amount of Italian shipping in the Mediterrainean!
Seated Nude is completed by the Italian painter Amedeo Mondigliani. Although renowned for his graceful nudes, he painted a large number of portraits, and was also a fine sculptor.
December 15th – 17th 1916
The French take Louvemont and Bezonvauz on the east bank of the River Meuse. This marks the end of the First Battle of Verdun, and, with it, a German offer of peace!
1917
February 1st 1917
Despite the likely reaction of the United States, Germany re-
Playing in New York, The Original Dixieland Jazz Band makes the first jazz recording with Livery Stable Blues. Their most famous work, Tiger Rag, was produced later in the year.
February 17th 1917
Following the sinking of the French passenger/cargo ship SS Athos by a German U-
February 22nd 1917 (Julien Calendar)
A rebellion in Petrograd over the lack of food, the failure of the military, and the despotic state control, marks the beginning of the Russian Revolution. It overthrows the Czar and a “provisional government” is established.
The Italian violinist Ottorino Respighi, one of the the most talented composers of the early 20th century, gives the first performance of his pastoral symphony Fountains of Rome.
March 11th 1917
In Mesopotamia, British troops, having retaken Kut from the Turks, capture Baghdad and win the Battle of Sharquat. By the Armistice of Mudros, the Ottomans sue for peace.
March 1917
On the Western Front, the Germans complete a strategic withdrawal to the Hindenburg Line. By yielding up the Noyon Salient, the front line is reduced by more than 25 miles.
Alexander Graham Bell, a very early harbinger of climate change, warns that the unrestricted burning of fossil fuels would increasingly result in the Earth becoming a “kind of hot house”.
Mahatma Ghandi, the leader of India’s non-
April 6th 1917: The United States declares war on Germany following further U-
April 9th 1917
In supporting the French Nivelle Offensive, British and Dominion forces gain ground at the Battle of Arras, and the Canadians capture Vimy Ridge, but no break-
The Austrian neurologist Sigmund Freud writes Introduction to Psychonanalysis, a work which includes the study of the unconscious mind and the theory of neurosis and dreams.
April 16th – May 9th 1917
The Nivelle Offensive, a French attack along a 30-
April 16th 1917
The political agitator Lenin arrives in Petrograd after twelve years in exile and joins other Bolsheviks bent on overthrowing the weak Provisional Government.
May 15th 1917
Conflict in the Mediterranean increases with the introduction of unrestricted submarine warfare and the Battle of the Straits of Otranto, the narrow entrance to the Adriatic Sea.
May 1917
Following another period during which they have control of air space over the Western Front, the Germans launch a new strategic bombing offensive against Britian and France.
The American poet T.S.Eliot publishes his first collection of poems, Prufrock and Other Observations. His most famous work, The Waste Land, was published in 1922.
June 1st – 19th June 1917
Russian troops begin the Kerensky Offensive, aimed at advancing deep into Galicia, but in five days the attack breaks down completely, and the Russians retreat in total disorder.
The Greeks, having remained neutral in the war (despite an alliance with Romania), declare war on the Central Powers (July 2nd 1917), following the abdication of their pro-
July 17th 1917
To reassure the British public, King George V of the United Kingdom gives up all his titles as a member of the House of Saxe-
July 31st – November 6th 1917
In the Third Battle of Ypres, fought over three months, the British gain some land, but losses are horrendous, especially around the village of Passchendaele during the final weeks.
August 20th – September 18th 1917
In the Second Battle of Verdun, French and Moroccan troops break through the German line and eventually recapture five important strongholds to the north of the city.
September: The Russian composer Sergei Prokofiev produces his first symphony. Known for works across various musical genres, his famous Peter and the Wolf was produced in 1936.
September 3rd 1917
Following the capture of the Russian port of Riga, the Germans mount an amphibious attack in the Baltic Sea (Operation Albion), and seize islands within the West Estonian Archipelago.
October 1917
The Italians gain ground in the 11th Battle of Isonzo River, but are then soundly defeated at the Battle of Caporetto, and forced back to the River Piave, close to Venice.
The Dutch abstract artists Piet Mandrian and Theo van Doesburg found De Stijl (The Style), a movement based on a variety of simple geometrical shapes and strong primary colours.
October 26th 1917
Following the sinking of yet another merchant ship by German U-
October 31st 1917
The Egyptian Expeditionary Force wins the Third Battle of Gaza and invades Palestine. Assisted by forces of the Arab Revolt, it captures the city of Jerusalem early in December.
November 2nd 1917
The Balfour Declaration is published, a British plan to set up “a national home for the Jewish people” in Palestine. It creates long-
November 6th and 7th 1917 (via Gregorian Calendar)
In Russia, the October Revolution, led by Lenin and Trotsky, overthrows the Provisional Government and establishes a regime based on Marxism. The Bolsheviks renounce all treaties and in March sign the Treaty of Brest-
November 20th – December 7th 1917
The British launch the first-
December 18th 1917
The Russian Revolution brings an end to the Caucasus Campaign. The Turks advance to Baku and continue fighting in the Black Sea, but are eventually forced to sue for peace.
The German archaeologist Friedrich Max Uhle, working in northern Chile, discovers the “Chinchorro Mummies”, the oldest examples of artificially mummified human remains.
1918
January 18th 1918
In a speech to the U.S. Congress, the American President, Woodrow Wilson, puts forward a “Fourteen Points Plan” as the basis for peace negotiations to bring an end to the war.
March 3rd 1918
Germany and Russia sign the Treaty of Brest-
Marie Stopes, a Scottish pioneer for women’s rights, publishes Married Love, a sex manual on birth control. It attracts much criticism, but in 1921 she opens the first of many clinics.
March 21st – 13th June 1918
The Ludendorff Offensive begins, a do-
By studying globular clusters, the American astronomer Harlow Shapley shows that our Galaxy is much larger than previously thought, and that the sun was not at its centre.
April 1918 – April 1920
The beginnings of the influenza epidemic which – intensified by the worldwide movement of armed forces – covers the globe over the next two years, and claims over 30 million lives.
April 1st 1918: Britain’s Royal Flying Corps and Royal Naval Air Service are combined to form the Royal Air Force (RAF). As such, it is the world’s first air force to become fully independent.
April 23rd 1918
In an attempt to stop German u-
The English critic Lytton Stachey publishes his Emminent Victorians, an irreverant portrayal of Cardinal Manning, Florence Nightingale, Thomas Arnold and General Charles Gordon.
The Russian abstract artist Kasimir Malevich completes his White on White, one of his radical works of pure abstraction. He experimented with a wide range of artistic styles.
June 15th and 16th 1918
Austrian troops resume their campaign in Italy, but having crossed the Piave River they meet with stiff resistance and are forced to retreat. Many soldiers desert and make for home.
July 15th 1918: The Germans launch Operation Friedensturm (or the the the Second Battle of the Marne), the final attack of the Ludendorff Offensive. It fails. The Allies begin their Hundred Days Offensive.
Alice C.Evans, a pioneering American microbiologist, publishes her findings in the Journal of Infectious Diseases. One result is the pasteurisation of milk, introduced in 1930.
July 16th 1918
In Russia, Czar Nicholas and his family are brutally murdered and the Civil War between the Reds and the Whites intensifies. The Bolshevik regime faces a series of military campaigns but survives.
The Welsh philosopher Bertrand Russell completes his Introduction to Mathematical Philosophy. His major work, Principia Mathematica (co-
September 12th – November 11th 1918
American and French forces capture the St. Mihiel Salient, and then launch the Meuse-
.
September 15th – 29th 1918
The Vardar Offensive, the final battle in the Balkans campaign, is launched from Salonica. The Bulgarian army is defeated within ten days, and the Bulgarian government sues for peace. By the Treaty of Neuilly, November 1919, it loses land to Greece, Yugoslavia and Romania.
September 19th – 25th 1918
The EEF, after taking Jericho and winning the Battle of Megiddo, captures the city of Damascus. The Ottoman Turks lay down their arms and attend the Armistice of Mudros.
The English dramatist and poet John Drinkwater produces his successful play Abraham Lincoln. A friend of Rupert Brooke, his verse showed a love of the English countryside.
October 23rd – November 4th 1918
October: The Italian victory over the Austro-
October 28th 1918: Mutiny breaks out in the German High Seas Fleet. This triggers revolts across Germany; the abdication of the Kaiser; and the formation of a republic. The Armistice of Compiègne ends the war.
The German physicist Max Planck is awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics for his pioneer work in the quantum theory of energy. His findings had a major effect on classical physics.
1919
THE PEACE SETTLEMENT: JANUARY 1919 – JULY 1923
J
anuary 18th 1919
The peace conference opens at Versailles in January 1919, together with four other treaties held near Paris: Saint Germain, Trianon, Neuilly and Sèvres. Leaders of 32 nations attend the first meeting. The Treaty of Lausanne, signed in July 1923, concludes the peace settlement.
The Verdict on the Versailles Treaty
