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World War One Chronology by Don Hanlin

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World War One Chronology by Don Hanlin 1 World War One Chronology By Don Hanlin 1914 Western Front Germany’s August offensive overran massive Belgium fortress of Liège but in 10 days instead of 48 hours as envisioned by Schlieffen Plan; Germans marched through neutral Belgium and then southwest toward Paris France, Britain, & Russia, replacing pre-war understandings with formal alliance, signed Pact of London in September, but lacked coherent strategy France responded to German invasion with full-scale offensive into Alsace-Lorraine as well as attack on German forces stretched across Luxembourg & Belgium; but underestimated extent of German advance into northeastern France German forces in Alsace-Lorraine drove French into difficult terrain of Ardennes region; heavy losses forced French withdrawal & “Great Retreat” of Anglo-French forces to the River Marne Battle of the Marne: German offensive across Belgium & northeastern France approached Paris in August; Germans slowed advance & then lost initiative during French & English counter-attack along Marne River & retreated retreat northwest Allied forces suffered damage & organizational confusion as their movements frustrated by inertia, doubt, & German maneuvers; German central command had difficulty communicating with far-flung German armies In Race to the Sea, both sides deployed troops from south & central lines to north & began to settle into defensive trench systems An October German offensive in northern Belgium stopped by BEF which was essentially destroyed in First Battle of Ypres By late November, entire front from Switzerland to North Sea, had stabilized; Paris was safe but French army had suffered nearly 300,000 casualties in just August Germans occupied most of Belgium & valuable industrial departments of northeastern France Eastern Front Russian offensive in Poland began in August after Austro-Hungarian armies defeated by Serbs; typhus epidemic hit Belgrade & spread across Serbia Germany & Ottoman Empire sign secret treaty in October & Turks used two German battleships to attack Russia’s Black Sea coast; Britain & France declared war on Ottomans Russians took Austrian fortresses at Lvov (modern Ukraine) in September 1914 & Przemysl (modern Poland) in March 1915; by September, Austro-Hungarian army broken German senior officers panicked after Russian offensive threatened to cut off East Prussia from rest of Germany; Russian officers, however, failed to coordinate movements or to press advantage 2 Under new commanders, German forces destroyed Russian armies in several battles including Battle of Tannenberg & First Battle of Masurian Lakes & then moved toward Warsaw In October, Greek & Italian forces occupied portions of Albania In November, Anglo-French naval forces bombarded forts guarding the Dardanelles In Asia Turkish forces suffered heavy losses resisting Russian offensive into northeastern Anatolia; in December, Turks responded with a failed counter-offensive & suffered more than 60,000 casualties; New Turkish commander & additional divisions contain Russian advance around Lake Van Anglo-Indian troops landed in Shat el Arab, quickly overran southern Mesopotamia, reached Basra by November & Tigris-Euphrates confluence in December Turkish invasion of Persia successfully resisted by Russian forces In Africa French & British troops quickly overran German Togoland but faced greater resistance in Kamerum & South West Africa where German forces surrendered in 1915 German commander in East Africa retreated with 3,000 German troops & 11,000 African askari into southern Tanganyika & continued a guerrilla war against British until late November 1918 At Sea British & French immediately established a distant blockade cutting off German access to outside world, German & Austrian shipping was quickly driven from seas; German naval commanders left without effective strategy In August, loss of three cruisers & one destroyer in naval action of war in August in a shallow bay on the German coast convinced Kaiser that fleet should avoid offensive operations First British warships sunk by German submarines in September Austrian Adriatic fleet rejected German request to sail to Constantinople & avoided battles with superior French navy; Austrian submarine attack on one of its dreadnought convinced French to establish a distant blockade across the Strait of Otranto In May, Austrian navy bombarded Italian Adriatic ports & defended empire’s Adriatic coast Russia navy tasked with protecting Gulf of Finland & Petrograd; Germany maintained trade with Sweden despite activity of British submarines in Baltic Sea In August, Russian navy shared recovered code books from abandoned German warship with British Ottoman attack on Russian Black Sea ports resulted in declaration of war & blockade of Bosporus Japan entered the war in August on side of Allies, immediately took control of Yellow Sea & besieged Germany protectorate on Shantung Peninsula of China; commander of Germany’s East Asiatic Squadron began to disrupt Allied shipping in Indian & Pacific oceans Battles of Coronel (in the Pacific) & the Falklands (in the Atlantic): British navy suffered first defeat in 100 years as German East Asiatic Squadron lost two armored cruisers with no survivors off the coast of Central Chile in November; German ships sailed into Atlantic to raid Falkland Islands, British naval forces in the Falklands sank every German ship with heavy loss of life in December 3 In December, German High Seas Fleet bombarded British coastal towns in attempt to draw British Grand Fleet into battle but signaling and reporting errors prevented confrontation Strategic situation at end of 1914 Western Front was stalemated Allies success on the Western Front had saved Paris & kept France in the war German had failed to achieve a quick victory but remained in control of much of northeastern France & most of Belgium German chief of general staff viewed Britain as Germany’s most dangerous enemy, believed France could be checked only as long as Germany maintained Western Front & was convinced that Central Powers could not defeat Allies by military means 1915 On the Western Front Britain raised it first mass army in history & deployed it on Western Front in France France, determined to retake occupied territory, started year with major offensive east of Paris in Champagne but frustrated by shortage of artillery shells Second Battle of Ypres in May achieved nothing of significance; Germans introduced weaponized chlorine gas but exhausted ammunition reserves Another Allied offensive in fall included new divisions of BEF & suffered heavy losses but made no significant gains On the Eastern Front British failed in attempt to take Constantinople in order to relieve Russian troops in the Caucasus British & French failed to force passage through Dardanelles & lost several battleships in March; British, French, Australian, and New Zealand troops landed & began Battle of Gallipoli in April, unsuccessfully challenged Ottoman defenses, began to withdraw in December In May, Austrian-German Gorlice-Tarnow Offensive in Galicia devastated Russian army forcing Russia to abandon Russian Poland, Central Powers entered Warsaw in August; military defeats began to undermine czarist regime Italy declared war on Austria-Hungary in May with British & French promises of Austro- Hungarian territory & canceling Central Power advantage over Russia Austro-Hungarian troops overran Serbia in September & October but Serbian army escaped & joined Anglo-French forces in Salonika Encouraged by Serbian defeat, Bulgaria joined Central Powers in October Austro-Hungarian forces took control of most of Albania In Asia Turkish January offensive failed to take Suez Canal 4 Russian Caucasus Army begin surprise offensive in February took cities in northeast Anatolia including Black Sea port of Trabzon, Turkish reinforcements halted Russian advancements by end of year In April, Turks began deportations & massacres of Armenians in western Anatolia By year’s end Turkish-German counter-offensive in Mesopotamia trapped 8,000 British soldiers in Siege of Kut al Amara just 100 miles southeast of Baghdad At Sea In January, Germans lost one cruiser as other ships escaped from a running battle in the North Sea with British battleships Germans began submarine attacks against merchant ships supplying Britain in January & declared waters around United Kingdom to be war zones in February; sinking of RMS Lusitania in May & SS Arabia in August outraged Americans & led to official USA government protests that encouraged Germany to abandon “sinking without warning” policy After Allied withdrawal from Dardanelles & Gallipoli, German submarines entered Mediterranean forcing revision of British tactics but greatest success would be against merchant shipping Strategic situation at end of 1915 Lack of coordination by Entente had undermined strategy on all fronts; on Western Front, Germans had stopped all attacks by British & French; in December; allied military leaders meet in Chantilly to coordinate war plans but disagreements continue On the Eastern Front, Central Powers had defeated Russia, conquered Russian Poland, gained control of Balkans & supply lines to Constantinople, Allies on verge of abandoning Gallipoli. Austro-Hungarian army strained to its limits & mobilization of German resources had done nothing but sustain status quo Military defeats seriously undermined legitimacy of Russia’s czarist state as well as German efforts to negotiate separate peace Naval stalemate
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