Originally posted on 11th July 2018
28th July - World War I begins with the declaration of war of the Austro-Hungarian Empire on Serbia.
1st August - The German Empire enters the war with a declaration of war on Russia.
1st August - General Mobilisation in France, two days later the German Empire declares war on France
2nd August - Luxembourg is invaded by German troops.
Already on 1st August 1914 the troops of the German Empire used without authorisation Troisvierges station to come to France. One day later the German Empire launched a full invasion of Luxembourg. Grand Duchess Marie-Adélaïde ordered the army not to resist. In the evening she and Prime Minister Paul Eyschen met the German commander Richard Karl von Tessmar in Luxembourg City and after a small protest they accepted German military rule. During the occupation Luxembourg was allowed to retain its own government and political system. The occupation just ended on 11th November 1918.
3rd August - World War I comes to Africa.
When Germany entered the war, also its colonies became involved. Although the most of them were quite easily under the control of Entente countries, Africa remained a theatre of the war until 1918. On the German side the war in Africa is mainly associated with Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck, who was undefeated in the field in German East Africa. For the British and especially the French Africa was used to recruit soldiers for the war in Europe. On the French side especially the Tirailleurs Sénégalais became famous.
Unfortunately I was not able to get many collectibles about World War I in Africa for my collection (in fact just one card and one stamp), so this will be the first of just two mentions of Africa in this post series. This is not because I think that the war in Africa was not important, but as said because I do not have much to show.
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| The German Fault in Burundi, which was once a part of German East Africa, was once home to a German military post. |
4th August - Beginning of the German Invasion in Belgium
German forces invaded Belgium at the beginning of World War I and occupied it until the end. Not only did to Western Front run through Belgium, but the German troops also committed various war crimes in the country.
4th August - The United Kingdom and its Empire enter the war.
The United Kingdom joined the war on 4th August 1914 alongside Russia and France with the declaration of war on the German Empire, as the German Empire captured Belgium whose guarantor power the United Kingdom was. Together with the mother land also its colonies were involved in the war.
7th August - Montenegro declares war on the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
16th August - The Fortress of Liege is destroyed by German troops.
19th August - German troops capture Brussels. Belgium's military leaders flea to Antwerp.
23rd August - Massacre of Dinant
During the German invasion Dinant was fought between French and German troops. On 23rd August 1914, after the city was captured by the Germans, 674 inhabitants were summarily executed by the German Army and within a month some five thousand Belgian and French civilians were killed by the Germans at numerous similar occasions. It was the biggest massacre committed by the Germans in 1914 and contributed greatly to the propagandistic image of the Rape of Belgium.
23rd August - Beginning of the Battle of Mons
The Battle of Mons took place from 23rd to 24th August 1914 near Mons and was fought between British and German forces. The battle was the first major activity of the British army in the war and ended with a retreat of the British forces.
The Saint-Symphorien military cemetery was laid out by the German troops after the Battle of Mons. Today it is the last resting place of 284 German and 229 Commonwealth soldiers, including the first and the last Commonwealth soldier killed in World War I.
23rd August - Japan declares war on the German Empire. The Austro-Hungarian Empire declares war on Japan
25th August - The Fortress of Namur is captured by German troops
25th August - Destruction of Leuven
Leuven was ravaged by rampaging German soldiers, as they were in fear of Belgian franctireurs. Nearly 300 civilians lost their lifes and a sixth of the city was destroyed including the university library with its important book collection. The destruction of Leuven was one of cruelest German war crimes during World War I and contributed greatly to the propagandistic image of the Rape of Belgium.
26th August - Beginning of the Battle of Tannenberg
The Battle of Tannenberg was fought by German and Russian troops in East Prussia between the 26th and 30th August 1914. It resulted in a decisive German victory and drove the Russians out of East Prussia. Furthermore the Russian Second Army was almost completely destroyed. If this would be enough the battle also was the beginning of an important political myth and paved the way for the rise of a man, Paul von Hindenburg, the Hero of Tannenberg. Together with his staff-officer Erich Ludendorff he won more battles on the Eastern Front and as Chief of the General Staff from August 1916 onwards they formed a de facto military dictatorship that dominated German policymaking for the rest of the war. After the war he retired (once again), but due to his popularity among the German public he returned to public life in 1925 and became the second President of the Weimar Republic.
29th August - The German colony of Samoa is captured by troops from New Zealand.
As part of the British Empire New Zealand entered the war on 5th August 1914. The dominion sent nearly 100,000 of its 1,000,000 civics to the war, of which nearly 18,500 did not come back. One of the New Zealandians who left for the war was Melville Mirfin. He was a bank clerk from the South Island and signed up short after the proclamation. Melville Mirfin was one of the 1385 men who captured Samoa from the Germans as New Zealand's first duty in World War I.
1st September - Beginning of the Battle of Lviv
2nd September - Beginning of the British-Japanese siege of the German colony Qingdao (or Tsingtau as it is known in German) in China, which ended with the colony's capture on the 7th November
5th September - Beginning of the First Battle of the Marne
The First Battle of the Marne was fought from the 5th until the 12th September between the German Empire and the Triple Entente countries France and the United Kingdom. The battle stopped the German advance and wrecked the Schlieffen Plan as the German Empire was not able anymore to capture France as easy as they thought. It is widely considered to have been a turning point of World War I. The Triple Entente bought time and was able to get a back-up for the Western Front from the French and British colonies. The battle created the French myth of the Renault Taxis de la Marne, which were used to bring soldiers to the front and thus showed the determination of the French nation.
24th September - Beginning of the Siege of Przemyśl
Przemyśl in modern day Poland was besieged by Russian troops during World War I. First Przemyśl was besieged from the 24th September to the 12th October 1914 and then for 133 days from the 9th November 1914 onwards. The Siege of Przemyśl was the largest siege of World War I and ended with a defeat of the Austro-Hungarian troops.
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| Tank Cupola from the Siege of Przemyśl, now in the Museum of Military History in Vienna |
10th October - German troops capture Antwerp. After this a Belgian government in exile was installed in Saint-Adresse in France, where it stayed until November 1918. The leader of the government was Charles de Broqueville. The Belgian King Albert I stayed in the non-occupied part of Belgium and never visited Saint-Adresse.
16th October - Beginning of the Battle of the Yser
The Battle of the Yser was fought between the 16th and 31st October 1914 by German against Belgian and French troops. It was started by an attack on the city of Diksmuide, which was largely destroyed by the end of the war, and ended with an Allied victory and the creation of the Yser Front. To stop the German advance into this last corner of unoccupied Belgium the Belgian and French troops flooded the area by opening the flood gates of the Yser river.
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| Diksmuide was already rebuilt in the 1920s. |
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| The Dodengang on the Yser Front is one of the oldest World War I memorials in Belgium. |
20th October - Beginning of the First Battle of Ypres
The Belgian city of Ypres of hard fought during World War I. The First Battle of Ypres was fought by Belgian, British and French against German troops between the 20th October and the 22nd November 1914. Although many soldiers lost their lives, the battle remained without military results. Until the end of the war there were three more big battles in the region, which are subsumed as Vier Flandernschlachten (Four Battles of Flanders) in German.
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| The famous Ypres Cloth Hall was destroyed in the First Battle of Ypres. After the war it was reconstructed and now houses the In Flanders Fields Museum. |
29th October - The Ottoman Empire enters the war alongside the Central Powers by declaring war on France and Russia.
11th November - The Battle of Basra begins. On 21st November the Ottoman city in modern day Iraq is captured by British troops.
14th November - The Ottoman Sultan declares the holy war on the Entente. Thus he hoped to mobilise Muslim soldiers in the Entente forces to rebel against their commanders.
8th December - Battle of the Falkland Islands
19th December - The Sultanate of Egypt is declared.
22nd December - Beginning of the Battle of Sarikamish
The Battle of Sarikamish was fought between the Ottoman Empire and the Russian Empire during the Caucasus Campaign from 22nd December 1914 to 15th January 1915. It ended with a victory of the Imperial Russian Army.
24th December - Beginning of the short Christmas Truce
On 24th December 1914 and on the next days British and German soldiers on the Western Front stopped the war and exchanged small gifts. This Christmas Truce was not authorised by the level of command. After a few days the battles started again.
31st December - First battles at the Hartmannswillerkopf
The Hartmannswillerkopf is a peak in the Alsace. During World War I it was hard-fought between France and the German Empire. The battles took mainly place in 1915 as both sides withdrew big parts of their troops in 1916. Around 30000 soldiers lost their lifes at Hartmannswillerkopf. Today is the area a National Monument of France and has a museum and a cemetery. The trenches can also be visited.
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