1918: 第一次世界大戦 and Primul Război Mondial (Australia, Belgium, Canada, Germany, Ireland, Montenegro, New Zealand, Portugal, Turkey, United Kingdom, USA)

8th January - Woodrow Wilson outlines his Fourteen Points in a speech to the United States Congress.

The Fourteen Points of Woodrow Wilson were a statement of principles for peace that Wilson regarded as the only possible basis of an enduring peace. They included the self-determination of the nations, the liberation of occupied territories and the formation of a general association of nations. The Central Powers soon refused the Fourteen Points and the Entente countries were anyway skeptical of the applicability of the Wilsonian idealism, but Woodrow Wilson was still awarded the 1919 Nobel Peace Prize for his peace-making efforts.

25th January - The Ukrainian People's Republic declares its independence from Russia.

1st February - Beginning of the Cattaro Mutiny

The SMS Sankt Georg was an armoured cruiser of the Austro-Hungarian Navy. On 1st February 1918 the Cattaro Mutiny began on this ship, that was later joined by sailors from around 40 other Austro-Hungarian ships in the Cattaro naval base. The sailors had grown weary of the war and the long periods of inactivity and demanded a better treatment, political change and an imminent peace, but already on 3rd February the mutiny was suppressed. The SMS Sankt Georg was decommissioned after the mutiny and awarded to Britain as a war prize after the war. In 1920 it was scrapped.

9th February - The Ukrainian People's Republic and the Central Powers sign the "Brotfrieden" (peace for bread), which secured food-supply support for the Austro-Hungarian and the German Empire in return for providing military protection for the Ukrainian People's Republic.

10th February - Leon Trotsky stops the peace negotiations in Brest-Litovsk. The Central Powers answer with a quite successful offensive against Russia, which forces Trotsky to continue the negotiations on the 26th February.

3rd March - Russia and the Central Powers sign the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, which ended Russia's participation in World War I. The treaty, which was extraordinarily harsh, also renounced all Russian territorial claims in Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bessarabia (which became a part of Romania), Estonia, Finland, Georgia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and Ukraine. Doing so Russia hoped to get some relief from further invasion to protect the "success" of the revolution.

21st March - Beginning of Operation Michael, the first major German military offensive as part of the Spring Offensive of 1918 on the Western Front

30th March - Around 12000 Azerbaijanis are killed by Armenian and Bolshevik forces during the March Events until the 2nd April.

1st April - Formation of the Royal Air Force

Although the air plane was both quite young when World War I broke out, it played an important role during the war. The main tasks of the aircrafts were recce flights, air combats and sometimes also the bombing of enemy positions or cities. On 1st April 1918 the United Kingdom became the first country in the World with an independent air force, when the Royal Flying Corps and the Royal Naval Air Service were merged to create the Royal Air Force. Earlier the Royal Flying Corps was under army and the Royal Naval Air Service under navy control. At that time it was also the World's largest air force.

6th April - The city of Van comes again under Ottoman rule.

In 1915 the city of Van was one of the few places where Armenians with the support of the Imperial Russian Army fought against the Ottoman Empire's armed forces during the Armenian Genocide. The city was afterwards under Armenian control, but the Russian Revolution of 1917 changed the situation in the region. In April 1918 the Ottoman Army started to attack again and on 6th April Van was again under Ottoman control.

9th April - Beginning of the Battle of the Lys

The Battle of the Lys, which is also known as Operation Georgette or Fourth Battle of Flanders, was the second part of the German Spring Offensive. It was fought between the 9th and 29th April. In the battle the German Empire tried to capture Ypres, but that failed and the battle ended with an Entente victory.

7th May - Romania and the Central Powers sign the Peace Treaty of Bucharest.

22nd May - Beginning of the Battle of Sardarabad, which stopped the Ottoman advance into Armenia and which is also considered to have prevented the complete destruction of the Armenian nation

27th May - Beginning of the Third Battle of the Aisne, the again unsuccessful third part of the German Spring Offensive

4th June - The Ottoman Empire and the newly independent countries Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia sign the Treaty of Batum, which grants big territorial gains to the Ottoman Empire.

10th June - The SMS Szent István, the most modern Austro-Hungarian battleship, is sunk during an attempt to break through Otranto Barrage, which prohibited the Austro-Hungarian Navy from leaving the Adriatic Sea.

15th June - Beginning of the Second Battle of the Piave River, the last Austro-Hungarian attempt to defeat Italy, but which instead resulted in a decisive Italian victory

3rd July - The Ottoman Sultan Mehmed V dies.

15th July - Beginning of the Second Battle of the Marne, the last part of the German Spring Offensive

16th July - The Russian Imperial Romanov family is executed on the night of the 16th July.

8th August - Beginning of the Battle of Amiens and the Hundred Days Offensive

The Battle of Amiens was fought by the British Empire, France and the USA against the German Empire between the 8th and the 12th August 1918. The battle ended with a decisive Allied victory. It is notable for its effects on both sides' morale and the war's tempo. After the Battle of Amiens the Entente saw a rapid series of victories against the German Empire, which are now known as Hundred Days Offensive. This became the beginning of the end of the Western Front. Erich Ludendorff later described the 8th August as "the black day of the German Army".

John Monash was an Australian civil engineer and military
commander of World War I. He was a meticulous planner and
brilliant tactician and among others planned the Battle of Amiens.

26th August - Beginning of the Battle of Baku, which ended with an Ottoman-Azerbaijani victory and thus concluded the Caucasus Campaign

15th September - As part of the Vardar Offensive French, Greek and Serbian forces begin their Breakthrough at Dobro Pole leading to a collapse of the Macedonian Front.

19th September - Beginning of the Battle of Megiddo, the last battle of the war in the Middle East that would later lead to a complete collapse of the Ottoman front

29th September - Bulgaria and the Allied Powers sign the Armistice of Salonica.

1st October - The British capture Damascus.

10th October - RMS Leinster is sunk by a German submarine.

RMS Leinster was an Irish ship that was used for Royal Mail service. On 10th October 1918, when she was on her way between Ireland and Wales, she was torpedoed and sunk by a German submarine. Over 500 people lost their lives. Still today this is the greatest single loss of life in the Irish Sea.

24th October - Beginning of the Battle of Vittorio Veneto

The Battle of Vittorio Veneto was fought between the Austro-Hungarian Empire and Italy between the 24th October and the 3rd November 1918. It ended with a disastrous Austro-Hungarian defeat and thus marked the end of the war on the Italian Front, secured the dissolution of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and sealed the end of the Italian unification.

29th October - Beginning of the Mutinies in Wilhelmshaven and Kiel

The German Fleet was nearly not used during World War I and when the war was actually already lost, the imperial naval command planned a final battle against the Royal Navy in the English Channel. The preparations triggered a mutiny among the affected sailors in Wilhemshaven, which was actually suppressed shortly after, but when the commander believed that he was again master of his crews, another mutiny broke out in Kiel. The Kiel Mutiny turned into a revolution and soon spred across Germany.

30th October - The Ottoman Empire and the Allied Powers sign the Armistice of Mudros.

1st November - As a main event of the Allied Liberation of Albania, Montenegro and Albania Belgrade comes again under Serbian control.

3rd November - The Austro-Hungarian Empire and the Allied Powers sign the Armistice of Villa Giusti.

9th November - Philipp Scheidemann proclaims the German Republic.

The German Revolution that began in Kiel soon swept away the monarchy in Germany. On 9th November the abdication of the Emperor was declared and Philipp Scheidemann proclaimed the German Republic from one of the balconies of the Reichstag building. Scheidemann proclaimed the republic just a few hours before a planned proclamation of a Soviet Republic by Karl Liebknecht, which would later lead to some leftist uprisings. One day later an interim government was formed, which planned the elections for a constituent National Assembly. In 1919 the Weimar Republic arose from this event, which was the first modern democratic republic in Germany.

10th November - Romania re-enters the war.

11th November - The German Empire and the Allied Powers sign the Armistice of Compiègne.

At least since the Battle of Amiens everyone in the higher ranks of the German military knew that there was no chance left for a German victory. Erich Ludendorff, although he later changed his mind, demanded a request to be given to the Entente for an immediate ceasefire already on the 29th September, but still it needed the German Revolution to bring an end to the war. A German delegation headed by Matthias Erzberger finally signed an armistice at Compiègne on the 11th November 1918. Although they formally protested at the harshness of Allied terms, they were in no position to refuse to sign. Among others the Allies demanded the termination of hostilities on the Western Front, the immediate evacuation of the occupied territories, the surrender of military materiel, the release of Allied prisoners of war and the renunciation of the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk. The fact that the republicans signed the armistice later created the stab-in-the-back myth (Dolchstoßlegende), a notion that the German Army did not lose World War I on the battlefield but was instead betrayed by the civilians on the home front and the republicans who overthrew the monarchy in the German Revolution.

After over four years of fighting the war was finally over. More than 15million people lost their lives, big parts of Europe were destroyed and new countries arose. To find a new order for the continent the Allied powers came together in Paris in 1919, but the peace was short-lived and just twenty years later an even more horrible war began.

1916: Première Guerre Mondiale and Erster Weltkrieg (Australia, Belgium, France, Germany, Ireland, Isle of Man, Italy, Montenegro, New Zealand, Portugal, Russia, Slovenia, Turkey)

Originally posted on 11th September 2018

5th January - Beginning of the Montenegrin Campaign of the Austro-Hungarian Empire

After the Kingdom of Serbia was defeated by the Central Powers and after the remnants of the Serbian army had withdrawn through Montenegro and Albania to Italy and later to Corfu, the Austro-Hungarian Empire also turned towards Montenegro. At the end of the Montenegrin Campaign, that was fought between the 5th and the 17th January 1916, Montenegro was defeated and occupied by the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

The Battle of Mojkovac was fought on 6th and 7th January and is probably the most famous battle of the campaign. Although the Montenegrin army won the battle, this could not prevent the final defeat, but still gave the Serbian army more time for their retreat.

10th January - Beginning of the Erzurum Offensive

The Erzurum Offensive was a winter offensive of the Imperial Russian Army against the Ottoman Empire. It took place in January and February 1916 and ended with the conquest of the strategic city Erzurum on 16th February.

24th January - Afghanistan and the German Empire sign a friendship and trade agreement.

In 1915 the diplomatic Niedermayer-Hentig Expedition was sent to Afghanistan by the German and the Ottoman Empire. Its purpose was to encourage Afghanistan to declare full independence from the British Empire, enter World War I on the side of the Central Powers and attack British India. Although the Russian Empire and the United Kingdom tried to intercept the mission, it reached Kabul in September 1915. The mission failed in its main task of rallying Afghanistan, but a friendship treaty between Afghanistan and the German Empire was signed in January 1916.

27th January - The United Kingdom introduces the military conscription for all unmarried men between 18 and 41.

21st February - Beginning of the Battle of Verdun

The Battle of Verdun began on 21st February 1916, when the German army attacked the French defences of the Fortified Region of Verdun. Despite initial German success the French forces recaptured much of the lost territory in August and December. When the battle was finally over on 18th December 1916, it had become the longest battle on the Western Front of World War I and one of the most costly battles in human history. In both France and Germany Verdun became a symbol of the futility of the war. Beginning in the 1960s it has also become a symbol of the Franco-German reconciliation.

1st March - Beginning of the Fifth Battle of the Isonzo

8th or 12th March - An avalanche buries a Prisoners of War camp on the Vršič pass.

During World War I approximately 12000 Russians were transported by the Austro-Hungarian Empire to the Vršič pass as Prisoners of War. There they were forced to build a road over the pass so that the reaching of the new front line in the Isonzo Valley would become easier. Several thousand young Russian prisoners died building this road. The prisoners also built a wooden Russian Chapel to honour their fallen countrymen.

9th March - Portugal enters World War I alongside the Entente.

At the beginning of World War I Portugal remained officially neutral, but already shortly after there were hostile engagements between Portugal and the German Empire due to the German campaign in Angola and the submarine warfare which sought to blockade the United Kingdom, the most important market for Portuguese products. On 9th March 1916 the German Empire declared war on Portugal followed by Portugal's reciprocal declaration. Around 12000 Portuguese troops died during World War I. After the war the German Empire was forced to cede the port of Kionga to Portugal.

24th April - Beginning of the Easter Rising against British rule in Ireland, which was quelled six days later

29th April - End of the Siege of Kut Al Amara

The Siege of Kut Al Amara took place between the 7th December 1915 and the 29th April 1916, when a British-Indian garrison was besieged by the Ottoman Army in the town of Kut in modern day Iraq. The siege happened, as Allied troops had to retreat after the Battle of Ctesiphon and as General Townshend decided to stay in Kut instead of moving forward to Basra. The Ottoman army was supported by the German general and military historian Baron von der Goltz. After some efforts to relieve the city had failed, the Allied surrendered after 147 days of siege. The surviving soldiers became prisoners and were forced to march to Aleppo. The British went back on the offensive in December 1916 and retook Kut on the 23rd February 1917.

16th May - Due to the foreseen defeat of the Ottoman Empire, France and the United Kingdom divide the Middle East into spheres of influence with the Sykes-Picot Agreement.

31st May - Beginning of the Battle of Jutland

The Battle of Jutland was fought between the 31st May and 1st June 1916 near the coast of Denmark's Jutland Peninsula. It was the largest naval battle and the only major encounter between the British Royal Navy's Grand Fleet and the Imperial German Navy's High Seas Fleet during World War I. It formed a part of a larger German strategy to break the British blockade against Germany and to allow German naval vessels to access the Atlantic. Fourteen British and eleven German ships were sunk with a great loss of life. But although more ships and sailors were lost on British side, they were able to prevent the German plans. In German it is known as Skagerrakschlacht (Battle of Skagerrak).

4th June - Beginning of the Brusilov Offensive

The Brusilov Offensive was a Russian offensive against the Central Powers between June and September 1916. Although many soldiers lost the lives, it was one of the most successful Allied offensives of World War I.

5th June - Death of Lord Kitchener

Herbert Kitchener became Secretary of State for War in 1914 and then already foresee a long war. He organised the largest volunteer army that Britain had seen and oversaw a significant expansion of materials production to fight on the Western Front. On 5th June 1916 Kitchener was on the HMS Hampshire to attend negotiations in Russia, when it struck a German mine.

10th June - Hussein ibn Ali al-Hashimi, the Sharif and Emir of Mecca, officially initiates the Arab Revolt against Ottoman rule.

1st July - Beginning of the Battle of the Somme

The Battle of the Somme was fought between the 1st July and the 18th November 1916 by the German Empire against France and the United Kingdom. The battle started with a large-scale offensive of the Triple Entente and ended without a big achievement. It was the largest battle on the Western Front of the World War I and one of the bloodiest battles in human history. At the Somme the British used tanks for the first time in a battle.

19th July - Beginning of the Battle of Fromelles

The Battle of Fromelles was fought on the 19th and 20th July 1916 between troops of the German Empire and the British Empire. It was subsidiary to the Battle of the Somme and resulted in a German victory, as preparations for the attack were rushed, the troops involved lacked experience in trench warfare and the power of the German defence was underestimated. The attack was the debut of the First Australian Imperial Force on the Western Front. Later it was described as the worst 24 hours in Australia's entire history.

4th August - Beginning of the Sixth Battle of the Isonzo

The Sixth Battle of the Isonzo, also known as Battle of Gorizia, was the most successful of the twelve battles of the Isonzo for the Italians. It resulted in the Italian conquest of Gorizia, but also saw many Italian casualties.

27th August - Romania enters World War I alongside the Entente.

8th September - Beginning of the Battle of Tabora

The Battle of Tabora was fought in September 1916 between forces from the Belgian Congo and German East Africa. During the battle the Belgian forces conquered Tabora, Kigoma and the Tanganjikabahn railway. The victory left much of the Ruanda-Urundi territory under Belgian military occupation.

13th September - Beginning of the Allied Monastir Offensive in modern day Macedonia, which was intended to lead to a Bulgarian defeat, but which just stabilised the Macedonian Front after the Allied capture of Monastir

14th September - Beginning of the Seventh Battle of the Isonzo

9th October - Beginning of the Eighth Battle of the Isonzo

31st October - Beginning of the Ninth Battle of the Isonzo

5th November - The Regency Kingdom of Poland is founded on former Russian territory as puppet state of the Central Powers.

21st November - Death of Emperor Franz Joseph I

12th December - The Central Powers sent a peace offer to the Entente, but it is rejected.

1915: Prima Guerra Mondiale and I. Dünya Savaşı (Armenia, Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, New Zealand, Serbia, Turkey, Ukraine, United Kingdom)

Originally posted on 11th August 2018

22nd February - The German Empire declares the unrestricted submarine warfare.

22nd April - During the Second Battle of Ypres the German Empire uses toxic gas for the first time in the war.

Although the Hague Conventions of 1907 prohibited the use of toxic gas the German Empire used it for the first time in 1915. Because of the naval blockade of the Triple Entente the German Empire used the Haber process to produce the needed ammonia. During the war the Triple Entente and the Central Powers used more and more powerful toxic weapons.

24th April - Armenian intellectuals in Constantinople are arrested and exiled.

At the beginning of World War I the traditional territories of the Armenians were divided between Russia and the Ottoman Empire. In the Ottoman Empire the Christian Armenians were accused to be liable to ally with Russia and the government treated the entire Armenian population as an enemy within its empire. On 24th April 1915 Armenian intellectuals in Constantinople were arrested and exiled. This is conventionally held to be the beginning of the Armenian Genocide. In the coming months the Armenians in Eastern Anatolia were displaced, killed or forced to walk in inhuman conditions towards the southern borders of the Ottoman Empire. Around 1,5million Armenians lost their lives during the Genocide. After World War I the short-living First Republic of Armenia was established. The Armenian Genocide is acknowledged to have been one of the first modern genocides, although Turkey still denies that the word genocide is an accurate term for these crimes.

At some places like Van or Mount Musa Armenians defended
themselves and resisted acts of massacre. The Ottoman authorities used these
armed resistance to justify the forced deportations of Armenians
from all over the empire, although the decisions of deportation and extermination
were made before them.

25th April - British and French forces land on Gallipoli (ANZAC Day).

Starting in February 1915 the British Empire and France tried to open the Dardanelles strait to the Allied fleets to provide access to the allied Russian Empire and to capture the Ottoman capital Constantinople. On 25th April 1915 Australian, British, French and New Zealandian troops landed on Gallipoli, but were repelled by the Ottoman defenders, which also included Mustafa Kemal Atatürk. The campaign ended in January 1916 with an Ottoman victory and many casualties. The campaign was the only major Ottoman victory of the war and is regarded as a defining moment in Turkey's history. For Australia and New Zealand the battle is said to be the beginning of the national consciousness. In both countries is ANZAC Day the most significant commemoration of military casualties.

2nd May - Beginning of the Gorlice-Tarnów Offensive, which was a turning point of the World War I on the Eastern Front, as the victory of the Central Powers led to the total collapse of the Russian lines and resulted in their retreat far into Russia

3rd May - John McCrae writes In Flanders Fields.

In Flanders Fields is a war poem written on 3rd May 1915 by Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae from Canada. He wrote the poem after his friend was killed during the Second Battle of Ypres. It is one of the most popular and most quoted poems about World War I. Due to the poem the red Poppy became a famous symbol of World War I, as it keeps the remembrance of the fallen soldiers alive, but still shows that life goes on.

In Flanders Fields

In Flanders fields the poppies blow

Between the crosses, row on row,

That mark our place; and in the sky

The larks, still bravely singing, fly

Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago

We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,

Loved and were loved, and now we lie

In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:

To you from failing hands we throw

The torch; be yours to hold it high.

If ye break faith with us who die

We shall not sleep, though poppies grow

In Flanders fields.

7th May - Sinking of the RMS Lusitania

The RMS Lusitania was a British ocean liner. The ship was sunken as consequence of the unrestricted submarine warfare of the German Empire on 7th May 1915. 1198 passengers died including 128 citizens of the USA. The sinking caused a storm of protest in the United States and helped shift public opinion in the United States against the German Empire. Due to the protests from the USA the German submarine warfare was discontinued until 1917.

9th May - Beginning of the Second Battle of Artois or Lorettoschlacht, a Allied attempt to break through the German lines which remained inconclusive like so many others

23rd May - Italy enters World War I alongside the Triple Entente.

Before World War I was Italy a part of the Triple Alliance with the Austro-Hungarian Empire and Germany, but when the war began in 1914 Italy stayed neutral. As Italy desired parts of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Trentino and Trieste, as spoils of war, it started secret negotiations with France and Great Britain. They agreed and Italy joined the war on 23rd May 1915 alongside the Triple Entente. Between 1915 and 1918 Italy fought a position warfare against the Austro-Hungarian Empire without major shifts of the lines. After World War I Italy got the promised territories and additionally also South Tyrol and Istria.

22nd June - The Austro-Hungarian Empire recaptures Lviv.

At the beginning of World War I was Lviv one of the strongest Austro-Hungarian garrisons in the Eastern part of the country. During the Battle of Lviv in August 1914 the city was captured by Russian troops and stayed conquered until June 1915. After World War I Lviv became a part of Poland.

23rd June - Beginning of the First Battle of the Isonzo, the first of twelve battles fought between the Austro-Hungarian Empire and Italy in the Isonzo river valley in modern day Slovenia, of which the most were failures for the Italian army

18th July - Beginning of the Second Battle of the Isonzo

4th August - The German Empire captures Warsaw.

25th September - Beginning of the Second Battle of Champagne

The Second Battle of Champagne, in German known as Herbstschlacht in der Champagne (Autumn Battle in Champagne), was after the First Battle of Champagne (Winter Battle of Champagne) the second French try to break through the German lines in Champagne. It was fought between the 25th September and the 8th November 1915. Simultaneous also the French Third Battle of Artois and the British Battle of Loos were fought. Although the German troops were outnumbered by the French, the battle ended with a German victory. Afterwards there were no new attempt of the French to break through the German lines in Champagne.

25th September - Beginning of the Battle of Loos

The Battle of Loos was the largest British attack on the Western Front in 1915 and was fought between the United Kingdom and the German Empire between the 25th September and the 8th October. It was a part of the plan to break through the German defences to restore a war of movement. The battle ended without a major shift in the front. In the battle the British army used poison gas for the first time.

9th October - Austro-Hungarian and German troops capture Belgrade.

Belgrade was attacked for the first time short after the beginning of World War I. The city, which was bravely defended by Serbian troops and the city's inhabitants, was finally captured by Austro-Hungarian and German troops in October 1915. In the following time entire Serbia was occupied and the Serbian government had to retreat to Albania and later to Greece. After the war Belgrade became the capital of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes.

14th October - Bulgaria enters World War I alongside the Central Powers.

18th October - Beginning of the Third Battle of the Isonzo

10th November - Beginning of the Fourth Battle of the Isonzo