WW1 Timeline

World War 1 Timeline

Nov. 11, 1918

Feb. 12, 1916

Oct. 19, 1914

Aug. 8, 1918

May 31, 1916

Aug. 2, 1914

Feb. 17, 1915

Sep. 6, 1914

April 4, 1917

July 1, 1916

July 28, 1914

Battle of Somme

Battle of Verdun

Battle of Jutland

Battle Of Amiens

Armistice is Signed

Gallipoli Campaign

First Battle of Ypres

First Battle of Marne

United States Enters War

Germany invades Belgium

Inventions/Techonology

Most Important Event

Germany Invades Belgium And Luxembourg

August 2nd 1914 Germany began World War 1 by sending an ultimatum to Belgium, demanding a right of passage. When Germany’s demand was not met, they invaded Luxembourg. Two days later British government promised their military support to Belgium, starting the war and alliances within it.

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First Battle of Marne

September 6th, 1914 marks the beginning of the First Battle of the Marne. This offence was made by the French army and British Expeditionary Force who joined together to defend Belgium against Germany. They attacked the invading Germans and Northeastern France, who were within 30 miles or 48 Kilometers of Paris.

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First Battle of Ypres

The First Battle of Ypres was fought in West Flanders, Belgium. This battle took place between October 19 and November 30 of 1914. This was fought around Ypres, on the Western Front. The French suffered around 50,000 casualties and the Belgians suffered more than 20,000. This may have sounded like a huge blow for the Allies but the Germans suffered over 130,000 casualties and resulted in an Ally victory.

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Gallipoli Campaign

The Gallipoli Campaign lasted for just under a year, from February 17, 1915 to January 9, 1916. This military campaign was held on the Gallipoli peninsula. The goal of this campaign was to weaken the Ottoman Empire by taking control of their waterways. The campaign was held by the Entente Powers and was against one of the Central powers; Britain, France, and Russia joined together to weaken the Ottoman Empire.

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Battle of Verdun

The Battle of Verdun was one of the longest, bloodiest, and most ferocious battles of World War 1. It stretched from February 21, 1916 to December 18, 1916. In this battle the French combatted a major German attack. Though Germany had less casualties with only 350,000 they did not win the battle, as they did not claim the land they had meant to claim. France ended the battle with about 400,000 casualties and keeping the land they were protecting.

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Battle of Jutland

The Battle of Jutland, held from May 31 to June 1, 1916 was a naval battle fought between Britain and Germany. The British had their Royal Navy Grand Fleet, led by Admiral Sir John Jellicoe. The Imperial German Navy’s High Seas Fleet was under the command of Vice-Admiral Reinhard Scheer. This event involved a total of 279 ships and ended with neither side claiming a decisive victory. Thus giving the Allies control over the North Sea.

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Battle of Somme

The Somme offensive, or Battle of Somme was fought July 1 to November 18, 1916. The British Empire and French Third Republic joined together against the German Empire. This battle took place on the upper reaches of the river of Somme in France. This battle is known as one of the bloodiest battles in history as there was a combination of over 1 million casualties from both sides of the battle.

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United States of America Enters The War

Because of all of the battles and the world being at War the U.S. Senate held a vote on April 4, 1917 to decide whether or not to join the war. The Senate voted in support to declare war on Germany. Two days later the House concurred. Later, on December 7, 1917 the United States declared war on Austria-Hungary. The US joining the war made the eventual defeat of Germany possible.

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Battle of Amiens

The opening phase of the Allied offensive was the Battle of Amiens, or the Third Battle of Picardy. It began on August 8, 1918. This was later known as the Hundred Days Offensive. The Allies strung together multiple successful attacks and ultimately led to the end of World War 1.

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Armistice

After four long years of fighting, resulting in the loss of millions of lives, the first World War officially ended. On November 11, 1918 at 5 AM, the Armistice was signed and later that day at 11 AM, the guns fell silent and there was an armistice between Germany and the Allies. Though there was still fighting in other areas, this armistice was the beginning of the end of the first World War.

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Inventions And Technology

Tanks

Machine Guns

Poison Gases

Airplanes

Submarines

Sanitary Napkins

Medicines

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Most Important Event

The most significant event throughout the entire war was when the United States of America joined the war. After multiple years of fighting when the United States of America joined the war, it made an eventualy defeat of the Germans acheivable. When the US joined, it gave more troops and equipment to the Allies. Had the US not joined, then the war may have gone on for much longer and the Germans quite possibly could have won the war. The US joining was the most pivotal turning factor of the war.

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Tanks

The British are given credit for the invention of the Tank. The design of the Tank was created by 2 men with the names of Lancelot de Mole and William Tritton. "Little Willie" was the first prototype of the Tank that traveled at a mere 2 miles per hour but offered protected transportation. Artillery was then added to these tanks and made its first appearance in the Battle of Flers-Courcellete on September 15, 1916. The Tank made a huge tactical advantage for the British army.

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Machine Guns

Whilst Machine Guns were not invented during the first World War, they were revolutionized. Hiram Maxim created the first Machine Gun in 1884 and was used in smaller wars until WW1. Once WW1 started many countries began designing their own models to fire the most rounds per minute as possible making these possibly the most deadly weapon during the war.

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Airplanes

Airplanes had never been used in a war until WW1 and it was a crucial part of the war. Militaries were using these planes for aerial bombings which ultimately changed the strategics of ground warfare. Although, these planes werent strong enough to carry heavy bombs which resulted in low-flying planes making these planes vulnerable to attacks from ground troops.

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Poisonous Gases

Fritz Haber was a German scientist who is credited with the creating of poisonous gases used in warfare. His first model was a Chlorine gas that would fill up a persons lungs with water and would drown them on dry land. This was debuted in April of 1915 at the Battle of Ypres. Gases became a common use of warfare and led to an estimated 91,600 deaths during WW1.

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Submarines

Submarines were most commonly used by the British and Germans during WW1. Much of the sea battles were forgotten about during WW1 due to the majority of major battles being on land. Submarines played lots of good and bad for the countries. The Germans sank many ships of opposing countries but ended up sinking the Lusitania which led to the Americans joining the war which was a major factor in the defeat of the Germans.

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Sanitary Napkins

Sanitary Napkins were invented to help soldiers recover much faster. Nurses noticed that cellulose was over 5x more absorbant than regular bandages. This allowed troops to stop the bleeding much faster saving the lives of many men throughout the war. Once the war ended, these companies began selling these exact products to the public beginning in 1918.

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Medicines

Medicines were obviously created before WW1, but there was a huge advancement during the war. Joseph Lister of Great Britain invented antiseptics which helped kill bacteria from open wounds. This was a huge advancement in technology because it would allow troops to get back to the front lines much faster. A man named William Morton created anesthesia which would help put people to sleep which made surgeries much easier on the front lines.

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