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| This
concise outline of the Great War emphasizes events pertaining to German Army
participation in the European theater. Bold type indicates major battle
sites or occupied cities, blue for Eastern Front and black for
Western Front (and other theaters).
Names of German Commanders are italicized.
* The official beginning and ending date of a particular battle is not always clear; therefore, the dates below represent a comprehensive estimate taken from several sources. |
Great War Timeline |
|
|
the lights go out... |
| 1914 | 1915 | |||
| August | January | |||
| Germany declares war on Russia | 1 | Aisne - Lochow attacks at Soissons, shelling cathedral | 9-14 | |
| Germany invades Luxembourg |
2 |
Battle of Dogger Bank, North Sea | 24 | |
| Germany invades Poland at Kalish | 3 | Bolimow - Mackensen (9th Army) use gas-filled artillery shells against Russians in Poland; sub-zero temps neutralize gas effects | 31 | |
| Belgium - Emmich and Army of the Meuse invade at Gemmenich |
4 |
February | ||
| Liege - Ludendorff captures the citadel; Kluck (1st Army) and Emmich occupy city | 5-17 | Germany declares unrestricted submarine blockade of Britain | 4 | |
| East Prussia - invasion by Russian 1st Army (Rennenkampf) | 12-17 | Second Masurian Lakes - Winter Battle, Eichhorn (10th Army) advances, capturing 100,000 Russians | 7-22 | |
| Alsace-Lorraine - Battle of the Frontiers | 14-25 | Augustow - Gallwitz defeats Russians at Plozk & Augustow | 15-21 | |
| Stalluponen - Francois (I.Corps) staves off Russian attack | 17 | Champagne - French offensive lasts through end of March | 16 | |
| Tirlement - Kluck (1st Army) drives back Belgian forces | 18-19 | Klaypeda - Germans occupy town in Lithuania | 17 | |
| Gumbinnen - Prittwitz (8th Army) retreats from Rennenkampf | 19-20 | March | ||
| Brussels - Kluck (1st Army) occupies Belgian capital | 20 | Neuve-Chapelle - unfruitful BEF offensive in Flanders | 10-13 | |
| Hindenburg & Ludendorff replace 8th Army Cdr. Prittwitz | 21 | Britain announces blockade of German ports | 11 | |
| Charleroi - Buelow (2nd Army & Hausen (3rd Army) defeat French; Plan 17 fails | 21-23 | Galicia - Russians capture 120,000 Germans at Przemysl | 22 | |
| Mons - Kluck (1st Army) defeats BEF in their first clash | 23 | Gallipoli - Liman von Sanders commands Turkish 5th Army | 24 | |
| Namur - Germans destroy 3 major forts and capture city | 23-25 | Carpathians - Marwitz captures 6,000 Russians at Kosziowa | 24 | |
| Dinant - Hausen executes 612 Belgian civilians | 23 | April | ||
| Le Cateau - BEF temporarily halt Kluck's advance | 26 | Carpathians - Linsingen, commanding joint Aust-Ger forces, drive Russians from the Carpathians region | 1-25 | |
| Tannenberg - 8th Army routes Samsanov, captures 92,000 | 26-31 | Second Ypres - Albrecht (4th Army) orders use of chlorine gas as battle begins. Lasts through 27 May with 35,000 German casualties | 22 | |
| Longwy - Germans capture French fortress | 27 | Courland - German offensive begins | 26 | |
| Montmedy - taken by Germans; Kluck gives up on advance west of Paris in order to stay in contact with Buelow | 30 | May | ||
| September | Gorlice-Tarnow - Mackensen (11th Army with Austrian 4th) captures key city | 1-4 | ||
| Compiegne - BEF stalls Kluck's advance on Paris | 1 | Lusitania - German U-Boot sinks liner carrying contraband munititions off Ireland killing 1,198 | 7 | |
| Soissons - taken by Germans | 1 | Artois - 2nd Battle (also in Champagne) lasts through 4 Nov and results in 85,000 German casualties; Battle of Loos | 9 | |
| Laon - taken by Germans | 2 | Festubert & Aubers Ridge - BEF offensives in Belgium | 15-27 | |
| Rheims - taken by Germans; French govt moves from Paris | 3 | Isonzo River - Bavaria elite Alpenkorps arrives at Trentino | 31 | |
| Nancy - Rupprecht (6th Army) launches assault on fortifications | 4 | June | ||
| Maubeuge - taken by Germans | 7 | Przemysl - captured Austrian fortress in Galicia retaken by Germans and Austrians | 3 | |
| First Masurian Lakes - Mackensen (XVI I. Corps) defeats Russian 1st Army. Germans advance to lower Niemen River | 5-15 | Lemberg - Galician city (L'vov) retaken | 22 | |
| First Marne - Kluck halted 10 miles from Paris; 1st & 2nd Armies pushed back to the Aisne River | 5-12 | Galicia - again under German control (along with Bukovina) | 27 | |
| Aisne -1st and 2nd Armies retreat north of Aisne River | 13 | Isonzo River - 1st of 12 battles begins in Italy | 29 | |
| Aisne - Kluck & Buelow retreat to Aisne river; subsequent "Race to the Sea" and entrenched deadlock with Allies | 13-28 | July | ||
| Falkenhayn replaces Moltke as Chief of General Staff | 14 | Galicia - Mackensen retakes Przemysl, Zamosc & Krasnostav | 18 | |
| Hindenburg named CINC German Army East (OberOst) | 18 | Courland - Germans take Windau | 18 | |
| Verdun - German attacks in the region; St. Mihiel is taken | 22-25 | Flanders - Germans use flamethrowers at Hooge | 30 | |
| October | August | |||
| Antwerp - Belgian fortress falls to Gen. von Beseler | 1-9 | Courland - Germans take Mitau | 1 | |
| Vistula - combined German-Austrian counter-attack | 4 | Warsaw - Prince Leopold (9th Army) enters the city | 5 | |
| Ghent - taken by Germans | 11 | Novo-Georgiewsk - Germans capture 90,000 Russians | 19 | |
| Lille - taken by Germans | 12 | Brest-Litovsk - Linsingen (Bug Army) captures the city while Gallwitz (12th) enters Bialystok | 26 | |
| Bruges - taken by Germans | 14 | September | ||
| Ostend - taken by Germans | 15 | Grodno - captured by Scholtz (8th Army) | 2 | |
| Ypres - 1st Battle begins with 4th Army attempt to break entrenched deadlock against BEF along Flanders front | 30 - | Bulgaria joins Central Powers | 6 | |
| November | Dvinsk - battle begins; Germans meet stiff resistance | 9 | ||
| Turkey enters war as Germany's ally | 1 | Vilnius - captured by Eichhorn's 10th Army; offensive halted | 18 | |
| Hindenburg promoted Field Marshal and East Front Commander | 1 | Champagne - 2nd battle; Germans attacked between Rheims and the Argonne. Campaign ends 6 November with insignificant gains | 22 | |
| Ypres - Germans capture Messines & Wytschaete ridges | 2 | Artois - 3rd battle; brits use gas for first time and Germans are driven back near Loos. Campaign ends 15 October | 25 | |
| Lodz - Battle of Lodz; also Battle of Lowicz | 11-25 | October | ||
| Cracow - battle ends on 2 December | 16 | Serbia - Mackensen invades and captures half the Serbian Army | 7 | |
| Ypres - 1st Battle ends with 130,000 German casualties | - 24 | December | ||
| December | Flanders - Germans use phosgene gas near Ypres | 19 | ||
| Champagne - battle begins along Flanders front | 20 | |||
|
1916 |
| Feb | |
| Verdun - Chief of Staff Falkenhayn wishes to "bleed French Army white;" battle last through 22 Dec and results in 420,000 dead | 21 |
| Verdun - Germans take Ft. Douaumont | 25 |
| Mar | |
| Lake Naroch - Germans battle Russian offensive (ends 30 Apr) | 19 |
| Apr | |
| Verdun - Crown Prince concludes the offensive is a failure | 21 |
| May | |
| Brits halt German Navy at Battle of Jutland | 31 |
| Jun | |
| Verdun - Germans take Ft. Vaux | 2 |
| Brusilov Offensive - 9 German divisions arrive to fight in Galicia | 10 |
| Verdun - Germans take Thiaumont | 23 |
| Jul | |
| Somme - battle opens along 25-mile front; lasts through Nov | 1 |
| Verdun - end of heavy German attacks | 11 |
| Aug | |
| Somme - first Jagdstaffel (tactical fighter squadron) formed | 23 |
| Hindenburg/Ludendorff replace Falkenhayn as Chief of Staff | 28 |
| Sep | |
| Romania - Mackensen (German, Bulgar & Turk troops) invades | 3 |
| Somme - Brits introduce tanks into battle near Bouleaux Wood | 15 |
| Cambrai - Germans begin construction of "Siegfried Line" | 16 |
| Dobrudja - Mackensen commands German-Bulgarian forces in attack against Romanians | 26 |
| Romania - Mackensen captures Turturkai (25,000 prisoners); Romanians surrender at Hermanstadt (Sibiu) to Falkenhayn | 27-29 |
| Oct | |
| Kronstadt - city retaken by German-Austrian forces | 9 |
| Nov | |
| Verdun - French retake Forts Vaux and Douaumont | 2 |
| Somme - battle concludes at River Ancre; allies only advance 5 miles | 18 |
| Dec | |
| Romania - Mackensen occupies Bucharest; Falkenhayn fails to take Ploesti oilfields (set aflame by Brit munitions expert) | 7 |
| Verdun - 10 month battle (WW1's longest) ends | 22 |
|
1917 |
| Jan | |
| USA severs diplomatic relations with Germany | 3 |
| Riga - Scholtz (8th Army) marches on Riga | 23 |
| Feb | |
| Ludendorff orders withdraw to the more defensible line between Arras and Soissons | 23 |
| Mar | |
| Germans begin withdraw to Hindenburg Line (Siegfried Line) | 4 |
| Apr | |
| German withdrawal to Hindenburg Line complete; Bapaume, Peronne, Roye, Noyon and Chauny abandoned | 5 |
| USA declares war on Germany | 6 |
| Arras/Vimy Ridge - BEF offensives in France; last into May | 9 |
| Chemin des Dames - Nivelle's Offensive begins along Aisne River lasting through 20 May (aka: Second Battle of the Aisne) | 16 |
| May | |
| Chemin des Dames - retaken by French | 21 |
| Jun | |
| Messines - Sixt von Armin (4th Army) and Crown Prince (Army Group) defend agaist BEF assault; initial detonation of buried explosives kills over 10,000 German troops | 7 |
| Jul | |
| German Chancellor Bethmann-Hollweg forced out of office by Ludendorff who's now Germany's controlling authority | 13 |
| Galicia - Germans drive back Russians in East Galicia, retake Halicz, Tarnopol and Stanislav | 20-28 |
| Ypres (Passchendaele) - 3rd Battle of Ypres begins and lasts until 10 Nov; Sixt von Armin (4th) and Otto von Below (6th) defend | 31 |
| Aug | |
| Verdun - Second Battle of Verdun begins; lasts through mid-Dec | 20 |
| Galicia - Austro-German offensive through 21 Oct | 21 |
| Sep | |
| Riga - Russian port city falls to Hutier (8th Army) | 1-5 |
| Oct | |
| Ypres - day-long Allied barrage brings 30,000 German casualties | 4 |
| Isonzo - Otto von Below (14th Army) spearheads offensive on Caporetto and Tolmino, lasting through 27 Nov | 6 |
| Latvia - Germans overrun Latvia and several Baltic islands | 11-20 |
| Vincennes - Mata Hari executed as German spy | 15 |
| Nov | |
| Ypres - Allies capture Passchendaele; 3rd Ypres ends on 10 Nov with 50,000 dead Germans and 37,000 prisoners | 6 |
| Cambrai - BEF amasses 378 tanks and temporarily breaches Hindenburg Line during week-long assault; Richthofen's "Flying Circus" aids by establishing air superiority. Germans launch counter offensive (30 Nov - 07 Dec) | 20-29 |
| Dec | |
| Brest-Litovsk - German/Russian peace talks allows German troops to redeploy to Western Front for Spring Offensive | 22 |
|
1918 |
| Jan | |
| Western Front - Ludendorff assembles 195 divisions (3.5 million men) for spring offensive coded "St. Michael" - his center is concentrated on the Somme along 60-mile front | |
| Wilson announces "Fourteen Points" peace plan | 8 |
| Mar | |
| Brest-Litovsk - Treaty signed; Russia leaves the War | 3 |
| Odessa - Germans control port city (and Black Sea) | 12 |
| Somme - "Operation Michael" begins with Below (17th Army), Marwitz (2nd) and Hutier (18th)...lasts through 4 April | 21 |
| Paris - 112-ft cannon "Big Bertha" (Wilhelm Geschuetz) shells capital city through April | 23 |
| Apr | |
| Sevastopol - Germans capture city and control Crimea | 4 |
| Lys River Battle - Quast (6th Army) and Sixt v. Armin (4th) launch mildly successful "Operation George" in Belgium; storm Messines Ridge and take Armentieres | 9-29 |
| Somme - Richthofen shot down and killed | 18 |
| May | |
| Peace of Bucharest signed; Romania leaves war | 7 |
| Aisne River - "Operation Bluecher" launched with Rupprecht (AG Rupprecht), Boehn (7th) and Below (1st) | 27 |
| Soissons - taken by German forces | 29 |
| Marne - Germans reach Marne again, 37 miles from Paris | 30 |
| Jun | |
| Chateau-Thierry - Americans break German advance | 4 |
| Battle of the Matz - German Noyon-Montdidier offensive | 9-14 |
| Marne - After 20 days of fighting, Americans dislodge German forces from Belleau Wood | 26 |
| Jul | |
| Moscow - German ambassador von Mirbach assassinated | 6 |
| Marne - 2nd Battle is last of 5-phase German offensive; lasts until 7 Aug and finds the Crown Prince on retreat | 15 |
| Aug | |
| Amiens - "The Black Day" finds Marwitz (2nd Army) and Hutier (18th Army) routed in surprise attack. BEF use 450 tanks | 8-14 |
| Avesnes - Ludendorff offers resignation; Wilhelm rejects offer | 11 |
| Somme - 2nd battles of the Somme and Arras | 21 |
| Sep | |
| Somme - Ludendorff orders retreat to Hindenburg Line | 2 |
| Meuse - 270,000 allied troops launch St. Mihiel offensive against 75,000 Germans. Americans take 15,000 prisoners | 12 |
| Serbia - German (and Bulgarian) troops begin retreat, led by Scholtz (Army Group Scholtz) and Steuben (11th) | 17 |
| Meuse-Argonne - U.S. offensive against Gallwitz (5th Army) lasts through 11 November | 26 |
| Cambrai - 2nd Battle of Cambrai has Brits smashing through Hindenburg Line vs. Marwitz (2nd Army) and Quast (6th Army) | 27 |
| St. Quentin - Allies breach Hindenburg Line | 29 |
| Ludendorff demands an armistice and peace negotiations | 29 |
| Oct | |
| Argonne - Cpl Alvin York kills a dozen German soldiers and captures 132 along with 35 machine guns | 8 |
| Ludendorff resigns as Quartermaster General, replaced by Groener | 27 |
| Nov | |
| Kiel - German sailors mutiny | 3 |
| Munich - revolution breaks out; King of Bavaria abdicates | 7 |
| Meuse-Argonne - Although U.S. 42nd Div controls heights above Sedan, they allow French 4th Army to enter city first in recognition of the historical significance (1870) | 8 |
| Berlin - Prince Max v. Baden announce Wilhelm II's abdication | 9 |
| Compiegne - armistice signed and war ends at 11:00am; dead German soldiers total 1.85 million (6 million KIA from both sides) | 11 |