The Austro-German leadership believes the Western Front must be stormed and a surrender forced before US troops arrive in strength; however, the Central Powers have gained so much land from Russia that the Eastern Front troops remain tied up. In contrast, the Allies have survived a year of discontent to find millions of reinforcements arriving, ready for their new assaults.
• January 8: Wilson presents his 'Fourteen Points'.
• February 11: Wilson presents his 'Four Principles'.
• March 3: Germany and Russia sign the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk.
• March 21 - April 5: The Kaiserschlact offensive pushes the British back 40 miles, but cannot be supported. (WF)
• April 9 - 20: The Battle of Lys, a German attack on Flanders; limited success.
• May 27 - July 5: The Third Battle of the Aisne pushes the French back to the Marne, but the Germans cannot support themselves.
• May 28: US forces make their first offensive, at Catigny. (WF)
• July: German USW completely fails to stop US soldiers being moved across the • Atlantic.
• July 15: Second Battle of the Marne, a desperate final push by Germany; limited success. (WF)
• July 22: Having failed to make the key breakthrough, the Germans retreat back to the Hindenburg line.
• August 8: 'the Black Day of the German Army' - Canadian and Australian troops, plus 600 tanks, shatter German forces and reach Hindenburg line.
• September 12 - 16: US forces make first attack under independent command. (WF)
• September 26: Massive Allied attack breaks through the Hindenburg line.
• September 28: Ludendorff and Hindenburg recommend an armistice.
• October 6: Yugoslavia declares independence from Austria-Hungary.
• October 7: Poland declares independence.
• October 23 - November 24: With one eye on the forthcoming peace negotiations, Italy attacks in the Vittoria Veneto Offensive. Some success. (IF)
• October 26: Ludendorff resigns.
• October 28: German sailors and fleet mutiny at Kiel; Czechoslovakia declares independence from Austria-Hungary.
• October 30: Turkey agrees an armistice with the allies.
• November 1: Hungary declares independence from Austria.
• November 3: Austria and Hungary agree an armistice with the allies.
• November 9: Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany abdicates.
• November 11: Armistice Day. At the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month, Germany signs an armistice with the Allies. The war is officially over.
As the fighting slowly stops, the haggling over peace treaties begins. Swathes of Europe have been churned and ruined, four empires have fallen, over 8.5 million have been killed and over twice as many wounded from across the globe. New technology has been created, America has risen to prominence as an economic power and new countries are forming in Europe and the Middle East. The world has been irrecoverably changed.
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Citation And Footnotes:
Title: The First World War: A Short Timeline
Author: Robert Wilde
Date: 2003
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