CHRONOLOGY OF KEY DATES THROUGH THE GREAT WAR

1914

• 28 June 1914 : The assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to Austria, at Sarajevo
• 28 July 1914 : Austro-Hungarian declaration of war on Serbia
• 4 August 1914 : Germany invades Belgium, Great Britain declares war on Germany, "United Front in France"
• 24 August 1914 : British troops confront the German forces at Mons
• 31 August 1914 : German troops entered Amiens
• 6-13 September 1914 : Battle of the Marne which drives the Germans back to the Aisne
• 15 September - 15 october 1914 : The Western Front now streches as far as the English Channel
• 18 October-11 november : First battle of Ypres

1915

• 22 April 1915 : Start of the second battle of Ypres
• 9 May 1915 : Start of the French offensive in Artois
• 25 September 1915 : French offensive in Champagne linked to a second offensive in Artois
• 6-8 December 1915 : The second inter-allied conference at Chantilly which determines at the Allies' plan for 1916

1916

• 14 February 1916 : Franco-British conference which sets 1 July as the start of the offensive of the Somme
• 21 February 1916 : German attack at Verdun, start of the battle of Verdun
• 1st July-18 November 1916 : The Battle of the Somme

1917

• February 1917 : The Germans withdraw behin the Hinderburg line - The Allies enter Peronne and Bapaume
• 9 April-27 May 1917 : Battle of Arras, Canadian capture of Vimy Ridge
• 16 April 1917 : Major French offensive on the Chemin des Dames on the Aisne
• 31 July-26 September 1917 : Third battle for Ypres
• 20 November 1917 : English offensive in Cambrai (tanks were deployed for the very first time)
• 26 November 1917 : Russia request an armistice, the German campaign against Italy comes to the end. Heavy toll at the Battle of Caporetto

1918

• 3 March 1918 : The Treaty of Brest-Litovsk is signed between Russia and the Central Empires
• 21 March 1918 : Ludendorff launches his first general offensive on the Western Front. Amiens is the main target
• 26 March 1918 : The Doullens Conference appoints General Foch to command the French and British armies on the Western Front
• 24 April 1918 : The German offensive is halted at Villers-Bretonneux not far from Amiens
• 11 November 1918 : The Rethondes Armistice after collapse of the Imperial Regime in Germany