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| B. World War I, 1914–1918 |
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| Declarations of War | | 1914 | | July 28 | Austria on Serbia | | Aug. 1 | Germany on Russia | | Aug. 3 | Germany on France | | Aug. 4 | Germany on Belgium | | Great Britain on Germany | | Aug. 5 | Montenegro on Austria | | Aug. 6 | Austria on Russia | | Serbia on Germany | | Aug. 8 | Montenegro on Germany | | Aug. 12 | France on Austria | | Great Britain on Austria | | Aug. 23 | Japan on Germany | | Aug. 25 | Japan on Austria | | Aug. 28 | Austria on Belgium | | Nov. 4 | Russia on Turkey | | Serbia on Turkey | | Nov. 5 | Great Britain on Turkey | | France on Turkey | | 1915 | | May 23 | Italy on Austria | | June 3 | San Marino on Austria | | Aug. 21 | Italy on Turkey | | Oct. 14 | Bulgaria on Serbia | | Oct. 15 | Great Britain on Bulgaria | | Montenegro on Bulgaria | | Oct. 16 | France on Bulgaria | | Oct. 19 | Russia on Bulgaria | | Italy on Bulgaria | | 1916 | | March 9 | Germany on Portugal | | March 15 | Austria on Portugal | | Aug. 27 | Romania on Austria | | Aug. 28 | Italy on Germany | | Germany on Romania | | Aug. 30 | Turkey on Romania | | Sept. 1 | Bulgaria on Romania | | 1917 | | April 6 | U.S. on Germany | | April 7 | Panama on Germany | | Cuba on Germany | | April 13 | Bolivia severs relations with Germany | | April 23 | Turkey severs relations with U.S. | | June 27 | Greece on Austria, Bulgaria, Germany, and Turkey | | July 22 | Siam on Germany and Austria | | Aug. 4 | Liberia on Germany | | Aug. 14 | China on Germany and Austria | | Oct. 6 | Peru severs relations with Germany | | Oct. 7 | Uruguay severs relations with Germany | | Oct. 26 | Brazil on Germany | | Dec. 7 | U.S. on Austria | | Dec. 8 | Ecuador severs relations with Germany | | Dec. 10 | Panama on Austria | | Dec. 16 | Cuba on Austria | | 1918 | | April 23 | Guatemala on Germany | | May 8 | Nicaragua on Germany and Austria | | May 23 | Costa Rica on Germany | | July 12 | Haiti on Germany | | July 19 | Honduras on Germany |
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| 1. The Western Front, 1914–1915 |
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(See Aug. 6) |
| THE WESTERN FRONT IN WORLD WAR I (MAP) |
| GERMAN STRATEGY was based on the Schlieffen Plan, which provided for the concentration of the main German forces on the French front, the passage through Belgium, and a huge wheeling movement to encircle Paris. This plan required a massing of forces on the German right flank, but even before the outbreak of war the German chief of the general staff, Gen. Helmuth von Moltke (1906–Sept. 14, 1914), had transferred some divisions from the right to the left (Lorraine) wing in order to block an invasion of south Germany. The Germans concentrated about 1.5 million men organized in seven armies. On the eastern (Russian) frontier, German forces were relatively few in number and were intended merely to delay the invaders until a decisive victory could be won in the west. | 2 |
| The French plan of campaign (Plan 17) had been drawn up in 1913by Gen. Joseph Joffre (chief of general staff, July 28, 1911–Dec. 12, 1916) under the influence and teaching of Gen. Ferdinand Foch. The plan ignored the danger of a great German advance through Belgium and depended entirely on a vigorous French offensive on the right wing and center. The French reckoned on a Russian advance in the east with about 800,000 men on the 18th day of mobilization. Britain was expected to contribute about 150,000 men. | 3 |
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| 1914, Aug. 4 |
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| In the night the Germans crossed the frontier of Belgium, forcing Belgian troops back to Brussels and Antwerp. | 4 |
| The French offensive (five armies) developed in the region between Mézières and Belfort, Joffre hoping for a breakthrough on either side of Metz. | 5 |
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| Aug. 14–25 |
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| Battle of the Frontiers. French forces met with failure in their invasion of Lorraine. | 6 |
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| Aug. 23 |
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| Battle of Mons. First contact between Germans and British resulted in the latter's retreat. | 7 |
| A German advance forced the French and British to fall back to the Marne River. The French government moved to Bordeaux (Sept. 3–Dec. 1914). Joffre hastily formed a sixth army on his left, to outflank the German fifth army. Meanwhile Moltke, believing a decision had already been reached by August 25, detailed six corps from the second and third armies to serve on the Russian front. | 8 |
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| Aug. 30 |
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| Kluck gave up his advance to the west of Paris in order to keep contact with Bülow's second army. By September 4 Kluck realized the danger threatening him from the sixth French army before Paris. On the same day Moltke ordered Kluck and Bülow to turn southwest to meet this danger. In the course of the operation a gap was allowed to open between the first and second German armies. | 9 |
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| Sept. 5–12 |
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| BATTLE OF THE MARNE. The opposing armies tried to outflank each other, resulting in a German withdrawal west of Verdun and a cautious British and French advance. | 10 |
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| Oct. 10–Nov. 10 |
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| THE RACE FOR THE SEA. The Germans failed to push through to the Channel ports. | 11 |
| By the end of 1914 the line on the western front had become fairly well fixed and the war had become a war of position, confined largely to trench warfare. All but a tip of Belgium was in the hands of the Germans. The Belgian government was established at Le Havre, while the occupied area was governed successively by Gen. Colmar von der Goltz (to Nov. 1914), Gen. Moritz von Bissing (to April 1917), and Gen. Ludwig von Falkenhausen (to the end of the war). The Germans also retained about one-tenth of the territory of France (21,000 square kilometers), including many of the most valuable coal and iron mines and several important industrial areas. The line, which in the course of the next three years did not vary by more than ten miles, left to the Allies Verdun, Rheims, and Soissons and thence turned northward between Noyon (Ger.), Montdidier (Fr.), Peronne (Ger.), Albert (Fr.), Bapaume (Ger.), Arras (Fr.), Lens, La Bassée (Ger.), Armentières, Ypres (Brit.), Passchendaele, Dixmude (Ger.), Nieuport (Brit.), Ostend (Ger.). | 12 |
| The operations in France in 1915 were devoid of broader interest. The commanders on both sides persisted in the belief that a decision was to be won in this area, and consequently devoted as many men and guns as possible to renewed efforts to break through the opponents' line. None of these “offensives” had a notable effect. All were characterized by appalling loss of life. | 13 |
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| April 22–May 25 |
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| SECOND BATTLE OF YPRES. | 14 |
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| May 9–June 18 |
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| SECOND BATTLE OF ARTOIS. After an unprecedented bombardment, the French succeeded in breaking through on a six-mile front north of Arras and facing Douai. | 15 |
| The western front was unusually quiet during most of the summer, the Allies using this period for preparation of a “great offensive” for the autumn. | 16 |
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| Sept. 22–Nov. 6 |
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| SECOND BATTLE OF CHAMPAGNE. After many weeks of desperate fighting the French offensive revealed little gain. | 17 |
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| Sept. 25–Oct. 15 |
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| THIRD BATTLE OF ARTOIS. The failure of the great offensive of the French and British, which Joffre had hoped would work like a pair of pincers to force the German withdrawal from northern France, left the situation in the west substantially where it had been a year previously. (See The Western Front, 1916–1917) | 18 |
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