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| 1917 |
| April 9–May 4 |
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| Battle of Arras. The British third army (Gen. Edmund Allenby) began the advance after a heavy gas attack (use of the gas projector). Canadian troops took Vimy Ridge, and the British made a total advance of about four miles, without, however, effecting a breakthrough. On the Somme they advanced to near St. Quentin. | 1 |
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| April 16–20 |
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| Second Battle of the Aisne and Third Battle of Champagne. Nivelle's plans had been so well advertised that the Germans were able to concentrate large forces in the area of attack. The French took only the Chemin des Dames, and this with very heavy losses. | 2 |
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| June 7–14 |
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| Battle of Messines. The British second army (Gen. Herbert Plumer) launched a surprise attack on Messines Ridge, and was entirely successful in straightening the Ypres salient. | 3 |
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| July 31–Nov. 10 |
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| Third Battle of Ypres (Passchendaele). This was a series of eight heavy attacks, carried through in driving rain and fought over ground waterlogged and muddy. The total gain was about five miles of territory, which made the Ypres salient more inconvenient than ever. | 4 |
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| Aug. 20–Dec. 15 |
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| Second Battle of Verdun. Intended to serve as relief for the British in Flanders. The French gained several key positions, even on the east bank of the Meuse. | 5 |
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| Oct. 23–Nov. 1 |
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| Battle of Malmaison. The French, attacking along the Chemin des Dames, cut off a German salient northeast of Soissons. The Germans fell back to the Oise-Aisne Canal. | 6 |
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| Nov. 20–Dec. 3 |
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| Battle of Cambrai, the first great tank raid. Without preliminary bombardment the British launched a surprise attack with 380 tanks. They penetrated the three German lines and were on the point of breaking through into open country, but the exhausted troops were unable to take advantage of the situation. The British advanced five miles in the direction toward Cambrai on a six-mile front, but on Nov. 30 the Germans suddenly counterattacked on both flanks of the salient and forced the British to give up much of the ground they had conquered. | 7 |
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