1914
Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to the throne of Austria-Hungary, and his wife Sophie are shot to death in Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzegovina, on June 28 by Gavrilo Princip, a young Bosnian Serb. Germany assures Austria-Hungary of its support if possible military action against Serbia leads to confrontation with Russia, July 5–6. Investigators inform Austro-Hungarian government on July 13 that Princip and his fellow conspirators received weapons and training from a Serbian army major, but that no evidence connects the Serbian government to the assassination. (The assassination was organized by the chief of Serbian military intelligence; it is unclear whether the civilian leadership of Serbia was aware of the plot.) Austria-Hungary presents ultimatum to Serbia on July 23, demanding the suppression of anti-Austrian agitation in Serbia and an Austro-Hungarian role in the investigation and punishment of Serbian nationals implicated in the assassination. Russia decides on July 24 to support Serbia against Austria-Hungary. Serbia rejects ultimatum, July 25. Austria-Hungary declares war on Serbia, July 28. Russia orders partial military mobilization, July 29, and full mobilization, July 30. Austria-Hungary orders full mobilization, July 31.
Germany orders full mobilization and declares war on Russia, August 1. France orders full mobilization, August 1. Germans invade Luxembourg and demand free passage for its troops through neutral Belgium, August 2. (German war plan anticipates fighting on two fronts, and calls for decisive offensive against France while defending against Russia. Plan requires German forces to advance through southern Belgium and Luxembourg and outflank French troops deployed along the French-German border.) Germany declares war on France, August 3. Germans invade Belgium, August 4. Britain declares war on Germany, August 4. (Declaration brings British dominions of Canada, Newfoundland, South Africa, Australia, and New Zealand into the conflict.) President Woodrow Wilson proclaims American neutrality on August 4. Montenegro declares war on Austria-Hungary, August 5. Austria-Hungary declares war on Russia, August 6. France and Great Britain declare war on Austria-Hungary, August 12. Japan declares war on Germany, August 23. (Alliance of Germany and Austria-Hungary becomes known as the Central Powers, and alliance of France, Russia, and Britain as the Entente or the Allies.)
German troops in Belgium lay siege to fortresses surrounding Liège, August 5–16. Germans occupy Brussels, August 20. French and British are defeated in series of battles fought along the French frontiers, August 20–24. (French army loses 75,000 men killed in August, including 27,000 on August 22 alone.)
Germans defeat Russians in East Prussia in battle of Tannenberg, August 24–31, capturing 92,000 prisoners.
Austro-Hungarian forces advance into southern Poland, August 23. Russians begin offensive in eastern Galicia, August 26.
Austro-Hungarians invade northwest Serbia, August 12, but are defeated and retreat across border, August 23.
British sink three German light cruisers and one destroyer in battle of the Heligoland Bight, August 28. Main body of German surface fleet remains in harbor, unwilling to risk battle with numerically superior British forces. Germans begin war with twenty-four U-boats (submarines) in commission, and initially use them against merchant shipping in accordance with international rules that require the crew of a ship to be in lifeboats before it is sunk. German surface raiders, mines, and U-boats sink 360,000 tons of merchant shipping, August 1914–January 1915, while five U-boats are lost in 1914. British begin naval blockade of Germany.
German troops in Togoland surrender to British and French forces, August 26. New Zealand forces occupy German Samoa, August 30.
French and British halt German advance in battle of the Marne, fought west of Paris, September 5–9. Germans withdrawn from the Marne to the Aisne River. Both sides move troops north toward the Channel coast.
Russians capture Lemberg (Lviv) in Austrian Galicia, September 3, and begin siege of Przemyśl, September 24.
Germans defeat Russians in East Prussia in battle of the Masurian Lakes, September 7–13.
Austro-Hungarians launch second invasion of northwest Serbia, September 8. Fighting becomes stalemated in late September.
German authorities in New Guinea and the Bismarck and Solomon islands surrender to Australian forces, September 17. British and French capture Douala, capital of Cameroon, September 27. (Last German garrison in the interior of Cameroon surrenders February 18, 1916.)
Germans begin series of attacks on Allied forces defending Belgian town of Ypres, October 19, in attempt to break through to Channel ports of Dunkirk and Calais. Belgian army retreats to west bank of Yser River and floods lowlands between Nieuport and Dixmude.
Austro-Hungarian forces in Galicia relieve siege of Przemyśl, October 9.
Japanese complete occupation of German-held Northern Mariana, Marshall, and Caroline islands in the Pacific, October 14.
Ottoman Empire enters war on October 29 as Turkish fleet bombards Russian ports in Black Sea.
Battle of Ypres ends November 22 as Germans fail to break through Allied defenses. Both sides entrench along Western Front, which runs for 475 miles from Nieuport south to Noyon, east to Verdun, and then southeast to the Swiss border. (Front will remain essentially unchanged until spring 1918, with most of the fighting taking place between Verdun and the sea.)
Siege of Przemyśl resumes on November 6 as Austro-Hungarian armies in Galicia withdraw to the Carpathians.
German East Asiatic Squadron sinks two obsolete British armored cruisers off coast of Chile in battle of Coronel, November 1. British declare entire North Sea a military zone, November 2, in effort to restrict neutral trade with Germany.
British landing at Tanga in German East Africa (Tanzania) is repulsed, November 2–5. Garrison at Tsingtao (Qingdao), German concession port in northern China, surrenders to Japanese, November 7, after six-week-long siege.
Austro-Hungarian forces begin major offensive in Serbia, November 6. Serbs evacuate Belgrade, November 29.
British forces occupy oil fields in southwestern Persia (Iran), November 1. Fighting begins between Russians and Turks in the Caucasus, November 6. Ottoman Sultan Mehmed V declares jihad against the Allies, November 14, in unsuccessful attempt to foment rebellion among the Muslim populations of the British, French, and Russian empires. British and Indian troops occupy Basra in Mesopotamia, November 22.
French launch unsuccessful offensives in the Artois, December 17, 1914–January 13, 1915, and in Champagne, December 20, 1914–March 20, 1915, aimed at the flanks of the Noyon salient.
Germans occupy Łódź in western Poland, December 6. Austro-Hungarian forces defeat Russians in battle of Limanowa-Lapanow, fought southeast of Cracow, December 3–12. Fighting continues in Carpathians during winter.
Serbs launch counteroffensive, December 3–6, that recaptures Belgrade on December 15 as Austro-Hungarian forces are driven from Serbia.
British battle cruiser squadron defeats German East Asiatic Squadron in battle of the Falkland Islands, December 8, sinking two armored cruisers and two light cruisers.
Turks launch offensive in Caucasus, December 22, and are defeated at Sarikamish, December 29–30.
1915
Turkish troops occupy Tabriz in northwestern Persia (Iran), January 8. Sarikamish campaign ends, January 15, after Turks lose 75,000 men killed or captured. Russians occupy Tabriz, January 30. (Although Persia remains officially neutral throughout the war, in 1915–16 inconclusive fighting continues in northwestern Persia between Russians and Turks, while the British extend their occupation of oil-producing areas in the south.)
German navy begins 1915 with twenty-nine U-boats in commission. British sink German armored cruiser in battle of the Dogger Bank, fought in the North Sea on January 24. Unable to break blockade of the North Sea, Germans announce on February 4 that Allied merchant ships in war zone around Great Britain and Ireland will be sunk without warning and that neutral shipping should avoid entering the zone. United States warns Germany on February 10 that sinking American ships, or ships carrying American passengers, would be considered “an indefensible violation of neutral rights” and that the U.S. will hold Germany to “a strict accountability” for its naval actions. Unrestricted U-boat campaign begins on February 18.
Germans defeat Russians in second battle of the Masurian Lakes, February 7–22.
British repulse Turkish attempt to cross the Suez Canal on February 3. Anglo-French naval force begins bombarding Turkish fortifications in the Dardanelles, February 19.
Russians capture 120,000 prisoners when garrison of Przemyśl surrenders on March 22.
British impose total blockade on Germany, including all food imports, March 11.
Russia, Britain, and France reach secret agreement, March 4–April 10, giving Russia control of Istanbul and the Dardanelles following defeat of the Ottoman Empire. Anglo-French fleet loses three obsolete battleships to mines in unsuccessful attempt to force passage of the Dardanelles, March 18.
Germans launch offensive at Ypres, April 22, using poisonous chlorine gas released from cylinders. Battle continues until May 25 as Germans gain ground but fail to capture Ypres. (British begin using chlorine gas in September 1915.)
Turkish police arrest more than two hundred prominent Armenians in Istanbul, April 24. (Evidence indicates that in March 1915 the leadership of the Committee of Union and Progress, which had ruled the Ottoman Empire since 1913, decided to remove the Armenian population of Anatolia by deportation and mass murder.) British, Australian, New Zealand, and French troops land on Gallipoli peninsula, April 25, beginning land campaign to open the Dardanelles. Allies are unable to seize high ground from Turkish defenders. Campaign becomes stalemated, with Allied forces confined to shallow beachheads.
Italy signs secret treaty with Russia, Britain, and France, April 26, agreeing to join the Allies in return for Austrian territory in South Tyrol and on the Adriatic coast. French launch new offensive in the Artois, May 9–June 18, supported by British attacks at Aubers Ridge, May 9, and Festubert, May 15–25.
Germans and Austro-Hungarians break through Russian lines between Gorlice and Tarnow in southeast Poland, May 2–4, and recapture Przemyśl, June 3, and Lemberg, June 22, as Russians retreat from Galicia.
Italy declares war on Austria-Hungary, May 23. Italian troops cross the Austrian border and advance to the Isonzo River with objective of seizing Trieste. In the first battle of the Isonzo, June 23–July 7, Italians fail to capture high ground east of the river. (Italians will launch four additional offensives in the Isonzo valley, July 1915–March 1916, that fail to break through Austro-Hungarian defenses.)
Ottoman authorities begin deportation of Armenians from Anatolia into the Syrian desert in May as mass killings are carried out by Kurdish tribesmen and criminal gangs recruited by the Special Organization, paramilitary group controlled by the Committee of Union and Progress. (By the summer of 1916 an estimated 800,000 to one million Armenians are killed, or die from hunger and disease, in the massacres and deportations, along with at least 150,000 Assyrian Christians.)
U-boat sinks British ocean liner Lusitania off the coast of Ireland on May 7, killing 1,198 people, including 128 Americans. United States protests sinking on May 13 as an “unlawful and inhumane act.” Germany responds on May 28 with note defending sinking. Secretary of State William Jennings Bryan resigns on June 9, fearing that Wilson’s continued defense of the right of Americans to travel on belligerent ships will lead to war.
German air service deploys first fighter aircraft with forward-firing machine gun in July. (British and French will introduce equivalent aircraft into service by early 1916. From the beginning of the war all of the major powers use aircraft for reconnaissance and bombing raids; Germans also use Zeppelins for bombing and maritime reconnaissance.)
German forces in South-West Africa (Namibia) surrender, July 9.
Germans and Austro-Hungarians launch new offensive, July 13, that forces Russians to retreat from Poland. German forces capture Warsaw, August 5. Austro-Hungarians capture Brest-Litovsk, August 26.
United States warns Germany on July 21 that any further violation of American neutral rights will be regarded as “deliberately unfriendly.” U-boat sinks British liner Arabic off Ireland, August 19, killing two Americans. Seeking to avoid American entry into war, Germans suspend unrestricted U-boat campaign, August 27, and pledge on September 1 not to sink passenger ships without warning. Germans sink 740,000 tons of merchant shipping, February–August 1915.
British troops land at Suvla Bay, August 6, as part of new attempt to break stalemate at Gallipoli. Offensive ends on August 15 with Turks still holding high ground and the Allies confined to their beachheads. French renew offensive against the Noyon salient, attacking in Champagne, September 25–November 6, and the Artois, September 25–October 16. Attack in the Artois is supported by British offensive at Loos, September 25–October 19. Despite increased use of heavy artillery, none of the Allied offensives succeed in breaking through German defenses. (By the fall of 1915 Germans have built defenses in depth on the Western Front involving multiple trench lines protected by barbed wire and defended by artillery and machine guns. Allied attacks that succeed in capturing forward German positions are vulnerable to counterattack and are limited by unreliable battlefield communications and the need to bring artillery forward before renewing the offensive. In 1916–17, Allies will continue to launch offensives intended to break through German defenses while also pursuing attritional strategy of “wearing down” German army.)
Germans capture Vilna, September 18. Russian retreat ends in late September along line running from Gulf of Riga south to the Romanian border near Czernowitz (Chernivtsi).
British and Indian troops in Mesopotamia advance up Tigris and capture Kut, September 28.
French and British troops begin landing at Salonika, Greece, on October 5 in effort to aid Serbs. German and Austro-Hungarian forces invade Serbia from the north, October 7, and capture Belgrade, October 9. Bulgaria invades Serbia from east, October 14. Serbian army begins winter retreat across mountains into Montenegro and Albania, November 24. (Survivors are evacuated from the Adriatic coast by Allies, January–April 1916, and later join Allied forces at Salonika.)
Germans use phosgene gas, a more lethal agent than chlorine, in attack on French near Reims, October 19. (Allies will begin using phosgene in February 1916, and in 1916 both sides will begin using poison gas in artillery shells.)
British authorities in Egypt write to Sharif Hussein ibn Ali, emir of Mecca, on October 24, pledging support for creation of an independent Arab state in the Middle East in return for Arab participation in the war against the Ottoman Empire. (Pledge is made with stated reservations concerning French ambitions in Syria and recent British conquests in Mesopotamia, as well as prewar British relationships with Arab sheikdoms in the Persian Gulf.) British begin advance up Tigris toward Baghdad, November 19, but fail to breakthrough Turkish defenses at Ctesiphon (Salman Pak), November 22–25, and retreat to Kut. Turks begin siege of Kut, December 7. Allies begin evacuation of Gallipoli in mid-December.
Wilson calls for expanding the size of the U.S. Army and Navy in his State of the Union address, December 7.
1916
German navy begins year with fifty-four U-boats in commission; nineteen U-boats were lost in 1915.
Allied evacuation of Gallipoli is completed, January 8. Austro-Hungarians invade Montenegro, January 5, and complete occupation of the country, January 25. Russians begin offensive in the Caucasus, January 10, and capture Erzurum, February 16.
Wilson makes speaking tour in New York and the Midwest, January 27–February 3, to build public support for military “preparedness.”
Germans begin offensive at Verdun, February 21, and capture Fort Douaumont, key French position, February 25, but are unable to break through inner defensive line. Fighting extends to left (west) bank of the Meuse, March 6, as Germans continue offensive intended to exhaust French army in battle of attrition. (Verdun becomes first battle in which opposing sides both use fighter aircraft in attempt to gain air superiority over battlefield, as aerial artillery spotting and photography become increasingly important in determining course of land fighting.)
Germany declares war on Portugal, March 9, after the Portuguese government seizes interned German ships.
Mexican revolutionary Pancho Villa raids Columbus, New Mexico, on March 9, killing eighteen Americans. Wilson sends military expedition led by General John J. Pershing into Mexico in pursuit of Villa, March 15 (expedition ends in early February 1917 without Villa being captured).
U-boat torpedoes French passenger ship Sussex in the English Channel, March 24, injuring several Americans. Wilson warns Germany on April 18 that the U.S. will break diplomatic relations if attacks on passenger ships continue. German government pledges on May 4 that it will abide by established rules of naval warfare. U-boats sink one million tons of merchant shipping, September 1915–April 1916.
Allied forces begin offensive in German East Africa, April 3. Despite numerical superiority, Allies become involved in protracted campaign due to losses from disease, supply difficulties, and mobility of German-led African troops. (Fighting extends into Portuguese East Africa and Northern Rhodesia in 1917–18 before last German forces surrender on November 25, 1918.)
Irish republicans begin Easter Uprising in Dublin, April 24. Insurrection is suppressed by British troops, April 29.
Russians capture Trabzon, Turkish Black Sea port, on April 18. British garrison at Kut surrenders, April 29.
American volunteer pilots fly first patrol with Escadrille N. 124, French fighter squadron later known as the Lafayette Escadrille, May 13.
Sykes-Picot agreement, ratified May 16, divides postwar Middle East into zones of British and French direct control and indirect influence while envisioning international zone in Palestine under British, French, and Russian administration. (The borders established in Middle East during the 1920s do not follow boundaries outlined in Sykes-Picot agreement.)
Austro-Hungarians begin offensive in the Trentino, May 15, and capture Asiago, May 28. Offensive is halted on June 10.
German fleet sails into North Sea on May 31 in attempt to engage British fleet on favorable terms. In battle of Jutland, May 31–June 1, British lose three battle cruisers, three armored cruisers, eight destroyers, and 6,000 men killed, while Germans lose one battle cruiser, one obsolete battleship, four light cruisers, five destroyers, and 2,500 men killed. British retain control of North Sea and continue blockade.
Russian offensive in Galicia, June 4, breaks through Austro-Hungarian lines and captures 200,000 prisoners by June 12. Germans make final attempt to capture Verdun, June 23.
Arab revolt against Ottoman rule begins in the Hejaz, June 10.
Wilson signs National Defense Act, June 3, authorizing five-year expansion of the army to 175,000 men and the National Guard to 400,000 men; law also authorizes the president to deploy the Guard overseas.
British and French begin offensive along Somme River, July 1, after weeklong preliminary bombardment. British suffer 57,000 casualties, including 19,000 killed, on first day.
British repel Turkish attack on Suez Canal, August 3–5.
In sixth battle of the Isonzo, August 6–17, Italians succeed in capturing Gorizia. (Italians will launch another four offensives along the Isonzo, September 1916–June 1917, that make limited gains in the high ground east of the river.) Italy declares war on Germany, August 28.
Romania declares war on Austria-Hungary, August 27, and invades Transylvania. German, Bulgarian, and Turkish forces invade southern Romania, September 2. Germans and Austro-Hungarians begin counteroffensive in Transylvania, September 25.
British use tanks for the first time with limited success on the Somme, September 15. Russian offensive in Galicia ends, September 20. French counteroffensive at Verdun recaptures Fort Douaumont, October 24.
Wilson wins reelection on November 7, defeating Republican Charles Evans Hughes with 277 electoral votes and 49 percent of the popular vote; Hughes receives 254 electoral votes.
Battle of the Somme ends, November 18, with a maximum Allied advance of seven miles. British lose 420,000 men killed, wounded, or missing, while French casualties total 200,000; German casualties are estimated at 430,000.
Franz Joseph, emperor of Austria since 1848, dies on November 21 and is succeeded by his nephew Karl.
Herbert Henry Asquith, prime minister of Great Britain since 1908, resigns on December 5, and is succeeded by David Lloyd George. Germans capture Bucharest, December 6, as Romanian army retreats north into Moldavia. French counteroffensive at Verdun, December 15–18, regains much of the ground lost earlier in the year. French lose 377,000 men killed, wounded, or missing in battle, while German casualties total 337,000.
Wilson sends note to belligerents asking them to state peace terms, December 18; Germany and Austria-Hungary refuse.
1917
German navy begins year with 133 U-boats in commission. Germans sink 2.1 million tons of merchant shipping, May 1916–January 1917, and lose twenty-two U-boats in 1916. Decision by German military and naval leadership to resume unrestricted U-boat warfare is endorsed by Kaiser Wilhelm II on January 9.
Wilson calls for “peace without victory” in address to the Senate, January 22.
Unrestricted U-boat warfare resumes, February 1. United States breaks diplomatic relations with Germany, February 3. Decoded text of Zimmerman telegram, diplomatic message proposing a German-Mexican alliance against the United States, is published on March 1. Three American merchant ships are torpedoed without warning on March 18 and fifteen Americans killed. Cabinet unanimously recommends that Wilson ask Congress for a declaration of war, March 20.
Germans shorten their line in France by withdrawing from Noyon salient to “Hindenburg Line,” strongly fortified position twelve to twenty-five miles to the rear, March 16–18.
British retake Kut, February 25, and occupy Baghdad, March 11.
Food riots in Petrograd (St. Petersburg), March 8–12, result in mutiny by city garrison. Tsar Nicholas II abdicates, March 15, as provisional government is established with Prince Lvov as prime minister.
Wilson asks Congress on April 2 to declare war against Germany. War resolution is approved by the Senate, 82–6, on April 4 and by the House, 373–50, on April 6. (U.S. Army has 127,000 officers and men, with another 80,000 men in the National Guard on federal service.) Wilson establishes Committee on Public Information, April 13, government propaganda agency intended to promote support for the war domestically and to publicize American war aims internationally.
British begin offensive at Arras on April 9. Canadian troops capture Vimy Ridge, April 9–12. The ridge was the scene of intense fighting during the 1915 French offensives in the Artois. Battle continues until May 16 as British are unable to exploit initial success; British casualties total 150,000 killed, wounded, or missing.
French launch offensive against Chemin des Dames, high ground north of the Aisne, on April 16 that fails to achieve breakthrough. Offensive ends on May 16 after French lose 130,000 men killed, wounded, or missing. Failure of attack causes widespread protests and unrest in French army, with many soldiers refusing to engage in further attacks. French commanders restore order by improving leave conditions and avoiding costly attacks.
General Pershing is appointed commander of the American Expeditionary Forces (AEF), May 10. Wilson signs Selective Service Act, May 18, making men twenty-one to thirty eligible for the draft (registration is extended in September 1918 to men eighteen to forty-five).
British capture Messines ridge south of Ypres, June 7–14.
Wilson signs Espionage Act, June 15. Legislation provides penalties for disclosure of “national defence” information to foreign powers while also making it a crime to attempt to cause “insubordination, disloyalty, mutiny” in the armed forces, or to “obstruct the recruiting or enlistment service of the United States.”
White mobs attack black residents of East St. Louis, Illinois, July 2–3, during rioting in which at least thirty-nine African Americans and nine whites are killed.
Greece declares war on Central Powers, July 2. Arab insurgents capture Aqaba, July 6.
Russians launch offensive in Galicia, July 1–16. Demoralized Russian forces collapse when Germans counterattack, July 19. Alexander Kerensky becomes prime minister of Russian provisional government, July 21.
Germans begin using mustard gas, a liquid blistering agent, in Flanders, July 12. (Allies will begin using mustard gas in June 1918. Poison gas causes death of an estimated 90,000 soldiers on all sides, 1915–18.)
British launch offensive at Ypres, July 31, after fifteen-day preliminary bombardment.
U-boats sink almost 4.4 million tons of shipping, February–August 1917. Sinkings begin to decline as British gradually adopt convoy system, aided by increasing numbers of U.S. destroyers made available for escort duty.
Italians capture Bainsizza plateau northeast of Gorizia in eleventh battle of the Isonzo, August 19–September 12.
Germans capture Riga, September 3.
Germans and Austro-Hungarians launch offensive at Caporetto on the upper Isonzo, October 24, and force the Italians to retreat sixty miles to the Paive River. Italians lose 280,000 men taken prisoner, while another 350,000 men become stragglers or desert.
Third battle of Ypres (also known as battle of Passchendaele) ends, November 10, with maximum Allied advance of four miles; British lose 244,000 killed, wounded, or missing, the Germans 215,000. Georges Clemenceau becomes premier of France, November 16. British break through Hindenburg Line at Cambrai, November 20, in surprise attack using more than 300 tanks. German counteroffensive on November 30 recovers much of the lost ground.
British break through Turkish defenses at Gaza, November 1–6, and advance into Palestine. Foreign Secretary Arthur Balfour issues declaration on November 2 committing British government to “the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people.” British occupy Jerusalem, December 9.
Bolshevik coup in Petrograd overthrows provisional government, November 7, and establishes Soviet regime led by Vladimir Lenin. Romania signs armistice, December 9. Bolsheviks sign armistice, December 15.
U.S. declares war on Austria-Hungary, December 7. Congress proposes Eighteenth Amendment, establishing prohibition, to the states, December 18.
1918
German navy begins year with 142 U-boats in commission; sixty-three U-boats were lost in 1917. American troops in Europe total 184,000.
Wilson outlines terms of peace settlement in Fourteen Points address to Congress, January 8.
Bolsheviks sign peace treaty with Central Powers at Brest-Litovsk, March 3.
Outbreak of Spanish influenza in Kansas in early March spreads across the United States and travels overseas.
Germans launch offensive against British at St. Quentin, March 21–April 5, and advance up to forty miles. Attack is most successful on Western Front since 1914, but fails to capture railroad junction at Amiens; German ability to exploit breakthrough is limited by shortage of trucks and transport horses. Allies lose 255,000 men killed, wounded, or captured, the Germans 240,000. French general Ferdinand Foch becomes first Allied supreme commander on the Western Front, April 3. Germans break through British defenses along Lys River south of Ypres, April 9–29, but fail to capture supply center at Hazebrouck. (German offensives in spring of 1918 achieve initial success using short, intense artillery bombardments employing mixture of highexplosive and gas shells, and specially trained infantry units equipped with light machine guns and mortars.)
Romania signs peace treaty with Central Powers at Bucharest, May 7.
Wilson signs Sedition Act (an amendment to the Espionage Act), May 16, making it a crime during wartime to utter or print “disloyal, profane, scurrilous, or abusive language about the form of government of the United States,” to “use any language” intended to bring form of government “into contempt, scorn, contumely, or disrepute,” or “by word or act oppose the cause of the United States” in the war. (The Wilson administration will prosecute 2,168 individuals under the Espionage and Sedition acts for their speeches or writings and obtain 1,055 convictions; forty-one defendants are sentenced to terms of ten, fifteen, or twenty years.)
Germans launch third spring offensive, May 27–June 4, breaking through French lines along the Aisne River and advancing to the Marne. American troops join French in defense of Marne crossing at Château-Thierry, June 1–3, and drive Germans from Belleau Wood, June 6–25.
Italians defeat Austro-Hungarian offensive along Piave, June 15–23. American troops in Europe total 897,000 by June 30.
During final German offensive, July 15–18, Americans fight with the French along the Marne, then join counteroffensive that advances to Aisne and Vesle rivers in early August.
British launch offensive at Amiens, August 8–12, that captures 12,000 prisoners in its first day. (French and British offensives in summer and fall of 1918 employ improved artillery and infantry tactics and increasing numbers of tanks and aircraft; by November 1918 the Allies have 7,000 aircraft on the Western Front, the Germans 2,200.)
American troops land at Russian Pacific port of Vladivostok, August 16, and Arctic port of Archangel, September 4. (Troops are sent to guard military supplies and railroads and to assist Czechoslovak forces that seek to leave Russia and fight with the Allies.)
New and more virulent strain of Spanish influenza arrives in United States in late August. (Influenza pandemic of 1918–19 kills an estimated 675,000 Americans and at least thirty million people worldwide.)
In its first operation as an independent army under Pershing’s command, the AEF eliminates the St. Mihiel salient southeast of Verdun, September 12–16, capturing 13,000 prisoners. Allies begin general offensive, September 26– 29, attacking in Flanders, Picardy, and Champagne. AEF launches Meuse-Argonne offensive, September 26.
French, British, Serbian, and Greek forces begin offensive in Macedonia, September 15, and advance up the Vardar valley. Bulgaria signs armistice, September 29. British forces in Palestine defeat Turks in battle of Megiddo, September 19–25, and capture Damascus, October 1.
Eugene V. Debs, four-time Socialist candidate for president, is tried in Cleveland under the Espionage Act of 1917 for having made an antiwar speech in June 1918. Convicted on September 13, he is sentenced to ten years’ imprisonment.
British break through Hindenburg Line, September 29–October 5. Prince Max of Baden, the newly appointed German chancellor, sends note to Wilson on October 5 asking for an armistice and peace negotiations on basis of the Fourteen Points. Americans break through main defensive line in the Meuse-Argonne, October 14–17. German navy orders U-boats to end attacks on civilian ships, October 21. (Germans sink 4.1 million tons of merchant shipping, September 1917–October 1918; sixty-nine U-boats are lost at sea in 1918.) American troops in Europe total 2,057,000.
Ottoman Empire signs armistice, October 30. Italian victory in battle of Vittorio Veneto, October 24–November 3, brings about collapse of Austro-Hungarian army. Austria-Hungary signs armistice, November 3. Allies launch series of attacks along the Western Front, October 31– November 4. Wilhelm II abdicates his throne, November 9, as German republic is proclaimed in Berlin. Germans sign armistice, which goes into effect on November 11 at 11 A.M.
Czechoslovak republic proclaimed in Prague, November 14. Independent Polish state proclaimed in Warsaw, November 16.
Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes proclaimed in Belgrade, December 1. American occupation forces enter Germany, December 1, and cross the Rhine, December 13. Wilson sails for France on December 5 to attend peace conference.
1919
Ratification of Eighteenth Amendment completed, January 16 (Prohibition goes into effect on January 17, 1920). Paris peace conference opens, January 18, and adopts draft of the Covenant of the League of Nations, February 14. Wilson returns to United States, February 24, to sign legislation and meet with congressional leaders. Republican Senator Henry Cabot Lodge announces that thirty-seven senators and senators-elect are opposed to the draft covenant, March 4. Wilson sails for France, March 5. Treaty of Versailles is presented to German delegation, May 17. American troops leave North Russia, June 3–August 5. Congress proposes Nineteenth Amendment, giving women the right to vote, to the states on June 4. Treaty of Versailles is signed on June 28. Wilson returns to the United States, July 8, and presents the treaty to the Senate, July 10. Twenty-three African Americans and fifteen whites are killed during race riots in Chicago, July 27–31. Senate Foreign Relations Committee, chaired by Lodge, begins hearings on the treaty, July 31. Wilson appears before committee in special session held at the White House, August 19. In attempt to rally support for the League of Nations, Wilson begins national speaking tour, September 3. Peace treaty with Austria is signed at St. Germain, September 10. Wilson has nervous breakdown in Pueblo, Colorado, on September 25 and returns to the White House. Suffers ischemic stroke that leaves him paralyzed on his left side, October 2. White mobs and U.S. troops kill more than one hundred African Americans in Phillips County, Arkansas, September 30–October 4, in response to false reports of an uprising by black sharecroppers. Lodge presents fourteen reservations to treaty, October 24. Wilson sends letter on November 18 rejecting the Lodge reservations as a “nullification” of the Treaty. On November 19 Senate rejects ratification with reservations, 39–55, and unconditional ratification, 38–53. (In first vote, thirty-five Republicans and four Democrats support the Lodge reservations; in the second vote, thirty-seven Democrats and one Republican vote for the treaty.) Peace treaty with Bulgaria signed at Neuilly, November 27.
1920
Last American troops leave France, January 3. (American occupation of Germany ends in January 1923.) Soviet Russia signs treaty recognizing Estonian independence, February 2. Senate votes 49–35 to ratify Versailles treaty with reservations, March 19, falling seven votes short of the necessary two-thirds majority. Last U.S. troops leave Vladivostok, April 1. (About 14,000 American soldiers serve in Russia, 1918–20, and about 400 are killed in action or die from other causes. Troops in North Russia engage in limited combat against Bolshevik forces, while troops in eastern Siberia fight skirmishes against Bolshevik partisans and Cossack bands.) At conference held in San Remo, Italy, April 19–26, British and French agree that France will receive League of Nations mandate for Syria (including Lebanon) and Britain will receive mandates for Iraq and Palestine (including territory that becomes Transjordan in 1923). Peace treaty with Hungary signed at Trianon, June 4. (Austrian, Bulgarian, and Hungarian treaties all incorporate the League of Nations covenant, and are never submitted to the Senate.) Soviets sign treaty recognizing Lithuanian independence, July 12. Peace treaty with Turkey is signed at Sèvres, August 10. (United States is not a signatory to the Sèvres treaty, which is replaced by Treaty of Lausanne in 1923.) Soviets sign treaty recognizing Latvian independence, August 11. Ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment is completed, August 18. Poland and Lithuania sign peace treaty, October 7. Warren G. Harding, Republican senator from Ohio, defeats James M. Cox, Democratic governor of Ohio, in presidential election on November 2, receiving 404 out of 531 electoral votes and 60 percent of the popular vote. Eugene V. Debs, who is still in federal prison, receives more than 3 percent of the popular vote. (Debs is released on December 25, 1921, after Harding commutes his sentence.) Congress repeals Sedition Act, December 13. (Remaining prisoners convicted under the Sedition Act are pardoned by President Calvin Coolidge in December 1923).
1921
Poland and Soviets sign treaty in Riga, March 18, ending their 1919–20 war. Harding signs congressional resolution ending state of war with Germany, Austria, and Hungary, July 2. United States signs separate peace treaties with Austria, August 24, Germany, August 25, and Hungary, August 29. Harding dedicates Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery, November 11.
More than 116,000 Americans died while serving in the armed forces during World War I; of these deaths, 53,000 were the result of hostile action and 63,000 were from non- combat causes. Battle deaths by service were approximately 50,500 in the army, 400 in the navy, and 2,500 in the marines; 26,000 of the battle deaths were men killed in the Meuse-Argonne campaign (September 26–November 11, 1918). It is estimated that 46,000 of the noncombat deaths were from influenza.
Great Britain and Ireland lost 744,000 military dead; India, 74,000; Australia, 62,000; Canada, 57,000; New Zealand, 18,000; South Africa, 7,000; and Newfoundland, 1,200. France lost 1,400,000 military dead, including 70,000 from its colonies; Russia, 1,800,000; Italy, 650,000; Romania, 336,000; Serbia, 278,000; and Belgium, 38,000. Germany lost 2,000,000 military dead; Austria-Hungary, 1,200,000; the Ottoman Empire, 770,000; and Bulgaria, 87,500. About 15,000 African soldiers died on both sides in African campaigns, along with an estimated 150,000 porters and laborers, mostly from disease and malnutrition. The total number of military dead from 1914 to 1918 is estimated at more than 9 million, while total civilian deaths from violence and war-related food shortages and epidemics (excluding the 1918 influenza pandemic) are estimated at 6 million, including 2,100,000 in the Ottoman Empire and 1,500,000 in Russia.