1914-1918 Timeline of World War 1 – The Great War

World War 1 resulted in nearly 10 million deaths and a dramatically changed map of Europe.

When you look at the timeline notice how soon after the assassination of Franz Ferdinand war broke out. Just 37 days.

Almost immediately after the first declaration of war just about every country in Europe had taken sides. Largely due to the treaties they had in place. Take a look at the snippet below from August 1914.

Other things to note are the Race to the Sea which took place from September to November 1914. This was effectively the last piece of mobile warfare on the Western Front until 1918. This stalemate led to trench warfare and the huge casualties for very little gain which the First World War is famous for.

With respect to the timeline of the war it’s interesting to note how often two or more major campaigns were happening at the same time. For example the Second Battle of Ypres and Gallipoli or the Battles of the Somme and Verdun. These were often strategic decisions designed to relive pressure on one campaign or in the case of Gallipoli to open up a new front.

Also, just the difference in the lengths of some campaigns compared to others. For example, look at Verdun and Gallipoli and see how long they lasted compared to other battles, especially towards the end when the British, American and French tactics were finally dominating.

 

Books:

This is an excellent account of the Siege at Kut also covering the build up and the aftermath. I first heard about this book when I attended a talk by Patrick Crowley in which he gave an in depth account of the siege. This book goes into even more detail including the failed rescue attempts and the desperate condition of the troops. This is one of the lesser known parts of WW1 but it’s well worth finding out more about it.

 

If you haven’t heard the BBC Tommies series you really should. Using eye witness accounts and diary entries they piece together the actual events of day in the First World War. Although it covers lots of aspects in many ways it shines through in the every day details, sometimes the boredom and waiting and sometimes the terror. Definitely worth a listen.

 

This is an interesting audiobook about the Somme. It covers the build up to the battle and reasons behind it. It also goes into detail about the often bad decisions made by the Generals and the impact of poor communications. It’s 6:30 hours long but can easily be listened to at 1.5 speed.

 

Max Hastings book is relatively new and focuses on the outbreak of the First World War. He describes some of the initial conflicts focusing on the actual battles.