World War I Timeline: (Page 1 of 2)
World War I Timeline: (Page 1 of 2)
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World War I Timeline c
June 28, 1914 Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife Sophia are killed by
Serbian nationalists.
July 26, 1914 Austria declares war on Serbia. Russia, an ally of Serbia, prepares to
enter the war.
August 4, 1914 German army invades neutral Belgium on its way to attack France.
Great Britain declares war on Germany. As a colony of Britain, Canada
is now at war. Prime Minister Robert Borden calls for a supreme
national effort to support Britain, and offers assistance. Canadians
rush to enlist in the military.
October – November 1914 First Battle of Ypres, France. Germany fails to reach the English
Channel.
1914 – 1917 The two huge armies are deadlocked along a 600-mile front of
Deadlock and growing trenches in Belgium and France. For four years, there is little change.
death tolls Attack after attack fails to cross enemy lines, and the toll in human
lives grows rapidly. Both sides seek help from other allies. By 1917,
every continent and all the oceans of the world are involved in this
war.
February 1915 The first Canadian soldiers land in France to fight alongside British
troops.
April - May 1915 The Second Battle of Ypres. Germans use poison gas and break a hole
through the long line of Allied trenches. Death tolls are rising steadily
into the millions.
July - November 1916 Allied forces move forward only six miles, and suffer 600,000 deaths,
Battle of the Somme of which 24,029 are Canadians. 236,000 Germans are killed; they
refer to this battle as das Blutbad — the blood bath. In this battle,
Canadians become known as a strong force in the war.
February 1917 Germany begins all-out submarine warfare to control the North
Atlantic.
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World War I Timeline c
August 1917 Robert Borden is re-elected and conscription takes effect in Canada.
April 1917 Canadian troops succeed in taking control of Vimy Ridge, a very strong
Vimy Ridge German position in France with a high slope and a system of trenches
and tunnels heavily protected by barbed wire and German artillery. No
one had been able to take this from the Germans in two years.
At dawn on Easter Monday, April 9, all four divisions of the Canadian
Corps move forward together up the ridge in the midst of driving
wind, snow, and sleet, following a barrage of artillery. By mid-
afternoon the Canadian Divisions are in command of most of the ridge.
Canada loses 10,000 soldiers in this battle, and Vimy Ridge is later
chosen as the site of Canada's National Memorial. For the first time,
Canadians attack together and triumph together. Four Canadians win
the Victoria Cross and Major-General Arthur Currie, commander of
the 1st Division, is knighted on the battlefield by King George V.
August 4, 1918 to The Allied forces advance steadily on the Western Front. This period
November 11, 1918 has come to be known as "The Last Hundred Days,” in which Canadian
troops played an important role.
November 11, 1918 Germany signs an armistice agreement. When peace finally came, there
was an underlying sadness to the celebrations. In the end, Belgium had
been freed but at the cost of wiping out an entire generation of young
men.
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