Feature Articles - Principal Actions of World War One
World War One ran from
28 July
1914 (Austria-Hungary's
declaration of war with Serbia) until
11
November 1918 (the
Allied-German Armistice). In between were literally hundreds of
actions and engagements.
Contained within the tables below are details of the principal encounters of the war, a perhaps subjective compilation of the primary battles and campaigns of 1914-18. Actions are listed from all fronts of the war: on the Western, Eastern, Italian, Balkan, Gallipoli, Palestine and Mesopotamian Fronts; and during the relatively little-known wars at sea and in Africa.
In the Battles section of this site individual actions and campaigns have been documented in further detail; links to these are provided as appropriate.
1914 - Western Front
| Opened | Action |
| 5 Aug | Liege |
| 23 Aug | Mons |
| 6 Sep | 1st Marne |
| 12 Sep | Aisne |
| 1 Oct | Arras |
| 10 Oct | La Bassee |
| 12 Oct | 1st Messines |
| 18 Oct | Yser |
| 14 Oct | 1st Ypres |
| 18 Dec | Givenchy |
| 20 Dec | 1st Champagne |
1914 - Eastern Front
| Opened | Action |
| 7 Aug | Russian invasion of East Prussia |
| 18 Aug | Russian invasion of Galicia |
| 20 Aug | Gumbinnen |
| 23 Aug | Lemberg |
| 26 Aug | Tannenberg |
| 3 Sep | Rava Russka |
| 9 Sep | 1st Masurian Lakes |
| 15 Oct | 1st Warsaw |
| 11 Nov | Lodz |
| 7 Dec | 2nd Warsaw |
1914 - Balkan Front
| Opened | Action |
| 12 Aug | Austrian invasion of Serbia |
| 8 Sep | Drina |
1914 - Mesopotamian Front
| Opened | Action |
| 5 Nov | British Capture of Basra |
1914 - At Sea
| Opened | Action |
| 28 Aug | Heligoland Bight |
| 22 Sep | HMS Aboukir, Hogue & Cressy sunk by U-9 |
| 1 Nov | Coronel |
| 8 Dec | Falkland Islands |
| 16 Dec | Bombardment of Scarborough |
1915 - Western Front
| Opened | Action |
| 10 Mar | Neuve Chapelle |
| 22 Apr | 2nd Ypres |
| 26 Jun | Argonne |
| 25 Sep | 2nd Champagne |
| 25 Sep | Loos |
1915 - Eastern Front
| Opened | Action |
| 31 Jan | Bolimov |
| 2 May | Gorlitz-Tarnow Offensive |
| 5 Aug | 3rd Warsaw |
| 25 Aug | Brest-Litovsk |
| 19 Sep | Vilna |
1915 - Italian Front
| Opened | Action |
| 23 Jun | 1st Isonzo |
| 18 Jul | 2nd Isonzo |
| 18 Oct | 3rd Isonzo |
| 10 Nov | 4th Isonzo |
1915 - Balkan Front
| Opened | Action |
| 6 Oct | Austro-German invasion of Serbia |
| 11 Oct | Bulgarian invasion of Serbia |
1915 - Dardanelles
| Opened | Action |
| 19 Feb | First Allied naval bombardment |
| 25 Feb | Second Allied naval bombardment |
| 18 Mar | Allied naval attack on the Narrows |
| 25 Apr | First Allied landings |
| 6 Aug | Allied landings at Suvla Bay |
| 19 Dec | Allied evacuation |
1915 - Palestine Front
| Opened | Action |
| 3 Feb | Turkish attack on Suez Canal |
1915 - Mesopotamian Front
| Opened | Action |
| 28 Sep | Kut-al-Amara |
| 2 Nov | Ctesiphon |
| 7 Dec | Siege of Kut-al-Amara begins |
1915 - African Wars
| Opened | Action |
| 9 July | Surrender of last German forces in southwest Africa |
1915 - At Sea
| Opened | Action |
| 24 Jan | Dogger Bank |
| 11 July | Konigsberg sunk, Rufiji River, East Africa |
1916 - Western Front
| Opened | Action |
| 21 Feb | Verdun |
| 1 Jul | Somme Offensive |
1916 - Eastern Front
| Opened | Action |
| 18 Mar | Lake Naroch |
| 4 Jun | Brusilov Offensive |
1916 - Italian Front
| Opened | Action |
| 9 Mar | 5th Isonzo |
| 15 May | Trentino Offensive |
| 6 Aug | 6th Isonzo |
| 14 Sep | 7th Isonzo |
| 10 Oct | 8th Isonzo |
| 1 Nov | 9th Isonzo |
1916 - Balkan Front
| Opened | Action |
| 17 Aug | Florina |
| 19 Nov | Monastir |
1916 - Palestine Front
| Opened | Action |
| 10 Jun | Arab revolt against the Turks |
1916 - Mesopotamian Front
| Opened | Action |
| 29 Apr | Surrender of Kut-al-Amara |
1916 - African Wars
| Opened | Action |
| 18 Feb | Surrender of last German forces in Cameroon |
1916 - At Sea
| Opened | Action |
| 31 May | Jutland |
| 5 June | HMS Hampshire sunk, Lord Kitchener drowned |
1917 - Western Front
| Opened | Action |
| 9 Apr | Arras |
| 9 Apr | Vimy Ridge |
| 16 Apr | Nivelle Offensive (2nd Aisne) |
| 7 Jun | Messines |
| 31 Jul | 3rd Ypres (Passchendaele) |
| 20 Nov | Cambrai |
1917 - Eastern Front
| Opened | Action |
| 3 Sep | Riga |
| 17 Dec | Russian Armistice |
1917 - Italian Front
| Opened | Action |
| 12 May | 10th Isonzo |
| 19 Aug | 11th Isonzo |
| 24 Oct | 12th Isonzo (Caporetto) |
1917 - Balkan Front
| Opened | Action |
| 11 Mar | Doiran-Struma |
1917 - Palestine Front
| Opened | Action |
| 26 Mar | 1st Gaza |
| 17 Apr | 2nd Gaza |
| 31 Oct | 3rd Gaza (Beersheba) |
| 7 Nov | Capture of Gaza |
| 8 Dec | Capture of Jerusalem |
1917 - Mesopotamian Front
| Opened | Action |
| 22 Feb | 2nd Kut-al-Amara |
| 11 Mar | Baghdad |
1917 - African Wars
| Opened | Action |
| 25 Nov | German evacuation of East Africa |
1917 - At Sea
| Opened | Action |
| 15 May | Otranto |
1918 - Western Front
| Opened | Action |
| 21 Mar | German 'Michael' Offensive |
| 9 Apr | German 'Georgette' Offensive (Lys) |
| 27 May | 3rd Aisne; Chateau Thierry; Belleau Wood |
| 9 Jun | German 'Gneisenau' Offensive |
| 15 Jul | 2nd Marne |
| 8 Aug | Allied Amiens Offensive |
| 26 Aug | Allied attack on Hindenburg line; 2nd Arras; Scarpe |
| 11 Sep | St. Mihiel |
| 26 Sep | Meuse-Argonne Offensive |
| 26 Sep | 2nd Cambrai |
| 28 Sep | Lys, Courtrai |
| 6 Oct | 2nd Le Chateau |
| 1 Nov | Picardy Offensive (Sambre) |
1918 - Italian Front
| Opened | Action |
| 15 Jun | Piave |
| 23 Oct | Vittorio Veneto |
1918 - Balkan Front
| Opened | Action |
| 16 Sep | 2nd Vardar |
| 1 Nov | Serbian capture of Belgrade |
1918 - Palestine Front
| Opened | Action |
| 21 Feb | Capture of Jericho |
| 30 Sep | Capture of Damascus |
| 8 Oct | Capture of Beirut |
| 26 Oct | Capture of Aleppo |
1918 - Mesopotamian Front
| Opened | Action |
| 27 Apr | Capture of Kars |
| Oct | Occupation of Kirkuk |
| 3 Nov | Occupation of Mosul |
1918 - African Wars
| Opened | Action |
| 26 Nov | Surrender of German forces East Africa |
1918 - At Sea
| Opened | Action |
| 20 Jan | Dardanelles; Goeben run aground, Breslau sunk |
| 23 Apr | Zeebrugge raid |
| 9 May | Ostend raid |
Source:
Hutchinson Dictionary of World War I
by Ian V. Hogg, Helicon, 1994
Battle Police were military policemen deployed behind an attack to intercept stragglers.
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