Timeline (The Last Chance for Peace)

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1914

 * June 28: Archduke Franz Ferdinand is asassinated by a Serbian nationalist.
 * July 28: Austria Hungary goes to war with Serbia.
 * July 30: Wilhelm, against the wishes of some of his advisors, announces a policy of German neutrality, saying that the Serbian reply to the Austrian ultimatum largely removes the reasons for war, and that to go to war would be against the honor of Germany. With this declaration, and a subsequent declaration of Italian neutrality, the Triple Alliance has been broken leaving Austria to it's fate.
 * July 31: Russia goes to war with Austria Hungary.
 * August 21- September 5: Austria Hungary launches their first offensive into Serbia. The Austrian force is made up of the 2nd and 5th Armies, and are led by General Potiorek, who was the mayor of Sarajevo when Ferdinand got asassinated. The Serbian defense is conducted with their 1st, 2nd, and 3rd armies, under General Radomir Putnik. He manages his forces well, and forces the Austrian armies into a battle at Jadar, where the Austrian invasion is repulsed.
 * August 25: Amid signs of a large Russian military buildup on the border of Galicia, Conrad decides that the Austrian strategy must be defensive. he orders a defensive line to be set up at the San River, the few militarily accessable roads in the Carpathian border with Russia having been demolished and blockaded days before.


 * September 1- 3: A Russain offensive is launched against the Austrian positions on the San River. The offensive is a bloody failure, as the Austrians are too deeply entrenched, and Austrian artillery supremacy has made the launch zone for the transports a kill zone.
 * September 15: A French fleet engages the main Austrian fleet in the Mediterranean. The French triumph, and force the Austrians to fall back into their ports on the Adriatic.
 * September 29: With the French naval victory, France dispatches a 15 division expeditionary force to Serbia. The FEF will be the major contribution of the French to the war in the first year, as the FEF will help fight off the Austrians.
 * September : With the failure of the offensives by both sides, each begin trying to entice other Balkan states into the war. Starting in September each side uses the bribe of territory from the loser, plus old rivalries, to get others to join them in their fight. This will go on through the winter, as the campaigning season ends. The Austrians focus on Bulgaria, who they know want payback on Serbia for their defeat in the Second Balkan War. Russia focuses on Romania, whose entry into the war on their side would help them outflank the Carpathian Mountains and send forces to Serbia.

1915

 * January 7-17: Conrad launches another offensive into Seriba, still under General Potiorek. This time he has 3 field armies. Putnik falls back from Belgrade, and the Austrian sieze the city. However, a Serbian counterattack with the FEF and remaining Serbian forces drives the Austrians back over the border.
 * May 25-July 20: A Russian offensive against the positions in Galicia is done at the same time as a daring Russian assault over the Carpathian Mountians. The Russian offensive into Galicia is sucessful in geting over the San River, but the Austrians are able to stabilize the front. The Russian offensive in the Carpathians go fairly well in the beginning, but the inability to bring heavy artillery over the mountains starts to take it's toll, and the Russian forces are repulsed over the mountains.
 * August 15: Strikes hit Austria Hungary over the losses in the war, plus ever tightening rations as food for soldiers are given top priority.
 * September 7: Bulgaria declares war on Serbia.
 * Septemer 8-30: The Austrians and Bulgarians launch an offensive into Serbia. The Serbians are forced to fall back, and the Austrians take Belgrade again. However, the Serbians manage to get a defensive line set up on the Western Mountian Barrier.
 * September 28: Russia gets an agreement from Romania to join on the side of the Russians if they can prove that the Romanians wil not get conquered quickly after joining the war.
 * November 25: An Austrian winter offensive against Russia that is meant to drive them out of Austrian territory failes as the Austrians aren't used to the rigors of winter warfare, plus the Russians had time to bring up reinforcements.

1916

 * February 19- March 30: A final Austrian offensive into Sebia foirces the remains of the Serbian army and the FEF to evacuate from Serbia to Korfu. From there, the Serbian forces join the Russian army in Galicia, in preparation for their spring offensive.
 * March 16: U.S. troops enter Mexico to hunt down Pancho Villa and end the Mexican Revolution.
 * March 22: The Republic of China is formed.
 * May 8: Rumania goes to war with Austria Hungary.
 * May 9- August 20: the Russian spring offensive opens through Rumania. Troops pour over the border, as they outflank the Carpathian Mountains. They also launch a renewed assault against Austrian poisitions in Galicia. They are very sucessful, as the Austrians suspected this might happen, but the large amount of troops attacking them overwhelms their defenses. Chunks are ripped out of Austria Hungary, but the Austrians manage to stabilize the front, and a Bulgarian offensive into Rumania distracts the Russians enough to end the offensive.
 * May 11: Bulgaria goes to war with Rumania.
 * May 12: Russia goes to war with Bulgaria.
 * June 10 - August 15: Bulgaria launches an offensive into Rumania. The Rumanians fight hard, preventing large scale Bulgarian gains. But, Rumanian forces take many casualities, and Carol 1 goes to the Russians for aid against Bulgaria. The Russians grudgingly agree, and begin diverting forces from their offensive into Austria Hungary back to the Bulgarian front.
 * August 25: Food Riots break out over Russia as the people starve. The riots die down as emergency supplies arer released. the Russian government figures that it will be worth it once Galicia belongs to them.
 * September 9-17: An Austrian offensive against the Russian forces in Slovenia fails as the Russian defenses are just too strong.
 * November 6: Woodrow Wilson is reelected as President of the U.S. on a Prosperity platform.
 * November 21: Franz Joseph 1 dies. Austria enters a period of mourning, and condolences are recieved from most major nations except Russia. His nephew, Karl 1 takes over the throne.
 * November 29: Riots break out in A-H over the continued losses in the war, plus the death of their king.

1917

 * June 7- July 15: A Russian offensive crashes into the Austrian defense lines, and break through. The Austrian army starts dissolving around itself, as they fall back in large scale retreats. Riots cripple the transportation system. this forces the Austrian government to start negotiating a peace treaty.
 * July 17: Adolf Hitler is killed by a Romanian sniper in the streets of Szentes.
 * July 19: Turkey declares war on Bulgaria. This is seen as an opportunistic move to rergain territory lost in the Second Balkan War.
 * July 20- August 5 : Turkish armies that were stationed in Turkish Europe before the DoW surge over the border and begin conquering parts of Bulgaria. This forces Bulgaria to withdraw forces from the Rumanian front to stop them.
 * August 2: Austria Hungary signs a Peace treaty with Russia, Serbia and Rumania. This treaty forces Austria to withdraw all forces from Serbia, give to Serbia Bosnia and Herzegovina, give to Russia the territory of Galicia, and give to Rumania the territory of Transylvania. They also have to give reparations to Serbia. The Russian are focused on nothing near the dismemberment of the Hapsburg Monarchy.
 * August 6: Bulgaria starts negotiating for peace.
 * August 15: Bulgaria signs a peace treaty with Russia, Serbia, and Rumania. This treaty forces Buklgaria to give the territory of Burgas to Turkey, the region of Vidin to Serbia, and the regions of Ruse and Silistra to Rumania. They also have to compensate Serbia for suffering in the war.
 * September 19: The last French divisions in Eastern Europe return to France.
 * December 19-22: The Winter Revolution begins in Austria Hungary. People riot in the streets of Vienna and Budapest, and clash with police. Soldiers who are ordered to supress the riots join against the government.
 * December 23: Karl 1, trapped in his palace in Vienna, gives up the throne, ending the Hapsburg Monarchy. Austria and Hungary split, each taking what lands they have left with them.

1918

 * January 2: Italy seizes Trentino from the new Austrian Federation. The Austrians don't like it, but the other nations don't care enough to intervene, and the Austrian people are tired of war.
 * March 4: The first recorded case of Spanish flu hits the United States. This marks the beginning of a major epidemic within the U.S. that eventually will spread to Europe and the rest of North america
 * May 19: The Austrian military coups the newly formed government, and places Conrad Von Hotzendorf in power. Rumors circulate that the coup was backed by the Germans.
 * June 19; The last US forces are removed from Mexico after ending the Revolution and apprehending Pancho Villa.
 * July 28: The Duma passes a bill giving more money to the military to enact reforms that were deemed necesary after the end of the Third Balkan War. The Russians won, but they performed worse than expected.
 * August 19: Rebellions break out in India against the British Empire. This marks the beginning of the Indian Independence War, a conflict that will sputter on and off for the next few years.
 * September 29: Austria is becoming increasingly dependent on Germany, who are now the main routes for Austrian trade and supply.
 * December 1: Iceland becomes independent.
 * December 3: The Liberal Party wins control of the Parliament in the British elections. H.H. Asquith remains the PM.

1919

 * February 7: Amid much suffering during the harsh winter, the Socialists under Béla Kun take power in Hungary. No one really knows how to react yet, as the new governemnt has yet to show how socialisitic it is.
 * February 28: The new Kun government in Hungary has proved itself to be very socialistic, dividing up the land from the nobles, and enacting legislature. The Russians dissaprove, and begin drawing up plans for a drastic change in government.
 * March 15: Russian forces cross over the Hungarian border. Russia declares war on Hungary. This begins the Ten Week War.
 * May 24: The Hungarian government unconditionally surrenders to Russia. Bela Kun flees over the border through Austria into Switzerland, where he joins Lenin in plotting to bring down the Tsarist government.
 * May 25: A new governemnt is put into place in Hungary. This government is mostly made up of Russain sympathisers, assuring that Hungary is loyal to the Russian regime.
 * June 29; Hungary, Rumania, and Serbia sign into an alliance with Russia. This new alliance is called the Balkan Entente.
 * July 9: Austria joins into an alliance with Germany. This is believed to be a result of the establishment of a Russian power bloc in the Balkans. This new alliance is called the Central Powers.
 * August 8: The Rudnica Nona incident occurs. A Russian rifle accidently discharges, and the German patrols on the other side of the border think that the Russians are invading, resulting in a firefight between the two sides. Each side relatively quickly realizes that an invasion is not coming, and the shooting ends. However, it does nothing to help relations between the two powers, which have become increasingly strained.

1920

 * March 10: The Greeks join the Central Powers alliance, as they are afraid of growing Russian strength, and the British are looking less attractive thanks to the isolation they have from European politics.


 * June 3: Bulgara joins the Central Powers alliance, in order to protect itself from Turkey, who have been taking a more agressive tone towards them. In reality, it is a farce concocted by Germany in order to get them in, as Turkey is increasing falling under the influence of Germany.


 * July 2: The German government begins operations on a new plan that calls for an increase in military strength of at the very least 10% in order to combat the growing threat of a resurgent Russia. Priority will be given to the development of weapons designed to break through enemy lines,such as armored cars and mortars. Tirpitz manages to insert a provision calling for the modernization of the German navy, in order to break the potential british stranglehold of the waterways in the event of war.
 * July 16: In response to the growing strength of Germany, and the increasing dominance of the Russians in Eastern Europe, France begins seeking a possibility of a defensive alliance with the Spanish.
 * August 4: The British, taking more urgent notice of the growing German naval strength, begin their own naval arms program. they are determinned to keep their dominance of the seas.


 * November 6: James M. Cox is elected President of the United States, running off of the support for Wilson.


 * November 30: The Republican Federation wins reelection in the French Parliamentary elections. Alexander Millerand is elected Prime Minister.
 * December 25: Spain and France sign the Christmas Day Alliance, a pledge to fight together in the event that either nation is attacked by another power. This is mainly directed against the Central Powers. Spain wants the Italian African Colonies, and France wants allies.

1921

 * June 15: A Serbian gunboat is sunk by Greek mines in the Adriatic. The Serbs are outraged, claimimng that the Greeks want to strangle Serbian commerce by illegally blocking the mouth of the Adriatic with cooperation from Italy. Greece claims that the gunboat strayed into Greek waters, causing it to collide with the mines.
 * July 1: After numerous attempts to diplomatically resolve the crisis in the Balkans, Serbia declares war on Greece.
 * July 3: Germany demands that Russia promise not to support Serbia in their war. Russia refuses. Germany declares war on Russia and the Balkan Entente. They urge their allies to declare war on Russia.
 * July 4: France declares war on Germany.
 * July 5: Spain, Bulgaria, Turkey, Austria, Rumania, and Hungary go to war. Britain is still neutral. World War 1 has begun.
 * July 19: The French offensive into Alsace Lorraine fails against a line of German fortifications. They set up defenses on the oppoiste banks of the Rhine. Meanwhile, the Germans invade Belgium and Luxembourg, with armored cars leading the way.
 * July 20: Britain declares war on the Central Powers.
 * July 24: Russia launches an offensive into Austria. They use mainly Balkan troops, as they are marshalling their pure Russian forces for offensives into Germany and Turkey. The offensive sees some sucess, with the Balkan troops making it around 50 miles into Central Austria before being fought to a halt by Austrian and Italian reinforcements.
 * July 27: The first divisions of the BEF land in France.
 * August 10: Belgium has fallen to German forces. They now move into France.
 * August 15: A German offensive begins out of Alsace-Lorraine. They batter through the French defenses with sheer force, and move towards the line of fortifications that the French have been preparing for many years.
 * August 24: The Battle of Charms Gap begins. The Germans aim to break through the Trouee des Charmes and envelope the French Armies from the East through Lorraine. The French are lead by Castelnau, while the Germans are led by Rupprecht.
 * August 26: The Battle of Charms Gap ends in a French victory. Castelnau expertly used his artillery to disable the German armored cars and then shred the German troops.
 * August 29: Responding to pleas for some sort of offensive to relieve pressure on the French front, the Russians launch the first part of their ambitious assault on Germany, codenamed Operation Russian Thunder. The German forces on the border are overwhelmed, as they were stripped of forces to fight in France. No one expected that the Russians would hit so hard and fast. The Russians have learned from their previous wars. German commanders call for reinforcements, but also prepare to defeat the separate Russian armies in detail, and send them back to Russian Poland.
 * September 3: Greece and Bulgaria lauunch a combined offensive into Serbia. the serbian army is more modernized than the last war, and are able to put up a good fight. The offensive is stalled in the mountains of the south.
 * September 4: The First Battle of the Maurisian Lakes begins. The Germans face off against two Russian armies twice their size, one of which is led by General Brusilov. The Germans engage the northern russian army, led by General Rennenkampf, first. The army led by Brusilov is many days behind, and the Germans have a chance to defeat this army in detail.
 * September 7: The Germans defeat Rennenkampf and force him to retreat. The Germans do not pursue, as Brusilov's army is approaching faster than expected. The Germans then reorient their armies to face Brusilov.
 * September 10: Brusilov defeats the Germans near the Maurisian Lakes, forcing them to retreat. However, his army has taken significant casualities, and is running low on ammunition, so her is forced to call a strategic halt. The German commanders continue their call for reinforcements, warning that the russians will be able to break through their defenses and conquer eastern Prussia and Berlin. Falkenhayn reluctantly agrees, although this forces him to withdraw forces from the armies advancing in France.
 * September 13: The German forces advancing in France have brushed through numerous French defensive line, and are approaching the final French defensive position before Paris. The French government is hurriedly evacuated to Tours, away from the reaching German claws. If the Germans can take Paris, a large part of the French army will fall into German hands.
 * September 21: The Battle of the Seine begins. French and German armies collide north of Paris, as the Germans try to force the french out of the way and complete their encirclement of Paris, while the French try to stop them.
 * September 24: Romania launches an offensive into Bulgaria. Their troops are mismanaged, and the elements conspire against therm, so the Bulgarians are able to repulse the attack, and push into Romania 35 miles.
 * September 29: The Battle of the Seine ends with a close French victory. The French defenses proved too strong, although the Germans came close to penetrating them. The German advantage in armored cars was disabled by French emplaced artillery. With the German push west of Paris stopped, they begin a counteroffensive to drive the Germans back to Belgium and threaten the flank of the army group pushing east of Paris
 * September 31: Falkenhayn realizes that he has overstretched his forces and begins a voluntary withdrawl to a more defensible position. He orders defensive position prepared. These defenses are to be a main defense line that is near impossible to penetrate, with a secondary defense line from which to coordinate counterattacks to retake lost sections of the front line.
 * October 3: The onset of winter has called a halt to offensive operations on the Eastern Front. German and Russian troops stare across trenches at each other.
 * October 14: Falkenhayn realizes that he could be outflanked on the coastline. However, he sees an opprotunity to attack France. He moves forces to the west to try and outflan kthe French and British defensive lines.
 * October 20: The BEF respond to the German move by trying to outflank them. This will begin the Race to the Sea.
 * October 21: The First Battle of the Aisne begins.
 * October 29: The First Battle of Picardy begins.
 * November 3: The Battle of Albert begins.
 * November 4: The First Battle of Picardy ends.
 * November 5: The First Battle of Artois begins.
 * November 6: The First Battle of the Aisne ends with an indecisive result.
 * November 7: The Battle of Albert ends.
 * November 19: The First Battle of Artois ends
 * November 19: The Battle of La Bassee begins.
 * November 21: The Battle of Messines begins.
 * November 22: The Battle of Armentieres begins.
 * November 28: The Battle of Yser begins.
 * November 19: The First Battle of Ypres begins.
 * November 28: The Race to the Sea ends with neither side being able to flank each other. This will be the last offensive operations for the year.

1922

 * January 9: Battles of Artois and Champagne begin. The German defensive positions have been thinned out to support operations in Italy, but they are still able to repulse the attack.
 * February: Britain and Germany begin naval blockades of each others ports. This will result in a diminishing quality of life in the Central Powers. Unfortunately for England, a sizable force of German cruisers were not in port at the time, and are free to menace British shipping around the world.
 * February 17: Brusilov resumes the offensive in Prussia. The Germans are initially taken by surprise, but Mackensen is able to rally his forces, and limit their advance. He begins making preparations for a counteroffensive to retake what has been lost.
 * March 5: Mackensen begins his counteroffensive. He hits Brusilov in the flank, and forces him to fall back, abandoning much of what he won in the recent attack.
 * March 19: Bulgaria hits Serbia from the north, while Greece keeps pushing from the south. More of Serbia is conquered, but the arrival of Hungarian troops stabilizes the front.
 * April 8: Chief of General Staff Falkenhayn dies from stress and a heart attack. The reactivated Hindenburg is placed in command. He aims to continue with the planned Italian offensive, but promises to retake land lost to Russia.
 * April 23: The Allies land on Sicily. The Italians put up a good fight, as they are defending their homeland, but are hard pressed to contain the landings and urge Germany to relieve the pressure somehow.
 * May 3: Germany launches an offensive from Italy inrto Southeast France. At first, the French think that they are dealing with the Italian Army, but they quickly realize that there are a large amount of Germans there. They begin shifting divisions out of the line to counter the atack.
 * May 9: Mackensen, in a daring move, launches an attack on Hungary from Austria. He has left only a small amount of forces in front of Brusilov, but he tricks Brusilov's subordinates into thinknig that there are a lot of Germans in front of him, and they convince him to buid up until they can crush the Germans. Mackensen's army pushes the Hungarians out of Austria and continues to push for more than 25 miles.
 * May 15: Lyons is put under seige. Spanish mountain divisions begin arriving in southeast France.
 * May 29: The German offensive runs out of steam. However, most of the mountainous regions on the the French-Italian border have fallen to the Germans, making any attempts to retake the land difficult.The Germans begin entrenching there.
 * June 25: The Frankfurt Conference is held in Germany. It was arrange dby the Kaiser to determine the dircetions to be taken in the war. During the conference, Mackensen is made Commander in Chief of all armies on the Eastern Front. An aspiring commanderr named Ludendorff, who showed his talent during both advances into France is made Commander in Chief of all armies on the Western Front. Hindenburg will give them orders, and they will do whatever is necessary to fulfill them. They come to the decision that the Allies must be driven out of the Balkans, and then Russia crushed. Ludendorff will send every soldier that he can spare from the Western Front to Mackensen, so that the issue can be decided. With Russia defeated, they will focus all their force on France and crush them.
 * June 29: After many months of fighting, the Entente forces evacuate Sicily. The Italian Navy has made resupply a problem, and the Sicilians refused to yield or join the Allies.
 * July 24: Riots break out in India over forced conscription there. They don't want to have to help a country that will not give them their freedom. The British are forced to negotiate over the issue, and agree to give India their independence when the war is over. It is an agreement that they have no intention of following.
 * August 13: The Germans launch an offensive into the Balkans from Austria, while the Ottomans and Greeks renew their efforts. Serbia stages a tough defense, but they are divided on two fronts, and lose land on both fronts. The Romanians fight hard, but are slowly pushed back. The Hungarians also fall back slowly. Moral is dropping in all 3 Balkan nations.
 * August 27: The Russians start to move against German Prussia, forcing the Germans to halt the offensive and move troops north.
 * September 14: The Battle of Breslau begins. The German and Russian armies collide. It will be the first of the large scale battles between Brusilov and Mackensen.
 * September 19: The Battle of Breslau ends with a victory for Mackensen.