World War IWorld War I , also known as the First World War, the Great War, and the War to End All Wars, was a global military conflict which involved most of the world's great powers, assembled in two opposing alliances: the Triple Entente and the Triple Alliance...
, which lasted from August 1914 to November 1918, was, at the time, the largest single war ever to have occurred. There was a large number of allies on each side of the conflict, and their geographical location and that of their imperial provinces meant that parts of the war were fought all over
EuropeEurope is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally divided from Asia to its east by the water divide of the Ural Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian Sea, the Caucasus Mountains , and the Black Sea to the southeast...
, and in other places such as
North AfricaNorth Africa or Northern Africa is the northernmost region of the African continent, linked by the Sahara to Sub-Saharan Africa.Geopolitically, the UN definition of Northern Africa includes the following seven countries or territories; Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, Sudan, Tunisia,Mauritania, and...
and the
Middle EastThe Middle East is a region that spans southwestern Asia, southeastern Europe, and northeastern Africa. It has no clear boundaries, often used as a synonym to Near East, in opposition to Far East...
. A
battleGenerally, a battle is a conceptual component in the hierarchy of combat in warfare between two or more armed forces, wherein each group will seek to defeat the others within the scope of a military campaign, and are well defined in duration, area and force commitment.Wars and military campaigns...
is a smaller conflict between two military enemies that often makes up part of a war.
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World War IWorld War I , also known as the First World War, the Great War, and the War to End All Wars, was a global military conflict which involved most of the world's great powers, assembled in two opposing alliances: the Triple Entente and the Triple Alliance...
, which lasted from August 1914 to November 1918, was, at the time, the largest single war ever to have occurred. There was a large number of allies on each side of the conflict, and their geographical location and that of their imperial provinces meant that parts of the war were fought all over
EuropeEurope is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally divided from Asia to its east by the water divide of the Ural Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian Sea, the Caucasus Mountains , and the Black Sea to the southeast...
, and in other places such as
North AfricaNorth Africa or Northern Africa is the northernmost region of the African continent, linked by the Sahara to Sub-Saharan Africa.Geopolitically, the UN definition of Northern Africa includes the following seven countries or territories; Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, Sudan, Tunisia,Mauritania, and...
and the
Middle EastThe Middle East is a region that spans southwestern Asia, southeastern Europe, and northeastern Africa. It has no clear boundaries, often used as a synonym to Near East, in opposition to Far East...
. A
battleGenerally, a battle is a conceptual component in the hierarchy of combat in warfare between two or more armed forces, wherein each group will seek to defeat the others within the scope of a military campaign, and are well defined in duration, area and force commitment.Wars and military campaigns...
is a smaller conflict between two military enemies that often makes up part of a war. This is a list (though not exhaustive) of the battles of world war one, in chronological order. They are organised as to the opening date of the battle.
August
- 5 Battle of Liege
The Battle of Liège was the opening battle of the German invasion into Belgium, and the first battle of World War I. The attack on the city began on August 4 and lasted until 16 August when the last fort finally surrendered.- Historical Setting :...
- 5 Battle of the Frontiers
The Battle of the Frontiers was a series of battles fought along the eastern frontier of France and in southern Belgium shortly after the outbreak of World War I. The battles represented a collision between the military strategies of the French Plan XVII and the German Schlieffen Plan...
- 7 Battle of Mulhouse
The Battle of Mulhouse , which began on August 9, 1914, was the opening attack of World War I by the French army against Germany...
- 12 Battle of Haelen
The Battle of Haelen was a cavalry battle on the Western Front at the start World War I. It took place on August 12, 1914 between German forces led by Georg von der Marwitz and the Belgians army led by Leon De Witte and resulted in a tactical victory for the Belgians.-Strategic Context:Haelen was...
- 14 Invasion of Lorraine
- 17 Battle of Stalluponen
The Battle of Stallupönen, fought between Russian and German armies on August 17, 1914, was the opening battle of World War I on the Eastern Front...
- 20 Battle of Gumbinnen
The Battle of Gumbinnen, initiated by forces of the German Empire on August 20, 1914, was the first major German offensive on the Eastern Front during the First World War...
- 21 Battle of the Ardennes
The Battle of the Ardennes was one of the opening battles of World War I. It took place from August 21-23, 1914, part of the Battle of the Frontiers.-Background:...
- 21 Battle of Charleroi
The Battle of Charleroi , or the Battle of the Sambre , was fought on 21 August 1914, between French and German forces and was part of the Battle of the Frontiers. The French were planning an attack across the Sambre River, when the Germans launched an attack of their own...
- 21 Siege of Namur (1914)
- 23 Battle of Mons
The Battle of Mons was the first major action of the British Expeditionary Force in World War I.-Prelude:Following the surrender of the Liège forts by the Belgian Army on 16 August 1914, the Germans continued advancing towards Paris in accordance with the Schlieffen Plan...
- 23 Capture of Dinant
- 25 Siege of Maubeuge
The Siege of Maubeuge took place between August 24 and September 7, 1914 when the French garrison of the Maubeuge Fortress finally surrendered to the Germans at the start of World War I on the Western Front....
- 25 Destruction of Louvain
- 26 Battle of Le Cateau
The Battle of Le Cateau was fought on 26 August 1914, after the British, French and Belgians retreated from the Battle of Mons and had set up defensive positions in a fighting withdrawal against the German advance at Le Cateau-Cambrésis....
- 26 Battle of Tannenberg
The Battle of Tannenberg was in August 1914 a decisive engagement between the Russian Empire and the German Empire in the first days of World War I, fought by the Russian First and Second Armies and the German Eighth Army between 23 August and 30 August 1914. The battle resulted in the almost...
- 28 Battle of Heligoland Bight
The First Battle of Heligoland Bight was the first naval battle of the First World War, fought on 28 August 1914, after the British planned to attack German patrols off the north-west German coast....
- 29 Battle of Guise
September
- 2 Siege of Tsingtao
- 6 First Battle of the Marne
The Battle of the Marne was a First World War battle fought between the 5th and 12th of September 1914. It resulted in a Franco-British victory against the German Army under Chief of Staff Helmuth von Moltke the Younger...
- 9 First Battle of the Masurian Lakes
{Infobox Military Conflict|conflict = First Battle of the Masurian Lakes|partof = the Eastern Front during World War I|image = |caption = Eastern Front to 26 September 1914.|date = 9 - 14 September 1914...
- 12 Battle of Bita Paka
The Battle of Bita Paka was fought at Bitapaka, south of Kabakaul, on the island of New Britain, on 11 September 1914 and was as part of the occupation of German New Guinea by the Australian Naval and Military Expeditionary Force during the First World War...
- 12 First Battle of the Aisne
The First Battle of the Aisne was the Allied follow-up offensive against the right wing of the German First Army & Second Army as they retreated after the First Battle of the Marne earlier in September 1914...
- 25 First Battle of Albert
- 25 Battle of Sandfontein
- 28 Siege of Antwerp
The Siege of Antwerp was an engagement between the German and the Belgian armies during World War I. A small number of British and Austrian troops took part as well.-Strategic Context:...
October
- 1 First Battle of Arras
- 14 First Battle of Ypres
The First Battle of Ypres, also called the First Battle of Flanders , was the last major battle of the first year of World War I ; actually a series of battles, starting on 19 October and ending, according to the various histories, on 13 November , 22 November or 30 November .This battle and the...
- 18 Battle of the Yser
The Battle of the Yser secured part of the coastline of Belgium for the allies in the "Race to the Sea" after the first three months of World War I.-Strategic Context:As part of the execution of the Schlieffen Plan, Belgium had been invaded by Germany...
December
- 3 Battle of Qurna
The Battle of Qurna, was between British forces and Ottoman forces that tried to retake the city of Basra which they lost at the Battle of Basra during the Mesopotamian campaign of World War I.- Background :...
- 8 Battle of the Falkland Islands
The Battle of the Falkland Islands was a British naval victory over the Imperial German Navy on 8 December 1914 during the First World War in the South Atlantic...
- 16 Raid on Scarborough and Hartlepool
- 18 Battle of Givenchy
Battle of Givenchy was a battle fought during World War I as part of the First Battle of Champagne, that saw an initially advancing British force face strong opposition and counter-attack from a solidly entrenched German force around the village of Givenchy.With the French under heavy pressure at...
- 20 First Battle of the Champagne
February
- 3 Defence of the Suez Canal
- 7 Second Battle of the Masurian Lakes
The Second Battle of the Masurian Lakes, also known as the Winter Battle of the Masurian Lakes, was the northern part of the Central Powers' offensive on the Eastern Front in the winter of 1915...
- 19 Dardanelles Bombardment
April
- 11 Battle of Shaiba
- 22 Second Battle of Ypres
The Second Battle of Ypres was the first time Germany used poison gas on a large scale on the Western Front in World War I and the first time a former colonial force pushed back a major European power on European soil, which occurred in the battle of St...
- 25 Anzac Cove
ANZAC Cove is a small cove on the Gallipoli peninsula in Turkey. It became famous as the site of World War I landing of the ANZAC on April 25 1915. The cove is a mere 600m long, bounded by the headlands of Ari Burnu to the north and Little Ari Burnu, known as Hell Spit, to the south...
- 28 First Battle of Krithia
The First Battle of Krithia was the first Allied advance of the Battle of Gallipoli during World War I. Starting at Helles on April 28, three days after the initial landings, the attack broke down due to poor leadership and planning, lack of communications and exhaustion and demoralisation of the...
May
- 1 Eski Hissarlik
- 6 Second Battle of Krithia
The Second Battle of Krithia continued the Allies' attempts to advance on the Helles battlefield during the Battle of Gallipoli of World War I. The village of Krithia and neighbouring hill of Achi Baba had to be captured in order for the British to advance up the Gallipoli peninsula to the forts...
- 15 Battle of Festubert
The Battle of Festubert was an attack by the British army in the Artois region of France on the western front during World War I. It began on May 15, 1915 and continued until May 25.-Context:...
- 19 Turkish attack at Anzac Cove
- 31 Capture of Amara
June
- 4 Third Battle of Krithia
The Third Battle of Krithia , fought on the Gallipoli peninsula during World War I, was the final in a series of Allied attacks against the Turkish defences aimed at capturing the original objectives of April 25, 1915...
- 23 First Battle of the Isonzo
The First Battle of the Isonzo was fought between Italians and Austro-Hungarians on the Italian Front in World War I, between June 23 and July 7, 1915....
- 27 Battle of Nasiriyeh
- 28 Battle of Gully Ravine
The Battle of Gully Ravine was a World War I battle fought at Cape Helles on the Gallipoli peninsula. By June 1915 all thoughts the Allies had of a swift decisive victory over Turkey had vanished. The preceding Third Battle of Krithia and the attack at Gully Ravine had limited objectives and had...
August
- 6 Suvla Bay
- 6 Battle of Lone Pine
The Battle of Lone Pine, which took place during the Gallipoli campaign from the sixth to the tenth of August 1915, was merely a diversion to draw attention from the main assaults of 6 August against the Sari Bair peaks of Chunuk Bair and Hill 971....
- 6 Battle of Sari Bair
The Battle of Sari Bair , also known as the August Offensive, was the final attempt made by the British to seize control of the Gallipoli peninsula from the Ottoman Empire during First World War.The Battle of Gallipoli had raged on two fronts, Anzac and Helles, for three months since the invasion...
- 6 Battle of the Nek
The Battle of the Nek was a small World War I battle fought as part of the Gallipoli campaign. This is the battle described in the film "Gallipoli" starring Mel Gibson. "The Nek" was a narrow stretch of ridge in the Anzac battlefield on the Gallipoli peninsula...
- 21 Battle of Hill 60
Battle of Hill 60 is a name shared by two battles of World War I:* Battle of Hill 60 , a subsidiary battle to the Battle of Neuve Chapelle...
- 21 Battle of Scimitar Hill
The Battle of Scimitar Hill was the last offensive mounted by the British at Suvla during the Battle of Gallipoli in World War I. It was also the largest single-day attack ever mounted by the Allies at Gallipoli, involving three divisions...
September
- 25 Battle of Loos
The Battle of Loos was one of the major British offensives mounted on the Western Front in 1915 during World War I. It marked the first time the British used poison gas during the war, and is also famous for the fact that it witnessed the first large-scale use of new army or "Kitchener's Army"...
- 28 Kut-al-Amara
- 28 Battle of Es Sinn
March
- 8 Battle of Dujaila
The Battle of Dujaila was fought on March 8, 1916, between British and Ottoman forces during the First World War. The Ottoman forces, led by Colmar Freiherr von der Goltz were besieging Kut, when the Anglo-Indian relief force, led by Lieutenant-General Fenton Aylmer, attempted to relieve the city...
- 9 Fifth Battle of the Isonzo
The Fifth Battle of the Isonzo was fought from March 9-15, 1916 between the armies of the Kingdom of Italy and those of Austria-Hungary. The Italians, under immense pressure from the French commanders, had decided to launch another offensive on the Isonzo River.-Background:After four attempts to...
- 18 Battle of Lake Naroch
July
- 1 Battle of the Somme
- 14 Battle of Bazentin Ridge
The Battle of Bazentin Ridge, launched by the British Fourth Army at dawn on 14 July, 1916, marked the start of the second phase of the Battle of the Somme. Dismissed beforehand by one French commander as "an attack organized for amateurs by amateurs", it turned out to be a considerable success...
- 15 Battle of Delville Wood
- 23 Battle of Pozieres Ridge
September
- 3 Battle of Guillemont
The Battle of Guillemont was a British assault on the German-held village of Guillemont during the 1916 Battle of the Somme. Guillemont lay on the right flank of the British sector where it linked with French forces and by holding it, the Germans prevented the Allied armies from operating in...
- 14 Seventh Battle of the Isonzo
The Seventh Battle of the Isonzo was fought from September 14-17, 1916 between the armies of the Kingdom of Italy and those of Austria-Hungary.- Battle :...
- 15 Battle of Flers-Courcelette
The Battle of Flers-Courcelette, which began on 15 September, 1916 and lasted for one week, was the third and last of the large-scale offensives mounted by the British Army during the Battle of the Somme....
March
- 11 Capture of Baghdad
- 13 Samarrah Offensive
The Samarrah Offensive was launched by the British against the Ottomans as part of the Mesopotamian Campaign in World War I....
- 19 Seizure of Falluja
- 25 Battle of Jebel Hamlin
- 26 First Battle of Gaza
The First Battle of Gaza was a World War I battle on the southern border of Palestine. After eight months of painstaking advances, British Empire forces had succeeded in driving the Turkish forces from the Sinai Peninsula where they had been attempting to menace the Allied supply route through the...
April
- 9 Battle of Vimy Ridge
The Battle of Vimy Ridge was a military engagement fought as part of the Battle of Arras, in the Nord-Pas-de-Calais region of France, during the First World War. The main combatants were the Canadian Corps against three divisions of the German Sixth Army...
- 11 Battle of Shiala
- 16 Second Battle of the Aisne
The Second Battle of the Aisne , in 1917 was the main action of the French Nivelle Offensive or Chemin des Dames Offensive during World War I. The objective was a prominent, 80 km long, east-west ridge underlain by many quarries that had sheltered the German occupants from the French artillery...
- 17 Second Battle of Gaza
The Second Battle of Gaza, fought in southern Palestine during World War I, was the second attempt mounted by British Empire forces to break the Turkish defences along the Gaza-Beersheba line...
- 21 Battle of Istabulat
- 30 Battle of the Boot
July
- 31 Third Battle of Ypres
- 31 Battle of Passchendaele
October
- 24 Twelfth Battle of the Isonzo
- 24 Battle of Caporetto
The Battle of Caporetto , took place from 24 October to 19 November 1917, near the town of Kobarid , on the Austro-Italian front of World War I...
- 31 Third Battle of Gaza
The Third Battle of Gaza was fought in 1917 in southern Palestine during World War I. The British Empire forces under the command of General Edmund Allenby successfully broke the Turkish defensive Gaza-Beersheba line...
- 31 Battle of Beersheba
The Battle of Beersheba took place on 31 October 1917, as part of the Sinai and Palestine campaign during World War I. The highlight of the battle was the now famous charge of the Australian 4th Light Horse Brigade, which covered some six kilometres to overrun and capture the last remaining...
November
- 5 Capture of Tikrit
- 13 Battle of Mughar Ridge
The Battle of El Mughar Ridge on 13 November 1917 took place at Junction Station, where the Haifa-Jerusalem line branches to Beersheba. The battle succeeded in causing the Ottoman Seventh and Eighth Armies to withdraw towards Jerusalem and Haifa respectively.- The Battle :The Charge at El...
- 20 Battle of Cambrai
May
- 27 Third Battle of the Aisne/Operation Blücher-Yorck
The Third Battle of the Aisne was a battle of the German Spring Offensive during World War I that focused on capturing the Chemin des Dames Ridge before the American Expeditionary Force could arrive in France...
- 28 Battle of Cantigny
The Battle of Cantigny, fought on 28 May 1918, the second day of the great German offensive, was the first American offensive of World War I....
June
- 1 Battle of Belleau Wood
The Battle of Belleau Wood occurred during the German 1918 Spring Offensive in World War I, near the Marne River in France. The battle was fought between the U.S...
- 18 Battle of Chateau-Thierry
There have been two Battles of Château-Thierry fought near the French town of Château-Thierry on the Marne River:*Battle of Château-Thierry - 12 February 1814, Napoleon defeats Blücher....
- 15 Battle of the Piave River
The Battle of the Piave River, known in Italy as Battaglia del Solstizio , Battaglia di Mezzo Giugno , or Seconda Battaglia del Piave , was a decisive victory for the Italian Army during World War...
July
- 4 Battle of Hamel
The Battle of Hamel was a successful attack launched by the Australian Corps of the Australian Imperial Force and several American units against German positions in and around the town of Hamel in northern France during World War I....
- 14 Battle of Abu Tellul
The Battle of Abu Tellul occurred during World War I between British and Ottoman forces fighting for the village of Abu Tellul near the Auja river in Palestine. Three Ottoman regiments, spearheaded by two battalions of the German Asia Corps, advanced north and east of Jericho, capturing the...
- 15 Second Battle of the Marne
The Second Battle of the Marne , or Battle of Reims was the last major German Spring Offensive on the Western Front during World War I...
- 18 Battle of Soissons
The Battle of Soissons was a World War I battle, waged during 18 July to 22 July 1918, between the French and German Army....
September
- 12 Battle of Havrincourt
The Battle of Havrincourt was a World War I battle fought on September 12, 1918, involving the British Third Army against German troops, including those of the 3rd and 10th Corps, in the town of Havrincourt, France.Three divisions of Third Army attacked the village of Havrincourt; the 62nd...
- 12 Battle of Saint-Mihiel
The Battle of Saint-Mihiel was a World War I battle fought between September 12 - 15, 1918, involving the American Expeditionary Force and 48,000 French troops under the command of U.S. general John J. Pershing against German positions. The United States Army Air Service played a significant role...
- 18 Battle of Epehy
The Battle of Épehy was a World War I battle fought on 18 September 1918, involving the British Fourth Army against German outpost positions in front of the Hindenburg Line.- Prelude :...
- 19 Battle of Megiddo
The Battle of Megiddo , from 19 September to 1 October, 1918, and its subsequent exploitation, was the culminating victory in British General Edmund Allenby's conquest of Palestine...
- 26 Battle of the Argonne Forest
The Meuse-Argonne Offensive, also called the Battle of the Argonne Forest, was a part of the final Allied offensive of World War I that stretched along the entire western front. The whole offensive was planned by Marshall Ferdinand Foch to breach the Hindenburg line and ultimately force the...
- 27 Battle of the Canal du Nord
The Battle of Canal du Nord was part of a general Allied offensive against German positions on the Western Front during the Hundred Days Offensive of World War I. The battle took place in the Nord-Pas-de-Calais region of France, along an incomplete portion of the Canal du Nord and on the outskirts...
- 29 Battle of St. Quentin Canal
October
- 8 Battle of Cambrai
The Battle of Cambrai was a battle between troops of the British First, Third and Fourth Armies and German Empire forces during the Hundred Days Offensive of World War I. The battle took place in and around the French city of Cambrai, between 8 October and 10 October 1918...
- 23 Battle of Vittorio Veneto
The Battle of Vittorio Veneto was fought between 24 October and 3 November 1918, near Vittorio Veneto, during the Italian Campaign of World War I...
- 23 Battle of Sharqat
The Battle of Sharqat was between the British and the Ottoman Empire at the Mesopotamian Campaign in World War I, which became the final conflict that ended as a result of the signing of armistice....
See also