 |
| 09/01/1917 |
German leaders decide to launch unrestricted
U-boat warfare. |
| 10/01/1917 |
Allies state peace objectives
in response to US President Woodrow Wilson's December 1916
peace note. |
| 19/01/1917 |
Reich Foreign Secretary Zimmermann's
telegram to Mexico urging her entry into war against the United
States is discovered and translated by the British. |
| 22/01/1917 |
"Peace without
Victory." speech is made by President Wilson. |
| 31/01/1917 |
Germany announces that it will resume
unrestricted U-boat warfare from the 1st February. |
| |
 |
| 01/02/1917 |
Germany resumes unrestricted
U-boat warfare. |
| 03/02/1917 |
US severs diplomatic ties with
Germany. |
| 05/02/1917 |
The British General Staff estimates
that no more than 250,000 American soldiers could be in Europe
even
after a year. |
| 13/02/1917 |
The Chief of British Imperial General
Staff Sir William Roberston expresses grave doubts about American
fighting capabilities. |
| 23/02/1917 |
German forces begin withdrawal
to strong positions on the Hindenburg Line. |
| 24/02/1917 |
The Sinking of the
Laconia. The Zimmermann Telegram is passed to the US by Britain,
detailing alleged German proposal of an alliance with Mexico
against the US. |
| 26/02/1917 |
US President Woodrow Wilson requests
permission from Congress to arm US merchantmen. |
| |
 |
| 01/03/1917 |
Zimmermann Telegram is
released to press by US State Department. The Armed Ship Bill
is passed by Congress. |
| 04/03/1917 |
The US Senate adjourns without passing
Armed Ship Bill, after a successful filibuster. |
| 11/03/1917 |
British troops capture Baghdad. |
| 12/03/1917 |
US President Woodrow Wilson
announces arming of US merchantmen by executive order after
failing to
win approval. |
| 15/03/1917 |
Tsar Nicholas II
of Russia abdicates as a consequence of Russian Revolution. |
| 20/03/1917 |
US President Woodrow Wilson's
war cabinet votes unanimously in favour of declaring war on
Germany. |
| 29/03/1917 |
War College Division issues a report:
Calling for a large force of between 500,000 and 1,000,000,
and optimistically estimates that at least ten months would
be
required to ship a force of 500,000 to Europe once it was raised
and trained, putting the earliest effects of US involvement
in mid- to late-1918. The War College Division openly plans
to send US forces overseas, but argues against offensives through
Macedonia or Holland and repeats its opposition to sending
an untrained American army overseas. Wilson publicly calls
for a national army to be "raised and maintained exclusively
by selective draft". |
| |
 |
| 02/04/1917 |
President Woodrow
Wilson delivers war address to Congress at 8:32 pm and asks
the House of Representatives to declare war on Germany. |
| 05/04/1917 |
German forces finish their withdrawal
to the Hindenburg Line. |
| 06/04/1917 |
United States comes out
of neutrality and declares war on Germany, thus entering the
First World War. |
| 09/04/1917 |
The Nivelle Offensive begins. |
| 10/04/1917 |
Sir William Robertson advocates to
Haig the dispatch of immediate American expeditionary force "to
get some Americans killed and so get the country to take a
real interest in the war". |
| 13/04/1917 |
Canadian
troops take Vimy Ridge and the surrounding area in one
of Canada's finest battles of the war. |
| 16/04/1917 |
Chemin des Dames
Offensive begins. Lenin arrives in Russia. |
| 20/04/1917 |
The Nivelle Offensive, which
includes the Second Battle of Aisne and the Third Battle of
Champagne ends in French Failure. |
| 29/04/1917 |
Chemin des Dames
Offensive ends in disastrous failure for the
French having advanced only 500 yards at the
cost of 250,000
casualties. A month long series of mutinies break
out amongst the French army. |
| Apr 1917 |
The German submarine campaign
exacts its heaviest damage of war sinking 881,027 gross tons,
500,000 of which are British. |
| |
 |
| 12/05/1917 |
The 10th battle of Isonzo begins. |
| 20/05/1917 |
A month of sporadic mutinies
in the French army finally fizzle out. |
| 28/05/1917 |
U.S. Brigadier General Pershing
leaves New York for France. |
| |
 |
| 07/06/1917 |
The British explode 19 large
mines under the Messines Ridge. |
| 15/06/1917 |
U.S. Espionage Act is passed. |
| 26/06/1917 |
The first U.S. troops begin arriving
in France. These are men of the U.S. 1st Division. |
| 27/06/1917 |
Greece enters the war on the
side of the Allies. |
| Jun 1917 |
Battle of Messines. |
| |
 |
| 02/07/1917 |
U.S. Brigadier General Pershing
makes his first request for army of 1,000,000 men. |
| 06/07/1917 |
Aquaba captured by
Arabs led by T.E.Lawrence. |
| 11/07/1917 |
U.S. Brigadier General Pershing
Pershing revises his army request figures upwards to 3,000,000
men. |
| 16/07/1917 |
Third Battle of Ypres
(Passchendaele) begins. |
| 31/07/1917 |
Another major British offensive
is launched at Ypres. |
| |
 |
| 06/08/1917 |
Aleksander Fyodorovich
Kerensky appointed Prime Minister of Russia. |
| |
 |
| 01/09/1917 |
German troops break through
the northernmost end of the Russian front during the Riga offensive. |
| |
 |
| 24/10/1917 |
The 12th battle of Isonzo ends
in Italian failure. Austria-German forces breakthrough at Caporetto
on Italian front. |
| |
 |
| 07/11/1917 |
The Bolshevik overthrow
the Kerensky's government and install of a Communist one under
Lenin. |
| 10/11/1917 |
British reach Passchendaele.
Third Battle of Ypres ends. |
| 20/11/1917 |
Battle of Cambrai
begins with a surprise tank attack by the British. |
| |
 |
| 03/12/1917 |
German-Russian armistice
is signed by the new Russian government, represented by Leon
Trotsky. |
| 07/12/1917 |
The United States declares war
on Austro-Hungary. |
| 09/12/1917 |
Jerusalem captured from
the Turks by the British. |
| 22/12/1917 |
Russia opens separate peace negotiations
with Germany at Brest-Litovsk. |
