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| Russia asks Britain and France to mount an attack on Turkey to relieve pressure on its southern flank. |
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| First Zeppelin raid on England. |
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| Boer rebels surrender in South Africa. |
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| Poison gas (xylyl bromide) used against humans for the first time when the Germans deploy it against Russian forces at Bolimow in Poland. |
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| Turkish attempt to capture the Suez Canal is beaten back with heavy losses. |
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| Germany announces that Britain's coastal waters will be regarded as a war zone from 18 February onwards and warns neutral ships to enter at their peril. |
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| The British naval blockade of Germany comes into force. |
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| British and French warships bombard Turkish positions on the Dardanelles Strait as a prelude to an attack on Constantinople. The Turks sink three battleships, cripple three and damage four others. |
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| At the end of their siege (which began on November 9), Russian forces capture Przemysl, taking 110,000 Austro-Hungarian soldiers prisoner. |
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| 2nd Battle of Ypres begins. German use chlorine gas against British forces at Langemarck. |
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| 70,000 Allied troops land at Gallipoli in an attempt to knock Turkey out of the War. |
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| German and Austro-Hungarian troops launch a major offensive against Russian forces in Galicia. By the end of the summer, Germany will control an area covered by present-day Poland, Lithuania, Belarus and Ukraine. |
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| Cunard liner Lusitania torpedoed off the coast of Ireland. About 1,200 lives are lost, including 128 Americans, and international opinion is outraged. |
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| Italy declares war on Austria-Hungary. |
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The Turkish government issues a decree expelling the Christian Armenians from their homeland and ordering their removal to Aleppo in Syria. This leads to the deaths of approximately 800,000 men, women and children.
British Prime Minister Asquith reorganises his Liberal government into a coalition. |
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| Italy and Austria-Hungary fight the first of the 12 battles of the Isonzo. |
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| South Africa assumes control of German South West Africa (present-day Namibia). |
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| Tsar Nicholas II assumes supreme command of all Russian forces. |
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Battle of Loos begins; the British use chlorine gas against the Germans, but the wind changes and blows it back in their faces.
Mobilisation of Bulgarian armed forces. |
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| Fearing an attack on Serbia, Allied forces land in Salonika to offer assistance. |
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| German and Austro-Hungarian forces attack Serbia from the north. |
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| British nurse Edith Cavell executed in Belgium by the Germans for allegedly helping Allied soldiers escape to Holland. World opinion is further outraged against the 'beastly Hun'. |
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| Bulgaria declares war on Serbia. |
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| All rail crossings entering Germany from the east are sealed on the orders of the German field medical commander. Everyone entering Germany from the east must now be de-loused. |
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| Following invasion by Germany, Bulgaria and Austria-Hungary, the Serbian people and their army attempt to evacuate the country by fleeing west across the mountains towards Albania. Many Serb soldiers and civilians die on this arduous journey. |
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| Sir Douglas Haig takes over as commander of the British Expeditionary Force. |
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| Allied troops start withdrawing from Gallipoli. |
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