The First Battle of Ypres was preceded by the Battle of the Marne in September 1914, where the Allied forces reached an important victory. As a result of this, the ‘Race to the Sea’ began, where each party tried to attack the other via the north coast of Belgium. This race came to an end at the Battle of Ypres.

Earlier in October, the Germans captured Antwerp. Because of this, the Belgian forces withdrew to Ypres, accompanying the France and British forces. At the same time, the Germans were preparing an attack near Ypres to break the Allied collaboration and gain access to the North Sea.

The battle lasted until November 22. Because of the strong winter, both parties were forced to put their attacks on a halt.

The British, who arrived at the island a day prior to the Germans, detected the German ships at an early stage, resulting in a British victory.

It was the first time the Germans used poison gas during a large-scale battle.

The battle caused 60.000 British casualties, almost twice as much as German casualties, making the Battle of Loos a failure for the Allies.

This battle resulted in the captivity of 13000 British soldiers by the Turkish Army. This became known as one of the biggest losses in the British army’s history. The soldiers were transported to various camps in Turkey. The living conditions there were very poor and the soldiers were already fatigued and diseased from the battle prior to the captivity. Some soldiers tried to escape, but few succeeded.

Even though the British lost fourteen ships and Germany eleven, and the British lost twice as many sailors, it’s uncertain which party won the battle, because the British still managed to contain the German’s High Seas Fleet.

The battles began on the morning of the 1^st of July, when the British army began travelling across the north of the Somme River. Meanwhile, French forces travelled across the south of the river. The German forces on the north side were stronger than expected. About 19240 British soldiers were killed on the first day alone. On the south, the French forces were slightly more successful, but they fell short compared to the losses.

On the 15^th of July, the British planned an attack on the Germans on the Bazentin Ridge. Because this caught the German forces by surprise, the British managed to advance into enemy territory, but casualties kept increasing.

Near the end of August, the Germans changed its strategy due to a change in their army’s General. This resulted in more victories for the Germans.

In October, the Allied struggled to advance in German territory due to bad weather. They made their final attack on the Germans in November.

As the winter weather reached an all-time high on the 18^th of November, attacks were put on hold.

Lloyd George would later player a major role in the Paris Peace Conference, a meeting between the Allies in 1919 following their victory against the Central Powers, and the Irish Free State, that would establish the Republic of Ireland and end the Irish War of Independence.

This attack started on 9 April 1917. The first major battle was the Second Battle of Aisne, which lasted from the 16^th of April until mid-May 1917. The French suffered 187,000 casualties and the British 130,000. A significant amount of land was taken, though. However, the Allies had to retreat.

Because of the bad result of Novelle’s strategy, he was fired and replaced by Philippe Petain. Even though the attack didn't turn out as catastrophically compared to other attacks, Novelle was sacked because he had promised a much better outcome.

The main reason for Britain’s victory was the use of land mines. The British forces secretly planted mines in underground tunnels near German territory. Around 10,000 Germans soldiers were killed. It remains as one of the deadliest bombings in history.

After many attacks and casualties, the Allied recached near-exhaustion, while the Germans were still holding on. Haig planned three final attacks in the Belgian village of Passchendaele in October 1917. The British forces, accompanied by the Canadians, eventually managed to capture the town and claim victory, even though the Germans suffered less casualties than the British. 

The Germans regained much of the territory they had lost the previous years. However, they suffered a lot of casualties and much of the ground they gained was of little importance. Due to this, you could question whether this was a victory for the Germans at all.

However, the Allied forces, now accompanied by the USA, quickly proved to be a lot stronger. Germany suffered more than 160,000 casualties and about 30,000 soldiers were captured.

It was the beginning of a series of German losses that would eventually be recognized as the beginning of the end of World War I.

The offensive started on the 8^th of August with the Battle of Amiens. On the first day, the Allied forces gained more than 11 kilometres of territory, which was one of the biggest advances of the First World War. This day became known as ‘the black day of the German Army’.

From the 21 August to 3 September 1918, the Second Battle of the Somme took place. Whereas the first Battle of the Somme on the 21^st March 1918 was a failure, this time it resulted in an Allied victory.

What followed was a series of attacks that brought the Germans back to the Hindenburg Line and further (e.g. Battle of the Scarpe, Battle of St. Quentin Canal, Fifth Battle of Ypres). Fighting continued until Armistice of 11 November was signed.

The Allied force had previously declared war on the Ottoman Empire in 1914 after the Ottomans secretly joined the war, thinking they could occupy Egyptian and Balkan territory while the Allied forces were preoccupied with other duties.

After several battles, the Allied forces came out victorious, which would eventually lead to the Armistice of 11 November and thus the end of WWI.

The armistice was signed on the 11^th of November 1918 in the French commune Compiegne and would mean the official victory for the Allies and loss for the Central Powers.

The most controversial and most important agreement in the treaty stated that Germany was given full responsibility for the war and was obliged to pay for all the loss and damages: "The Allied and Associated Governments affirm and Germany accepts the responsibility of Germany and her allies for causing all the loss and damage to which the Allied and Associated Governments and their nationals have been subjected as a consequence of the war imposed upon them by the aggression of Germany and her allies." 

This would later play a prominent role in the build op to World War II. Many economists believed that the treaty was too harsh on the Germans. The treaty led to a huge economic crash in German and great outrage among its people. Many historians even believed this to be the indirect cause of World War II.