War Period Timelines/Guides

The MARS War Period Timelines/Guides page endeavors to assist archivists working with military history collections to have access to reliable, easy-to-follow timelines for various wars and military periods (largely involving United States' forces). This resource was developed in response to various MARS listserv requests for such war period timelines or guides, to be used for online exhibits, digital collections, assisting in writing finding aids, or aiding in identifying dates for military archival materials (such as photographs).

This page features war period subject guides (i.e. War in Afghanistan timelines/major events, Korean War timelines for units or for whole period, etc.); military time period chronologies; general description guides for military archival materials from specific war period or formats; guides on military etiquette for those dealing with veterans as donors; or other similar content. This page is not an exhaustive list of resources, and will be added to as MARS members submit useful and reliable timelines or guides for posting.

To qualify for posting on this page, war period timelines or guides need to be accurate in information and dates, from a reliable source (such as the U.S. Marine Corps or academic institution), and be presented in an easy-to-understand manner. Highly-detailed and dense guides are not being presented here. The MARS Steering Committee wants these resources to be useful reference sources for a wide-range of archivists with a wide knowledge base of military history or time periods. To nominate a resource for adding to this page, email with the subject line "Suggested War Period Timeline" to the MARS section email address, saa.militaryarchives@gmail.com. 

Spanish-American War (1898-1899)

The World of 1898: The Spanish-American War (Hispanic Division, Library of Congress)

A Library of Congress Hispanic Division chronology of events that led the United States and Spain into the Spanish-American War, beginning in 1862 and going through 1902 (the official end of the war in the Philippines). The chronology provides important context, but also is very detailed for the days in the short main window of the war that lasted mostly in the summer through early winter of 1898.

World War I (1914-1918)

ABMC WWI Timline Experience

The American Battle Monuments Commission (ABMC) is responsible for maintaining permanent U.S. military cemeteries, memorials and monuments primarily outside the United States. They also support and conduct a large amount of historical research in order to support their work and mission. The ABMC has created an interactive timeline map of World War I events with descriptions, videos, and photos. The interactive map shows the major military campaigns involving the United States forces starting in 1917, though earlier periods of the war are also included for context. Many archival materials in WWI unit and veterans' papers are organized by campaign, so this should help you navigate and also see the locations where the campaigns occured.

World War II

U.S. Military Academy at West Point World War II European Theater Guides 

The U.S. Military Academy at West Point has a webpage that includes a military campaign timeline for events in the European and North African Theater during WWII, with links to campaign maps online depicting troop movements. These could be very helpful in processing WWII collections if you are unfamiliar with specific campaigns, locations, or unit movements. Includes PDFs of maps, specific location/battle events and timelines, etc., in this theater.

ABMC WWII Timeline Experience

The American Battle Monuments Commission (ABMC) is responsible for maintaining permanent U.S. military cemeteries, memorials and monuments primarily outside the United States. They also support and conduct a large amount of historical research in order to support their work and mission. The ABMC has created an interactive timeline map of World War II events with descriptions, videos, and photos. The interactive map shows the major military campaigns involving the United States forces starting in 1941, though earlier periods of the war are also included for context. The map features the major campaigns in the European and Pacific Theaters. It does not go into detail on the North African or China-Burma-India Theaters, however.

Korean War (1950-1953)

University of Notre Dame Hesburgh Library's LibGuide "Special Topic I: Korean War"

This guide, created by Cho Kumhee, an independent researcher of North Korean Studies, introduces well-known historical and literary sources (books, movies, and websites) about the Korean War (1950-1953). The list is based on the significance and availability of sources, and not intended to be comprehensive. The list is also written in Korean and English. Though there are no timelines included, the resources cover both the Korean and American views of the Korean War, which is valuable for those working on online exhibits or digital collections.

United Nations Command History of the Korean War Short Timeline

Very short timeline and summary of major events and engagements in the Korean War, provided by the United Nations.

U.S. Invasion of Panama (1989)

Combat in Panama

Los Angeles Times newspaper's short chronology of the events from 1978 to 1989 that led to the U.S. Invasion of Panama in December 1989.

Cold War Era (1946-1989)

President Harry S. Truman Library Timeline of the Cold War

A 6-page PDF timeline of major events that led to, continued, and ended the Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union (Russia).

Persian Gulf War (1990-1991) 

U.S. Army War College A Timeline of Operation Desert Storm

9-page timeline of the Persian Gulf War published in 2013 by the U.S. Army War College Archives