by Alex Hook
12
Politics: Sir Robert Borden wins Canadian election with a coalition government and is returned for another term in office.
Western Front: British Offensive at Passchendaele.
15
Western Front: At Vincennes outside Paris, Dutch dancer Mata Hari is executed by firing squad accused of spying for Germany.
17
War at sea: American transport Antilles, westbound from France, sunk by submarine: 67 lost.
Scandinavian Convoys. German attack on convoy by minelaying cruisers Brummer and Bremse. Destroyers Strongbow and Mary Rose sunk by gunfire 75 miles east of Lerwick. 9 of 12 merchant ships sunk.
19
Great Britain: The ‘Silent Raid.’ Eleven Zeppelins carry out the last airship raid over Britain. All five airships were lost – the biggest disaster suffered by the German Naval Airship Service. The raid was so called because the Zeppelins flew so high during the attack that the gun and searchlight emplacements were ordered to remain covered so as not to give away their locations.
Canadian premier Sir Robert Borden visiting the front to inspect members of the Canadian battalion commanded by his cousin.
23
Western Front: American troops in France fire their first shots in trench warfare. 1st Division of AEF on Swiss border.
French advance northeast of Soissons.
24
Italian Front: Twelfth Battle of the Isonzo – Battle of Caporetto. In thick fog Austro-German troops make a surprise attack on Italian positions across a 20-mile front and breaking through at Tolmino, Caporetto, and Plezzo, pushing them back into Italy. taking 10,000 prisoners. During the Battle of Caporetto Italian troops disillusioned by the conduct of the war and the harsh discipline of their officers desert and surrender en masse. Italy’s fighting strength is halved and troops have to be sent from the Western Front to shore up the Italian lines.
25
Italian Front: Italians retreat across the Isonzo and start to evacuate the Bainsizza Plateau. Germans claim 30,000 prisoners.
26
Politics: Brazil declares war with Germany.
27
Western Front: United States infantry and artillery join in the action in France for the first time.
28
Italian Front: The Italian Second and Third Armies are in full retreat from the Carnia front. Germany claims to have taken 100,000 prisoners.
Canadian machine-gunners man shell holes in the mud on ground captured during the action at Broodseinde on 4 October 1917. They would imminently take part in the final attacks on Passchendaele ridge.
American troops disembarking onto the quay at Liverpool. The first contingent arrived in autumn 1917.
The third battle in front of Ypres between July and November 1917 was called Passchendaele.
31
Middle East: Beersheba in Palestine, is occupied by British forces under the command of General Allenby, capturing 1,800 Turks. This starts a new offensive in Palestine.
NOVEMBER
October Revolution in Russia brings Lenin to power; Battle of Cambrai
November 1916
The October Revolution. The revolutionary Bolsheviks led by Lenin want to get out of the war. On the Italian Front the Italian Army is in retreat.
1
Western Front: Germans abandon position on Chemin des Dames.
2
Politics: The Balfour Declaration. British Foreign Secretary Arthur Balfour sends a letter to Lord Rothschild affirming Britain’s support for the creation of a Jewish state in Palestine after the war.
3
Western Front: Americans in trenches suffer 20 casualties in German attacks – the first U.S. soldiers todie from German attack.
6
Italian Front: Conference at Rapallo. Allied politicians and generals meet near Genoa to discuss what to do about the citical situation in Italy.
Mesopotamia: British forces led by General Maude reach and occupy Tekrit, 100 miles northwest of Bagdad.
Western Front: End of the Third Battle of Ypres as the village of Passchendaele is captured by Canadians after months of hard fighting.
British soldiers keeping warm beside a roadside fire in the Cambrai area during winter 1917-18.
7
Middle East: A force led by General Allenby captures Gaza in Palestine with support from British and French warships.
8
Russian Revolution: Bolshevik revolution in Russia – October Revolution (the Julian calendar was still in use in Russia). Vladimir Lenin and his supporters (including Trotsky) stage a nearly bloodless coup d’etat against the ineffective Kerensky Provisional Government. They seize Petrograd, depose Kerensky and form a Communist government with the intention of stopping Russian involvement in the war.
8
Italian Front: General Diaz succeeds General Cadorna as Commander-in-Chief of Italian armies.
9
Italian Front: The Rapallo Conference agrees on creating a Supreme Allied War Council to co-ordinate Allied actions on the Western Front.
10
Russian Revolution: Lenin becomes Premier of Russia, succeeding Kerensky.
The front between Arras and Soissons. The shading shows how far the Germans retreated in 1917.
The area around Baghdad, captured on November 18, 1817.
Joffre visiting the Italian General Cadorna on the Italian front.
15
Politics: Georges Clemenceau becomes Premier of France (succeeding M. Painlove) and Minister of War.
Russian Revolution: Former premier Kerenski flees Moscow as bitter fighting breaks out.
16
Russian Revolution: A Bolshevik government is formed in Russia.
17
Middle East: In Palestine British troops capture Jaffa.
War at sea: Heligoland Bight Action. British battlecruiser attack on German minesweepers and covering heavy ships.
18
Mesopotamia: General Sir Stanley Maude dies of cholera after drinking milky coffee.
20
Western Front: Battle of Cambrai starts with a surprise massed tank attack by the British when the Third Army under Lt. General Byng attack on a 10-mile front between the River Scarpe and St Quentin. During the attack, RFC aircraft drop bombs on anti-tank guns and strongpoints to clear a path for the Allied advance. The initial breakthrough cannot be supported and fails although over 8,000 prisoners are taken.
20
General: The Ukraine is declared a republic.
Men of the Leicestershire Regiment (the Tigers) resting beside machine-gunners in a captured German trench near Ribécourt on the opening morning of the Cambrai offensive, 20 November 1917.
21
Western Front: Inter-Allied Conference in Paris creats a ‘coalition diplomacy’ of 18 nations. U.S. to be an ‘associate’ power with a separate army
Ribecourt, Flesquieres, Havrincourt, Marcoing and other German positions captured by British.
23
Italian Front: Italians repulse Germans on the whole front from the Asiago Plateau to the Brenta River.
24
Western Front: Cambrai menaced by the British, who approach within three miles, capturing Bourlon Wood.
25
Western Front: Many of the Battle of Cambrai’s initial gains by British are lost to German counter-attacks at Bourlon. Germans take 800 prisoners.
27
Africa: In East Africa near Nevala. Mahenge Force consisting of German and native troops under General Tafel surrender unconditionally.
30
Western Front: On the Cambrai front German attacks at Bourlon Wood, Moeuvres, and Vendhuille push the British back.
DECEMBER
Armistice on the Eastern Front; Allies take Jerusalem
December 1916
Fighting ends on the Eastern Front as Russia and Germany sign a unilateral armistice. This allows Germany to move troops from the east to join the fighting on the Weste
rn Front.
Taken out of action by a shell, this burnt out British tank and its crew were casualties of the battle of Cambrai in November 1917.
Clemenceau, French premier 1917–20, nicknamed the “Tiger”, visits the front.
German soldiers marching into captivity following the third battle of Ypres.
1
Africa: German East Africa is reported to be completely conquered as von Lettow-Vorbeck pulls back across the Portuguese frontier of the Rovuma river.
Politics: First Inter-Allied Supreme War Council is held at Versailles with representatives from the United States, France, Great Britain and Italy.
3
Russian Revolution: Russian Bolsheviks arrange a unilateral armistice with Germany.
5
Russian Revolution: Russia signs a preliminary suspension of hostilities with Germany.
Western Front: British retire from Bourlon Wood, Graincourt and other positions west of Cambrai.
6
Politics: Finland declares its independence.
War at sea: In Halifax, Nova Scotia the Belgian ship Imo collides in harbor with the French ship Mont Blanc. Loaded with ammunition the latter caught fire and exploded taking most of Halifax with it – more than 1,900 people are killed,.
7
Eastern Front: Germany, Austria-Hungary and Russia conclude an armistice on the Eastern Front, which will eventually release one million German soldiers for service on the Western Front.
Politics: The United States declares war against Austria-Hungary. Finland declares independence. Ecuador breaks off diplomatic relations with Germany.
The official entry of General Allenby into Jerusalem was made on foot and through the Jaffa Gate on 11 December 1917.
9
Middle East: Jerusalem surrenders to British troops led by General Allenby. The Holy City had been held by the Turks for 673 years,.
10
Politics: Panama declares war against Austria-Hungary.
12
War at sea: Four German destroyers attack an Allied Scandinavian convoy southwest of Bjorne Fjord sinking the destroyer HMS Partridge and damaging HMS Pellew. Also sink all six merchantmen and two escorting trawlers.
15
Eastern Front: Armistice signed between the Central Powers and Russia at Brest-Litovsk.
17
Politics: Coalition government of Sir Robert Borden is returned andconsidered confirmed in Canada.
18
United States: Congress passes 18th Amendment for prohibition.
22
Politics: Russia opens separate peace negotiations with Germany (Brest-Litovsk).
23
War at sea: Four Harwich Force destroyers sail to meet a Dutch convoy off Maas Light Buoy. H MSs Torrent, Surprise, and Tornado hit mines, only Radiant survived. 193 men lost.
Map of the Carso region Italy.
Winter 1917-18: men of the Royal West Surrey Regiment in trenches near Arras.
General Armando Diaz succeeded General Cadorna in command of the Italian armies after the disaster of Caporetto.
26
War at sea: In Britain Sir R. Wemyss is appointed First Sea Lord.
1918
June 1918
The Austro-Hunagrian Empire is starting to disintegrate as German forces are massing on the Western Front. Large numbers of German civilians stage protests against food shortages and the war. Some of the dispute’s leaders are sent to the front but this only helps the dissent to spread. In the Middle East T.E. Lawrence (Lawrence of Arabia) leads Arab guerrillas in a successful campaign against Turkish positions in Arabia and Palestine.
8
United States: President Wilson addresses a joint session of Congress and delivers his ‘Fourteen Points’ requirements for peace. These include the need for open diplomacy, freedom of the seas, reduction of armaments and the removal of economic barriers. He also specifies the restoration of Belgium and the independence of Poland.
10
United States: U.S. House passed the Nineteenth Amendment allowing women the vote – ratified in 1920.
12
War at sea: Destroyers Narbrough, Opal wrecked entering Scapa Flow – pitch black night, blizzard, ploughed into rocks, one survivor.
Troops of the Manchester Regiment take refuge behind a stranded British tank.
14
Politics: Ex Premier Joseph Caillaux is arrested for treason in Paris.
15
Western Front: st Division of AEF at Ansauville.
16
Politics: In Vienna and Budapest strikes and riots break out showing citizens’ frustrations and dissatisfaction with the war.
20
War at sea: The Mittelmeerdivision is wrecked in the Dardanelles. The cruiser Breslau is sunk by a mine, and Goeben damaged in a minefield (a few days later) after attacking British naval forces at Imbros. British monitor Raglan and monitor M28 are also sunk.
24
Palestine: Arab (Hejaz) forces are victorious over the Turks near Tafila.
28
Politics: Civil war breaks out in Finland started by a Bolshevik coup in Helsinki.
29
United States: Prohibition ratified in the United States to come into effect on 20 January, 1920.
February 1918
Turkey reoccupies the Caucasus.
“I am the Hun’s Father Christmas”.
Palestine 1918.
Allenby would become a viscount for his victory in Palestine in 1917–18.
1
General: Russia adopts the Gregorian Calendar.
War at sea: The Austro-Hungarian navy mutinies at the southern Adriatic port of Cattaro.
5
War at sea: U.S. troop carrier Tuscania is torpedoed off the Irish coast with the loss of 166.
6
Politics: In Romania the Bratianu cabinet resigns.
8
Politics: General Alexandru Averescu becomes the new prime minister of Romania.
9
Politics: On the former Eastern Front a peace treaty is signed between the Central Powers and Ukraine Rada: the ‘Brotfrieden’ Peace, and the Ukranian frontiers are defined.
10
Politics: Trotsky announces that Russia will take no further part in the war and will immediately demobilize.
11
Politics: U.S. President Woodrow Wilson makes his ‘Four Principles’ speech, restating his war aims to a joint session of Congress.
16
General: General Sir Henry Wilson (PM Lloyd George’s supporter) replaces General Sir William Robertson (Haig’s main supporter) as British chief of staff.
Politics: Lithuania declares its independence from both Russia and Germany.
Canadian troops on exercise.
17
Eastern Front: Operation ‘Faustschlag’ – a limited German offensive to destabilze the Bolshevik government.
Western Front: In an air raid on London 21 people are killed and a further 32 injured.
21
Middle East: In Palestine British forces take Jericho.
24
Caucasus: Turks reoccupy Trebizond.
26
War at sea: In the Bristol Channel the hospital ship Glenart Castle is torpedoed. 162 lives are lost.
Western Front:
Eight U.S. soldiers die from a gas attack.
March 1918
Germany starts the great Spring Offensive. The Allies had warning from RFC reconnaissance flights which reported that enemy units were being relieved by fresh units – a sure sign that an attack was imminent. Germany won air superiority over the Somme with their c.730 aircraft, of which 326 are fighter planes, while the RFC faced it with 579 aircraft, of which 261 are fighters. Against the French, the Germans had an additional 367 aircraft while the French had around 2,000.
Under cover of a smoke screen, German storm troopers prepare to attack. On the right a dog with a message tied to its collar takes a pro
gress report back to HQ.
German troops preparing to go over the top. They carried entrenching tools and would move with rifles slung so they could easily throw grenades.
1
Eastern Front: German forces occupy Kiev.
3
Eastern Front/Western Front: Treaty of Brest-Litovsk signed between Bolshevik Russia and the Central Powers in separate peace negotiations. Russia hands over 25 percent of its territory. All prisoners of war are to be sent home. This frees troops from the Eastern Front and they are sent instead to the Western Front where, for a short while, the Central Powers enjoy numerical superiority.
5
Balkans: Romania signs a preliminary peace treaty with the Central Powers at Buftea, ceding land, making concessions and agreeing to demobilize.
Russian Revolution: The Soviet Union moves the national capital from Petrograd to Moscow.
