April 22, 1915
Western Front The 2nd Battle of Ypres begins. Having waited several days for suitable wind conditions, Duke Albrecht of Wurttemberg, commanding German 4th Army, vacillates as the day progresses, until at 5:00 PM he orders the release of the gas. Totally surprised French colonial troops – the Algerian division and three battalions of zouaves – panic and run, choking and gasping. Many collapse convulsively and die in their attempted flight. The Germans advance to their immediate objective, Pilckem Ridge, in only half an hour and consolidate there. They have captured a sizeable number of French guns and opened a five-mile fissure in the Allied line; Ypres appears vulnerable before them. If they take it, Brussels will be secure from Allied threat and the BEF’s communications will be in danger. Smith-Dorrien recommends that reinforcements be rushed in. The Germans have a clear advantage in the opening stages of the battle, but they could have exploited more fully, given the effect of the gas. They seem to have been taken by surprise themselves as to just what gas would achieve and are not prepared to exploit a breakthrough. The town of Ypres itself is largely destroyed by German shelling.
Eastern Front Russian attacks are repulsed on both sides of Uzsok Pass. The Austro-German attack toward Styrj fails.
Mediterranean Bombardment of the Izmir forts is resumed.
War at Sea The Admiralty suspends passenger traffic between England and Holland.
April 22, 1916
Ireland Sinn Fein’s Easter maneuvers are cancelled.
Mesopotamia British attacks at Sannaiyat fail.
April 22, 1917
Western Front, Arras British troops capture part of Trescault.
Western Front, Aisne The French repulse a counterattack on the Moronvillers massif. Rheims is bombarded.
Macedonia Bulgarian 1st Army and German 11th Army are placed under the new Army Group Scholz, under Friedrich von Scholz. 90% of the troops are Bulgarian, but the staffs are German. Bulgarian complaints are disregarded.
Mesopotamia The British attack again at Istabulat, meeting fierce resistance.
Russia Pressured by the other Allies to continue the war effort until Germany is defeated and by Russian socialists to advocate a negotiated peace with no territorial accessions, the Provisional Government issues a declaration to the people of Russia stating that Russia has no desire or intention “to dominate other peoples” – an effort to placate the Petrograd Soviet.
April 22, 1918
Western Front Local fighting along the Lys generally favors the British.
Baltic States An assembly of Baltic Germans requests to be formed into a monarchy under the King of Prussia.
Belgium Vice Admiral Roger Keyes aboard HMS Warwick commands a squadron of ships that sets out at 5:00 PM for a long-planned assault on the ports at Zeebrugge and Ostend, intended to end their role as U-Boat bases. The plan is to sink 3 old cruisers loaded with cement in the entrance to the Bruges canal at Zeebrugge to block its exit. As a diversion, the cruiser Vindictive, converted to an assault ship, will come alongside the mile-long mole under cover of darkness and disembark marines to attack German gun positions before the cement-laden cruisers move in.
Adriatic There is an inconclusive night clash between five Austrian destroyers attempting to raid the Otranto Barrage and a British-French-Australian force of similar strength. No ships are sunk.
Russia Armenians, Georgians, and Azerbaijanis, at German urging, form the Trans-Caucasian Republic.
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