The First World War

[palo5]

Originally Posted by Ennath

...
July 13, 1919
Russia Red forces take Zlatoust, opening the way to Omsk. Kolchak’s army begins to crumble.

Kolchak was an Admiral, so you might wonder why he was in southern Siberia, thousands of km from the sea

[haroldeye]

Was he lost?

[Mal Hombre]

Siberia was a weird place during the Russian Civil War ,Full of weird people,Admirals,Cossacks ,Sadists,psychopaths and weirdest of them all,the "Bloody Baron" Von Ungern Sternberg.An Estonian noble man Who combined Sadistic cruelty with Buddhism and was briefly Ruler of Mongolia.

[palo5]

Originally Posted by Mal Hombre

Siberia was a weird place during the Russian Civil War...

It's also a big place, MH, so the people can be very different

Kolchak was caught and executed in Irkutsk, or somewhere near it

[Mal Hombre]

Von Ungern Sternberg was tried and shot by the Reds at Novosibirsk ,Where the girlie photos come from.
http://www.vintage-erotica-forum.com...ht=novosibirsk

[Ennath]

July 14, 1908
Diplomatic Relations The British attempt the first negotiations with the Germans on naval limitations. The building race is expensive and there are other things to spend the government’s money on. The Germans insist that their fleet poses no danger to Britain and is built for their needs alone.

July 14, 1914
Austria-Hungary Count Tisza, influenced by “evidence” about the assassination plot and the belligerent tone of the Serbian press, withdraws his objection to military action but insists that there be no territorial acquisitions. He feels that there are already too many Slavs in the Empire. He receives such a promise but is being lied to: Serbia is already being partitioned on paper. Tisza had written several letters to Franz Josef pleading for moderation; Berchtold has had these letters intercepted. The Council of Ministers agrees on the policy of sending Serbia an ultimatum.
Britain The Government of Ireland Amending Bill, arranging Home Rule, passes the House of Lords.

July 14, 1915
Western Front A German attack on Belgian positions on the Yser canal is repulsed.
Eastern Front The Russians fall back around the Narew as a major new Austro-German offensive begins all along the front. Przasnysz falls.
Serbian Front Montenegrin troops repulse a major Austrian attack on Grahovo.

July 14, 1916
Western Front, Somme Following an unusually short 5-minute barrage, Rawlinson’s troops move on Longueval at daybreak, capturing the ridge by mid-morning. They also succeed in ousting the Germans from Trones Wood and High Wood as attacks and counterattacks continue through the day. A brief breakthrough at Bazentin sends the cavalry into the gap, the last large-scale cavalry action in Western Europe, but the Germans plug the gap and the cavalrymen are forced to retire with heavy losses.
Western Front, Verdun French counterattacks drive the Germans back almost to their starting point of three days earlier and the stalemate again descends on the sector. Verdun has now cost 275,000 French and 250,000 German casualties.
German East Africa The British take Mwanza on Lake Victoria in a small-boat attack. Van Deventer takes Mpondi on the Central Railway.
World Affairs The artistic movement known as Dada makes its debut in a showing at Munich. Inspired by anti-war and anarchist politics, it ridicules what it considers the meaninglessness of the modern world. It fades out in the early 1920’s.

July 14, 1917
Western Front The French take some positions at Moronvillers and hold against counterattacks. German attacks near Cerny make gains.
Palestine The British raid Turkish positions near Gaza.
Germany Victimized by Ludendorff’s plotting against him and blamed for everything from food shortages to demoralization of the sailors in the High Seas Fleet, Bethmann-Hollweg is forced from office as Chancellor. Undersecretary of State Georg Michaelis, a minor functionary, succeeds him, but the real power now lies in the hands of Ludendorff and Hindenburg.

July 14, 1918
Albania The French capture Austrian positions on the Devoli.
Palestine The Turks break off their attacks at Abu Tellul Ridge.
Diplomatic Relations German and British representatives at The Hague reach a tentative agreement on prisoner exchanges.

July 14, 1921
United States Italian immigrant anarchists Sacco and Vanzetti are convicted of murder. The case is a cause celebre among the left. They are executed on August 23, 1923.

[Ennath]

July 15, 1913
Balkans Rumania declares war on Bulgaria and Rumanian troops push practically unopposed toward Sofia. At the same time, the Turks emerge from their lines to reoccupy Adrianople.

July 15, 1914
Austria-Hungary Count Tisza, making a statement in the Hungarian Chamber, says that relations with Serbia “must be cleared up.”

July 15, 1915
Western Front German attacks on the Yser continue.
French Command Sarrail is relieved at 3rd Army and replaced with Georges Humbert. Sarrail’s political friends will try to find him another command.
Eastern Front The Germans develop a new offensive toward Riga. The Germans storm the Russian line south of Przasnysz and force the Russians to retreat toward the Narew.
Italian Front The Italians launch an attack in the Dolomites.
Britain A strike of Welsh coal miners begins.
Germany German becomes the only official language in Alsace-Lorraine.
United States Heinrich Albert, head of German propaganda in America, accidentally leaves his briefcase on a New York subway car. The Secret Service retrieves it; it exposes the existence of an extensive espionage and subversion network.

July 15, 1916
Western Front, Somme Rawlinson has received new reserves, part of Kitchener’s “New Army” draftees, along with more Dominion troops. The South Africans take Delville Wood and British troops penetrate the outskirts of Pozieres. The Germans retake La Maisonette, but are driven out again by French counterattacks.
Eastern Front Learning from intelligence that the Austro-Germans intend to launch an attack on the 18th, General Sakharov, commanding 11th Army, anticipates the offensive at Lutsk by attacking first, along the Upper Styr. They take 13,000 prisoners and large stockpiles of ammunition, aborting the German plan. In the Riga sector, the Russians attack near Kemmern.
Caucasus The Russians take Baiburt. Their left drives the Turks southwest of Mush.

July 15, 1917
Western Front German attacks at Moronvillers fail.
Eastern Front Austro-German resistance in Galicia is stiffening. The Russians lose some ground south of Kalusz. The heavy rains continue.
Russia The moderate Cadet Party walks out of the government due to recognition of Ukrainian autonomy, threatening the Mensheviks and Social Revolutionaries (SR’s) with a breakup of the government coalition.
North Sea British destroyers raid the Dutch coast, sinking two German merchant ships and capturing four more, stopping coastal trade with Rotterdam.

July 15, 1918
Western Front Knowing that the German artillery barrage is to begin at 12:10 AM, the French have opened their own barrage forty minutes earlier. Gas shells, U.S. troops’ first experience with gas, comprise a major part of the German bombardment. The German attack comes on a 50-mile front east and west of Rheims. General Goraud, employing Petain’s defensive tactics, holds the Germans to a modest advance. In the east the Germans are completely stopped. The left flank, protected by Degoutte’s 6th Army, also holds well. But in the center, Berthelot, who has only recently assumed command and has been unable to impose Petain’s tactics, holds a line comprising both French and Italian units. They give way along a 5-mile front, allowing the Germans to cross the Marne between Dormans and Fossoy, penetrating 2 to 3 miles. French artillery and aircraft zero in on this sector, attacking the temporary bridges the Germans have thrown up, and the Italians hold their second line positions. American troops repulse an attack at Vaux. Petain rounds up some reinforcements, including two British divisions that Foch persuades Haig to release.
After a respite of five weeks, the Paris Gun resumes its bombardments of the French capital.
Mediterranean The French transport Djemnah is torpedoed; 442 are lost.
Austrian Command Franz Conrad von Hötzendorf is placed on the retired list.
Caucasus Enver again indulges in grandiose dreams. His “Army of Islam”, now about 25,000 strong, is launched toward Baku and the Caspian Sea, thus tying up Turkish troops that are sorely needed elsewhere. The Germans oppose the offensive, regarding all of south Russia as theirs by right of conquest.

July 15, 1920
Turkey Greek troops occupy Edirne and Turkish Thrace.
Russia The Japanese sign an agreement to withdraw from Siberia. Fears of Communism lead the Japanese to delay actual departure as long as possible. Nevertheless, they drop support for Semyonov’s White army, which is driven from the Baikal region in October. Semyonov flees Russia in September 1921.

[Ennath]

July 16, 1900
Russia Following his release from Siberian exile, revolutionary Vladimir Lenin leaves for Switzerland, where he lives for the next 17 years.

July 16, 1909
Persia Constitutionalist forces storm Teheran. Mohammed Ali is deposed the following month. His 11-year old son becomes Ahmad Shah. The victory dissolves what little unity the rebel factions had and the country declines into virtual anarchy

July 16, 1915
Western Front There are German attacks in Lorraine and west of Soissons.
Eastern Front The Germans attack the line of the Wolitsa, between the Vistula and Bug. An Austrian attack north of Krasnik is repulsed.
Caucasus The new Turkish commander, Abdul Kerim, attacks and defeats a Russian corps at Malazgirt, north of Lake Van. The Turks follow up with an advance to the east. However, reinforcements soon threaten their flank, causing Kerim to withdraw after suffering heavy casualties at Kara Kilisse.

July 16, 1916
Western Front, Somme The British consolidate their positions, withdrawing from High Wood.
Western Front, Verdun The French make a slight advance west of Fleury.
Eastern Front The Austrians are driven back on the Lipa. Mikhailovka falls, with over 10,000 prisoners.

July 16, 1917
Western Front Allied artillery opens up on the German lines at Ypres to prepare for the coming offensive.
Eastern Front The Russians are forced to evacuate Kalusz.
Russia Demonstrations break out in Petrograd, sparking the “July Days”. Soviet-inspired soldiers soon join in.

July 16, 1918
Western Front French and American troops counterattack south of Dormans and take the villages of St. Agneau and La Chapelle. German attacks reach Montvoison, 7 miles from Epernay.
The Paris Gun ceases firing. French artillery makes the gun’s new forward position untenable, and the Germans move it out of the area.
Russia The Soviet of Ekaterinburg, in the Urals, concerned that the advancing White Russians may set free the ex-tsar, has decided that the imperial family must be executed. Red Guards shoot Nicholas II, the tsarina, their four children and their two retainers in a basement room of the house they occupy. The bodies are buried at an undisclosed location.
France Former Interior Minister Malvy goes on trial for treason.
Persia A brigade of Marshall’s Mesopotamian Expeditionary Force sent to assist Baku arrives at Hamadan after traveling overland 350 miles in six days over formidable terrain.

July 16, 1921
Turkey The Greek army launches a major offensive, forcing the Turks into retreat. Eskesehir falls, but Kemal manages to disengage before the Turks can be totally crushed and retreats, though at some cost. The Greeks are too exhausted to pursue effectively.

[Ennath]

July 17, 1914
Austria-Hungary There is a report that Serbia has mobilized 70,000 reservists and is preparing for war.

July 17, 1915
Eastern Front Heavy fighting continues along the Wolitsa. Gallwitz has advanced only about 5 miles, but has inflicted 70% casualties on Litvinov’s army. Mikhail Alexeev, commanding Northern Front, tries to establish a new line on the Narew, but Litvinov continues to use the same faulty defensive tactics.
Albania The Serbs give in to Italian pressure and evacuate Durazzo, but retain neighboring strongpoints.
Diplomatic Relations Bulgaria signs a secret treaty with the Central Powers committing to enter the war in the fall. Turkey cedes some European territory to the Bulgarians.

July 17, 1916
Western Front, Somme The British take Waterlot Farm and clear Ovillers. The French repulse more counterattacks at La Maisonette.
Baltic Sea Russian torpedo boats capture two steamers, of 7200 tons, in the Gulf of Bothnia. Sweden protests this as a violation of neutrality as one of the ships was carrying a Swedish pilot.
German East Africa The British capture two German steamers on Lake Victoria.
Britain The Trade Unions recommend postponement of vacations in munitions industries.

July 17, 1917
Western Front The French retake some lost positions at Verdun.
Eastern Front The Russians are on the defensive in Galicia. They hold firm this day.
Russia The Bolsheviks assume leadership of the increasingly violent protests despite Lenin’s objection that it is too soon to attempt a takeover. The government tries to use force to disperse the mobs. More than 700 people are killed or wounded. Fighting spreads through the city.
Britain The name of the Royal family is changed from the German Saxe-Coburg-Gotha to Windsor. Churchill returns to the government as Minister of Munitions.

July 17, 1918
Western Front The Germans renew the attack at the Marne, making headway against the French center, but nowhere else. The French defeat a German attack south of Prunay. French troops retake and re-lose Montvoison. As the day closes, Ludendorff, realizing that his objectives are beyond reach, cancels the offensive and departs for Crown Prince Rupprecht’s headquarters at Tournai to plan another offensive. Although they have fallen well short of his goals, the five Ludendorff offensives have gained the Germans ten times an much ground as the Allies captured in 1917, while inflicting 448,000 British and 490,000 French casualties. But the cost to Germany – 963,000 casualties – is also staggering, and, unlike the Allies, he has no pool of recruits left. He is also in peril of losing his allies, and he has no new ally to counterbalance the ever-growing presence of the Americans, who are now arriving at a rate of 300,000 a month.

July 17, 1919
Hungary The Hungarians preempt the Allied attack on the Tisza with one of their own. They have some 51,000 men opposed by 60,000 Rumanians. A 3-day bombardment opens the attack.

[Ennath]

July 18, 1914
Britain King George V reviews 260 ships of the Royal Navy at Spithead. The naval reserves have been called up following orders from First Lord of the Admiralty Winston Churchill and his First Sea Lord, Vice Admiral Prince Louis of Battenberg.
Diplomatic Relations Foreign Minister Sazonov warns Austria that Russia will not accept “any blow to Serbia’s independence.”

July 18, 1915
Western Front A German attack at Souchez fails.
Eastern Front Mackensen’s Germans capture Krasnostav. Initial attacks along the Narew are held. Windau in the Baltics falls to German troops. Russian forces fall back from north and west of Warsaw and on the entire Vistula-Bug front.
Italian Front The Italian 3rd Army opens the 2nd Battle of the Isonzo with a cannonade in the early afternoon. The objective is again the Carso, but Aosta’s troops make little headway because the Austrians have used the hiatus in the fighting to construct better trenches and to replace the soldiers wearied from the first battle..
Adriatic The armored cruiser Garibaldi is torpedoed.

July 18, 1916
Western Front, Somme The Germans put in strong counterattacks near Longueval and retake part of Delville Wood.
Western Front, Verdun Heavy fighting continues at Fleury.
Eastern Front Russian troops drive the Austrians south of the Lipa.
Caucasus Russian forces capture Kighi, an important junction on the Erzurum-Baiburt road.

July 18, 1917
Western Front There are Germans attacks near St. Quentin and Verdun.
Eastern Front Russian troops take Nowica, but are driven out again.
British Command Wanting to remove Jellicoe as First Sea Lord, Lloyd George first moves to neutralize Jellicoe’s primary supporter, First Lord Sir Edward Carson, by moving him into the War Cabinet and replacing him at the Admiralty with Sir Eric Geddes.
Germany The Reichstag passes the Peace Resolution – supported by the Social Democratic Party, the Catholic Center Party, and the Progressive Peoples’ Party – by a vote of 212 to 120. The resolution calls for “a peace of understanding and reconciliation” that bars “compulsory” annexation of territory and any forms of political, economic, or financial “oppression”.
China Feng Kuo-chang becomes president.

July 18, 1918
Western Front The 2nd Battle of the Marne opens. As planned by Petain, a counteroffensive against the Germans’ Aisne salient by the 6th (Degoutte) and 10th (Berthelot) Armies, with 9th Army (de Mitry) in reserve, under General Mangin and supported by the U.S. 1st and 2nd Divisions, begins at 4:35 AM. Taken by surprise, the Germans quickly fall back. The French reach Monte de Paris, a mile from Soissons. South of the Ourcq, French and U.S. troops secure the line Marizy-Hautvesnes-Belleau. The French retake Prunay. Alarmed by news of the retreat, Crown Prince Wilhelm orders the withdrawal of Böhn’s 7th Army, still occupying the Marne salient. Ludendorff hastens back from Flanders.
Allied Diplomacy The Japanese Diplomatic Council approves U.S. intervention in Siberia.