The First World War

[deepsepia]

I love these posts, not so much for the well known, but for the lesser known details, for instance

Originally Posted by Ennath

July 6, 1914
Germany Wilhelm II embarks aboard the royal yacht Hohenzollern for his annual cruise off Norway. The German government is anxious to have him out of the way while war is being prepared.

http://www.klaus-kramer.de/Schiff/Staatsyacht/Deutschland/Hohenzollern_II/Hohenzollern_II_Deutschland_top.html

Originally Posted by Ennath

Diplomatic Relations Foreign Minister Sergei Sazanov summons the Austrian chargé d’affairs, Count Ottokar von Czernin, and warns him that Russia will obect to any unreasonable Austrian demands upon Serbia.

outside of Tintin, I don't think I've heard of an "Ottokar"

[palo5]

Originally Posted by Ennath

July 6, 1916
Western Front, Somme The British make minor gains at Thiepval

Clearly this Wiki entry has not been updated from the 1916 propaganda

July 6, 1918
Russia ...The Communists blame British agents for the risings, especially Sidney Reilly and Bruce Lockhart.

Hehe! The "Envoys' Plot"

I didn't know how farcical this was until about 10 years ago, but it was well-exploited by Chekists

The U.S. agrees to send troops to Siberia. Wilson declares that they are solely to protect the Czechs against bands of German and Austrian POW’s, and that there is “no purpose to interfere with internal affairs of Russia” or infringe Russian sovereignty...

Has anyone read this and NOT thought it is an absurd notion on the part of Wilson?

[deepsepia]

Originally Posted by palo5

Has anyone read this and NOT thought it is an absurd notion on the part of Wilson?

Well, Wilson's own Secretary of War, Newton Baker, thought it was absurd:

"The expedition was nonsense from the beginning and always seemed to me one of those sideshows born of desperation."

I don't think anyone has read this, period -- in eighty years.

I'm going to nominate "American Expeditionary Force Siberia" as one of the least known US campaigns.

"The Czech Legions" -- Czechs who'd been fighting in the Russian army against the Entente -- their aim was independence for their nations (eg Czechs and Slovaks). When Russia left the war, they were in an awkward situation. Wilson wasn't entirely disingenuous: his war aims included self determination for the Balkans and central Europe, and US policy did reflect those goals.

Its an amazing story, ripe for an early Indiana Jones

[Ennath]

July 8, 1914
Austria-Hungary Count Tisza, makes an address in the Chamber concerning the murder of the Archduke. Berchtold recommends that Conrad and the War Minister proceed with their summer vacation plans so that nothing will be suspected concerning Austrian intentions.
Diplomatic Relations The Austrian minister to Russia assures foreign minister Sazonov that Austria will do nothing to deepen the crisis.

July 8, 1915
Western Front The French take Fontenelle in the Vosges. A German counterattack near Pilckem is repulsed by the British.
Eastern Front Austrian troops retire a short distance near Krasnik to regroup after their defeat here. They have lost 15,000 prisoners.
Italian Front Italian troops in the Trentino take Monticello.
Mediterranean A U-Boat torpedoes the armored cruiser Amalfi in the Adriatic. Although officially the sinking submarine is the Austrian U-26, it is in fact the German UB-14 operating under Austrian colors since Germany is not yet at war with Italy.

July 8, 1916
Western Front, Somme British troops penetrate into Trones Wood. There is fierce fighting in Ovillers. The French take Hardecourt. Heavy rain hampers operations.
Eastern Front The Russians break through north of Lutsk and cross the upper Stokhod at Ugli and Arsenovich, having advanced 25 miles in four days on a 40 mile front. South of the Dniestr, they capture Delatyn and threaten the right flank of Bothmer’s army. Evert’s offensive ends with only minor gains and 80,000 casualties. He and Kuropatkin now send troops to Brusilov rather than attack again themselves.

July 8, 1917
Western Front There is fighting along the Aisne front.
Eastern Front A fresh Russian attack at Stanislau by General Kornilov breaks Austrian lines, taking 6000 prisoners. Cavalry pursues the retreating Austrians until German reserves arrive to bolster the line and stem the rout. In some cases Russian officers must use guns to force soldiers to muster for the line of attack. Fortunately, the shock battalions are still effective.

July 8, 1918
Western Front The French make a successful raid north of Longpont.
Russia Czech troops occupy Irkutsk.
Albania The Italians successfully force the Vojusa and capture Fieri. Franco-Italian attacks threaten Berat, northeast of Valona. British monitors aid the Italian advance.

[Ennath]

July 9, 1914
Austria-Hungary The Emperor receives the report on the Sarajevo investigation. Serbian government involvement remains uncertain.
Britain The Times publishes an account of the Austro-Hungarian press campaign against the Serbs, who are described as “pestilent rats”.

July 9, 1915
Eastern Front An Austrian attack on the Zlota Lipa line fails.
Italian Front In the Trentino, the Italians take Malga Sarta and Costa Bella.
Egypt The Khedive survives a bomb attack.
Southwest Africa Governor Seitz concedes defeat and the Germans surrender unconditionally. Botha allows the officers to retain their arms but no ammunition. Reservists are allowed to retain both because they “should have the means of self-protection against the natives”. Botha heads back to Capetown.
Diplomatic Relations An Anglo-Portuguese Treaty of Commerce is ratified in Lisbon.
France The export of gold is prohibited.
Britain Lord Kitchener appeals for more recruits in a speech at the Guildhall. Conservative leader Long makes a statement on conscription and is preparing a bill requiring national registration.

July 9, 1916
Western Front, Somme Heavy fighting continues at Ovillers and Trones Wood. French troops advance along the Bray-Peronne road.
War at Sea The merchant submarine Deutschland arrives at Norfolk, Virginia from Bremen, and then proceeds with mail and cargo to Baltimore. This is a propaganda stunt; there can never be enough of these submarines to neutralize the blockade and, in fact, no more are built.
Austria-Hungary In Budapest, Count Mihaly Karolyi founds the United Party of Independence. It is anti-German and calls for peace without annexations, land reforms and general suffrage.

July 9, 1917
Eastern Front The Russian attack progresses southwest of Halicz. Austrian troops are driven over the Lomnica.
Italian Front There is fighting around Tolmino, in the Isonzo sector.
Mediterranean British seaplanes attack the Turkish-German fleet at Constantinople, but score no hits.
Persia Turkish pressure forces the Russians to abandon several towns.

July 9, 1918
Albania The Allies make progress.
Germany The High Command forces the resignation of Baron Richard von Kühlmann as Foreign Minister. The army commanders have opposed him for months, as Kühlmann has advocated conciliatory peace terms and sees the Brest-Litovsk Treaty as merely temporary – to be substantively revised when a general peace is negotiated. Admiral Paul von Hintze succeeds him.
War in the Air James McCudden (57 kills) crashes on takeoff and is killed.

[squigg58]

Originally Posted by Ennath

July 9, 1918
War in the Air James McCudden (57 kills) crashes on takeoff and is killed.

I hate to shoot a Hun down without him seeing me, for although this method is in accordance with my doctrine, it is against what little sporting instincts I have left.

James McCudden, VC, RFC, 1917

The true circumstances of the death of James McCudden are subject to debate, but the most likely cause of the crash was a carburettor problem. Some reports state that McCudden's SE5a stalled as he turned to attempt a landing, while others state that McCudden made a steep, climbing turn immediately after take-off, as he'd done on several other occasions, and the carburettor problem resulted in a loss of power at a critical moment.

Tragically, James' older brother, William, an instructor in the RFC, died in similar circumstances in 1915. His Bleriot developed engine problems just after take-off, probably as a result of the carburettor flooding, and as William turned to attempt a landing, his aircraft sideslipped, then dived into the ground. Like his brother, William died later in hospital as a result of his injuries.

James' younger brother (8 victories), John, was killed in combat on the 18th March 1918 when his SE5a was shot down by by Hans Wolff of Jasta 11. It was Wolff's first confirmed victory.

[Ennath]

July 10, 1914
War in the Air A French airship conducts a reconnaissance over Germany.

July 10, 1915
Eastern Front The Austrians attack Bistrica, near Krasnik.
Caucasus The Turks attack Russian troops near Karaderbent.
Russia The Duma is summoned. Moderate and Progressive parties unite against the government and begin to assume more authority.
War Crimes The Turks massacre Armenians in villages near Mush.

July 10, 1916
Western Front, Somme The French take La Maisonette Farm. Fighting continues for Mametz Wood.
Eastern Front The Germans rally and offer strong resistance along the Stokhod. The Austrians are concentrating for a major counterattack on the south side of the Lutsk salient.
Adriatic Sea The destroyer Impetuoso is torpedoed and sunk.

July 10, 1917
Western Front After an intense bombardment, the Germans gain ground at the mouth of the Yser, cutting off and destroying parts of two British battalions. British counterattacks drive the Germans from their advanced gains.
Eastern Front The Russians capture Halicz, along with 2000 prisoners.

July 10, 1918
Western Front The French capture the whole of Courcy village.
Albania Italian troops occupy Berat.
Russia The Soviet Union promulgates its constitution.

July 10, 1919
United States The Versailles Treaty is introduced to the Senate for ratification. There are three factions. The Democrats support the president. A moderate faction led by Senator Lodge favors participation in the League with reservations to protect U.S. interests. The “irreconcilables” led by Senators Borah and La Follette reject the League covenant entirely.

[Ennath]

July 11, 1902
Britain Lord Salisbury, staunch advocate of Splendid Isolation resigns; he is the last Peer to serve as Prime Minister. He dies soon thereafter.

July 11, 1914
Bosnia, Austria-Hungary Baron Friedrich von Wiesner arrives from Vienna to review and report on the trial of the conspirators.

July 11, 1915
Allied Planning Joffre, after assessing the offensive at Artois, concludes that its failure resulted from attacking on only a single and too-narrow front. Consequently, he decides that the autumn offensive, augmented with new armies, must be more extensive. The main French attack will occur in the Champagne plain with a secondary attack at Artois and a renewed effort by Foch at Vimy Ridge. Haig’s troops will attack on a line from Lens to the La Bassee Canal. Sir John French had agreed to the Lens-Loos offensive but then became reluctant to commit the British troops to anything but artillery bombardments without infantry attacks. He even suggested to Joffre that the entire offensive be postponed into 1916. The two now meet at Frevent and Joffre insists that French accept Joffre’s plan. Sir John acquiesces.
Eastern Front In fighting on the Lublin front, the Austrians lose nearly all the ground gained in the past week. Austrian attacks on the Zlota Lipa fail. On the Urzedowka, the Russians pull back to the right bank.
German East Africa At 10:30 AM, the Severn and Mersey again enter the Rufiji estuary and renew the attack. At 1:16 PM explosions rock the Königsberg. The Mersey moves closer and fires five more rounds into the wounded ship, setting it ablaze from stern to bow. The British monitors withdraw and the Germans abandon ship. The Königsberg’s 255-day saga comes to an end.

July 11, 1916
Western Front, Somme The British take parts of Trones and Mametz Woods.
Western Front, Verdun Persuaded by General Knobelsdorf, Falkenhayn has authorized a renewed offensive on a restricted front aimed at Fort Souville. It opens with a continuing barrage of Phosgene gas loosed on the French artillery and appears to silence their guns. But the French have been equipped with new gas masks that effectively neutralize “Green Cross” and the silent guns are a ruse. As the German troops advance from their trenches, the French guns cut them to pieces. Still, the Germans manage to advance a few hundred yards.
Eastern Front The Germans are being reinforced along the Stokhod.
Mesopotamia General Frederick Maude arrives to replace General Gorringe.
Diplomatic Relations The American consul in Mukden, Manchuria reports on secret provisions in the Russo-Japanese treaty, predicting a strengthened Japanese position in the Far East that would threaten US interests.

July 11, 1917
War in the Air Attempting to secure air superiority before the Flanders offensive, 500 British and 200 French aircraft take to the air.
Easter Front Russian troops capture Kalusz, west of Stanislau.
Mesopotamia A British column from Feluja, on the Euphrates, clashes with a Turkish force from upriver, inflicting heavy casualties.
Germany Responding to Social Democratic Party advocacy of a peace settlement without annexations or indemnities and of political reforms, the kaiser promises an equal franchise for the next elections to the Prussian Diet.
Britain The Sinn Fein candidate defeats the Nationalist in a by-election in East Clare.
Responding to the Gotha crisis, Parliament establishes a committee chaired by Jan Smuts to study means of defense.
United States The government denies passports to American socialists intending to attend the Stockholm conference.

July 11, 1918
Western Front Australian troops raid along the Lys.
Britain The government announces a policy of stricter treatment of enemy aliens.
Lithuania Prince Wilhelm of Württemberg is named king.

July 11, 1919
Hungary Plans are laid for an offensive against Soviet Hungary by Rumanian, French, and Yugoslav troops.
Morocco Rebellion breaks out in Spanish Morocco.

July 11, 1920
Germany A plebiscite in ethnically mixed areas of East Prussia awards small border areas to Poland. Most of the affected areas vote to remain in Germany.

[Ennath]

July 12, 1914
France President Raymond Poincaré and Premier Rene Viviani embark aboard the battleship France for a scheduled visit to Russia.
Britain Unionist demonstrations in Ulster against Home Rule seem to threaten civil war.

July 12, 1915
Western Front A German attack around Souchez captures the cemetery, but an attack in the “Labyrinth” fails.
Eastern Front The Germans launch an attack in the Bobr and Narew area, northeast of Warsaw.
Dardanelles Some Turkish trenches near Achi Baba are captured.
Persia Wilhelm Wassmuss has stirred up the tribes of southwest Persia against the British. He leads 1000 Tangistanis in an attack on the Bushehr Residency, defended by 180 Indian troops. The tribesmen are routed. However, fearing further attacks on British persons and property, the British send more troops to the area, as Wassmuss wishes. British retaliation against the Tangistanis stirs up Persian animosity and guerrilla actions continue.
German East Africa There is a clash on the North Rhodesian frontier between the Germans and a British-Belgian force.
Germany The government assumes control of the coal industry.

July 12, 1916
Western Front, Somme The British gain in Mametz and Trones Woods. They also secure Contalmaison and hold it against counterattacks.
Western Front, Verdun The German offensive resumes, but without success. The Germans make a strong attack at Chapelle St. Fine. A spearhead actually reaches the glacis of Fort Souville, but there are no reserves to follow this up and the spearhead is killed or captured.
Eastern Front Furious fighting continues along the Stokhod, with no decisive results.
Italian Front An Austrian attack on the Adige is driven back.
Caucasus The Russians again take Mamakhatun.

Eastern Front Kornilov crosses the Lomnica. Progress is made toward Dolina.
China After some fighting, Chang capitulates; Pu Yi again goes into retirement.

July 12, 1918
Russia The Czech Legion captures Kazan. The Legion and its White allies control the Trans-Siberian rail line east from Penza. Allied troops at Murmansk seize the mutinous cruiser Askold, center of resistance in the town. The Russian sailors are eventually sent south to join their comrades.
Albania The French advance on both sides of the Devoli River.
Japan The pre-dreadnought Kawachi blows up and sinks in Tokuyama Bay with 621 dead.

July 12, 1919
Germany The food blockade ends.

July 12, 1920
Diplomatic Relations The Soviets recognize Lithuanian independence.

[Ennath]

July 13, 1893
Siam French conquests in Indochina have lead to incidents with Siam along the disputed Laotian frontier. French warships enter the Menam River and fight their way past the Paknam forts to anchor off Bangkok. Britain supports Siam, but is unwilling to go to war over the issue and advises the Siamese to accept French terms, including recognition of French control over Laos and cession of some formerly Cambodian territory. This is part of the continuing colonial disputes between Britain and the French and Russians.

July 13, 1914
France There are revelations in the Senate, continued the next day, of deficiencies in French military equipment.
Austria-Hungary Von Wiesner sends a telegram back to Vienna, stating "There is nothing to show complicity of the Serbian government in the direction of the assassination or its preparations or in supplying of weapons. Nor is there anything to lead one to conjecture such a thing. On the contrary, there is evidence that would appear to show complicity is out of the question." Oddly enough, German authorities had also come to the same conclusion. Former Chancellor von Bülow later writes in his memoirs "Although the horrible murder was the work of a Serbian society with branches all over the country, many details prove that the Serbian government had neither instigated nor desired it." The government chooses to disregard this information and Franz Josef is never even shown the telegram.

July 13, 1915
Western Front A new German attack in the Argonne captures Vienne-le-Chateau and the height of La Fille Morte. Newly-formed British 3rd Army, under Sir Charles Monro, takes over from the French a fifteen-mile stretch of front between Arras and the Somme. The BEF now has 21 divisions in France.
Eastern Front Austrian troops cross the Dniestr in the Bukovina. German 12th Army, with units of the 8th Army on its left, all under General Max von Gallwitz, begins the attack toward the Narew River. Russian 1st Army (Litvinov) and 12th Army (Churin) defend; the two Russian armies are soon forced apart. Russian reserves do not cooperate with each other, some attacking, while some defend.
Dardanelles The French reach the Kereves Dere stream.

July 13, 1916
Western Front, Elsewhere German raids south of the La Bassee Canal are repulsed.
Eastern Front There is heavy fighting in the Austrian center on the Styrpa. Fighting continues along the Stokhod.

July 13, 1917
Eastern Front The Austrians are forced back around Kalusz, with 1000 prisoners. Heavy rains now stall the Russian advance; floods destroy the bridges over the Lomnica.
France With hints of German involvement coming to light, Malvy is ordered to suppress Le Bonnet Rouge. Almereyda is thrown into prison.

July 13, 1918
Palestine The Turks attack British positions on Abu Tellul Ridge, 7 miles north of Jericho.
Diplomatic Relations Haiti declares war on Germany.

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