The First World War

[squigg58]

Originally Posted by tygrkhat40

IMO, no it doesn't. A sinking is due to external forces; an attack, hitting an obstacle, weather conditions, etc. A scuttling is due to internal forces.

Yeah ... that was my line of thought! After all, the reports I've read said that the Foucault was submerged when attacked and was forced to the surface. That sounds like the opposite of a sinking to me!

The problem with so many "firsts" is that it often comes down to semantics. HMS B10 was sunk, but not on the open sea, and she was subsequently raised. It was only as a result of a balls-up with a naked flame and a fuel tank that resulted in her being scrapped rather than returned to service. For me "sunk" tends to suggest "lost". If you take it to the extreme, would you describe a ship as being "sunk" if she had two feet of water beneath her keel and settled on the bottom, only to be refloated the following day?

The bottom line is that I still don't know if any submarines were "sunk" by aircraft in WWI, so if anyone knows of any other incidents (B10, Foucault, UB-36, UC-36 and UB-32 having been mentioned), I'd be most grateful!

I'm now going to try to find the first submarine sunk during WWII ... but that's for another thread!

[Ennath]

May 22, 1915
Western Front There is a slight British advance at Festubert.
Black Sea The Russian pre-dreadnought Panteleimon (formerly the Potemkin)is torpedoed.
Italy Mobilization is ordered.

May 22, 1916
Western Front, Verdun Following the disastrous explosion at Fort Douaumont, General Charles Mangin, commanding 5th Division, has proposed attacking the fort and has received Nivelle’s blessing. The French gain a foothold near Douaumont. Although the Germans learn of the planned attack on the day Nivelle orders it, May 13, they could hardly be more surprised when it begins anyhow, since Mangin has assembled 300 guns for a five day bombardment that precedes the attack. Though the fort is badly battered by the bombardment and all the observation turrets are destroyed, the Germans greet the attacking French troops with a devastating artillery shelling. Even so, the battered French attackers, in less than an hour, take three-fourths of Douaumont’s superstructure. A few enter the fort itself, but the Germans drive them back. Fighting continues through the day in the fort’s outer tunnels and the French set up a machine gun on the ramparts that sweeps the entire superstructure. In the evening, premature reports reach both commands that the French have retaken the fort.

May 22, 1917
Italian Front Austrian attacks in the Trentino are repulsed.
Palestine An Anzac mounted raid demolishes 13 miles of the Hejaz railway.
Austria-Hungary Count Tisza is dismissed as Hungarian premier. He is replaced by Count Maurice Esterhazy.
Russia Kerensky forces General Alexeev to resign as Commander in Chief, appointing Brusilov in his place. The new commander plans a great offensive similar to the one of 1916, although further south, focusing on Lemberg. But there is little real prospect for such an offensive as over 2 million men have deserted since October, with few replacements available. Brusilov must depend greatly on shock battalions set up by Alexeev with volunteers taken from units throughout the army.
Macedonia Sarrail’s and Milne’s offensive peters out, having succeeded only in capturing and holding a few Bulgarian outposts at a cost of 14,000 men. The Italians blame the failure of the offensive on Sarrail.

May 22, 1918
Belgium Air raids on Zeebrugge sink a German destroyer.
Caucasus Further Turkish attacks at Sardarapat are halted.
Portuguese East Africa Near Korewa, a British column nearly manages to surround Koehl’s column. 60 Germans and askaris die in the fighting. Most of the Germans escape, but they lose their transport and a large quantity of ammunition.

[Ennath]

May 23, 1915
Diplomatic Relations Italy declares war on Austria-Hungary, but defers any declaration concerning Germany. Ostensibly, the Italian objective is territorial annexations, but by not declaring war on Germany or Turkey, they violate the terms of the Treaty of London.
The Allies warn Turkey on the Armenian massacres.
Italian Forces and Plans The Italians bring to the Allies about 875,000 troops, courageous, but questionably led and deficient in artillery, transport and ammunition supplies. There is also a shortage of professional NCO’s as 37% of the men are illiterate. Military service has been unpopular, the army being seen as the tool of the bosses and landlords and southerners resent the domination of northerners. They intend to contain the forbidding Trentino salient by offensive-defensive action, while attacking eastward in the Isonzo valley. Little attention has been paid to the lessons of the Western Front and the main tactic at first is massed infantry attacks with insufficient artillery support.
The Italian fleet is powerful, but cautiously led and its training leaves something to be desired.. Its addition to the French fleet further pens in the Austrian fleet. The Italians, however, insist that all Allied naval forces in the Adriatic must be under Italian command. This is especially annoying to the French, whose fleet is in many ways larger and more powerful. There has been no joint planning with the army and, indeed, the two services are barely on speaking terms.
Austrian Preparations It will be some weeks before the Italians are ready for a major attack and the Austrians use the time well. The main avenue of Italian attack is fairly obvious and troops are rushed from the Balkans to form 5th Army, under Svetozar Borojevic von Bojna, one of the best Austrian commanders of the war. Troops are strengthened by their resentment of Italian “betrayal” and Slavic troops are well aware of Italian territorial ambitions; they have little love for the Hapsburgs, but none for the Italians.
Western Front The Germans launch an unsuccessful attack at Festubert.
Italian Front There is an Austrian attack in the Carnic Alps.

May 23, 1916
Western Front, Verdun The Germans move in reinforcements at Douaumont via a tunnel at the fort’s northeast corner. They also set up a mine-thrower that blasts the rampart where the French machine gun is mounted. By nightfall, the battle ends, with the French attackers either surrounded and taken prisoner or sneaking back to their lines in the darkness. The attack force was simply too small to do the job and their efforts end in failure, with heavy loss.
Italian Front Italian forces in the Sugana valley retreat.
Sudan Anglo-Egyptian forces occupy the Fur capital at El Fasher. Ali Dinar flees.

May 23, 1917
Western Front A German attack at Craonne fails.
Italian Front The Italians stage a major attack on the Carso from Kostanjevica to the sea, taking several prominent positions and 9000 prisoners.
Serbia Apis and eight of his co-defendants are sentenced to death and two more to 15-year terms.
Rumania The country adopts the Gregorian calender.
German East Africa Belgian troops capture Captain Max Wintgens, who in February, without orders, had marched off on his own with several hundred askaris, much to the surprise of both the British and Colonel Lettow-Vorbeck, raiding and destroying in areas the Allies had regarded as already safe and apparently heading for Tabora. Suffering from typhus, Wintgens has no choice but to surrender himself in order to obtain treatment. Lt. Naumann assumes command of his vagabond force, which is pursued by the Belgians, a special British force, called Edforce after its commander Brigadier W. F. S. Edwards, and the 10th South African Horse. Naumann now has a force of 400; the pursuing Allied forces number 4000.

May 23, 1918
Western Front French raids occur near Mount Kemmel.
Arabia Sherifian forces attack a Turkish force near Abu Naam, 80 miles north of Medina.
English Channel The auxiliary cruiser Moldavia is torpedoed and sunk; 56 are lost.
United States A “fight or work” conscription policy is in effect from July 1. Film stars are exempted, but baseball players are not.

May 23, 1919
Latvia The Baltic Landwehr freikorps depose the Latvian government and seize control of Riga. Latvia requests Estonian assistance.
Afghanistan The British destroy an Afghan force at Birkot.

[Ennath]

May 24, 1895
China Trying to forestall Japanese control, Formosa declares itself an independent republic, but it is defeated by Japanese troops by early 1896.

May 24, 1915
Western Front After a relatively quiet two-week interlude, German 4th Army resumes the offensive at Ypres, releasing a cloud of gas against British troops holding Bellewaarde Ridge. The British give up some ground in the north and south, but generally hold firm. General Plumer concedes that a counterattack is doomed without heavy artillery, but the British are nearly out of shells. French troops take Les Corneilles.
Eastern Front After a week of counterattacks achieving only temporary relief from the Austro-German onslaught at various points along the front, the Russians fall back again. Mackensen batters V Caucasus Corps, taking 21,000 prisoners and advances 11 miles to the east of the San River. Austrian troops take Radyno in Galicia.
Italian Front Italian troops make several minor advances, occupying Caporetto and Cormons on the Isonzo front. There is an air raid on Venice.
Adriatic The main Austrian fleet puts to sea to raid the Italian Adriatic coast. Ancona is extensively damaged.
Dardanelles After several days of slaughter and two days of meetings between opposing officers, the Anzacs and Turks allow a nine-hour truce to allow for the burial of the dead. At 4:45, the shooting begins again. The Turks do not attack with the same force, however. Their offensive here has cost them 13,000 men.

May 24, 1916
Western Front, Verdun The Germans capture Cumieres and drive the French from the vicinity of Douaumont.
Italian Front The Austrians break off their unsuccessful assaults on Monte Pasubio.
Caucasus The Russians capture Mamakhatun.

May 24, 1917
Italian Front The Italians continue to improve their position on the southern Carso.
Black Sea The Russians conduct a major minelaying operation off the Bosporus. Even at this late date, the Black Sea Fleet is still active and aggressive.

May 24, 1918
Russia White forces under General Semyonov are on the offensive against Soviet units in Siberia. More British troops land at Murmansk.
Mesopotamia Too far from their supply sources, Marshall’s troops leave Kirkuk and reestablish bases at Tuz and Kifri from which to watch over the Persian border.
Britain The Cabinet receives the Montagu-Chelmsford Report on India. Some concessions are made, but the Viceroy remains solely responsible to London. It is a partial response to the seditious activities of Indian nationalists who have been working throughout the war with German aid to end British rule in India.

May 24, 1920
United States Wilson proposes an American mandate for Armenia; the Senate rejects the proposal the following week.

[Ennath]

May 25, 1904
China The Japanese take Russian positions at Nanshan, beginning the Siege of Port Arthur. Japanese assaults against Russian positions suffer losses of 4500 men out of 30,000, a sign of things to come.

May 25, 1913
Russian Intelligence Colonel Alfred Redl, head of Austro-Hungarian counterintelligence, commits suicide. He has been for ten years Russia’s top spy. He provided mobilization plans, attack plans, orders of battle, and details of Austrian fortifications. He is probably one of history’s most damaging spies.

May 25, 1915
Britain Asquith’s Liberal government reorganizes as a multi-party coalition; the price is Churchill, who is shunted off to become Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster. Balfour replaces Churchill at the Admiralty. Sir Henry Jackson becomes First Sea Lord. David Lloyd George heads the new Ministry of Munitions formed to mobilize British industry. Irish Nationalist John Redmond refuses to participate.
Western Front The 2nd Battle of Ypres winds down. Both sides lack artillery ammunition. The Battle of Festubert comes to a close. French advises Haig that shell stocks are low, the Germans have restored their defensive line, and he thinks it “improbable” that Haig’s offensive can succeed due to the difficult terrain and German defenses. The battles at Aubers Ridge and Festubert have cost the British 59,000 casualties and the front line has barely moved. German casualties have been about 35,000.
10th Army, after five days of small advances, launches a general attack, but makes almost no gain; the French revert to small take and clear operations.
Eastern Front Austrian and German troops establish a bridgehead on the San at Zagrody. 5th Caucasian Corps is overrun.
Italian Front Italian troops take Monte Altinino on the Trentino front.
Mediterranean The pre-dreadnought Triumph is torpedoed off Gallipoli. De Robeck orders other ships to Mudros, leaving behind only one battleship, the Majestic, off Cape Helles, with an escort of destroyers. The submarine E-11 sinks a freighter at dock in Constantinople, then escapes.
Persia Russian troops occupy Miandob.
Diplomatic Relations A compromise treaty is signed by Japan and China. The treaty, with its modified terms, gives Japan little it did not already possess in China, while the bullying of China has raised concerns in Washington and London concerning Japanese ambitions.

May 25, 1916
Western Front, Verdun The Germans attack around Haudromont Wood.
Italian Front The Austrians attack Buole Pass, beginning a six day battle. Austrian troops take Bettale and Monte Cimone, opening the possibility of an advance to Arsiero.
Russia STAVKA receives alarming reports of revolutionary propaganda in factories and barracks.
Libya Two Italian battalions land west of Sollum.
German East Africa British troops from Rhodesia cross into the German colony, 2600 strong, under Brigadier Northey.
War in the Air The French government gives the air service authority to bomb German cities, but still restricts and monitors targets. Only “industrial objectives”, communications and “military objectives” may be hit. Fearing retaliation, the French still hold back from a total war.

May 25, 1917
War in the Air With the Zeppelins now too vulnerable for use as bombers, the Germans have developed the Gotha GV, specifically for the strategic bombing of England in the daytime. German bombers raid Folkstone, killing 95 people. 3 bombers are lost.
Western Front The Germans make gains near Braye, on the Aisne front.

May 25, 1918
Diplomatic Relations Costa Rica declares war on Germany.

May 25, 1919
Russia The Allies issue conditional recognition of Kolchak’s government.
Hungary Kun’s offensive is expanded to the Tisza front.
Arabia The Ikhwan surprise and destroy the Hashemite army in camp.
India Waziristan rises in revolt. A major campaign is required to suppress it.

[Ennath]

May 26, 1896
Russia The coronation of Nicholas II is marred by tragedy. At the traditional fest outside Moscow rumors of insufficient food lead to a stampede in which over 1000 are killed. Many view it as an omen of an unhappy reign.

May 26, 1915
Germany Berlin receives reports that the severe drought in northern Germany has caused extensive damage to crops.
Eastern Front The Russians are driven back in heavy fighting around Przemysl.
War in the Air In retaliation for German poison gas attacks, 18 Voisin light bombers bomb the chlorine gas and acid factories at Ludwigshafen near Mannheim. The resulting explosions send clouds of gas wafting over lower Mannheim. One plane develops ignition problems and is forced to land.

May 26, 1916
Western Front, Verdun The French regain some ground near Cumieres. German attacks at Avocourt stall.
Italian Front Austrian III Corps takes Monte Kempel, which commands the Assa Gorge and the Assa Valley, and pushes on towards Asiago. The Austrians also take Monte Civaron. Archduke Eugen orders a concentration of the offensive on the Asiago salient in hopes of effecting a breakthrough into the Brenta Valley and then on to Bassano.
Macedonia Bulgarian troops, with the acquiescence of the Greek government, cross the border and occupy Fort Rupel.

May 26, 1917
Western Front The Germans continue to recover lost ground in Champagne.
Italian Front Italian troops capture Kostanjevica, but are driven out again. Attacks east of Vodice fail.
Russian Command Kolchak resigns as commander of the Black Sea Fleet rather than support the disturbing decisions of the government. The fleet undergoes a rapid decline in discipline and morale.
Brazil The government annuls its neutrality decree.

May 26, 1918
Western Front The German buildup for Blücher is complete – 3719 guns are in place to support the infantry. Ludendorff’s goal is a salient of exactly 12 miles and no more, which he believes will be a sufficient penetration toward Paris to force the French to redeploy troops from Flanders, while the Germans hastily shift reserves to the attack there. General Duchene has ignored warnings about the buildup along the Aisne front; his forward trenches are inadequate and positioned so as to be the most vulnerable to German artillery, with troops massed in the forward trenches.
Italian Front Italian attacks around Adamello and Monticello make some gains.
Russia The Transcaucasian Federal government is dissolved as the constituent states all go their own ways. The Czech Legion, now in outright conflict with the Red Army, captures Chelyabinsk.
Mediterranean The transport Leasowe Castle is torpedoed; 101 are lost.
Portuguese East Africa German troops are driven south toward the Upper Lurio River.

May 26, 1921
Russia There is a right-wing coup in the Chita Republic, backed by the Japanese.

May 26, 1923
Germany, Home Front Freikorps member Albert Schlageter is executed by French troops for sabotage. He becomes a martyr to the nationalists.

[Ennath]

May 27, 1905
China Sea The Russian Baltic Fleet meets the main Japanese fleet off Tsushima. The result is greatest naval battle of annihilation since Trafalgar. Virtually the entire Russian force is sunk or captured. The Japanese lose three torpedo boats. Both sides are now ready to make peace. Russia is seething with internal unrest and has no stomach for continuing the war. Most of Japan’s limited war aims have been met and the country is beginning to run short of reserves of manpower.

May 27, 1915
Western Front The French make minor gains near Souchez. General French informs London that there will be no more attacks until artillery ammunition is replenished. Unknown to him, Duke Albrecht of Wurttemberg , his opponent, sends the same message to Berlin.
Eastern Front In northern Poland, the Russians retake Sieniawa, near Jaroslau, and Kindowary, near Shavli. Austro-German troops threaten the Przemysl-Lemberg railway.
Italian Front The Italian-Austrian frontier extends four hundred miles from the Isonzo River where it enters the Adriatic to the west of Duino, northwestward through the rugged Alps. Although not certain where the Italians will attack, the Austrians concentrate the newly-constituted 5th Army in the Isonzo River valley since they must retain Trieste and Pola to control the Adriatic. The Austrians have begun building defenses in the Isonzo sector a month earlier. Confronting 5th Army are the one million troops of Italian 2nd and 3rd Armies (Generals Pietro Frugoni and the Duke of Aosta), organized by Count Luigi Cadorna, chief of the General Staff. The Italians have two objectives: Trieste and Gorizia. Italian troops occupy Grado and Ala in the Trentino. In the Carnatic Alps, the Italians secure several peaks, giving them a commanding view of the Austrian positions; nevertheless they sit tight.
Dardanelles E-11 returns to Constantinople, sinking ships approaching the port and causing widespread fear in the city. The Majestic is torpedoed at the straits. From now on, the ships remaining for naval gunfire support will fire while underway, reducing their effectiveness.
War at Sea The auxiliary cruiser Princess Irene blows up in Shearness harbor.
Turkey Interior Minister Talaat Pasha orders the deportation of all Armenians from eastern Anatolia to Syria and Mosul. The Assyrian Christians of northern Mesopotamia are also targeted.

May 27, 1916
France General Gallieni, weak from an operation and depressed by the news of Douaumont, dies.
Italian Front Austrian troops storm Monte Moschicce and reach Asiero. Here, however, trench warfare sets in.
Caucasus The Russians repulse a Turkish attack at Serdasht.
German East AfricaA Portuguese attack on Mamiranga fails, with two gunboats lost.

May 27, 1917
Italian Front The Italians reach the Austrian third line and take San Giovanni. They also cross the Timavo River. Austrian counterattacks regain Hill 126, east of Gorizia, but the Italians recover it by the end of the day.

May 27, 1918
Western Front At 1:00 AM, the German artillery barrage begins along a 24-mile front, the length of the Chemin des Dames. For two and a half hours, the shelling pounds roads and bridges and the French front lines, artillery command posts and rear areas. At 3:40 AM, behind a creeping barrage, the German infantry plunges forward, meeting minimal resistance from the shattered French and British troops. In less than 2 hours, they break through Duchene’s center and capture the eastern end of the Chemin des Dames ridge. By 9:00 AM, some storm troops reach the Aisne, and the infantry sweeps down the south slope of the ridge after them. The French blow most of the bridges, but frequently without sufficient thoroughness to prevent access and crossing. Duchene commits his few reserves, but the Germans cross the Aisne and smash ahead, opening a gap between the French right and British left. By day’s end, the German salient extends 12 miles into Duchene’s center, south of the Vesle River, and they control the entire Chemin des Dames. The German attack has destroyed 4 Allied divisions and mauled 4 others. Duchene confronts catastrophe.
Russia Azerbaijan declares independence.
Caucasus An Armenian counterattack at Sardarapat causes a Turkish retreat.
Eastern Front Austro-German troops extend their control nearly to the mouth of the Don River, capturing the Donbass coalfields north of Rostov.

May 27, 1921
Palestine Eastern Palestine is broken off by the British to form the Emirate of Transjordan, to be closed to Jewish settlement. Abdullah is made ruler.

[Ennath]

May 28, 1915
Western Front The French gain some ground in the “Labyrinth”, north of Arras.
Eastern Front In the Baltic, the Russians take Bubie. Russian reverses around Przemysl continue.
Baltic Sea Four German minesweepers sink on Russian mines in the next 24 hours.
Caucasus The Russians occupy Vastan on Lake Van.
Germany The Chancellor denounces Italy’s “treachery” in a speech to the Reichstag.

May 28, 1916
Italian Front Austrian troops are closing in on Asiago, but are repulsed in the Lagarina valley.

May 28, 1917
Western Front Troops of the French 36th Infantry Division sent to the rear for rest refuse to return to the front in the Chemin des Dames; 67 take the train to Paris. But by midmorning all are en route back to the front; 14 face courts-martial. Several such instances of mutiny, or “indiscipline”, the commanders’ term, have occurred among French troops throughout May.
Italian Front The forward Italian artillery is 10 miles from Trieste. In the Plava sector, the Italians push up the Globna Valley.
France French Socialists decide to attend the Stockholm Conference.
Poland A meeting of the Congress of Polish Soldiers in Warsaw creates a Polish Army under Jozef Pilsudski. Polish deputies in Galicia demand the creation of a Polish state.

May 28, 1918
Western Front The German advance continues as Duchene squanders his reserves, committing them without careful forethought as to where they might best serve. The Germans cross those sections of the Vesle not crossed the day before. General Petain orders holding of the flanks northwest of Soissons and south of Rheims, where Micheler’s 5th Army has just arrived to bolster the line. He appeals to Foch to send reserves to the front, but the commander in chief quite presciently judges the offensive may “only be a feint” and decides to wait and see how it develops. Ludendorff, however, becomes enthralled by the amazing success of the offensive’s first two days and, violating his own dictum to adhere rigidly to the Blücher plan, commits his own reserves. He now envisions capturing Paris.
U.S. 1st Division, supported by French troops, attacks German positions at the ruined town of Cantigny, near Montdidier, killing or capturing the entire garrison. The Germans counterattack, but the Americans hold fast. The small battle costs 1070 American and 1600 German casualties and is a morale booster for the Allies.
Pershing, while understanding the importance of entrenchments, has eschewed what he considers to be a defeatist concept of trench warfare and American training is predicated on the spirit of the offensive, with an emphasis on individual marksmanship.
Italian Front Two Austrian attacks at Capo Sile fail.
Caucasus There is heavy fighting near Alexandropol as Armenian troops resist the Turkish advance. After four days of fighting, the Turks carry Armenian positions at Kara Kilisse.
Palestine Local British attacks gain two miles north of Jaffa.

[Ennath]

May 29, 1914
Germany President Wilson’s envoy, Colonel House, reports that “the situation in Germany is extraordinary. It is militarism run stark mad.”

May 29, 1915
Western Front The French take Ablain, near Souchez.
North Sea The first submarine minelayer, UC-11, lays twelve mines off the Downs.
Eastern Front A Russian counterattack in Galicia has some temporary success.
Dardanelles The Turks make a partially successful attack at Gaba Tepe.
Albania Italian forces occupy Valona.
Cameroon Allied troops take Njok.

May 29, 1916
Western Front, Verdun German attacks from Hill 304 fail.
Italian Front The Italians abandon Asiago. Austrian troops cross the Posina.
Sudan The British receive a letter from Ali Dinar, renouncing his sultanate and asking to be allowed to live quietly with his family on his lands. The British reply that he would be sent elsewhere, probably to the Hejaz. Ali says he will come in after the rains but cannot persuade his men to surrender. By now, the British realize he is playing for time.

May 29, 1917
Italian Front The Italians take trenches near Medeazza in the southern Carso. Austrian efforts near Vodice fail.
Black Sea Russian warships raid the Anatolian coast. In three days they sink 120 sailing vessels.
France Clemenceau calls on the government to crack down on defeatists and radicals.

May 29, 1918
Western Front The Germans drive ahead along the entire Aisne front. German attacks sweep over the Vregny Plateau and take Soissons. In the center, they gain the heights south of the Vesle and progress toward the Marne. On the right, Allied troops covering Rheims fall back behind the Aisne Canal. Clemenceau receives gloomy reports from Duchene and the other local commanders. Petain orders preparations for a counterattack and moves in every reserve he can find, some now finally released by Foch. German raids near Mount Kemmel are repulsed.
Russia Czech troops capture Penza. Armenian troops invade Azerbaijan; the Azeris request Turkish aid.

May 29, 1919
World Affairs Observations of a total solar eclipse verify Einstein’s General Theory of Relativity.

[Ennath]

May 30, 1909
German Technology A Zeppelin airship flies 400 miles and is aloft for 22 hours.

May 30, 1913
Diplomatic Relations The Treaty of London ends the 1st Balkan War. The Turks lose all their European possessions outside the Chatalja and Gallipoli peninsulas. Montenegro yields Scutari to the new state of Albania. Squabbles among the victors follow as the Bulgarians feel cheated by the Greeks and Serbs. The Bulgarians immediately attack the Serbs and Greeks without a declaration of war. Initially successful, the Bulgarian attacks soon lose momentum.

May 30, 1915
Western Front There are German attacks at Hooge and French attacks near Souchez.
Eastern Front Austrian troops attack the Przemysl forts. There is heavy fighting on the San.
Italian Front There are minor Italian gains in the Trentino.
Dardanelles The British are repulsed at Quinn’s Post.
German East Africa British troops take Sphinxhaven on Lake Nyassa.
United States Wilson’s friend and special advisor Colonel House confides to his diary “I have concluded that war with Germany is inevitable.”

May 30, 1916
Western Front, Verdun The French pull back a short distance near Bethincourt, then counterattack.
North Sea Apprised by Room 40, which has been intercepting German orders, that Admiral Scheer has a major operation in motion for the following day, both Jellicoe, with the Grand Fleet, and Beatty, with the Battlecruiser Squadron, set sail an hour before midnight, Jellicoe from Scapa Flow, Beatty from the Firth of Forth, intending to rendezvous a hundred miles west of the entrance to the Skagerrak.
Macedonia Bulgarian troops garrison Rupel Pass.
German East Africa The Germans are forced to abandon Mikotsheni.

May 30, 1917
Western Front There is heavy fighting on the Moronvillers massif. Troops of French 5th Division hold protest meetings, expressing support for their officers while objecting to participation in futile offensives. They continue to defend their positions.
British artillery begins a week-long bombardment of German positions on Messines Ridge, in preparation for a long-planned attack.
Central Powers Diplomacy The Austrians request a German garrison for Trieste.
German East Africa German forces strike south from the Rufiji toward Portuguese territory.
Austria-Hungary The Austrian Reichsrat meets for the first time since the beginning of the war.

May 30, 1918
Western Front Petain’s plan for a counterattack fades as the Germans plow ahead for the fourth day. In the center, the Germans continue to advance, taking Fere-en-Tardenois, reaching the Marne near Jaulgonne. French resistance on the flanks, however, begins to stiffen. Some forts north of Rheims are taken. At Petain’s request, Pershing extends American aid and U.S. troops begin moving to the battlefront.
France Panic imbues Paris; over a million residents have fled, members of the Chamber of Deputies assail Foch and Petain and call for Duchene’s discharge and the government prepares plans to move to Bordeaux.
Macedonia A Greek and French attack near Skra di Legen nets 1500 prisoners.
Caucasus The Republic of Armenia is proclaimed.

May 30, 1919
Hungary Anti-Communist Hungarian leaders form a rebel Hungarian government at French-occupied Szeged.
East Africa Belgium gets the mandate over Ruanda and Urundi.

May 30, 1925
China British police and gunboats use gunfire to break up student demonstrations in Shanghai and Canton. As a result of the “May Thirtieth Incident”, a strike and a boycott of British goods lasts for a year. A wave of anti-foreign sentiment sweeps China.