The First World War

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May 6, 1915
Western Front Fighting continues at Hill 60.
British Command Smith-Dorrien is dismissed from command of 2nd Army. Robertson, French’s chief of staff phones and tells him “’Orace – you’re for ‘ome”. Sir Herbert Plumer replaces him.
Eastern Front Tarnow falls to the Austrian 4th Army with 30,000 prisoners. General Radko-Dmitriev advises the Russian Supreme Command that his 3rd Army will have no choice but to retreat beyond the Vistula River. Russian counterattacks against the breakthrough are decisively repulsed. The Visloka line is holding, barely.
Dardanelles The 2nd Battle of Krithia begins. The attacking forces are woefully short of artillery ammunition and most of what they do have is shrapnel, of little use against entrenchments. The navy is still somewhat ambitiously hoarding shells for the anticipated assault on Constantinople. Little progress is made.
Caucasus A major Russian attack towards Van gets underway. Initial attacks are halted and the Turks counterattack. The Russians make more progress in the southern part of their attack, however.
Southwest Africa The Allies make a statement accusing the Germans of poisoning wells in their retreat. Botha arrives at Karibib to join his spearhead. The Germans have withdrawn to Windhoek.

May 6, 1916
Western Front, Verdun The struggle for Hill 304 continues.
German East Africa The Belgians occupy Kigali.
Mesopotamia The British and Indian troops taken prisoner at Kut begin the march to Baghdad.

May 6, 1917
Western Front The British and French repulse German counterattacks.
Italian Front There are violent artillery exchanges in the Trentino.
Greece A mass demonstration at Salonika demands the deposition of King Constantine.

May 6, 1918
Western Front There is fighting at Locre.
Eastern Front The Germans take Rostov.

May 6, 1919
West Africa Cameroon and Togoland are divided between Britain and France as League mandates.

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May 7, 1915
Irish Sea The Cunard liner Lusitania is about fifteen miles off Kinsale when at 2:10 PM, the second officer calls out to Captain Turner “There is a torpedo coming, sir.” Almost immediately, the torpedo, followed by a second, explodes against the ship’s starboard side. Passengers don life jackets and climb into lifeboats. Believing that the ship is in no real danger, officers shout orders not to lower the boats and for passengers and crew to vacate them. As the liner begins to sink, confusion mounts. Many of the lifeboats remain unlowered. Within 20 minutes, Lusitania goes down; 1198 people go with her, among them 128 Americans. Many questions remain concerning the sinking. Many contend that the liner was carrying munitions among its cargo, the extra weight explaining why it sank so rapidly. Also unexplained is why Captain Turner, contrary to accepted practice in hostile waters, did not zig-zag to avoid U-Boats.
United States On learning of the Lusitania disaster, Colonel House, still in London in negotiations, tells the American ambassador, “We shall be at war within a month.” The ambassador telegraphs Wilson, “The United States must declare war or forfeit European respect.”
Eastern Front The Russians fall back to the Vistok and continue retreating in the Carpathians. German 11th Army wheels right to threaten the rear of Russian 8th Army.
Russia The American military attaché reports a “lack of ammunition, lack of sufficient company and field grade officers with training, lack of facilities for concentration of troops at vital Points” and adds that the “dishonesty and incompetence of the bureaucracy is one of the main disadvantages.”
Diplomatic Relations Deleting demands for control of the Chinese police and advisors in the Chinese government, the Japanese present a revised “13 Demands” to China, with a 2-day deadline for response. The Chinese give in.

May 7, 1917
Western Front Australian troops improve the position between Bullecourt and Queant. British troops, hoping to link up with them, secure a foothold southeast of Bullecourt.
War in the Air Albert Ball (44 kills), Britain’s most famous ace, apparently falls victim to vertigo and flies his plane into the ground. In his last weeks, he had become quite disillusioned with the killing.
British Planning Haig meets with his commanders and informs them that the combined offensive is ending and that future attacks will try to effect the attrition of the German forces with a subsequent major effort at Ypres, followed by a general advance in Flanders. Thus Haig commits the BEF to a 3rd Battle of Ypres, to be preceded by capture and consolidation of the Messines-Wytschaete Ridge.
Macedonia A Bulgarian counterattack at Gevgeli fails.
Russia Testifying before a joint meeting of the Provisional Government and Petrograd Soviet about the status of the military, General Alexeev declares, “The army is on the very brink of ruin.” Morale and discipline have so thoroughly collapsed that the commanders have lost almost all authority over the troops. Since the armed forces are the main defenders of the existing government, this is, of course, exactly what the Petrograd Soviet wants.

May 7, 1918
Diplomatic Relations The Treaty of Bucharest finalizes the Rumanian-Central Powers peace. The previous conditions are retained. In addition, Rumania cedes her two major ports to the Germans and Austrians, leaving her landlocked. Rumania also grants Germany a 99-year lease on Rumanian oil wells and the right to keep an army of occupation. The defeated nation also agrees to provide food to Germany and her allies at fixed prices. The harshness of this treaty and the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk hardens the resolve of the Allies to pursue the defeat of Imperial Germany.
Nicaragua declares war on Germany.
Mesopotamia British troops enter Kirkuk. Turkish troops retire toward the Lesser Zab.

May 7, 1919
Germany Munich is reported “cleansed” and Bavaria is reintegrated into Germany.
Diplomatic Relations The German delegation is presented with the peace treaty. They protest the harshness but realize that they are in no condition to resume the war and have no choice but to accept.
East Africa Britain is granted a mandate over ex-German East Africa.
Southwest Africa South Africa gets a mandate over Southwest Africa.
Pacific Japan is granted a mandate over the Carolines, Marianas and Marshalls. New Zealand gets ex-German Samoa.

[palo5]

Originally Posted by Ennath

May 7, 1915
Russia The American military attaché reports a “lack of ammunition, lack of sufficient company and field grade officers with training, lack of facilities for concentration of troops at vital Points” and adds that the “dishonesty and incompetence of the bureaucracy is one of the main disadvantages.”

He was right, but aiming too low - the real rot was in the head, with the criminals who got us in the war in the first place

[Ennath]

May 8, 1915
Western Front At 5:30 AM, German artillery begins shelling along the entire Ypres front, with especially heavy fire at the Frezenberg Ridge. Despite the merciless pounding, British troops on the ridge stop two German infantry assaults. The Germans step up the bombardment, followed by a third assault; this one succeeds and the battered British have to withdraw. The Germans then attack across the entire sector. Although repulsed at most points, they annihilate British 84th Brigade to the north, opening a two mile wide gap in the British line.
Eastern Front The Germans take Libau. The retreat in Galicia continues. Mackensen crosses the Wisla and pressures the Russians along the San and Visloka.
Dardanelles After three days of desperate seesaw fighting, the British hold fast at Cape Helles, but can make no gains as the fighting at Krithia dies down. Hamilton has lost nearly a third of his force and on all fronts his losses exceed 20,000. He wires Kitchener, requesting two fresh divisions.

May 8, 1916
Western Front, Verdun After three days of fierce close-in fighting resulting in 10,000 French casualties, the Germans capture Hill 304, depriving the French of a vital defensive position and opening the way to a decisive assault on Le Mort Homme. At the same time, however, disaster befalls the Germans occupying Fort Douaumont. A chain reaction of explosions sets afire containers of flamethrower fuel and the burning liquid flows down the fort’s corridors, reaching a store of shells. The resulting mighty blast blows up or asphyxiates most of the men inside the fort. The survivors their faces blackened with smoke, fall victim to machine gun fire from their own comrades, as they race out of the fiery interior. The disaster claims 650 lives.
Western Front, Elsewhere The first Anzac troops go into the line.
Caucasus The Turks check Russian attacks at Pirnakapan.
Atlantic The White Star liner Cymric is torpedoed.

May 8, 1917
Western Front The Germans recapture Fresnoy.
Macedonia Informed that in June one of his divisions and two of his cavalry brigades are to be sent to Palestine, Milne has decided to try another night attack at Doiran. His troops reach and hold the lower slopes of the Petit Couronné.
Australia A general election gives the Nationalists a majority in both houses.
Diplomatic Relations Liberia breaks relations with Germany.

May 8, 1918
Western Front A strong German attack at Voormezeele makes penetrations, but is generally unsuccessful.
War in the Air Willy Coppens, Belgium’s top ace of the war, shoots down two observation balloons, the first two of 34, making him the war’s premier “balloon-buster”.
Eastern Front German troops occupy Rostov-on-Don. The Volunteer Army soon arrives and bases here.
Finland A force of British marines seizes Pechenga (Petsamo) from White Finns.
Diplomatic Relations Nicaragua declares war on Germany.

May 8, 1920
World Affairs The first English translation of The Protocols of the Elders of Zion is published. Alleging to be the details of a meeting of the “World Jewish Conspiracy”, it garners considerable attention for explaining recent events. Henry Ford serializes it in the Dearborn Independent. In the summer of 1921, the Times establishes it as a forgery, but much damage has been done.

[palo5]

Originally Posted by Ennath

May 8, 1915
Finland A force of British marines seizes Pechenga (Petsamo) from White Finns

This is a fascinating policy-mix, and shows where paranoia can lead you - they attack the Whites in Finland, and 100 km away they attack the Reds in Russia

I know the explanations, but does this look muddle-headed to normal people?

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May 9, 1911
Serbia Several Serbian nationalists, including some in the government, form a secret society called Union or Death, popularly known as the Black Hand, devoted to uniting all south Slavs under Serbian leadership.

May 9, 1915
Western Front The long-awaited French offensive opens in Artois, delayed two days by bad weather. Elaborate preparations, including digging forward trenches only one or two hundred yards from the German lines and laying underground phone cables, precede the offensive. General Victor d’Urbal’s 10th Army attacks at three points, the River Scarpe, east of Arras, Lorette and Vimy, with the latter as the major objective, as possession of the ridge provides the Germans a vantage point from which to view Allied rear areas and effectively direct artillery fire. The attack begins at 10:00 AM, gaining some initial success – the French reach the incline of Vimy Ridge and capture La Targette, but they stall at Clarency and the Labyrinth. Petain’s 33rd Corps, on Vimy Ridge, is unable to bring reinforcements forward. A German counterattack in the afternoon regains some of the lost ground. Crown Price Rupprecht of Bavaria asks OHL to send him parts of 6th Army to reinforce the thinly stretched German lines.
At Ypres, the British retake Wieltje, while the Germans attack along the Menin Road.
In order to assist the French offensive, the British attack Aubers Ridge. The effort is doomed by inferior artillery strength and overconfidence and by the Germans’ excellent defenses. Following a brief and ineffective barrage, at 5:30 AM, elements of Haig’s 1st Army move into No-Man’s Land. The defending German 6th Army inflicts terrible losses. In the afternoon, Haig launches a second attack, also quickly smashed. By the end of the day, Haig has lost 11,500 men with nothing gained.
Eastern Front In the Baltic, the Germans are repulsed from Krakainow. Russian 9th Army counterattacks at Kolomea; the Austro-Germans are forced to strengthen their right to counter the threat.
Dardanelles All of the admirals involved in the campaign meet and agree to try another naval attack, though conceding that it will likely entail heavy losses; de Robeck wires the Admiralty for permission.

May 9, 1916
Western Front, Verdun The French hold at Thiaumont Farm.
British Command General Milne assumes command of British forces on the Salonika front.
Caucasus A Russian force is defeated at Bashkeui.
French Northwest Africa The Tuareg suffer a setback attempting to spread their revolt north when one of their columns is defeated.
German East Africa Major Kraut’s 4000 Schutztruppen launch a night attack on van Deventer’s force of 3000 at Kondoa Irangi.
Ireland The Irish Nationalists appeal to the people of the island to support the constitutional movement.

May 9, 1917
Western Front The Germans make several attacks in the French sector. The Nivelle offensive is officially terminated, It has cost the French 190,000 men; the Germans lose about 160,000.
Macedonia After the coming of daylight, the British position on the slopes of the Petit Couronné proves untenable and the troops are unable to advance. As the day proceeds, all the men return to their starting point. Heavy losses and no gains make this second effort as costly and futile as the first. The British effort has cost them 12,000 casualties to 2000 Bulgarian. At the same time, Sarrail launches his offensive on the Cerna River, where Russian troops sweep forward. But as the other Allied forces founder and cannot come to the Russians support, Bulgarian and German troops isolate and capture or kill the entire force. Serbian troops attack Bulgarian positions on the Dobropolje Ridge.

May 9, 1918
Western Front Further German attacks at Voormezeele fail. The Germans make minor gains at Albert and at Grivesnes, near Montdidier.
Italian Front Italian troops storm Monte Corno, along the upper Piave during the night.

May 9, 1919
Afghanistan A hurried British attack at Wadi Bagh is repulsed.

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May 10, 1871
Diplomatic Relations The Treaty of Frankfurt ends the Franco-Prussian War. France cedes Alsace and Lorraine to the new German Empire and must pay an indemnity of 5 billion francs, with German troops to remain until it is paid. The loss of territory added to the humiliations of the war permanently embitters the French and precludes any reconciliation between the two nations. Germany is now the preeminent power on the European continent.

May 10 – July 1, 1906
Russia The first Duma meets, but it is dominated by opponents of the government and its demands are unacceptable to the Tsar. The Duma is dissolved. A second Duma in 1907 results in the strengthening of both left and right at the expense of the moderate center. A third Duma sits from 1907 to 1912. There are some peasant reforms and economic liberalization. The fourth Duma convenes in 1912 and lasts until 1917.

May 10, 1915
Western Front The French make minor gains north of Arras. Accepting reality, Haig terminates the offensive against German 6th Army, but with the consent of General French, plans a less ambitious attack at Festubert in order to help the French 10th Army’s efforts in Artois.
Eastern Front The Germans in the Baltic are somewhat overextended and pull back. After three days of counterattacks and strenuous resistance near Besko and severe losses in fighting at Sanok, Russian 3rd and 8th Armies crack. General Radko-Dmitriev reports to the Supreme Command that 3rd Army has been “bled to death”; of 250,000 troops, only 40,000 have made it back to the San. The Supreme Command decides to retreat from the Carpathians and Grand Duke Nicholas requests that the British and French launch another offensive to divert German strength and to prod Italy toward active participation in the war.
Black Sea The Goeben clashes with Russian ships near Eregli and retires with light damage.
United States Speaking to a group of recently naturalized citizens, President Wilson states his position on the appropriate American response to the Lusitania sinking. “Americans must have a consciousness different from the conciousness of every other nation in the world. The example of America must be the example not merely of peace because it will not fight, but of peace because peace is the healing and elevating influence of the world and strife is not There is such a thing as a man being too proud to fight. There is such a thing as a nation being so right that it does not need to convince others by force that it is right.”
British Propaganda The Times prints a story about how a group of Germans at Ypres used bayonets to crucify a wounded Canadian officer to the wall. Eyewitness accounts are contradictory, no crucified body is ever found, and no knowledge is found of the officer’s identity.

May 10, 1916
Italian Front The Italians take Mount Cukla, in the Plava sector.
Persia The Russians occupy Kasr-i-Shirin on the road to Baghdad.
German East Africa The German attack on Kondoa Irangi continues into the early morning hours. A series of four attacks imperils van Deventer’s troops at times, but the South Africans manage to hang on. Breaking off the assaults, Kraut’s men melt into the bush.

May 10, 1917
Western Front The British make small gains near Lens and the Scarpe.
Eastern Front General Russki is relieved of command of Northern Front.
Macedonia Sarrail has ordered the cancellation of a planned Italian attack on the Cerna, but the message does not get through. The attack generates severe Italian casualties. French and Venizelist troops make a few gains. The British repulse a counterattack.
North Sea The British scouting force from Harwich chases 11 German destroyers into Zeebrugge.
War at Sea The convoy system comes into operation. British, French, and American escort vessels provide adequate protection to merchant ships and at the same time are able to sink more submarines, since these are forced to attack the convoys to get at the merchant ships.
Allied Diplomacy Duma President Rodzianko reaffirms Russia’s loyalty to the Allies.
Austria-Hungary Emperor Karl orders the closure of the Talerhof Concentration Camp.

May 10, 1918
North Sea Keyes sends a second raid against Ostend, with Vindictive and Sappho designated as block ships. But the Sappho is forced to turn back with engine trouble and the Vindictive loses her way in dense fog at the Ostend canal entrance and runs aground.

May 10, 1920
Diplomatic Relations Canada establishes separate relations with the United States, independent of Britain.

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May 11, 1915
Western Front The French renew the attack in Artois, cavalry at the ready to exploit the expected breakthrough. It does not occur and few gains are made. French troops take the fort and chapel of Notre Dame de Lorette.
Eastern Front The Germans evacuate Shavli. The Austro-German advance in the south continues; the remnants of Russian 3rd and 8th Armies fall back along the entire nearly 200-mile front, to the San River.
Caucasus The Russians take Malazgirt.
Persia The Russians make gains against the Turks around Tabriz.
Cameroon French troops take Eseka.

May 11, 1916
Western Front, Verdun A German attack at Vaux Pond is repulsed.
Western Front, Elsewhere Germans in the La Bassee sector take some British trenches near Vermelles.

May 11, 1917
Western Front Germans attacks are repulsed in both active sectors.
Macedonia French and Venizelist attacks carry Skra di Legen.
Rumania King Ferdinand issues a decree promising equal rights for all, including Jews.
French Command The office of Chief of the General Staff is made subordinate to the War Ministry.

May 11, 1918
Russia An anarchist rising in Moscow fails. There is fighting at Kiev between Ukrainian and German troops. Anton Denikin assumes command of White forces in southern Russia.
Italian Front Austrian attempts to retake Monte Corno fail.
Mesopotamia Marshall drives the Turks over the lower Zab at Alton Keupri, 70 miles from Mosul.
Persia Turkish troops make progress, aiming to take Enzeli.

May 11, 1919
Afghanistan A renewed assault at Wadi Bagh, backed by air support, drives the Afghans out.

May 11, 1926
Poland Pilsudski launches a coup d’etat in Poland. After several days of fighting in Warsaw, he becomes dictator. The dictatorship will last beyond his death in May 1935.

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May 12, 1915
Western Front The French capture Clarency, with 1000 prisoners. Joffre complains to French about the halting of the British offensive, claiming that the Germans have been able to shift two divisions to the French sectors.
Eastern Front Kyeltsi, Poland falls to the Germans. The Austrians and Germans advance north of Uzsok Pass. The Austrians fall back south of the Pruth.
Dardanelles Gurkhas take Cape Tekeh. In the early morning darkness a Turkish torpedo boat sorties from the straits and torpedoes the pre-dreadnought HMS Goliath, which sinks in only two minutes with the loss of 500 men. Fisher orders the Queen Elizabeth back to the Grand Fleet to secure her from potential danger. Fisher and Churchill disagree on the next move at Gallipoli, as Fisher is totally opposed to the new naval assault proposed by de Robeck.
Caucasus Russian and Armenian troops take Ardjish,
Southwest Africa Windhoek, the capital of the colony, falls to the South Africans. The German government and garrison have abandoned the town of 8000, leaving behind the women and children. Botha and Governor Seitz have agreed by telephone the day before to a 48-hour armistice to begin on the 20th while they discuss terms for ending hostilities.
Britain The Bryce Committee publishes the Report of the Committee on Alleged German Outrages in Belgium. Detailing German war crimes, it becomes a major basis for Allied propaganda. Many have long dismissed it as nothing more than that, but recent scholarship has backed up at least some of its conclusions. One legacy of the doubt about the report will be the reluctance of the Allies during World War II to believe reports about the Holocaust.

May 12, 1916
German East Africa Spicer-Simson, inexplicably gone for nearly three months, finally returns to Lukuga and resumes his command just in the nick of time to prevent the increasingly impatient Belgians from, launching their own effort to take control of Lake Tanganyika.

May 12, 1917
Western Front The British take Bullecourt and repulse counterattacks.
Italian Front Cadorna, despite promises to aid the Allied offensive, has not been ready and not until now does he launch the 10th Battle of the Isonzo. The Italians employ 38 divisions to an initial force of 14 Austrian divisions, and switch tactics. The previous three offensives had seen Cadorna concentrate short, sharp attacks against closely defined targets, generally directed around Gorizia. This time the Italians attack further south on a 25 mile front, aiming at a breakthrough to Trieste. The offensive opens with the most ferocious barrage yet seen on the Italian Front.
North Sea Admiral Bacon sails with a large force – 12 destroyers from Harwich and 41 ships of the Dover Division – to try to destroy the locks at Zeebrugge and to sever the canal line between this port and Bruges used by the U-Boats. With a smoke screen hiding the flotilla from the Knocke battery on land, the British ships open fire at 5:00 AM, expending 250 rounds. Thinking the job done, Bacon orders a withdrawal, but the locks remain intact.
Austria-Hungary A week of mutinies begins in the army, all put down firmly.
India Bombs and seditious leaflets are seized in Calcutta.

May 12, 1918
Adriatic Italian destroyers attack an Austrian convoy off Durazzo, sinking a transport.

May 12-13, 1920
Ireland The IRA attacks 50 police barracks. British army reinforcements arrive, but railway workers refuse to move munitions.

May 12, 1925
Germany Field Marshal Paul von Hindenburg becomes President of Germany. Recovery continues. The USA is chiefly responsible for Germany’s prosperity in the coming four years. Some American loans are returned as reparations payments, others go to support government and industry. By 1928, German industrial production is second only to that of the United States and unemployment is under 1 million.
France, Italy, and, to a somewhat lesser extent, Britain also prosper in the late 1920’s.

[palo5]

Originally Posted by Ennath

May 6, 1915
Dardanelles The 2nd Battle of Krithia begins. The attacking forces are woefully short of artillery ammunition and most of what they do have is shrapnel, of little use against entrenchments. The navy is still somewhat ambitiously hoarding shells for the anticipated assault on Constantinople. Little progress is made.

The biggest guns almost anywhere, and they don't use them. Wtf?

On the other hand, 30% of their ammo was dud if history books are correct