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June 28th:

Franz Ferdinand, archduke of Austria-Este was killed on this date

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Franz Ferdinand, archduke of Austria-Este (born December 18, 1863, Graz, Austria-died June 28, 1914, Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Austria-Hungary [now in Bosnia and Herzogovina]) was the archduke of Austria-Este. His assassination in 1914 was the immediate cause of World War I.

Life until 1914

Franz Ferdinand was the eldest son of the archduke Charles Louis, who was the brother of the emperor Franz Joseph. The death of the heir apparent, Archduke Rudolf, in 1889 made Franz Ferdinand next in succession to the Austro-Hungarian throne after his father, who died in 1896. But because of Franz Ferdinand's ill health in the 1890s, his younger brother Otto was regarded as more likely to succeed, a possibility that deeply embittered Franz Ferdinand. His desire to marry Sophie, countess of Chotek, a lady-in-waiting, brought him into sharp conflict with the emperor and the court. Only after renouncing his future children's rights to the throne was the morganatic marriage allowed in 1900.

In foreign affairs he tried to restore Austro-Russian understanding without endangering the alliance with Germany. At home he thought of political reforms that would have strengthened the position of the crown and weakened that of the Magyars against the other nationalities in Hungary. His plans were based on the realization that any nationalistic policy pursued by one section of the population would endanger the multinational Habsburg empire. His relationship with Franz Joseph was exacerbated by his continuous pressure on the emperor, who in his later years left affairs to take care of themselves but sharply resented any interference with his prerogative. From 1906 onward Franz Ferdinand's influence in military matters grew, and in 1913 he became inspector general of the army.

Assassination of Franz Ferdinand

On June 28, 1914, Franz Ferdinand was in the Austro-Hungarian province of Bosnia and Herzegovina accompanied by his wife, Sophie. He was there as inspector general of the imperial army. The visit was not a popular one. Balkan politics were turbulent, and the neighbouring Kingdom of Serbia coveted Bosnia. Moreover, the date chosen for this imperial visit and Hapsburg show of force was June 28, a black date in Serbian history: it was the anniversary of the Turkish victory over Serbia at the Battle of Kosovo in 1389. This fanned the flames of dissent among Serbian nationalists even further.

The royal couple was travelling in a motorcade through Sarajevo in an open-topped car, ignorant of the fact that several would-be assassins awaited along the route of their preannounced stops. Shortly after 10 am, amid cheering crowds lining the wide avenue called Appel Quay, one of the attackers, Nedjelko Cabrinovic, threw a grenade at the royal couple's car. The bomb bounced off the back of the vehicle and exploded behind them, injuring members of the entourage who were in the next car and peppering bystanders with shrapnel.

After completing the planned reception at City Hall, the shaken royal couple insisted on changing their schedule and visiting the hospital to check on one of the officers injured in the morning attack. Confusion among the drivers in the motorcade followed, with the drivers starting off in the wrong direction, down the very avenue where the conspirators were still present. When the royal motorcade entered a side street and stopped to turn around, a compatriot of Cabrinovic, 19-year-old Gavrilo Princip, seized his opportunity. Approaching the royal couple's open car, he shot both Franz Ferdinand and Sophie with a Browning pistol. The driver of the couple's car then sped off for medical help. Sophie died en route and Franz Ferdinand died shortly after. Princip tried to shoot himself but was apprehended by bystanders. All of the conspirators were eventually found and arrested. Exempted from the death penalty because of his young age, Princip was sentenced to 20 years in prison, where he died from tuberculosis in 1918.

Anti-Serb protests and riots followed throughout Austria-Hungary in the wake of the assassination. One month later, on July 28, Austria-Hungary declared war on the country seemingly behind the murders, Serbia. This set the Triple Alliance (Austria-Hungary, Germany, and Italy) against Serbia's allies in the Triple Entente ( Russia, France, and Britain). Momentum became unstoppable, sparking one of the deadliest conflicts in history- World War I.
Fid Backhouse and others The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica

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Franz Ferdinand, archduke of Austria-Este | Biography, Assassination, Facts, & World War I

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Franz Ferdinand, archduke of Austria-Este, Austrian archduke whose assassination was the immediate cause of World War I. He and his wife, Sophie, were murdered by the Serb nationalist Gavrilo Princip in Sarajevo on June 28, 1914, and a month later Austria declared war on Serbia.

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July 28th: Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia.

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Once known as "the war to end all wars", World War I was fought on a global scale between the years of 1914-1918.

The imperialistic nature of Europe, Russia, and the United States in the late 19th century sowed the seeds for global unrest. Each nation desired more power, wealth, and resources by seizing territories from weaker nations. Additional land being a vast yet finite resource, this fight for control slowly began to erode relations between these global empires.

The straw that broke the proverbial camels back was the assassination of Archduke of Austria-Hungary Franz Ferdinand and his wife Sophie, Duchess of Hohenburg, during his visit to Sarajevo, Bosnia on June 28th, 1914. The assassination plot was formed and acted upon by "The Black Hand", a Serbian nationalist group that believed Bosnia and other territories owned by the Austro-Hungarian empire rightfully belonged to Serbia. A month later on July 28th, 1914, Austria-Hungary officially declared war on Serbia. This declaration of war activated several mutual defense treaties which ultimately brought the world into conflict on a global scale.

The domino effect caused by the death of the Archduke on June 28th caused the following list of historical events to occur:
July 28th - Austria declares war on Serbia.

August 1st - Per the treaty, Germany declares war on Russia, an ally of Serbia
August 3rd - Germany declares war on France, an ally of Russia. This would lead to an invasion of neutral Belgium that Germany would intend to use as a launchpad to invade France
August 4th - Great Britain, an ally of France, declares war on Germany

World War 1 was a war of firsts. The war was the first global scale modern war. Armored vehicles, aircraft, and heavy machine guns were first introduced during the war. The war is also notoriously known for its gruesome trench warfare and use of lethal gas on the battlefield. The casualties caused by the gas attacks would eventually lead to its use listed as a war crime after the end of the war.

The United States would not enter the war until a couple of years later and would remain neutral until 1917. Historians argue the U.S. decision to enter the war was one of the deciding factors on the outcome of World War I.

The unresolved power imbalance caused by the results of World War one laid the social, economic groundworks for the rise of fascism and for World War II twenty years later.

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Once known as "the war to end all wars", World War I was fought on a global scale between the years of 1914-1918. The imperialistic nature of Europe, Russia, and the United States in the late 19th century sowed the seeds for global unrest.

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Germany made plans to besiege France by crossing Luxembourg and Belgium, , despite their neutrality.

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The German invaded Belgium and Luxembourg on August 6th, 1914. Close to the border was the city of Liege, where the Belgium army had built fortified forts to defend the city. The Germany were expecting to quickly capture the city. The German advanced into the city but were forced to withdraw after facing stronger than expected opposition. When they failed to initially conquer the city the Germany decided instead to put it under siege. That siege lasted from August 9- 16th . The German then attacked each of the forts surrounding the town, the last of the forts- For Hollogne and Femalle surrendered on August 16th, thus allowing the German to capture the town. The Germans soon captured unopposed Brussels where the remainder to the Belgium army retreated to defend Antwerp . The Germany then advanced south to French border.

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The German invaded Belgium and Luxembourg on August 6th, 1914. Close to the border was the city of Liege, where the Belgium army had built fortified forts to defend the city. The Germany were expecting to quickly capture the city. The German advanced into the city but were forced to withdraw after facing stronger than expected opposition.

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Great Britain declares war on Germany.

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The Austro-Hungarian Empire declares war on Russia

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German Sailors KIA 6 August 1914 buried at Shotley

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I came across the CWGC entries for these two German sailors buried in the Naval section of Shotley (St Mary) Churchyard: Matrose (Sailor) Karl Kirchner 1.Abt.II.Matr.Div. https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/6019077/KARL KIRCHNER/ and Heizer (Stoker) Ludwig Liebbrand 2...

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Austria-Hungary invades Russia

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Eastern Front

Part of the European theatre of World War I

Clockwise from top left: soldiers stationed in the Carpathian Mountains, 1915; German soldiers in Kyiv, March 1918; the Russian ship Slava, October 1917; Russian infantry, 1914; Romanian infantry

Belligerents

Central Powers:
Germany

(1916-17)
(1916-17)

Allied Powers:
(1914-17)
(1917)
Romania (1916-17)
(1916-17)
Belgium (1915-17)
(1916-17)
(1916-17) Soviet Russia (1917-18)

Commanders and leaders

Paul von Hindenburg
Erich Ludendorff
Leopold of Bavaria
Max Hoffmann
Conrad von Hötzendorf
A. A. von Straußenburg
Cevat Pasha
Mustafa Hilmi Pasha
Nikola Zhekov

Grand Duke Nicholas
Nicholas II
Mikhail Alekseyev
Aleksei Brusilov
Lavr Kornilov
Alexander Kerensky (1917)
Constantin Prezan Nikolai Krylenko

Units involved

Strength

October 1917
1,178,600 infantry
39,000 cavalry
1,690 light guns
2,230 heavy guns

October 1917
2,166,700 infantry
110,600 cavalry
1,226 light guns
1,139 heavy guns

Casualties and losses

1,500,000:[1][2][3]
300,000 killed
1,151,153 wounded
143,818 captured
4,377,000:[4][5]
730,000 dead
2,172,000 wounded
1,479,000 missing or captured
45,000:[6][7]
8,000 dead[8]
22,000 wounded[8]
10,000 captured[9]
30,250[10][11]Total:
5,952,000+ casualties

9,347,000:
2,254,369 dead
3,749,000 wounded
3,343,900 captured[12][a]
535,700:[14]
335,706 dead
120,000 wounded
80,000 captured Total:
~9,882,000+ casualties

Civilian deaths:
2,000,000+
Russian Empire:
410,000 civilians died due to military action
730,000 civilians died of war-related causes[15]
Kingdom of Romania:
130,000 civilians died due to military action
200,000 civilians died of war-related causes[16]
Austria-Hungary:
120,000 civilians died due to military action
467,000 civilians died of war-related causes[17]

The Eastern Front or Eastern Theater of World War I ( German: Ostfront; Romanian: Frontul de răsărit; Russian: Восточный фронт, Vostochny front) was a theater of operations that encompassed at its greatest extent the entire frontier between Russia and Romania on one side and Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria, the Ottoman Empire, and Germany on the other. It ranged from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Black Sea in the south, involved most of Eastern Europe, and stretched deep into Central Europe. The term contrasts with the Western Front, which was being fought in Belgium and France.

During 1910, Russian General Yuri Danilov developed "Plan 19" under which four armies would invade East Prussia. This plan was criticised as Austria-Hungary could be a greater threat than the German Empire. So instead of four armies invading East Prussia, the Russians planned to send two armies to East Prussia, and two armies to defend against Austro-Hungarian forces invading from Galicia. In the opening months of the war, the Imperial Russian Army attempted an invasion of eastern Prussia in the Northwestern theater, only to be beaten back by Germany after some initial success. At the same time, in the south, they successfully invaded Galicia, defeating the Austro-Hungarian forces there. In Russian Poland, the Germans failed to take Warsaw. But by 1915, the German and Austro-Hungarian forces were on the advance, dealing the Russians heavy casualties in Galicia and in Poland, forcing them to retreat. Grand Duke Nicholas was sacked from his position as the commander-in-chief and replaced by Tsar Nicholas himself. Several offensives against the Germans in 1916 failed, including the Lake Naroch Offensive and the Baranovichi Offensive. However, General Aleksei Brusilov oversaw a highly successful operation against Austria-Hungary that became known as the Brusilov offensive, which saw the Russian Army make large gains. Being the largest and most lethal offensive of World War I, the effects of the Brusilov offensive were far reaching. It helped to relieve the German pressure during the Battle of Verdun, while also helping to relieve the Austro-Hungarian pressure on the Italians. As a result, the Austro-Hungarian Armed Forces were fatally weakened, and finally Romania decided to enter the war on the side of the Allies. However, the Russian human and material losses also greatly contributed to the Russian Revolutions.

Romania entered the war in August 1916. The Allied Powers promised the region of Transylvania (which was part of Austria-Hungary) in return for Romanian support. The Romanian Army invaded Transylvania and had initial successes, but was forced to stop and was pushed back by the Germans and Austro-Hungarians when Bulgaria attacked them from the south. Meanwhile, a revolution occurred in Russia in March 1917 (one of the causes being the hardships of the war). Tsar Nicholas II was forced to abdicate and a Russian Provisional Government was founded, with Georgy Lvov as its first leader, who was eventually replaced by Alexander Kerensky.

The newly formed Russian Republic continued to fight the war alongside Romania and the rest of the Entente in desultory fashion. It was overthrown by the Bolsheviks in November 1917. Following the Armistice of Focșani between Romania and the Central Powers, Romania also signed a peace treaty with the Central Powers on 7 May 1918, however it was canceled by Romania on 10 November 1918. The new government established by the Bolsheviks signed the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk with the Central Powers in March 1918, taking it out of the war; leading to a Central Powers victory on the Eastern Front and Russian defeat in World War I.

The front in the east was much longer than that in the west. The theater of war was roughly delimited by the Baltic Sea in the west and Minsk in the east, and Saint Petersburg in the north and the Black Sea in the south, a distance of more than 1,600 kilometres (990 mi). This had a drastic effect on the nature of the warfare.

A timeline of events on the Eastern and Middle-Eastern theatres of World War I

While the war on the Western Front developed into trench warfare, the battle lines on the Eastern Front were much more fluid and trenches never truly developed. This was because the greater length of the front ensured that the density of soldiers in the line was lower so the line was easier to break. Once broken, the sparse communication networks made it difficult for the defender to rush reinforcements to the rupture in the line, mounting rapid counteroffensives to seal off any breakthrough.

Propaganda was a key component of the culture of World War I. It was often shown through state-controlled media, and helped to bolster nationalism and patriotism within countries. On the Eastern Front, propaganda took many forms such as opera, film, spy fiction, theater, spectacle, war novels and graphic art. Across the Eastern Front the amount of propaganda used in each country varied from state to state. Propaganda took many forms within each country and was distributed by many different groups. Most commonly the state produced propaganda, but other groups, such as anti-war organizations, also generated propaganda.

Prior to the outbreak of war, German strategy was based almost entirely on the so-called Schlieffen Plan. With the Franco-Russian Agreement in place, Germany knew that war with either of these combatants would result in war with the other, which meant that there would be war in both the west and the east ( two-front war). Therefore, the German General Staff, under Alfred von Schlieffen and then Helmuth von Moltke the Younger, planned a quick, all-out ground war on the Western Front to take France and, upon victory, Germany would turn its attention to Russia in the east.

Schlieffen believed Russia would not be ready or willing to move against and attack Germany due to the huge losses of military equipment that Russia had suffered in the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-1905, its low population density and lack of railroads.

Conversely, the Imperial German Navy believed it could be victorious over Britain with Russian neutrality, something which Moltke knew would not be possible.

Border changes in favor of Romania as stipulated in the Treaty of Bucharest

In the immediate years preceding the First World War, the Kingdom of Romania was involved in the Second Balkan War on the side of Serbia, Montenegro, Greece and the Ottoman Empire against Bulgaria. The Treaty of Bucharest, signed on 10 August 1913, ended the Balkan conflict and added 6,960 square kilometers to Romania's territory. Although militarized, Romania decided upon a policy of neutrality at the start of the First World War, mainly due to having territorial interests in both Austria-Hungary ( Transylvania and Bukovina) and in Russia ( Bessarabia). Strong cultural influences also affected Romanian leanings, however. King Carol I, as a Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen, favoured his Germanic roots, while the Romanian people, influenced by their Orthodox church and Latin-based language, were inclined to join France. Perhaps King Carol's attempts at joining the war on the side of the Central powers would have been fruitful had he not died in 1914, but Romanian disenchantment with Austria-Hungary had already influenced public and political opinion. French endorsement of Romanian action against Bulgaria, and support of the terms of the Treaty of Bucharest was particularly effective at inclining Romania towards the Entente. Furthermore, Russian courting of Romanian sympathies, exemplified by the visit of the Tsar to Constanța on 14 June 1914, signaled in a new era of positive relations between the two countries. Nevertheless, King Ferdinand I of Romania maintained a policy of neutrality, intending to gain the most for Romania by negotiating between competing powers. The result of the negotiations with the Entente was the Treaty of Bucharest (1916), which stipulated the conditions under which Romania agreed to join the war on the side of the Entente, particularly territorial promises in Austria-Hungary: Transylvania, Crișana and Maramureș, the whole Banat and most of Bukovina. According to historian John Keegan, these enticements offered by the Allies were never concrete, for in secret, Russia and France agreed not to honor any conventions when the end of the war came.

The immediate reason for Russia's involvement in the First World War was a direct result of the decisions made by the statesmen and generals during July 1914. The July Crisis was the culmination of a series of diplomatic conflicts that took place in the decades prior to 1914, and this is fundamental to an understanding of Russia's position immediately prior to the War. According to D. C. Lieven, Russia was formidable and was able to back up her diplomatic policies with force. One of the most significant factors in bringing Russia to the brink of war was the downfall of her economy. The 20 percent jump in defense expenditure during 1866-77 forced them to change their position within Europe and shift the balance of power out of her favour. At the time, Russian infrastructure was backward and the Russian government had to invest far more than its European rivals in structural changes. In addition there were overwhelming burdens of defense, which would ultimately result in an economic downfall for the Russians. This was a major strain on the Russian population, but also served as a direct threat to military expenditure. Thus the only way the Russians could sustain the strains of European war would be to place more emphasis on foreign investment from the French who essentially came to Russia's aid for industrial change. The Franco-Russian Alliance allowed for the Russian defense to grow and aid the European balance of power during the growth of the German Empire's might. Nevertheless, one of the key factors was that of the Russian foreign policy between 1890 and 1914. The Russian army was large, but had poor leadership and poor equipment, and increasingly poor morale until by 1917 it turned against the government.

Russian propaganda

World War I caricature from Russia depicting Wilhelm II, Franz Joseph I and Mehmed V. Top: "If only we could get to the top - it would be ours!" Bottom: "Let me help you with that!"

In order for the Russians to legitimize their war efforts, the government constructed an image of the enemy through state-instituted propaganda. Their main aim was to help overcome the legend of the "invincible" German war machine, in order to boost the morale of civilians and soldiers. Russian propaganda often took the form of showing the Germans as a civilized nation, with barbaric "inhuman" traits. Russian propaganda also exploited the image of the Russian POWs who were in the German camps, again in order to boost the morale of their troops, serving as encouragement to defeat the enemy and to get their fellow soldiers out of German POW camps that were perceived as inhumane.

Also, the Russians chose to discard the name Saint Petersburg to remove the German-sounding "Saint" and "-burg", favouring the more Russian-sounding Petrograd.

Illustration from the French magazine Le Petit Journal on the Bosnian Crisis. Bulgaria declares its independence and its prince Ferdinand is named Tsar. Austria-Hungary, in the person of Emperor Francis Joseph, annexes Bosnia and Herzegovina, while the Ottoman Sultan Abdul Hamid II looks on helplessly.

Specifically, the South Slavic people of Austria-Hungary desired to amalgamate with Serbia in an effort to officially solidify their shared cultural heritage. Over seven million South Slavs lived inside the Empire, while three million lived outside it. With the growing emergence of nationalism in the twentieth century, unity of all South Slavs looked promising. This tension is exemplified by Conrad von Hötzendorf's letter to Franz Ferdinand:

The unification of the South Slav race is one of the powerful national movements which can neither be ignored nor kept down. The question can only be, whether unification will take place within the boundaries of the Monarchy - that is at the expense of Serbia's independence - or under Serbia's leadership at the expense of the Monarchy. The cost to the Monarchy would be the loss of its South Slav provinces and thus of almost its entire coastline. The loss of territory and prestige would relegate the Monarchy to the status of a small power.

The Allied Powers wholeheartedly supported the Slavs' nationalistic fight. George Macaulay Trevelyan, a British historian, saw Serbia's war against Austria-Hungary as a "war of liberation" that would "free South Slavs from tyranny." In his own words: "If ever there was a battle for freedom, there is such a battle now going on in Southeastern Europe against Austrian and Magyar. If this war ends in the overthrow of the Magyar tyranny, an immense step forward will have been taken toward racial liberty and European peace."

Prior to 1915, the Russians' lack of success in war and diplomacy in the six decades before 1914 sapped the country's moral strength. The triumphs of Britain and Germany in the martial, diplomatic and economic spheres put these countries in the front rank of the world's leading nations. This was a source of national pride, self-confidence and unity. It helped reconcile the worker to the state and the Bavarian or Scotsman to rule from Berlin or London. In the years prior to 1914, Austro-Russian co-operation was both crucial for European peace and difficult to maintain. Old suspicions exacerbated by the Bosnian crisis stood in the way of agreement between the two empires, as did ethnic sensitivities. Russia's historical role as liberator of the Balkans was difficult to square with Austria's determination to control adjacent territories. In 1913-1914 Saint Petersburg was too concerned with its own weakness and what it saw as threats to vital Russian interests, to spare much thought for Vienna's feelings. The Russians were, with some justice, indignant that the concessions they had made after the First Balkan War in the interest of European peace had not been reciprocated by the Central Powers.

This was doubly dangerous given the growing evidence flowing into Petersburg about Germany's aggressive intentions. Both Bazarov and the agents of the Russian secret political police in Germany reported the concern aroused in public opinion by the press war against Russia, which raged in the spring of 1914.

The Russian military was the largest in the world consisting of 1.4 million men on duty just prior to the war. They could also mobilize up to 5 million men, but only had 4.6 million rifles to give them. It also had poor leadership.

Hindenburg at Tannenberg,
by Hugo Vogel

An engagement in Hungary

The war in the east began with the Russian invasion of East Prussia on 17 August 1914 and the Austro-Hungarian province of Galicia. The Russian offensive in the Battle of Stallupönen, which was the opening battle of the Eastern Front, quickly turned to a disastrous defeat following the Battle of Tannenberg in August 1914; even though the Russians were successfully defending at Gumbinnen a while before Tannenberg. After the Russian disaster, German troops under the command of Hindenburg inflicted another crushing defeat on the numerically superior Russian army in the First Battle of the Masurian Lakes. A second Russian incursion into Galicia was more successful, with the Russians controlling almost all of that region by the end of 1914, routing four Austrian armies in the process. Under the command of Nikolai Ivanov, Nikolai Ruzsky and Aleksei Brusilov, the Russians won the Battle of Galicia in September and began the Siege of Przemyśl, the next fortress on the road towards Kraków.

This early Russian success in 1914 on the Austro-Russian border was a reason for concern to the Central Powers and caused considerable German forces to be transferred to the East to take pressure off the Austrians, leading to the creation of the new German Ninth Army. The Austro-Hungarian government accepted the Polish proposal of establishing the Supreme National Committee as the Polish central authority within the Empire, responsible for the formation of the Polish Legions, an auxiliary military formation within the Austro-Hungarian army. At the end of 1914, the main focus of the fighting shifted to central part of Russian Poland, west of the river Vistula. The October Battle of the Vistula River and the November Battle of Łódź brought little advancement for the Germans, but at least kept the Russians at a safe distance.

The Russian and Austro-Hungarian armies continued to clash along the Carpathian Front throughout the winter of 1914-1915. Przemysl fortress managed to hold out deep behind enemy lines throughout this period, with the Russians bypassing it in order to attack the Austro-Hungarian troops further to the west. They made some progress, crossing the Carpathian Mountains in February and March 1915, but then the German relief helped the Austrians stop further Russian advances. In the meantime, Przemysl was almost entirely destroyed and the Siege of Przemysl ended in a defeat for the Austrians.

Russian troops going to the front: Support for the imperial guard being hurried into the fighting line

In 1915 the Chief of German Great General Staff, General of Infantry Erich von Falkenhayn decided to make its main effort on the Eastern Front, and accordingly transferred considerable forces there. The year began with a successful German offensive in the area of the Masurian lakes. At the same time, a large battle for the city of Przasnysz took place on the Polish front. The city changed hands several times but eventually remained in Russian hands. As a result of the battle, the Germans lost 38 000 soldiers and Russian losses amounted to about 70 000 men. In May 1915, to eliminate the Russian threat the Central Powers began the successful Gorlice-Tarnów Offensive in Galicia.

After the Second Battle of the Masurian Lakes, the German and Austro-Hungarian troops on the Eastern Front functioned under a unified command. The offensive soon turned into a general advance and a corresponding strategic retreat by the Russian Army. The cause of the reverses suffered by the Russian Army, despite a significant numerical superiority over the German enemy, was not so many errors in the tactical sphere, as the deficiency in technical equipment, particularly in artillery and ammunition as well as the corruption and incompetence of the Russian officers. Only by 1916 did the buildup of Russian war industries increase the production of war material and improve the supply situation.

By mid-1915, the Russians had been expelled from Russian Poland and hence pushed hundreds of kilometers away from the borders of the Central Powers, removing the threat of Russian invasion of Germany, although there was still slight Russian penetration into Austria-Hungary. At the end of 1915 the German-Austrian advance was stopped on the line Riga- Jakobstadt- Dünaburg- Baranovichi- Pinsk- Dubno- Tarnopol. The general outline of this front line did not change until the Russian collapse in 1917.

During the campaign of 1915, the Russian Empire lost the entire line of western fortresses, and more than 4,000 guns. The causes of heavy defeats and losses of personnel, weapons, and as a result - vast territories (the entire Kingdom of Poland, part of the Baltic states, Grodno, partly Volhynia and Podolia provinces - up to 300,000 square kilometers) were to a large extent systemic shortcomings in the management of the armed forces and the defense industry. The multi-stage placement of military orders, their slow passage in the depths of the War Ministry, the disunity of the front and rear played a negative role. Thus, until the autumn of 1915, the Russian Supreme Commander-in-Chief only coordinated the actions of the commanders-in-chief of the armies of the fronts, distributed reinforcements, requesting them from the War Ministry. The Minister of War was responsible for organizing the production of weapons and ammunition, the implementation of the replenishment of troop personnel, military transportation outside the provinces declared a theater of military operations. The military districts in the theater of operations were subordinate to the commanders-in-chief of the armies of the fronts, but not to the Headquarters. Military production also lagged behind: until the end of autumn, the active army suffered from a shortage of rifles and ammunition, the consumption of which turned out to be incommensurable with the volume of production.

Failures in the Russian system of command and control of troops and the organization of hostilities occurred at other levels. Thus, serious shortcomings in reconnaissance led to the absence of any analysis of the enemy's plans and actions. With a general superiority in forces, almost every Central Powers's operation in 1915 was "unexpected" for the command from the front to the regimental level. Passion for undercover intelligence in the highest Russian headquarters did not justify itself, and tactical intelligence was still based on barely reliable testimony of prisoners, in the absence of which the command up to the army, inclusive, was simply "blind". The separation of artillery from infantry with subordination to the inspectors of the corps and ammunition supply units (park brigades and divisions) created difficulties in the operational replenishment of ammunition and shells in the combat units. At the same time, huge stockpiles of ammunition were created in the fortresses, which were then delivered to the enemy during the retreat or destroyed due to the impossibility of evacuation. Special units were not created for the construction of fortifications in the rear of the troops. Most often, such work was hastily carried out by militia squads and the mobilized local population, sometimes including women, and then brought to the necessary defensive state by the combat units retreating on them, already exhausted by battles and night marches.

The country's geographic expanses and a large population again became the salvation of the Russia from complete military defeat, however, by the end of the 1915 campaign, it became obvious that without a radical restructuring of the war strategy, methods of managing military potential, victory becomes unattainable, and new defeats can cause another collapse of transport (as in the case of mass exodus and the hasty "evacuation" of the western provinces), supplies, public administration and, as a result, the aggravation of the struggle for power in the country. Nevertheless, as before, for the military leadership of the Russian Empire, there was only one way to victory - the numerical superiority over the Germans. To some extent, the Russian side in the autumn played along with E. von Falkenhayn, who, not considering the Russian direction to have at least some strategic prospect for achieving victory in the war, made it impossible to develop the offensive of the Eastern Front.

After the Battle of Sarikamish, the Russo-Turkish front quickly turned in favor of Russian forces. The Turks were concerned with reorganizing their army and also fighting the massive Allied armada that landed in Galipoli. Meanwhile, Russia was preoccupied with other armies on the Eastern Front. However, the appointment of Grand Duke Nicholas Nikolaevich as Viceroy and Commander in the Caucasus in September 1915 revived the situation of the Russo-Turkish front.

When the Allies withdrew from Gallipoli in December, the Caucasus Army's Chief of Staff General Nikolai Yudenich believed Turkish forces would take action against his army. This concern was legitimate: Bulgaria's entry into the war as Germany's ally in October caused serious alarm, as a land route from Germany to Turkey was now open and would allow for an unrestricted flow of German weapons to the Turks. A "window of opportunity" appeared that would allow the Russians to destroy the Turkish Third Army, as the British required assistance in Mesopotamia (now modern day Iraq). Britain's efforts to besiege Baghdad had been halted at Ctesiphon, and they were forced to retreat. This led to an increasing number of attacks by Turkish forces. The British requested the Russians to attack in an attempt to distract the Turks, and Yudenich agreed. The resulting offensive began on 10 January 1916.

This offensive was unanticipated by the Turks, as it was in the middle of winter. The Turkish situation was exacerbated by the absences of Third Army's commander Kamil Pasha and Chief of Staff Major Guse. Coupled with an imbalance of forces - the Russians had 325,000 troops while the Turks only 78,000 - the situation appeared grim for the Central Powers. After three months of fighting, the Russians captured the city of Trabzon on 18 April 1916.[citation needed ]

Allied operations in 1916 were dictated by an urgent need to force Germany to transfer forces from its Western to Eastern fronts, to relieve the pressure on the French at the Battle of Verdun. This was to be accomplished by a series of Russian offensives which would force the Germans to deploy additional forces to counter them. The first such operation was the Lake Naroch Offensive in March-April 1916, which ended in failure.

Brusilov offensive

Brusilov's plan worked impeccably. The Russians outnumbered the Austrians 200,000 to 150,000, and held a considerable advantage in guns, with 904 large guns to 600. Most importantly innovative new tactics similar to those independently invented by Erwin Rommel were used to perform quick and effective close-range surprise attacks that allowed a steady advance. The Russian Eighth Army overwhelmed the Austrian Fourth and pushed on to Lutsk, advancing 40 miles (64 km) beyond the starting position. Over a million Austrians were lost, with over 500,000 men killed or taken prisoner by mid-June.

Although the Brusilov offensive was initially successful, it slowed down considerably. An inadequate number of troops and poorly maintained supply lines hindered Brusilov's ability to follow up on the initial victories in June. The Brusilov offensive is considered to be the greatest Russian victory of the First World War. Although it cost the Russians half a million casualties only during the first two months offensive, the offensive successfully diverted substantial forces of the Central Powers from the Western front, and persuaded Romania to join the war, diverting even more Central Powers forces to the East.

The development of the Russian armament industry was mainly supported by French investors before the war. The Russian High Command saw the reason for the losses of the war in the lack of munitions. Most of these supplies were lost when advancing German troops occupied the fortifications. The production of munitions in the Tsarist empire was difficult, confidence in private enterprise among army personnel was low, and little capital was invested in the industry until 1916. About fifty percent of Russian ammunition requirements were supplied by Britain and the USA. As the Western companies were also responsible for supplying the needs of the Western Front, only a small proportion of the required quantity could be transported to Russia. In the following year, the Russian armaments industry was able to increase its production figures by a factor of two and a half and, despite the insufficient help of the Allies to cover the needs of the Russian army.

It is no exaggeration to say that Roumania may be the turning-point of the campaign. If the Germans fail there it will be the greatest disaster inflicted upon them. Afterwards it will only be a question of time. But should Germany succeed I hesitate to think what the effect will be on the fortunes of the campaign. ... and yet no one seems to have thought it his particular duty to prepare a plan...

British poster, welcoming Romania's decision to join the Entente

Romania's entry into the war provoked major strategic changes for the Germans. In September 1916, German troops were mobilized to the Eastern Front. Additionally, the German Chief of the General Staff, General Erich Von Falkenhayn was forced to resign from office though his successor appointed him to command the combined Central Powers forces against Romania, along with General August von Mackensen. Kaiser Wilhelm II immediately replaced Falkenhayn with Paul von Hindenburg. Von Hindenburg's deputy, the more adept Erich Ludendorff, was given effective control of the army and ordered to advance on Romania. On 3 September, the first troops of the Central Powers marched into Romanian territory. Simultaneously, the Bulgarian Air Force commenced an incessant bombing of Bucharest. In an attempt to relieve some pressure, French and British forces launched a new offensive known as the Battle of the Somme, while the Brusilov offensive continued in the East.

It is certain that so relatively small a state as Rumania had never before been given a role so important, and, indeed, so decisive for the history of the world at so favorable a moment. Never before had two Great Powers like Germany and Austria found themselves so much at the mercy of the military resources of a country which had scarcely one twentieth of the population of the two great states. Judging by the military situation, it was to be expected that Rumania had only to advance where she wished to decide the world war in favor of those Powers which had been hurling themselves at us in vain for years. Thus everything seemed to depend on whether Rumania was ready to make any sort of use of her momentary advantage.

The initial success of the Romanian Army in Austria-Hungarian territory was quickly undermined by the Central Powers. German and Austro-Hungarian troops advanced from the north, while Bulgarian-Turkish-German forces marched into Romania from the south. Although thought to be a tactical blunder by contemporaries, the Romanians opted to mount operations in both directions. By the middle of November the German force passed through the Carpathians, suffering significant casualties due to determined Romanian resistance. By 5 December, Bulgarian troops had crossed the Danube and were approaching the capital, Bucharest. At the same time as the Austro-Hungarian troops moved east, and as the Bulgarians marched north, the Turks had sent in two army divisions by sea to the Dobruja from the east. Eventually, the Romanian forces were pushed back behind the Siret in northern Moldavia. They received help from the Allies, notably from France which sent a military mission of more than a thousand officers, health and support staff.

The Act of 5 November 1916 was proclaimed then to the Poles jointly by the Emperors Wilhelm II of Germany and Franz Joseph of Austria-Hungary. This act promised the creation of the Kingdom of Poland out of territory of Congress Poland, envisioned by its authors as a puppet state controlled by the Central Powers. The origin of that document was the dire need to draft new recruits from German-occupied Poland for the war with Russia. Following the Armistice of 11 November 1918 ending the World War I, in spite of the previous initial total dependence of the kingdom on its sponsors, it ultimately served against their intentions as the cornerstone proto state of the nascent Second Polish Republic, the latter conposed also of territories never intended by the Central Powers to be ceded to Poland.

By January 1917, the ranks of the Romanian army had been significantly thinned. Roughly 150,000 Romanian soldiers had been taken prisoner, 200,000 men were dead or wounded, and lost two thirds of their country, including the capital. Importantly, the Ploiești oilfields, the only significant source of oil in Europe west of the Black Sea, had been destroyed before they were abandoned to the Central Powers.

Eastern Front as of 1917

On International Women's Day, Thursday, 23 February 1917/8 March 1917, as many as 90,000 female workers in the city of Petrograd left their factory jobs and marched through the streets, shouting "Bread", "Down with the autocracy!" and "Stop the War!" These women were tired, hungry, and angry, after working long hours in miserable conditions to feed their families because their menfolk were fighting at the front. They were not alone in demanding change; more than 150,000 men and women took to the streets to protest the next day.

By Saturday, 25 February, the city of Petrograd was essentially shut down. No one was allowed to work or wanted to work. Even though there were a few incidents of police and soldiers firing into the crowds, those groups soon mutinied and joined the protesters. Tsar Nicholas II, who was not in Petrograd during the revolution, heard reports of the protests but chose not to take them seriously. By 1 March, it was obvious to everyone except the Tsar himself, that his rule was over. On 2 March it was made official. From this point onwards Russia was administered by the Russian Provisional Government until the October Revolution.

In early July 1917, on a relatively small area of the Romanian front, there began one of the largest concentrations of combat forces and means known during the conflagration: nine armies, 80 infantry divisions with 974 battalions, 19 cavalry divisions with 550 squadrons and 923 artillery batteries; in total they numbered some 800,000 men, with about one million in their immediate reserve. Between late July and early September, the Romanian Army fought the battles of Mărăști, Mărășești and Oituz, managing to stop the German-Austro-Hungarian advance, inflicting heavy losses in the process and winning the most important Allied victories on the Eastern Front in 1917. As a result of these operations, the remaining Romanian territories remained unoccupied, tying down nearly 1,000,000 Central Powers troops and prompting to describe the Romanian front as "The only point of light in the East".

On 29 June 1917, Alexander Kerensky, the Minister of War in the Russian Provisional Government, launched the Kerensky offensive to end Austria-Hungary once and for all. The Russians made only 6 miles (9.7 km) of progress but the Austrians counterattacked and drove them almost entirely out of Austria-Hungary, and they retreated 150 miles (240 km), losing Tarnopol, Stanislau and Czernowitz. This defeat was accompanied by 60,000 casualties and contributed greatly to the collapse of the Russian Army during the October Revolution.

Although the February Revolution had overthrown the Tsar, the Bolsheviks still were not satisfied. In their view, the new Provisional Government was merely a more deceptive continuation of the previous government; they still refused to withdraw from the war despite how badly it was going. The upper class still wielded considerable influence in Russian economics and politics, so by September 1917, Lenin began advocating for a second revolution - one that would allow the workers and peasants to gain total control over the country. The Central Committee of the Bolshevik Party convened on 10 October, and after much heated debate, agreed that it was time to begin planning for an armed insurrection. Troops who were loyal to the Bolsheviks took control of the telegraph stations, power stations, strategic bridges, post offices, train stations, and state banks.

Petrograd was officially in the hands of the Bolsheviks, who greatly increased their organization in factory groups and in many barracks throughout Petrograd. They concentrated on devising a plan for overturning the Provisional Government, with a coup d'état. On 24 October, Lenin emerged from hiding in a suburb, entered the city, set up his headquarters at the Smolny Institute and worked to complete his three-phase plan. With the main bridges and the main railways secured, only the Winter Palace, and with it the Provisional Government, remained to be taken. On the evening of 7 November, the troops that were loyal to the Bolsheviks infiltrated the Winter Palace. After an almost bloodless coup, the Bolsheviks were the new leaders of Russia. Lenin announced that the new Bolshevik government would immediately be seeking an end to the war, implementing a system of worker's democracy, and establishing collective ownership of all farms and factories.

Territory lost by Russia under the 1918 Treaty of Brest-Litovsk

Lenin's new Bolshevik government tried to end the war, with a ceasefire being declared on 15 December 1917 along lines agreed in November. At the same time, the Bolsheviks launched a full-scale military offensive against its opponents: Ukraine and separatist governments in the Don region. During the peace negotiations between the Soviets and the Central Powers, the Germans demanded enormous concessions, eventually resulting in the failure of the long-drawn-out peace negotiations on 17 February 1918. At the same time, the Central Powers concluded a military treaty with Ukraine which was losing ground in the fight with invading Bolshevik forces. The Russian Civil War, which started just after November 1917, would tear apart Russia for three years. As a result of the events in 1917, many groups opposed to Lenin's Bolsheviks had formed. With the fall of Nicholas II, many parts of the Russian Empire took the opportunity to declare their independence, one of which was Finland, which did so in December 1917; however, Finland too collapsed into a civil war. Finland declared itself independent on 6 December 1917, and this was accepted by Lenin a month later. The Finnish Parliament elected a German prince as King of Finland. However, the Socialists (The Reds) and the Whites in Finland fell into war with each other in January 1918. The Reds wanted Finland to be a Soviet republic and were aided by Russian forces still in Finland. The Whites of Finland were led by General C.G.E.Mannerheim, a Finnish baron who had been in the Tsar's service since he was 15 years old. The Whites were also offered help by a German Expeditionary Corps led by German General Goltz. Though Mannerheim never accepted the offer, the German corps landed in Finland in April 1918.

After the disintegration of the Russian imperial army and navy in 1917, the Council of People's Commissars headed by Leon Trotsky set about creating a new army. By a decree on 28 January 1918, the council created the Workers' and Peoples' Red Army; it began recruitment on a voluntary basis, but on 22 April, the Soviet government made serving in the army compulsory for anyone who did not employ hired labor. Several officers who had served in the Russian Imperial Army defected to the Red Army in support of the Bolshevik cause. Many of them were of an aristocratic background but became disillusioned with imperialism and monarchism, although the Red Army still mostly consisted of ordinary workers and peasants.

With the German Army just 85 miles (137 km) from the Russian capital Petrograd (St. Petersburg) on 3 March 1918, the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk was signed and the Eastern Front ceased to be a war zone. In the treaty, Soviet Russia ceded 34 % of the former empire's population, 54% of its industrial land, 89 % of its coalfields, and 26 % of its railroads. The total losses in land amounted to 1 million square kilometers. Lenin bitterly called the settlement "that abyss of defeat, dismemberment, enslavement and humiliation." While the treaty was practically obsolete before the end of the year, it did provide some relief to the Bolsheviks, who were embroiled in a civil war, and affirmed the independence of Ukraine. However, Estonia and Latvia were intended to become a United Baltic Duchy to be ruled by German princes and German nobility as fiefdoms under the German Kaiser. A rump Polish state was also foreseen on the formerly Russian territories. Finland's sovereignty had already been declared in December 1917, and accepted by most nations, including France and Russia, but not by the United Kingdom and the United States.

Romanian troops during the Battle of Mărășești, 1917

On 7 May 1918 Romania signed the Treaty of Bucharest with the Central Powers, which recognised Romanian sovereignty over Bessarabia in return for ceding control of passes in the Carpathian Mountains to Austria-Hungary and granting oil concessions to Germany. Although approved by Parliament, Ferdinand I refused to sign the treaty, hoping for an Allied victory; Romania re-entered the war on 10 November 1918 on the side of the Allies and the Treaty of Bucharest was formally annulled by the Armistice of 11 November 1918. Between 1914 and 1918, an estimated 400,000 to 600,000 ethnic Romanians served with the Austro-Hungarian army, of whom up to 150,000 were killed in action; total military and civilian deaths within contemporary Romanian borders are estimated at 748,000.

With the end of major combat on the Eastern Front, the Germans were able to transfer substantial forces to the west in order to mount an offensive in France in the spring of 1918.

This offensive on the Western Front failed to achieve a decisive breakthrough, and the arrival of more and more American units in Europe was sufficient to offset the German advantage. Even after the Russian collapse, about a million German soldiers remained tied up in the east until the end of the war, attempting to run a short-lived addition to the German Empire in Europe. In the end, the Central Powers had to relinquish all of their captured lands on the eastern front, with Germany even being forced to cede territory they held before the war, under various treaties (such as the Treaty of Versailles) signed after the armistice in 1918.[citation needed ] Although the Allied Powers' victory led to the Central Powers being forced to cancel the treaty signed with Russia, the victors were at the time intervening in the Russian Civil War, causing bad relations between Russia and the Allied Powers.

2nd Lt. Ecaterina Teodoroiu, killed in action at Mărășești in 1917, regarded as a national heroine in Romania

In comparison to the attention directed to the role played by women on the Western Front during the First World War, the role of women in the east has garnered limited scholarly focus. It is estimated that 20 percent of the Russian industrial working class was conscripted into the army; therefore, women's share of industrial jobs increased dramatically. There were percentage increases in every industry, but the most noticeable increase happened in industrial labour, which increased from 31.4 percent in 1913 to 45 percent in 1918.

Women also fought on the Eastern Front. In the later stages of Russia's participation in the war, Russia began forming all-woman combat units, the Women's Battalions, in part to fight plummeting morale among male soldiers by demonstrating Russian women's willingness to fight. In Romania, Ecaterina Teodoroiu actively fought in the Romanian Army and is remembered today as a national hero.

British nursing efforts were not limited to the Western Front. Nicknamed the "Gray partridges" in reference to their dark gray overcoats, Scottish volunteer nurses arrived in Romania in 1916 under the leadership of Elsie Inglis. In addition to nursing injured personnel, Scottish nurses manned transport vehicles and acted as regimental cooks. The "Gray Partridges" were well respected by Romanian, Serbian and Russian troops and as a result, the Romanian press went as far as to characterize them as "healthy, masculine, and tanned women." As a testament to her abilities, Elsie Inglis and her volunteers were entrusted to turn an abandoned building in the city of Galați into an operational hospital, which they did in a little more than a day. Yvonne Fitzroy's published journal, "With the Scottish Nurses in Roumania," provides an excellent first hand account of Scottish nursing activities in the Eastern Front.

During World War I, approximately 200,000 German soldiers and 2.5 million soldiers from the Austro-Hungarian army entered Russian captivity. During the 1914 Russian campaign the Russians began taking thousands of Austrian prisoners. As a result, the Russian authorities made emergency facilities in Kiev, Penza, Kazan, and later Turkestan to hold the Austrian prisoners of war. As the war continued Russia began to detain soldiers from Germany as well as a growing number from the Austro-Hungarian army. The Tsarist state saw the large population of POWs as a workforce that could benefit the war economy in Russia. Many POWs were employed as farm laborers and miners in Donbas and Krivoi Rog. However, the majority of POWs were employed as laborers constructing canals and building railroads. The living and working environments for these POWs was bleak. There was a shortage of food, clean drinking water and proper medical care. During the summer months malaria was a major problem, and the malnutrition among the POWs led to many cases of scurvy. While working on the Murmansk rail building project over 25,000 POWs died. Information about the bleak conditions of the labor camps reached the German and Austro-Hungarian governments. They began to complain about the treatment of POWs. The Tsarist authorities initially refused to acknowledge the German and Habsburg governments. They rejected their claims because Russian POWs were working on railway construction in Serbia. However, they slowly agreed to stop using prison labor. Life in the camps was extremely rough for the men who resided in them. The Tsarist government could not provide adequate supplies for the men living in their POW camps. The Russian government's inability to supply the POWs in their camps with supplies was due to inadequate resources and bureaucratic rivalries. However, the conditions in the POW camps varied; some were more bearable than others.

Ultimately, a large scale sanitation program was put into effect. This program, named Sanititätswesen (Medical Affairs), was responsible for ensuring proper hygienic procedures were being carried out in Latvia, Lithuania, and Poland. Quarantine centers were built, and diseased neighbourhoods were isolated from the rest of the population. Delousing stations were prevalent in the countryside and in cities to prevent the spread of typhus fever, with mass numbers of natives being forced to take part in this process at military bathhouses. A "sanitary police" was also introduced to confirm the cleanliness of homes, and any home deemed unfit would be boarded up with a warning sign. Dogs and cats were also killed for fear of possible infection.

The Russian casualties in the First World War are difficult to estimate, due to the poor quality of available statistics.

Cornish gives a total of 2,006,000 military dead (700,000 killed in action, 970,000 died of wounds, 155,000 died of disease and 181,000 died while POWs). This measure of Russian losses is similar to that of the British Empire, 5% of the male population in the 15 to 49 age group. He says civilian casualties were five to six hundred thousand in the first two years, and were then not kept, so a total of over 1,500,000 is not unlikely. He has over five million men passing into captivity, the majority during 1915.

When Russia withdrew from the war, 2,500,000 Russian POWs were in German and Austrian hands. This by far exceeded the total number of prisoners of war (1,880,000) lost by the armies of Britain, France and Germany combined. Only the Austro-Hungarian Army, with 2,200,000 POWs, came even close.

The empire of Austria lost approximately 60% of its territory as a result of the war, and evolved into a smaller state with a small homogeneous population of 6.5 million people. With the loss, Vienna was now an imperial capital without an empire to support it. The states that were formed around Austria feared the return of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and put measures into place to prevent it from re-forming.

Czechoslovakia was created through the merging of the Czech provinces of Bohemia and Moravia, previously under Austrian rule, united with Slovakia and Ruthenia, which were part of Hungary. Although these groups had many differences between them, they believed that together they would create a stronger state. The new country was a multi-ethnic state. The population consisted of Czechs (51%), Slovaks (16%), Germans (22%), Hungarians (5%) and Rusyns (4%), with other ethnic groups making up 2%. Many of the Germans, Hungarians, Ruthenians and Poles and some Slovaks, felt oppressed because the political elite did not generally allow political autonomy for minority ethnic groups. The state proclaimed the official ideology that there are no Czechs and Slovaks, but only one nation of Czechoslovaks (see Czechoslovakism), to the disagreement of Slovaks and other ethnic groups. Once a unified Czechoslovakia was restored after World War II the conflict between the Czechs and the Slovaks surfaced again.

After the war Hungary was severely disrupted by the loss of 72% of its territory, 64% of its population and most of its natural resources. The loss of territory was similar to that of Austria after the breaking up the Austria-Hungary territory. They lost the territories of Transylvania, Slovakia, Croatia, Slavonia, Syrmia, and Banat.

Italy incorporated the regions of Trieste and South Tyrol from Austria.

The creation of a free and Independent Poland was one of Wilson's fourteen points. At the end of the 18th century the state of Poland was broken apart by Prussia, Russia, and Austria. During the Paris Peace Conference, 1919, the Commission on Polish Affairs was created which recommended there be a passageway across West Prussia and Posen, in order to give Poland access to the Baltic through the port of Danzig at the mouth of the Vistula River. The creation of the state of Poland would separate East Prussia from the rest of Germany, as it was before the Partitions of Poland. Poland also received Upper Silesia. British Foreign Secretary Lord Curzon proposed Poland's eastern border with Russia. Neither the Soviet Russians nor the Polish were happy with the demarcation of the border.

The state of Romania was enlarged greatly after the war. As a result of the Paris peace conference Romania kept the Dobrudja and Transylvania. Between the states of Yugoslavia, Czechoslovakia, and Romania an alliance named the Little Entente was formed. They worked together on matters of foreign policy in order to prevent a Habsburg restoration.

Erlikman, Vadim (2004). Poteri narodonaseleniia v XX veke [Population loss in the 20th century] (in Russian). Spravochnik.

Sanborn, Josh. "The mobilization of 1914 and the question of the Russian nation: A reexamination." Slavic Review 59.2 (2000): 267-289. online

Wildman, Allan K. End of the Russian Imperial Army: The Old Army & the Soldiers' Revolt (March-April 1917) (1980).

Trevelyan, George Macaulay (June 1915). "Austria-Hungary and Serbia". The North American Review 201 (715): 860-868.

Mamatey, Albert (Oct. 1915). "The Situation in Austria-Hungary". The Journal of Race Development 6 (2): 203-217.

Williamson, Samuel R. Jr. (1991). Austria-Hungary and the Origins of the First World War. New York: St. Martin's Press.

Mason, John W. (1985). The Dissolution of the Austro-Hungarian Empire 1867-1918. London: Longman Group Limited.

Miller, William (1922). The Balkans: Roumania, Bulgaria, Serbia and Montenegro. London: T. Fisher Unwin Ltd.

Hitchins, Keith (1994). Rumania: 1866-1947. Oxford: Clarendon Press.

Stone, David (2015). The Russian Army in the Great War: The Eastern Front, 1914-1917. Lawrence: University Press of Kansas. ISBN 978-0-7006-2095-1.

Mosier, John (2002). The Myth of the Great War. New York: Perennial.

Goldman, Wendy Z. (2002). Women at the Gates: Gender and Industry in Stalin's Russia. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Coroban, Costel (2012). Potarnichile gri. Spitalele Femeilor Scotiene in Romania (1916-1917). Targoviste: Cetatea de Scaun.

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Jukes, Geoffrey (2002). Essential Histories: The First World War, The Eastern Front 1914-1918. Oxford: Osprey Publishing.

Lieven, Dominic (1983). Russia and the Origins of the First World War. New York: St Martin's Press. ISBN 978-0-312-69611-5.

Liulevicius, Vejas Gabriel (2000). War Land on the Eastern Front: Culture, National Identity, and German Occupation in World War I. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-66157-9.

Kowalski, Ronald (1997). The Russian Revolution 1917-1921. London: Routledge. ISBN 0-415-12437-9.

McRandle, James; Quirk, James (July 2006). "The Blood Test Revisited: A New Look at German Casualty Counts in World War I". The Journal of Military History. Society for Military History. 70 (3): 667-701. doi:10.1353/jmh.2006.0180. S2CID 159930725.

McCauley, Martin (1975). The Russian Revolution and The Soviet State 1917-1921. London: Macmillan.

Roshwald, Aviel; Stites, Richard, eds. (1999). European Culture in the Great War:The Arts, Entertainment and Propaganda 1914-1918. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp. 6,349-358.

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Vinogradov, V.N (1992). "Romania in the First World War: The Years of Neutrality, 1914-16." The International History Review 14 (3): 452-461.

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"WWI Eastern Front Foto". 18 June 2005 - via Flickr.

"WWI Eastern Front Part II". 26 October 2005 - via Flickr.

With the Russian army, 1914-1917 by Alfred Knox

War And Revolution In Russia 1914-1917 by General Basil Gourko.

WWI German Military Cemeteries in Belarus modern photos by Andrey Dybowski (rus).

Der Vormarsch der Flieger Abteilung 27 in der Ukraine (The advance of Flight Squadron 27 in the Ukraine). This portfolio, comprising 263 photographs mounted on 48 pages, is a photo-documentary of the German occupation and military advances through the southern Ukraine in the spring and summer of 1918.

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Eastern Front Part of the European theatre of World War I Clockwise from top left: soldiers stationed in the Carpathian Mountains, 1915; German soldiers in Kyiv, March 1918; the Russian ship Slava , October 1917; Russian infantry, 1914; Romanian infantry Belligerents Central Powers: Germany (1916-17) (1916-17) Allied Powers: (1914-17) (1917) Romania (1916-17) (1916-17) Belgium (1915-17) (1916-17) (1916-17) Soviet Russia (1917-18) Commanders and leaders Paul von Hindenburg Erich Ludendorff Leopold of Bavaria Max Hoffmann Conrad von Hötzendorf A.

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German possessions in the Far East are attacked as New Zealand troops occupy German Samoa.

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The following events occurred in July 1914:
On the war see July Crisis and Causes of World War I.

July Crisis - Austria-Hungary received confirmation from Germany that they could expect full support from their ally should they choose to wage war against Serbia in response to Serbian nationalists assassinating Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria. With some diplomatic reports alleging Dragutin Dimitrijević, Chief of Serbian Military Intelligence, and others in the Serbian government being involved in the assassination plot, Russian Ambassador Nicholas Hartwig met with officials in Belgrade to advise on the best maneuvers for Serbia to take during the crisis.

Canadian Arctic Expedition - Survivors of the Karluk shipwreck raised the Canadian flag on Wrangel Island in the Bering Sea in honour of Dominion Day. There were now 14 survivors of the original 25 people that survived the sinking in January. Fortunately, Karluk captain Robert Bartlett had reached Alaska and was now arranging rescue ships.

Born: Ahmed Hassan al-Bakr, Iraqi state leader, President of Iraq from 1968 to 1979, in Tikrit (d. 1982); Stephen Juba, Canadian politician, 37th Mayor of Winnipeg, first Ukrainian Canadian to hold political high office, in Winnipeg (d. 1993); Sara Seegar, American actress, best known for the role of "Mrs Wilson" in the 1960s TV series Dennis the Menace, in Greentown, Indiana (d. 1990);

Born: Christl Cranz, German alpine skier, gold medal winner at the 1936 Winter Olympics, in Brussels (d. 2004); Orli Wald, French-German resistance fighter, member of the German Resistance during World War Two, known as the "Angel of Auschwitz" which she escaped in 1945, in Bourell, France (d. 1962)

After delays, the first issue of the Vorticism art magazine was distributed.

Born: Frederick Fennell, American conductor, best known for his recordings with the Eastman Wind Ensemble, in Cleveland (d. 2004); Hannes Bok, American artist, best known for cover art for pulp and science fiction magazines including Weird Tales and Other Worlds, in Kansas City, Missouri (d. 1964); Erich Topp, German naval officer, commander of U-Boat that sank USS Reuben James, recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross, in Hanover (d. 2005)

The Simla Accord was sealed by Great Britain and Tibet despite objections from China, which rejected the Accord entirely. British and Tibetan plenipotentiaries attached a note denying China any privileges under the Accord and sealed it as a bilateral agreement. The Accord redefined borders between Tibet and British India. It also divided Tibet into two political regions, with the "outer" territory under Tibetan rule from the capital of Lhasa while the "inner" region fell under Chinese control.

Died: Henry Willard Denison, American diplomat, U.S. ambassador to Japan during the Meiji period (b. 1846)

July Crisis - A council was held at Potsdam, where leaders from Austria-Hungary and Germany met to discuss possibilities of war with Serbia, Russia, and France, concluding it had become necessary "to eliminate Serbia" in spite of expected resistance from her allies. Their option to go to war was further reinforced by letters from Helmuth von Moltke, Chief of the German General Staff, and Emperor Franz Joseph that both stated war was necessary to preserve the monarchy.

Born: Jean Tabaud, French artist, known for portraits of many of famous families including the Fords and the Duponts, in Saujon, France (d. 1996); John Thomas Dunlop, American public servant, 14th United States Secretary of Labor, in Placerville, California, (d. 2003)

Komagata Maru incident - The Court of Appeal of British Columbia gave a unanimous judgement that under new orders-in-council, it had no authority to interfere with the decisions of the Department of Immigration and Colonization, allowing the Canadian government legal standing to order Vancouver harbour's tug Sea Lion to push the Japanese vessel out to sea with more than 300 Sikhs and other British Indian subjects on board.

July Crisis - British Foreign Secretary Sir Edward Grey received warning from German ambassador Karl Max of likely war in the Balkans, but Grey was optimistic "that a peaceful solution would be reached" through Anglo-German co-operation. Meanwhile, Kaiser Wilhelm II went on his annual cruise of the North Sea at the insistence of his courtiers, even though he wished to remain in Berlin until the crisis was resolved.

The 6th French Grand Prix, organised by the Automobile Club de France (ACF), was run at Lyon over 752.58 km (37.629 km x 20 laps). The winner was Christian Lautenschlager of Germany driving a Mercedes 18/100 in 7:08:18.4. The race was retrospectively referred to as the XIV Grand Prix de l´ACF.

Born: Viola Desmond, Canadian activist, known for her court case that challenged racial segregation in Nova Scotia, in Halifax (d. 1965); Vincent J. McMahon, America professional wrestling promoter, manager of the Capitol Wrestling Corporation (now WWE), father of Vince McMahon, in New York City (d. 1984)

Serbian Prime Minister Nikola Pašić contradicted previous statements by his diplomats saying Serbia had warned Austria-Hungary about plots to assassinate Archduke Franz Ferdinand, saying to the Hungarian daily newspaper Az Est that his foreign affairs office made no such warnings (and repeating it again to the Paris Edition of the New York Herald on July 20).

The Canadian Pacific Railway, owner of the ocean liner Empress of Ireland which sank in May, took possession of SS Storstad, the vessel that collided with the "Empress", and then sold it for $175,000 as part of its $2,000,000 lawsuit for damages against the Swedish ship's owners A. F. Klaveness & Co.

French Navy destroyer Mousqueton sank after it collided with a fellow submarine in the Mediterranean Sea, with all 26 crew rescued.

American passenger ship Great Northern was launched by William Cramp & Sons in Philadelphia to serve the Pacific Northwest seaway.

Two counties were established in Georgia: Bacon County with its county seat in Alma., and Barrow County with its county seat in Winder.

Born: Harry Strom, Canadian politician, 9th Premier of Alberta, in Burdett, Alberta (d. 1984); Anil Biswas, Indian film composer, known for scores in and Journey Beyond Three Seas, in Barisal, British India (d. 2003)

Mexican Revolution - Rebel soldiers under command of Álvaro Obregón captured Guadalajara. The revolutionaries routed 12,000 federal soldiers, killing 8,000 and capturing 5,000 more along with much of the federal army's artillery. The battle effectively ended the Victoriano Huerta regime.

Charlie Chaplin starred as a hapless dental assistant in Laughing Gas.

Born: Willi Stoph, German politician, Prime Minister of East Germany from 1964 to 1973, and 1976 to 1989, in Berlin (d. 1999); Paul Vario, American gangster, member of the Lucchese crime family, famously inspired the "Paul Cicero" character in the movie Goodfellas, in New York City (d. 1988)

Died: Henry Emmerson, Canadian politician, 9th Premier of New Brunswick (b. 1853)

USS Nevada, the United States Navy's first "super-dreadnought" battleship, was launched, in sponsorship by Miss Eleanor Anne Seibert, niece of Nevada Governor Tasker Oddie and a descendant of the first Secretary of the Navy, Benjamin Stoddert. The launch was attended by several prominent members of the government, including Governor Oddie, Governor David I. Walsh of Massachusetts, Senator Key Pittman of Nevada, Secretary of the Navy Josephus Daniels and Assistant Secretary of the Navy Franklin D. Roosevelt, who would later become the 32nd President of the United States.

American aviator Walter L. Brock won the London-Paris return air race.

Publisher William P. Beard, an ally to South Carolina politician Coleman Livingston Blease, ran the first edition of the weekly newspaper Abbeville Scimitar in Abbeville, South Carolina. The paper became notorious for racist editorials, including the endorsement of lynching. The paper was closed in 1917 after Beard was convicted of sedition for opposing the United States entrance to World War One on racist grounds.

Born: George Putnam, American news reporter and news anchor, anchored for all four independent news stations in Los Angeles, in Breckenridge, Minnesota (d. 2008); Wim Hora Adema, Dutch author, co-founder of the feminist magazine , in Leeuwarderadeel, Netherlands (d. 1998); Kenneth Clark, American psychologist, co-founder with wife Mamie Clark of Harlem Youth Opportunities Unlimited and first African-American president of the American Psychological Association, in Panama (d. 2005)

Mexican Revolution - Victoriano Huerta resigned as president of Mexico and left for Coatzacoalcos, Veracruz. Francisco S. Carvajal succeeded him as the 36th President of Mexico, holding the office for a month while power was transitioned to Venustiano Carranza.

Born: Akhtar Hameed Khan, Pakistani social scientist, pioneer of micro-crediting in developing countries, in Agra, British India (d. 1999); Gavin Maxwell, Scottish naturalist and leader researcher in otters, author of Ring of Bright Water, Elrig, Scotland (d. 1969); Frank Headlam, Australian air force officer, commander of the Royal Australian Air Force Air Command and Support Command during the 1960s, commander of the No. 2 Squadron during World War Two, recipient of the Order of the Bath and Order of the British Empire, in Launceston, Tasmania, Australia (d. 1976)

July Crisis - The German Army's quartermaster general wrote to Foreign Minister Gottlieb von Jagow to confirm, "I can move at a moment's notice. We in the General Staff are ready: there is nothing more for us to do at this juncture."

After valiant attempt rebelling against press censorship by the Russian government, Yiddish journalists in St. Petersburg were forced to shut down the bi-weekly Undzer Tsayt (Our Times) again, not long after their original paper, (The Time), was muzzled in June.

Born: Eleanor Steber, American opera singer, soprano singer for the Metropolitan Opera, in Wheeling, West Virginia (d. 1990); Paul Brand, British-American physician, lead researcher in treating leprosy, in Tamil Nadu, British India (d. 2003); James Purdy, American writer, author of Cabot Wright Begins, Eustace Chisholm & the Works, in Hicksville, Ohio (d. 2009)

Komagata Maru incident - The tugboat Sea Lion, with 35 armed immigration officers and 125 Vancouver police officers on board, attempted to force the Japanese vessel from Vancouver harbour. Passengers on the ship resisted, pelting the officers with coal and bricks while another with an ax chopped at a line the tug boat used to tie to the ship. When a gunman on board the Komagata Maru opened fire, the Sea Lion backed off.

Born: Marius Russo, American baseball player, pitcher for the New York Yankees from 1939 to 1946, in New York City (d. 2005); Horace Smithy, American surgeon, performed the first heart valve operation, in Norfolk, Virginia (d. 1948)

U.S. Navy destroyer O'Brien was launched from the William Cramp & Sons shipyard in Philadelphia.

Born: Dobri Dobrev, Bulgarian philanthropist, collected an estimated 80,000 Bulgarian lev (40,000 euros) for charitable causes at the Cathedral of Alexander Nevsky in Sofia, Bulgaria from 2000 to 2018 (d. 2018); Charilaos Florakis, Greek politician, leader of the Communist Party of Greece from 1972 to 1989, in Paliozoglopi, Greece (d. 2005); Richard J. Collins, American film and TV producer and director, known for TV programs and , in New York City (d. 2013)

Buckingham Palace Conference - Both Irish Nationalists and Irish Unionists met at the Royal Palace in London for a three-day peace conference. Those who attended were the Prime Minister H. H. Asquith, David Lloyd George, the Irish Parliamentary Party leader John Redmond, and his deputy John Dillon. The Unionists included Edward Carson, leader of the Irish Unionist Alliance, with Bonar Law, James Craig and Lord Henry Lansdowne. The Speaker of the House of Commons presided.

Komagata Maru incident - The Canadian government mobilized HMCS Rainbow, a former Royal Navy ship, with troops from the 11th Regiment Irish Fusiliers of Canada, 72nd Regiment "Seaforth Highlanders of Canada", and the 6th Regiment "The Duke of Connaught's Own Rifles", to force the Japanese vessel to return to India.

The Ban'etsu East railroad was extended in Fukushima Prefecture, Japan, with stations Mōgi and Miharu serving the line. As well, the Fukuen railroad was extended in Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan, with stations Yudamura serving the line.

July Crisis - In attempt to stem the tide of emerging war, British Foreign Secretary Sir Edward Grey offered to Russia and Germany to mediate a discussion with their respective allies that would influence Austria-Hungary to back off on Serbia while allowing each nation to save face. Russian foreign minister Sergey Sazonov agreed to the offer for conference, but Kaiser Wilhelm II instructed his British ambassador to reject Grey's "condescending orders".

Komagata Maru incident - After earlier resistance to police, passengers on the Komagata Maru complied and allowed the ship's crew to charter the Japanese vessel out of Canadian waters. Only 20 of the 376 Sikh and Hindu passengers were allowed into Canada as they already had residential papers.

The Moro Province in the Philippines, along with Agusan, Bukidnon and Surigao, was divided into the provinces of Zamboanga, Lanao, Cotabato, Davao, and Sulu. The political reorganization was completed under the authority of the Department of Mindanao and Sulu.

Italian cruiser Basilicata was launched for service with the Royal Italian Navy at Castellammare, Italy.

Born: Alice Arden, American athlete, competed in the 1936 Summer Olympics, active in Olympic committees in New York City, in Philadelphia (d. 2012); Carlton Benjamin Goodlett, American publisher, founder of the Reporter Publishing Company which specialized in newspaper for African-American readers including The Sun-Reporter, in Chipley, Florida (d. 1997)

Born: Virgil Finlay, American artist, illustrator for speculative fiction magazines including Amazing Stories and Weird Tales, in Rochester, New York (d. 1971); Carl Foreman, American screenwriter, known for the screenplays including , recipient of the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay for The Bridge on the River Kwai, in Chicago (d. 1984)

Died: Charlotte Forten Grimké, African American poet, prominent member of the American Anti-Slavery Society (b. 1837)

The Russian Council of Ministers met after Austria-Hungary presented their ultimatum to Serbia. Alexander Krivoshein, close adviser to Nicholas II of Russia, noted the "rearmament programme had not been completed and it seemed doubtful whether our Army and Fleet would ever be able to compete with those of Germany and Austria-Hungary." It was decided Russia would partially mobilize against Austria-Hungary to deter war.

Mexican Revolution - Exiled former Mexican president Victoriano Huerta reached Kingston, Jamaica aboard the German cruiser SMS Dresden where he resided with his family before journeying to the United States in the spring of 1915.

Born: Frances Oldham Kelsey, Canadian pharmacologist, advocated to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to not authorize thalidomide for sale, in Cobble Hill, British Columbia (d. 2015); Ed Mirvish, American-Canadian businessman and philanthropist, owner of Honest Ed's landmark store in Toronto, in Colonial Beach, Virginia (d. 2007)

July Crisis - Emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria signed a mobilization order for eight army corps to begin operations against Serbia within 72 hours, while Austro-Hungarian ambassador Baron Wladimir Giesl von Gieslingen left Belgrade. Radomir Putnik, Chief of the Serbian General Staff, was arrested in Budapest but subsequently allowed to return to Serbia.

Born: Vũ Văn Mẫu, Vietnamese politician, last Prime Minister of South Vietnam, in Hanoi, Indochina (d. 1998); Woody Strode, American football player and actor, offensive end for the Los Angeles Rams and Calgary Stampeders from 1946 to 1949, Grey Cup champion in 1948, known for roles in Sergeant Rutledge, Pork Chop Hill and , in Los Angeles (d. 1994)

July Crisis - An offer from Great Britain to mediate a resolution to the political crisis between Austria-Hungary, Germany, Serbia, and Russia was rejected by Germany and Russia.

Howth gun-running - Erskine Childers and his wife Molly sailed into Howth on his yacht and landed 2,500 guns for the Irish Volunteers. The King's Own Scottish Borderers of the British Army, having been called out to assist police in attempting to prevent the Volunteers from moving the arms to Dublin, fired on a crowd of protesters at Bachelors Walk, killing three and injuring 38 (a fourth man later died from bayonet wounds).

Born: Erskine Hawkins, American jazz trumpeter and bandleader, known for the hit "Tuxedo Junction" with partner Bill Johnson, in Birmingham, Alabama (d. 1993); Ralph Blane, American composer and singer, composed with partner Hugh Martin "The Boy Next Door", "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" and "The Trolley Song" for the film musical Meet Me in St. Louis, in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma (d. 1995); C. Farris Bryant, American politician, 34th Governor of Florida, in Marion County, Florida (d. 2002)

Felix Ysagun Manalo registered the Iglesia ni Cristo (Church of Christ) with the government of the Philippines.

Born: Gusti Huber, Austrian actress, best known for the role of Anne Frank's mother Edith in the 1959 film The Diary of Anne Frank, in Wiener Neustadt, Austria (d. 1993); Amha Selassie, Ethiopian noble, last Emperor of Ethiopia, in Harar, Ethiopia (d. 1997); Frank Bradway Rogers, American physician, founder of the United States National Library of Medicine, in Norwood, Ohio (d. 1987)

World War One - At 11:00 a.m., Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia by telegram. The same day, a manifesto titled "To my peoples" and signed by Franz Joseph I of Austria was released informing the citizens of the Austria-Hungary that the Empire was going to war. Shortly after, the Austro-Hungarian Army mobilized its 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, and 6th field armies.

Pursuit of Goeben and Breslau - While the ships of the Imperial German Navy Mediterranean Division were under repair in the Adriatic Sea, Counter Admiral Wilhelm Souchon learned that British and French naval forces had been ordered to capture the ships. He ordered the repairs stopped and the ships to set course for the Dardanelles, a narrow strait in northwestern Turkey, as a means to escape the naval blockade.

A French jury acquitted Henriette Caillaux, wife of French minister Joseph Caillaux, of the murder of newspaper editor Gaston Calmette after defense lawyer Fernand Labori (who famously defended Alfred Dreyfus) successfully argued the homicide was a crime of passion and not premeditated. Cailllaux shot the editor of in March after she believed Calmette would publish love letters between her and her husband indicating they were intimate while Joseph was still married to his first wife.

Royal Naval Air Service Squadron Commander Arthur M. Longmore successfully released a 14-inch (356-mm) torpedo from a Short Admiralty Type 81 floatplane, possibly the first successful aerial launch of a torpedo, although Captain Alessandro Guidoni of Italy's drop of a dummy torpedo from the experimental Pateras Pescara monoplane may have occurred earlier that year.

Born: Kenneth Neate, Australian opera singer, tenor for the Bayreuth Festspielhaus in Germany, in Cessnock, New South Wales, Australia (d. 1997)

Russia mobilizes

Pursuit of Goeben and Breslau - Winston Churchill, the First Lord of the Admiralty, instructed Admiral Sir Archibald Berkeley Milne, commander of the British Mediterranean Fleet, "to aid the French in the transportation of their African Army by covering, and if possible, bringing to action individual fast German ships, particularly Goeben, who may interfere in that action."

Norwegian aviator Tryggve Gran made the first crossing of the North Sea by aeroplane, flying a Blériot XI-2 monoplane Ca Flotte 465 km (289 mi) from Cruden Bay, Scotland, to Jæren, Norway, in 4 hours 10 minutes.

Died: Albert Trott, Australian cricketer, batsman for the Australia and England cricket teams, as well as for the Marylebone Cricket Club from 1896 to 1911 (b. 1873)

World War One - Bound by treaty to defend Serbia, Nicholas II of Russia ordered full mobilization of the Russian Imperial Army against Austria-Hungary, including the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th, 9th, 10th, and 11th Armies, as well as the Caucasus Army for the Caucasus Military District in southern front of the Russian Empire.

French Socialist leader Jean Jaurès was assassinated in a Parisian café by Raoul Villain, a 29-year-old French nationalist. Jaurès had been due to attend a conference of the International on August 9, in an attempt to dissuade France from going ahead with the war.

Born: Louis de Funès, French actor, best known for his adaptation of the Molière classic , in Hauts-de-Seine, France (d. 1983); Raymond Aubrac, French partisan fighter, one of the major leaders of the French Resistance during World War Two, recipient of the Legion of Honour, in Vesoul, France (d. 2012); Mario Bava, Italian film director, best known for developing the horror sub-genre in the 1960s, in Sanremo, Italy (d. 1980)

References

1. Jack Beatty, ^ The Lost History of 1914: Reconsidering the Year the Great War Began (1912) excerpt; looks at six major nations and argues argues the war was not inevitable.

2. ^ Albertini, Luigi (1953). "Origins of the War of 1914 II". Oxford: Oxford University Press: 131-32. OCLC 168712.

3. ^ "Proclamation: Norfolk Island Act 1913" (pdf). Australian Government Gazette (35). June 17, 1914. p. 1043. Archived from the original on June 12, 2018.

4. ^ Jukvam, Dag (1999). "Historisk oversikt over endringer i kommune- og fylkesinndelingen" (PDF) (in Norwegian). Statistisk sentralbyrå.

5. (^ "Convention Between Great Britain, China, and Tibet, Simla (1914)", Tibet Justice Center Archived March 10, 2009, at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved March 20, 2009).

6. ^ Hoisington, William A (1995), Lyautey and the French Conquest of Morocco, New York: Macmillan (St Martin's Press), p. 70, ISBN 978-0-312-12529-5

7. ^ "Exploded in Apartment Occupied by Tarrytown Disturbers. Only One Escaped Alive". The New York Times. July 5, 1914. A large quantity of dynamite, which the police and certain friends of the leaders of the I. W. W. believe was being made into a bomb to be used in blowing up John D. Rockefeller's Tarrytown home, exploded prematurely at 9:16 o'clock in the upper story or on the roof of the new seven-story model tenement house at 1,626 Lexington Avenue.

8. Hofmeester, Karin. ^ Jewish Workers and the Labour Movement: A Comparative Study of Amsterdam, London and Paris (1870-1914). Burlington, VT [u.a.]: Ashgate, 2004. pp. 264-266

9. Worthy, Trevor H. (1997): A survey of historical Laughing Owl (^ Sceloglaux albifacies) specimens in museum collections. Notornis 44(4): 241-252. PDF fulltext

10. ^ "Body Surely Hamel's; Corpse found and abandoned by fisherman that of airman" (PDF). The New York Times. July 9, 1914.

11. ^ International Marine Engineering. "S.S. Great Northern and Northern Pacific". XIX (December 1914). Aldrich Publishing Company: 535.

12. ^ Bergere, Marie-Claire; Lloyd, Janet (2000). Sun Yat-sen. Stanford, California: Stanford University Press. ISBN 978-0-8047-4011-1.

13. (July 10, 1914). ^ The Real Estate Field, The New York Times ("The property, on which is the Herald Square Theatre, has a Broadway frontage of 211.5 feet, 207 feet on Thirty-fifth Street and eight-one feet on Thirty-sixth Street.")

14. ^ "California Cities by Incorporation Date". California Association of Local Agency Formation Commissions. Archived from the original (Word) on November 3, 2014.

15. ^ "Plan Big Meeting For Dead Bomb Men: Demonstration in Union Square by Anti-Militarist League Announced for Tomorrow" (PDF). The New York Times. Adolph Ochs. July 10, 1914. p. 1.

16. ^ Brudnick, Ida A. (2008). "The Congressional Research Service and the American Legislative Process" (PDF). Congressional Research Service. Archived (PDF) from the original on July 18, 2009.

17. ^ Yuraku: The First Philatelic Journal of Japan (1914) by Umejiro Kimura in The Postage Stamp, September 5, 1914, reproduced at Philatelic Database, April 22, 2011. Retrieved April 25, 2014. Archived here.

18. Marten-Finnis, Susanne. ^ Vilna As a Centre of the Modern Jewish Press, 1840-1928: Aspirations, Challenges, and Progress. Oxford: Peter Lang, 2004. p. 120

19. ^ Maurer, Maurer, ed. (1983) [1961]. Air Force Combat Units of World War II (PDF) (reprint ed.). Washington, DC: Office of Air Force History. p. 2. ISBN 0-912799-02-1. LCCN 61060979.

20. ^ nakamara, Fumitoshi (January 2004). "The Japanese Experience with Railway Constructing" (PDF). nber.org. University of Chicago press.

21. ^ Chambelland, Colette (1987). "La Vie ouvrière (1909-1914)". Cahiers Georges Sorel (in French). 5: 93. doi:10.3406/mcm.1987.946.

22. ^ Scott, W. D.; Reid, Malcolm R. J. (July 21, 1914). "Rainbow securing landing on Komagata Maru": 536.

23. ^ 郡山駅・会津若松駅・三春駅ほか (Koriyama Station, Aizu-Wakamatsu Station, Miharu Station, etc). 週刊 JR全駅・全車両基地 (in Japanese). 50. Asahi Newspaper Publishing. August 4, 2013. p. 27. ASIN B00DNBCZL0.

24. ^ Nicholson, S. B. (1914). "Discovery of the Ninth Satellite of Jupiter". Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific. 26: 197-198. Bibcode:1914PASP...26..197N. doi:10.1086/122336. PMC .

25. ^ Babcock, Robert H. (January 1982). "The Saint John Street Railwaymen's Strike and Riot, 1914". Acadiensis. University of New Brunswick. 11 (2). ISSN 0044-5851.

26. ^ M. Keith Booker (January 1, 2005). Encyclopedia of Literature and Politics: S-Z. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 649. ISBN 978-0-313-33568-6.

27. ^ Richard S. Vosko: Cathedral of the Incarnation Archived December 13, 2011, at the Wayback Machine retrieved June 15, 2011

28. ^ Kautsky, Karl, ed. (1924). "Outbreak of the World War: German Documents". UK: Oxford University Press: 247, no 265. ASIN B0018OKJVC.

29. ^ "Austro-Hungarian Government Has Declared War on Serbia," The Ogden Standard. (Ogden City, Utah), 28 July 1914. Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers. Library of Congress.

30. ^ Jarrett, Philip. "Supermarine Origins: Pemberton-Billing Flying Boats". Air Enthusiast. No. Forty-eight. pp. 4-10. ISSN 0143-5450.

31. ^ Smith, W. L.; Priest, W. W. (1915). "The Design and Erection of the Pennsylvania Lift Bridge No. 458 Over the South Branch of the Chicago River". Journal of the Western Society of Engineers. Chicago, IL: Western Society of Engineers. XX: 478-500.

32. ^ Raphael Levy (January 1929). "The Daily Press in France". The Modern Language Journal. 13 (4). doi:10.1111/j.1540-4781.1929.tb01247.x. JSTOR 315897.

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The following events occurred in July 1914: On the war see July Crisis and Causes of World War I. July Crisis - Austria-Hungary received confirmation from Germany that they could expect full support from their ally should they choose to wage war against Serbia in response to Serbian nationalists assassinating Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria.

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the French 6th Army under the command of General Michel-Joseph Manoury attacks the right flank of the German 1st Army, beginning the decisive First Battle of the Marne

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The following events occurred in September 1914:

Due to war with Germany, Saint Petersburg in Russia changed its name to Petrograd, meaning "Peter's City", to remove the German words Sankt and Burg.

Affair of Néry - A cavalry brigade from the retreating British Army fought a skirmish against an opposing German cavalry brigade twice their size, during the Great Retreat from Mons. The British artillery was mostly put out of action in the first few minutes, but a single gun successfully kept up a steady fire for two and a half hours against a full German battery until British reinforcements arrived. Three men of the artillery unit were awarded the Victoria Cross for their part in the battle, including Edward Kinder Bradbury who died from wounds during the battle. The battery itself was later awarded the honour title of "Néry", the only British Army unit to have this as a battle honour.

The Imperial Japanese Navy seaplane carrier Wakamiya arrived off Kiaochow Bay, China, to participate in operations during the Siege of Tsingtao. It was the first combat deployment of an aviation ship by any country.

Japan landed between 15,000 and 20,000 troops at Longkou, China, north of the German-control Chinese port of Tsingtao in preparation to lay siege on the port, even though it violated China's neutrality.

The 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 7th, 10th, 13th, 16th, and 20th Battalions were established for the Canadian Expeditionary Force and deployed to Europe on October 14.

Charles Masterman invited 25 "eminent literary men" to Wellington House in London to form a secret British war propaganda bureau. Those who attend include William Archer, Arnold Bennett, G. K. Chesterton, Arthur Conan Doyle, Ford Madox Hueffer, John Galsworthy, Thomas Hardy, Rudyard Kipling, John Masefield, Henry Newbolt, Gilbert Parker, G. M. Trevelyan and H. G. Wells.

British Royal Navy scout cruiser HMS Pathfinder was sunk by German submarine U-21 in the Firth of Forth (Scotland), with the loss of 261 sailors. It was the first ship ever to be sunk by a locomotive torpedo fired from a submarine.

During the Siege of Tsingtao, the Imperial Japanese Navy carried out its first air combat mission. A three-seat Farman seaplane from the Wakamiya bombed German fortifications at Tsingtao, China, and conducted a reconnaissance of Kiaochow Bay.

The cover of magazine London Opinion first carried the iconic drawing by Alfred Leete of Lord Kitchener with the recruiting slogan Your Country Needs You.

Born: Isolina Ferré, Puerto Rican Roman Catholic nun, recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom for her humanitarian work, in Ponce, Puerto Rico (d. 2000); Minuetta Kessler, Russian-Canadian composer and pianist, noted piano prodigy best known for her performances with the Boston Pops Orchestra, in Gomel, Russia (d. 2002)

Battle of Grand Couronné - German attacks drove French defenders back south of Verdun, which threatened to separate the Second and Third armies. General Noël Castelnau requested to retreat from Nancy again but ordered to hold the city for another 24 hours.

The German cruiser SMS Nürnberg destroyed a cable relay station on Fanning Island (now Tabuaeran) in the Pacific Ocean, in what became known as the Fanning Raid.

Canadian Arctic Expedition - The trading schooner King and Winge reached Wrangel Island in the Bering Sea and found 14 of the original 25 survivors of the Karluk shipwreck onshore to meet them. They were rapidly transferred to the ship and then sailed to Herald Island to search for another party that had ventured out there in February, but were forced to turn back because of ice. The ship rendezvoused with the days later and the crew was reunited with Captain Robert Bartlett.

Actor Dustin Farnum reprised his successful 1904 stage role of The Virginian, based upon the 1902 novel by Owen Wister, in the first screen adaptation of the western directed by Cecil B. DeMille.

The novel Aunt Jane's Nieces in the Red Cross by L. Frank Baum opens on September 7, 1914, where main characters Patsy Doyle and Beth De Graf of the Aunt Jane's Nieces series and their uncle John Merrick read a newspaper account of the end of the Siege of Maubeuge and the German victory. The German victory concern the girls and motivates them to help out with the war effort.

Born: James Van Allen, American physicist, detected the existence of the Van Allen radiation belt surrounding Earth, in Mount Pleasant, Iowa (d. 2006); Jean Blackwell Hutson, American librarian and curator, chief of the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, in Sommerfield, Florida (d. 1998)

Born: Mandy Mitchell-Innes, English cricketer, batsman for the England cricket team and Somerset County Cricket Club from 1931 to 1949, in Calcutta, British India (d. 2006); Lída Baarová, Czech-Austrian actress, mistress to Nazi propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels, in Prague (d. 2000)

German Chancellor Theobald von Bethmann-Hollweg laid out Germany's war aims in the Septemberprogramm, as drafted by his private secretary, Kurt Riezler. Assuming a quick and decisive victory over France, the plan proposed making vassal states of Belgium and France and seizing much land from Imperial Russia in Eastern Europe.

Battle of Bita Paka - Australian occupation of German New Guinea began with HMAS Melbourne capturing instead of destroying a wireless station on Nauru after it was found abandoned.

Hilaire Belloc was contracted to write regular articles on the War in the new British weekly Land and Water.

The period drama Break, Break, Break was released, starring William Garwood and Louise Lester as mid-Victorian lovers, and directed by Harry A. Pollard.

Born: Victor Tennekoon, Sri Lankan judge, 35th Chief Justice of Sri Lanka, in Central Province, Sri Lanka (d. 2007); Alexander Cordell, Welsh writer, author of the Mortymer Saga which included Rape of the Fair Country, The Hosts of Rebecca and Song of the Earth, in Colombo, Ceylon (d. 1997); Seymour Heller, American talent agent, best known for being the agent for Liberace, in Cleveland (d. 2001)

The German light cruiser SMS Emden moved into the main shipping route between India and Ceylon began capturing or sinking half a dozen merchant ships, starting with the . The Royal Navy began ordering ships in the Indian Ocean to hunt down the cruiser.

Born: Robert Wise, American film director and producer, Oscar winner for Best Director and Best Picture for West Side Story and The Sound of Music, in Winchester, Indiana (d. 2005); Terence O'Neill, Irish state leader, 4th Prime Minister of Northern Ireland, in London (d. 1990); Keith Hampshire, Australian air force officer, commander of the No. 6, No. 22 and No. 456 Squadrons during World War Two, recipient of the Distinguished Service Order and Distinguished Flying Cross, in Port Macquarie, Australia (d. 1982)

The Armistead Monument to General George Armistead was unveiled at Fort McHenry, Baltimore.

Born: Desmond Llewelyn, Welsh actor, best known for his role as Q in 17 of the James Bond films, in Newport, Wales (d. 1999, killed in an auto accident); Janusz Żurakowski, Polish-Canadian fighter and test pilot, first test pilot of the Avro Arrow, in Ryzawka, Russian Empire (d. 2004)

The German cruiser SMS Cap Trafalgar was sunk by the British cruiser RMS Carmania at Trindade and Martim Vaz, off the coast of Brazil, with a loss of up to 50 crew and another 279 captured.

The Royal Australian Navy's first submarine HMAS AE1 was lost off the Duke of York Islands with all 35 men while patrolling New Britain after less than seven months in service, the first Allied submarine loss of the War.

Born: Clayton Moore, American actor, played The Lone Ranger on television from 1949 to 1957, in Chicago (d. 1999); Manlio Di Rosa, Italian fencer, two-time gold and silver medalist at the 1936, 1948, 1952 and 1956 Summer Olympics, in Livorno, Italy (d. 1989); M. J. Thirumalachar, Indian microbiologist, known for the development of antifungal antibiotics, recipient of the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize for Science and Technology, in Mysore, India (d. 1999)

Maritz rebellion - Christian Frederick Beyers, Commandant-General of the Union Defence Force in South Africa, resigned from his commission in protest of the South African government's decision to provide military support to the British Commonwealth during World War One. Along with General Koos de la Rey, who served in the Boer War and was nominated to the Senate, Beyers traveled to an armory in Potchefstroom to meet with commanding officer Major Jan Kemp. Major Kemp and some 2,000 men under his command were supposedly sympathetic to Beyer's ideas. On the way to the meeting, De la Rey's car was fired upon by a policeman after it failed to stop at a road block set up to look for a fugitive criminal gang. De la Rey was hit and killed.

Born: Jens Otto Krag, Danish state leader, 18th Prime Minister of Denmark, in Randers, Denmark (d. 1978); Subandrio, Indonesian politician, 10th Foreign Minister of Indonesia until removed from office following the failed 1965 coup after which he was imprisoned for 29 years, in Malang, Indonesia (d. 2004)

Born: Creighton Abrams, American military officer, commanded military operations in the Vietnam War from 1968 to 1972, in Springfield, Massachusetts (d. 1974); Ernest van den Haag, Dutch-American sociologist, advocate for racial segregation in the United States through the National Review, in The Hague (d. 2002)

Born: Adolfo Bioy Casares, Argentine writer, author of the novella The Invention of Morel, in Buenos Aires (d. 1999); Robert McCloskey, American children's author/illustrator, best known of Make Way for Ducklings, in Hamilton, Ohio (d. 2003); John Roderick, American journalist, covered Mao Zedong and rise of communist China from 1946 to 1984, in Waterville, Maine (d. 2008)

The German light cruiser SMS Emden bombarded Madras, the only Indian city to be attacked by the Central Powers in World War One.

In the first British air raid against Germany in history, Royal Naval Air Service BE.2 aircraft of No. 3 Squadron based at Antwerp, Belgium, attacked German airship hangars at Cologne and Düsseldorf, Germany, but failed to inflict damage due to bad weather and the failure of bombs to explode.

Bombardment of Papeete - German armoured cruisers SMS Scharnhorst and Gneisenau entered the port of Papeete on the island of Tahiti and sank the French gunboat Zélée and freighter Walkure before bombarding the town's fortifications.

French novelist Alain-Fournier (Lieutenant Henri-Alban Fournier), aged 27, was killed in action near Vaux-lès-Palameix (Meuse) a month after enlisting, leaving his second novel, Colombe Blanchet, unfinished. His body wasn't identified until 1991.

Born: Jack LaLanne, American fitness, exercise and nutritional expert, producer and host of The Jack LaLanne Show from 1951 to 1985, in San Francisco (d. 2011); Achille Compagnoni, Italian mountaineer, scaled and reached the summit of K2 with Lino Lacedelli, the first climbers to do it, in Santa Caterina di Valfurva, Italy (d. 2009)

Born: Dorian Shainin, American engineer, noted quality and reliability expert for NASA, United States Department of Defense, Hewlett-Packard, Ford Motor Company, Exxon, AT&T and others, in San Francisco (d. 2000); Richard Earl Thompson, American artist, member of the American Impressionism movement, in Oak Park, Illinois (d. 1991)

Komagata Maru incident - Passengers of the Japanese ship Komagata Maru arrived back in Calcutta after being forced to return from Canada. British authorities attempted to arrest Baba Gurdit Singh and 20 other men deemed as leaders for organizing the voyage. Singh resisted arrest, causing a general riot to break out. British officers opened fire and killed 19 passengers. Most of the survivors were arrested, but Singh escaped along with a few others and remained underground until 1920.

Siege of Tsingtao - German naval ships SMS Cormoran, SMS Iltis, SMS Luchs, and SMS Tiger were scuttled off the coast of Tsingtau, China to prevent capture by the British.

The Oz Film Manufacturing Company, founded by L. Frank Baum, author of the bestselling fantasy novels set in the Land of Oz, released the first film adaptations of his books - The Patchwork Girl of Oz and The Magic Cloak of Oz. Unfortunately, neither movie was a success and subsequent films failed to translate Baum's success with the books into movies. The film company would fold within a year.

Died: Richard Warren Sears, American business leader, founder of Sears, Roebuck and Company (b. 1863); Christian Fleetwood, American soldier, noted African-American to receive the Medal of Honor for actions at the Battle of Chaffin's Farm during the American Civil War (b. 1840); Stevan Mokranjac, Serbian composer, credited as the "father of Serbian music" for compositions and musical education in Belgrade (b. 1856)

References

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The following events occurred in September 1914: Due to war with Germany, Saint Petersburg in Russia changed its name to Petrograd, meaning "Peter's City", to remove the German words Sankt and Burg. Affair of Néry - A cavalry brigade from the retreating British Army fought a skirmish against an opposing German cavalry brigade twice their size, during the Great Retreat from Mons.

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The Allies suffered major casualties, with the French sustaining somewhere 50,000 to 80,000 casualties, followed by the British with over 58,000, and Belgium with over 21,000

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December 25th:during a war that would go on to kill and wound tens of millions of soldiers, the western front and possibly other parts of the eastern front went quiet in observation of Christmas

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April 22- may 25

a wave of asphyxiating gas released from cylinders embedded in the ground by German specialist troops smothered the Allied line on the northern end of the Ypres salient

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April 22, 1915: A Fearful Word in the Trenches: ‘Gas!’

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The Australian infantry wears small box respirators to ward off the harmful effects of poison gas. Courtesy Australian War Memorial 1915: Poison gas is used for the first time on the Western Front at the Second Battle of Ypres. Although the attack opened up an 8,000-yard gap in the Allied line, as French and Algerian […]

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April 24th a symbolic date for commemorating the victims of the Ottoman Empire's near total destruction of its Armenian population.

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Column of Armenian deportees guarded by gendarmes in Harput vilayet

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April 25th:16,000 Australians and New Zealanders, together with British, French and Indian troops, landed on the Gallipoli peninsula. The invasion was part of a campaign to: capture the peninsula and help naval operations in the Dardanelles straits

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May 7th:the German submarine (U-boat) U-20 torpedoed and sank the Lusitania, a swift-moving British cruise liner traveling from New York to Liverpool, England. Of the 1,959 men, women, and children on board, 1,195 perished, including 123 Americans

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On May 7, 1915, a German U-boat torpedoed the British-owned luxury steamship , killing 1,195 people including 128 Americans, according to the Library of Congress. The disaster immediately strained relations between Germany and the neutral United States, fueled anti-German sentiment and set off a chain of events that eventually led to the United States entering World War I.

Lusitania, owned by the Cunard Shipping Line, was launched in 1906 to carry passengers on transatlantic voyages. The British Admiralty subsidized the ship's construction with the understanding it would be pressed into military service if war broke out. After World War I began in 1914, Lusitania remained a passenger ship, although it was secretly modified for war.

By February 1915, German naval commanders knew British merchants were arming their ships and that both merchant and passenger ships were transporting weapons and supplies from the United States to Europe.

As a result, Germany declared the waters surrounding the British Isles a war zone and stopped following international naval "prize laws," which warned ships of a submarine's presence. This break from naval protocol angered and troubled the United States and the European Allies.

Germany Attacks a Ship With Civilian Passengers

Days before Lusitania was scheduled to leave New York for Liverpool in early May 1915, the Imperial German Embassy in Washington D.C. placed ads in American newspapers reminding Americans that Britain and Germany were at war. They warned potential travelers that "vessels flying the flag of Great Britain or of any of her allies are liable to destruction" and should be avoided.

Since it was assumed Germany would still allow passengers to get into lifeboats prior to an attack, the cautions were largely ignored.

On May 7, 1915, six days after leaving New York for Liverpool, Lusitania took a direct hit from a German U-boat submarine-without any warning-and sank within 20 minutes.

Attack Triggers Anti-German Sentiment in America

As word spread about Lusitania's tragic fate, so did the outrage. American citizens were saddened and stunned but not ready to rush to war. President Woodrow Wilson wanted to proceed with caution and remain neutral while former President Theodore Roosevelt demanded swift retaliation.

Germany defended its aggression, claiming Lusitania had carried weapons and war supplies and was therefore fair game. As they continued to divert blame, British propaganda against them snowballed. Throngs of vengeance-seeking Brits rushed to enlist, and anti-German riots broke out in London.

Said Winston Churchill, First Lord of the Admiralty, "The poor babies who perished in the ocean struck a blow at German power more deadly than could have been achieved by the sacrifice of 100,000 men."

The U.S. Issues a Warning

In August 1915, a German submarine sunk the British ocean liner S.S. Arabic and claimed self-defense. The event further strained diplomatic relations between the United States and Germany. President Wilson warned Germany that if it was determined they'd sunk the ship without cause, the United States may cut diplomatic ties and enter the war.

Germany caved, and in September announced they'd no longer sink passenger ships without warning. Satisfied, at least for the moment, President Wilson chose not to declare war on Germany despite being encouraged otherwise by some of his cabinet members.

The Zimmerman Telegram Becomes the Final Straw

The sinking of Lusitania was a public relations nightmare for Germany as public opinion in the United States turned against them. But President Wilson still wasn't ready to take his country to war.

Then, in early 1917, Britain intelligence intercepted a telegram from German Foreign Minister Arthur Zimmerman to the German Minister to Mexico Henrich von Eckhardt.

The Zimmerman telegram stated that Germany planned to return to unrestricted submarine warfare and would sink all ships-including those carrying American passengers-located in the war zone. The telegram also proposed an alliance between Germany and Mexico should the United States decide to join the European Allies.

President Wilson was outraged but still didn't enter the war. However, when Germany officially resumed unrestricted submarine warfare, Wilson and the American public had had enough. In April 1917, the United States Congress voted to declare war on the Central Powers and entered World War I.

The U.S. Readies for War

The sinking of Lusitania didn't directly cause the United States to enter the war. It did, however, fuel virulent anti-German sentiment in Britain and the United States and hinder diplomatic relations between Germany and the United States.

It also showed the world that Germany was willing to do almost anything to win the war, which incited the Allies to fight harder and signaled to the United States that permanent neutrality was likely futile.

Fact Check

We strive for accuracy and fairness. But if you see something that doesn't look right, click here to contact us! HISTORY reviews and updates its content regularly to ensure it is complete and accurate.

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How the Sinking of Lusitania Changed World War I | HISTORY

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A German U-boat torpedoed the British-owned steamship Lusitania, killing 1,195 people including 123 Americans, on May 7, 1915. The disaster set off a chain of events that led to the U.S. entering World War I.

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Oct 12th: British nurse Edith Cavell was executed by a German firing squad for helping Allied soldiers escape from Belgium.

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Feb 21-Dec 18thBattle of Verdun, (February 21–December 18, 1916), World War I engagement in which the French repulsed a major German offensive. It was one of the longest, bloodiest, and most-ferocious battles of the war

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July 1st-Nov 18th: The Battle of the Somme (1 July - 18 November 1916) was a joint operation between British and French forces intended to achieve a decisive victory over the Germans on the Western Front

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Nov 7th: Democratic U.S. President Woodrow Wilson narrowly defeated Republican Charles E. Hughes in the U.S. presidential election.

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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Australian Prime Minister Billy Hughes forms the National Labor Party.

A British Army chaplain helps a wounded German prisoner away from the Battle of the Ancre.

U.S. President Woodrow Wilson narrowly wins the presidential election.

The following events occurred in November 1916:

Pavel Milyukov, member of the Russian State Duma

Born: Al Campanis, Greek-American sports executive, general manager of the Los Angeles Dodgers from 1968 to 1987, in Kos, Dodecanese, Kingdom of Italy (d. 1998); Kebede Michael, Ethiopian writer, considered the nation's most prolific writer of non-fiction, poetry and drama including A Spark of Knowledge and The Light of the Mind, in Debre Birhan, Ethiopia (d. 1998)

Died: Frank Hugh O'Donnell, Irish politician, leading member of the Irish Parliamentary Party, Member of Parliament for Dungarvan, Ireland from 1877 to 1885 (b. 1846); Sarah Francisco, Irish-Australian housekeeper, racked up a record 295 public drunkenness convictions in Australia before sobering in 1910 when she joined The Salvation Army (b. 1839)

Italian infantry leaving trenches at Isonzo.

Ninth Battle of the Isonzo - The battle ended in a stalemate with Italians suffering 75,000 casualties and the Austro-Hungarians sustaining 63,000.[16]

German submarine SM U-20, which sank British ocean liner RMS Lusitania the previous year, ran aground off the coast of Denmark and was scuttled the following day.[17]

Born: John Basilone, American marine, recipient of the Medal of Honor for action during the Guadalcanal campaign, in Buffalo, New York (d. 1945, killed at Battle of Iwo Jima); Walter Cronkite, American television journalist, anchorman for CBS Evening News from 1962 to 1981, most significantly announcing to the American viewing public the assassination of John F. Kennedy in Dallas and the first Moon landing in 1969, in St. Joseph, Missouri (d. 2009); Ruth Handler, American inventor, co-founder of Mattel with husband Elliot Handler which produced popular toys as Barbie and Hot Wheels, in Denver (d. 2002)

Battle of Le Transloy - British forces made one last attack on the German-held Butte de Warlencourt burial ground, with a loss of c. 1,000 casualties.[20]

A British submarine on patrol in the North Sea was able to attack and damage two out of four ships in a German squadron. While there no major casualties and all German ships were able to return to port, it resulted in Germany shifting its naval offensive from surface ships to submarines.[23][24]

The body of Ali Dinar, November 1916

German submarine SM UB-45 struck a mine and sank in the Black Sea, killing 16 of her crew.[27]

German submarine SM UB-43 fired a torpedo on British armed passenger ship Arabia in the Mediterranean Sea. It hit the engine room and killed 11 ship engineers but the rest of the 187 passengers and crew on board were able to abandon ship and be rescued.[28]

American cargo ship Chester A. Congdon ran aground in Lake Superior. It capsized two days later, the first time a ship valued over $1 million was lost in the Great Lakes.[29]

Born: Ray Conniff, American jazz musician, best known for his group the Ray Conniff Singers during the 1960s and best-selling albums 'S Wonderful! and Dance the Bop!, in Attleboro, Massachusetts (d. 2002); Seth J. McKee, American air force officer, commander of the North American Aerospace Defense Command from 1969 to 1973, in McGehee, Arkansas (d. 2016); Lauri Pekuri, Finnish air force officer, commander of Karelia Air Command, fighter ace during World War II and first Finn to break the sound barrier, in Helsinki (d. 1999)

Battle of the Crna Bend - The Allies concentrated intense shelling of Bulgarian defenses between the towns of Krape and Polog along the Crna River in Macedonia.[33][34]

Born: Galaktion Alpaidze, Soviet army officer, chief of the Plesetsk Cosmodrome (spaceport) from 1963 to 1975, recipient of the USSR State Prize, in Kursebi, Russian Empire (d. 2006); George William Gregory Bird, British medical researcher, established the modern blood donation system in Great Britain, in Bombay, British India (d. 1997); Norman Wengert, American political scientist, author of Natural Resources and the Political Struggle, in Milwaukee (d. 2001)

Born: George W. Gibbs Jr., American naval serviceman, first African-American to set foot on Antarctica, in Jacksonville, Florida (d. 2000); H. Louis Nichols, American lawyer, only attorney to see Lee Harvey Oswald while he was in custody by the Dallas Police Department after the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, in Collin County, Texas (d. 2010)

Battle of the Crna Bend - After three days of constant shelling from the Allies, Bulgaria was forced to abandon all of its defensive positions along the Crna River in Macedonia, allowing Serbian forces to take them over.[40][41]

Born: Billy May, American composer, best known for TV show themes including The Green Hornet, The Mod Squad, and Naked City, and collaborations with Frank Sinatra and Nat King Cole, in Pittsburgh (d. 2004)

Died: Walter Sutton, American geneticist, co-developer of the Boveri-Sutton chromosome theory (b. 1877); Eduard Nápravník, Czech composer and conductor, principal conductor of the Mariinsky Theatre in Saint Petersburg (b. 1839)

French troopship SS Burdigala struck a mine and sank off the coast of Greece, with the loss of one life.[49]

The Australian government established the Department of Home and Territories and the Department of Works and Railways, with both departments dissolved respectively in 1928 and 1932.[51][52]

Born: Sherwood Schwartz, American television producer, creator of popular TV programs including Gilligan's Island and The Brady Bunch, in Passaic, New Jersey (d. 2011); Ellen Neel, Canadian aboriginal artist, first woman to professionally carve totem poles, in Alert Bay, British Columbia (d. 1966)

Born: Bill Melendez, Mexican-American animator, chief animator and producer of the Peanuts cartoon series, voice of Snoopy and Woodstock, also animator for Pinocchio, Fantasia, Dumbo and Bambi, in Hermosillo, Sonora, Mexico (d. 2008); Edward M. Davis, American law enforcer, Chief of the Los Angeles Police Department from 1969 to 1978, well-known technical adviser for 1960s TV cop shows Dragnet and Adam-12, in Los Angeles (d. 2006); Nita Barrow, Barbados state leader, first and only woman to hold the seat of Governor-General of Barbados, sister to Errol Barrow (d. 1995)

Died: Henryk Sienkiewicz, Polish writer, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Literature for his historical novels including Quo Vadis (b. 1846); Molly Elliot Seawell, American novelist, known popular novels including Paul Jones and The Fortunes of Fifi (b. 1860); Luis Muñoz Rivera, Puerto Rican poet and statesman, Resident Commissioner of Puerto Rico from 1911 to 1916 (b. 1859)

Samuel Waring formed the Nieuport & General Aircraft Company in Cricklewood, London, to build Nieuport 11 and later Nieuport 17, Sopwith Camel, and Sopwith Snipe military aircraft for the British war effort.[57]

British racer Dario Resta won the 11th and final running of the original Vanderbilt Cup at Santa Monica, California driving a Peugeot EX3.[59][60]

Born: John Forfar, British physician, one of the main founders of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, in Glasgow (d. 2013); Herb Green, New Zealand physician, lead physician on women's health for Auckland City Hospital, center of the controversial Cartwright Inquiry in the 1980s, in Balclutha, New Zealand (d. 2001)

Died: Bethany Veney, American author, best known for her autobiography Aunt Betty's Story: The Narrative of Bethany Veney, A Slave Woman (b. 1813)

British cavalry on the Ancre

Battle of the Somme - British Expeditionary Force commander Douglas Haig called off further offensives following the wind-down of fighting at the Battle of the Ancre. The order ended four-and-a-half months of offensives that began July 1, and while a tactical British victory, was also one of the costliest battles of World War I:

Total British casualties, including Commonwealth allies Australia, Canada, New Zealand, South Africa and the Dominion of Newfoundland were 419,654, including 95,675 killed or missing, and 782 aircraft and 576 pilots shot down (although the British retained their air superiority).

Total French casualties were 204,253, including 50,756 killed or missing.

Total German casualties were estimated between 465,000 and 600,000, including 164,055 killed or missing and 38,000 taken prisoner.[64]

Battle of the Ancre - German forces forced the British out at Serre, France but lost ground elsewhere, ending the battle in a tactical victory for the British.[65] While the British suffered 23,274 casualties, the Germans suffered more from the start of November with 45,000 casualties including 7,183 prisoners.[66]

American racers Howdy Wilcox and Johnny Aitken won the 7th and final running of the American Grand Prize at Santa Monica, California driving a Peugeot EX5 over 648.934 km (13.519 km x 48 laps) in a time of in 4:42:47. The race would not be revived until 1958 as the Formula One United States Grand Prix.[67]

Born: Evelyn Keyes, American actress, best known for the role of Suellen O'Hara in Gone with the Wind, in Port Arthur, Texas (d. 2008); Nils Erik Bæhrendtz, Swedish academic and TV personality, best known as one of the commentators for the Swedish nightly news show Aktuellt, in Stockholm (d. 2002); Donald T. Campbell, American social scientist, developed concept of evolutionary epistemology, in Grass Lake, Michigan (d. 1996)

Battle of Bucharest - The Central Powers completed their cross of the Danube River at Sistova and occupied the regional capital of Craiova, Romania.[73]

Hospital ship HMHS Britannic, designed as the third Olympic-class ocean liner for White Star Line, sank in the Kea Channel of the Aegean Sea after hitting a mine, with 30 lives lost. At 48,158 gross register tons, she was the largest ship lost during the war.[74]

The Breguet 14 aircraft began operation.[76]

Born: Sid Luckman, American football player, quarterback for the Chicago Bears from 1939 to 1950, in New York City (d. 1998); Jadunath Singh, Indian soldier, recipient of the Param Vir Chakra for action during Indo-Pakistani War of 1947, in Shahjahanpur, India (d. 1948, killed in action)

Died: Jack London, American writer, author of White Fang, Call of the Wild and The Sea-Wolf (b. 1876); Ida Dixon, American socialite and golf course architect, first woman to design golf courses including the Springhaven Country Club golf course in Wallingford, Pennsylvania (b. 1854)

Died: Charles C. Cordill, American politician, member of the Louisiana State Senate from 1884 to 1912 (b. 1845); George White, British industrialist, pioneered construction of electrical tramways including the Bristol Tramways, co-founder of the Bristol Aeroplane Company (b. 1854)

St Martin's Theatre opened in West End of London with the Edwardian musical comedy Houp La!, starring Gertie Millar.[81][82] The theatre is most famous for the longest continuous run of a play when it premiered the Agatha Christie mystery The Mousetrap in 1974.[83]

Born: Michael Gough, British actor, best known for playing Alfred Pennyworth in the Tim Burton/Joel Schumacher Batman series, as well as a regular in Hammer-produced horror films including Dracula, in Kuala Lumpur (d. 2011); P. K. Page, British-Canadian poet, recipient of the Governor General's Award for her poetry collection The Metal and the Flower, in Swanage, Dorset, England (d. 2010); Ken Kavanaugh, American football player, played end for the Chicago Bears from 1940 to 1950, in Little Rock, Arkansas (d. 2007)

French officials met with Albanian nationalist leader Themistokli Gërmenji to discuss governance of Albania after the liberation of Korçë from Bulgaria.[citation needed ]

Born: Forrest J Ackerman, American writer, editor and principal writer of sci-fi/horror film fan magazine Famous Monsters of Filmland, in Los Angeles (d. 2008); James Pope-Hennessy, English biographer and travel writer, author of Aspects of Provence and Sins of the Fathers, son of Richard Pope-Hennessy, in London (d. 1974, murdered); Frankie Muse Freeman, American civil right activist and lawyer, first woman to be appointed to the United States Commission on Civil Rights, in Danville, Virginia (d. 2018)

Died: Hiram Maxim, American firearms inventor, developed the first portable machine gun (b. 1840); Princess Adelheid, German noble, last Duchess of Nassau from 1851 until 1866 and Grand Duchess of Luxembourg from 1890 until 1905 (b. 1833); John Francis Barnett, British composer, best known for his choral compositions including The Ancient Mariner and The Raising of Lazarus (b. 1837)

Royal Navy destroyer HMS Radiant was launched by John I. Thornycroft & Company at Woolston, England, but was noted for being sold to the Royal Thai Navy in 1920 and would serve it until 1957.[85]

Born: Villu Toots, Estonian artist, known for masterwork in calligraphy in books such as Tänapäeva kiri, in Reval, Russian Empire (d. 1993); Peg Lynch, American radio producer and writer, best known for her popular 1940s radio show Ethel and Albert, in Lincoln, Nebraska (d. 2015); Clyde M. Narramore, American psychologist and evangelist, best known for his faith-based psychology books and radio show Psychology for Living, in Palo Verde, Arizona (d. 2015)

Died: Frank Desprez, English poet and playwright, best known for his poem Lasca and his work with collaborations with Richard D'Oyly Carte (b. 1853); Inez Milholland, American suffragist, leading member of the National Woman's Party and key organizer of the Woman suffrage parade of 1913 (b. 1886)

Bad weather, equipment problems and improved British air defenses frustrated raiding goals for eight German Navy Zeppelins targeting industrial complexes in the British Midlands. One airship struck West Hartlepool, killing four and injuring 11 people. Royal Flying Corps Second Lieutenant Ian V. Pyott of No. 36 Squadron shot down an airship over Castle Eden, killing her entire crew including her famed commander Max Dietrich. Another three-aircraft squadron led by Flight Lieutenant Egbert Cadbury shot down L 21 off Lowestoft, England.[89][90]

British airship R.9 began operation.[91]

Born: Roderick Chisholm, American philosopher, leading thinker on epistemology and philosophy of perception, author of Perceiving, in North Attleborough, Massachusetts (d. 1999); Henry Earl Singleton, American engineer, co-founder of Teledyne Technologies, in Haslet, Texas (d. 1999)

Died: Émile Verhaeren, Belgian poet, known for poetry collections including Les Soirs, Les Heures du Soir, and Les Ailes rouges de la Guerre (b. 1855); John T. Struble, American pioneer, one of the builders of Iowa City (b. 1828); Edward Trickett, Australian rower, winner of the World Sculling Championship in 1876 (b. 1851)

Military cemetery for Romanians killed at Battle of Prunaru.

Royal Navy battleship HMS Penshurst shelled and sank German U-boat SM UB-19 in the English Channel with the loss of eight of her 24 crew.[99]

Born: John Franklin Bardin, American crime writer, author of The Deadly Percheron, The Last of Philip Banter and Devil Take the Blue-Tail Fly, in New York City (d. 1981); Lim Kim San, Singaporean politician, minister of the Housing and Development Board for Singapore from 1960 and 1965 resulted in modern development of the nation, in Singapore (d. 2006)

Died: Dorrit Weixler, German actress, best known for the Dorrit film comedy series from 1915 to 1916, by suicide (b. 1892)

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21. ^ Willan, B.P. (1978). "The South African Native Labour Contingent, 1916-1918". The Journal of African History. 19 (1): 61-62. doi:10.1017/S0021853700015954. JSTOR 180612.

22. ^ Rajaraman, P. (1988). The Justice Party: a historical perspective, 1916-37. Poompozhil Publishers. chapter 2. OCLC 20453430. Archived from the original on 21 July 2011.

23. ^ Hamric, Jacob Lee (May 1, 2005). "Germany's Decisive Victory: Falkenhayn's Campaign in Romania, 1916" (PDF). Michigan War Studies Review. Eastern Michigan University: 8. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 3, 2016.

24. ^ Chirnside, Mark (2011) [2004]. The Olympic-Class Ships. Stroud: Tempus. pp. 259-261. ISBN 978-0-7524-2868-0.

25. Donald, David, ed., ^ The Complete Encyclopedia of World Aircraft, New York: Barnes & Noble Books, 1997, ISBN 0-7607-0592-5, p. 185

26. ^ "SE.5A History." The Vintage Aviator. Retrieved: 26 July 2009.

27. ^ Battle of Jiu (Romanian)

28. ^ Wearing, J. P., The London stage, 1910-1919: a calendar of plays and players, vol. 1 (Scarecrow Press, 1982)

29. Thetford, Owen, ^ British Naval Aircraft Since 1912, Sixth Edition, Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1991, ISBN 1-55750-076-2, p. 39.

30. ^ Olteanu, Constantin (1988). "Istoria Militară a Poporului Român". 5. Bucharest: Militară. OCLC 13189140.

31. ^ "The Times history of the war" (txt). The Times. London. p. 85. During the next three weeks ... October 25 ...., about the same time, the French occupied Koritsa.

Franks, Norman L. R.; Bailey, Frank W.; Guest, Russell (1993). Above the Lines: The Aces and Fighter Units of the German Air Service, Naval Air Service and Flanders Marine Corps, 1914-1918. London: Grub Street. ISBN 0-948817-73-9.

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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia The following events occurred in November 1916: Born: Al Campanis, Greek-American sports executive, general manager of the Los Angeles Dodgers from 1968 to 1987, in Kos, Dodecanese, Kingdom of Italy (d.

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Jan 19th British naval intelligence intercepted and decrypted a telegram sent by German Foreign Minister Arthur Zimmerman to the German Ambassador in Mexico City.

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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

German foreign minister Arthur Zimmermann, authorized the Zimmermann Telegram promising Germany's alliance to Mexico against the United States.

The intercepted Zimmermann Telegram

The following events occurred in January 1917:

The Luftstreitkräfte (German Air Force) disbanded three Kampfgeschwader (bomber wings) and redesignated their squadrons as Schutzstaffeln (escort squadrons). Operating two-seat Albatros, Rumpler, Gotha Taube, and Fokker aircraft, the new "Schusta" squadrons are tasked with escorting two-seat observation planes of the Feldflieger Abteilungen (field flying detachments) and Artillerieflieger Abteilungen (artillery flying detachments) during their reconnaissance flights, and are based with them.[3]

The Leipzig Transport Authority was established through a merger of two other transit companies in Leipzig.

The comic opera Eileen, written by Victor Herbert and Henry Blossom, premiered at the Colonial Theatre in Cleveland as Hearts of Erin before moving to Boston and changing to its current title.[11]

Born: Zainab al Ghazali, Egyptian activist, founder of the Muslim Women's Association in Egypt (d. 2005); Shannon Bolin, American actress and singer, best known for her stage work in Damn Yankees, The Golden Apple, Take Me Along, The Little Foxes and Desire Under the Elms, in Spencer, South Dakota (d. 2016); Ruzi Nazar, Uzbek-American spy, leading CIA agent in Turkey and Germany during the 1950s and 1960s, in Margilan, Uzbekistan (d. 2015)

Latvian Riflemen in the trenches during the Christmas Battles.

Born: Adolfo Consolini, Italian discus thrower, gold medalist in the 1948 Summer Olympics and silver medalist in the 1952 Summer Olympics, in Costermano sul Garda, Italy (d. 1969); Lucienne Day, British textile designer, best known for her award-winning contemporary designs, such as Calyx for fashion and interior, recipient of the Order of the British Empire, in Surrey, England (d. 2010)

Born: Jane Wyman, American actress, best known for her role as Angela Channing in the television soap opera Falcon Crest, recipient of the Academy Award for Best Actress for Johnny Belinda, first wife of Ronald Reagan, in St. Joseph, Missouri (d. 2007)

Born: Koo Chen-fu, Taiwanese business leader, head of the Koos Group, in Taihoku Chō, Taiwan (d. 2005); Maeve Brennan, Irish writer, known for her The Long-Winded Lady articles in The New Yorker and her novella The Visitor, in Dublin (d. 1993); Sydney Banks, Canadian broadcaster, founder and director of CUC Broadcasting, in Toronto (d. 2006)

Died: Frederick William Borden, Canadian politician, 15th Minister of Militia and Defence, in Cornwallis, Nova Scotia (b. 1847); Hendrick Peter Godfried Quack, Dutch economist and historian, author of De socialisten: Personen en stelsels ("The socialists: persons and systems") (b. 1834)

Born: Sylvia Agnes Sophia Tait, British chemist, known for her collaborations with husband James Francis Tait on the discovery of the hormone aldosterone, in Tyumen, Russia (d. 2003)

Died: George Warrender, British naval officer, commander of the 2nd Battle Squadron during World War I (b. 1860); Mary Arthur McElroy, American socialite, sister to U.S. President Chester A. Arthur and acting First Lady of the United States (b. 1841); Maximilian von Schwartzkoppen, German army officer, one of the figures involved in the Dreyfus affair (b. 1850)

British infantry at the Battle of Rafa.

Silent Sentinels picketing the White House

Ruins of a munitions plant at Kingsland, New Jersey, after a massive explosion destroyed the entire factory.

German fortifications during the Christmas Battles.

Zimmermann Telegram - Arthur Zimmermann, State Secretary for Foreign Affairs for the German Empire, sent a coded telegram to Heinrich von Eckardt, German ambassador to Mexico, with instructions to propose to Mexico that the country and Germany "make war together, make peace together, generous financial support and an understanding on our part that Mexico is to reconquer the lost territory in Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona.[59]

Born: Muhammad Mansur Ali, Bangladeshi state leader, third Prime Minister of Bangladesh, in Kuripara, British India (d. 1975, assassinated); Justin Ahomadégbé-Tomêtin, Beninese state leader, Premier of Dahomey (now Benin) from 1964 to 1965, in Abomey, Dahomey (d. 2002)

Died: George Dewey, American naval officer, only officer to attain the rank of Admiral of the Navy (b. 1837)

Zimmermann Telegram - British intelligence monitoring German telegraph communications intercepted a coded telegram between German Foreign Affairs and the German embassy in Mexico through American diplomat James W. Gerard. It was sent to Room 40 at the British Admiralty where codebreaker Nigel de Grey solved the encryption and uncovered evidence of Germany's plans to spread World War I to North America.[61]

Born: M. G. Ramachandran, Indian politician and actor, known for romantic leads in films including Alibaba and the Forty Thieves and One in a Thousand, third Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, in Kandy, British Ceylon (d. 1987)

Born: Amelia Piccinini, Italian athlete, silver medalist in shot put at the 1948 Summer Olympics, in Turin (d. 1979); Jocko Thompson, American baseball player, pitcher for the Philadelphia Phillies from 1948 to 1951, in Beverly, Massachusetts (d. 1988)

German submarine SM U-76 collided with a Russian trawler and sank in the Arctic Ocean with the loss of a crew member.[72]

The Charlie Chaplin comedy Easy Street premiered, with Chaplin's The Tramp playing a beat cop assigned to the roughest neighborhood in the city. Edna Purviance, a regular lead in his films, played a damsel in distress.[74]

Born: Michael Elkins, American journalist, foreign correspondent for CBS News and BBC News, in New York City (d. 2001); Bruce Shand, British noble and army officer, father to Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, commander of the 12th Royal Lancers during World War II, in London (d. 2006)

Died: Emma Miller, Australian political activist, leading suffragist leader in Australia and co-founder of the Australian Labor Party (b. 1839); Bérenger Saunière, French clergy, his refusal to leave the parish Rennes-le-Château in France and continuing to practice priestly duties after being defrocked led to conspiracy theories that featured prominently in the book The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail (b. 1852)

Born: Ernest Borgnine, American actor, best known for his film roles in From Here to Eternity, The Wild Bunch, and The Poseidon Adventure, and television roles including McHale's Navy, Airwolf, and SpongeBob SquarePants, recipient of the Academy Award for Best Actor for Marty, in Hamden, Connecticut (d. 2012)

Born: Hans-Ekkehard Bob, German air force officer, commander of the Luftwaffe squadrons Jagdgeschwader 3 and 51 during World War II, recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross, in Freiburg im Breisgau, Germany (d. 2013); Archibald Winskill, British air force officer, commander of various squadrons during World War II including No. 17 Squadron, recipient of the Order of the British Empire, Distinguished Flying Cross and Royal Victorian Order, in Penrith, Cumbria, England (d. 2005)

Died: Sophia Morrison, English preservationist, promoter and preserver of the culture of the Isle of Man (b. 1859)

USS Mississippi anchored off New York City, a year after it was launched.

British merchant ship SS Laurentic struck a mine and sank off the coast of Ireland with the loss of 354 of the 475 passengers and crew on board.[78][79]

The U.S. Navy battleship Mississippi was launched by Newport News Shipbuilding in Newport News, Virginia. The battleship was most famous for supporting the major amphibious operations during World War II against the Japanese in the Pacific before it was decommissioned in 1956.[80]

Born: Ilya Prigogine, Russian-Belgian physicist and chemist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for research into dissipative systems, author of The End of Certainty, in Moscow (d. 2003); Jânio Quadros, Brazilian state leader, 22nd President of Brazil, in Campo Grande, Brazil (d. 1992); Edna Andrade, American artist, one of the original op art members in the United States, in Portsmouth, Virginia (d. 2008)

Born: Louis Zamperini, American runner and air force officer, top-10 competitor in the 1936 Summer Olympics, recipient of the Distinguished Flying Cross, his experiences as a prisoner of war for the Japanese during World War II became the subject of the film Unbroken, in Olean, New York (d. 2014); William Verity Jr., American politician, 27th United States Secretary of Commerce, in Middletown, Ohio (d. 2007)

American troops trek back to the United States after the Pancho Villa Expedition is called off.

The Swedish film drama A Man There Was, directed by Victor Sjöström, was released, and would later be considered the start of the Golden Age of Swedish Cinema.[93]

Born: John Raitt, American actor and singer, best known for his leading man roles in musicals including Carousel, Oklahoma!, and The Pajama Game, in Santa Ana, California (d. 2005); David Rubitsky, American soldier, campaigned that he was denied the Medal of Honor for action during the New Guinea campaign in World War II because he was Jewish (d. 2013)

Died: Evelyn Baring, British noble and state leader, first Consul-General of Egypt (b. 1841)

Born: Frank Gill, New Zealand air force officer and politician, member of the No. 75 Squadron during the Battle of Britain and recipient of the Distinguished Service Order, Member of New Zealand Parliament from 1969 to 1980, 27th Minister of Defence and 24th Minister of Health, in Wellington (d. 1982)

Born: Fred Bassetti, American architect, known for many Seattle landmarks including the Henry M. Jackson Federal Building and Seattle Municipal Tower, in Seattle (d. 2013); Jini Dellaccio, American photographer, best known for her portraits of rock and pop acts in the 1960s including Neil Young, The Rolling Stones, The Beach Boys, and The Who (d. 2014)

References

1. ^ Crouch, Arthur Weir (March 1973). The Caney Fork of the Cumberland. Nashville: Crouch. pp. 52-62. ASIN B0006W7JUG. OCLC 1973065.

2. Angelucci, Enzo, ^ The American Fighter: The Definitive Guide to American Fighter Aircraft From 1917 to the Present, New York: Orion Books, 1987, ISBN 0-517-56588-9, p. 417.

3. ^ University of Warwick Modern Records Centre, "Iron and Steel Trades Confederation (ISTC), the British Iron, Steel and Kindred Trades Association (BISAKTA) and predecessors, (1865)-2004"

4. ^ Terada, Hirokazu (July 2002). データブック日本の私鉄 [Databook: Japan's Private Railways]. Japan: Neko Publishing. ISBN 4-87366-874-3.

5. ^ "Southeastern High School in Detroit, MI".

6. ^ Preston, Antony (1972). Battleships of World War I: An Illustrated Encyclopedia of the Battleships of All Nations 1914-1918. New York: Galahad Books. p. 207. ISBN 0-88365-300-1.

7. ^ Garcke, Hans. "Chapter 7: War in the East 1917-18 - The winter battles on the Aa". The German Land Warfare, Part Three: From the Winter of 1916-17 to the End of the War (in German). 3.

8. The information on the website is extracted from ^ British Vessels Lost at Sea: 1914-1918. His Majesty's Stationery Office. 1919.

9. ^

10. ^ Falls, Cyril; G. MacMunn (1930). Military Operations Egypt & Palestine from the Outbreak of War with Germany to June 1917. Official History of the Great War Based on Official Documents by Direction of the Historical Section of the Committee of Imperial Defence. Vol. 1. London: HM Stationery Office. pp. 263-271. OCLC 610273484.

11. ^ Shackleton, Ernest (1919). South. London: William Heinemann. pp. 334-337.

12. ^ Falls, C. (1992) [1940]. Military Operations France and Belgium 1917: The German Retreat to the Hindenburg Line and the Battles of Arras. History of the Great War Based on Official Documents by Direction of the Historical Section of the Committee of Imperial Defence. Vol. I (Imperial War Museum and Battery Press ed.). London: HMSO. pp. 66-68. ISBN 978-0-89839-180-0.

13. ^ Garcke, Hans. "Chapter 7: War in the East 1917-18 - The winter battles on the Aa". The German Land Warfare, Part Three: From the Winter of 1916-17 to the End of the War (in German). 3.

14. ^ in JSTOR

15. Layman, R.D., ^ Before the Aircraft Carrier: The Development of Aviation Vessels 1849-1922, Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1989, ISBN 0-87021-210-9, p. 44.

16. ^ Western Development Museum, Family History Album, Ukrainians in the Parkland Archived 2007-10-08 at the Wayback Machine; retrieved 2012-03-18

17. ^ Haislip, Harvey, CAPT USN (February 1967). "The Valor of Inexperience". United States Naval Institute Proceedings.

18. ^ "El Marino (Pichilemu, Chile : 1917)" (in Spanish). Biblioteca Nacional de Chile. Archived from the original on November 19, 2014.

19. ^ Walter Goldwater, Radical Publications in America, 1890-1950. New Haven, CT: Yale University Library, 1964; p. 7

20. ^

21. ^ West, Nigel (1990). The Sigint Secrets: The Signals Intelligence War, 1990 to Today-Including the Persecution of Gordon Welchman. New York: Quill. p. 83. ISBN 0-688-09515-1.

22. ^ General Staff 1920, pp. 739-40

23. ^ "California Cities by Incorporation Date". California Association of Local Agency Formation Commissions. Archived from the original (Word) on November 3, 2014.

24. ^ Innes McCartney; Tony Bryan (20 February 2013). British Submarines of World War I. Osprey Publishing. pp. 11-12. ISBN 978-1-4728-0035-0.

25. ^ SilentComedians entry Archived January 12, 2014, at the Wayback Machine

26. ^

27. ^ "Iowa II (Battleship No. 4)". Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. Navy Department, Naval History and Heritage Command. 1 October 2015.

28. ^ San Francisco History - The Barbary Coast, Chapter 12. The End of The Barbary Coast Archived May 18, 2006, at archive.today

29. ^ Roberts, Richard C. (1978). "The Utah National Guard on the Mexican Border in 1916". Utah Historical Quarterly. 46 (3): 96-97. doi:10.2307/45060627. JSTOR 45060627. S2CID 254433384.

30. ^ Cyrulik 2003, pp. 67-68

31. ^

32. ^

33. ^ and

34. ^ "990 Mexicans All Survive After Bath". The Fort Wayne Sentinel. Fort Wayne, Indiana. January 31, 1917 - via Newspaperarchive.com.

35. ^ "Servant Girl Problem in El Paso". Reno Evening Gazette. Reno, Nevada. January 30, 1917 - via Newspaperarchive.com.

36. ^ "Mexican "Bath Riots" End". Iowa City Daily Citizen. Iowa City, Iowa. January 31, 1917 - via Newspaperarchive.com.

37. ^ Doenecke, Justus D. (2011-03-08). Nothing Less Than War: A New History of America's Entry Into World War I. Studies in Conflict, Diplomacy and Peace Series. University Press of Kentucky (published 2011). pp. 250, 286. ISBN 978-0-8131-3002-6.

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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia The following events occurred in January 1917: The Luftstreitkräfte (German Air Force) disbanded three Kampfgeschwader (bomber wings) and redesignated their squadrons as Schutzstaffeln (escort squadrons).

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Jan 30th:

Russian battleship Peresvet struck two mines and sank in the Mediterranean Sea off the coast of Egypt

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March 15th: Tsar Nicholas abdicated his throne and his son's claims, sending in motion the end of the Russian Empire after 196 years.

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This article was most recently revised and updated by

Russian Provisional Government, internationally recognized government of Russia from February to October (March to November, New Style) 1917. It was formed by the Duma after the collapse of the Romanov dynasty and was initially composed entirely of liberal ministers, with the exception of Aleksandr F. Kerensky of the Socialist Revolutionary Party. The Provisional Government was reorganized twice over its eight-month existence, each time as a coalition of several political parties. At no point, however, was it able to adequately address the major problems afflicting the country, and it was swept from power in a bloodless coup by the Bolsheviks in the second phase of the Russian Revolution.

By late February 1917, tradition was virtually the only claim to legitimacy remaining to the imperial regime in Russia. Even that foundation had been shaken by the Revolution of 1905, the loss of the Russo-Japanese War, and a long series of military failures in World War I. The imperial family was divided against itself, and the government was divided in its views of the imperial family. The Duma had a mixed opinion of the government, and it was far from giving it anything like the wholehearted support that it needed in the gloomy moments of an unsuccessful war. The authority of the Russian Orthodox Church was shaken by a series of scandals which touched not only the church hierarchy but also the Romanovs. The war with the Central Powers had affected the entire country. While the leaders of the Duma were dissatisfied because the war had not been better conducted, the mass of the people wondered why the war continued at all. The army had lost faith in its commanders, and its commanders had lost faith in the government, which had failed to supply them with adequate weapons and munitions.

The collapse, planned by no one, came suddenly on February 23 (March 8), 1917. A number of factories in Petrograd were undergoing strikes, and many of their workers were in the streets, as were people in shopping queues and women celebrating the international socialist anniversary of Women's Day. These gatherings turned into demonstrations which proceeded to take over large areas of the capital. Workers took to the streets with political slogans: "Down with Autocracy!" and "Down with War!" Two days later Emperor Nicholas II ordered the military governor to fire on the demonstrators, but the soldiers refused to use their rifles, and unit after unit went over to the workers' side. The police and gendarmes did shoot, however, and street fighting took place.

Creation of the Provisional Government

The Duma, which had been prorogued, refused to disperse, and on March 1 (March 14) it formed a government, headed by Georgy Yevgenyevich, Prince Lvov, and mainly composed of leaders of the Kadet and Octobrist parties. On the next day a deputation visited Nicholas II at his headquarters in Pskov and accepted his abdication on behalf of himself and his son, Alexis. When his brother Grand Duke Michael refused the throne, the Romanov dynasty came to an end. The demise of the empire saw the emergence of two separate authorities, both claiming to speak for the people but neither representing more than a section of it: the Provisional Government and the Petrograd Soviet of Workers' and Soldiers' Deputies.

In general, the leaders of the Provisional Government reflected the beliefs of the more conservative members of the professional classes, although Aleksandr Kerensky, a member of the Trudoviki (Labour Group), espoused moderate socialism. The Soviet represented primarily the working class of the capital but could in a wider sense speak for the industrial workers of all Russia. With its ranks swollen by the arrival of socialists released from prison or returned from exile, it became a sort of parliament of Russian socialism, from the Socialist Revolutionaries to the Bolsheviks.

A fundamental question facing the new regime was that of legitimacy. The monarchy had been destroyed, and it could be replaced only by a government that reflected the will of the whole of Russia. However, this could be ascertained only by an elected Constituent Assembly. To hold such an election while Russia was at war with Germany, Austria-Hungary, and the Ottoman Empire seemed hardly possible, both because it would divert energies from the war effort (and the first Provisional Government coalition was eager to win the war) and because so many citizens were away in the army. The men of the Provisional Government were high-minded democrats who would be content with nothing less than a completely free and comprehensive election, and they were willing to wait for the end of the war, if need be, to have one. Their perfectionism proved disastrous. An immediate election would have caused less chaos than occurred later without it, and it would have conveyed an imperfect but significant democratic mandate. As things were, there was no legitimacy. The Provisional Government was left in the air and frequently found itself acting as if it were subordinate to the Petrograd Soviet.

The most important problem initially faced by the Provisional Government was whether to continue the war or, if not, how to get out of it. The foreign minister, Pavel Milyukov, a convinced patriot, believed that the war was just and that it was being fought to liberate the peoples oppressed by Austria-Hungary and the Ottomans. He also asserted that Russia should be rewarded for its efforts by acquiring Constantinople, the Bosporus and the Dardanelles, as well as Ottoman Armenia. The socialists were not interested in these aims and believed that the war should be ended "without annexations and without indemnities." There was no evidence that the Central Powers would grant a just peace simply because the revolutionary Russians desired it, however, and, until those enemies were willing to make peace, the Russian motherland had to be defended. In any case, the new Russian leaders admitted that they could not simply exit the war without their allies' consent.

Some historians, when viewing the early days of the Provisional Government through the lens of the Russian Revolution, have questioned the wisdom of the Western Allies in their refusal to release Russia from its military obligations. At the time, however, such a move was inconceivable. The United States did not enter the war until April (March, Old Style) 1917, and many months would pass before American troops would constitute a meaningful force on the Western Front. The release of the German divisions engaged on the Eastern Front might have made it possible for Gen. Erich Ludendorff to crush the remaining Allies before the arrival of the American Expeditionary Force. As defeat by Germany understandably appeared to be the worst disaster that could befall the Western Allies, it followed that the war must continue.

Lenin's arrival in Petrograd

A revolutionary of genius appeared on April 3 (April 16), 1917, when Vladimir Lenin arrived in Petrograd from Switzerland. With a group of 200 Russian emigres, including L. Martov and other Mensheviks, this leader of the Bolsheviks had journeyed to Russia across Germany, Sweden, and Finland. The German general staff, which reckoned that Lenin's presence in Russia would be to the Central Powers' advantage, authorized this passage. Lenin, of course, was no agent of the Germans, but there is evidence that in the following months his party received financial aid from the German authorities. This it badly needed in order to organize its propaganda efforts.

Lenin invigorated the Petrograd Soviet. He at once urged a policy of complete opposition to the Provisional Government. He said the Soviet should demand immediate peace and redistribution of land to the peasants. He declared that the Soviet should make known that it had no confidence in the Provisional Government and announced the slogan "All power to the soviets."

In a bourgeois republic, with a parliamentary system of government, Lenin's leadership prospects would not have been good. Parliamentary governments are generally formed by agreements between party leaders, whose ideas are already formed, and the parties' representatives in the parliament coalesce into disciplined groups. In such conditions, the Bolsheviks would have had to bargain and compromise with other parties if they wished to take part in government coalitions, or they would have been driven into ineffective opposition. They could not have hoped to win an absolute majority in a Russian parliament. The soviets, on the other hand, were a very different forum. Their members were not trained politicians but the masses from the factories and-with the addition of "soldiers' deputies" to the "workers' deputies"-from the armed forces. Through the soviets, for the first time, the Russian masses were being brought into political life as raw material to be molded by an audacious leader.

In the soviets, votes were taken not according to fixed party allegiances but according to the sometimes fleeting passions of the workers and soldiers. Socialist Revolutionaries, Mensheviks, and Bolsheviks were represented, but they could not count on automatic support from party members. Oratory and propaganda could sway opinion in the soviets to and fro. Here was Lenin's opportunity. In the soviets the Bolsheviks were at first a small minority, but, once Lenin began to assert himself, the Bolsheviks grew into a significant force. They stood, they said, for peace at once, land reform at once, workers' control of the factories at once, and self-determination for the non-Russian peoples at once. If the Provisional Government's spokesmen declared that these things could not be done immediately and that they were the task of the future Constituent Assembly, then this, Lenin claimed, was proof that the Provisional Government intended to prevent these things from ever being done. He argued that its leaders were enemies of the Russian workers and peasants and were mere agents of French and British capitalists and imperialists.

The April-May crisis

The first crisis of the Provisional Government came in April-May 1917, and, not surprisingly, it involved Russia's war policy. Milyukov, the foreign minister, not only reassured the Western Allies that Russia would continue the war on their side, but also, in a press interview on March 23 (April 5), declared that Russia's war aims included annexation of Austria-Hungary's Ukrainian provinces and of Constantinople and the Straits. On March 27 (April 9) the Petrograd Soviet issued a declaration that Russia sought no gains from the war and was ready to conclude peace on the basis of "no annexations, no indemnities." The members of the government were not in fact agreed on these problems. An attempt was made to bring about a compromise between Milyukov and the Soviet through a government declaration of April 8 (April 22) which described Russia's aim as "the establishment of a durable peace on the basis of national self-determination." The Soviet insisted that the text of this declaration be officially handed to the Allied governments. On April 17 (May 1) Milyukov transmitted the text but with a covering note in which he stated that Russia remained faithful to wartime agreements and intended to pursue the war to victory. When the Soviet became aware of Milyukov's note, it naturally understood it to be a direct challenge.

The leaders of the Soviet organized mass demonstrations against both the war and Milyukov. The result was that he and the minister of war, Octobrist leader Aleksandr Guchkov, were forced to resign on May 2 (May 15). A new coalition was formed that included Socialist Revolutionary leader Viktor Chernov and Menshevik Irakli Tsereteli. The April-May events were important not only because the conservative elements of the Provisional Government were removed from power but also because the Petrograd Soviet had demonstrated that it could exert effective veto power over the Provisional Government, a fact that would not be lost on any of the parties involved.

Kerensky, who became minister of war in the coalition of May 5 (May 18), 1917, believed in fighting on for the new Russia. He had hoped to make the soldiers' committees an instrument for increasing the efficiency of the Russian army and did his best to bolster morale with speeches of fiery eloquence during his visits to the front. Kerensky's efforts were undermined by Bolshevik propaganda, however, by word of mouth and by the newspapers, which were distributed in profusion. In spite of opposition from the Bolsheviks and other parties of the far left, Kerensky believed the army capable of a new offensive, for which the Western Allies were clamouring. The Kerensky Offensive opened on June 18 (July 1) in Galicia, but, after small initial successes, it came to a standstill. Two weeks later a German counteroffensive drove the Russians back in confusion. Many units simply refused to fight. Lenin's message of "revolutionary defeatism" had found a receptive audience at the front.

The government responded to the July Days uprising by cracking down on the Bolsheviks. Lenin was forced into hiding in Finland. Documents (most probably forgeries) were published in the press which purported to prove that Lenin was a German agent. For a time the Bolsheviks lost ground in the soviets. On July 8 (July 21) the government was reorganized, and Kerensky became prime minister.

Nationalist movements and the Provisional Government

During this time nationalist movements among non-Russians were growing. The main Ukrainian nationalist organization was the Society of Ukrainian Progressives, a moderate socialist group headed by the leading Ukrainian nationalist intellectual figure, the historian Mykhaylo Hrushevsky. On March 4 (March 17), 1917, it took the initiative in summoning the Central Rada ("Council") in Kiev. At first, the Rada's aims were strictly cultural, but soon it put forward demands for political self-government. During the early summer, congresses of Ukrainian peasants, soldiers, and workers were held. From these meetings, three political parties emerged-Ukrainian Socialist-Revolutionaries, Ukrainian Social Democrats, and Socialist-Federalists-all of which stood for some form of national autonomy. The Rada was enlarged to include representatives of these forces, and in May it sent a delegation to Petrograd to ask for recognition of its claims.

The Provisional Government refused to regard the Central Rada, which had not been regularly elected by popular suffrage, as representing the people of Ukraine and insisted that the question of any future Ukrainian autonomy could be decided only by the All-Russian Constituent Assembly. On June 10 (June 23, Old Style) the Rada issued a solemn proclamation, the "First Universal," declaring its intention to organize a system of democratic government for Ukraine but recognizing that this would later have to be confirmed by the Constituent Assembly. It also set up an executive authority called the General Secretariat, a rudimentary cabinet. On June 29 (July 12) Kerensky and two other ministers went to Kiev for further discussions. These resulted in the issuance of a "Second Universal," the text of which represented no more than a verbal agreement. Nevertheless, such power as existed in the increasing chaos was in the Central Rada's hands.

The Provisional Government in March had already repealed all legislation incompatible with the Finnish constitution, promised to extend Finland 's autonomy, and ordered the Finnish parliament to be summoned. There the strongest party was the Social Democrats, who desired independence and showed little patience with the Provisional Government. By July virtually all political authority in Finland had been claimed by the Finnish parliament.

In the Baltic provinces Estonian, Latvian, and Lithuanian nationalist movements gathered strength, while the local Germans were divided between loyalty to Russia and hopes of German victory in the war. In Transcaucasia the Armenians largely remained loyal to Russia, and in Georgia the Mensheviks remained committed to the Provisional Government with the expectation that it would soon proclaim a Russian republic.

Russia's sizable Muslim population also made its feelings known. On May 1 (May 14) the First All-Russian Muslim Congress was held in Moscow. There was a division of opinion between the people of the borderlands ( Central Asia and Azerbaijan), who wished for territorial self-government within a Russian republic, and the Tatars of the Volga, who, being geographically more scattered, preferred to have a central administrative organ for all the Muslims of Russia and to be directly represented in the Russian government. This last notion was disliked by the border peoples not only because they wished their own lands to be autonomous but also because they suspected the Tatars of trying to achieve a privileged status for themselves. The congress adopted the autonomists' platform by a substantial majority. It also set up a Muslim National Council, the Shuro, in Petrograd to put Muslim views before the government. Its hopes of obtaining a ministerial post for one of its members, however, were disappointed.

The Moscow State Conference

To reinforce his authority with the support of some sort of representative body, Kerensky convened a State Conference in Moscow. Meeting August 12-15 (August 25-28), it was composed of members of the Duma as well as representatives of soviets, local government authorities, trade unions, business interests, and the professions. In all, nearly 2,500 people attended the gathering. The point that most clearly emerged from this conference was the sharp division on the conduct of the war. The parties of the left continued to demand peace without annexations and without indemnities but admitted that the country had to be defended until peace was obtained. They put their faith in further "democratization of the army" and further proliferation of committees and commissars. The Bolsheviks, who were not represented at the conference, continued to demand immediate peace and to denounce all other parties as warmongers and agents of the Western Allies.

On the other side were forces that believed in a restoration of traditional military discipline. This new formation of the right consisted mainly of persons who a year earlier would have been considered to be on the left, persons with a liberal or even radical political background. They were not reactionaries in the sense of wishing to return to the past, and they were certainly not monarchists. They believed in a democratic Russia, but they insisted that it must be defended. The key difference between them and the non-Bolshevik left was that national defense seemed to them the most urgent task, the precondition for the internal social reforms. They accepted many of these as necessary, though they were less radical in this respect than the left.

The most effective spokesman for the new right was Gen. Lavr Kornilov, an officer of humble origin. He was the son of poor Cossack parents, basically apolitical but certainly no admirer of Nicholas II. Impressed by Kornilov's military record and his personal qualities, Kerensky had on July 19 (August 1) appointed him commander in chief. For a time, these two tried to cooperate, each believing that the other was necessary for the salvation of Russia. However, at the Moscow State Conference the relations between them, and the profound hostility between the political groups which looked, respectively, to each of them as leader, became clear.

The Kornilov rebellion was a defeat for the right, but it was certainly no victory for Kerensky. Those who gained were the Bolsheviks, who had always argued that Kerensky and the moderates were incompetent to defend the revolution, and who themselves had played a large part in the defeat of Kornilov. Bolshevik prestige had never been so high among the working class of Petrograd and among the ranks of the military forces in the capital. By mid-September the Bolsheviks had a majority in the soviets of both Petrograd and Moscow. Lenin, still in hiding, decided that the time had come to seize power and urgently exhorted the party, by correspondence from Finland, to prepare for insurrection. At the Sixth Congress of the Bolshevik Party, convened in Petrograd in late July (early August), the intention to seize power, regardless of the formal majority in the soviets, had already been asserted. The loss of Bolshevik support in the soviets, as a result of the July demonstrations and the charge of serving the Germans, had not deterred Lenin from his aim. Now that the Bolsheviks were once more popular, the arguments for action were further strengthened. The party leaders were, however, divided. Grigory Zinovyev and Lev Kamenev, two of the most eminent, were opposed to early action. On the other hand, the able recruit Leon Trotsky, who had brought his own faction into the Bolshevik ranks in the wake of the July Days uprising, strongly supported Lenin and began active preparations.

Lenin was underrated by both the contending groups. To Kerensky, Lenin was another revolutionary, misguided and fanatical perhaps but still on his side of the barricade. The whole tradition of the revolutionary movement made it impossible for Kerensky to compare Lenin to Kornilov. Kerensky had shown long forbearance toward Lenin's provocative action before ordering his arrest, but Lenin himself was completely free from revolutionary sentimentality. To him, Kerensky was every bit as much an enemy as was Kornilov or Nicholas II. Unshakably convinced that he and his party held a monopoly of revolutionary wisdom and that they embodied the will of the revolutionary working class, regardless of what any individual workers might or might not wish, Lenin had no doubt that it was his duty to lead his party to victory against all opposition. The defeat of Kornilov and the exhaustion of the Provisional Government gave him his chance.

Trotsky, elected chairman of the Petrograd Soviet on September 23 (October 6), 1917, set up a "military revolutionary committee" of the Soviet, which planned insurrection without much attempt at secrecy. Kerensky pursued his efforts to create some sort of representative assembly to give his government authority. Neither the Democratic Conference, which had opened in Petrograd on September 14 (September 27) and met for a week, nor the Council of the Republic (or "pre-parliament"), which met on October 7 (October 20), had any influence on events. Kerensky seemed unable to take any action against the military preparations of the Bolsheviks, who were busily subverting troops in the capital, distributing arms, and appointing reliable men as commissars in military units.

On the night of October 24-25 (November 6-7) the Bolsheviks acted. They met with very little resistance, and by the following evening the capital was in their hands. The Provisional Government had been swept aside, and power passed to the Second All-Russian Congress of Soviets, which had convened on October 25 (November 7). The Bolsheviks and their Left Socialist Revolutionary allies constituted a majority in that body, and they elected Lenin as chairman of the Council of People's Commissars, the governing body of the new Soviet government. In Moscow the fighting went on for several days. Kerensky fled from Petrograd to the front but was unable to bring sufficient forces back to threaten the Bolsheviks.

No effective resistance was organized from the headquarters of the front at Mahilyow, and in November the commander in chief, Gen. Nikolay Dukhonin, was replaced by the Bolsheviks' nominee, Nikolay Krylenko. A number of senior officers, including Kornilov and former commander in chief Mikhail Alekseyev, escaped to the southeast and began to plan an anti-Bolshevik force, the so-called Volunteer Army, in the region of the Don. While Kornilov and Alekseyev built what would become the White Army, Kerensky remained in hiding, eventually escaping to the West in May 1918. By that time, the Treaties of Brest-Litovsk had been signed, ending Russia's participation in World War I, and the seeds of the Russian Civil War had been sown.
The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
Michael Ray.

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Russian Provisional Government | Facts, History, & Summary

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Russian Provisional Government, internationally recognized government of Russia from February to October (March to November, New Style) 1917, formed after the fall of the Romanovs. It was reorganized twice in eight months but failed to grapple with the major problems ailing Russia and was overthrown by the Bolsheviks.

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April 6th: the United States formally declared war against Germany and entered the war

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July 31st- Nov 10th:

Battle of Passchendaele, (July 31–November 6, 1917), World War I battle that served as a vivid symbol of the mud, madness, and senseless slaughter of the Western Front.

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Nov 2:

Balfour Declaration, (November 2, 1917), statement of British support for “the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people

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Jan 8th:

President Woodrow Wilson proposed a 14-point program for world peace

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Mar 3rd:

The Treaty of Brest-Litovsk was a separate peace treaty signed on 3 March 1918 between Soviet Russia and the Central Powers (Germany, Austria-Hungary, the Ottoman Empire, and Bulgaria), by which Russia withdrew from World War I

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May 31st:

The Sinking Of the President Lincoln

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Nov 9th:

Kaiser Wilhelm II was forced to abdicate his throne and flee Germany for Holland

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Nov 10th:

the Germans received word that Kaiser Wilhelm II had abdicated and instructions from the new government that they should sign the armistice

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Nov 11th:

an armistice was signed between the Germans and the Allies, ending World War I

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France Diplomacy - Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs

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Ministère de l’Europe et des Affaires étrangères

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The Armistice of 11 November 1918 and the Quai d’Orsay

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Let us reflect on this important time in modern history with excerpts of documents from our diplomatic archives 11 November 1918: an Armistice (…)

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June 28th

The Versailles Peace Treaty, signed on June 28, 1919, officially ended World War I

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Aug 10th: Treaty of Sèvres, (August 10, 1920), post-World War I pact between the victorious Allied powers and representatives of the government of Ottoman Turkey.