November 22nd, 1914

- The readjustment of the position of the British Expeditionary Force on the line has been completed.  All British units are now together, and hold the front from Wytschaete, south of Ypres, to the La Bassée Canal at Givenchy, a stretch of 21 miles.  For their part the Belgians hold 15 miles of the front adjacent to the English Channel, and the French, responsible for everything else, covers 430 miles.  This graphically illustrates the extent to which the French army has shouldered the overwhelming burden of the fighting on the Western Front.  While the Belgians and the British have made vital contributions, and won deserved acclaim for their successful struggles along the Yser and around Ypres, in the end the great German attack in the west has been halted first and foremost by the French.  In saving themselves, they have preserved the hope of all in the Entente that ultimate victory may yet be achieved.

The Western Front on November 22nd, 1914, showing the position of
the BEF and the Belgian army; everything else is held by the French.

Though all three of the major combatants at Ypres consider the battle to have ended on different days, the British place its conclusion today with the end of their redeployment, which suffices as a moment to review the fighting in Flanders (incidentally, the French see the 13th and the Germans the 30th as the end).  Despite later claims by the Germans, the First Battle of Ypres has been a victory for the Entente.  The Germans had significant, sometimes near-overwhelming, numerical superiority in almost every phase of the fighting, but consistently failed to break through the British and French lines.  The failure to convert their numbers advantage into victory has been due not only to the strength of the defence in the context of the military technology of 1914, such as the machine gun, as they consistently repeated several tactical errors during the battle.  First, major German attacks were undertaken against long stretches of the Entente line in an effort to probe for weakness, as opposed to concentrating overwhelming force to break through at a place of their choosing.  Second, they consistently overestimated the size of the enemy confronting them, not realizing at several key moments how close they were to breaking through.  Third, they would use all available infantry in their attacks, leaving no reserves that could be sent to exploit the successes they achieved on several occasions.  Fourth, when they did break the British lines, in particular on October 31st and November 11th, the unit that did so did not advance further, being exhausted from their efforts and unaware of what they had accomplished, giving time for British reserves to arrive and counterattack.  Some of these mistakes could be rectified in future battles, but they pointed to one of the greatest difficulties attackers faced in the First World War - it would be consistently easier for the defender to send reserves to restore their lines than it was for the attacker to exploit any breakthrough they could achieve.

The conclusion of the First Battle of Ypres signals the end of the movement phase of the first months of the war.  Both sides are now committed to entrenching, and the rudimentary trenches dug hastily during the fighting are increasingly converted to more substantial trench systems.  The fighting at Ypres itself reflected the transition from mobile to static fighting.  Artillery did not yet dominate the battlefield as it would do so in future - foot soldiers played a vital role and the climactic moments were decided by infantry charges, not artillery bombardments.  First Ypres was also a battle still largely decided by junior officers responding to sudden circumstances, as with the British brigade commanders who ordered forward reserves at the critical moments, as opposed to the increasingly orchestrated and detailed assault plans of later set-piece battles.  Cavalry also had a role to play at Ypres, fighting in the front line and using their horses to rapidly redeploy on the battlefield.  On the other hand, First Ypres clearly indicated that small defensive forces could hold off attackers even when overwhelmingly outnumbered, and the Kindermord in particular demonstrated that no amount of spirit or elan among advancing infantry could allow them to carry a position in the face of sustained rifle and especially machine gun fire.

An exact accounting of the losses suffered by both sides is impossible, given the incompleteness of records, especially on the German side.  At minimum, the Germans suffered 134 000 casualties in the First Battle of Ypres, but possibly much more.  Of the four reserve corps thrown into the fighting in late October, each lost about half of their infantry.  French casualties were between 50 000 and 80 000, which comprised a majority of the 104 000 losses sustained by the entire French army in October and November 1914.  For the Belgians, approximately a third of those who escaped Antwerp before its fall on October 10th were lost by the end of October in the fighting along the Yser River.  British losses were calculated after the war to have been 58155, of whom 7960 were dead and 17 873 missing, most of the latter consisting of fallen soldiers whose bodies could not be recovered to verify their death.

Given that the First Battle of Ypres signals the end of the war of movement, an accounting can also be made of the losses suffered by the two sides since the outbreak of war itself.  The numbers are staggering - total French casualties are nearly one million, and include approximately 265 000 dead, while the comparable German numbers are over 700 000 losses, among which are about 241 000 dead.  The titanic and climactic battles that both sides expected have been fought, especially at the Marne, but the clashes have not brought the decisive outcome that all anticipated.  Instead, the casualty lists are merely the first installment of the ever-growing butcher's bill.

Total casualties for the British Expeditionary Force in the war to date have been 89 864.  Remarkably, the original strength of the first seven divisions to have been deployed in France had been only 84 000 - the BEF is only able to remain in the field due to replacements sent from home.  For all intents and purposes, the original British Expeditionary Force dispatched to France in early August had ceased to exist.  In most regiments an average of a single officer and thirty other ranks have survived since the first fighting at Mons on August 23rd.  The future of the BEF rests with soldiers recruited since the outbreak of the war, as the last of the BEF's original strength had been expended in the Ypres salient, fighting beyond the point of exhaustion to prevent a German breakthrough that might have had decisive results.  Ypres thus takes on an emotive significance to the British, the area becoming known as the 'Immortal Salient'.  The land is seen as consecrated by their dead, and no British commander can countenance yielding ground that had been so dearly bought.  It reflects another of the paradoxes of the First World War that will appear in future - sacrifices made on an earlier occasion become the justification for further losses to preserve what had been gained by the earlier casualties.

The lessons drawn from the battle by the British leadership, and General Haig in particular, will also have future reverberations.  Haig is well aware how close the Germans came to shattering his lines at Gheluvelt and Nonneboschen, and concludes that the Germans failed because they did not persevere in their attacks when just one more big push would have brought decisive victory.  Haig is determined that when the roles are reversed, no British attack he commands will ever fail because it was not pushed hard enough and long enough to achieve success.  It is, of course, the absolute wrong lesson to be drawn from First Ypres, and thousands of soldiers in the years to come will pay for this error with their lives.

Finally there is the contrast between the original BEF, the 'Old Contemptibles' as they referred to themselves, and the German volunteers of the reserve corps.  Both had made a conscious decision to join the army, as opposed to being forced to fight by conscription, and both were largely destroyed at Ypres.  Here, though, the similarity ends.  The German volunteers of August 1914 were motivated primarily by nationalist enthusiasm - they fought and died in the belief their service and sacrifice would benefit the German people for all time.  The soldiers of the old BEF were not driven by such high ideals - instead, each had made a deliberate and much more mundane choice to pursue, for whatever reason, a career in the army.  They had spent years, in some cases decades, honing their skills; the army was their livelihood, and when the day came for them to put their training to work they did not shirk their responsibilities and were equal to the task.  At Ypres the German volunteers died for their nation; the British soldiers because it was their job.

- Though the German effort to seize Ypres has been called off, the suffering of the town is only beginning.  It has been the target of enemy artillery fire before, but today the Germans deliberately target the magnificent Cloth Hall, symbol of the town's rich medieval heritage.  The bombardment begins at 6am, and by 9am shells are falling on the Cloth Hall, the first striking the tower and the third destroying the clock.  Within two hours the entire building is in flames and ruins.  The Germans claim that the British and French were using the Hall's tower to direct artillery fire, arguing later that 'German life is more precious than the finest Gothic architecture.'  The Germans are wrong - their lines are hidden from the tower's sights by various hills and valleys - and the destruction of the Cloth Hall is seen in much of the world as yet another example of German barbarity, that having been defeated in their efforts to take the town, they destroy it out of spite.  Its ruins become one of the iconic symbols of the destruction wrought by the First World War.

Ypres' Cloth Hall prior to the First World War.

The Cloth Hall burning under German artillery bombardment, November 22nd, 1914.

The ruins of the Cloth Hall later in the war.

- At Lodz the situation continues to deteriorate for the German 9th Army.  Its supply lines stretched to the breaking point, German units are running out of shells for their artillery.  To the east, General Rennenkampf of the Russian 1st Army has sent a force consisting of one and a half infantry and two cavalry divisions and named the Lovitch detachment southwestward towards the northern escape route for the German XXV Reserve Corps and Guards Division.  When an element of the Lovitch detachment occupies Brzeziny today, it appears the German corps and division are doomed - the Russian General Staff orders trains brought to Lodz to take the expected fifty thousand prisoners back to camps in Russia.

- The Yugoslav Committee is formed today in Florence by Ante Trumbic, a Croatian deputy in the Austrian Parliament.  The aim of the Committee is to unite all South Slavs, inside and outside Austria-Hungary, into a single independent state.

- In the Caucasus the Ottoman 3rd Army, suffering from ammunition shortages and command confusion, breaks off its operations against the Russian I Turkestan Corps and concentrates at Köprüköy.  Nevertheless, 3rd Army's attacks have stymied the Russian advance, giving the engagement the impression of being a notable Ottoman victory.  Enver Pasha in particular draws an out-sized belief in the fighting ability of 3rd Army, which will have fatal ramifications in the coming months.

- In Mesopotamia the main force of Indian Expeditionary Force D arrives at Basra shortly after midday.  They secure British control over the city and put an end to the looting of the past two days.  The trials of IEF D do not end, however - the bridges in Basra have to be reinforced before they can be used by any significant detachment of infantry, and the 'indescribably filthy condition of the town,' in the words of IEF D's commander, means the British have to set up camp outside Basra.

November 20th, 1914

- Reconnaissance today gives to French and British commanders in Flanders the first indications of German units transferring from the Western Front eastwards.

- In the North Sea the armoured cruisers of the Tenth Cruiser Squadron have been suffering as they continued the work of enforcing the naval blockade of Germany.  In many respects these warships are unsuited for the task - outdated, they are prone to breakdown and could not hope to catch a fast modern vessel should one try to break the blockade line.  Today the Admiralty decides to replace these armoured cruisers with merchant ships pressed into government service and armed with light guns.  These vessels are better-suited to the poor weather of the North Sea, and their numbers can be more easily augmented as compared to armoured cruisers.

- The day prior to the fighting at Sahil, the British cabinet had designated the capture of the Ottoman city of Basra as the main objective of Indian Expeditionary Force D, though Lord Crewe, Secretary of State for India, had clarified the instructions such that a move against Basra ought to be undertaken only if doing so was practical under the circumstances.  Today the commander of IEF D reports that continuing problems and delays with the landing of horses, ammunition, and supplies rendered an immediate advance unlikely.  However, the Ottoman commander of 38th Division, tasked with the defence of Basra and the surrounding region, decides today to make the situation much easier for his British counterpart by hastily and precipitously abandoning Basra and withdrawing northwards along the Shatt al-Arab.

November 19th, 1914

- Flanders sees the first serious snowfall of the year, adding to the misery of the soldiers dug in along the front line.  Though German shelling continues, Entente commanders notice a sharp decline in the frequency and intensity of German infantry assaults.

- Today the French XI Corps of 2nd Army, on the front near the Somme River, attacks the German line in an effort to pin enemy reserves to this sector and demonstrate the continued vitality of the French army.  The operation accomplishes absolutely nothing.

- Desperate fighting has continued along the front in Serbia since the 17th, as the Austro-Hungarians seek to break the Serbian defensive line.  They achieve their first success today, forcing the Serbian 1st Army backwards and taking high ground on the opposite bank of the Kolubara River.  General Potiorek's plan is for his 6th Army to occupy the Serbian forces while 5th Army drives on and enters Belgrade to the north.

- On November 8th the Prime Minister of Hungary published correspondence between himself and Romanian religious figures, in which he pledged a series of concessions to the Romanian population of the Hungarian portion of Austria-Hungary, including language rights and electoral reform.  These reforms were designed not only to mollify the Romanian population within Hungary, but also the Romanian government, whose neutrality the Hungarian Prime Minister was eager to maintain.  Given the multiethnic composition of the Empire, however, concessions to one group are eagerly highlighted by other groups - today the newspaper of the Slovak committee of the Social Democratic Party publishes a call for the same concessions to be extended to the Slovak population of Hungary.  This highlights the possible lethality of any effort to reform Austria-Hungary - concessions to one group lead other groups to demand the same, a vicious circle that has the potential to destroy the Empire itself.  And yet, in a war for survival in which each ethnic group is represented among the soldiers of the Habsburg army, is a policy of repression, not reform, any more viable?

- The German East Asiatic Squadron today sails into the Gulf of Penas on the Chilean coast three hundred miles north of the Straits of Magellan, and anchors in Bahía San Quintín.  Here they coal once again, while Admiral Spee names and congratulates three hundred of his officers and men who have been awarded the Iron Cross, Second Class by the Kaiser, ecstatic at their victory at Coronel (the medals themselves await the recipients in Germany).

November 18th, 1914

- The decision of Duke Albrecht yesterday to suspend offensive operations at Ypres is approved today by Falkenhayn.  For several weeks he has been increasingly aware of the growing fatigue within the German army, and clearly even the more limited objectives set in early November, such as Mount Kemmel, could not be seized under present circumstances.  Instead, the German army on the Western Front is to go over on to the defensive - the hope for a rapid and decisive victory over the French is finally abandoned.

As the pre-war strategy has failed to deliver the promised victory in wartime, Falkenhayn and the German General Staff is left searching for alternatives.  Given the results in the west, a shift to the east appears logical, especially as by standing on the defensive reduces the amount of units needed on the Western Front.  Falkenhayn thus informs Hindenburg today that several corps will be shifted from the west to the east, including III Reserve Corps, XIII Corps, II Corps, and XXIV Reserve Corps, the former three coming from Flanders.

There is, however, a crucial difference between Falkenhayn and Hindenburg over what these reinforcements are to accomplish.  Hindenburg and Ludendorff believe that a decisive victory over the Russians is possible, one that will allow Germany to impose its peace terms on Russia.  Falkenhayn is less optimistic - taking his cue from the campaigns of Napoleon, he feels that the most that can be accomplished in the east are local victories.  This, however, is not problematic for Falkenhayn, as he has come to believe that Germany can no longer win a total victory over all of its enemies.  Instead, enough damage should be done to Russia to convince it to agree to a compromise peace based on no annexations, which will allow Germany to focus all of its military might against France and Britain.  If Russia cannot be convinced to sign a separate peace, Germany will inevitably be ground down by a war of attrition against enemies it can not hope to match in numbers.

Falkenhayn's views on a compromise peace, expressed today in a letter to Chancellor Bethmann-Hollweg, falls on deaf ears.   The Chancellor still believes that an absolute victory can be achieved in the east, and in this he has the agreement of Hindenburg and Ludendorff.  The prestige of the latter two grows as victories on the Eastern Front (however embellished by Ludendorff) are contrasted with failures, for which Falkenhayn is blamed, on the Western Front.  Falkenhayn's advice regarding the future direction of the war are rejected, though because of the personal support of the Kaiser there is no question at this time of replacing Falkenhayn.  Instead, the German Chief of the General Staff is left to continue to develop plans to achieve a total victory he no longer feels is within Germany's grasp.

- The German 9th Army arrives today just north of Lodz, but discover the city well-defended.  In something of a miracle, considering the Russian army's well-earned reputation for sluggishness, both 2nd and 5th Army have managed to retreat to the city before the Germans could arrive to seize it.  For 5th Army in particular it is a significant achievement, accomplished by non-stop marching over the past three days.  The result is that the four corps of the German 9th Army at Lodz find themselves facing seven Russian corps, and, as the latter is the supply centre for 2nd and 5th Army, for once it is the Russians who are better-supplied.  Ludendorff, however, orders Mackensen to continue the offensive - he has misinterpreted the Russian move back to Lodz as yet another panicked retreat, not an orderly redeployment.  It is a case of Ludendorff seeing what he wants to sees in the information arriving from the front.  Thus the Germans, despite being outnumbered, attack into the Russian lines.

- Yesterday a Russian squadron of five pre-dreadnoughts, three cruisers, and thirteen destroyers bombarded the Turkish Black Sea port of Trebizond.  On hearing of the attack Admiral Souchon decided to sortie with his 'Turkish' warships Goeben and Breslau in an effort to catch a portion of the Russian Black Sea Fleet.  In thick fog the two squadrons stumble into each other twenty miles off Cape Sarych on the Crimean coast just after midday.  Because of the poor visibility, Goeben does not sight the Russian squadron until it is already within range of the main guns of the latter's pre-dreadnoughts.  This nullifies the advantage Goeben would normally have over pre-dreadnoughts - i.e. that its main armament can fire longer distances.

The Battle of Cape Sarych, November 18th, 1914.  This map gives the Turkish names for Goeben (Yavuz) and Breslau (Midilli).

The Russian flagship Evstafiy hits Goeben with its first salvo, killing twelve Germans and one Turk.  Though Goeben in turn is able to land five hits on Evstafiy, killing thirty-four, Admiral Souchon quickly realizes that the short range - about seven thousand yards - means his ships are heavily outgunned, and he decides to use his superior speed to break off the engagement.  The battle lasts only fourteen minutes, and most of the warships present never fire a shot.  From this battle the Russians draw the conclusion that all of its large warships must operate together to avoid defeat in detail at the hands of Goeben, while for Souchon the engagement reinforces the isolation of his battlecruiser - as a light cruiser, Breslau is of little aid in a large naval battle, and the other warships of the Ottoman navy are of no value whatsoever (had they been present at Cape Sarych they would have lacked the speed to escape).

The Russian pre-dreadnought Estafiy.

- In Russia five Bolshevik Duma representatives are arrested for distributing Vladimir Lenin's Theses on the War calling for the transformation of the 'imperialist war' into a 'civil war' to bring about revolution.  At this point, however, most on the left still support the war effort.

November 17th, 1914

- At Ypres the German 4th Division launch a heavy infantry attack against the British 3rd Division today, but they are repulsed with heavy losses.  With this failure, and considering the deteriorating weather and exhaustion of his soldiers, Duke Albrecht, commander of the German 4th Army, concludes that further attacks would be futile and suspends offensive operations.  Instead he orders 4th Army to focus on the construction of trenches and defensive positions, and begin to rotate units out of the line to provide for rest.

- Today sees the first serious fighting near Krakow as a result of the Austro-Hungarian offensive.  The entirety of both 1st and 4th Armies are committed to the attack today, but make very little progress, the Russians having had sufficient time to construct defensive positions.  By the end of the day the conditions of trench warfare prevailed along the entire front of the two Austro-Hungarian armies.

- Yesterday the Austro-Hungarian 5th and 6th Armies reached the Kolubara River, and today assault the Serbian defensive positions on the east bank.  The two sides fight in appalling weather, with heavy rain and snowfall - visibility is reduced and significant numbers of soldiers dying of frostbite and exposure.

- In an effort to secure its support in the war, the British government offers Bulgaria the entirety of Macedonia, part of which currently belongs to Serbia.  Though the British pledge to compensate Serbia with territory elsewhere, Russia objects to forcing its Balkan ally to hand over territory.

- At 515am this morning the two brigades of Indian Expeditionary Force D begin an advance upriver from its base camp at Saihan, and by 830am encounter an Ottoman force of several thousand who seek to block their way.  The initial attack of the Indian brigades accomplishes little - a sudden rainstorm turns the battlefield into mud, and their artillery rather unhelpfully fires on mirages.  Fortunately for the British, the Ottomans opposite are in even worse shape.  Mesopotamia is an isolated backwater of the Ottoman Empire, starved of supplies and soldiers - most of the Ottoman infantry here are composed of Arab levies who desert at an alarmingly high rate.  When several British gunboats move up the Shatt al-Arab and begin to fire into the Ottoman positions, the Ottoman forces break and retreat, handing victory to IEF D.

November 16th, 1914

- There is no significant combat today at Ypres, outside of the usual shelling of each others' lines.  This allows the British and French to continue to redeploy their units - the French IX Corps stretches south to cover the trenches to the Menin Road, permitting the British 1st Division to move into reserve.

- Near Krakow the Austro-Hungarian 4th Army is scheduled to begin its attack at 6am this morning.  However, the nighttime march to its starting line is hopelessly confused, with numerous traffic jams inhibiting progress.  It is not until early afternoon that 4th Army is actually in position to attack the Russian 9th Army opposite, which has had time to dig a defensive position that stymies the attacks of 4th Army.  Meanwhile, X Corps of 1st Army had been ordered to advance in the afternoon, on the assumption that 4th Army struck the Russians in the morning.  Again, the divisions are significantly delayed, and by nightfall have not yet reached Russian positions.  Thus ends the first day of Conrad's grand 'pincer movement'.

The line near Krakow at the start of the Austro-Hungarian offensive, November 16th, 1914.

- In South Africa a rebel commando commanded by C. F. Beyers is attacked by superior Government forces near Bultfontein and is defeated.  Beyers and the remnants of his unit flee eastwards.  The rebels have not been able to attract enough support among the Boer populace, given that the leading figures in the South African government - men such as Botha and Smuts - are Boers themselves who were active leaders in the Boer War, and thus could draw on considerable personal loyalty in raising government units to combat the rebels.

November 15th, 1914

- Though German shelling continues there are no significant infantry actions today in Flanders.  The reorganization of the Entente line pursuent to the agreement on the 13th between Foch and French begins, and a reconstituted British IV Corps, consisting of 7th and 8th Divisions and again commanded by General Rawlinson, enters the line today between III and Indian Corps.  The German army, meanwhile, begins to lay the groundwork for a public explanation of its failure in Flanders, issuing a communique today stating that bad weather has impeded operations over the past few days.

- In Poland only today does General Ruzski of the Russian North-West Front realize that the advance of the German 9th Army is not only the main German offensive, as opposed to a diversion, but that it is poised to seize Lodz and drive into the rear of 2nd and 5th Armies.  He issues orders today for both armies to retreat eastwards and fall back on Lodz.  The battle is now a race between the German 9th Army and the Russian 2nd and 5th Armies to see which can reach Lodz first.

Meanwhile, Conrad is planning an offensive of his own.  In the retreat after the Battle of the Vistula River over the past several weeks, the Austro-Hungarian 1st and 4th Armies have fallen back upon the fortress of Krakow, the former just to the north and the latter just to the northeast.  Conrad orders call for 4th Army to lead with an attack on the Russian 9th Army opposite, to be followed almost immediately by 1st Army advancing into the Russian flank.  Should everything go according to plan, the Austro-Hungarian advance will form a southern pincer that will meet with the German 9th Army east of Lodz to isolate three entire Russian armies.  Like many of Conrad's plans, it ambitious and hopelessly unrealistic.

Further, for the past nine days the Austro-Hungarian 2nd Army has been transferring from the front in Galicia to Prussian Silesia.  The ostensible reason for this redeployment, as Conrad told Hindenburg, was to aid the German 9th Army in its offensive.  In reality, Conrad did not want the Germans to undertake their offensive by themselves, as it would allow Hindenburg and Ludendorff to act without reference to Conrad; instead, if the Austro-Hungarian 2nd Army aided the German 9th Army, Conrad could assert the right to have a say in the progress of the fighting.

The transfer of 2nd Army, however, has been painfully slow, a reflection both of poor Austro-Hungarian staff work and the lack of sufficient railways in Galicia.  Just 12 trains per day are bringing one of 2nd Army's two corps north, while the trains carrying the other have to detour through Budapest.  This stands in stark contrast to the rapid redeployment of the German 9th Army achieved earlier in November, and such logistics are yet another way in which the Austro-Hungarian army is significantly weaker than its ally.

Of crucial importance to the Battle of Lodz is that the slow arrival of the Austro-Hungarian 2nd Army means that it has not come to grips with the Russian 5th Army, which is what allows the latter to disengage and retreat eastward relatively unhindered.  At the same time, the removal of 2nd Army from the Galician front means that Conrad's offensive at Krakow is under a time constraint - he needs to defeat the Russian 4th and 9th Armies before the Russian armies to the east can reach the Carpathians and seize the mountain passes through it, which would give the Russians access to central Hungary.

The line in northern Poland, November 15th, 1914.  Note the advance of the German 9th Army southeastwards between
Lodz and the Vistula, and the Austro-Hungarian 2nd Army slowly coming into the line north of Army Group Woyrsch,
a small German formation designed to cover the gap between 9th Army and the Austro-Hungarians to the south.

- Socialist Benito Mussolini starts a campaign agitating for Italy's entry to the war on the side of the Entente through his newspaper Il Populo d'Italia.  His call for war is based on his belief that it is necessary to fulfill 'Italy's national destiny.'

- Austro-Hungarian forces reach the town of Valjevo in northwestern Serbia today, resulting in celebrations in Vienna.  The successful advance to date, in contrast to the two prior failures, lead General Potiorek to believe that the Serbian army has been thoroughly crushed and no longer posed a significant threat.

The reality is that while it has retreated and suffered losses, the Serbian army is far from finished.  As the withdrawal had been planned in advance, losses were lighter than if the Serbs had fought to the end to hold their advanced position.  Further, the defensive positions on the Kolubara River, which the Serbian army has now retreat to, had been under preparation for several months, and they constituted a formidable obstacle to a further Austro-Hungarian advance.

- Near the Shatt al-Arab several battalions of Indian Expeditionary Force D sortie from their camp at Sanniya and attack an Ottoman force of approximately two thousand that had approached to within four miles of the British camp.  Attacking early in the morning, the Ottoman force is dispersed, the British suffering sixty-two casualties while inflicting one hundred and sixty and taking twenty-five prisoners.  The battle, the first significant engagement with Ottoman forces in Mesopotamia, gives IEF D time to finish disembarking its reinforcements unmolested while also teaching valuable lessons on combat in a desert environment.

- The German East Asiatic Squadron departs Más Afuera today, heading south.  Admiral Spee has decided not to break up his squadron to raid Entente merchant shipping, feeling that to do so would waste valuable coal.  Instead, the five ships of the squadron will stay together as they sail down the Chilean coast.

November 14th, 1914

- Early this afternoon at Ypres an attack is made by the Guards' Regiments of Winckler's Division and 4th Division on the British lines opposite.  In several places German soldiers managed to reach British trenches, but any occupation of them was shortlived in the face of timely counterattacks.  Thus the second assault of Plettenberg's Corps never posed the same risk to the Entente line as the first three days earlier.  Elsewhere, the French lost a few hundred yards of no real consequence north of Ypres, while the French XVI Corps took nearly a thousand German prisoners in attacks near Wytschaete.

The frequency and intensity of German attacks at Ypres are clearly in decline, and they are also facing a shortage of artillery shells - Falkenhayn today concludes that there are enough shells for only four more days of fighting around the Ypres salient.

- Lord Roberts, one of the great military and imperial figures of pre-war Britain, dies at St. Omer this evening at 8pm.  Roberts had had a long and distinguished career, serving as Commander-in-Chief in India (1885-93), commander of British forces in the Boer War (1899-1900), and Commander-in-Chief of the British Army (1900-04).  After retirement he was president of the National Service League, which advocated for peacetime conscription in Britain.  Though he was unable to convince the governments of the day of conscription, he was consistent in warning of the German threat and the necessity of Britain committing a large army to the fight against Germany.  He lived long enough to see the war he long prophesized begin, and the first battles of the army he had once led.  He had arrived in France three days ago to visit the troops, but caught a cold which led to his passing.

- In Poland the German 9th Army is making excellent speed in its advance southeastward towards Lodz, as the first winter frost has frozen the mud which had slowed prior campaigns.  After the virtual destruction of the Russian V Siberian Corps, General Mackensen has deployed one corps along the Vistula to guard against the Russian 1st Army; given the sluggishness of Rennenkampf, this is more than sufficient.  The other four corps of 9th Army continue the push towards Lodz against little opposition.  General S. M. Scheidemann of the Russian 2nd Army, which is immediately west of Lodz, is the first Russian commander to realize the threat of the German offensive, and begins to reorientate his army from facing westward for the invasion of Germany to facing northward to confront the German 9th Army.  The rest of the Russian command leadership remains in the dark - Grand Duke Nicholas remains focused on the invasion of Germany, discounting any threat from the northwest to the line of advance westward.

- In Constantinople today the Sheikh-ul-Islam, the highest religious authority in Islam, proclaims a holy war, or jihad, in the presence of the Ottoman Sultan.  All Muslims throughout the world were called upon to fight Britain, France, Russia, Serbia, and Montenegro.  In particular, the Muslim inhabitants of the Asian and African colonies of the first three were called upon to rise up and make common cause with the Ottoman Empire.

This is a proclamation that threatens wholesale rebellions throughout the empires of Britain, France, and Russia, and the three Entente powers take the announcement very seriously.  The efficacy of the call for jihad is limited, however, by a number of factors.  First, it was not a call for all Muslims to rise up against all imperial powers - despite their recent occupation of Libya, there is no mention of Italy, a neutral that Germany and Austria-Hungary do not wish to offend.  Thus the jihad is to be limited, not universal.  Second, the call is clearly linked to the secular and imperial interests of the Ottoman Empire, and in particular Muslims in the Caucasus were not being asked to rise against Russia for freedom, but rather to trade Russian imperialism for Ottoman imperialism.  Finally, because the call for jihad is so clearly linked to the Ottoman Empire, its credibility is linked to the effectiveness of Ottoman arms on the battlefield.  Thus the Young Turks in the Ottoman government who have driven the empire to war need early victories to demonstrate to Muslims outside the empire that the Ottomans are worthy of its claimed position as the leader and protector of global Islam.

- The Muslim group that most enthusiastically embraces the call to jihad is the Senussi, a puritan sect of Islam with between 1.5 and 2.5 million adherents in the Sahara and equatorial Africa.  In 1912 the Ottoman province of Libya was conquered by Italy, and since that time the Senussi have led the resistance to the imposition of Italian rule, and by 1914 they have ten thousand under arms in eastern Cyrenaica near the Egyptian border.  Despite the proclamation of jihad not actually applying to the Senussi, given their presence in an Italian colony, their doctrine does not allow certain non-believers to be exempted from a call to jihad.  Thus the banner of holy war is raised by the Senussi in Fezzan in southern Libya, and the ongoing fight of the Senussi will become increasingly linked to the broader world war.

- Additional elements of the Indian 6th Division arrive at the British camp at Sanniya on the Shatt al-Arab this morning to reinforce Indian Expeditionary Force D.  They bring with them new orders from the Viceroy of India that if they have sufficent force, they are to advance and occupy the city of Basra.  The orders come from India, not London, as the expedition is being undertaken not only to protect British oil interests in Persia, but as a form of 'active defense' of the western frontier of India.

November 13th, 1914

- At Ypres the Germans launch several attacks today.  In the morning an attack by elements of XXVI and XXVII Reserve Corps assault the French 18th Division of IX Corps, and though they are able to gain a portion of the French trench they are halted.  After a heavy bombardment during the morning the German 4th Division advances against a portion of the British line south of the Menin Road, but are repulsed with heavy losses.

Meanwhile an agreement is reached today between General Foch and Field Marshal French to reorganize the units on the front line at Ypres.  The fighting of the last month has resulted in French units being interspersed among British units, and the desire is to consolidate the BEF so that it holds just one stretch of the front line.  To do so the northernmost units of the BEF are to move southwards towards the line already held by Indian Corps, while the French take over most of the Ypres salient.   For his part General Joffre approves of such a reorganization as he believes that the German offensive in Flanders has run its course.

The strength of the BEF is also reinforced today with the arrival of 8th Division from England, it being composed of Regular Army battalions that had been in India and elsewhere in the Empire on the outbreak of war.

- Denmark, Norway, and Sweden today issue a joint protest against the blockade policy of Britain, and in particular the recent declaration of the North Sea as a war zone.  They assert that this has impacted their overseas trade, and violates their rights as neutrals.  The protest demonstrates how Britain's blockade of Germany, and the means by which they enforce it, inevitably impacts neutral states.  The Foreign Office is concerned not only to avoid pushing the neutrals into a more pro-Germany stance, but also to ensure that the substantial British trade with these neutrals can continue unimpeded.  To this end, the Foreign Office is continuing negotiations with the Scandinavian neutrals to find means by which neutral trade can continue but Germany remains blockaded.

November 12th, 1914

- Though the German breakthroughs of yesterday have been contained, there is still great concern among British commanders early this morning.  The German Guards regiments still hold the old British trench line between Polygon Wood and the Menin Road, and an attempt in the pre-dawn hours to launch a counterattack is abandoned after Brigadier-General Charles Fitzclarence of 1st Brigade is killed reconnoitring the enemy position.  General Haig informs Field Marshal French that his position is extremely precarious, I Corps current manpower being more than 80% below peacetime establishment.  The BEF commander is able to send 1st Cavalry Division to assist, given the lack of German effort yesterday in the area around Messines.

Though the British situation is dire, it is if anything worse on the German side.  The attacking units of yesterday suffered appalling losses - 1st Guard Regiment, for example, suffered in excess of eight hundred casualties alone.  The fresh divisions of Plettenberg's Corps, having launched the most determined assaults, have suffered the greatest losses.  The attacking power of Army Group Linsingen has been irretrievably broken - Winckler's Division spends today entrenching as opposed to resuming yesterday's attacks.  The British lines are not attacked today, and though on the northeast portion of the Ypres salient a surprise attack by the Germans on the French IX Corps forces the latter back six hundred yards, there is never any real risk of a German breakthrough here.

- Joffre issues instructions today to his army commanders, emphasizing the importance of constructing strong trench lines and defenses.  This was not, however, an acceptance by Joffre that the French army was to go over to the defensive; instead, stronger defenses meant fewer soldiers were needed to man the trenches, which freed up units to be placed in reserve to counter a German attack, or for use in future offensive operations.  Again, the emphasis on trench construction is meant to facilitate, not impede, a return to a war of movement.

- A conference advocating the complete prohibition of alcohol during wartime is held today at Caxton Hall, London, presided over by the Archbishop of Canterbury.  The call is based in part on the belief that drunk workers do not make good munitions workers.  There is, however, also a gender component - it is feared that as more working-class women enter the factory to replace men gone off to war, they are more likely to succumb to the temptation of alcohol, long a staple of male working-class culture.  The fear here is that these women will become less feminine, a common concern when normative gender roles are in flux due to the war, and the desire is to minimize the disruption - women may be needed to work like men, but heaven forbid they start drinking like men.

- Throughout the 19th-century, a cornerstone of Russian foreign policy was the acquisition of Constantinople and the straits of the Bosphorus and Dardanelles, so as to have year-round access to the world's oceans, which Russia did not have from its Baltic or Pacific ports.  Equally, the British in the 19th-century consistently opposed the Russian claim on the basis that it would disrupt the balance of power, and thus Britain spent much of the last century propping up the Ottoman Empire.  Naturally, with the Ottomans now included among their enemies, the British feel no great desire to prolong their existence.  More important now is keeping the Russians onside, and the promise of the Straits is surely extra motivation to continue in the war.  Besides, there are plenty of other parts of the Ottoman Empire that the British have their eyes on, so a concession here can be balanced by an acquisition there.  Thus today the British government informs the Russians that they support the claim of the latter to the Straits in any postwar settlement.

- In South Africa Christian de Wet has raised a commando of about 3500 in the Orange Free State, but more have flocked to the Government.  Prime Minister Botha leads one commando of several that attempt to surround de Wet's force in Mushroom Valley.  Due to a miscommunication between the Government units the rebel commando is able to escape, but leaves behind a number of dead and wounded as well as 250 prisoners.  De Wet is determined to continue the rebellion - his son Danie had been killed in a skirmish with government soldiers on the 9th.  However, Botha today issues a promise of a pardon to any rebel who surrenders by the 21st, which begins to thin the ranks of the rebels.

November 11th, 1914

- The pre-dawn hours at Ypres give no hint of the impending German attack, while the first rays of light reveal a think grey fog covering the battlefield.  However, at 630am the German artillery opened fire - they had been stockpiling shells for today, and the resulting bombardment was the most intensive of the war to date.  At 9am the fire reaches its crescendo, which clearly indicates to the British defenders that an infantry attack is imminent.  Along much of the British line, many of the defenders had withdrawn from the front line to support positions to avoid the worst of the bombardment, as the primitive state of the trenches offered no real protection from such intensive artillery fire.  It was only when the bombardment shifted to the support positions that the British infantry would rush back forward to repel the German attack.

In theory the German attack was to extend from Zonnebeke to Messines, and include the forces of Army Groups Fabeck and Linsingen, as well as 54th Reserve Division of XXVII Reserve Corps to the north of Plettenberg's Corps of Army Group Linsingen.  In practice, the intensity of the infantry attacks were related to the amount of time they had already spent in the line at Ypres.  Opposite Messines 26th Division and 11th Landswehr Brigade of Army Group Fabeck never even left their trenches - the German history excuses this by noting the intensity of British artillery fire.  On the other end of the line, 54th Reserve Division made no attempt to advance either, which had, as will be seen, a significant impact on the operations of its neighbour to the south.

South of the Comines Canal, five German divisions assault the line held by most of four French divisions, but despite heavy fighting are able to make no progress whatsoever.  North of the Canal, the French line is pushed back to Hill 60 at noon by 30th Division.  The retreat threatened the rear of the British I Corps and French IX Corps, but a counterattack by a regiment of cavalry advancing on foot manages to re-establish the line by 630pm.  East of the French position six British battalions grouped under Lord Cavan defended against twelve German battalions, primarily of 39th Division.  Twice the Germans managed to close up to the British line, and twice counterattacks drove them off, and the line held.

The Battle of Ypres, November 10th and 11th, 1914.

As Winckler's Division and 4th Division of Plettenberg's Corps had arrived in the line less than forty-eight hours ago, they launch their attacks with resolution and determination.  The advance of 4th Division meets very heavy British fire, and the ranks of the attackers are swept away by rifle, machine-gun, and artillery fire.  The German line breaks, and subsequent efforts to reform and advance again are repeatedly halted by British fire, and a final effort at 4pm makes no headway.

Thus the burden of the offensive falls on the four Guards regiments of Winckler's Division - north to south, 3rd Guard, 1st Guard, 2nd Grenadier Guards, and 4th Grenadier Guards Regiments.  They advance along the Menin Road, the first three to the north and the last just to the south.  The British line is held by various battalions and companies thrown together in the fighting of the past several weeks under 1st Division, I Corps.  In the thick mist the Guards advance jogging in neat rows, officers at the front with swords unsheathed.  4th Guards almost reaches the British position, but at the last momemt a British artillery observer, following his broken telephone line back to his battery, orders shrapnel fire, which cuts through the German ranks and forces 4th Guards to retire.  2nd Guards, however, manages to squeeze through a gap in the British line, as they reach the British trench almost simultaneously with the British infantry returning from support positions after the German artillery bombardment.  The British retreat into the woods west of the village of Veldhoek.  A German Fusilier battalion pursues them into the trees, but as it now has no support on either flank, it comes under attack from three sides and is annhilated.  A further counterattack recovers the reserve trenches, though 2nd Guards is able to hold the original British front line.

The most serious situation occurs to north.  When 1st and 3rd Guards attack at 9am, they are able to reach the British trench line before it can be fully manned, and within ten minutes they have overrun the three British battalions opposing them and have opened a thousand-yard gap in the British line.  As 3rd Guard pushes forward, however, it comes under heavy fire from Polygon Wood on its northern flank, which was supposed to have been cleared by the attack of 54th Reserve Division.  The failure of the latter means that 3rd Guard finds itself pulled northward as it attempts to dislodge the British.  Having suffered heavy losses, 1st Guard pushes forward into Nonnebosschen (Nun's Wood), as much as to escape the fire of the British in Polygon Wood as to outflank it.

The German Guards have broken through the British line and are in position to threaten the position of I Corps and indeed the entire Entente position in the Ypres salient.  At the moment 1st Guards enters Nonnebosschen, the only British between them and Ypres are several artillery batteries and a divisional headquarters.  As news of the breakthrough spreads, Haig orders what little reserves he has forward.  In the rear headquarters staff and cooks are handed weapons and move into makeshift defensive positions in the expectation of the Germans sweeping forward.  The commander of 2nd Division sends forward 2nd Battalion, Oxford and Bucks, his last reserve, and it is ordered to recover Nonnebosschen.  Just after 2pm its four companies sprint forward and crash into the woods.

Just under a thousand survivors of 1st Guards were in Nonnebosschen when the British counterattacked.  Once again, the Germans had been unaware of what they had actually accomplished - almost every officer and NCO had been killed, infantry milling about Nonneboschen in confusion, and German prisoners taken from 1st Guards are aghast when they learn how close they had been shattering the entire line.  Instead, the counterattack of 2nd Battalion, Oxford and Bucks finds 1st Guards surprised and leaderless, and the latter immediately break and retreat out of Nonnebosschen.  Further, 3rd Guards has broken on the British line in Polygon Wood - in the dense mist the defenders see a bank of grey in the distance, and expect a further German attack, only to find when the mist clears that it is hundreds of German corpses cut down by their fire.  By late afternoon the British have recovered the support line east of Nonnebosschen, though similar to the situation just to the south the Germans hold the original British trench line.  The most serious breach of the day has been closed, and the German attacks have failed.

The attack of the German Guards regiments, November 11th, 1914.  The thick red line is the front at nightfall;
Nonneboschen, captured and lost by 1st Guards during the day, is to the west (left) of the inverted 'U'.

- The German 9th Army begins its advance southeast from the line Thorn-Poznan towards Lodz.  Advancing to the south of the Vistula River, three of 9th Army's corps collide with the V Siberian Corps of the Russian 1st Army.  Outnumbered five to one in artillery, the latter is shattered, with two-thirds of its men becoming prisoners.  The remnants of V Siberian Corps retreats along the Vistula, and the German 9th Army advances through a thirty kilometre gap it has blasted between the river and the Russian 2nd Army.  The Russian command structure, meanwhile, has no idea what has happened - General Ruzski of North-West Front, believing V Siberian Corps to be a second-rate formation anyway, ascribes its defeat to a mere two German divisions, and still believes 9th Army to be to the southwest, not northwest, of the main advance of 2nd and 5th Armies.

The Battle of Lodz, November 11th to 16th, 1914.

- In the Caucasus the Ottoman 3rd Army launches a second counterattack against the Russian I Turkestan Corps.  This operation is better-directed than the earlier advance of the 6th, and Russian artillery is unable to elevate sufficiently to hit Ottoman positions higher in the mountains.  By the end of the day the Russians have been driven back from Köprüköy to a line Horsan-Sanamer, still inside Ottoman territory.

The Battle of Köprüköy, November 1914.

- On the Shatt al-Arab an Ottoman force of about three hundred attacks the main British encampment at Sanniya.  The enemy advance is easily held, and a counterattack inflicts eighty casualties on the Ottomans for ten British and Indian killed or wounded.  Despite the victory, the British commander decides to hold his current position until reinforcements can arrive from India.

- Glasgow today arrives at the River Plate, where it is met by the armoured cruiser Defence, and together the two sail for Abrolhos Rocks, off the Brazilian coast, where British warships in the South Atlantic are to rendezvous.  The pre-dreadnought Canopus is not with them, however - it broke down again after leaving the Falkland Islands, and the First Sea Lord ordered it to return to Port Stanley and run itself aground in shallow water at the eastern end of the harbour, so that it could serve as a stationary gun platform to protect the Falklands.

The British pre-dreadnought Canopus grounded at Port Stanley in the Falkland Islands, November 1914.

Meanwhile, at 4pm the battlecruisers Invincible and Inflexible depart Plymouth for the South Atlantic.  Initially the head of the dockyard wanted to hold the ships until the 13th for further maintenance work, but Admiral Fisher was having none of that, ordering them prepared to sail today.  Work continued right up to departure, and Inflexible takes with it several dozen workmen whose tasks have not yet been completed.  The two battlecruisers are commanded by Vice-Admiral Sir Frederick Doveton Sturdee, formerly Chief of Staff of the Admiralty.  He has also been appointed Commander-in-Chief, South Atlantic and Pacific, with orders to find and sink the German East Asiatic Squadron above all else.

November 10th, 1914

- This morning General Plettenberg requests that the attack to be launched by Winckler's Division and 4th Division be delayed by one day - heavy mist over the past twenty-four hours has prevented necessary to plan the operation.  General Linsingen agrees, and the advance of his Army Group is postponed until tomorrow morning.

The delay, however, does not apply to the German 4th Army to the north, and thus today heavy assaults fall on the Entente line from Langemarck northwards.  The most substantial is undertaken by elements of 4th Ersatz Division and 43rd Reserve Division against Dixmude, which had been bitterly fought over in late October.  A heavy German artillery bombardment begins at dawn, and by 740am German infantry are advancing.  There follows a long day of hand-to-hand fighting in which the Belgian and French defenders are slowly but relentlessly forced back.  At 330pm German units enter the town itself, and its defenders withdraw westward over the Yser Canal, the Belgians dynamiting the bridges before the Germans can seize them.  The loss of Dixmude is a setback, but not the disaster that its capture would have been in late October, given the flooding of the Yser to the north.  Moreover, the Belgians and French are able to establish a new defensive position on the west bank of the Yser Canal, and no German breakthrough is achieved.

The Germans achieve other small gains on the front of 4th Army - they occupied a crossroads northwest of Bixschoote, the village of Kortekeer Cabaret, and some trenches west of Langemarck.  However, these attacks have nowhere achieved a decisive breakthrough - everywhere the Entente forces have been able to retreat to new lines of defences - but they have achieved one other indirect objective.  As the attacks develop over the day, General Foch concludes, not entirely unreasonably, that this is the major German push in Flanders designed to cover the redeployment of units to the Eastern Front.  Moreover, the intelligence available today appears to bear this out - the units assigned to 4th Army for today's attacks have all been correctly identified, but the presence of Plettenberg's corps on the Menin road has been missed.  Thus, under the impression that the attacks north of Ypres are the main offensive, the remaining reserves of the French XVI and IX Corps, plus the French 6th Cavalry Division near Zillebeke, are ordered northwards by Foch, reducing the reserves available south of Langemarck.  Further, the British experience only the normal amount of German shelling, and thus have no idea of the storm that is about to break over them tomorrow.

The Western Front in northern France and Belgium, November 10th, 1914.

- The assembly of General Mackensen's 9th Army is completed today, with six corps now concentrated between Thorn and Posen.  The rapid redeployment of 9th Army has once again demonstrated the strength of German logistics - eight hundred trains were used over the past week in the operation.

The redeployment of the German 9th Army, November 3rd to 10th, 1914.  Also note the position
of the Russian armies opposite.

November 9th, 1914

- The French 11th Division arrives today south of Ypres, and assists an attack by the French XVI Corps against the enemy lines near the Comines Canal.  This time the French are able to make minor progress, pushing the Germans ever-so-slightly back from Ypres.  Elsewhere the Germans keep up a regular bombardment on the British and French lines, but few infantry attacks are undertaken.  Writing to Lord Kitchener, Field Marshal French states that Joffre has told him that he believes the Germans have already begun to withdraw corps to ship to the Eastern Front, but that Germans might launch two or three more sharp attacks to cover the redeployment.  Once again the BEF commander is precient in a manner not altogether anticipated by himself.

On the German side Plettenberg's Corps comes into the line in preparation for the attack by Army Group Linsingen, along with 4th and 6th Armies, scheduled to begin for 7am tomorrow.

- After having their plans interrupted by the October Battle of the Vistula River, the Russians once again are aiming to invade Germany.  Under the authority of General Ruzski's North-West Front, 2nd and 5th Armies are to advance from central Poland and invade Germany in the general direction of Breslau.  The southern flank of the advance is to be covered by 4th Army, while the northern flank is held by General Rennenkampf's 1st Army.  However, despite being responsible for the invasion of Germany General Ruzski remains concerned about East Prussia, and the potential for a German sortie eastwards or southwards.  He has 10th Army covering the east, and insists that the focus for 1st Army should be covering southern Poland.  The latter thus has only a single corps - V Siberian - on the southern bank of the Vistula River to maintain contact with 2nd Army as it begins its advance.  Due to typical problems with supply, the invasion is scheduled to begin November 14th.

Planning for the operation has rested on the assumption that the German 9th Army remains in the area of Krakow, and the Russians have completely missed the ongoing redeployment of 9th Army to Thorn; today Stavka informs North-West Front that at least five to six German corps remain north of Krakow just inside the Russian border.  Thus the Russians are unaware that 9th Army will shortly be to the northwest of their invasion route, not the southwest.

- This morning the German light cruiser Emden appears off Direction Island, located in the Cocos Islands.  Here is located a key station where telegraph cables from Australia to India and Zanzibar meet, and the captain of the Emden has decided to destroy them.  A heavily-armed landing party of fifty, led by First Officer Helmuth von Mücke is put ashore, where they encounter the civilian workforce of the station, and proceed to destroy the cables.

The luck of the Emden, however, has finally run out.  The head of the cable station had previously established other lines for precisely such a scenario, and used them to send out a distress signal - 'SOS, Emden here.'  By coincidence, the large convoy carrying the volunteers from Australia and New Zealand to Europe is only fifty-five miles north of Direction Island, and they receive the signal.  The Australian light cruiser Sydney is despatched, and comes across Emden.  Sydney is three knots faster, two thousand tons heavier, and has larger armament than Emden, making the outcome a foregone conclusion.  Emden puts up a strong fight, at one point knocking out Sydney's automatic fire-control, which lessened the accuracy of the latter's salvoes.  Nevertheless, after two and a half hours, Emden is a burning wreck, and its captain deliberately runs it aground on the reefs off North Keeling Island.  Over a hundred and fifty sailors had been killed, and the remaining two hundred and thirty became prisoners.

The voyage of the German light cruiser Emden.

As Emden is crushed by Sydney, the landing party under First Officer Mücke can only watch.  As soon as Sydney had appeared, he realized that his ship was doomed and that within the next day or two they would come for his landing party.  One option was simply to surrender, which was unpalatable.  A second was to attempt to hold the island against a British landing, which would be doomed in the long run.  The third alternative sat at anchor near the jetty at Direction Island - the three-masted wooden schooner Ayesha, a civilian merchant ship.  As the battle is concluding, Mücke orders his men to transfer two months' supplies from the island to the schooner, and the fifty men of the landing party cram aboard.  Sydney spends the afternoon taking on the prisoners from Emden, so Ayesha is able to slip out of harbour by nightfall and escape.  The prospects for Mücke's detachment are bleak - not only are the practically surrounded by British colonies with dozens of British warships already at sea in the search for Emden, Mücke discovers that Ayesha does not even have any charts of the area.  He sets course eastwards, hoping to land somewhere in the Dutch East Indies.  Thought Emden's cruise is at an end, the saga of Mücke's detachment is just beginning.

November 8th, 1914

- The weather at Ypres today is cloudy with poor visibility, impairing the ability of artillery observers to accurately direct fire on enemy positions.  Despite this, the Germans keep up a steady, if somewhat less accurate, bombardment of the Entente lines.  The Germans also continue to launch infantry assaults to pin and wear down the British and French defenders, the most heaviest of which is launched by elements of the German 5th and 30th Divisions just north of the Menin Road which close up to but are unable to take the grounds of Veldhoek Chateau.

During the morning Field Marshal French and General Haig attend a conference at General Foch's headquarters at Cassel.  Foch is typically optimistic, but both French and Haig emphasize the danger of the German advance near the Comines Canal towards Ypres, which threatens to cut off the British I Corps.  Foch replies that orders have been issued to retake the ground lost over the past few days, but is unable to promise any additional units to support the British lines.  The French launch a number of attacks all along the line, but once again are repulsed by the Germans.  Meanwhile the BEF commander writes to Kitchener today that the pressure on his force can only be alleviated either by French reinforcements or, as he feels is more likely, the redeployment of German forces to the Eastern Front.  The latter reflects the thinking of Joffre as well, in that ongoing pressure from the Russians, as evidenced in the failed German offensive in Poland in October, will compel the Germans to move forces east.  While this is both a reasonable conclusion to draw and one that reflects the pressure that Falkenhayn is under at this time, it also means that the British and French view the primary means of salvation for their position at Ypres to be a decision by their enemies to abandon the attack, as opposed to any successful effort on their part.  It is a potentially dangerous assumption to make if the enemy will further attacks, which is, of course, precisely what the Germans will do.

Behind the German lines, preparations continue for the offensive operation now planned for November 10th.  Winckler's Guard Division and 4th Division are formed into a corps under the command of General Karl von Plettenberg, and his corps plus XV Corps are joined together to form an army group commanded by General Alexander von Linsingen.  Army Group Linsingen is to attack north of the Ypres-Comines Canal, the focal point of the offensive and where the breakthrough is to occur.  Army Group Fabeck is to remain on the ground secured in recent days to the west of the canal, and is to both attack itself and support Army Group Linsingen's attack on its northern flank.  The entirety of 4th and 6th Armies are to also make a maximum effort to assault the British and French lines.  Falkenhayn knows that everything must be poured into this attack for, as he informs the Kaiser today, the army is exhausted and will be unable to undertake another offensive in the near future.

- The German retreat from the Vistula River at the end of October uncovered the northern flank of the Austro-Hungarian armies that had advanced to the San River, and as such they have been falling back to the line they began from.  This has placed the fortress of Przemysl at risk, and today, for the second time in the war, it finds itself cut off and besieged by the Russians.

Over the past week, as the likelihood of Przemysl being isolated has become apparent, the Austro-Hungarians have prepared for a lengthy siege.  For six days trains arrived at Przemysl every fourteen minutes, delivering food and supplies sufficient for six months.  However, as with much of their war effort, the Austro-Hungarians have botched the resupply of Przemysl.  The food and supplies sent to the fortress assumed a garrison of 85 000, when in reality it has swollen to 130 000, and the calculations left out entirely the 30 000 civilians which ought to have been evacuated instead.  Moreover, as the Austro-Hungarian 3rd Army retreated past Przemysl, it plundered the garrison's food stocks.  The upshot is that when Przemysl is encircled again today, it is actually in worse shape to withstand a siege than it had been when it had been relieved on October 9th.

- Austro-Hungarian forces attack the Serbian 2nd Army in the foothills of the Cer mountain range, advancing for once under considerable artillery support.  The Serbs fight desperately to hold their positions - as the Austro-Hungarians advance uphill, they resort to rolling down logs and boulders, throwing rocks, and firing flare pistols.  Under the weight of numbers, however, the Serbs are forced back as the weakened condition of the Serbian army begins to show.

At the same time, a conference is held between the Serbian government and its high command.  General Putnik emphasizes the deteriorating state of the army, and raises for the first time the question of a negotiated peace.  Prime Minister Pašić, however, urges continued resistance and threatens resignation if an overture for peace is made.  The resolution of the meeting is to continue resistance to the Austro-Hungarian invaders.

- The battlecruisers Invincible and Inflexible arrive this afternoon at the British naval base at Plymouth.  Both warships are placed in dry docks to have their bottoms cleaned while machinery is repaired and coal, ammunition, and supplies are load not only for themselves, but for the warships they are to join in the South Atlantic.

- Having fled from the Pacific through the Straits of Magellan, Glasgow and Canopus arrive this morning at Port Stanley.  They spend the day coaling, assisted by seventy volunteers from among local fishermen and sheep farmers, and at 6pm depart for the River Plate to rendezvous with Defence.

November 7th, 1914

- The weather turns for the worse today on the Ypres battlefield, with falling temperatures and heavy mist.  A French counterattack by XVI Corps scheduled for 930am this morning to recapture Zwateleen does not occur until mid-afternoon, and makes no progress.  As a result, Foch fires the commander of XVI Corps, a move after Joffre's heart.  In the British lines Haig  is appalled to learn that a number of I Corps' battalions abandon their forward defences under shellfire, returning only at night, and during the day several dozen soldiers are found behind the lines moving as quickly as possible away from the battlefield.  Though morale in the BEF overall has held, given the constant combat over the past few weeks it is not surprising that for some the breaking point is almost at hand.

Meanwhile the Germans launch several infantry attacks along the line, but are everywhere repulsed.  From the Entente side the attacks appear senseless and uncoordinated, but they are a part of the larger offensive operation, in that attacks now serve to pin down Entente forces so they cannot be redeployed to meet the main attack in a few days.  Where the Germans do not attack they continue their artillery bombardment.  Also today two Guards brigades arrive today, having marched from Arras, and are to be formed into a division named for its commander, General Arnold von Winckler.

- The Austro-Hungarian 5th and 6th Armies secure bridgeheads across the Drina River.  Despite fierce resistance the Serbian 1st and 3rd Armies are forced to fall back.

- Sidney Sonnino, the new Italian Foreign Minister appointed to replace the deceased Antonio di San Giuliano, is favourable to the cause of the Entente, as he reveals today in a conversation with the British Ambassador.

- In Egypt war with the Ottoman Empire is announced today, but because of pre-emptive measures taken in recent weeks there are no widespread pro-Ottoman demonstrations nor any significant organized opposition among nationalists.  Further several hundred Egyptian officials with nationalist leanings have been arrested or exiled, and the parliament has been prorogued.  The British are determined to maintain their control over Egypt.

- At Tsingtao, the Japanese prepare for the final assault on the German defences.  Yesterday they had seized the trenches defending the forts on the three hills above the city, and today they are to capture the forts themselves.  A furious artillery bombardment opens this morning, but after counter-fire from their own batteries the Germans raise the white flag.  Given the Japanese success to date and ammunition shortages, there is no prospect of holding the final forts.  So methodical and effective has been the Japanese advance that a siege the Germans had expected would take six months has been completed in six weeks.  The other combatants would do well to study the Japanese method of conducting offensives in conditions of trench warfare - of course, that would require acknowledging the Japanese as their intellectual equals, which for racial reasons is obviously not in the cards.

November 6th, 1914

- At Ypres German attacks are concentrated along the front on both sides of the Ypres-Comines Canal on the southeastern face of the salient, while elsewhere there was the now-regular steady artillery bombardment.  Taking advantage of a thick morning fog, the Germans attack into the woods west of Hollebeke, pre-empting a French attack scheduled for later today.  In the confusion caused by the fog several French cavalry battalions panic, and the Germans are able to advance almost a mile, seizing the entire woods west of Hollebeke, allowing the Germans to advance to within three thousand yards of Ypres.  On the north side of the Canal, the Germans take the French by surprise and pierce the line in three places, allowing the Germans to seize the village of Zwarteleen a mile southeast of Zillebeke.  It takes a counterattack by the British 7th Cavalry Brigade to restore the line.  Though the Germans have not broken through, they have driven a wedge into the junction of the French and British lines, and Haig is now concerned that his I Corps is at risk of having its southern flank turned.

- The Admiralty issues a public statement today on the Battle of Coronel.  It emphasizes that the engagement appears to have been fought with the most bravery, but that without Canopus Craddock’s squadron would have been significantly outgunned.  It establishes what will be the Admiralty line on Coronel - depicting Craddock as epitomizing the bravery and courage of Royal Navy officers, while simultaneously implying that he alone bears responsibility for the defeat by deciding to accept battle without Canopus present.  This, not coincidentally, absolves the Admiralty leadership themselves of responsibility by denying the very significant role their confused signals to Craddock played in the weeks leading up to Coronel.

- General Oskar Potiorek issues orders today for another attempt at invading Serbia, the third of the war to date.  The continued existance of Serbia, to say nothing of the terrible defeats the Austro-Hungarians have suffered at their hands, have undermined the prestige of the Dual Monarchy, potentially decisive in the ongoing efforts to convince the other Balkan states to join the war on their side.  Potiorek's plan is similar to the first two invasions - 5th and 6th Armies will cross the Drina River in the northwest of Serbia, with the aim of advancing to initially Valjevo and ultimately Niš, dividing Serbia in two.

One advantage the Austro-Hungarians would have is that the condition of the Serbian army was deteriorating.  The soldiers were exhausted, food was in short supply, and munitions were even scarcer, such that most of the time the Serbian infantry was fighting with no artillery support at all.  While Britain and France were eager to aid the Serbian defence, the difficulties of sending supplies to a landlocked combatant prevented significant aid from getting through.  General Putnik's strategy was thus to place 'the Serbian national mud between the enemy's fighting line and his supplies.'  Even before the invasion, he has withdrawn his forces in the northwest of the country to the foothills of the Cer mountain range, so as to be out of range of Austro-Hungarian artillery fire.

The third Austro-Hungarian Invasion of Serbia, November to December 1914.

- The Ottoman frontier with Russia is guarded by 3rd Army, consisting of three corps - IX covers the northern portion of the border and XI the southern, with X in reserve further west.  Today elements of XI Corps assembling at Hasankale and Köprüköy launch a counterattack against the Russian column advancing on the former.  However, given the heavy snow and rain and the lack of reconnaissance, they were unable to turn the Russians back.

- From August the Admiralty has been expressing concern about the security of its oil supply from Persia, which reaches the Persian Gulf by pipeline at Abadan Island and where the major refinery is located.  Abadan Island is on the far western portion of Persia's coast, adjacent to the Ottomen Empire's outlet to the Persian Gulf at the Shatt al-Arab.  In the event of war with the Ottomans, Abadan Island would be an obvious target.  Moreover, concern had also been raised by the India Office regarding the importance of demonstrating British hegemony in the Gulf and not allowing an Ottoman challenge to undermine the authority of British rule over its Muslim subjects.  As such, Indian Expeditionary Force D had been formed, consisting of an infantry brigade, and was dispatched to the Gulf in October, arriving in Bahrein on the 23rd.  As war became increasingly likely, it planned to undertake a landing at the Ottoman fort of Fao on the Shatt al-Arab where it meets the Persian Gulf.

This morning the transports carrying IEF D are off Fao, escorted by the pre-dreadnought Ocean.  The small Ottoman garrison puts up a brief resistance, exchanging fire with Ocean for an hour before, being heavily outnumbered, they withdraw northwards from Fao.  By this afternoon landing parties have secured the village and fort at Fao, the first step in the Mesopotamian Campaign.

The opening moves of the Mesopotamian Campaign, 1914.

- The British landing at Fao is not the only Entente move of concern to Persia.  Today Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Sazonov states that Russia will continue to occupy Persian Azerbaijan, suggesting that the easiest route by which the Ottomans can invade the Russian Caucasus is through Azerbaijan, as opposed to the mountain passes on the Ottoman-Russian frontier.  The war thus makes Russian involvement in Persia even more essential in the view of Petrograd.

- The German East Asiatic Squadron returns to Más Afuera in the Pacific.  While Scharnhorst, Gneisenau, and Nürnberg had called at Valparaíso, Leipzig had stayed offshore, and had managed to seize a French merchant with 3600 tons of Cardiff coal.  The sailors start working on distributing the coal to each of the warships of the squadron.

November 5th, 1914

- In Flanders General d'Urbal recieves instructions from General Foch that, as per communications from Joffre, the possibility of a decisive breakthrough north or south of Ypres had all but disappeared, given the time the Germans have had to entrench in their current positions.  Conversely, indications at present suggest the Germans have themselves abandoned hopes for a breakthrough.  Instead, it would be preferable to withdraw troops from the fighting to reconstitute reserves for the French army elsewhere.

The one thing Foch does not do is order d'Urbal to cease his attacks on the German lines.  In the absence of such orders, attacking is precisely what d'Urbal does.  For his efforts today precisely no ground is gained, and indeed Hill 75, just to the west of Messines, is captured by the Germans today.

On the British front it is finally possible this evening to relieve 7th Division and 3rd Brigade, 1st Division, replacing the former with battalions drawn from II Corps and the latter with 6th Cavalry Brigade.  7th Division epitomizes the struggles faced by the BEF and the losses they have suffered.  It has been in near-constant combat, and under continual shelling, since October 19th, and of the 12 522 officers and men who comprised the division when it landed at Ghent on October 12th, only 4149 men remain when it is pulled out of the line today, which includes 2000 soldiers sent as reinforcements over the past month - its commander has been heard to joke darkly that he is a divisional commander without a division.

Nevertheless, the prevailing mood at BEF HQ is that the worst has now past.  Field Marshal French and his corps commanders meet today to discuss the disposition of the BEF over the winter and the provision of leave arrangements.

This optimism, of course, is completely unfounded, as Falkenhayn has determined to make one last push at Ypres.  Today 4th Division, one of the units designated as reinforcements for the offensive, begins detraining today at Lille.

The Battle of Ypres, October 5th to 9th, 1914.

- Today the British government declares the entire North Sea a war zone, and that all vessels entering these waters do so at their own risk.  Ostensibly the move is a response to the laying of German mine fields in the North Sea, but in practice it is a further step in tightening the blockade of Germany - by declaring the North Sea a war zone, the hope is that all neutral traffic would use the Dover Straits where it could be inspected for contraband, a much easier process than patrolling the gap between Scotland and Norway.  Again the British government is undertaking a delicate balancing act - the needs of the Admiralty must constantly be balanced by the Foreign Office's concerns with the impact on neutral opinion.

- This evening the British battlecruisers Invincible and Inflexible depart Cromarty Firth on the west Scottish coast, where they had been a part of Admiral Beatty's Battlecruiser Squadron, en route to Plymouth, where they are to have machinery replaced and take on supplies prior to departure for the South Atlantic.  Their redeployment is the brainchild of Admiral Fisher, just as the ships themselves were a result of his vision of modern naval warfare expounded upon during his earlier tenure as First Sea Lord.  He believed that speed and firepower was paramount, and envisioned the battlecruiser being able to catch everything it could sink and escape from what it couldn't.  In practice this meant having the main armament, but not the armour, of a dreadnought, which gave it several knots advantage over the latter.

In sending them to the South Atlantic they are to form the cornerstone of the British effort to find and sink the German East Asiatic Squadron.  The two battlecruisers are faster than Spee's armoured cruisers, and with heavier main armament is able to fire larger shells over a distance significantly farther than Spee's own main armament can reach.  In other words, they are the perfect weapon to annihilate the German squadron and avenge Coronel - it is the Royal Navy equivalent of stacking the deck in its favour.  Indeed, this is one of the core missions Fisher had envisioned his battlecruisers undertaking - hunting down and sinking enemy commerce raiders.

Of course, the admirals losing Invincible and Inflexible are not pleased about the redeployment.  Beatty is aghast at losing two of his precious battlecruisers, and while Admiral Jellicoe can understand the logic behind the move, he is all-too-aware that it further reduce the British margin of superiority in the North Sea shortly after the loss of the dreadnought Audacious.  The next several months will constitute the closest the German High Seas Fleet will come to parity with the British Grand Fleet.

- All other options exhausted, Britain and France today declare war on the Ottoman Empire.  Simultaneously, the British announce the formal annexation the Ottoman island of Cyprus, which they have occupied since the Congress of Berlin in 1878.  Though this does little more than make de jure what has long been de facto, the action outrages public opinion in Greece, given the substantial Greek population on Cyprus and the belief that the island belongs to them.

The Entente powers are also cognizant of the potential for unrest among the Muslim population of their colonies as they go to war with the preeminent Muslim state in the world.  In an effort to neutralize the issue, the governor-general of French Algeria issues a proclamation that differentiates between the Young Turk rulers of the Ottoman Empire, who are seen as puppets of Germany, and the Turkish people as a whole.

- The Russian declaration of war on the Ottoman Empire yesterday opens a new front in the war, as the two empires share a frontier in the Caucasus.  The terrain here is rough and broken, dominated by the Caucasus and Taurus mountain ranges, and the poverty of the region was such that at the best of times the peasants were barely able to feed themselves.  Two railways on the Russian side approached the border, but their configeration was based on commerce, not defense, while on the Turkish side the nearest railway to Erzurum, the principal Ottoman city in the Caucasus, is 640 miles away.  The weather is also terrible, winter lasting from early November to between late March and May, with snow of two metres in the valleys and temperatures falling below minus twenty degrees centigrade.

All of this combines to convince the Russians that there is little risk of Ottoman invasion.  Indeed, the primary Russian focus is internal, not external - the region has always been a troublesome colonial frontier for the Russians, and groups such as the Georgians continue to agitate and organize to fight for independence.  To this end the Russian I Caucasian Corps, the main Russian force responsible for the region's defense, has been ordered to secure the line Bayazit-Eleskirt-Id, just inside the Ottoman border, this constituting a shorter front than if the corps remained on the Russian side of the frontier.  However, this evening General Georgii Bergmann, who commands I Caucasian Corps and desires glory on the battlefield, orders in his own initiative a further advance to Hasankale on the main road to Erzurum.

The Caucasus Theatre.

- At Tanga the German defenders now number 1500, but Colonel Lettow-Vorbeck is uneasy.  Though the British were repulsed yesterday, he is aware that they had managed to penetrate into Tanga before doing so, and is concerned that a more concerted and determined British advance might yet succeed.  Further, though the enemy advance on Longido failed on the 3rd, he is conscious that he has only three companies there should the British go back over onto the attack.  At 5pm, he concludes that Tanga can no longer be held, and begins preparations to withdraw.

As it turns out, however, the British had beaten him to the punch.  After the debacle of yesterday the soldiers of Indian Expeditionary Force B were hopelessly demoralized, and their commander convinced that victory was impossible.  Thus the British evacuate their forces from the beachhead near Tanga, a process complete by 320pm.  Such was their haste to evacuate that they left all of its heavy supplies behind, among which were eight machine-guns, 455 rifles, and half a million rounds, a vital contribution to Lettow-Vorbeck's force given the difficulties of resupply from Germany itself.  The entire British operation, from first to last, has been a disaster, giving the Germans a notable victory and, for now at least, bringing a halt to offensive operations against German East Africa.

Indian dead on the beaches near Tanga, November 5th, 1914.