November 1st, 1914

- Despite the ground gained yesterday east of Ypres, Army Group Fabeck failed to achieve the desired breakthrough.  General Fabeck decides that while the offensive will continue, its focus will shift slightly.  After failing to exploit the temporary breach in the British line at Gheluvelt yesterday, today's attacks will be launched between Messines and Wytschaete.

On the Entente side, the French plan three attacks, to be undertaken in large part to relieve the pressure on the British - the first from north of Wytschaete, the second from Zonnebeke, and the third a diversionary attack by the rest of IX Corps.  Each of these attacks fail to accomplish anything today, but they also speak to the growing importance of French forces in the Ypres salient.  The past two week have severely reduced the BEF's strength - of its eighty-four infantry battalions, nine have fewer than a hundred men, while another thirty-one have between one and two hundred.  In comparison, a full battalion would have just over a thousand men.  There are also very few reinforcements in Britain that can be sent immediately to the front - the only regular army units not yet in the fight are the battalions of 8th Division, assembling in Britain after being located around the Empire on the outbreak of war.

The main German attack begins at 1am by nine battalions of the 6th Bavarian Reserve Division.  At Wytschaete the British are outnumbered twelve to one, and by 245am the village is in German hands.  More importantly, as the battle continues German units begin to infiltrate between British positions on the ridge between Wytschaete and Messines, as the defenders here are too few to man an entire trench line at once.  Those British soldiers who remain on the ridge at dawn realize they are in danger of encirclement, and pull back.  By 735am the Germans are in possession of the middle part of the high ground.  This outflanks the British defenders still clinging to the village of Messines itself, and they are ordered to retreat at 9am.  The British fall back to the next line of high ground to the west,  while shelling their former trenches at Messines to impede the German occupation of them.  A British counterattack manages to re-enter Wytschaete later in the day, but otherwise the Entente line here has been pushed back.  On the other hand, the German victory is merely a tactical one, as though the British retreat they are not routed, and a new defensive line stands in the Germans' way.

- The Kaiser arrives near the front today, visiting several cavalry divisions near Courtrai and Lille.  The British intercept several messages regarding his journey, but misinterpret his itinerary to suggest that he will be much closer to the front.  British artillery prepare an appropriate welcome at the villages where they think the Kaiser will be during the day.

The fighting around Ypres, November 1st to 4th, 1914.

- Behind the front, Lord Kitchener is meeting President Poincarè, Joffre, and Foch at Dunkirk to discuss the course of the war.  Kitchener informs them that there are no substantial British reinforcements available until the spring of 1915, as he will not send untrained men into battle.  However, subsequently the size of the BEF will expand rapidly as the 'New Armies' of wartime volunteers come into the field.  Also, know of the sometimes-testy relationship between Joffre and Sir John French, Kitchener offers to replace the latter with General Sir Ian Hamilton.  Joffre declines, believing (ironically, given his own record) that changing the BEF's commander in the middle of a battle would not work out.  Unfortunately for Kitchener, this offer very quickly reaches the ears of Field Marshal French, which earns Kitchener the enduring emnity of the latter.

- By today the German 9th Army has fallen back to the line from which it had started its advance into Poland just over a month ago.  Despite Ludendorff's claims of success, and the generally confused nature of the fighting, the Battle of the Vistula River is a Russian victory - it can hardly be otherwise when the Germans were the attackers and they end the battle where they started.  Nevertheless, the past month have shown the continuing logistical and command problems plaguing the Russian army - the attempt to pursue the retreating Germans has completely broken down, and today it is formally called off.

As for Falkenhayn, his attention remains firmly fixed on the Western Front, and is willing to leave matters on the Eastern Front in the hands of Hindenburg and Ludendorff.  As such, Hindenburg is today appointed commander-in-chief of all German forces in the east, with Ludendorff as his chief of staff and the command to be known as Ober Ost.  General Mackensen is also promoted to take command of 9th Army.

- With the entry of the Ottoman Empire into the war almost inevitable after the events in the Black Sea, the Shah of Persia, its eastern neighbour, declares the neutrality of his state.  The statement, however, is more theoretical than practical.  Though Persia is nominally independent, both Britain and Russia have significant interests and influence within it.  The newest dreadnoughts burn oil, not coal, and with the oilfields of southern Persia being a key source for the Admiralty, the British government controls them through owning a majority share of the Anglo-Persian Oil Company.  To the north, Russia already has five thousand soldiers garrisoning Persian Azerbaijan, seeing the endemic instability of the region as necessitating Russian control.  The Shah himself is only 17 years old, and lacks an effective army to maintain internal order.  Persian neutrality means little when major combatants sees their interests as necessitating intervention within its borders.

- At Coronel the British light cruiser Glasgow slips out of port at 915am, and meets the rest of Craddock's squadron just after 1pm.  The four ships then spread out in a line, sailing north in search of the supposedly-isolated Leipzig.  The German East Asiatic Squadron is doing much the same thing in pursuit of Glasgow, except moving south.  At 420pm Leipzig and Glasgow sight each other, drawing both squadrons together.

The approach of the German East Asiatic Squadron to Chile and the Battle of Coronel, November 1st, 1914.

Upon confirming the presence of the entire German East Asiatic Squadron, Craddock knows that his force is markedly inferior to the Germans.  He decides, however, to fight - first, his armed merchant liner Otranto was not fast enough to escape; and second, he felt bound by the Admiralty's orders to engage the enemy.  Craddock turns his squadron around so that both forces are sailing southwards, roughly parallel to each other.  With the sun setting to the west, Craddock hopes to force an action when the sun is blinding the eyes of the German gunners, giving the British a window of opportunity.  At 618pm Craddock aboard Good Hope signals the rest of his ships to follow him in closing with the Germans.

Spee, however, knows just as well as Craddock the impact the setting sun can have, and when the British ships turn to close the gap, he orders his ships to simply turn as well, maintaining the distance between the two squadrons.  Thus the sun sets without a single ship being fired, and now all of the advantages are with the Germans - the British are now silhouetted against the twilight sky.  At 650pm the Germans turn towards the British, and open fire at 704pm.

Craddock never had a chance.  Despite the rough seas, the excellent marksmanship of Scharnhorst and Gneisenau, honed to near-perfection in peacetime gunnery exercises, is immediately obvious.  The third salvo of Scharnhorst strikes Good Hope, destroying one of its 9.2-inch guns, and henceforth the German armoured cruisers pour accurate and rapid fire on Good Hope and Monmouth.  The British attempt to fire back, but most of their 6-inch shells fall short and the single 9.2-inch gun remaining operational on Good Hope can hardly hope to win the battle by itself.  In less than an hour Good Hope is reduced to a flaming wreck, and having absorbed thirty-five hits from Scharnhorst, explodes and sinks at 750pm.  Monmouth survives only an hour more, sinking at 858pm.  As Spee's focus is naturally on the two largest opponents, both Glasgow and Otranto are able to make their escape in the night.

All aboard Good Hope and Monmouth, including Craddock, are lost.  On the German side, only Gneisenau was hit even once by shells that exploded, and it suffered no serious damage and only three sailors were slightly wounded.  Glasgow manages to warn Canopus sailing north with the squadron's colliers of the disaster, and the survivors escape southwards.  The German East Asiatic Squadron has won a notable and completely-lopsided victory at the Battle of Coronel, the first significant defeat of British warships at the hands of the enemy for a century.

The Battle of Coronel, November 1st, 1914.

- As in Canada, the outbreak of war saw thousands of volunteers come forward in Australia and New Zealand.  However, the continued presence of German cruisers in the Pacific and Indian Oceans required that the convoy carrying the volunteers be delayed until sufficient escorts could be assembled.  Today, protected by British, Australian, and Japanese warships, thirty-eight transports carrying almost 21 000 Australian and just under 8500 New Zealand soldiers departs Australia today.  Their destination is Egypt, where they will undergo training.

October 26th, 1914

- Heavy German assaults on the Belgian left and centre of their line between Nieuport and Dixmude force the defenders back upon the railway embankment.  King Albert pleads for further reinforcements from his allies; with the heavy fighting at Dixmude and to the south, they have none to give.  The Belgian command staff begin to discuss a further withdrawal, and cavalry are posted on bridges to the rear to cover a potential retreat.  King Albert, however, knowing such a withdrawal might unhinge the entire Entente line in Flanders and lead to the destruction of the Belgian army, forbids any retreat.  The Belgians turn to the only other option available - the sea.  Much of the land between Nieuport and Dixmude is below sea level, and the waters are kept out by a series of locks and sluices.  If the locks can be opened at high tide, and closed at low tide, the land can be flooded, making further German assaults impossible.  The trouble is finding any civilians in the area who actually know where the lock cranks are and the order in which they should be opened and closed.  Fortuitously for the Belgians, an elderly lockkeeper named Hendrik Geeraert is found who knows how the lock system works.

- In Dixmude the bitter fighting has continued through this morning, when several battalions of Senegalese soldiers arrive to reinforce the defenders.  The commander of the German XXII Reserve Corps reluctantly orders 43rd Reserve Division back to its starting trenches.  Dixmude is now an utter ruin, and over the past two days of street fighting at least 161 civilians are deliberately killed by the attacking Germans.

- The focus of both Field Marshal French and General d'Urbal remains an attack to the northeast, along the lines attempted over the past few days.  The French IX Corps is to be reinforced by 31st Division today, and General Haig orders an infantry and artillery brigade from 1st Division to support the French.  Again, however, little progress is made.  Given his approaching reinforcements, General Pierre Dubois of IX Corps decides to widen the breadth of his attack to include Poelcappelle and Passchendaele.  This, however, disperses French strength instead of concentrating it.  Moreover, the arrival of 31st Division is delayed by masses of refugees on the road, and only arrives at St. Julien, its assembly point, at 5pm, too late to participate in the day's attack.  Some of the French formations are also badly managed - several wander in front of the British portion of the line, delaying the operations of both.  French infantry struggle to advance under German rifle and artillery fire - at the village of Zonnebeke, the air is filled with clouds of red dust from brick houses annihilated by the explosion of German shells.  At best IX Corps is able to advance between four and five hundred yards.  On their south the British 2nd Division of I Corps make no progress, their advance disrupted early in the afternoon when a false report of an imminent German counterattack arrives at Haig's headquarters.

- At Kruiseecke, the plight of 20th Brigade of 7th Division worsens.  The poorly-sited trenches have been under constant bombardment for thirty-six hours, with great numbers of British soldiers buried by collapsing trenches and sand blown into the air clogging rifles.  The nerves of the defenders are thus already frail when a major German attack by fifteen battalions at 9am.  After bitter fighting Germans begin to infiltrate the British line after 10am, which causes widespread chaos as some Germans shout out 'Retire! Retire!'  Belief that a general retreat has been ordered appears entirely plausible to many of the companies, given the heavy bombardment and enemy attack.  Individually and in small groups, British soldiers withdraw from their trenches and stream to the rear.  Three miles of the front held by 20th Brigade have been lost, and the Germans are able to advance several thousand yards, capturing Kruiseecke in particular and 'caving in' the point of the British salient southeast of Ypres.  7th Division calls on I Corps and the Cavalry Corps for reinforcements, and when General Haig arrives to the rear of 20th Brigade's position he is 'astounded at the terror-stricken men coming back.'  The reinforcements are able to create a new defensive line, and many soldiers of 20th Brigade who broke in the morning regain composure once they are out of the firing line.  Nevertheless, the brigade suffers over a thousand casualties today, and 7th Division as a whole has lost 162 officers and 4320 other ranks over the past nine days of fighting, the losses constituting 44% and 37% of the numbers they arrived in France with.

The salient around Ypres, October 26th to 29th, 1914.

- Along the front of the British II Corps, the German 14th Reserve Division of VII Corps launches a major assault today against the village of Neuve Chapelle.  The weakest point of the British line was held by 2nd Battalion, Royal Irish Rifles, which after two days of constant artillery bombardment and fighting had been reduced to two officers and seventeen soldiers.  Many of this and neighbouring units had been repeatedly buried when trenches collapsed under shell fire.  When the attack is launched at 4pm, the line held by 2nd Battalion, Royal Irish Rifles collapses, and Germans stream through Neuve Chapelle.  The British battalions north and south of the village, however, are able to hold their trenches, and the reserve company of 1st Battalion, Wiltshires manages to plug the gap.  This evening a counterattack is launched by a number of whatever companies could be assembled at short notice, which makes their co-ordination difficult.  By the end of the day, the southern portion of Neuve Chapelle has been recaptured, but the old trench line and a number of houses remain in German hands.

- Over the past few days Conrad's plan for an offensive by the Austro-Hungarian 1st Army in Poland has fallen apart.  The Russian armies moving across the Vistula River have done so north-to-south, so that by the time Russians appear before 1st Army the bulk of the Russian forces are already west of the river.  Thus instead of fighting only a portion of the enemy, 1st Army finds itself outnumbered almost two to one and have suffered forty thousand casualties.  Today Conrad orders 1st Army to retreat to the southwest, joining the German 9th Army in retreat.  The one salvation for the German and Austro-Hungarian armies is that the poor weather and logistical difficulties within the Russian army prevent an aggressive pursuit.

- Today Talat Pasha, the Ottoman Minister of the Interior, orders the governor of the province of Van, located in eastern Anatolia, to remove the Christian Syriac population in Hakk[a]ri near the Persian border.  In Talat's opinion, this population is potentially subversive, and ought to be relocated to western Anatolia where, safely distant from the Empire's borders, they would pose no security risk after the outbreak of war.  Though the order is not implemented at present, it is an ominous portent of the attitude the Ottoman government will take towards ethnic minorities within the state and the measures to be undertaken against those deemed unreliable.

- The German East Asiatic Squadron arrives today at the island of Más Afuera, 450 miles west of Chile.  Though a possession of Chile, it is inhabited only by fishermen, so Admiral Spee ignores the island's supposed 'neutrality' and stops to coal.

- As the old armoured cruiser Good Hope steams up the Chilean coast to rendezvous with Glasgow, Monmouth, and Otranto, Admiral Craddock signals the Admiralty his intention to find and fight the German East Asiatic Squadron, while Canopus has been left behind to convoy colliers.

October 21st, 1914

- Awareness has finally dawned for Sir John French of the enormity of the threat facing his command.  His operations order for today, issued last night at 930pm, still included the instructions for the advance of I Corps, but the other formations of the BEF were instructed to assume defensive positions - the hope at the time was that I Corps, pushing to Thourout and beyond, would serve as the outflanking force while the rest of the BEF held the line and fixed the Germans opposite.  By morning, however, prisoner interrogations indicated the presence of four new reserve corps in Flanders, which meant both that the BEF was significantly outnumbered and that a major German offensive was unmistakably taking place.  For the BEF commander the situation begins to take on similarities with the retreat from Mons to the Marne, where he daily worried about the safety of his army.

It is with this mindset that Sir John French greets Joffre as the latter arrives at the former's HQ at St. Omer.  Joffre brings welcome news - the French IX Corps is being transferred to Flanders to join General d'Urbal's detachment - and the meeting goes well until Field Marshal French requests Joffre to make available the resources necessary to construct a great armed camp at Boulogne sufficient to hold the entire BEF.  French's desire is for a secure base to which he can retreat to if overwhelmed at the front, from which the BEF can be supported and/or evacuated by the Royal Navy.  Joffre is instantly reminded of the great difficulties he had in convincing his British counterpart to stay in the fight in the two weeks between Mons and the Marne, and does not want to give any effect to French's fears.  Though inwardly seething, he keeps his composure and states that while he is willing to guard against a German coup-de-main against Boulogne the resources and manpower are simply not available to do anything more.  Joffre assures French that he will not prioritize the portions of the front lines held by the armies of France for reinforcements, but that it was vital that they stand together and fight the Germans where they stood.  Departing with expressions of good intentions, Joffre's mood recovers during a subsequent meeting with King Albert and with the arrival of the first units of IX Corps.

- The front held by the BEF extends about thirty-five miles, and in addition to I through IV Corps and the Cavalry Corps, there are several French cavalry divisions holding the line.  Overall, on this stretch of the front there are seven and a third infantry divisions and five cavalry divisions of the British and French armies.  Opposing them are eleven German infantry and eight cavalry divisions.  The contrast is heightened by the prolonged fighting most of the BEF has already experienced, in contrast to the fresh divisions of the new reserve corps of the German 4th Army.  The length of the front line held is simply too long for it to be covered in anything like reasonable depth.  Along much of the front there is only a single shallow trench, entrenching tools being in very short supply, with perhaps a few strands of barbed wire.  In places there are gaps in the line, which are covered by artillery or crossfire from nearby positions.  The range of fire is also shorter than desired, as much of the buildings, trees, and other impediments have yet to be completely pulverised into dust by artillery bombardments.

For their part the Germans attack all along the line, seeking out weak points in the Entente line, as opposed to concentrating their forces and blasting their own holes in the enemy formations.  Throughout the battle the Germans consistently overrate the density and strength of the Entente, believing the lines they encounter are only advanced pickets when in reality they are the only defensive line at all.  The more experienced corps of 6th Army are also beginning to learn from the harsh lessons of the battlefield, advancing in small groups instead of a single wave.  The inexperienced formations of 4th Army, however, have no such experience to draw upon, much to their detriment.

- II and III Corps as well as the Cavalry Corps are hard-pressed today by German attacks.  Indeed, the latter is effectively fighting as infantry as well, defending trenches and only using their horses to shift from one position to another.  The Germans achieve no breakthroughs, but at several points British units are forced to withdraw to avoid envelopment.  A mistaken retreat order nearly opened a gap between the Cavalry Corps and IV Corps to the north, but the German cavalry opposite are slow to exploit and the British are able to close the gap.  Indeed, the lethargy of the German cavalry is sufficient to prompt a change of command this evening, General Hollen being replaced by General Marwitz.

IV Corps' 7th Division is also under severe pressure - their prior attempt to advance on Menin has left them in poor defensive positions, the Germans opposite them on a ridge at Passchendaele, allowing the latter to direct accurate artillery fire upon the British.  The Germans temporarily break through 7th Division's two brigades, but a company of the 2nd Battalion, Royal Scots Fusiliers is able to plug the gap.  To the north Haig attempts to execute French's orders to advance this morning, though the streams of refugees on the roads forces a delay of almost two hours.  Heavy losses are suffered by I Corps as it attempts to fight through hedgerows, and German artillery fire intensifies the further the British advance.  By the afternoon further progress is impossible, and I Corps has only advanced 1000 to 2000 yards to just beyond Zonnebeke.  The left flank of I Corps is nearly uncovered by the continued retreat of General de Mitry's French cavalry, the latter having yielded Houthulst Forest to the attack of the German XXIII Reserve Corps.  Fortunately for I Corps, the commander of the immediately adjacent French cavalry division refused the order until the British flank was secured.  De Mitry's cavalry retreat to the line of the Ypres Canal, also defended by two territorial divisions, running between Ypres and Dixmude.  The effect is to create a sharp angle in the British line from Bixschoote to Langemarck, in which elements of I Corps are facing almost north.  Beyond there the German III Reserve Corps spends the day pounding the Belgian positions along the Yser.

The attacks of the German 4th Army on the British lines, October 21st, 1914.

- Sixth Army also commences a heavy artillery bombardment not only of the French lines defending Arras, but also of the town itself, in preparation for a major attack scheduled for tomorrow.

- General Ivanov believes the Russian armies assembled in central Poland are finally ready to go onto the offensive, advancing west from the Vistula River.  Unfortunately for the Russians, the delays in organizing the armies has given the Germans the opportunity to retreat, which as per Ludendorff's orders began yesterday.  However, the fighting is not yet at an end, for the Austro-Hungarian Chief of Staff has a plan of his own.  Conrad orders 1st Army to concentrate on the Itxanka River south of Ivangorod, and attack northwards into the Russians when they have only partially crossed the Vistula.

- In Britain, the Cabinet Committee on Munitions meets for the third time today, and their solution to the ongoing shortages of weapons and ammunition has been largely to increase the number of orders placed with armament firms.  This does little, however, to address the root causes of the shortages - i.e. many highly-skilled engineers and munitions workers have volunteered for the army, leaving armaments firms understaffed, and many firms either do not have the equipment to expand production or do not have the proper experience to produce the items desired by the government.  As such, the primary result of placing additional orders for munitions is to heighten the sense of panic over a lack munitions - the more orders there are, the more go unfulfilled, creating a cycle of crisis.

October 18th, 1914

- Today the German III Reserve Corps launches an attack on the Belgian line between Dixmude and Nieuport.  The land here is low-lying pasture fields, much of which is below sea-level.  A railway connecting the two towns sits only six feet above sea level, and the roads of the region are even lower.  A series of locks at Nieuport drains the Yser River at low tide and keeps the sea out at high tide.

The German attack succeeds in capturing several advanced posts on the eastern side of the river, but fail to secure bridgeheads across the Yser itself.  The Belgian defense is aided by a British naval squadron just offshore, centered on two monitors that bombard the advancing Germans.

- In Flanders there are a number of scattered French units, haphazardly thrown into the fight to plug holes or exhausted after retreating, which include the French marines at Dixmude, several territorial divisions, and a number of cavalry divisions.  Today Joffre organizes these units into a single detachment under the command of General Victor d'Urbal, who will report to Foch.  Of these forces several cavalry divisions under General de Mitry advancing northeast of Ypres occupy Roulers.

Further south, Sir John French orders the British 7th Division of IV Corps to advance on Menin, in co-operation with de Mitry's move towards Roulers.  The division finds itself short of Menin at nightfall, General Rawlinson being concerned of marching beyond his flank support.  The British Cavalry Corps, in the front line between IV Corps to the north and III Corps to the south, is unable to make any progress against a determined German defense west of Comines, and III Corps itself, ordered to advance northeast down the valley of the Lys River, finds itself running to the main German line defending Lille and can make little headway.  Finally, II Corps seizes a bridge just under a mile east of Givenchy, but further progress is halted by German machine gun fire from brick-stacks to the north and a factory to the south that had so far avoided destruction from artillery fire.

- Overall, the deployment and advance of the BEF in Flanders has not achieved its objectives.  Though it has to date covered the northern flank of the French line reaching up from Arras, its attempt to turn the German flank has been painfully slow, and objectives such as La Bassée, to say nothing of Lille, remain out of reach.  Moreover, there is no awareness of the impending German offensive - though information from the Belgians suggests German reserves have been marching west from Brussels, it is generally believed that these are second-class troops who will simply take over portions of the German line.  Indeed, Sir John French's plan remains to continue the advance, and it is believed that the imminent arrival of I Corps, the last to leave the Aisne, will give the attack sufficient weight to push back the Germans, reach Lille, and outflank the enemy.  In reality, this evening the four new reserve corps belonging to 4th Army (XXII, XXIII, XXVI, and XXVII) reach the start line of the planned German attack, arranged north to south approximately ten to seventeen miles east of the Yser and Ypres Canal.  Falkenhayn's grand offensive to win the war in the west is about to begin, and the Entente forces opposite have no idea what is about to descend on them.

- Ludendorff, aware now that 9th Army will not be able to accomplish anything against the Russian numerical superiority in central Poland, issues orders today for 9th Army to retreat beginning on October 20th.  The Russian armies opposite along the Vistula are still not yet fully assembled, but to the south in Galicia the Russians go back onto the attack, recrossing the San River and threatening Przemysl with encirclement again.

- While British strategy regarding German Kamerun has focused on the coast and denying the Germans use of the port of Duala, French strategy has instead aimed at the interior.  The German colony is bordered by French Equatorial Africa to the east and south, and the French were particularly interested in recovering the territory ceded by them to the Germans in 1911 as part of the resolution of the Second Moroccan Crisis.  Thus the first French attacks sees one column advancing westward seize Carnot yesterday, and a second advancing north up the Sanga River takes Nola today.  The advances have been without opposition - in the prior three years the Germans had only begun to integrate the former French territories into their colony, and have left them largely undefended.  Further, though the two attacks were designed to be linked together as one offensive operation, the realities of communication in central Africa - where orders can take weeks to travel from one column to another - makes practical co-ordination impossible.

- At 5pm, the German East Asiatic Squadron, fully coaled and provisioned, departs Easter Island, sailing east to the Chilean coast.

- Yesterday the old pre-dreadnought Canopus left the River Plate, and today its captain signals Admiral Craddock at the Falklands that his ship can only do 12 knots and thus will be unlikely to arrive until the 22nd.  The news is of great concern to Craddock, as it means that adding Canopus to his squadron will slow its speed to 12 knots, which would be far too slow to catch the German East Asiatic Squadron.  Moreover, if they did fight the Germans would be able to use their superior speed to stay out of the range of Canopus' main guns.  The old battleship is thus for all intents and purposes useless to Craddock, he sends the following telegram to the Admiralty: 'I trust circumstances will enable me to force an action, but fear that strategically, owing to Canopus, the speed of my squadron cannot exceed twelve knots.'

In London the telegram is interpreted simply as Craddock informing them of his squadron's speed with Canopus attached, and thus send no reply.  Craddock, however, still feels himself bound by the orders of September 14th to attack the German East Asiatic Squadron.  He is thus faced with an impossible conundrum - keep Canopus and be unable to force battle with the Germans, or leave Canopus behind but be outgunned by the enemy.

October 17th, 1914

- In Flanders today the British III Corps advances to occupy the town of Armentières, while just to the south a brigade of II Corps seizes a portion of Aubers Ridge.  A further French cavalry corps also arrive at Ypres to reinforce the Entente line.  Though the advance is slow, both Ferdinand Foch and Sir John French see no reason to deviate from the overall objective of the operation - i.e. a sweep to and around Lille to outflank the German line.  Aerial reconnaissance today reveals only that elements of the German III Reserve Corps are moving northwards, concentrating along the Channel coast.  The British and French commanders have no idea that the reason for this redeployment of III Reserve Corps is to make way for the four new reserve corps that are about to descend on the Entente line.

- Ludendorff today orders Mackensen's XVII Corps to hold a line near Lovich west of Warsaw to cover the Russian 2nd Army advancing out of the city, in order to protect the northern flank of the rest of 9th Army.

- Admiral Jellicoe receives a report today that a German submarine has been sighted inside Scapa Flow, the main anchorage of the Grand Fleet.  Though the report is later deemed false, it comes on the heels of the sinking of the armoured cruiser Hawke on the 15th and the three armoured cruisers sunk on September 22nd, and his fear of the submarine threat reaches a breaking point.  He informs the Admiralty that he no longer considers Scapa Flow safe for use, and insists that he be allowed to take the fleet further west, away from the submarine threat.  The Admiralty assigns the harbours at Loch-na-Kael on the Scottish west coast and Lough Swilly on the northeast Irish coast for use by the Grand Fleet.  Both have narrow entrances that are easily defended, making it more difficult for submarines to penetrate them.  Still, it moves the Grand Fleet further away from the North Sea, and it is worth noting that this 'retreat' is forced by German submarines while its High Seas Fleet remains in port.

- Tonight the German submarine S90 attacks the Japanese cruiser-minelayer Takashio at Tsingtao.  Three torpedoes are launched, which strike the ship and detonate its cargo of mines.  The resulting explosion destroys the ship and kills all but three of its crew of 253.  However, the concussion wave from the blast cracks the hull of S90, which has to be abandoned.

October 16th, 1914

- In the early hours of this morning, the German VII Corps comes into the line north of La Bassée opposite the British II Corps, relieving I and II Cavalry Corps.  Though the British occupy Givenchy today, the advance has been painstakingly slow - the British II Corps is still short of La Bassée, let alone Lille.  To the north, the British III Corps crosses the Lys River, establishing positions several miles to the east.  Here, at least, the Germans appear to be offering little sustained resistance.  At Dixmude, however, the Germans deliver a sharp attack against the French marines defending the town, though the latter hold out.

The fighting here has not yet taken on the distinctive characteristics of later years - instead of a near-lunar landscape in No Man's Land, buildings still remained at least partially intact, and forests still contain most of their trees, giving plenty of opportunities to ambush advancing forces with machine gun fire, especially when firing from upper floors of houses and other structures.  Further, the villages the soldiers march through - both Gheluvelt and Ploegsteert are occupied by the British today - are mere places on a map; it is only in the months and years ahead that such locales take on their darker, more sinister meaning.

- In the face of the growing numerical superiority of the Russian forces at Warsaw, General Mackensen's XVII Corps pulls back from the city today.

- Antonio di San Giuliano, the Italian Foreign Minister, dies today.  Within the Italian government, he had been a voice of moderation, willing to keep open contacts with Germany and Austria-Hungary, and his death tilts the Italian cabinet towards the Entente.

October 13th, 1914

- As the Belgians continue their retreat to the Yser River, tonight the British 7th Division is at Roulers, with the British 3rd Cavalry Division to the south covering its movement towards Ypres.  Meanwhile, this morning the British III Corps completes its assembly at Hazebrouck, and begins its advance at 1030am.  Though its objective is a line running north from Armentières, the corps encounters serious German opposition by elements of two cavalry divisions at the village of Meteren.  It is not until nightfall that the village is captured, the Germans retreating in good order while inflicting 708 casualties on the British.  Just to the north, the British Cavalry Corps clears German defenders off of Mont Noir.

On the German side, XIX Corps marches through Lille today on its way to the front, while the four reserve corps of 4th Army are detraining at Brussels.

- The offensive by General Mudra's XVI Corps in the Argonne west of Verdun has made only painfully slow progress.  Despite the use of new weaponry such as Minenwerfers and hand grenades, it is only today that the first line of French trenches has been taken.  The inability of new technology to immediately transform the battlefield is a theme that will recur in the years to come.

- In an effort to prod General Ivanov to attack, Grand Duke Nicholas reassigns 2nd and 5th armies to General Ruzski of North-West Front.  All this accomplishes in practice is to divide command of the operation, and over the prior two months the Russians have shown themselves singularly incapable of co-ordinating the efforts of separate commanders.

- In South Africa, in response to Maritz's declaration of rebellion, Christian de Wet, C. F. Beyers, and J. C. G. Kemp renew contact with each other, and discuss joining Maritz's revolt.

- At the Admiralty, First Lord Churchill discusses the continued pursuit of the German East Asiatic Squadron with the First Sea Lord, Prince Louis of Battenberg.  Their understanding is that Craddock will concentrate his ships at the Falklands Islands, and approve the formation of a second squadron.  They also conclude that Craddock understands that if his squadron is not strong enough to engage the German East Asiatic Squadron by itself, he will endeavour to shadow them until reinforcements arrive.  This is a crucial misunderstanding by the First Lord and First Sea Lord.  Craddock had been given orders on September 14th to destroy the German cruisers, a directive that had never been countermanded and which Craddock felt bound to obey regardless of the strength of the warships under his command.

October 12th, 1914

- Finding the town abandoned by Entente forces, Ghent is occupied early this morning by General Beseler's III Reserve Corps.  To the west, the Belgian army continues its retreat to the Yser, while the French Marine Brigade's objective is Dixmude.  The British 3rd Cavalry Division continues to cover the movement of 7th Division, the latter arriving at Thielt this evening, the two having been ordered to link up with the rest of the British Expeditionary Force at Ypres.

- East of Béthune, General Smith-Dorrien's II Corps moves through a thick early morning fog, finding clustered in farmyards and along hedgerows the French cavalrymen they are to relieve.  As the fog lifts late morning the British soldiers continue a cautious advance in the direction of La Bassée and Lille.  They are opposed by the German 1st and 2nd Cavalry Corps, who harass the British with sniper fire and inflict significant casualties.  The pace of the advance is slower than planned, and II Corps is also being pulled southward - a German attack last night forced French defenders back south of the line Béthune-La Bassée, forcing Smith-Dorrien to deploy a brigade south of the canal connecting the two towns and adjusted the line of march to be eastward instead of northeast in order to maintain contact with the French XIX Corps.

- To the north, the British III Corps spends the day assembling at Hazebrouck, but the transportation problems that have plagued its redeployment continue - buses ordered to assist in bringing up the last forces from St. Omer do not arrive until midday.  As a result, the corps is not able to begin its advance, intended to sweep north of Lille, today as originally ordered.

- At Lille, the German artillery bombardment continues until 445am, at which point XIX Corps attacks.  The French territorials offer spirited resistance, and it is only in the evening that 181st Regiment forces its way into the city itself.  The situation now hopeless, the French garrison surrenders, and 4500 soldiers march into German captivity.  The capture of Lille is a significant achievement, not only in advancing the front, but in subtracting the substantial manufacturing capacity of the city from the French war effort.

- In Poland, General Mackensen's XVII Corps, on the left of 9th Army, marches towards Warsaw in an effort to aggressively secure the army's flank.  The Russians fall back before Mackensen's advance, with the 2nd Army retreating to Warsaw itself.  This sparks talk of the Germans occupying Warsaw, which ignores the distinct numerical superiority of the Russians throughout Poland.

- In the early hours of the morning, the German light cruiser Dresden arrives at Easter Island, completing its voyage from the Atlantic.  Later in the day, the German East Asiatic Squadron arrives as well.  The island is nominally a possession of Chile, but in practice is governed by the British subject Percy Edmonds, manager of the island's sheep and cattle ranch.  The island has no wireless and its only contact with the outside world is a Chilean supply vessel that arrives only twice a year.  As a result, Edmonds has no idea that the greatest war in human history is raging across the world, and thus is happy to supply the Germans with fresh meat and vegetables.  He also gladly accepts payment in checks payable by a German bank in Valparaíso.

- In London a Cabinet Committee on Munitions has been formed and meets for the first time today, and include amongst its members Lord Kitchener, David Lloyd George, and Winston Churchill.  The purpose of the committee is to examine the supply of munitions for the army, on the assumption that the war will be lengthy.

October 11th, 1914

- When General Pau reported to Joffre King Albert's thoughts on the Belgians retiring past Calais, the French Commander-in-Chief was appalled.  He desperately wants the Belgians to take up position along the Entente front line, in order to cover part of the gap that remains north of Arras.  Joffre's concerns, however, are for naught - the Belgian king has had a change of heart.  He feels it is essential both for the Belgian war effort and the morale of the Belgian army for them to hold on to at least a small portion of Belgian territory, to emphasize that they are still an active participant, not only helping their allies but defending their homeland.  Albert thus orders the Belgian army today to retire to the Yser River between Dixmude to the south and Nieuport and the Channel coast to the north.

- Aware now that the bulk of the Belgian army has escaped Antwerp, General Beseler's III Reserve Corps is ordered westward, advancing to Ostend via Ghent and Bruges.  By this afternoon, advance German units are approaching Ghent, prompting the Entente forces defending the town to fall back.  The British are the last to retire from Ghent at 10pm this evening.  The British 3rd Cavalry Division, meanwhile, is in the vicinity of Thourout clearing the route for the Entente forces.

The Entente retreat to the Yser, October 10th to 15th, 1914.

- Today the German 179th Infantry Division of XIX Corps approaches the city of Lille, one of the largest cities in France and a key industrial centre.  It is garrisoned by a territorial brigade, and it had been hoped by Joffre that the ongoing effort to outflank the Germans at and north of Arras would link up with the city.  However, the Germans have arrived in strength first.  XIX Corps has been marching for a week, departing from the vicinity of Rheims with Lille as its objective.  At 9pm, a note is sent to the garrison commander at Lille demanding the city's surrender.  When no response is received, an artillery bombardment begins at 930pm.

- The British II Corps has reached Béthune, its first objective, and have deployed north-to-south.  Tomorrow they are to relieve the French cavalry divisions screening them and advance northeast to a line running roughly between Estaires and la Bassée.  The two British cavalry divisions of the Cavalry Corps are both operating to the north of II Corps, and, having swept aside advance patrols of the German IV Cavalry Corps, entered Hazebrouck.  Further, since yesterday III Corps has been detraining at St. Omer, though delays on the railway result in part of 4th Division not having arrived today.  Nevertheless, 19th Brigade is ordered forward to Hazebrouck thirteen miles to the east to cover the arrival of the rest of III Corps.

- Along the Vistula River, though still opposed to a general advance, permits individual corps to secure bridgeheads across the Vistula River.  The efforts are generally a debacle - though two bridgeheads are gained, German and Austro-Hungarian artillery fire inflicts substantial casualties and the survivors are unable to exploit their crossings.  5th Army is particular inept - they had no bridging equipment immediately at hand, so soldiers attempted to cross in rafts and barges in the face of machine-gun fire.  When bridging equipment finally did arrive, the bridge they erected floated away.  Finally, they were unable to counter enemy artillery fire, as the army staff had forgotten where they had left their field mortars.  Overall, the crossings themselves posed no great threat to the German 9th Army and Austro-Hungarian 1st Army.

- In response to Martiz's declaration of rebellion, Defense Minister Smuts today declares martial law.  This forces the critical choice on the Boers of South Africa - do they rise with Maritz, or under the compulsion of martial law aid in his suppression.

- Though the Admiralty has yet to respond to his message of October 8th, Rear-Admiral Craddock sends another dispatch today, recommending the creation of a second squadron to cover the South Atlantic.  This would allow Craddock to take the full strength of his squadron in pursuit of the German East Asiatic Squadron, without fearing that the Germans could slip past him and wreck havoc in the Atlantic.

October 10th, 1914

- The orders for the British II Corps is to advance to cover Béthune, placing it on the left flank of the French 10th Army.  By today, II Corps is in the area Diéval-Pernes between St. Pol and Béthune, with 2nd Cavalry Division to its north and 1st Cavalry Division, having just arrived today, to its south.  To the east, two French cavalry corps have prevented the German I and II Cavalry Corps from advancing beyond a line Béthune-Armentières.

The advance of British units in Flanders to October 15th, 1914

- In Germany the four reserve corps destined to form the core of the new 4th Army begin to entrain for the front.

- This morning German forces begin to occupy Antwerp.  They are surprised by how few prisoners they take - all that remained of the Belgian defenders were the Military Governor, his staff officer, and a few stragglers in the surviving forts.  To the end of the siege the Germans had expected to capture the entire Belgian army at Antwerp, and so the realization that it has escaped mars the German victory.

In Britain the fall of Antwerp leads to sharp criticism being directed at Winston Churchill by the press.  Not only is he, by virtue of his 'trip' to Antwerp, the most prominent minister associated with the defeat at Antwerp, and in particular the loss of several thousand men from the Naval Brigades, but his judgement is questioned regarding his presence at Antwerp at all, seen as an amateur interfering with army operations in the field and that he had cast aside his responsibilities as First Lord of the Admiralty to do so.  There is an undertone of distrust regarding Churchill, whether he can sufficiently restrain his famous enthusiasm for whatever catches his fancy at the moment.

- A conference is held today at Ostend between King Albert, General Pau, the representative of Joffre, and General Rawlinson.  The conclusion is that the present position around Ghent cannot be held for long, considering that the nearest significant Entente force is the BEF beginning to arrive west of Lille, and that retreat is necessary.  Given the battered state of the Belgian army, King Albert wonders if they should not withdraw behind the front lines to southwest of Calais, to allow for rest and recovery.

By nightfall most of the Belgian army has pulled back towards Ostend while the British and French remain at Ghent to cover the withdrawal.  The Germans to the east, however, do not immediately move on Ghent, instead turning eastward in the belief that there is still a substantial Belgian force at Antwerp that needs to be contained.

- In Poland the initial plan regarding the Russian offensive was that the armies committed to the operation - the 2nd, 5th, 4th, and 9th, arrayed north to south from Warsaw to Sandomir - would be prepared to advance today.  Mud and supply shortages, however, have delayed their redeployment, and some units have yet to arrive along the east bank of the Vistula River.  General Ivanov, in command of the offensive, is concerned by the German and Austro-Hungarian advance, and does not wish to engage the enemy until his armies are at full strength.  Grand Duke Nicholas, however, is eager to attack, wanting the armies to cross the Vistula immediately.  However, he has no direct line of communication with Ivanov today, so cannot influence the latter's operations.

- King Carol I of Romania dies today, and is succeeded by his nephew Ferdinand I, who is more favourably inclined to the Entente, and who also is willing to give greater leeway to Prime Minister Ion Bratianu, whose primary foreign policy aim is the acquisition of Austro-Hungarian Transylvania.

- In Austria-Hungary a decree is published today authorizing the Austrian Board of Trade to direct the flow of raw materials and organize industrial production in support of the war effort.  While the decree is a step forward in mobilizing the economy for war, it also reflects a key hindrance to the Austro-Hungarian war effort - the decree applies only to the Austrian portion of the empire, as the Hungarian portion insists on controlling its own wartime economy.  The lack of co-ordination between the two halves of Austria-Hungary is demonstrative of the extent to which the divisions of peacetime persist into the war itself.

October 9th, 1914

- General Falkenhayn issues orders today for a major new deployment of German forces on the Western Front.  The corps of the existing 4th Army are reassigned to the adjacent 3rd or 5th armies, and 4th Army headquarters, including is commander Duke Albrecht, are brought north to Flanders.  General Beseler's XIII Reserve Corps is assigned to this army, but the main fighting strength of the new 4th Army are XXII, XXII, XXVI, and XXVII Reserve Corps, each of which consist of two Reserve Divisions.  These four corps were among six whose formation was authorized on August 16th.  They consisted in part of older men who had never been conscripted in their youth (in peacetime Germany had only needed to conscripted 50% of each age cohort to fill the army), in part of older men who had completed prior military service, and volunteers.  It is the latter group who would come to dominant the popular perception of these corps - they are among the hundreds of thousands of young men, many coming straight from the classroom, who, fully imbued with patriotism and romantic notions of a quick and glorious war, had volunteered in the first weeks of the war.  They had had no prior military training, and have had barely any time to learn over the past two month.  It is hoped that what they lacked in martial ability would be compensated by enthusiasm, perhaps the ultimate expression of the pre-war belief that any enemy position could be taken, any task completed, if only the soldiers are sufficiently willing.  The older men were added to give leadership and experience, but many of them are unfit for duty and had been trained in prior decades, before the rise of the machine gun and the other accouterments of twentieth-century warfare.  They are also under-equipped, with fewer artillery batteries as compared to regular corps and lacking field telephones to direct the fire of those artillery pieces they do have.

Given the poor quality of these corps, why are they to be employed in battle two months after their formation?  Indeed, Britain was also mobilizing hundreds of thousands of volunteers, but Kitchener has insisted that it would take a year's training before they were fit for combat.  Their use speaks to the extent that, despite the dismissal of Moltke and the failure of the Schlieffen Plan, Falkenhayn and the General Staff remain enthralled by the vision of rapid victory in the west.  Of these six reserve corps, only one is sent to the Eastern Front, at a time when Hindenburg and Ludendorff are screaming for thirty divisions.  One is sent to help hold the line at Metz, while the remaining four all go to Flanders.  Falkenhayn believes that the Western Front continues to be the place where a decisive, war-winning victory can be achieved, though instead of Schlieffen's sweep around Paris, he perceives that the opportunity exists to outflank the Entente line from the north, advancing to the Somme River and occupying the Channel ports.  Such a success, Falkenhayn believed, would cripple France and ensure ultimate victory.  Further, the only way to achieve the vital margin of superiority to ensure success is to use these four reserve corps - a force of equivalent size cannot be redeployed from the rest of the Western Front, and it would take too much time to send the reserve corps to relieve four more experienced corps and redeploy the latter to Flanders.

Thus 4th Army is to be the hammer behind Falkenhayn's major offensive on the Western Front - with the French line holding south of Arras, they are to punch through between Arras and the Channel coast, an area that for much of the war has been held only by a small number of French territorial and cavalry divisions.  But even as Falkenhayn's orders go out, Entente forces are gathering, and in particular the British Expeditionary Force is redeploying into precisely the same stretch of the front that the Germany 4th Army is to storm through.  Indeed, today also marks the first arrival of BEF units in Flanders: II Corps completes its detraining at Abbeville, while 2nd Cavalry Division arrives between St. Pol and Hesdin.  Thus by coincidence, just as in August at Mons, the BEF is moving into the path of the most important German advance.

- To cover the retreat of the British brigades at Antwerp, Rawlinson dispatches part of 7th Division to Ghent, while the remainder, plus 3rd Cavalry Division, concentrates at Bruges.  The two divisions are also brought under Sir John French's direct command, integrating them into the BEF as IV Corps under General Rawlinson's command.  This illustrates that in future the corps will join up and co-operate with the BEF, as opposed to remaining effectively an independent command along the Schelde.

- As the Royal Marine Brigade, the 2nd Naval Brigade, and the Drake Battalion march westwards, word reaches the British at 230am that the nearest trains are at Gilles Waes, six miles to the northwest.  After an arduous overland journey undertaken in unfamiliar terrain in darkness, the first troops reach Gilles Waes at daybreak, and by 9am the last train leaves the village, with omnibuses picking up stragglers.  Thus were the bulk of the British forces at Antwerp evacuated through the corridor north of the Schelde.  The Belgian 2nd Division also manages to escape, reaching the rest of the Belgian army this evening after a thirty-mile march.

The last military train to leave Gilles Waes, October 9th, 1914.

However, the three battalions of the 1st Naval Brigade who had not received the original orders to retreat would have a much more difficult time evacuating the city.  By the early morning hours, finding that adjacent units had disappeared, realized that a retreat was under way.  After marching through the nearly-abandoned city, they arrived at the Schelde to find that most of the bridges has been destroyed to prevent their usage by the Germans.  Through the requisition of barges and steamers, the battalions are able to get across the Schelde by 4am and arrive at Zwyndrecht, the supposed rendezvous for British forces, to find it abandoned.  Finally learning that the others had gone to Gilles Waes, the three battalions join the refugee columns streaming west, and arrive at the village between 1130 and 345.  A train then arrived to take them west, but at 415 it was learned that the advancing Germans had cut the rail line at Moerbeke.  At this point, the three battalions were exhausted, lacked both food and ammunition, and were in no condition to attempt to fight their way out.  In consequence they took the only other option available to them - they marched north and crossed the Dutch frontier, where they were disarmed and interned for the remainder of the war.  Thus of the three thousand men of the 1st Naval Brigade that arrived at Antwerp, only one thousand escaped.

At Antwerp itself, the Germans discover this morning that the inner forts have been abandoned.  General Beseler thus sends a representative into the city under a white flag to demand its surrender.  Simultaneously, the Military Governor of Antwerp had concluded that further resistance was pointless.  This evening, the Governor signs the surrender of the city and its remaining fortifications.

- The retreat of the German 8th Army ends today as they reach Gumbinnen and the fortified positions along the Angerapp River.  The pursing Russians close up to the German lines, which stabilize along present lines.  The German success at the Battle of the Masurian Lakes has been overturned, and though the Russians do not pose an immediate threat of invasion, they have regained a toehold in East Prussia and claim to have inflicted sixty thousand casualties.  Meanwhile, General Schubert is replaced as 8th Army commander today by General François.

- In Galicia the advancing Austro-Hungarian armies have reached the San River, and though further progress is inhibited by stiffening Russian resistance, they have reached the fortress at Przemysl, lifting the Russian siege.  The Russians had lost forty thousand soldiers attempting to storm Przemysl before it could be relieved, and the Austro-Hungarian units that reached the city today have as their first responsibility the clearing of tens of thousands of Russian corpses from the fortress perimeter.

Further north, as the German 9th Army continues its advance, a detailed Russian order of battle is found on the body of a dead Russian officer.  This reveals that the Russians are massing three entire armies east of the Vistula River around Warsaw.  This intelligence coup comes as a complete surprise to Ludendorff - to this point he believed that most of the Russian armies were still in Galicia.  Instead, he realizes that 9th Army is advancing directly into the main enemy concentration.  The straightforward response would have been to simply call off the offensive; indeed, the ostensible aim of the operation - saving the Austro-Hungarian army - had already been achieved, though more from the Russian redeployment from Galicia to Poland than anything the Germans themselves had done.  However, Ludendorff was hardly one for the straightforward, commonplace solution.  Instead of retreating, he decides that the Germans will attempt to defeat the Russians south of Warsaw before the three Russian armies are fully assembled.  To this end, Ludendorff requests Conrad to extend his line northwards to Ivangorod, to free 9th Army from having to cover southern Poland, and allow it to maneouvre freely.

- In South Africa S. G. Maritz goes into open rebellion today, declaring South Africa independent and announcing war with Britain (and coincidentally, promoting himself to general).  Force B is personally loyal to him, and he threatens to attack Upington unless he is allowed to contact other Boer leaders from the abortive coup attempt of September 15th, including Christian De Wet, C. F. Beyers, and J. C. G. Kemp.

October 4th, 1914

- The German advance at Arras continues today.  North of the city the Bavarians push through Lens and, at 10pm, occupy the heights of Vimy Ridge.  The French 70th Division, on the line north of the city, is pushed back almost to the Scarpe River northwest of Arras.  To the south, the Prussian Guards Division shatters the 81th Territorial Division, killing its commander, and a gap begins to open between the territorial divisions and X Corps.  The French at Arras are threatened with encirclement, and General Maud-huy declares that his detachment is facing another 'Sedan', referencing the disastrous envelopment and surrender of a French army in 1870 during the Franco-Prussian War.  The Kaiser, meanwhile, arrives at Rupprecht's headquarters at St. Quentin to observe the anticipated victory.

When Castlenau asks Joffre which direction Maud-huy should retreat in, the latter's response is swift.  He has become convinced that Castlenau is plagued by excessive pessimism, and decides on a reorganization.  First, Maud-huy's detachment is formed into a separate command as 10th Army.  Second, Ferdinand Foch is appointed Joffre's 'deputy' with responsibility to co-ordinate the 2nd and 10th armies and the territorial divisions in northern France.  Castlenau thus finds himself under the command of a former subordinate, but on balance is likely pleased to have retained his command at all.  With Foch moving to northern France, his 9th Army along the Aisne is suppressed, its corps being absorbed by the neighbouring 4th and 5th armies.  Joffre also informs Castlenau that under no circumstances is he to retreat, as the reinforcements en route to the north will allow the Entente line to hold.

The German advance at Arras, October 1914.

- The British Royal Marine Brigade arrives in Antwerp at 1am, having landed at Dunkirk yesterday and traveled to the city by train, and later this morning takes up position along the front line to the southeast of Antwerp.  At the same time, the British Cabinet approves the dispatch of the two naval brigades to augment the British contribution to the defense of Antwerp.  The Cabinet also receives a remarkable request from Churchill.  He has remained in Antwerp, and for the past twenty-four hours has taken to directing the defense of the city, touring the trenches, repositioning units, etc..  He has displayed an almost boyish enthusiasm for war - sitting in the open watching the action as artillery shells fall around him.  He feels to be in his element, and at this moment wants nothing more than to continue to have a direct hand in the ongoing struggle for Antwerp.  His request to the Cabinet is that he resign his position as First Lord of the Admiralty and instead be appointed commander of the forces at Antwerp, with the full authority of a general in the field.  The reaction of the Cabinet can be best described as nervous laughter - Churchill has already gained a reputation as a figure whose enthusiasm often outruns his judgement, and the idea that the head of the most important military office in the country should race off to command forces in the field is incomprehensible.  Churchill’s request is politely denied, and he is informed that General Henry Rawlinson will be arriving shortly to assume command of the British contingent.  For now, though, Churchill remains at Antwerp, play-acting the role of general.

Meanwhile, the continuing bombardment of Fort Kessel finally forces the evacuation of its Belgian garrison today.  The Germans also begin to bombard the north bank of the Nethe River, in preparation for an attempt to force a crossing and pierce the line of defense established along the river after the first forts had fallen.

- West of Verdun, General Mudra's XVI Corps launches another offensive against the French lines in the Argonne.  The German attackers make widespread use of Minenwerfers, or trench mortars, for the first time.  Such small mortars, firing a small projectile in a high arc, are well-suited for use against trenches, as the trajectory allows the shell to plunge into trenches before detonation.  The Germans have also prioritized Minenwerfers as they use less powder, an important consideration given the economic blockade of the country.  Despite the use of such weapons, the Germans make little progress, facing fierce French resistance.

- The past few days have seen desperate fighting near Augustow just east of the German-Russian frontier as the Russians attempt to push into the rear of the German 8th Army retreating from the Niemen River.  While the Germans opposing the Russian advance suffer grievous losses, they succeed in slowing the Russians sufficiently to allow the remainder of 8th Army to evacuate Suwalki and withdraw to the border.

- As the German 9th Army continues its movement northeastwards from Krakow, the Austro-Hungarian 1st Army takes up position on the southern flank of 9th Army and joins the advance, with the Austro-Hungarian 4th and 3rd armies to the south moving westward towards the San River.  Despite bad weather and roads being reduced to mud, the Germans are able to maintain a marching rate of thirty miles a day, making using of requisitioned Polish carts better able to cope with the deep mud.  With the withdrawal of three Russian armies from Galicia to Poland to participate in the proposed offensive against German Silesia, the remaining Russian armies in Galicia fall back to avoid being outflanked to the north by the advance of the German 9th Army.

- General Potiorek officially calls off the second invasion of Serbia today.  Though the effort has at least secured a small bridgehead in northwestern Serbia, it has overall been another dismal failure.  Desperate to deflect blame from himself, he argues that a lack of shells has been to blame.

- Under the guise of reinforcing Maritz, Smuts dispatches new units to Upington under the command of Coen Brits, whose loyalty is unquestionable - the latter is said to have told Botha, 'My men are ready; who do we fight - the English or the Germans?'  Brits' force is positioned to fight Maritz if the latter rebels.

- As the German East Asiatic Squadron crosses the Pacific, it hears the signals of the German light cruiser Dresden, which has passed through the Straits of Magellan from the Atlantic and is now off the Chilean coast.  Admiral Spee today signals Dresden to meet his squadron at Easter Island.  This message, however, is intercepted by a British wireless station at Suva in the Fiji Islands, and when relayed to London gives the Admiralty concrete evidence that the German squadron is bound for South America.

- An appeal 'To the Civilized World' is published today in Germany.  Written by Ulrich von Wilamowitz, it contains the signatures of a hundred of Germany's leading artists, scholars, and intellectuals, including such world-renowned figures as the scientists Max Planck and Wilhelm Röntgen.  The document justifies German conduct in the war and seeks to counter the growing international perception of German cruelty, especially with respect to the occupation of Belgium.  In line with the general tone of German propaganda, it seeks to blame the victim:

It is not true that the life and property of a single Belgian citizen have been infringed upon by our soldiers, unless the most desperate self-defense made it necessary . . . the Belgian population shot at our troops from ambush, mutilated the wounded, and murdered doctors while they were performing their healing work.  One can falsify matters no more basely than to remain silent about the crimes of these assassins, to turn the punishments that they have justly suffered into crimes committed by Germans.

It is not true that our troops have wreaked brutal havoc in Louvain.  They were compelled reluctantly to bring a sector of the city under fire, in order to retaliate against raging inhabitants who had treacherously attacked them here. . . .

They also appeal to the sense of European racial superiority to denigrate the enemies of Germany:

Those who have allied themselves with Russians and Serbs, and who present the world with [the] shameful spectacle of inciting Mongolians and Negroes against the white race, have the very least right to portray themselves as the defenders of European civilization.

Finally, they ground the 'Appeal' on self-defense - that the most heinous and cruel of acts are justified in the name of German victory:

Were it not for German militarism, German culture would long ago have been eradicated.  For the protection of German culture, militarism arose in a land that had for centuries been plagued like no other by predation.  The German army and the German people are one and the same.

As much as the 'Appeal' was published to counter Entente propaganda, it was also aimed at the German public, seeking to justify not only the war itself but German conduct of it.  It reflects the widespread and almost universal enthusiasm for the war among intellectuals, common to all of the major combatants.

September 28th, 1914

- After initial setbacks, the French XXI and X corps have solidified a defensive line east of Albert along a line Maricourt-Fricourt-Thiepval.  Realizing that 6th Army has been checked before Amiens, Falkenhayn today orders Rupprecht to attack to the north towards Arras in another effort to get around the flank of the Entente line.

- The siege of Antwerp begins in earnest today with the first major bombardment of its forts by the Germans.  Falkenhayn has decided that Antwerp must be captured to ensure the security of the German right wing as it extends northwards into Flanders.  Commanding the besiegers is General Hans von Beseler, whose III Reserve Corps consists of second-rate divisions and brigades, and is deemed insufficient to cross the Scheldt River to the west of the city to invest it completely.  However, von Beseler also has at his disposal 173 heavy guns, and it is expected that the artillery will repeat its performances at Liège and Namur and crush the fortifications from long-range.  Specifically, the first to be targeted are the forts of Wavre and Waelham to the south of Antwerp, to breach the outer defense line and allow the infantry to advance.  The German bombardment is able to proceed entirely unmolested, as the Belgian artillery pieces lack the range to hit the German mortars.  The attack is thus little more than target practice.

- Having failed to cross the Niemen River, the German 8th Army begins a withdrawal back towards the German border, as maintaining their current position would leave them in an exposed salient while not diverting Russian forces from Poland and Galicia.  The Russian 1st and 10th armies begin a pursuit of the retreating Germans, and General Rennenkampf of the former shows energy that had been lacking in August.

- Having completed its assembly north of Krakow, the German 9th Army begins its advance northeast today in the direction of Ivangorod and Moscow.  As of yet Ludendorff has no idea that the Russians are redeploying four armies to precisely the same place.

The Eastern Front, September 28th to November 1st, 1914.

- In a speech today South African Prime Minister Louis Botha declares that if South African forces do not attack and occupy German South-West Africa, then the British will bring in other Imperial forces, such as the Australians or Indians, to undertake the operation.  The statement is aimed at Boers uneasy with the invasion, suggesting that since it is going to happen it might as well be done to the benefit of South Africa directly.

- As they approach Tsingtao, Japanese forces seize today the first defensive line.  They had been thinly held, however, and the Germans conduct an orderly retreat to the second defensive line in the Hai Po valley.

September 24th, 1914

- Finding the planned advance on Amiens blocked, General Rupprecht decides to attack on his left in an effort to isolate the French 2nd Army from Paris.  XVIII Corps, joined in the line today by XXI Corps, launch a major offensive at Roye, and the French IV Corps is forced back over five miles.  The ferociousness of the German attack forces the French 2nd Army onto the defensive.  To the north of the German XXI Corps, I Bavarian Corps also comes into the line this evening, pushing the French out of Péronne.

- General Henry Wilson, Deputy Chief of Staff of the British Expeditionary Force, suggests today that the BEF should be redeployed north to Flanders and Belgium, as by taking its place once again on the left flank of the Entente line it will be closer to the Channel ports from which its reinforcements and supplies are derived.  Sir John French, however, is concerned that such a movement might leave the BEF exposed - at present such a move would leave it isolated, as the French front line stretches only to Picardy as of this date.

- South of Verdun Army Detachment Strantz occupy the town of St.-Mihiel and cross the Meuse River to capture Chauvoncourt.

- The Russian 4th, 5th, and 9th armies begin to withdrawn from the front lines in Galicia for their redeployment to Ivangorod and Warsaw as part of the planned Russian offensive into Germany.  Due to the length of time it will take the armies to move up the east bank of the Vistula through the fall mud, Ivanov does not anticipate being in position to launch his attack until October 10th.  However, the circuitous line of march of the Russian armies masks their redeployment from German and Austro-Hungarian reconnaissance.

September 22nd, 1914

The 1st Battalion King's Own (Royal Lancaster Regiment) in the front trench at the Aisne, September 22nd, 1914.  Note the
rudimentary nature of the trench, little more than a ditch in an open field - it is only over time that more complex and elaborate trench systems emerge.

- The French 2nd Army, consisting of four corps and several cavalry divisions drawn from elsewhere on the front, begins its advance towards the line Chaulnes-Roye-Lassigny north of the current end of the front near Noyon.  Immediately opposed to it is only the German II Corps, which had helped halt the attempted advance of the French 6th Army on the 18th.

The advance of the French 2nd Army east from Amiens, September 22nd, 1914.

- As the first units of the newly-formed German 9th Army begins to assemble near Crakow, Grand Duke Nicholas, Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Army, convenes a meeting at Cholm with General Ruzski of North-West Front and General Ivanov of South-West Front.  The Grand Duke's objective is to plan for an invasion westwards from Poland into German Silesia.  His front commanders, however, are focused on their particular responsibilities - Ruzski argues that no advance can be undertaken until East Prussia is neutralized, while Ivanov's concerns is with his armies in Galicia.  The Grand Duke's solution is to put Ivanov in charge of the invasion, leaving General Brusilov with 3rd, 8th, and 11th armies, the latter newly-formed to hold the line in Galicia.  Ivanov three remaining armies - 4th, 5th, and 9th - are to withdraw from the front and move northwards east of the Vistula River before crossing westward at Ivangorod and Warsaw in preparation to invade Germany.  Ivanov is also assigned a reconstructed 2nd Army from North-West Front to cover the northern flank of the advance.

- In Serbia, the Austro-Hungarian armies are struggling to advance out of their bridgeheads on the Save and Drina Rivers.  For the past three days, they have been in pitched battle with the Serbs for the hills around Jagodna.  Though by the end of today the Austro-Hungarian 6th Army has seized the heights, it has cost them 25 000 casualties, and broken their momentum.  Exhausted and demoralized, the two armies are unable to advance further.

- Off the Dutch coast is a region of the southern North Sea known as the Broad Fourteens, so named for its latitude.  Since the outbreak of the war, this part of the North Sea has been patrolled by the outdated armoured cruisers of the Bacchante class.  These patrols were designed to provide early warning of a German sortie into the Channel, but in practice the ships had no combat value - they carried only two 9.2-inch guns and eight 6-inch guns and were manned by reservists with little experience.  So questionable was their deployment that Admiral Keyes referred to them as the 'live bait squadron', and discussions had been held about withdrawing them.  However, as of this morning the patrols were still being undertaken, with three of the cruisers - Aboukir, Hogue, and Cressy - on station off the Dutch coast.

The Broad Fourteens in the North Sea.

Unfortunately, the three British cruisers are not the only ships in the North Sea this morning.  Also present is the German submarine U-9, which has spent the night submerged.  When it rises to periscope depth, its captain is pleasantly surprised to spot the three British cruisers.  The latter are steaming at just ten knots and, not having been warned of any submarine threat, are steaming in a straight line.  U-9 is easily able to approach the British, and at 630am fires a single torpedo to the middle of the three.  It strikes Aboukir amidships, tearing a large hole and flooding the engine room.  The cruiser's captain assumes he has hit a mine, and warns the other two cruisers.  The flooding was uncontrollable, and twenty-five minutes after being struck it capsizes.

The British cruiser Aboukir, sunk today by the submarine U-9.

- Crucially, because the assumption is that Aboukir struck a mine, the other two cruisers take no precautions against enemy submarines.  Indeed, their response is to approach Aboukir and stop to pick up survivors.  This, of course, is the absolute worst thing these ships could have done.  The caption of U-9 can hardly believe his luck, and reloads his torpedo tubes for another attack.  At 655am, just as Aboukir sinks, two torpedoes strike Hogue, which sinks ten minutes later.  Cressy now understood that there was a German submarine in the area, and desperately signaled the Admiralty of its predicament.  Though it attempts to maneouver, a torpedo strikes Cressy at 715am, followed by a second at 730am.  It rolls over until it was upside down before sinking at 755am.  An hour later two Dutch steamers arrive and pick up survivors, and destoyers from Tyrwhitt's force arrive at 1045.  Overall, however, almost 1400 British sailors are lost.

In less than an hour and a half, U-9 sank three British cruisers, and returned to Wilhelmshaven to a hero's welcome.  It is the greatest German naval accomplished of the war to date - the submarine's captain is awarded the Iron Cross, 1st Class, and the entire crew is awarded the Iron Cross, 2nd Class.  In Britain, there is shock at the sudden loss of the three ships.  The Times assumes that it had been the work of an entire group of submarines, as opposed to just one.  There is widespread condemnation of the Admiralty, and it inspires several policy changes.  In addition to halting patrols in the Broad Fourteens, ships are henceforth ordered not to stop to pick up survivors of ships that are torpedoed or strike a mine.  It also raises the anxiety of Admiral Jellicoe - if a single submarine can so easily dispatch three large armoured cruisers, what might they do if they catch the dreadnoughts of his Grand Fleet at sea?

- The German East Asiatic Squadron approaches Papeete, the capital of Tahiti, this morning.  There are five thousand tons of coal in the port, and Spee hopes to seize this and other supplies.  However, the French at Papeete have been warned by Bora Bora of the presence of the German ships, and by the time the squadron arrives they have set fire to the coal and fled to the hills.  Deprived of his coal, the squadron sinks a small French gunboat in the harbour and silences the few artillery pieces that fire on them.  They depart this afternoon, having fired off some of their ammunition for no benefit.

- Tonight the German light cruiser Emden approaches to within three thousand yards of the port of Madras in India.  Switching on its searchlights, the Germans fire 125 shells into the Burmah Company's oil tanks in thirty minutes, destroying almost half a million gallons of kerosene.  Emden then departs before the British can respond, disappearing once again into the Indian Ocean.

- In conformance with the Admiralty's instructions of the 18th, Rear Admiral Craddock departs the River Plate with the modern light cruiser Glasgow, the outdated cruiser Monmouth, and the armed liner Otranto, bound for the Magellan Straits.  Despite the Admiralty's assertions, however, Craddock still suspects that the German East Asiatic Squadron is coming east to South America.

- Today four airplanes of the Royal Naval Air Service, flying from an airfield near Antwerp, attempt the first bombing raid of the war against German Zeppelin sheds located at Cologne and Düsseldorf.  Two aircraft are assigned to each target, but in dense fog only one finds its target, dropping three 20-pound bombs at Düsseldorf.  Two failed to explode, and the third fell short, though it injured some German soldiers.  Even if all four had been successful in finding their targets, it is unlikely they would have been able to do significant damage, and they were unable to carry more than a few small bombs.  Moreover, they were slow - none flew over 100mph - and defenceless - if German aircraft were encountered, the only way the pilots could return fire would have been with pistols.  They had also lacked the range to reach their targets, having to refuel at an advanced airbase specifically set up for this purpose by armoured cars of the Belgian army.  However, from such humble beginnings strategic bombing would grow in importance over the years and decades.

September 18th, 1914

- The advance of the French IV and XIII Corps along the Oise River is halted today by the German IX Reserve Corps, aided by the arrival of II Corps, which was pulled from the Aisne front expressly for the purpose of extending the German flank northwards.  An entrenched army needs fewer soldiers per mile to hold the line, which allows both sides to send forces into the open spaces north of Compiègne without fatally weakening their existing defensive positions.  Indeed, this points to one of the paradoxes of trench warfare - it was adopted in September 1914  to facilitate, not hinder, further mobile operations by making more forces available to outflank the enemy.  The problem, of course, is that this is equally true for both sides, so the 'mobile' formations created by both inevitably run into each other, and trench warfare replicates itself in order to provide further 'mobile' operations.  Thus trench warfare spreads like a virus along the Western Front, ironically from a desire of both sides to continue a war of movement.  It also feeds the perception of the generals that trench warfare is a temporary phenomenon (i.e. present only to facilitate future mobile operations, at which point trenches will no longer be needed) as opposed to becoming a permanent fixture.

- Further east, German attacks near Rheims continue to push back the French defenders.  Today the Germans seize high ground east of the city, including the forts at Berru and Nogent-l'Abbesse.  The French X Corps, which had begun to march west to join the effort to envelop the German flank past 6th Army, is ordered to return to Rheims to contain the German push.

- Joffre today scales back offensive operations along the Aisne River, it becoming clearer by the day that traditional frontal assaults by infantry on entrenched and prepared German positions are not achieving significant results.  Meanwhile, General Castlenau's new 2nd Army begins to assemble near Amiens.

- The redeployment of the German 6th Army is planned today at a conference at OHL in Luxembourg between Falkenhayn and Rupprecht.  The first corps will arrive on September 21st and bewill be tasked with sweeping away any French infantry between Roye and Montdidier.  A second corps will arrive on September 23rd, and with further units trickling in subsequent days 6th Army as a whole is to turn the enemy flank.  Rupprecht, however, is concerned that the French will be undertaking similar redeployments from east to west, and will benefit from having an intact railway system to move their units faster.  Thus both Falkenhayn and Rupprecht agree that German attacks must be undertaken along the existing front line to tie down French forces and prevent them from redeploying in time to stymie 6th Army.  In addition to further assaults between Compeigne and Rheims, two operations are planned in the Verdun sector.  The first, to be undertaken by the Crown Prince's 5th army, is to attack into the Argonne Forest to the west of Verdun.  The second is an offensive aiming to drive between Verdun to the north and Toul and Nancy to the south by capturing St. Mihiel and reaching the Meuse River.  To facilitate the second operation, the left wing of the 5th Army, comprising those forces southeast of Verdun, is formed into Army Detachment Strantz, named for General Hermann von Strantz, commander of V Corps.  By forming this detachment, there will be a separate command staff for each attack.  In addition to forcing the French to keep significant forces in the east, the operations aim to isolate the fortifications around Verdun, which are the strongest in France and form a key 'hinge' of the French line.

- General Ludendorff meets today with General Conrad at Neu Sandec in Austrian Galicia today.  The relationship between the two allies is frosty at best - Conrad blames the failures of his armies in Galicia on a perceived lack of support from Germany, and spends much of the meeting lecturing Ludendorff.  The German army, conversely, believes that Tannenberg demonstrates that it has done more than its share - if nothing else, Ludendorff is convinced of his own genius - and that Conrad and the Austro-Hungarian army have demonstrated particularly impressive ineptitude.  Indeed, so dismissive are the Germans of their putative allies that they have not even bothered to inform Conrad that Moltke has been replaced by Falkenhayn.

Despite the atmosphere of recrimination, agreement is reached for the next stage of operations.  The defeat of the Austro-Hungarian armies in Galicia potentially exposes German Silesia to Russian invasion, which necessitates a German response.  Ludendorff convinces Falkenhayn that a major German force is needed immediately, so 8th Army in East Prussia is reduced to two corps and the remainder redeployed near Cracow to form a new 9th Army of four corps, a reserve division, and a cavalry division.  At Ludendorff's insistence Hindenburg is to directly command 9th Army with himself as Chief of Staff, and while command of 8th Army is transferred to General Richard von Schubert, Hindenburg and Ludendorff are to remain in a supervisory role over their old command.  Conrad, meanwhile, agrees to assign the Austro-Hungarian 1st Army to co-operate with the German 9th Army, while the rest of his armies, after completing their retreat, will, it is hoped, go back over on the offensive.

Falkenhayn's conception of the role of 9th Army is simply to occupy the Russians and help their Austro-Hungarian allies survive - his attention is still primarily on the Western Front, seeking a decisive decision there.  Hindenburg and Ludendorff, however, believe that the most effective route to victory is on Eastern Front.  Their plan for 9th Army is to undertake a major offensive to seize the Russian fortress at Ivangorod and advance on Warsaw, seeking to crush the Russian armies just as they had done at Tannenberg.  They believe that they should have priority for reinforcements, and they begin bombarding not only Falkenhayn but also the Kaiser for additional units for the East.  Falkenhayn thus finds the duo of Hindenburg and Ludendorff to be rivals, not subordinates, and the latter are able to leverage the prestige gained from Tannenberg to raise their profile.  German high command is thus fundamentally divided on grand strategy, divided between West and East.

- In London, the British Admiralty has fallen for Admiral Spee's deception at Samoa four days earlier, and believes that the German East Asiatic Squadron is returning to the West Pacific.  Today they signal Rear Admiral Craddock in the South Atlantic with revised instructions: 'Situation changed  . . . Gneisenau appeared off Samoa on 14th and left steering NW.  German trade on west coast of America is to be attacked at once.  Cruisers need not be concentrated.  Two cruisers and an armed liner appear sufficient for Magellan Straits and west coast.  Report what you propose about Canopus.'  Crucially, the signal says nothing about the modern armoured cruiser Defence - the Admiralty has decided that with the German East Asiatic Squadron sailing westward, it is not needed in the South Atlantic, and can be retained on its present station in the Mediterranean.  Craddock, however, assumes that Defence is still on its way, believing quite reasonably that if the Admiralty had changed its mind, it would have let him know.

- In China, the main portion of the Japanese expeditionary force sent to capture the German enclave at Tsingtao lands at Laoshan Bay, thirty miles from their objective.  The Japanese aim is to assemble overwhelming force, especially in terms of artillery, before advancing on the German positions.