January 31st, 1915

- General Sarrail, commander of the French 3rd Army in the Argonne, reports to Joffre today on the recent fighting.  He notes how the French line has been pushed back, yielding a portion of the heights overlooking the Verdun railway to the Germans.  Six separate counterattacks have failed to dislodge the enemy, while the French have suffered 2400 casualties.  Sarrail complains that the effect of the recent fighting has had a negative impact on the morale of the infantry, which can only be restored by a major offensive.  While Joffre is sympathetic, he remains focused primarily on operations in the Champagne.

- In central Poland the German 9th Army launch a minor attack today near Bolimów, southwest of Warsaw.  The battle is notable for being the first time the Germans attempt to use gas in combat, but it is a thorough failure.  The only way to use gas on the battlefield is to open canisters and have the wind blow it towards the enemy; however, the wind shifts and the gas clouds pass back over the German infantry.  Luckily for the Germans, the extremely cold weather renders the gas ineffective.  Indeed, such is the extent of the failure that the Russians did not even realize that the Germans were attempting to gas them, an oversight that will come to haunt their allies on the Western Front in several months time.

- In Galicia, though the mixed Austro-Hungarian units under General Szurmay have taken Uszok Pass itself, the heights to the north remain in Russian hands, threatening their control over the vital transit point through the Carpathians.  In an effort to restart the general offensive by 3rd and push onwards towards Przemysl, Szurmay today orders his forces to seize the heights.

Austro-Hungarian infantry in the Uszok Pass.

- After evacuating northern Persia a month ago when the crisis in the Caucasus was at its most acute, the crushing triumph at Sarikamish has allowed the Russians to return, pushing out the weak and poorly-organized Ottoman forces and retaking Tabriz today.

- A small German force attacks South African forces at Kakamas near the border today, in an effort to support Boer rebels.  Not only does the attack fail, but it had already been rendered pointless given Kemp's surrender of yesterday.

January 30th, 1915

- Though the war has now passed the six-month mark, there are still some within financial circles who feel that hostilities will have to shortly cease as the combatants run out of the financial ability to pay for the war.  In France today the influential journal L'Économiste Français declares that the war will be over in seven months.

- As the centre of his army buckles under Russian pressure, the commander of the Austro-Hungarian 3rd Army is forced to send the last of his reserves - 29th Division - into the line to prevent a Russian breakthrough.  With no further reserves at his disposal should the Russians continue to push forward, an urgent message goes out to the commander of the neighbouring 4th Army, requesting the immediate transfer of a division.

- With the defeat of Maritz's attack on Upington on the 24th, and concluding that the Boer Rebellion has failed, the rebel commando led by General Kemp surrenders to government forces in South Africa today, leaving the small commando under Martiz as the only rebel unit still in the field.

January 24th, 1915

- At dawn the battlecruisers under Admiral Hipper are at Dogger Bank, steaming northwestward at fifteen knots.  The accompanying light cruisers and destroyers are spread out in order to search for British fishing vessels.  Just after 7am, the light cruiser Koblenz sights the British light cruiser Aurora, part of Commodore Tyrwhitt's force coming north to meet Beatty's battlecruiser.  In an exchange of fire Aurora is hit three times before turning away, while Koblenz reports the encounter to Hipper.  The German admiral is initially pleased at the report - perhaps a small number of light warships are at sea that his battlecruisers can mop up - and he orders his battlecruisers to steer for Koblenz.  In the minutes that follow, however, there are additional reports of sightings - Koblenz later reports seeing additional smoke to the south, and the light cruiser Stralsund, a few miles in front of Hipper's main force, reports seeing thick clouds of smoke to the northwest.  Another message comes in from the armoured cruiser Blücher stating that it can see seven enemy light cruisers and twenty destroyers in the distance ahead.  The latter report in particular is concerning to Hipper - such a large force of light warships is almost certainly a screen for dreadnoughts or battlecruisers just behind them.  Hipper knows he has promised Ingenohl not to take risks, and that the High Seas Fleet is still at anchor, unable to assist him.  Unsure of whether he is sailing into a trap, at 735am Hipper orders his warships to turn for home.

The reality, of course, is that Hipper's concern are fully justified.  The first reports from Aurora, augmented by subsequent sightings, indicate to Beatty's great satisfaction that the intelligence of the German raid was accurate - the Germans are out, and he is ideally positioned to intercept them.  He orders his warships to pursue the now-fleeing Germans, and by 8am a straightforward stern chase is on.  Hipper's battlecruisers have 150 miles to go to reach safety off the German coast, and have a fourteen mile head start on the pursuing British.  The ships in both squadrons now strain for maximum speed, the stokers in the furnaces below shoveling coal as fast as humanly possible.  Here the decisive factor is Blücher - it is the most recent and powerful armoured cruiser ever built in Germany, which is another way of saying that it is completely outclassed by the battlecruisers on both sides.  Crucially its maximum speed is 23 knots, which limits the speed of Hipper's squadron as a whole despite the ability of his battlecruisers to go even faster.  On the British side, Beatty's five warships are all battlecruisers, and the oldest - Indomitable - is still capable of 25 knots.  The brutal reality of the math for the Germans is that minute-by-minute, the British are slowly but surely gaining on them.  It is now simply a matter of when the lead British warship will close within firing range of the last German warship - Beatty takes advantage of the wait to go below for breakfast.

The Battle of Dogger Bank, January 24th, 1915.

As the minutes tick by, the gunnery officer aboard Lion, the lead British battlecruiser and Beatty's flagship, counts out the range to Blücher, the rear German warship.  When the distance reaches 20 000 yards, approval is given to open fire.  The first ranging shot from Lion roars out at 852am, while the second British battlecruiser - Tiger - fires its own ranging shot at 9am.  At 905 Beatty signals to his warships to open fire, and Lion and Tiger launch full salvos at the enemy.  Lion scores its first hit on Blücher at 909, and when Princess Royal is close enough to commence firing, Beatty's flagship shifts fire to the third German warship in line.  As the British continued to gradually close the gap, the salvos of the lead warships shifted to the farthest in range, with the objective of each British battlecruiser bringing its German counterpart in line under fire.  Lion's shells are soon straddling Seydlitz, Hipper's flagship, and at 945, a shell pierces the aftermost turret of the German battlecruiser.  In an instant the powder charges are ignited, and a flash fire roars down from the turret to the magazine, whose crew, to escape incineration, attempt to open the doors to the adjacent turret.  All this accomplishes is to spread the flash fire to the adjacent turret.  Both turrets are destroyed, shooting giant columns of flames into the air.  Seydlitz is saved from annihilation only by the bravery of three crewmen, who fight through the flames to reach and turn the valves to flood the magazine, preventing a catastrophic explosion that would have destroyed the entire ship.  Instead, though the two aft turrets are ruined, it is able to remain in the fight, its three fore turrets firing as if nothing had happened.

At 1018am, two shells strike the side of Lion almost simultaneously, opening several breaches in the armour plates below the water line.  Though the flooding is contained, it reduces the speed of the battlecruiser, and subsequent hits over the next forty minutes slow it further.  At 1054, as the other British battlecruisers passed Lion, Beatty on his bridged believed that he spotted the periscope of a submarine, and ordered a turn to port to avoid a potential torpedo attack.  No one else saw anything, and the few minutes it took to turn to port cost precious minutes and yards.  Beatty, realizing this, orders the turn to be cut short with the signal 'Course North East' at 1102.  As this signal flies from the mast of Lion, Beatty orders another signal: 'Attack the rear of the enemy,' wanting his other battlecruisers to pursue the remaining German battlecruisers.  Beatty's flag lieutenant, however, botches the signals, flying them from adjacent halyards and lowering them simultaneously, which gives the impression not of two separate signals, but one: 'Attack the rear of the enemy course northeast.'  At this moment, less than 8000 yards to the northeast is Blücher, already heavily damaged and falling behind.  To the second in command of the British Battlecruiser Squadron, Rear Admiral Sir Archibald Moore aboard New Zealand, it appears that Beatty is signaling to abandon the chase of the German battlecruisers and instead concentrate all fire on Blücher.  Logically the order makes no sense - Blücher is already effectively out of the fight while the enemy battlecruisers are making their escape.  Moore, however, concludes that Beatty must know something he does not, such as a newly-discovered minefield ahead.  Moore decides that it is his duty to obey a signal from his superior officer, and so at 1109am Tiger, Princess Royal, and New Zealand turn away from the German battlecruisers and concentrate their fire on Blücher.

The British battlecruiser Lion.

Beatty for his part is apoplectic when he sees the rest of his command turn away from the Germans.  He orders that Nelson's signal, 'Engage the enemy more closely', be flown, only to be informed that it had been removed from the signal book.  Soon distance and smoke prevent Beatty from signalling the rest of his squadron.  Thus the four British battlecruisers believe themselves to be obeying Beatty's orders in circling Blücher in an obvious case of overkill, firing dozens of 12-inch and 13.5-inch shells into it.  The armoured cruiser is quickly reduced to a burning wreck, incapable of returning fire.  At 1207pm Blücher rolls over on its side, and a few minutes later plunges beneath the waves.  Of the 1200 German sailors in the water, only 234 are saved.

One of the most famous picture of the war at sea, the German armoured cruiser Blücher capsizes as dozens of German
sailors scramble down the side.

Beatty meanwhile is eager to return to the fight, and at 1150am boards the destroyer Attack which had sailed alongside Lion.  It steams off and catches up to Princess Royal, which Beatty boards at 1233pm.  Here he is informed of the consequences of the misinterpreted signal.  He is enraged and wants to immediately resume the chase, but quickly realizes that forty minutes and possibly 30 000 yards have been lost; it is now impossible to catch the remainder of Hipper's squadron before it reaches safety.  At 1245pm, with extreme reluctance, he orders his warships to turn for home.  The wounded Lion, both engines now shut down, is taken in tow by Indomitable while the others return to port.

On the German side the surviving warships rendezvous with the High Seas Fleet, belatedly sent to sea when Hipper signalled his predicament.  For the German admiral it had been a terrible decision to leave Blücher behind, but he well understood that if he turned his remaining three battlecruisers around he might have lost them all.  Here the loss of his weakest ship is the lesser of two evils, and this evening the battlecruisers anchor in the mouth of the Jade River

The Battle of Dogger Bank is a clear British victory - Blücher sunk, Seydlitz badly damaged, and more than 1200 German sailors dead, wounded, or taken prisoner.  For the British, though Lion had taken a battering, only Tiger had even been hit by heavy shells.  After the uncertain start to the war at sea, Dogger Bank is seen as a reaffirmation of the superiority of the Royal Navy.  Among the naval leadership, however, the view is decidedly different, where disappointment reigns.  What appeared to be a golden opportunity to destroy multiple German battlecruisers has been lost through misinterpretations and bad luck.  Predictably Fisher is outraged, arguing in reference to Moore that 'Any fool can obey orders!', while Beatty believes he never even sent the signal that Moore supposedly followed.  No official recrimination occurs, but Moore will shortly be reassigned to command a cruiser squadron off the Canary Islands, the implicit censure ringing loud and clear.

- In South Africa the Boer rebel commando under Maritz attacks Upington on the frontier with German South-West Africa.  The attack is spread out over a eight kilometre front, and with inadequate artillery support miscarries.

January 13th, 1915

- An all-day meeting of the War Council is held in London today.  After an exhausting discussion that touched on a wide range of issues, including the ongoing stalemate on the Western Front, just after sunset Churchill presents his plan for a purely naval attack on the Dardanelles.  The mood of the meeting is suddenly transformed - from despair at the futility of operations in France and Belgium to optimism and hope at the prospects in the eastern Mediterranean.  Here Churchill's plan offered the potential for a war-winning operation without the massive casualties that would be necessitated by further efforts to pierce the German lines on the Western Front.  Success at the Dardanelles would allow the British squadron to anchor off Constantinople, and under the threat of bombardment force the surrender of the Ottoman government.  With the Straits in Entente hands, munitions and armaments could flow unimpeded to the Russian, giving them the material necessary to complement their numerical advantage on the Eastern Front.  Such a visible and overwhelming Entente victory would also certainly persuade the Balkan neutrals to enter the war on their side, and would open up a southern front for the invasion and destruction of Austria-Hungary.  Churchill presented the plan with all his oratorical talents, and the Council is caught up in his enthusiasm.  Admiral Fisher is in attendance, but is not asked for, nor does he offer, his opinions - he sees the War Council as a political, not a military, body, and thus the service chiefs are there merely to offer advice if asked, not attempt to persuade.  The Council unanimously agrees that the Admiralty should prepare for an operation to break through the Dardanelles, with Constantinople as its objective.  What will become one of the most controversial campaigns of the First World War has now been set in motion, and the next link in the chain connecting Enver Pasha's decision to invade the Caucasus and the fall of the last Liberal government in Britain is created.

- Along the Aisne French reinforcements are dispatched to the immediate north of Soissons to regain the ground lost yesterday at Crouy.  The French movement, however, is a double failure - not only to they fail to regain the lost trenches around Crouy, buy they are also out of position to respond to the major German attack launched this afternoon just to the west centred on Vregny.  By evening the Germans have pushed through Vregny and reached the northern edge of the wooded slope stretching down to the Aisne River.

- Joffe formally suspends the attacks of 10th Army in Artois and 4th Army in Champagne today, with neither offensive accomplishing more than the most negligible gains.  For his part, General Fernand de Langle de Cary, commander of 4th Army, submits a review of his operation to Joffre which emphasizes the difficulty of breaking through the enemy front through a 'continous' attack.  Instead, he suggests that once initial objectives have been achieved, it is necessary to repeat preparations for subsequent attacks, including digging approach trenches and an intensive preliminary artillery bombardment.  De Langle is arguing in favour of a methodical, step-by-step approach to offensive operations, as opposed to the 'continuous' method which calls for repeated waves of infantry assaults to overwhelm defensive positions.

- In Austria-Hungary today Count Berchtold is replaced as Foreign Minister by Count Stephan Burián, reflecting the triumph of the opponents of territorial concessions to Italy and Romania.  Instead, the Empire will seek to restore its international reputation through battlefield victory.

- In German South-West Africa the South African force that landed at Walvis Bay on December 25th today occupies the town of Swakopmund just to the north, which is also the terminus of the northern rail line running from the coast inland to the colonial capital at Windhoek.  Further south, a thousand Boer rebels, formed into different groups commanded by Maritz and Kemp, cross the frontier into South Africa for a second time after the failure of December.

December 22nd, 1914

- By today the British line between Cuinchy and Neuve Chapelle has been stabilized by the insertion of 1st Division of I Corps into the centre of the position around Givenchy, formerly held by the Indian Corps.  Most of the original lines held before the German attack of the 20th have been regained, though some stretches of the first trench have been so destroyed by artillery fire as to render them useless.  The moment of danger has passed, though the Indian Corps has suffered almost a thousand casualties over the past three days, as compared to only 250 for the Germans opposite.  The need for 1st Division to come to the 'rescue' of the Indian Corps also does little for the confidence of the BEF leadership in the latter's fighting qualities.

- In Galicia the Russians continue to press against the Austro-Hungarian 3rd Army, and in many spots the latter is forced southward.  Further complicating matters, most of the reinforcements destined for the right wing of the army had been sucked into the fighting on the left wing in an attempt to stem the tide, making the execution of the planned advance on Przemysl by the army's right wing impossible.  In an attempt to make the best of a bad situation, Conrad approves a proposal by 3rd Army commander to attack with his left wing towards Tarnow.

The Russian advance in Galicia, December 22nd to 31st, 1914.

- In light of the failed invasions of Serbia, General Potiorek is forced into retirement today.

The Serbian Front at the end of December, 1914.

- What will become the Battle of Sarikamish begins today when Enver Pasha orders the Ottoman XI and X Corps of his 3rd Army to begin their advance into the Russian Caucasus.  Enver's objective is the town of Sarikamish, which sits at the head of the main railway supplying Russian forces in the Caucasus, but his plan bears the strong imprint of German thinking and the influence of 3rd Army's Chief of Staff Baron Bronsart von Schellendorff.  Of 3rd Army's three corps, XI Corps, reinforced by two divisions that had been originally bound for Syria and Iraq, was to frontally attack the two Russian corps southwest of Sarikamish in order to fix them in place.  This was no small task for XI Corps, given the two Russian corps number 54 000 men and the Ottoman unit would have been outnumbered by just one of the enemy corps.  The key maneouvre, however, is to be undertaken by IX and X Corps.  The former, sitting on XI Corps' left, is to advance along a mountain path known as the top yol towards Çatak, from which it can descend on Sarikamish from the northwest, outflanking the two Russian corps pinned by XI Corps.  Though the top yol is known to the Russians, they believe it was impractical to move large bodies of troops along it.  Enver, for his part, believes that not only is the path useable but its high altitude and exposed position would ensure that high winds kept it swept of snow, as compared to the valleys below.  Finally, X Corps, on the left of IX Corps, is to advance and occupy the town of Oltu, from which one portion of the corps can move to support IX Corps' move on Sarikamish, while another portion can continue northeastwards towards the town of Ardahan.  If successful, the plan promises the envelopment and annihilation of the two Russian corps southwest of Sarikamish and the opening of the way to Kars.

With its emphasis on outflanking the enemy position, it has the obvious imprint of the thinking of Schliffen and the German General Staff.  Further, Enver's plan involves precise timetabling of the advance of IX and X Corps (necessary given the lack of communications between the three corps of 3rd Army) which removes all possibility of improvisation and does not allow for any unit to fall behind schedule.  Finally, there is the emphasis on speed - the soldiers of IX Corps, for instance, are told to leave their coats and packs behind to quicken their advance.  This ignores the obvious reality of conducting operations in the Caucasus in December and January - temperatures are consistently below -30 degrees centigrade and the snow on the ground is measured in feet, not inches.  This ignorance of the human element, also a conspicuous reflection of pre-war German planning, is to be of decisive import in the days ahead.

Incidentally, Enver's decision to launch his invasion of the Russian Caucasus today is the first link in a chain of events that will lead to the collapse of the last Liberal government in Britain.  Just another example of how one cannot understand the First World War without understanding how it was a world war.

The planned advance of the Ottoman 3rd Army against Sarikamish.

- In German Kamerun the French column that occupied Nola in October today seize the village of Molundu.

- A force of Boer rebels numbering about a thousand, comprising those who managed to escape to German South-West Africa under Martiz and Kemp, cross the Orange River back into South Africa.  Though they have achieved surprise, the advance is plagued by disagreements between the two Boer leaders, Kemp refusing to serve under Maritz's leadership and wanting to return to the Transvaal.  Martiz for his part desires to avoid giving the impression of being a German puppet, and thus refuses German assistance.  The result is that when a South African force is encountered near Schuit Drift, they are driven off and retreat back over the Orange River.

December 8th, 1914

- Further attacks by the Austro-Hungarian 4th Army against the Russian 3rd Army fail to make any significant gains, while the situation on the southern flank of Roth's group around Limanowa worsens - in addition to the advance of the Russian VIII Corps, the Russian XIV Corps is a mere two days march away.  Conrad urges the commander of the Austro-Hungarian 3rd Army to hasten his attacks, and the latter decides that, as he does not have sufficient force in position to both attack Bartfeld and advance towards Neusandez, the latter operation should take priority.  Two division and assorted battalions that had been assembled to attack Bartfeld are placed under the command of General Szurmay and ordered to move northwest against Neusandez.

- The Austro-Hungarian 6th Army today falls back across the Kolubara River, having been shattered in the fighting of the prior five days.  Many of its battalions are down to two hundred men, supply columns have been destroyed by Serbian units that have broken through, and some units have now completely run out of ammunition.  At Valjevo, the Austro-Hungarian 50th Division hastily retreats before scouting elements of the Serbian I Dunav Division, and the latter are able to temporarily enter the city.  The episode convinces General Potiorek that 6th Army is no longer combat effective, and will be unable to hold the line of the Kolubara.

- In Mesopotamia the Ottoman defenders of Qurna are disheartened by the British success in occupying the opposite river bank, and more than half the garrison retreats northwards in the early morning hours.  The remainder believe they have been outmaneouvred again when a small British force commandeers two sailboats and effects a river crossing just north of Qurna.  At 1140pm, a small steamer carrying three Ottoman officers approaches one of the British sloops and they offer to surrender Qurna if the garrison is allowed to march out.  The commander of the sloop refuses, and is soon able to badger the Ottomans into an unconditional surrender.

- For the past several weeks, the shattered remnants of C. F. Beyers' commando has been on the run since it was defeated on November 16th, and today it disintegrates when Beyers drowns attempting to cross the Vaal River.  Beyers' death removes a leading rebel figure from the scene, and eliminates the last major rebel commando within South Africa - the only significant forces now are those commanded by Maritz and Kemp just over the border with German South-West Africa.

- At 2am this morning the warships of the German East Asiatic Squadron first sight the Falklands Islands on the northern horizon, and at 530am Admiral Spee splits his force - Gneisenau and Nürnberg will sail into Port Stanley to send landing parties ashore and bombard the town while Scharnhorst, Dresden, and Leipzig remain just out of sight over the horizon, ready to assist.  The weather is perfect, with clear skies and only a slight breeze, making visibility ideal.  The German warships have no idea that they are sailing into mortal danger.

The approach of the German East Asiatic Squadron to the Falklands Islands.

At 7am Gneisenau and Nürnberg sight their first target, a radio mast on Hooker's Point.  The harbour at Port Stanley itself is masked by the line of hills on which the radio mast sits and which reaches out to Cape Pembroke, but the Germans can see the mastheads of a number of ships in Port Stanley and smoke rising as they get underway.  Gneisenau's gunnery officer, up in the spotting top of the foremast, reports that he sees tripod masts - ominous news, as tripod masts mean dreadnoughts.  Gneisenau's captain dismisses the report - there are obviously no dreadnoughts or battlecruisers in the South Atlantic, as they are all in the North Sea facing the High Seas Fleet.

At 920am, just as Gneisenau and Nürnberg are about to open fire on the wireless station, two explosions are sighted a thousand yards to port, followed shortly by two more eight hundred yards away.  The size of the detonations clearly indicate 12-inch shells, a stunning surprise to the Germans.  Such large-calibre gunnery means they are facing warships larger than cruisers, and deduce that a pre-dreadnought battleship must be at Port Stanley.  They are correct - the shells are coming from Canopus, beached in the harbour as a defensive battery, its fire directed by gunner observors on land such that it can fire without the ship actually seeing the enemy.  Thus the first shots of the Battle of the Falklands Islands are fired by the warship that was left behind prior to the Battle of Coronel.

The Battle of the Falklands Islands, December 8th, 1914.

Spee decides to abort the attack on Port Stanley, as 12-inch guns could wreck havoc on his squadron and there are more enemy warships that appear to be preparing to exit Port Stanley to engage the Germans.  However, Spee's squadron can also easily outrun a pre-dreadnought, so Gneisenau and Nürnberg are ordered to sail east to rejoin the rest of the German East Asiatic Squadron.

When Gneisenau and Nürnberg were first sighted by British observers ashore just after 730am, they caught Admiral Sturdee and his squadron completely by surprise.  There had been no indication or intelligence to suggest that the Falklands Islands themselves might be a target of the German East Asiatic Squadron.  The British warships are not prepared for action - only the armoured cruiser Kent is able to immediately steam out of the harbour, as the rest are in various stages of coaling or undergoing repairs.  Sturdee quickly issues orders for all warships to raise steam to prepare to sail as soon as possible - his initial fear is that if the Germans sail up to the harbour entrance they might be able to devastate his squadron while it is still at anchor and cannot maneouvre.  Spee's order to retreat alleviates that concern, however, and now Sturdee realizes his advantage. He knows his two battlecruisers can make 25 knots, while Spee's warships can only make 20 knots at most.  Sturdee knows that he will inevitably catch up to the Germans, and then the larger main armament of Invincible and Inflexible will surely guarantee the annihilation of the enemy.  Spee's only chance of escape is poor weather, but the day is exceptionally calm and there is no change of fog or rain in which the German squadron could hide.  By 1030am all of Sturdee's warships have sailed out of Port Stanley and round Cape Pembroke in pursuit of the enemy.

As the German East Asiatic Squadron sails eastwards at its top speed, it can see in the distance British warships in pursuit, and all eyes strain to identify the enemy.  They can see two larger warships that gradually but inexorably overtake the other enemy vessels and begin to close the gap between the two squadrons.  It soon becomes clear that their pursuers include two battlecruisers.  It is a bitter moment for the German East Asiatic Squadron - every sailor knows the overwhelming superiority battlecruisers have over their own ships, and that the day will likely end in their destruction.

The view from the maintop on Invincible as it overhauls the German warships, whose smoke is visible on the
horizon.

For several hours the British pursue the Germans, the battlecruisers drawing ever closer.  At 1255pm, the first shot of the battle is fired by Inflexible, targeting the light cruiser Leipzig.  Invincible soon joins in, and within fifteen minutes British salvos are straddling the German ship.  Spee decides that he must try to save at least part of his squadron.  He orders his three light cruisers to separate and attempt to escape, while Scharnhorst and Gneisenau will turn to fight the battlecruisers.  The latter maneouvre is undoubtedly doomed, but Spee hopes it will prove a sufficient distraction to allow the light cruisers to escape.  Sturdee had anticipated this, however, and the armoured cruisers Kent and Cornwall as well as Glasgow are sent after the German light cruisers while Inflexible and Invincible focus on the two enemy armoured cruisers.

Inflexible opens fire on Scharnhorst and Gneisenau.

By 130pm the British battlecruisers and German armoured cruisers open fire on each other.  The Germans live up to their reputation as crack shots, their salvos consistently straddling the British, while British fire is widely inaccurate - in the first thirty minutes, of 210 rounds fired only four hit the target.  Still, the larger shells of the British guns mean each hit is significantly more damaging than several from the German guns.  For the next two hours damage accumulates on Scharnhorst and Gneisenau - the former has several main guns knocked out, and the latter has two boiler rooms flooded and its speed reduced to 16 knots.  Just before 4pm, its upper deck completely wrecked and three of four funnels shot away, Scharnhorst ceases fire.  Sturdee signals the German warship to surrender, but there was no reply.  Spee's last signal is instead to Gneisenau, conceding that he had been wrong to order the attack on the Falklands.  Scharnhorst's bow sinks ever deeper into the waves until it rolls onto its side and sinks at 417pm.  Of the eight hundred man crew, including Admiral Spee, there are no survivors.  For the next hour and a half, the already-battered Gneisenau endures what amounts to target practice by the British battlecruisers.  At 540 its captain orders the ship scuttled, and it sinks at 6pm.  Between two and three hundred survivors are in the water, and the battlecruisers begin rescue efforts, ultimately pulling 176 from the frigid waters.

Inflexible standing by to pick up survivors from Gneisenau.  The photograph is taken from Invincible.

The three German light cruisers hardly fare better.  As they sailed south in an attempt to escape, they are pursued by the light cruiser Glasgow and the armoured cruisers Kent and Cornwall.  After four months at sea the Germans are several knots below their design speed, which allows the British to slowly close the distance.  At 345pm the three light cruisers go their separate ways - Dresden to the southwest, Nürnberg to the east, and Leipzig to the south.  The pursuing British have to choose how to continue the pursuit, and with Dresden maintaining a fractionally greater speed than the other two light cruisers, the decision is made by the captain of Glasgow to let Dresden go to ensure the destruction of the other two.  While Dresden slips away, Nürnberg and Leipzig are chased down over the next several hours and, once the armoured cruisers are in range, battered into submission - the former sinking at 727pm, and the latter at 923pm.  Only seven survivors are saved from Nürnberg and eighteen from Leipzig.

Damage on the upper deck of Kent.

By nightfall the annihilation of the German East Asiatic Squadron is complete.  Only Dresden survives, fleeing the scene as rapidly as possible westward, its only hope to return to the Pacific.  Admiral Spee, as well as two of his sons who were serving aboard his warships, are lost.  British casualties are negligible - one on Glasgow, four on Kent when a gun position was hit - as the vast majority of German hits failed to penetrate the armour of the British warships.  The Germans had fought well, scoring a much higher hit rate than their counterparts, but it hardly mattered.  For the British, it is a matter of concern that only 5% of their shots, but it is overshadowed by the sheer scale of the victory - the Battle of the Falklands is as decisive victory for the British as the Battle of Coronel was for the Germans.  It does much to restore the luster of the Royal Navy after early setbacks, and is celebrated throughout Britain as a restatement of naval hegemony.  The victory is seen as a particular vindication for the First Sea Lord, Admiral Fisher.  It was his vision that brought the battlecruiser to life, and at the Falklands it fulfilled its strategic role perfectly - have the speed to catch anything it can sink.

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 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.

October 24th, 1914

- The Entente crisis deepens today along the Yser.  By dawn the Germans have secured five kilometres of the river, and all of 6th Reserve Division is on the west bank.  Though the Germans continue to be unable to bring artillery or supplies across due to enemy bombardment, the Belgian defensive line on the river has been broken.  The Belgian divisions are being ground down, and there are no reserves to relieve them.  General d'Urbal authorizes the French 42nd Division at Nieuport to send a brigade to the Belgian centre to keep it from crumbling, which arrives this morning.  Nevertheless, the north and centre of the Belgian line along the Yser is withdrawn to the Noordvaart and Beverdyk, small streams running north-south between the river to the east and the Nieuport-Dixmude railway embankment to the west.  The German 4th Army also undertake a heavy bombardment of Dixmude, including by the massive siege guns used at Antwerp, clearing in preparation for a major attack on the town.

- The developments along the Yser mean that the planned by Foch and d'Urbal is reduced to an attack by the recently arrived IX Corps.  From 7am this morning the French 17th Division of IX Corps attacks the German lines between Langemarck and Zonnebeke northeast of Ypres, held by portions of the German XVII and XVIII Reserve Corps.  In the morning most progress is achieved near Langemarck where they are able to advance a thousand yards.  Early in the afternoon the German 51st Reserve Division counterattacks at Zonnebeke, but is driven off, and the village recaptured by this evening.

- On the left of the French 17th Division the British 1st Division of I Corps has a relatively uneventful day, only experiencing heavy bombardment in the evening.  The plan is to relieve 1st Division with two French territorial brigades, so that all of I Corps is out of the line and thus can be utilized in a British counteroffensive to the south.  The heavy shelling in the evening, however, delays the handover of the trench line.

On the right of the French 17th Division, the British 7th Division of IV Corps has a very trying day.  It sits holding the southeastern 'angle' of the Ypres salient, and comes under heavy attack throughout the day.  The most critical moments come at the tiny village of Rethel, which sits just in front of Polygon Wood.  This section of line was at the junction of two brigades, and was defended by the 2nd Battalion, Wiltshires and a company of 2nd Battalion Scots Guards.  A preliminary bombardment begins at 430am, and in the early morning light two regiments of the German 53rd Reserve Division advance.  The German artillery keeps firing as their infantry reaches Rethel which, though it places the infantry at risk of being hit by friendly fire, suppresses the British infantry - many are too busy hiding from enemy shells to fire on the German infantry advancing on their trenches.  The Wiltshires initially are able to hold up the German advance, but the artillery fire has largely destroyed the position of the company of the Scots Guards - when the Germans reach the latter's position, they are able to easily overrun them and capture the British trench.  This outflanks the Wiltshires, and the Germans are able to work their way down the trench, systematically wiping out the British defenders.  The Wiltshires collapse, and most of the survivors fall into German hands.

The Germans had managed to blast a hole in the British line - there was nothing directly west of Rethel to hold the Germans.  The commander of 7th Division had no further reserves at hand - they had been committed to hold against other German attacks today - so he calls on 2nd Division to the rear for any aid they can send.  He also orders all of the headquarter staff, orderlies, clerks, and other administrative individuals to rally for a last stand.

The position of 7th Division is saved by the simple fact that the commander of the German 244th Regiment, who had achieved the breakthrough, had no idea that he had accomplished any such thing.  He is content to remain at Rethel, and only tentatively sends part of his force into Polygon Wood after over two hours of relative inactivity.  It is at this point that two battalions dispatched from 2nd Division arrive, and in desperate hand-to-hand fighting with the bayonet, the Germans are ejected from the Wood.  Rethel remains in German hands, but the relief force is able to reconstitute the British line at the edge of Polygon Wood.  For only the briefest of moments, the opportunity for a breakthrough appeared, but in the confusion of the battlefield it vanished before the Germans even knew it was there.

To the south the Germans launch a series of attacks near Gheluvelt this afternoon, but are repulsed.  After a difficult day, 7th Division has held its line with the exception of the loss of Rethel.  But the victories have not been without cost.  In the fighting between the 22nd and today, 7th Division has lost just over 2800 men, or almost 40% of its total strength.

- To the south, nine battalions from the German XIII and XIX Corps advance on positions of the British III Corps at Le Quesne, while elements of the German VII Corps, eager to come to grip with the enemy after they escaped unnoticed the day before, launch a series of methodical attacks on II Corps.  In heavy fighting the British lines bend but do not break, and by midnight all ground lost in fighting earlier in the day has been recaptured.

- From the perspective of the German 4th Army, the capture of the ruins of Rethel hardly compensates for both failures elsewhere and the French advance between Langemarck and Zonnebeke.  The reserve corps have been thoroughly battered after several days of fighting, with casualties over 60% in some regiments.  It is clear that they are no longer in any shape to undertake offensive operations, so the decision is made to order them to entrench and go on to the defensive.  The situation to the north, however, is much more promising, with the expanding bridgehead across the Yser by III Reserve Corps.  A breakthrough here might still achieve victory by sweeping along the Channel coast.  Moreover, it is known that the French have reinforced the Belgian lines west of the Yser, which opens the possibility that they have no reserves left to support the defenders of Dixmude.  The major focus of 4th Army thus shifts from the Ypres salient to the line Nieuport-Dixmude.

- A shortage of artillery shells is becoming acute in the BEF.  Field Marshal French today telegrams Kitchener that while his guns have fired as many as seventy-six shells per day, only the equivalent of seven rounds per day were arriving from Britain, and there were only one hundred fifty shells per gun that had not already been issued to the artillery positions.  Kitchener advised that restrictions on ammunition expenditure be considered to avoid running out at a critical moment.

The lines around Ypres, October 24th and 25th, 1914.

- In South Africa Marwitz's force, which had sparked the Boer Rebellion, is defeated by government forces led by Coen Brits at Kakamas.  Marwitz briefly considers surrender, but the news of the general rebellion, in particular of De Wet in the Orange Free State and Beyers in the western Transvaal, encourages Marwitz to continue.

October 22nd, 1914

- The battle intensifies between Ypres and the Channel.  In the pre-dawn hours, the German 26th Reserve Infantry Regiment of III Reserve Corps closes up to the Yser River just south of Schoore.  By using the bayonet to clear out Belgian outposts east of the river, the defenders on the west bank have not been alarmed.  Using the cover of night, engineers bridge the river at two places, and by dawn most of two battalions are on the west bank.  The Germans are able to resist Belgian counterattacks, but the small bridgehead comes under fierce and sustained artillery fire, preventing reinforcement during the day.  Only after nightfall can additional German soldiers get across the river.

- To the south, a monumental attack is launched by the Germans against the British I and IV Corps.  The British line around Ypres today forms a semi-circle, and it is against its northern and eastern portions that the attack falls.  The bulk of the German XVI Reserve Corps, assisted by a division of XXIII Reserve Corps, throws itself against the line held by the British 1st Division between Bixschoote and Langemarck, while to the southeast the British 2nd Division spends most of the day under a heavy artillery bombardment before the Germans attempt to rush the enemy trenches at dusk.  Further south, 7th Division of IV Corps is assaulted by the German XVII Reserve Corps south of Zonnebeke.

The trial of the four reserve corps consigned to the attack by Falkenhayn is now at hand.  They form up for the advance, officers, some on horseback, in front, with the soldiers in massed ranks.  The volunteers of the corps have had time only to learn the most basic parade-ground maneouvres, while those with prior military training have either forgotten the bulk of it or learnt it so long ago as to be practically useless.  There are only a sprinkling of officers and NCOs through the corps who have seen combat in this war, and thus the infantry advance in the mass formations of peacetime - they have not gained the knowledge learnt at great cost over the past few months of the realities of the modern battlefield.  The instructions for the formations are simple - advance and overwhelm the enemy.  As they march into battle, some of the units begin to sing 'Deutschland über Alles' or 'Die Wacht am Rhein.'  In part they do so as a recognition signal - so inexperienced are they that they fear firing on their own soldiers, so singing the two great German patriotic songs is an unmistakable signal of their identity.  The singing also, however, reflects the great patriotism amongst in particular the volunteers, those who rushed to enlist in August 1914.  These volunteers, many high school and university students, sometimes with their teachers alongside, represent the pinnacle of German war enthusiasm - they march into battle because they choose to, believing in the righteousness of their cause and the irresistibility of their advance.

Their singing reaches the British soldiers huddling in their meagre trenches opposite.  As the Germans advance, flags flying in near-perfect parade-ground formation, the British open fire.  The patriotism and enthusiasm of the German volunteers meets the fire of machine guns and rifles, and the result is never in doubt.  Huge swathes are cut through the German ranks - the British regulars, trained to fire fifteen aimed rifle shots a minute, fire between 500 and 600 times today.  Hundreds and hundreds of Germans are wounded and killed as they attempt to march to the British line.  Now the inexperience of the reserve corps manifests itself in another way - they do not know when enemy fire is too intense to continue.  Not knowing better, they continue to advance long after it becomes painfully obvious to those with battlefield experience that all further attacks will accomplish is pile the German bodies higher.  Even when the Germans pull back, they simply reform and advance again.  In some cases they get as close as fifty yards to the British trenches, a range at which no British regular could possibly miss.  Even some of the British officers cannot help but admire the courage of the Germans in continuing to attack.  But as the past few months have shown, courage against the machine gun can have only one outcome.

The German attacks accomplish nothing of strategic significance.  The small village of Kortekeer is taken on the front of the British 1st Division, but no breakthrough is achieved and the British are quick to plan a counterattack.  By nightfall the sound of singing has been replaced by the piteous moans of the wounded and dying.  British soldiers peering through the twilight sees the fields before them covered by fallen Germans.  Here and there a wounded German, sometimes variously with arms or legs missing, attempts to crawl to safety.  Many of the German formations have lost half or more of their strength.

From today's attacks, and ones by the reserve corps in subsequent days, a legend will grow in Germany - the Kindermord, or Massacre of the Innocents.  The proportion of the reserve corps composed of young volunteers is inflated, such that the attack is depicted as the ultimate expression of German patriotism.  Far from being seen as a defeat, the  Kindermord comes to be celebrated as the triumph of national will, of how no trial, however arduous, can extinguish the flame of German patriotism.  The anniversary of the Kindermord comes to be celebrated each year in wartime Germany as a symbol of the unshakeable will of the German people and faith in ultimate victory.  After the war, the Kindermord will be appropriated by the right, including the Nazis, for whom the Battle of Langemarck, as the Germans call it, becomes a key touchstone for the celebration of German militarism and the patriotism that was betrayed by the 'stab in the back.'

The reality of the Kindermord is more prosaic - the soldiers of the reserve corps die miserable deaths, often without even seeing the enemy or firing a shot.  For many, the rude introduction to the realities of modern warfare become the last few seconds of their lives.  They believed they were marching to victory; instead they advanced into oblivion.

The German assaults on the British lines around Ypres, October 22nd and 23rd, 1914.

- Along the line held by the British II Corps, an early morning German attack catches the 1st Battalion, Cheshire Regiment in the open digging trenches, and within a matter of minutes their numbers are reduced from 382 to 153.  The battalion falls back and the Germans advance until held by reserve British forces.  In light of the increasing pressure, and concerned about remaining in touch with French cavalry to his north, General Smith-Dorrien orders II Corps to withdraw tonight to a reserve trench line stretching from the La Bassée Canal to Fauquissart.  The retreat is completed overnight without interference from the Germans.

The southern portion of the line held by the British, October 1914.  The thick red line is indicative of the line to which
II Corps withdrew to overnight.

- This afternoon Germans launch a major attack on the village of St. Laurent, just east of Arras, under the eyes of the Kaiser, who has arrived to witness the fall of the city.  The French Alpine Division, reinforced by cavalry that had just arrived, fight a desparate battle, and heavy fighting continues into the evening as the two forces struggle over the ruins of the village.

- This morning the old pre-dreadnought Canopus arrives at Port Stanley in the Falklands.  Its captain confirms to Rear-Admiral Craddock that his ship is capable of only 12 knots, and further that it cannot leave port again until he had fixed the ship's condensers and cleaned its boilers.  Craddock sees Canopus as no value to his command, but still feels himself bound by the earlier Admiralty orders to attack the German East Asiatic Squadron.  In the back of his mind is the escape of the Goeben and Breslau in the Mediterranean in the first days of the war.  There, Admiral Troubridge had decided against engaging the German ships with his inferior squadron, and he had been widely criticized, with some calling into question his honour and courage.  Craddock will not allow this to happen to himself - to his friend Admiral Hedworth Meux he writes today that 'I will take care I do not suffer the fate of poor Troubridge.'  The only course of action consistent not only with Admiralty orders but also with the dictates of honour is that he sail with his squadron, without Canopus, to fight the German East Asiatic Squadron.  He does so knowing that there is little chance of success - to the governor of the Falklands he states that he will not see him again.  Thus this afternoon Craddock aboard Good Hope slips out of harbour sailing westward, to join Glasgow, Monmouth, and Otranto where they will seek out battle, while Canopus is ordered to follow when possible with three colliers.  Thus the reverberations of the escape of the Goeben and Breslau continue to echo.

- Enver Pasha today transmits the Ottoman war plan for hostilities against the Entente to Germany.  It was not a monumentally-detailed plan for mobilization and operations in the vein of one produced by the German General Staff.  Indeed, it is not readily apparent that Enver sought any professional advice in developing it.  Instead, the plan contains six 'options' for war, though not in any particular order.  First, the 'new' Turkish fleet would bombard the Black Sea ports of Russia.  Second would be the declaration of holy war against the Entente, inspiring their Muslim subjects to rebellion.  Third, the Ottomans would hold the line in the Caucasus, tying down Russian units.  Fourth would be an offensive against Egypt, possibly by XII Corps, seizing the Suez Canal as its first phase.  Fifth, if Bulgaria entered the war the Ottomans would join with them in attacking Serbia.  Finally, the possibility is raised of deploying Ottoman forces to the north Black Sea coast.

The importance of the document does not rest with its detailed plans for military operations, of which there are very few details given.  Instead, the Ottoman war plan is designed primarily as a political document to demonstrate to the Germans the value of Ottoman military support.  In particular, the invasion of Egypt, the option given the most detail in the plan, accomplishes something that the Germans themselves cannot - attack the British Empire directly.  Thus by emphasizing Ottoman military potential against Britain, they enhance their stature in the eyes of the German General Staff.  Pre-war dismissals by German officials of the military value of the Ottoman army give way to tantalizing and enticing possibilities of striking deadly blows against the British.

- In South Africa, the Boer dissidents decide to rise in rebellion against the government.  They do so in protest of the war, the invasion of German South-West Africa, and conscription.  They also draw support from landless Boers who fear the growing urbanization of the country will drive them into the cities and into the working-class, and those who feel the traditional Boer values of egalitarianism and republicanism are under threat.  However, the rebellion divides the Boer populace, and significant pillars of the community, including both the Dutch Reformed Church and J. B. M. Hertzog, leader of the National Party, giving the Boer Rebellion the character of a domestic dispute among Boers, as opposed to a unified Boer uprising against British occupation and colonization.

- In August the German ports of Dar es Salaam and Tanga in their East African colony were declared to be open cities, but today the British announce that they are voiding the agreements.  They have developed plans for a two-pronged offensive against the northern portion of the colony, both utilizing units of the Indian Army - Detachment B of the Indian Expeditionary Force is to land and seize Tanga, while Detachment C will advance overland to Moshi.  Once both towns are taken the British will control both ends of the railway that connects the two, placing them in position to advance on the central railway in the colony.  The same railway, however, gives the defending Germans the ability to rapidly shift forces between the two threatened points.

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 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 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 7th, 1914

- The advance of the German I and II Cavalry Corps between Lens and Lille is brought to a halt by the French XXI Corps, which has detrained at Béthune.

The German cavalry sweep north of Arras and Lens, October 1914.

- Early this morning, two German battalions of the 37th Landwehr Brigade succeed in crossing the Schelde River at Schoonaerde, nine miles west of Termonde.  Despite counterattacks by the Belgian 6th Division during the day, the bridgehead hold, and during the evening the rest of the brigade crosses the Schelde.  The distance between Schoonaerde and the Dutch border is a mere twelve miles, through which any forces that wish to escape Antwerp must pass.  The Belgian army decides that it must now pass through the corridor before it closes, and plans on taking up position along the Terneuzen Canal, running from Ghent to the Dutch border.  The Belgian 1st and 5th divisions are sent westwards first, while 3rd and 6th divisions act as a flank guard along the Schelde.  King Albert also moves his headquarters today from Antwerp to Selzaete along the Terneuzen Canal.

The focus of the German effort against Antwerp today is bringing heavy artillery across the Nethe River.  Though the movement is delayed by difficulties with bridging equipment, just before midnight 6-inch howitzers begin the bombardment of the city itself.

Men of the British Naval Brigades in trenches at Antwerp, October 7th, 1914.

- Within Antwerp itself, proclamations are posted throughout the city announcing that German bombardment of the city is imminent, and advised those who wish to leave Antwerp must do so at once.  Appropriate to the mood of the civilian population, Antwerp is covered by a dense cloud of black smoke, emanating from oil-tanks to the west of the city which had been set on fire to prevent their capture by the Germans.  Thousands flock to the docks, attempting to crowd aboard every available ship in the hope of departing the city. Others flee to the nearby Dutch border at Bergen-op-Zoom.  This town of 16 000 inhabitants finds itself in a matter of a few days hosting 200 000 refugees from Antwerp.

Belgian civilians hoping to escape Antwerp at the city docks, October 1914.

- This morning the disembarkation of the British 7th Division is completed at Zeebrugge, and by 5pm, after travelling by train, has arrived in Bruges.  Despite the pleadings of the Belgians, however, the division does not immediately march to Antwerp - prior to departing Britain, the divisional commander was given specific instructions by Kitchener not to allow his force to be shut in and captured at Antwerp.  Further, reports reach 7th Division of large German cavalry concentrations north of Lille, which could potentially threaten the corridor to Antwerp.  Meanwhile, a brigade of French marines is dispatched from Paris by rail towards Antwerp, the one significant French contribution to the defence of the city.

- III Corps of the British Expeditionary Force, having handed over its trenches to the French last night, today begins its march to Compiègne where it will entrain for Flanders.

- Today Lieutenant-Colonel Maritz makes contact with Germans along the border between South Africa and German South-West Africa.  Such contacts may be vital if Maritz goes into rebellion.

- In German Kamerun, the British advance on Jabassi to the northeast of Duala.  Taking advantage of the heavy rains, they mount a 6-inch gun on a boat that could be floated up the river to support the attack.  However, the West African units became disorganized as they moved through the bush adjacent to the river, and when they reached open ground at Jabassi they were cut down by German machine-gun fire.  The attack defeated, the British are forced to retreat back in the direction of Duala.