July 25th, 1915

- Joffre approves Castlenau's proposed plan for the fall offensive in Champagne today, with one revision: the French commander-in-chief believes that only seven days' worth of artillery shells will be needed, as opposed to ten.

- In Courland the German Army of the Niemen pushes across the Dubissa River and occupies Poswol and Poniewiez as the Russian 5th Army falls back.

- In Mesopotamia the British follow up their victory east of Nasiriyeh yesterday with the capture of the town today, in an episode reminiscent of the capture of Amara on the Tigris two months earlier.  As the British infantry marched wearily along the river, a gunboat sailed ahead to Nasiriyeh itself, which has descended into chaos, with widespread looting by local Arabs.  The crew of the gunboat are greeted by white flags everywhere but the Ottoman barracks, whose garrison have yet to learn of the defeat of their compatriots yesterday.  The gunboat returns to the British expedition and, joined by a second gunboat, embark a hundred Gurkas and two machine guns.  This small force is landed at Nasiriyeh and take possession of the town, receiving the surrender of the remaining Ottoman soldiers.  Only later does the rest of the infantry, marching through a sandstorm, reach the town.

- Falkenhayn today approves a plan forwarded by the German military attaché in Teheran to fund and arm Persian tribes to augment the efforts of Wassmuss in the south of the country; with £100 000 and a ton of explosives, the attaché believes 50 000 tribesmen can be raised to drive Entente forces out of the country and move on India and Afghanistan.

- In northern Rhodesia the German detachment under the retired major-general Kurt Wahle returns to the British post of Saisi and launches a second attack, but as was the case in June the Rhodesian police and Belgian soldiers hold off the enemy.

German soldiers entrenching near Saisi, July 25th, 1915.

July 23rd, 1915

- For the past ten days the German Army of the Niemen has been advancing in Courland.  Despite the relatively small size of the German force (as compared with the armies advancing under Gallwitz and Mackensen to the south), the Army of the Niemen has been able to take advantage of both the low troop density and Russian disorganization to make significant progress, and today they seize the town of Szawle and defeat a Russian force nearby.

- Along the Isonzo the fighting around Monte San Michelle dies down today, both sides being exhausted after five days of constant combat.  Instead the Italians shift the focus of their attacks southwards, attempting to break through the Austro-Hungarian lines between the villages of Selz and Vermegliano.

July 13th, 1915

- The German offensive on the Eastern Front opens today with simultaneous advances in Courland and central Poland.  While the Army of the Niemen pushes northeast in the direction of Riga against a disorganized Russian defence, the main effort is to the south, where an army group under the command of General Max von Gallwitz has been concentrated northwest of the Narew River in Poland.  Here the Germans have assembled ten and a half divisions, supported by over one thousand artillery pieces supplied with 400 000 shells, and the plan is to reproduce, on a somewhat smaller scale, the tactics of the Gorlice-Tarnow offensive.  After an overwhelming preliminary bombardment designed by Colonel Georg Brüchmuller, a rising star for his effective and innovative use of artillery, Gallwitz's force is to batter its way through the Russian line, and while a breakthrough is desirable, the primary aim is to inflict as much damage as possible on the Russian defenders opposite.

German tactics are not the only similarity with Gorlice-Tarnow, as once again Russian incompetence has a role to play.  The German attack falls on the boundary of two Russian armies - 1st and 12th - and the two commanders show a distinct unwillingness to cooperate.  Further, two corps - II Siberian and the Guards - had been removed from this front to reinforce the crumbling line in southern Poland, and reserves recently assigned to the sector were too far from the front to be of much use.  Further, the trenches themselves had been poorly sited and constructed, and secondary lines barely existed.  The seven divisions opposite the Germans had at their disposal only 377 artillery guns, which were limited to forty rounds per day due to ongoing shortages of ammunition.

Thus when the German attack is launched today, it meets with success.  The preliminary bombardment is overwhelming and crushes the Russian defenders - one Siberian division that attempts to retreat in the open loses half its strength in thirty minutes.  By the end of the day the Germans have punched a two mile gap between the Russian 1st and 12th Armies near Przasnysz, and in the confusion little effort is made by the defenders to coordinate counterattacks or deploy what reserves are available.

May 26th, 1915

- In Artois the French IX and XXI Corps have repeatedly assaulted German positions on and north of the Lorette Spur.  Though small sections of the German trenches have been captured, a counterattack by elements of 85th Reserve Brigade, as well as 28th and 117th Divisions, regains the lost ground today.

- In Courland Army Group Lauenstein, which had been formed in April for the German offensive in the region, is replaced by the Army of the Niemen, more suited to commanding the size and scope of the German commitment here.  It is not, however, an independent command, as its commanding officer, General Otto von Below, is also head of 8th Army to the south.

- In Galicia the offensive of German 11th Army continues to gain ground.  On the southern flank, XXXXI Reserve Corps begins to shift its direction of advance from eastward to southeastward, attempting to move against the Russian lines of communication to Przemysl.  In the centre, the furthest advance is accomplished by VI Corps, a brigade of which seizes the heights at Horodysko.

May 7th, 1915

- This morning the passenger liner Lusitania approaches the Irish coast en route to Liverpool, carrying 1265 passengers and 700 crew.  Built in 1907, on completion Lusitania and its two sister ships had been the largest and fastest ocean liners in the world; though in size they were surpassed by Titanic and Olympic, they remain the fastest, capable of speeds up to twenty-five knots.  The construction of Lusitania had been subsidized by the Admiralty to allow for a wartime transformation into an armed merchant cruiser, but though this option has been briefly considered it was decided to leave Lusitania in passenger service.  Indeed, by 1915 it is the only large liner still carrying passengers across the Atlantic.

The Cunard passenger liner Lusitania.

When Lusitania entered British waters it had entered an active warzone.  Indeed, on the day it had sailed from New York, the following advertisement had appeared in the American press:

Travelers intending to embark on the Atlantic voyage are reminded that a state of war exists between Germany and her allies and Great Britain and her allies; that the war zone includes waters adjacent to the British Isles; that in accordance with formal notice given by the Imperial German Government, vessels flying the flag of Great Britain or any of her allies are liable to destruction in those waters and that travelers sailing in the war zone on ships of Great Britain or her allies do so at their own risk.

The notice had been published by German embassy officials in the United States, prompted by their belief that Lusitania was carrying munitions as well as passengers to Britain, which made the liner a legitimate target in light of the policy of unrestricted submarine warfare.  With respect to Lusitania's current voyage, they are correct: among its cargo are 1248 cases of 3-inch artillery shells and 4927 boxes of rifle ammunition.  In attempting to dissuade passengers from embarking on Lusitania, the advertisement hopes to prevent American lives being lost should it be sunk, knowing full well the outrage that would likely ensue should American die at the hands of a German submarine.

That is, however, exactly what occurs.  U-20 is also off the south Irish coast today, and at 120pm sights  a plume of smoke on the horizon.  Submerging, its captain watches as a giant steamship comes into view, and sets a course that will intercept the liner ten miles from shore near Kinsale.  Aboard U-20 is a civilian merchant marine advisor to assist in the identification of potential targets.  Peering through the periscope, the advisor concludes that it is either Lusitania or Mauritania before them, and based on the the description of them in copies of Jane's Fighting Ships and Brassey's Naval Annual he has with him concludes that the ship is an armed merchant liner used for ferrying soldiers.  The captain of U-20 decides that this is a legitimate military target under unrestricted submarine warfare, and at 210pm fires a single torpedo from a range of 800 yards.  The torpedo runs true, striking Lusitania just aft of the bridge, and its detonation is shortly followed by another explosiion, the origins of which remain a mystery to this day.

The liner immediately begins to list to starboard, and within minutes it becomes impossible to lower lifeboats, those on the starboard side swinging away from the ship while those on the port side crash and break up against the hull.  After a mere eighteen minutes Lusitania sinks below the waves, and only six of its forty-eight lifeboats are afloat.  Hundreds struggle in the water, and for many rescue will not come in time.  First on the scene is the old armoured cruiser Juno, but just as it is about to commence rescue operations the Admiralty, recalling the fate of the 'live bait' squadron when they stopped to help a torpedoed warship, orders it to return to port.  It will be several more hours before fishing trawlers arrive to begin plucking the living and the dead out of the water.  In total 1201 passengers and crew perish in the sinking of Lusitania, a number which includes 94 children and 35 infants.  Indeed, among the first of the dead brought ashore are children and infants, and photographs of their bodies, circulated in newspapers ostensibly to allow relatives to identify them, provoke sharp outrage in Britain and elsewhere.  This is precisely the disaster that Chancellor Bethmann-Hollweg had warned about just yesterday: mass casualties resulting from the sinking of a passenger ship.  Perhaps most crucially among the dead are 128 Americans, and the question now arises as to the response of President Woodrow Wilson.

- For the past four days artillery of the French 10th Army has been pounding the German line between Arras and Lens, in preparation for the offensive that was scheduled to begin today.  However, rain and poor visibility forces a postponement of the assault for two days, during which the artillery bombardment will continue.  The British also postpone their supporting attack to the north.

- As the Russian army had retreated through Courland over the past week, the navy had insisted that the naval port of Libau and its fortifications be held.  The army has disagreed, and in the ensuing confusion one set of defenders evacuated Libau, destroying its telegraph link, while another set moved in to defend the port.  Taking advantage of the mess, the German 3rd Cavalry Brigade, aided by several infantry battalions, is able to capture Libau today without meeting serious resistance.  The 1500-man Russian garrison surrenders, and the coastal guns 'protecting' the port turn out to be dummies.

- The German 11th Army continues its advance eastward, with 119th Division reaching Rymanow securing a crossing of the Wislok River at Besko.  On the Russian side, Grand Duke Nicholas meets with Generals Ivanov and Alexeyev in a railway car at Cholm.  A suggestion by Ivanov's chief of staff to pull 3rd Army back across the San River is rejected outright, and instead only minor withdrawals are to be permitted.  Two divisions - 13th Siberian and 63rd - are dispatched to reinforce 3rd Army, and XXI Corps is to go into reserve near Sanok, and just before midnight General Dimitriev issues orders for it to prepare a counterattack in the direction of Besko and Rymanow, in an effort to throw the German advance off-balance.

Meanwhile, south of Dukla most of the infantry of the Russian 48th Division, which has taken to the woods to avoid the enemy, are taken prisoner by the Austro-Hungarians, though smaller bands will remain for some time.

- This morning the British 42nd Division's 127th Brigade comes ashore, which General Hamilton orders to join a resumption of the offensive towards Krithia.  This attempt fails to make progress, but a second mass attack is ordered at 430pm.  This too gets nowhere; indeed, so heavy is the Ottoman fire that most infantry go to ground almost immediately after leaving their trenches, ironically ensuring that British casualties today, at eight hundred, are comparatively light.

- Today the Japanese ambassador presents a revised version of the Twenty-One Demands of January 18th, 1915, to the Chinese government.  The new demands are milder in tone than the original, and in particular group five, comprising the most aggressive points, has been dropped entirely.  In part this is due to diplomatic pressure from the British, who do not wish to see Japan expanding its influence too greatly in China, to the detriment of Britain and the other European powers.  However, the 'revised' Twenty-One Demands in practice embody the minimum deemed necessary by the Japanese cabinet, and by giving the appearance of comprising by reducing their original demands they make it more difficult for the Chinese to reject the rest.

May 3rd, 1915

- Yesterday evening the German XXVI Reserve Corps, having assembled sufficient gas cylinders, launched an attack between Pilkem and St. Julien northeast of Ypres.  However, the effectiveness of the gas was limited by gusting winds and the primitive gas masks now available to the British and French soldiers, and the attack was repulsed.  Nevertheless, the continued German pressure has convinced the British that the Ypres salient, now squeezed from the north by the German gains of the past two weeks, cannot be held on present lines.  The decision is made to evacuate the easternmost portion of the salient stretching from Fortuin east to Grafenstafel, south to the Polygon Wood, and west to almost Hooge.  The orders having gone out, the withdrawal begins tonight.

The line at Ypres prior to the British withdrawal.

- At 530am this morning just over a thousand French artillery pieces, including almost three hundred heavy guns, open fire on German positions in Artois between Lens and Arras.  This bombardment is the first phase of the next major French offensive on the Western Front.  Despite earlier failures in the 1st Battle of Champagne, 1st Battle of Artois, and the Battle of the Woevre, Joffre believes that the French army has learned important lessons regarding the conduct of operations in the conditions of trench warfare, and has now acquired the proper weaponry, such as heavy artillery, to mete out sufficient damage to ensure success.  The objective of the offensive is to break through the German lines and seize the high ground at Vimy Ridge, followed by a pursuit that would force the Germans to abandon Douai.  To accomplish this, the French 10th Army, under newly-appointed General d'Urbal, has been assigned six infantry and one cavalry corps.  Three of these corps - XXXIII, XX, and XVII - will undertake the primary advance towards Vimy Ridge, while XXI Corps will attack and seize the heights at Notre-Dame de Lorette.  D'Urbal had argued for a brief preliminary bombardment of four hours to preserve the element of surprise, but the lesson Joffre believes the failed offensives earlier in the year has shown is that a prolonged and thorough artillery bombardment is essential to achieve success.  The artillery is thus to fire for four days until the infantry attack goes in on the 7th.  Sir John French has also agreed that the BEF will launch an co-ordinated attack to the north to draw off German reserves and support the French offensive.

- Today the American tanker Gulflight, carrying a load of oil from Texas to Rouen, is torpedoed by a German submarine.  Though it does not sink, two panic-stricken crew members jump overboard and drown, and tonight the tanker's captain dies of a heart attack.  It is the first American ship attacked since the declaration of unrestricted submarine warfare.  It will not be the last - at the same time Gulflight is struck, the Cunard passenger liner Lusitania is two days out from New York, en route to Liverpool.

- In Courland the German 6th Cavalry Division reaches the town of Mitau in Courland.  Here the retreating Russians have halted and established strong defensive positions.  Unable to ouflank the enemy, here the German advance halts, and the front settles down along the Dubissa River.  However, in addition to the ground won, the German advance has achieved its larger strategic purpose - General Alexeyev of North-West Front has sent several divisions from elsewhere to Courland to contain the enemy advance.

The German advance in Courland towards Mitau, late April and early May, 1915.

- The German and Austro-Hungarian advance at Gorlice-Tarnow continues today, and by this evening the Germans have advanced eight miles.  Given the ongoing success, Mackensen sets new objectives further east, instructing his commanders to reach the Wisloka River.  At this point the primary impediments to the German advance are the management of the large number of prisoners taken and the difficulties hauling supplies over the ground destroyed by the artillery bombardment.

On the Russian side, both IX and X Corps of 3rd Army have been severely battered: over the two days of fighting the available strength of the latter has fallen from 34 000 to 5000, while to the north a second-line division of IX Corps has simply disintegrated.  A five-mile gap has opened between the two corps, and the Russian survivors are falling back in disorder.  The meagre reserves available nearby have been pushed into the battle to no effect, and two regiments force-marched into the gap simply disappear.  General Radko Dimitriev (interestingly, a Bulgarian), commander of the Russian 3rd Army, hopes to hold the heights at Biecz to use as the springboard for the intervention of the approaching III Caucasian Corps, and sends in half of 63rd Division to reinforce the Russian defences.  All this accomplishes is the destruction of the division, and by this evening the heights are in German hands.

German officers in the ruins of Gorlice, May 1915.

- In the Hungarian Parliament the opposition has brought forward a motion to grant the right to vote to all soldiers over the age of twenty, in an effort to encourage the rank-and-file of the Austro-Hungarian army and give them more of a stake in the fighting.  Prime Minister Tisza, however, rejects the proposal outright, seeing in it the first step to universal suffrage, which is entirely unacceptable.  Today Tisza is denounced in parliament by Mihály Károlyi, a leading figure of the Independence Party, who argues that the realities of modern war require a recognition of the sacrifices being asked by the men of Hungary.  It is just one example of the tin ear of the leadership of Austria-Hungary towards the importance of public morale in modern war.

- In Libya ongoing resistance to the imposition of Italian rule over the colony seized from the Ottoman Empire in 1912 has limited Italian control to coastal regions.  To prevent a complete collapse, Chief of Staff Cadorna orders today the dispatch of ten thousand soldiers to Libya.  The necessity comes at a very inopportune moment, given that the Italian army is supposedly preparing and concentrating for a war against Austria-Hungary.

- Overnight the ANZAC attack at Gallipoli has continued, and though isolated units are able to gain some ground, elsewhere the Ottomans stop the attack cold.  At 130am, despite having no indications that the operation was proceeding satisfactorily, the local commander commits two reserve battalions from the Naval Division, which only succeeds in raising the casualty total.  Soon the stream of wounded coming back down Monash Gully impairs efforts at any further advance.  A few men manage to scale the heights to the east, but are driven back after coming under friendly fire.  By mid-afternoon all of the ANZAC forces are back to their starting line of the night before, having accomplished nothing of any importance.

April 30th, 1915

- Today advancing German cavalry divisions seize the town of Shavli in Courland, which had been set on fire by the retreating Russians.

- For all that the Germans have done to maintain secrecy regarding the upcoming offensive on the Eastern Front, they can do nothing about the 'loyalty' of their ally: today deserters from the Austro-Hungarian army inform the Russians who capture them that a major attack will occur between Gorlice and Tarnow on May 2nd.

- Responding to pleas from General Hamilton for reinforcements, General John Maxwell, commander of British forces in Egypt, suggests the twelve battalions of the ANZAC Light Horse and Mounted Rifle Brigades be sent to Gallipoli to fight as dismounted infantry.

April 28th, 1915

- In Courland the German 3rd and Bavarian Cavalry Divisions have covered seventy-five kilometres in the past forty-eight hours and reached the town of Kielmy.  With German forces streaming through the porous front, the main body of the Russian army in Courland withdraws past Kielmy.

- On Cape Helles the Entente forces launch their first major push northwards today.  Given the exhaustion of his forces after three days of constant combat, General Hunter-Weston of 29th Division has ordered a limited advance designed to seize Krithia and secure positions from which the high ground at Achi Baba can be seized in a subsequent attack.  After a preliminary bombardment undertaken by two artillery batteries and warships offshore, the British 87th and 88th Brigades, as well as the French 175th Regiment, climb out of their trenches and begin their advance.  They encounter heavy Ottoman resistance, and further the rough and unfamiliar terrain serves to disorientate and split adjacent battalions from each other.  The result is command chaos, with no one on the Entente side having any real idea what was happening.  This included Hunter-Weston himself, who finally landed his headquarters this morning but lacked radio or telephone communications with his forward units.  Units of the 87th Brigade manage to reach within a kilometre of Krithia, but unsupported on either flank (the adjacent units had gotten lost or repulsed), were forced to retire.  At the end of the day, all the attack accomplishes is to straighten out the Entente line - Krithia remains firmly in Ottoman hands - while the British and French suffer 2000 and 1200 casualties respectively.  Thus ends the First Battle of Krithia; it will not be the last.

The Entente advance up Cape Helles from late April to early May 1915.

- Twenty days after departing Djidda by sea aboard a zambuk, Emden's landing party arrives at Sherm Munnaiburra, a sheltered bay approximately ten miles south of El Wegh, their intended destination.  These last ten miles, however are over open seas, and they will be beyond the protection of the reefs which have kept larger enemy warships at bay.  Unwilling to risk capture, the Germans disembark and prepare to journey overland to El Wegh.

April 27th, 1915

- At Ypres the commander of the German XXVI Corps decides that there are too few gas cylinders available for immediate use, and thus calls off further offensive operations for the time being until additional gas cylinders can be installed.  Though occasional British and French counterattacks occur (accomplishing nothing), a pause ensues in the 2nd Battle of Ypres.

- The northern end of the Eastern Front has been comparatively quiet over the past few months, in contrast to the Winter Battle of the Masurian Lakes just to the south and the terrible fighting in the Carpathians beyond.  Falkenhayn, however, has issued orders for OberOst to conduct diversionary operations prior to 11th Army's attack at Gorlice-Tarnow, and Ludendorff has decided that the most substantial of these operations is to occur here.  Three cavalry divisions - 3rd, 6th, and Bavarian - are to spearhead the advance, supported by 6th, 36th, and 78th Reserve Division.  These forces have been formed into Army Group Lauenstein, named for its commander, General Otto von Lauenstein.  Their objective is the conquest of Courland, a sparsely populated region west of Riga and north of the Niemen River.  Here, with an almost complete lack of infrastructure, the front has been sparsely held by both sides, and the Russian defence is anchored around strong-points scattered about ten miles apart.  The lack of defence in depth gives space for cavalry to operate, and when the German advance begins today both 3rd and Bavarian Cavalry Divisions in particular are able to make rapid progress into the gaps in the Russian line.

- General Ivanov of South-West Front submits his plan to Russian army headquarters today for a resumption of offensive operations in the Carpathians.  He intends to insert 11th Army between 8th and 9th Armies, and advance along the line Turka-Nagy-Verecke.  Grand Duke Nicholas insists on several changes to Ivanov's plan, including the deploying of XXXIII Corps closer to the front.  Ivanov complies, and states that the attack will be scheduled to begin May 3rd.  As it turns out, a day too late.

- The negotiations that led to the Treaty of London between Italy, Britain, France, and Russia, as well as the signing ceremony yesterday, were undertaken in secret.  However, the French delegation in particular has leaked like a sieve, news of the agreement spreading from cabinet members to friends and journalists - indeed, the dressmaker to the wife of President Poincaré is even in on the secret.  Thus it is little surprise that the French newspaper Le Temps announces today that 'the London negotiations have virtually terminated in an accord.'  Nothing like giving the enemy four weeks' notice of an impending declaration of war.

Meanwhile, reverberations from the Treaty of London ripple across Europe.  In Serbia the national parliament debates rumours of the agreement amidst concerns that Serbia's allies have sold out its interests in yielding to Italy's territorial demands along the Adriatic coast.  The most Premier Nikola Pašić can say is that he has no information on the matter, which hardly reassures the parliamentary deputies, and criticism mounts that he has failed to defend Serbian interests.

- On the Austro-Hungarian side of the frontier with Italy, construction begins on the defensive line along the Isonzo River, which will be much-utilized in the years to come.

- On the Asiatic shore of the Dardanelles, the French evacuation from Kum Kale is completed before daybreak.  French casualties for the two days of fighting amount to 780, and while Ottoman losses were greater, the landing did not otherwise impact the course of the fighting on Gallipoli.  At Cape Helles, General Hunter-Weston had hoped that the French reinforcements ordered yesterday by General Hamilton to land at X Beach would arrive before noon today, allowing for a general advance towards the village of Krithia and the heights at Achi Baba, which was supposed to have been captured on the first day of the operation.  However, a shortage of steamboats delay the landing, which in turn forces a postponement of the advance until tomorrow.

As the Gallipoli operation is already significantly behind schedule, General Hamilton concludes that reinforcements will be necessary to secure control of the peninsula.  Late this evening he sends a message to Lord Kitchener asking for 42nd (East Lancashire) Division, currently in Egypt defending the Suez Canal, to be reassigned to his command, which the Secretary of War enthusiastically endorses.  On the other side, German General Liman Sanders, commander of the Ottoman 5th Army tasked with defending Gallipoli, has been rushing forces to meet the Entente landings.  By this evening all of the Ottoman forces that had been defending the beaches near Bulair on the northern end of the peninsula have been sent southwards.  Reinforcements are also en route from the Asiatic side of the Dardanelles, and two fresh divisions - 15th and 16th - have departed Constantinople for the front.  Closer to the front than Entente reinforcements, and able to arrive without having to co-ordinate shipping, the Ottomans are able to get new forces to the lines on Gallipoli faster than the British and French.

- After a reconnaissance of Qurna and conferring with officers there, General Townshend reports to General Nixon that the latter's original plan for an attack north of Qurna via a tactical outflanking maneouver was not feasible due to the flooded terrain.  Instead, Townshend suggests advance through Ahwaz, which would force the Ottomans out of their position to avoid encirclement.  Such an operation, however, would require traversing Persian territory, which does not endear it to Nixon.