June 3rd, 1915

- The tiny state of San Marino, falling in line with its far larger Italian neighbour, today declares war on Austria-Hungary.

- Overnight the Russian army has abandoned the fortress at Przemysl, and at 3am the first unit from the Central Powers - a battalion of Prussian Guards - enters the city.  Though the Russian had blown the bridges over the San during their retreat, they thoughtfully left behind a considerable cache of bridging equipment, which the Germans use to construct an emergency bridge by 11am.  This afternoon General Mackensen enters Przemsyl, and from here writes a letter to Franz Joseph, announcing the return of the famed city and its defences to Austria-Hungary.  The moment is bittersweet for the leadership of the Dual Monarchy: though one of its greatest losses of the war has been recovered, it has clearly only occured through the intervention of the German army.

The fall of Przemysl also frees up the Austro-Hungarian X Corps, and orders are issued for its redeployment from its present position west of the fortress to 4th Army to north, where it is to help restore the line near Rudnik.

As Przemysl falls, Falkenhayn and Conrad meet at Pless to discuss the next stage of the campaign in Galicia.  With the capture of Przemysl, the original objective of the offensive - to push the Russians east of the San and Dniester Rivers have been largely, though not entirely, achieved: while the German 11th Army is substantially east of the San, on the left the northern wing of the Austro-Hungarian 4th Army is still west of the river, while on the right the Austro-Hungarian 7th Army remains on the Pruth River, where it was pushed to in early May.  Falkenhayn's opinion is that if the current German commitment on the Eastern Front was reduced, Austria-Hungary could easily find itself in dire straits again.  Conversely, Mackensen reports that the Russian corps opposite his 11th Army have suffered heavy losses, and further attacks may achieve additional substantial victories.  For his part, while Conrad is still obsessed with punishing Italy for its betrayal, he understands that it would be desirable to drive the Russians further eastwards, and in particular liberate Lemberg.

Thus the two chiefs of staff agree today to continue the offensive in Galicia.  Falkenhayn orders the redeployment of XXII Reserve Corps, 22nd, 10th, and 8th Bavarian Reserve Divisions (equally drawn from the Western Front and elsewhere on the Eastern Front) to Galicia provide an injection of fresh infantry, and with these reinforcements Mackensen's 11th Army is to once again undertake the main advance.  Squeezed out of the line by the capture of Przemysl, the Austro-Hungarian 3rd Army is broken up, some units assigned to the neighbouring 2nd Army, some to 4th Army along the Vistula, and some to the Italian Front.  Further, Mackensen will have operational control over 2nd Army on his southern flank in addition to 4th Army to his north.  The offensive is to begin on June 13th, allowing for ten days to bring up supplies and munitions and provide rest for the infantry.  The only advance scheduled for this period is to be by the adjacent wings of the German 11th and Austro-Hungarian 2nd Armies, pushing eastward from Przemysl to straighten up the line prior to the 13th.

- With the arrival of German submarines off the Dardanelles, and the sinking of the pre-dreadnoughts Majestic and Triumph, the Entente fleet has been trying to counter the threat from beneath the waves, and countermeasures have included anti-torpedo nets and booms, as well as the more judicious deployment of heavy warships for shore bombardment.  Nevertheless, as Admiral de Robeck writes today, 'these submarines are the devil & cramping one's style very much.'  Indeed.

- Along the Tigris River the main body of 6th Indian Division has advanced to Ezra's Tomb, just less than halfway from Qurna to Amara.  On the river itself, meanwhile, the British naval flotilla, with divisional commander General Townshend aboard, has made more substantial progress.  Though three larger sloops had to turn back lest they run aground on the shallow waters, the rest of the flotilla has pushed on, with the small tugboat Shaitan sent to reconnoitre ahead.  This tiny vessel, crewed by nine and armed with a 12-pounder gun, encounters no enemy fire whatsoever as it makes its way north towards Amara.  More than a thousand Ottoman soldiers are present in the town, but after the defeat at Qurna and a demoralizing and disorganized retreat they are in no condition to resist, even if they had wanted to.  Thus the Ottoman garrison makes no attempt to halt Shaitan, and when the vessels arrives at Amara the Ottoman response is to surrender in the hundreds.  Thus Lieutenant Mark Singleton, captain of Shaitan, and his crew capture Amara entirely on their own, despite being ridiculously outnumbered.

The rest of the flotilla cautiously approaches from the south, assuming at some point they will encounter Shaitan returning from the north with a report on the defences at or near Amara.  Its failure to appear, coupled with the absence of signs of gunfire, indicate to the British that the tiny tugboat has gotten all the way to Amara itself.  The flotilla continues north until it arrives at the town at 2pm, where Townshend receives the surrender of several impressively-decorated Ottoman officers, and a detachment raises the Union Jack over the Customs Office.

The capture of Amara could hardly have been easier, despite the completely ad hoc nature of the operation.  A single unremarkable tugboat received the town's surrender, and the only reinforcements that arrive later today are the other small vessels of the river flotilla.  Not only are there no infantry from 6th Indian Division present, Townshend doesn't even know where they are - the best guess is somewhere south - and the maps of the region are so poor that if it wasn't for the Tigris itself the British wouldn't have the slightest idea where they were.  This stunning success, however, is very much a blessing in disguise - it helps to convince the British that they don't need things like maps, or logistics, or even a plan to succeed against the Ottomans.  All that is needed is one swift kick (as at Qurna on the 31st) and all that remains afterwards is a mere matter of collecting the spoils.  It is a dangerous lesson, the consequences of which will culminate at another nondescript (and similarily-named) town further up the Tigris.

The British advance to and capture of Amara, June 3rd, 1915.

June 2nd, 1915

- General d'Urbal has decided that the next major French assault in Artois will be against the German defenders in the village of Neuville.  To prepare the way for the infantry, scheduled to attack in three days, the French 10th Army begins a massive artillery bombardment, aiming to flatten the village and render it the German position there untenable.

- Further Russian attacks against the German 11th Army today again fail to make any progress, and the surviving Russians fall back in disorder.  Aong the front held by the Austro-Hungarian 4th Army, attempts by the Russians to cross the San River to the north of yesterday's advance are repulsed.  However, they are able to inflict another defeat on the Austro-Hungarian 8th Division and further expand the bridgehead won yesterday, forcing the entire Austro-Hungarian XIV Corps responsible for this stretch of the front to fall back to a new line running through Jezowe and east of Stany this evening.  This retreat also compels the German 47th Reserve Division on its left to pull back its right wing.  The commander of 4th Army also sends a request to General Mackensen of 11th Army for the transfer of an Austro-Hungarian cavalry division that had been operating under the direction of the latter.  While Mackensen agrees, he also takes the opportunity to criticize the conduct of the Austro-Hungarian XIV Corps, noting that its retreat potentially threatens the vital railway linking Jaroslau and Krakow, and while the Austro-Hungarians naturally defend their conduct of the fighting of the last couple of days, the contrast between the Russian failure against 11th Army and success against 4th Army is striking.

Meanwhile at Przemysl itself 11th Bavarian and 82 Reserve Divisions continue to advance against the northern line of fortifications, and by this evening most of the defences to the northwest of Przemysl itself, as well as the village of Zurawice, are in German hands.  Given the relentless German progress, coupled with the threat to the main line of communications posed by 11th Army's swing towards the Przemysl-Mosciska road, General Brusilov of 8th Army decides that the fortress can no longer be held, and its defenders are instructed to fall back to a new line at Medyka and Bucow.

May 31st, 1915

- Despite the order from the Kaiser on May 10th to avoid the targeting of neutral ships, steamers from Denmark, Norway, and Sweden have been sunk by German submarines over the past few weeks.  Chancellor Bethmann-Hollweg realizes that the navy has ignored the imperial instruction, and thus convenes a meeting with the kaiser and the military chiefs today to resolve the matter.  Here the chief of staff of the navy once again asserts that it is impossible to modify unrestricted submarine warfare, and again argued for its continuation.  The Kaiser, not wanting to appear weak before his military chiefs and the German public, now states that the prior order not to target neutral ships could only be published if it was endorsed personally by the chancellor, a qualification Bethmann-Hollweg accepts.

- This evening the French XXXIII Corps attack towards Souchez, and manages to seize the trenches on the northern and sourthern flanks of the sugar factory to the west of the village.

- After the fall of Pralowce yesterday at dusk, the Russians prepared an immediate counterattack.  A heavy artillery barrage opens at 3am, and waves of Russian infantry are able to overwhelm the Austro-Hungarian defenders by mid-morning.  On the northern flank of Przemysl, however, 11th Bavarian Division is able to occupy three important defensive positions after intensive bombardment by heavy mortars forced the Russian defenders to abandon their entrenchments and fall back.

Meanwhile, to the southeast of Przemysl the Austro-Hungarian 27th Division seizes the first Russian trench line on the heights at Gaj.  However, the Russians are able to fall back to prepared reserve positions, and in light of the strength of the enemy defences the commander of the Austro-Hungarian 3rd Army postpones further attacks until June 2nd, to give time for the infantry to work their way closer to the Russian line.  Further to the southeast, Südarmee makes progress, capturing the city of Stryj and over nine thousand Russian prisoners.

The advance of Südarmee, May 31st to June 3rd, 1915.

- General Townshend's 6th Indian Division launches its attack on the Ottoman defensive positions north of Qurna at 5am this morning.  On the surface the Ottoman position is strong - seasonal floods has transformed much of the countryside into marsh, meaning the Indian infantry can only attack the enemy defences by front amphibious assaults.  However, in the event the attack is easier than Townshend expected, as the Ottoman defenders break under artillery fire from the British flotilla and surrender in large numbers.  By the end of the day, the landing force has seized their initial objectives and are advancing on the main Ottoman line around Bahran.

May 30th, 1915

- Early this morning a heavy artillery bombardment falls on the German line between Souchez and Roclincourt, the latter a village just north of Arras, which is followed at 5pm by an assault by several French divisions.  After heavy combat and hand-to-hand fighting, 1st Bavarian Reserve Division is able to fend off the French attacks.

- The German X Corps, holding the northern flank of 11th Army along the Lubaczowka River, comes under heavy Russian attack overnight and this morning, but are able to hold the line.  To the south, the Austro-Hungarian X Corps assaults the western face of the Przemysl defences at Pralkowce, and seize the position by sundown.

- Today General Cadorna, chief of staff of the Italian army, moves into the archbishop's palace at Udine, which he makes his permanent headquarters.  Here he receives reports from his commanders on the first operations of the war.  To this point, the Italian advance on Austria-Hungary has been marked mostly by hesitancy.  Along the northern front, a corps of 4th Army occupies the crest of Cortina d'Ampezzo yesterday after the enemy had evacuated it, but afterwards 4th Army commander Lieutenant-General Luigi Nava had halted the advance and asked his subordinates what they thought they could do without undue risk.  On the eastern front Lieutenant-General Luigi Zuccari, commanding 3rd Army, had refused Cadorna's orders to immediately occupy Monte Medea on the basis that his soldiers were not ready.  The Italian chief of staff had replied by firing Zuccari, as he did with Major-General Nicola Pirozzi, whose cavalry division had delayed in seizing bridges over the Isonzo River at Pieris, which allowed the Austro-Hungarians to destroy them.  In Cadorna's mind the dismissal of Zuccari and Pirozzi would, as he wrote his wife today, 'remove all hesitation and give everyone the necessary offensive spirit.'  He strongly believes that character and will are the most important qualities in a commander, and that those who show weakness must be made an example of and purged to encourage the others.  That other aspects of leadership are less important to Cadorna is evidenced in his appointment of Emanuele Filiberot, Duke of Aosta, as Zuccari's replacement; as the duke is ill, this effectively leaves 3rd Army without a commander.

May 28th, 1915

- In Artois the French seizure of the cemetary at Ablain has imperilled the German hold on the village, and today the commander of the German XIV Corps orders its abandoned, the defenders falling back on a prepared defensive line on either side of the sugar factory just west of Souchez.

- In Galicia the noose continues to close on the Russian forces at and around Przemysl.  On the right wing of the German 11th Army, 11th Bavarian Division captures the heights south of Batycze, closing up to the northern defences of the fortress itself, while further east, 81st Reserve Division reaches Nakto.  Though a Russian counterattack by V Caucasian Corps near Natko is defeated today, Mackensen decides to call a halt to the German advance, lest the northern flank of 11th Army be left too exposed, and evidence is accumulating that Russian reinforcements are detraining to the east for a possible counteroffensive.  Moreover, the Germans are now close enough to the main road leading east from Przemysl to bombard it with heavy artillery, making daylight travel along its length hazardous.

May 27th, 1915

- In fierce hand-to-hand fighting, the French 70th Division seizes the cemetery at the village of Ablain, west of Souchez in Artois, and the connecting German trenches.

- Early in 1915 the French had decided to embark on a campaign of strategic bombing that aimed to impair German industrial production.  The first bomber group, GB1, was equipped with the reliable Voisin III aircraft, which was specially-equipped with bomb racks that carried 155mm artillery shells.  After training for several months, GB1 undertakes its first mission today.  Their target is the Badische Anilin Company of Ludwigshafen.  The raid is a moderate success, with all but one of the aircraft returning safely to base.  Unfortunately, it was the squadron commander's plane that crash-landed, and he will spend the rest of the war in a POW camp.

The French Voisin III bomber.

- Mackensen's orders for the ongoing German offensive in Galicia emphasize the importance of the advance of XXXXI Reserve Corps.  On the southern flank of 11th Army, the corps is to advance towards the Medyka-Mosciska road, the seizure of which would sever the main Russian communication and supply link to Przemsyl, while the objectives of the rest of the army are more limited.  The attacks of XXXXI Corps, however, encounter heavy Russian resistance; only in the afternoon is 81st Reserve Division able to capture the town of Stubno.

Meanwhile, as the German 11th Army has advanced eastward to and across the San River, its connection with the Austro-Hungarian 4th Army to the north has necessarily stretched, with the latter forced to hold a greater length of the line.  The result has been the commitment of most of 4th Army's reserves to the front line to maintain a cohesive front, leaving insufficient forces available in the event of a Russian counterattack.  Overnight, this is precisely what happens: the Russian III Caucasian Corps launches an attack east of Sieniawa.  The initial blow falls against the Austro-Hungarian 36th Infantry Regiment, which promptly disintegrates, and 10th Division falls back across the San River in disorder.  Because of a lack of Austro-Hungarian reserves, the Germans are forced to send 19th Division from the neighbouring 11th Army to the rescue.  Though the Russian attack soon bogs down and fails to cross the San, its initial success has succeeded in forcing the Germans to dispatch reinforcements that otherwise was to have contributed to Mackensen's ongoing offensive.

On the Russian side, General Ivanov of South-West Front has wavered over whether his armies should hold Przemysl, or retreat further to the east.  On three occasions since the 25th he has issued orders to abandon the fortress, only to countermand them within hours.  Today Russian army headquarters intervenes, instructing that Przemysl is to be held.  To facilitate this, the corps on the northern flank of Przemysl, formerly of 3rd Army, are transferred to 8th Army, so that one commander - General Brusilov - can direct all of the forces at and around the fortress.  In an effort to hold Przemysl, he begins shifting divisions from the southern flank of the fortress, where the Austro-Hungarian 3rd and 2nd Armies have been largely ineffective, to the northern flank to oppose the ongoing advance of the German 11th Army.

The Russian attack at Sieniawa, just north of the offensive of the German 11th Army, May 27th, 1915.

- The German submarine U21 claims a second victim off Gallipoli when it torpedoes the British pre-dreadnought Majestic at 640am this morning.  As it sinks it rolls over and comes to rest in shallow water near Sedd el Bahr.  Its keel remains visible above the surface, a stark reminder that the waters off the Dardanelles are now contested.

The British pre-dreadnought Majestic sinking off Gallipoli, May 27th, 1915.

- Today the Ottoman cabinet approves The Provisional Law Concerning the Measures to be Taken by the Military Authorities Against Those Who Oppose the Operations of the Government During Wartime, which provides the legal basis for the ongoing deportation and mass murder of the Armenian population.  It gives army and local officials sweeping power to take whatever means they deem necessary to deal with any real or perceived opposition to the persecution of the war, and in particular authorized the forced relocation of entires towns and villages 'in response to military needs, or in response to any signs of treachery and betrayal.'  The ongoing paranoia of the Young Turk leadership combined with the catalogue of battlefield defeats ensures that Ottoman officials see 'signs' of resistance everywhere - indeed, if the Ottomans are doing poorly someone must be to blame, and that group must be purged from Ottoman society.  This is to be the fate of the Armenian population in particular, and though massacres predated the law, the pace of extermination will accelerate afterward its proclamation.

May 24th, 1915

- The ongoing German offensive in Galicia, and the continued inability of the Russian army to substantially halt the enemy advance, have led to increasingly strident requests from the Russian government to France, begging the latter to intensify their efforts on the Western Front to force the Germans to redeploy divisions from the east.  In response Joffre sends a message to Grand Duke Nicholas, stating that no significant German forces have moved from the west to the east in recent weeks.  That is the most Joffre can offer; the ongoing Artois offensive is the most the French can go, and the Russian pressure makes the continuation of efforts there of even greater importance.

- While the German 11th Army was securing its bridgehead across the San River, the Austro-Hungarian 3rd Army confronted the former Austro-Hungarian fortress of Przemysl, now a key defensive point in the Russian line.  However, 3rd Army has been unable to make any substantial process against the Russian-held fortifications, nor has the Austro-Hungarian 2nd Army to the east been able to break through to the north to outflank Przemysl from the south.  Thus for the offensive in Galicia to continue, the Germans will once again have to do the heavy work of breaking the Russian defence.

General Mackensen's plan is for VI, XXXXI Reserve, and Guard Corps to cross the Rada River (a tributary of the San) and capture Radymno before moving further east and southeast, cutting behind Przemysl.  X Corps, meanwhile, will guard the northern flank of the advance along the Lubaczowka River from Russian counterattacks.  After spending several days to bring up supplies and munitions, German artillery began a preliminary bombardment of the Russian line north of Przemysl, and at 8am today the infantry advance begins.

The first attack is against a bulge in the German line held by the Russian XXI Corps west of the San.  Under heavy pressure from VI Corps to the north and XXXXI Reserve Corps to the south, the Russians break and fall back in disorder.  Hundreds die attempting to retreat back across the San, while thousands surrender, and by noon XXXXI Corps captures Radymno.  To the north, 1st Guard Division breaks through the Russian line north of Wietlin and reaches Bobrowka.

The new commander of the Russian 3rd Army issues orders to III Caucasian, XXIV, and XXIX Corps to attack southwards into the flank of the advancing German 11th Army.  Before the orders can be executed, however, XXIX Corps is itself outflanked by the advancing German Guard Corps, and is forced to fall back northwards across the Lubaczowka.  Overall the renewal of the German assault has seen the Russian 3rd Army battered yet again, as the Germans take 21 000 prisoners today.

The advance of the German 11th Army north of Przemysl, May 24th to 28th, 1915.

- At midnight hostilities commence between Italy and Austria-Hungary, in line with the former's declaration of war yesterday.  This represents the failure of months of diplomatic efforts by both Germany and Austria-Hungary to keep their erstwhile ally neutral.  As their ambassadors depart Italy, Bernhard von Bülow observes to his Austro-Hungarian colleague today: 'We were just not meant to succeed.  But we can say to ourselves, as Bismark said to Prince Alexander of Battenberg when he was a candidate for the Bulgarian throne: "At least we shall have interesting memories."'

Meanwhile, on the first day of fighting on the Italian Front, General Luigi Cadorna, chief of staff of the Italian army, begins to implement his plan for the invasion of Austria-Hungary.  His primary advance is to be undertaken by 2nd and 3rd Armies, moving east along the northern coast of the Adriatic Sea.  Their first objective is to secure the Isonzo River and vital mountains of the Julian Alps, before a further advance towards Trieste and beyond.  Along the northern portion of the Italian Front, the 1st and 4th Armies are aligned against Trentino and the Tyrol, and are to secure important high ground in order to better hold the line.  However, the lack of information from the government regarding when the war was to begin has impaired Cadorna's preparations, and the Italian army is hardly a model of effective organization to begin with.  By today less than half of the supplies necessary have actually reached the front.  Thus the first day of the war for Italy sees only halting movement towards the enemy frontier.

As for the Austro-Hungarians, Conrad, along with the Emperor and much of the government, are incensed at the supposed betrayal of their former ally.  Conrad for weeks has desired to launch a major offensive against Italy upon its entry into the war, largely as a punishment expedition that would shatter Italian morale; indeed, Conrad has argued for the suspension of operations in Galicia to ensure the transfer of sufficient forces to the Italian Front.  To Falkenhayn this is sheer madness, as nothing that can be effectively accomplished against Italy could compensate for the lost opportunity for a great victory over the Russians.  The German chief of staff has thus refused not only to send German divisions to the Italian Front, but also to replace Austro-Hungarian divisions on the Eastern Front sent to the Alps.  As a result of Falkenhayn's refusal, Conrad has begrudgingly abandoned plans to attack Italy.  Instead, those forces assembling on the Italian frontier, mainly augmented by divisions drawn from the Serbian Front, are ordered to adopt defensive positions, especially along the Isonzo River, a decision of monumental importance in the years to come.

The Italian Front, May 24th, 1915.

At sea, while the Italian navy shows as much initiative and foresight as the army does, the Austro-Hungarians are eager to get in the first strike.  At 8pm yesterday evening the fleet sailed from its anchorage at Pola, and at dawn bombardment Ancona and other points along the northern Italian coast, targeting port facilities, railway bridges, and other strategic objectives.  The Italian fleet is caught napping, and regardless its main fleet is far to the south.  The only naval combat sees the old Italian destroyer Turbine sunk by the light cruiser Helgoland and two destroyers off Pelagosa.  Simultaneously, several Austro-Hungarian aircraft arrive in the skies above Venice and drop a number of bombs.  By noon the Austro-Hungarian fleet is back in port, having struck the first blow at sea without loss.

- Word of the massacres of Armenians in eastern Anatolia has reached the outside world, and further details have come to light since the Russian occupation of Van on the 20th.  Confronting growing evidence of a systemic campaign of annihilation, the governments of the Entente powers issue a public statement today, stating that the leadership of the Ottoman Empire will be held to account after the war for their role in the mass murder of Armenians.

March 22nd, 1915

- In Britain the ongoing shortage of artillery shells leads Prime Minister Asquith to appoint a committee to plan for the formation of a new committee on munitions.  Beyond this reflecting the inanity of bureaucratic processes and the deliberate (to put it charitably) decision-making process of the Prime Minister, it also illustrates the growing marginalization of the War Office with respect to munitions production.  The new committee is to be under Cabinet, not the War Office, and David Lloyd George, but not Kitchener, was invited to attend its first meeting.  The growing belief in government circles is that however lustrous Kitchener's image is among the British public, his contempt for politicians and the normal procedures of administration has left the War Office in bureaucratic chaos.

- Overnight the Austro-Hungarian artillery at Przemysl fire off their remaining ammunition, and this morning are destroyed.  At 6am, the last of the fortifications are reduced to rubble, and at 7am an automobile carrying two staff officers depart Przemysl to negotiate the surrender of the garrison.  As white flags flutter over the remnants of the defences, the first Russian detachments enter Austro-Hungarian lines by 9am.

As a result of the surrender of Przemysl, 9 generals, 93 staff officers, 2500 other officers, and 117 000 men march into Russian captivity.  The rank-and-file of the Austro-Hungarian garrison has suffered terribly over the past months, their rations reduced to almost nothing.  The Russians, however, cannot help but notice that the senior Austro-Hungarian officers have a well-fed look about them.

The fall of Przemysl is undoubtedly a significant disaster for Austria-Hungary, it constituting one more military embarassment in a war that has gone completely off the rails for the Dual Monarchy.  The fortress' surrender also formally ends the efforts undertaken by the army over the past few months to break through the Russian lines to relieve the garrison.  Conrad's tunnel vision regarding the relief of Przemysl blinded him to the realities of attempting to conduct major offensive operations in mountainous terrain in the midst of terrible winter conditions.  The Winter Battles of the Carpathians have been a shattering debacle far beyond the mere failure to reach Przemysl.  Over the past few months, the Austro-Hungarian army has suffered 800 000 casualties, three-quarters as a result of sickness and exposure; the efforts to relieve the fortress squandered far more men than the besieged garrison itself contained.  In the end, Conrad's offensive has resulted in the worst of both worlds: not only has Przemysl been lost, but the catastrophic losses further cripples the fighting capacity of the field army.  It is one of Conrad's greatest failures in a war marked by them.

- Senior Entente commanders in the eastern Mediterranean meet today in the wardroom of Queen Elizabeth to plot the next move after the rebuff of the 18th.  For several days Admiral Robeck has continued to ruminate on the losses suffered in that day's bombardment, and opens the conference by declaring his opinion that the Dardanelles cannot be forced by warships alone.  Instead, the only way the minefields could be swept would be if the mobile batteries were destroyed and the enemy shore occupied by landing forces.  This declaration finds support from General Sir Ian Hamilton, who had been dispatched by Kitchener to command the various British forces assembling in the eastern Mediterranean and had arrived on the 17th.  His reaction to the failure of the 18th was that the army would now have to play a central part in the operation, and after communication with Kitchener had been informed by the latter that if large scale landing operations were necessary, then so be it.  With Hamilton's support, Robeck is able to carry the room, and the conference unanimously resolves that the naval attack should be postponed until the landing operation was ready to commence.  As the forces under Hamilton's command are scattered across the Mediterranean, he advises the admirals that it will be about three weeks before he is ready to move.

Keyes is absent from the meeting, attempting to reorganize the minesweeper fleet, and when he learns of the decision he works to change Robeck's mind.  Keyes is convinced that the Ottomans are tottering, and that one more push will shatter the defenders and open the way to Constantinople.  Robeck, however, still fearing additional warship losses more than anything else, refuses to budge.

March 21st, 1915

- At Przemysl, the high-ranking Austro-Hungarian commanders convene and decided that they will surrender to the Russians tomorrow; though rations remain for three days, negotiations over terms need to begin several days before they run out.  Further measures are also undertaken to destroy everything that might possibly be of military value to the Russians.  The railway station and rolling stock have been destroyed, and over the past two days all remaining horses have been slaughtered.  The military balloons at Przemysl also attempt to depart, but are all driven off course and land in Russian territory.

March 20th, 1915

- After giving his approval on the 11th for army Zeppelins to bombard London, the Kaiser has been typically plagued by second thoughts, and rescinded his order.  Deprived of their primary target, three Zeppelins instead bombard Paris today.

- The French 4th Army calls a halt today to major offensive operations, bringing an end to the 1st Battle of Champagne.  Over the past two months of fighting, 4th Army has suffered over 93 000 casualties, while advancing an average of one kilometre over a three kilometre stretch of the front.  On the other side, German casualties were only half those of the French.  Among the lessons the French take from the campaign, which Joffre deems to have been a success, is the vital importance of heavy artillery to smash the way through enemy defenses and the need for better offensive tactics.

- After painstaking preparations, today the Bavarian 8th Reserve Division recaptures the summit of Reichsackerkopf, west of Munster in the Vosges.

The front line in the Vosges, March 1915.

- With the last breakout attempt defeated and food stocks exhausted, the fate of the Przemsyl garrison has been sealed, and today Emperor Franz Joseph sends a validictory message to the fortress commander:

It saddens me greatly that the bold breakout attempt by the Przemysl garrison was shattered yesterday by the enemy's larger force.  Yet I gaze with a sad pride upon the incomparable self-sacrifice of the brave men whose efforts weren't crowned with success.  I wholeheartedly thank everyone who fought for their heroic deed.  I make the sign of the cross over every one of them who gave their lives on the field of honor.  Even in the distant future, history will record what Austria-Hungary's warriors achieved during the stubborn defense of Przemysl.  They were unflinching and brave until the end.

March 19th, 1915

- In Champagne a German attack on the high ground north of Le Mesnil largely fails to make any progress, the German infantry getting no further than the barbed wire strung before the French trenches.  Only south of Ripont are the Germans able to seize a stretch of the first French trench, primarily through liberal use of grenades.

- OHL issues orders today to the Chief of the Military Railways regarding the assembly of units for the anticipated major offensive on the Western Front.  Beginning on March 23rd, the following are to be gradually assembled: Guard Corps in Schlettstadt-Colmar, XXXXI Reserve Corps near Aulnoye-Busogny-Hirson, Bavarian II Corps near Douai-Cambrai, and III Corps near Mons.

- At Przemysl the garrison attempts a sortie, hoping to break through the Russian lines and allow for escape.  The attack is largely recognized to be a forlorn hope, given the weakened state of the half-starved garrison, and indeed it has been impossible to hide from the Russians the preparations for the attempt.  When the Austro-Hungarians advance, they are decimated by Russian artillery, and the 23rd Honved Division suffers 68% casualties in being driven back into the defensive lines.  Within Przemysl itself, preliminary steps towards surrender begin with the burning of all paper money, worth approximately $125 000 US dollars.

A section of the Austro-Hungarian defensive lines around Przemysl.

- Grand Duke Nicholas, Commander-in-Chief of the Russian army, decides today to call off Russian attacks against East Prussia, as while the Russians have recovered after defeat in the Winter Battle of Masurian Lakes, they have been unable to penetrate German defensive positions.  Instead, he decides that the Russians should concentrate on the Carpathians, given that Russian units covering Przemysl will be freed for future operations given the imminent fall of the fortress.

- This morning the weather has taken a turn for the worse at the Dardanelles, with high winds and lowered visibility.  The conditions make a resumption of the Entente attack of yesterday impossible.  As to whether the attack should be resumed, the view in London at least is to continue: the War Council sends a message to Admiral Robeck authorizing him to 'continue the naval operations against the Dardanelles if he thought fit.'  Though Churchill desires further attacks, and in fact is sending reinforcements for the lost warships, the decision is left in the hands of the senior commander on the spot.  Robeck, for his part, is conflicted: Keyes, his chief of staff, argues that the Ottomans are on the brink of collapse, but he can't shake the fear of losing more warships for reasons unknown.

March 14th, 1915

- In Champagne the commander of the French XVI Corps reports to General de Langle that his force has made a small 'crack' in the German line, but that efforts to enlarge the breach have been thwarted by murderous flanking fire.  De Langle's response is to alter the direction of the assaults and order their continuation.

- After several hours of artillery preparation and the detonation of several mines, French infantry assault German positions held by XVI Corps today on the Bolante Plateau and west of Boureuilles in the Argonne.

- Though the fighting continues in Champagne, Joffre is already looking forward to future operations.  Near the German border is the French Provisional Army of the East, which includes 1st and 3rd Armys and Army Detachments Vosges and Lorraine, and is commanded by General Auguste Dubail.  Today Joffre instructs Dubail to commence preparations for an offensive against both flanks of the St. Mihiel salient, for which he will provide three corps and a cavalry division as reinforcements.

- In the central Carpathians all available reserves of the Austro-Hungarian 2nd Army are rushed to prop up the reeling XIX Corps and prevent a Russian breakthrough.  With nothing left to send to the aid of the corps advancing on Baligrod, 2nd Army commander calls off the offensive.  Over the past fourteen days, 2nd Army has lost 33% of its strength, numbering 51 086 men.  Even Conrad now acknowledges that his winter offensives to relieve Przemysl have failed, and that the garrison cannot be relieved before it is starved into surrender.  This, of course, does not deter Conrad from planning further offensives in the Carpathians, as he informs Falkenhayn today.

- In the early morning hours a determined effort is made to sweep the minefields in the Dardanelles.  First the pre-dreadnought Cornwallis enters the straits and bombards the searchlights and mobile batteries, followed by the light cruiser Amethyst and four destroyers at 2am.  An hour later, seven trawlers, with crews that now included naval volunteers, enter the Dardanelles, intending to sail in, turn, and sweep on their way out.  Despite the ongoing shore bombardment, they are quickly illuminated by Ottoman searchlights, and by the time they reach the point to turn and begin sweeping, they are under intense fire.  Two trawlers had their sweeping gear blown away, a third had its captain and deck crew all killed, and two more collided and drifted down the straits, entangled and seemingly the target of every Ottoman gun in range.  The two remaining trawlers manage to sweep several mines, but it is a meagre return, especially considering that Amethyst takes a large shell to its mess deck, killing twenty-four and injuring thirty-six.

Assessing the results in the daylight hours, Admiral Carden concludes that the only way for the minesweeping operation to succeed is if a smothering naval bombardment can first obliterate the Ottoman guns.  To do this requires the fleet to sail into the Dardanelles in daylight, and planning begins for such an attack in four days' time.

- At 5pm the two zambuks carrying Emden's landing party departs from Yabana, just north of Hodeida, with both ships flying the German naval pennant.  Aware that a blockade line to the north is maintained by several English gunboats, First Officer Mücke orders the zambuks to part ways, to avoid both being captured together.

- At dawn this morning, the armoured cruiser Kent and the light cruiser Glasgow round Cumberland Point on Más á Tierra.  Before them is the German light cruiser Dresden, at anchor and still waiting for its collier.  When Dresden trains its guns on the British warships, Glasgow opens fire.  Within four minutes, having already been struck at its waterline, the Germans raise the white flag.  A steam launch departs Dresden carrying Lieutenant William Canaris (yes, that Canaris) to register a complaint to the captain of Glasgow that the German warship was in Chilean waters and thus under Chilean protection.  The response of Glasgow's captain is, in the finest traditions of the service, that unless Dresden surrenders immediately, he will blow it out of the water, neutrality be damned.  The German response is to scuttle their ship and escape to shore, singing the German anthem as Dresden keels over.  Thus sinks the last survivor of the German East Asiatic Squadron, and it is fitting that Glasgow, who escaped from the squadron's greatest triumph, is present at its final demise.

The German light cruiser Dresden, scuttled today at Más á Tierra.

March 13th, 1915

- Today the Swedish merchant ship Hanna, carrying coal from the Tyne to Las Palmas, is sunk by a German U-boat off of Scarborough, the first neutral vessel sunk by torpedo without warning since the Germans began unconditional submarine warfare last month.

- At Neuve Chapelle the British decide to call off their offensive in the face of stiffening resistance.  For 13 000 casualties, including 4000 from the Indian Corps, the British have recaptured the village of Neuve Chapelle and advanced the line approximately a thousand yards along a three thousand yard stretch of the front.  Though the initial attack on the 10th was an immediate success, it has not led to any strategic advantage whatsoever - Aubers Ridge remains beyond the reach of the British.

In explaining the failure to exploit the initial breakthrough, a lack of artillery shells is highlighted, this despite the British firing one-sixth of their entire munitions stockpile on the Western Front in just three days.  This reflects the growing awareness that artillery is the master of the deadlocked battlefield in France and Belgium.  In analyzing the battle afterwards, Haig concludes that the thirty-five minute artillery bombardment was insufficient, lengthier bombardments necessary to thoroughly pulverize the enemy, and that attacks must be launched on a longer stretch of the front to prevent the enemy from concentrating their reserves at a single threatened point.  Unfortunately for the British, these are the absolute worst lessons Haig could of drawn from the battle.  The initial success was due precisely to the fact that the short-but-intensive bombardment both severely damaged German positions while catching them by surprise, while the concentration of the attacking force against a single point allowed for sufficient numerical superiority to overwhelm the defenders.  The lessons Haig draws from Neuve Chapelle will feature prominently in British operations to come, culminating in just over a year's time in the Battle of the Somme.

The Battle of Neuve Chapelle does at least demonstrate that the British have some ability in planning and executing offensive operations in the context of trench warfare.  Joffre is pleased to see his British allies willing to go over on to the attack, though he is disdainful of the failed followup operations.  For the British, the battle also reinforces the belief that this will be a long war.  As Brigadier-General John Chateris, Haig's intelligence officer at 1st Army, comments afterwards, 'I am afraid that England will have to accustom herself to far greater losses than those of Neuve Chapelle before we finally crush the German Army.'  More prophetic words were hardly ever spoken during the war.

Soldiers of the Northumberland Hussars in the second line of trenches, north of Neuve Chapelle, March 13th, 1915.

- Today Falkenhayn receives a second proposal for an offensive operation on the Western Front, this one composed by the Chief of Staff of 1st Army.  It argues that an attack in Artois will only push the British backwards, and otherwise will have no strategic consequences.  Instead, the focus should be on finding that stretch of the front where the odds of a successful breakthrough are greatest, and 1st Army's conclusion is that the line on its left wing and the adjoining right wing of 7th Army along the Aisne River is ideal for this purpose.  The plan calls for four corps to cross the Aisne on a twenty kilometre from east of Soisson, with four corps and a cavalry corps following on to widen the breach, after which the offensive would continue in the direction of Paris.  In favour of 1st Army's proposal was that it would required fewer corps and less artillery to execute.  On a tactical level, the plan is very promising, but the question is whether the tactical success of a breakthrough along the Aisne can be converted into a decisive strategic victory.

- In the central Carpathians, a Russian attack this afternoon breaks through the line held by the Austro-Hungarian XIX Corps on the left wing of 2nd Army.  This corps, part of the stalled drive on Baligrod, now finds itself fighting a desperate defensive battle.  To the east, meanwhile, four Russian cavalry divisions and a rifle brigade drives back several Austro-Hungarian divisions in the centre of General Pflanzer-Baltin's line.

With the Austro-Hungarian offensive faltering, the garrison commander at Przemysl, General Hermann Kusmanek, is informed by radio today that 2nd Army may not be able to drive through Lisko to relieve the fortress by the 18th as hoped.  It is left to Kusmanek's discretion whether part of garrison should sortie and attempt to break through to Austro-Hungarian lines before the food supply is exhausted.

- Off the Dardanelles Admiral Carden replies to Churchill's message of the 11th, agreeing that the time has come for a more sustained effort and informing the First Lord that a major effort will be undertaken overnight.  Carden himself, however, is increasing ill, as Keyes notes today - the strain of the operation, combined with the pressure for results from London, is taking its toll.

March 11th, 1915

- In direct response to the German declaration of a war zone around Britain and the commencement of unrestricted submarine warfare, the British declare a total blockade of Germany today.  Henceforth, Entente navies would prevent all cargoes, not just contraband, from reaching German ports.

- The Zeppelins belonging to the German army are today authorized to conduct aerial bombardments of London.

- In Canada, recruiting for a second contingent began even while the first was still training on Salisbury Plain.  Today, Lord Kitchener informs the Canadian government that the transportation of the first elements of the second contingent across the Atlantic will commence in late April.

- Overnight, German forces have constructed a new defensive line across the breach open yesterday at Neuve Chapelle, while also deploying additional artillery batteries.  In the morning mist the new positions go unseen, such that when a British attack is launched at 7am, it runs into a hail of machine gun and artillery fire from elements of the German 14th Division.  A second attack in the evening is similarly dispatched as further German reinforcements, this time from 6th Bavarian Division, arrive on the battlefield.

- In Champagne the major assault of the French XVI Corps is scheduled to begin tomorrow, and this evening its commander issues his final orders to his subordinates.  He instructs that every soldier is to participate in the advance, with none left to occupy trenches, and that every piece of ground seized is to be immediately consolidated and used as a launching pad for further attacks.

- The results of the reorganization of the German army, to incorporate the newest cohort of recruits while creating a large reserve of experienced divisions, are not as promising as Falkenhayn had originally hoped.  Instead of the anticipated twenty-four new divisions, it is now apparent that, due to losses and other requirements, only fourteen new divisions can be created.  This is less than the force envisioned in 6th Army's proposed operation for an offensive north of the Somme.  Despite this setback, Falkenhayn remains committed to undertaking an attack in the West - writing today to Colonel Seeckt, 11th Army's Chief of Staff, he emphasizes that he still plans to force a return to a war of movement on the Western Front through a major breakthrough that culminates in victory over the Entente.

- Since the beginning of March, the German 10th Army has been gradually falling back towards the line it held prior to the Winter Battle of the Masurian Lakes, as the position it had won in the battle had been rendered untenable due to Russian pressure on the flanks.  It has been cautiously followed by the Russian 10th Army, but two days ago the Germans turned the tables on their pursuers, and after several furious days of fighting the Russians have been halted.  The Germans are thus able to assume defensive positions and stalemate returns to the front.  Despite the victory last month at Masurian Lakes, in terms of territory the Germans find themselves right back where they started.

- After four days of fighting the offensive of the Austro-Hungarian 4th Army has stalled, unable to maintain the early momentum towards Gorlize and Staszkowka, at a cost of six thousand casualties.

Meanwhile, the garrison of the besieged fortress of Przemysl reports today that after the slaughter of all horses and a thorough search for all available food it will be able to hold out until March 24th, at which point surrender will be necessary to avoid starvation.  The winter battles in the Carpathians are approaching their climax; the Austro-Hungarians must break through immediately if Przemysl is to be relieved before it falls.

The Russians, however, have other ideas.  General Brusilov has been concerned that the advance of the left wing of the Austro-Hungarian 2nd Army, particularly near Lupkow, threatens the flank of the Russian forces facing 3rd Army to the west.  To negate this possibility, Russian forces attack today near Lupkow, and the Austro-Hungarian 29th Division is forced to yield the ground it had conquered over the past few days.

- At the Dardanelles the minesweepers are sent into the straits unescorted tonight, hoping to catch the Ottomans by surprise.  The result was about what one would expect, as Keyes related:

The less said about that night the better.  To put it briefly, the sweepers turned tail and fled as soon as they were fired upon.  I was furious and told the officers . . . that it did not matter if we lost all seven sweepers, there were twenty-eight more, and the mines had got to be swept up.  How could they talk about being stopped by heavy fire if they were not hit?

- At the Admiralty, Churchill has received reports of Ottoman ammunition shortages at the Dardanelles, and sends orders to Carden to abandon his methodical attempts to bombardment the forts and sweep the minefields, and instead press forward with maximum force.  In Churchill's views, any losses that may occur would be amply compensated by the strategic consequences of victory at the Dardanelles.

- The landing party of the German light cruiser Emden arrives today back at Hodeida, from which it had departed a month earlier.  Intending to continue their journey by sea, they must secure new vessels, as Choising, the merchant ship upon which they had crossed the Indian Ocean, had been sent away upon their arrival at Hodeida.  As there are no steamships to be had, First Officer Mücke acquires two zambuks, small sailboats fourteen meters long and four meters wide, used along the Arabian coast.  The party intends to sail from Yabana, a small bay north of Hodeida, on the fourteenth, while to deflect unwanted attention Mücke spreads the rumour that they will instead sail from Isa Bay on the thirteenth.

February 26th, 1915

- In the Argonne, the German IV Reserve Corps seizes a section of the French trench line southwest of Malancourt, and the fighting is notable for marking the first use of flamethrowers in combat during the war.  The Germans had developed flamethrowers in the decade prior to the war, and on January 18th, 1915 a Flamethrower Detachment was formed under Captain Bernhard Reddeman consisting of volunteers, many of whom had been firemen in civilian life.  The Detachment refined flamethrowers, producing a larger model with longer range but which required installation and a smaller model capable of being carried by a soldier as he crossed No Man's Land, and pioneered tactics for their use.  Near Malancourt the attack was directed at a point where the German line was within forty metres of the first French trench, and Reddeman's soldiers were able to install several of the larger models.  When the attack began, the flamethrowers shot jets of fire into the French position, and even though most of the defending infantry had not been burned, the shock of the unexpected terror paralyzed them and allowed the attacking German infantry, including several soldiers carrying the smaller model into battle, to capture the enemy line with light casualties.

- In the Carpathians, the only significant Austro-Hungarian success achieved since late December has been on the far eastern part of the line, where General Pflanzer-Baltin's forces have been able to undertake a moderate offensive.  This accomplishment, however, has not resulted in a decisive Austro-Hungarian advance - the Russians opposite Südarmee have refused to budge, and General Brusilov of the Russian 8th Army is mobilizing reinforcements to block further advances by Pflanzer-Baltin.  Moreover, while the supply situation is tenuous along the entire front, it is particularly problematic in the far east, where only a single rail line supports Plfanzer-Baltin's army group.

The position of Südarmee and Pflanzer-Baltin's army group, February 26th, 1915.

Conrad, however, is obsessed with the besieged fortress of Przemysl, and relieving its garrison before it can be forced to surrender to the Russians in March.  Thus, despite the terrible weather and the exhausted and depleted state of the Austro-Hungarian army, he is determined to launch another offensive.  He has tasked 2nd and 3rd Armies in the centre of the Carpathian line with breaking through the Russian lines, and overrules the misgivings the commanders of both armies have.  For one, the Austro-Hungarian divisions are significantly understrength, and the replacements that have arrived are poorly trained and ill-prepared.  Further, the weather remains terrible, hindering movement and resupply, while the new units that Conrad has sent to the two armies are disorganized and have been committed to fighting piecemeal.  Finally, much of the two armies have been fighting constantly on the defensive, with no time to prepare for offensive operations.

Despite the difficulties, Conrad is insistent - Przemysl must be relieved.  The only concession he makes to reality is a slight delay, to allow roads closed by bad weather to be cleared.  The offensive is now scheduled to be launched tomorrow, regardless of whether 2nd and 3rd Armies are actually capable of achieving success.

The position of the Austro-Hungarian 2nd and 3rd Armies, February 26th, 1915.

- At the mouth of the Dardanelles the British warships send a number landing parties ashore, each consisting of about fifty Royal Marines guarding about thirty sailors, the latter tasked with destroying Ottoman artillery pieces.  They methodically go through each of the abandoned forts, blowing up fifty guns with explosive charges and effectively clearing the way for the Entente squadron to enter the straits.  Incidentally, one of the landing parties reaches the village of Krithia, four miles inland of the southern tip of Gallipoli Peninsula, which constitutes the high tide of the entire Entente amphibious operation to come - at no point between April and December will Entente soldiers again reach Krithia.

With the outer forts neutralized, attention turns to the inner defences.  Inside the mouth of the Dardanelles the passage widens to four and a half miles, guarded by five forts on the north shore and four on the south shore, augmented by a numer of mobile howitzer batteries.  Fourteen miles upstream is the Narrows, where the channel is less than a mile wide, and where the Ottomans had concentrated their largest artillery pieces.  The Narrows is also guarded by several hundred mines, laid out in ten lines from the Narrows to Kephez, the latter located just over halfway from the entrance of the Dardanelles to the Narrows.

Today the pre-dreadnoughts pass the ruined outer forts and begin to engage the western-most forts inside the straits.  It becomes quickly apparent to the British and the French that the mobile howitzer batteries are the most effective Ottoman defence - well-concealed, they are difficult to hit, and when the pre-dreadnoughts find the range the howitzers are simply moved to another location.  The shells from the howitzers cannot penetrate the armour of the pre-dreadnoughts and are little more than a nuisance, but the difficulty in elimination them highlights the limitations of naval gunfire against land targets.

- Intellgence reaches the Entente commanders in central Africa that the Germans forces in their colony of Kamerun have been deployed to defend Ngaundere, in the northern highlands, instead of Jaudre in the west.  The French governor-general of Equatorial Africa, however, dismisses the report, and continues to insist that the French and British concentrate against Jaudre.

January 4th, 1915

- After closing on the outbreak of war in August, the London Stock Exchange reopens today.

- The ability of the French army to increase its stock of artillery shells is hampered by the necessity of supplying ammunition to its allies in order to enhance their fighting ability.  As the French minister of war reports today, at a time when Joffre is demanding the production of 60 000 rounds per day, France is exporting 12 000 per day to Russia, 3000 to Romania, 2000 to Serbia, and between 1000 and 2000 to Belgium.

- At the far southern end of the Western Front, the line runs just inside the German province of Alsace until it reaches the Swiss border.  Here the French have entrenched themselves on the eastern ridges of the Vosges Mountains, giving them observation of the upper Rhine River and allowing bombardment of the German-held plains to the east.  The Vosges are rocky and forested, preventing the construction of continuous trench lines.  Instead, each side entrenches on available high ground and emphasizes strong points.  Nevertheless, the stalemate to the north has replicated itself in the Vosges - indeed, advancing exposed up hillsides, where artillery shells create lethal airborne rock splinters, advances are particularly arduous.

The Western Front in the Vosges.

Winter in the Vosges, 1915.

For the past month, French infantry have been attacking at several points in order to push the line eastward and bring more of the German rear under artillery fire.  In order to bring a halt to the enemy attacks, Army Detachment Gaede, responsible for defending German Alsace, has been reinforced by six battalions and three batteries of artillery and ordered to seize Hartmannswillerkopf (known to the French as Vieil Armand), at 3136 feet one of the highest points in the Vosges and one from which the French have been able to direct artillery fire on the vital railway linking Mulhouse and Colmar.  Today three German regiments of light infantry, grenadiers, and dismounted light cavalry attack Hartmannswillerkopf, but are repulsed by the entrenched French defenders.

- For several months the vital Austro-Hungarian fortress of Przemysl has been besieged by the Russians, who are content to simply starve out the defenders.  Indeed, the food stocks, never high, are continuing to dwindle.  Today, the commander at Przemysl radios Conrad to inquire whether the garrison should attempt to break out around February 1st, or simply hold out until March 7th, the date on which it is expected food supplies (including the slaughter of horses) will run out.  Conrad views the fall of Przemysl not only as a military but also a political catastrophe, as its loss would further undermine the prestige of Austria-Hungary among neutral states, and thus views an early offensive in Galicia to relieve Przemysl to be of vital importance.

- At Sarikamish the shattered remnants of the Ottoman IX Corps, surrounded and attack from Bardiz to the rear, surrender today.  Enver Pasha, who had been with IX Corps, manages to escape through Russian lines to reach XI Corps, which is still attacking in a vain effort to recover the situation.

November 8th, 1914

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

October 18th, 1914

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

October 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.