September 4th, 1915

- Just three days after the German ambassador in Washington delivered the Arabic Pledge to not attack passenger ships without warning, the German submarine U24, which had sunk Lusitania in May, torpedoes and sinks the British liner Hesperian off the coast of Ireland without warning.  Though Americans were aboard, none were among the thirty-two passengers who drown.  Nevertheless, the American government sees the sinking as flagrantly defying the Arabic Pledge, and demand further assurances that similar attacks will no longer occur.

The British liner Hesperian, torpedoed and sunk today by the German submarine U24 off Ireland.

- After two revisions, General d'Urbal of 10th Army submits today a plan to Foch that is acceptable to the commander of the Army Group of the North.  Along the thirty-two kilometre stretch of the line held by 10th Army will be deployed six corps, four of which are to make the primary attack north of Arras, and two a supporting attack south of the city.

- On the Eastern Front the German 8th Army captures the fortress of Grodno, between Vilna and Bialystok.  Further south, Austro-Hungarian forces have been battering against the Russian defensives along the Sereth River to no avail; in just four days of marching and combat, the Austro-Hungarian IV, XIX, and V Corps have suffered eight thousand casualties.  Moreover, supply problems bedevil the Austro-Hungarian formations, who report being short of ammunition and food.  Finally, dysentery and stomach flu claim numerous victims in the terrible conditions.

September 1st, 1915

- Kitchener issues orders today for the Indian Corps in France to remain part of the British Expeditionary Force through the next winter.  Though concerns have been expressed in some quarters regarding the ability of the Indian soldier to cope with the cold and miserable conditions of a Flemish winter, Kitchener understands that the Indian Corps have shown themselves capable of operating under such conditions just as well as the British divisions they fight alongside. There were also worries about the losses suffered by the Indian Corps since its arrival in France in October 1914 could be adequately replaced, but since the summer a steady stream of recruits had replenished the Meerut and Lahore Divisions.  Of the three thousand replacements who arrived in July, General James Willcocks, the commander of the Indian Corps, wrote that they were 'very good . . . some of them quite exceptionally so, and I feel years younger now as I see these fine fellows joining the ranks.'

- Upon the instructions of Chancellor Bethmann-Hollweg, the German ambassador to the United States delivers a note containing what becomes known as the Arabic Pledge to Secretary of State Robert Lansing.  Based on the decision of the conference at Pless on August 26th in response to the sinking of Arabic, the Germans pledge that no passenger ship of any nationality will be attacked without warning, and that adequate provisions will be made for the survival of passengers and crew.

- Joffre remains under pressure from government ministers to dispatch several divisions from the Western Front to the Near East, and seizes on a staff study suggesting that the operations proposed by General Sarrail would require eight divisions.  He writes today that such a substantial reduction in French strength on the Western Front would have 'disastrous consequences.'  Moreover, he questions the entire premise of undertaking operations to relieve the British position on Gallipoli:

It is the British who have led us to the Dardanelles.  In reality halting the offensive will be a British defeat.  Tomorrow, if we send reinforcements and assume command, we will find ourselves, in case of failure, facing a French disaster.

- For several days the Austro-Hungarian 2nd and 7th Armies, as well as Südarmee, have launched assault after assault on the Russian lines along the Strypa River.  Though in places they have managed to win some ground, it has come at great cost - the Austro-Hungarian Corps, for instance, has lost over five thousand men in just two days of fighting.  Today the Russian 11th and 9th Armies pull back from their lines along the Strypa River, though this is not due to any defeat they have suffered but rather due to the threat of envelopment from the north due to the advance of the north wing of the Austro-Hungarian 4th Army through Lutsk.  Brussilov's 8th Army, meanwhile, takes up its new defensive line today along the Putilowka, covering Rovno, and south to the hills west of Dubno.

August 26th, 1915

- Chancellor Bethmann-Hollweg convenes a conference at Pless today to discuss the diplomatic crisis that has ensued from the sinking of the passenger liner Arabic on the 19th.  He argues that there is no point arguing over whether the Americans ought to be outraged or not; the fact is they are, and that war is possible if decisive action is not taken.  His position that the Americans must be appeased by restricting submarine warfare is supported by Falkenhayn, who hopes that the United States can be kept out of the war.  Only the naval officers present insist that unrestricted submarine warfare must be allowed to continue, and that any concessions to the Americans would constitute pandering.  The navy is overruled, and Wilhelm II authorized Bethmann-Hollweg to conclude a diplomatic agreement with the Americans that defers to the latter's wishes regarding submarine warfare.  Admiral Bachmann, chief of the naval staff, asks to be relieved rather than execute a policy he disagrees with, and he is replaced by Admiral Hennig von Holtzendorff, a personal friend of the Chancellor and a skeptic of the ability of unrestricted submarine warfare to bring Britain to its knees.

- On the Eastern Front the German 12th Army finally manages to capture the Russian fortress of Osowiec today, which had repulsed prior assaults.  For several weeks it had served as a northern 'hinge' for the Russian retreat from Poland.  With the Russian armies to the south having pulled back behind the line of the fortress, Osowiec has served its purpose, and the Russians have withdrawn eastwards.

To the south, the fortress of Brest-Litovsk is also seized today; in the predawn hours advance elements of the German 11th Army pierce the inner fortifications and reach the Bug River, where they find the highway bridge in flames, set alight by the retreating Russians.  Despite their best efforts, however, vast quantities of food and supplies fall into German hands with the capture of Brest-Litovsk, including once again a significant stockpile of artillery shells that could have been put to much better use by the armies in the field.  The Russian forces on both flanks of the fortress also retreat, and 11th Army and the Army of the Bug make significant progress today, with the Guard, X Reserve, and XXII Reserve Corps reaching the line Rudka-Pruska northeast of Brest-Litovsk this evening.

German soldiers outside the burning citadel at Brest-Litovsk.

The Eastern Front after the fall of Brest-Litovsk, Aug. 26th, 1915.

- The second phase of Conrad's offensive opens today with the advance of the Austro-Hungarian 1st Army southeast from the line Kowel-Vladimir-Volynski.  Though the pace of the advance is slowed by the vast swamps of the region, which require foot-bridges to cross, the Austro-Hungarians are able to make encouraging progress against light opposition from Russian cavalry.  General Ivanov of Southwest Front, however, had not been ignorant of the potential threat to his northern flank with the withdrawal of 13th Army to the northeast, and had instructed General Brusilov of 8th Army to stretch his northern wing back from the Bug River to cover Lutsk, and the latter had deployed four cavalry divisions to screen his exposed flank.  The Russians have also used the two months of relative quiet along this stretch of the front to reinforce their battered divisions, and their average combat strength has risen from four to seven thousand.  The new recruits, however, are dreadfully inexperienced, and many lack rifles.

- British and French officials confer at Duala today regarding the campaign in German Kamerun, and decide on a joint thrust to Jaunde after the end of the rainy season (October in the east and November in the west).

August 19th, 1915

- Recently-promoted Brigadier-General Hugh Trenchard is appointed today to command the Royal Flying Corps on the Western Front.  Having learned to fly in 1912 at the age of thirty-nine and served as second in command of the Central Flying School before the war, Trenchard was a protege of Kitchener, the two being similar in temperament, for better and worse.  With the RFC subordinate to the War Office, Kitchener appreciated Trenchard's opinion that the primary role of the RFC was to support the BEF.  It is an important milestone in the rise of Trenchard, who will become the most important figure in the wartime and postwar RFC.

- Lieutenant Oswald Boelcke gets his first kill today in his new Eindecker fighter.  He and Immelmann, both members of Abteilung 62 based at Douai, regularly fly together, and violate protocol by flying over enemy lines in search of enemy aircraft, instead of waiting for them to cross the front.

- For the past several months, a series of communications have traveled back and forth between Berlin and Washington, attempting to resolve the dispute over unrestricted submarine warfare which had emerged after the sinking of the passenger ship Lusitania in May, and the two sides are approaching agreement on the basis of Bethmann-Hollweg's declaration of June 1st that neutral ships, and passenger ships of all countries, are to be spared.  However, diplomatic discussions and theoretical limitations on the limits to submarine warfare take little account of the practical reality of naval combat in the North Atlantic, and the difficulty U-boat commanders can have reconciling such instructions with the necessity to ensure the safety of their submarine.  Off Kinsale, Ireland today the captain of U-20 encounters precisely this dilemma, and his choice torpedoes the diplomatic efforts since May.  The German U-boat stops the British steamer Durnsley, permitting the crew to enter their lifeboats before detonating bombs in the vessel's hold.  All of this is perfectly 'legitimate' submarine warfare, even in the eyes of the American, but it is what happens next that this problematic.  Durnsley takes a long time to sink, and as it does so the large passenger steamer Arabic of the White Star line appears, bound for New York.  The captain of U-20 recalls that his submarine had been fired upon by a large steamer five days earlier, and decides that Arabic is not just a target but a potential threat.  Rather than remain on the surface, possibly exposing itself to fire from the steamer, the captain orders U-20 to submerge and attack, firing a torpedo that strikes and sinks Arabic.  Forty-four passengers drown, including three Americans.  News of the sinking outrages American public opinion; not only does it make it seem that German submariners are ignoring instructions issued by their own government, but that the German government had been duping the Americans into believing they were making concessions regarding unrestricted submarine warfare that they either never intended to follow through on or could not be enforced.  Either way, the diplomatic progress of the past few months sinks with Arabic.

The British passenger steamer Arabic, torpedoed and sunk today by the German submarine U-20 off Kinsale, Ireland.

- For the past eleven days German artillery, directed by General Beseler, has been systematically reducing the fortifications around Novogeorgievsk.  Their work has been aided by the poor state of the defences - one fort was blown up by a single shell.  The siege ends today with the surrender of the surviving Russian garrison, and while the Russian armies in the field suffer from munition shortages, over a million shells fall unused into German hands, and the fall of Novogeorgievsk provides yet another example of how fortified positions, on their own, are no match for the power and range of modern artillery.

Russian artillery captured by the Germans after the fall of Novogeorgievsk.

German infantry occupying the Russian fortress of Novogeorgievsk after its capture.

- On the Eastern Front, Ludendorff issues orders for the German 10th Army to push its left wing from Kovno towards Vilna, with the Army of the Niemen covering ths northern flank of the advance by pushing towards the Dvina River.  On the southern flank 8th and 12th Armies are instructed to push to the northeast, and the former seizes the town of Bocki today.  Meanwhile, Prince Leopold's army group runs up against a new Russian defensive line running from Tokary to Nurec, and is held up.  Stiff resistance is also encountered west of Brest-Litovsk  by Russian forces on both sides of the Bug River as they attempt to cover the withdrawal of soldiers and wagons still in front of the fortress, and the German 11th Army is able to make only marginal gains today.  Upriver from Brest-Litovsk, however, the German 1st Division on the southern wing of the Army of the Bug is able to break through the Russian defenders along the Bug at Wlodawa and drive eastward to Piszcza by this evening.

The Austro-Hungarian offensive towards Kowel opens today with the advance of the cavalry corps commanded by the German General Ernst von Heydebreck and consisting of the German 5th and the Austro-Hungarian 4th and 11th Honved Cavalry Divisions.  The ground opposite is lightly defended, as the Russian 13th Army has been pulled northwards to maintain contact with 3rd Army and cover the lines of communication with Brest-Litovsk.  The only substantial Russian force in the area is XXXI Corps near Kowel, and it too is in the process of retreating northwards, its rear threatened by the advance of the Army of the Bug.  Otherwise, only cavalry rear guards remain to impede the German and Austro-Hungarian advance, and given the paucity of defenders the cavalry is able to cover significant ground.

- As General Cadorna assesses the failure of the first two offensives along the Isonzo River, his ire is drawn to Italian aviation and the director-general of the air corps, Colonel Maurizio Moris.  A myriad of difficulties has prevented the air corps from adequately supporting Cadorna's attacks: it is short of manpower, poorly organized, and the few Farman aircraft that are available are limited by a low ceiling.  The result has been poor observation of targets, preventing adequate counter-battery fire, and Cadorna writes to the war minister today insisting that the problems had to be fixed, and that Moris ought to go.  While the performance of the air corps has certainly failed to live up to expectations, the same could be said for the entire Italian war effort, and one cannot help but wonder the extent to which Cadorna is attempting to pass on blame that ought to rest on his shoulders.

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 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 6th, 1915

- As the campaign of unrestricted submarine warfare continues, Chancellor Bethmann-Hollweg remains concerned at its impact on neutral opinion.  Recalling the torpedoing of the liner Falaba in March and the tanker Gulflight in April, he writes to the Chief of the Naval Staff today, demanding the safety of neutral merchant shipping.  Otherwise, 'the growing number of neutral ships falling victim to submarine warfare [may] drive the neutral powers into the camp of our enemies.'  He has no idea just how prescient he is: out in the Atlantic, the passenger liner Lusitania is approaching the Irish coast and destiny.

- In west Galicia, detachments from the Austro-Hungarian 8th Division, as well as several Landsturm brigades, occupy the badly-damaged city of Tarnow, already evacuated by the retreating Russian IX Corps.  Other elements of the Austro-Hungarian 4th Army reach the west bank of the Wisloka River this evening, but due to exhaustion a crossing is postponed until tomorrow.

To the south, the main advance of the German 11th Army continues apace; Guard Corps captures Jaslo, while XLI Reserve Corps, advancing towards Rymanow, reaches the town of Zrecyn.  X Corps, meanwhile, reorientates itself to face south at Dukla, attempting to capture those Russian forces still south of the pass.  Of the latter, XII Corps, after hard fighting with the Austro-Hungarian 3rd Army, is able to withdraw to the northeast.  The two divisions of the Russian XXIV Corps, however, endure a greater trial: 49th Division is badly decimated before it can reach safety south of Kosno, and 48th Division, commanded by General Lavr Kornilov, is repulsed by 11th Bavarian Division and falls back to Mszana, where it is attacked by the Austro-Hungarian 4th Landwehr Division, and begins to break up.  General Dimitriev, meanwhile, informs General Ivanov that a further retreat of his 3rd Army will almost certainly be necessary.

The German offensive at Gorlice-Tarnow, May 6th to 9th, 1915.

- Off Cephalonia on the Greek west coast the Austro-Hungarian light cruiser Novara, commanded by Captian Miklós Horthy is intercepted by French warships, but is able to use its superior speed to escape back into the Adriatic.  Novara had been towing the German submarine UB8 for deployment in the Aegean, and had cast off the submarine unseen by the French.  Now on its own, UB8 makes its way eastward.

- As soon as the first Entente push to Krithia had failed on April 28th, General Hamilton began planning for another attack, as without occupying Krithia and the high ground to the immediate north the Ottomans would remain in firm control of both Gallipoli and the Dardanelles.  Additional reinforcements have now arrived, with 125th Brigade of 42nd Division, having just landed yesterday, taking up position along the west coast.  In addition, 2nd Australian and the New Zealand Brigades, on loan from ANZAC, were deployed between 87th and 88th Brigades and the French to the east.

Despite the reinforcements, however, the attack is no more successful than the first attempt.  Again and again Entente infantry find their advance held up by well-concealed machine gun nests and the rugged terrain, and at no point are they able to advance more than four hundred metres or gain anything of significance.  Notwithstanding today's failure, Hamilton orders a resumption of the attack tomorrow morning.

- Just before noon today Emden's landing party arrives at El Ula, after a four days' journey from the coast.  After the bitter fight in the desert the caravan entrenched each night, but did not encounter any resistance.  On arrival in the village they are met with a warm reception, as they had been expected by the local Ottoman garrison.  In addition to delicacies of all kind from peaches to Rhenish wine, most importantly of all they find a steam train specially chartered to take them north.  After an abundant meal and the first bath in months, the men of the landing party board the train and begin the rail journey northwards at thirty kilometres an hour.

Emden's landing party arriving at El Ula, May 6th, 1915.

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.

March 28th, 1915

- In the first month of the German campaign of unrestricted submarine warfare, twenty-five merchant ships have been sunk, sixteen of which had been torpedoed without warning.  These numbers, however, have to be placed in the context of the overall flow of merchant traffic - over the same month over four thousand vessels had sailed into and out of British ports.

Today a twenty-sixth vessel is sunk, the 5000-ton British cargo and passenger liner Falaba.  In the St. George's Channel off the Irish coast, it is halted by U-28, and its captain is given ten minutes to abandon ship.  During this period, extended on request to twenty-three minutes, Falaba's wireless continued to broadcast signals requesting assistance.  When an armed British trawler appears, U-28 puts a torpedo into Falaba, which rapidly sinks.  One hundred and four lives are lost, including an American passenger, who becomes the first American citizen to die at sea as the result of the attack of a German submarine.  The response of the American government is to ask the German ambassador for clarification regarding details of the sinking; a muted reaction reflecting that only a single American life was lost.  The Germans, however, can hardly count on such forbearance in the future.

- The situation of the Austro-Hungarian 2nd Army continues to deteriorate in the Carpathians, as on its left wing 32nd and 13th Landwehr Division are forced to retreat when the Russians seize the Manilow Heights.

- Today the Russian Black Sea Squadron, consisting of five pre-dreadnoughts, two cruisers, and ten destroyers, appears off the mouth of the Bosphorus and ineffectively bombards the Ottoman forts guarding the strait.  The attack is little more than a token gesture, and naturally comes too late for the British and French on the other side of the Dardanelles, who have already decided to abandon a purely naval operation in favour of a combined assault.

- After a visit to the Sheikh of Leet, First Officer Mücke has been able to collect ninety camels for his party, and this evening depart Leet for Djidda.  The camels are used mainly to carry supplies, especially water, given the desert through which they will travel.

Emden's landing party moving through the Arabian desert.

March 25th, 1915

- The Dutch merchant ship Medea is halted by a U-boat today, and after searching the vessel it is sunk by the Germans.  This is the first time a neutral ship has been sunk by a submarine after being searched since the commencement of unrestricted submarine warfare.

- For two weeks the German XV Corps on the southeastern face of the Ypres salient has been waiting for the right wind and weather conditions to conduct its planned gas attack, but on no day has the wind blown from the east or southeast, resulting in continual delays.  Today the German 4th Army orders that the gas cylinders be moved to the front held by XXVI Reserve Corps and 46th Reserve Division (of XXIII Reserve Corps) between Poelcappelle and Steenstraat on the northeastern face of the Ypres salient, in the hope that a favourable wind from the northeast is more likely to occur.

- The Russian offensive in the Carpathians expands westward overnight, as a sharp attack breaks through the Austro-Hungarian 28th Division on the inner wings of 3rd and 4th Armies, resulting in III Corps falling back to Zboro.  Further, the commander of 2nd Army warns Conrad that his soldiers are reaching the end of their endurance, and V and XVIII Corps in particular are at the breaking point.  To complicate matters, he reports that the intensity of the combat requires the commitment of all reserves as soon as they arrive at the front, preventing the accumulation of any substantial force that could go over onto the attack and wrest the initiative from the Russians.

Meanwhile, in response to Conrad's request of yesterday for German aid, Falkenhayn instead insists that Conrad pressure the Austro-Hungarian Foreign Ministry to conclude negotiations with Italy over territorial concessions that would keep the latter out of the war.  Falkenhayn fears that if the Italians become fully aware of the growing crisis in the Carpathians, they will be tempted to seize the opportunity to attack a crippled Austria-Hungary.

- Though the Mesopotamian expedition was launched initially only to guard the oil pipeline leading to the vital terminal at Abadan, the occupation of the region around Basra has inevitably raised the issue of the permanent annexation of Ottoman territory.  In particular, the British recognition of Russia's claim to Constantinople has opened the issue of the postwar dismemberment of the Ottoman Empire, and voices within the India Office are especially strong in favour of Mesopotamian annexations.  Prime Minister Asquith himself remains hesitant; as he explains in a letter to his friend and confidant Venetia Stanley today, 'taking on Mesopotamia, for instance, means spending millions in irrigation & development with no immediate or early return; keeping up quite a large army white & coloured in an unfamiliar country; tackling every kind of tangled administrative question, worse than we have ever had in India, with a hornet's nest of Arab tribes, and even if all that were set right having a perpetual menace to our flank in Kurdistan.'  However, he feels the pressure of immediate wartime necessities pushing the government in the direction of annexation, and that '[Sir Edward] Grey and I are the only two men who doubt and distrust any such settlement.'

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.

February 18th, 1915

- Sir John French replies today to Joffre's letter of the 16th regarding British operations in the near future, and the BEF commander outlines his plan for an attack in early March just north of La Bassée, directed at the village of Neuve Chapelle and the Aubers Ridge just beyond.  French, however, has learned of Kitchener's decision to assign 29th Division to the Dardanelles operation.  Moreover, though Kitchener has pledged to sent another division to France instead, it is composed of Territorial reserves, whom French believes will need significant further training before they can be send into the line.  As such, French informs Joffre that the BEF will be unable to conduct a major attack in early March while simultaneously relieving the French IX and XX Corps at Ypres previously agreed to on January 21st.

- In light of the Kaiser's decision to postpone the commencement of unrestricted submarine warfare, revised instructions are issued to U-boats today, intended to allow the navy to maintain an effective naval blockade of Britain without inflaming neutral opinion.  U-boat captains are to draw a clear distinction between enemy and neutral ships prior to firing, but in making such distinctions more than the flag of the merchant is to be taken into account, including course, structure, and general behaviour of the vessel.  Further, hospital ships are to spared, as well as ships belonging to the American-funded Belgian Relief Commission.  Provided such precautions are taken, captains would not be held responsible if mistakes were made.  The instructions bear the imprint of headquarters staff who have never had to determine the identity of a vessel through binoculars or a periscope while avoiding the threat of enemy fire.  Expecting U-boat captains to make what essentially is a political decision whether to fire is to invite mistakes, which is precisely what will happen.

Even as the revised instructions go out to the submarine force, the German government gives a reply to the American note of the 10th objecting to unrestricted submarine warfare.  On the one hand, the German government insists that they have the right to attack enemy ships as they see fit.  On the other hand, they assure the American government that American ships will not be attacked, as long as they are recognizable as such.

- The southern advance of the German 10th Army today sees it pass between the Russian fortress at Grodno and the Augustow Forest.  Here 10th Army takes up position facing both west and east, covering the escape routes from the Augustow Forest.

Of the Russian 10th Army, while III and XXVI Corps have made their way east and out of the forest, neither was aware that XX Corps remained behind them, and thus provided no aid to its withdrawal.  Thus XX Corps finds itself today still in Augustow Forest, and that the German 10th Army has now cut the last avenues of escape.

- For the past few days, the Austro-Hungarian 3rd Army has been attempting to recover the key town of Mezölaborcz, and today the 21st Landwehr Division gains some ground near the village of Szuko.  Otherwise, however, the strategic point remains in Russian hands.

- The French government decides today that the division assigned on the 4th to the Balkans is instead to be assigned to the Dardanelles operation.

- The merchant ship Rubens, disguised as a neutral Danish vessel to avoid interception by the British, slips out of Wilhelmshaven, beginning an unusual voyage.  Its destination is German East Africa, and its assignment is to bring supplies to the German forces defending the colony, and in particular a load of coal to enable the light cruiser Königsberg to sail for home.

February 15th, 1915

- Admiral Pohl receives another telegram from the Kaiser today: 'H.M. the Emperor has commanded that the U-boat campaign to destroy commerce . . . is not to begin on February 18, but only when orders to do so are received from the All Highest.'  Once again Wilhelm II wavers when faced with an important military decision, much to the dismay of his admirals.

- In Britain, meanwhile, Churchill, speaking in the House of Commons, seeks to assure the public regarding the threatened German submarine campaign:

. . . losses will no doubt be incurred - of that I give full warning.  But we believe that no vital injury can be done if our traders put to sea regularly . . . If they take the precautions which are proper and legitimate, we expect the losses will be confided within manageable limits, even at the outset when the enemy must be expected to make his greatest effort to produce an impression.

 - The 1st Canadian Division completes disembarkation at St. Nazaire today, and the soldiers immediately entrain for the journey to Flanders.  Their billeting area is just east of Hazebrouck, and they are to be attached to III Corps, 2nd Army of the BEF.  Prior to taking over a section of the front line in several weeks time, the headquarters staff and regimental personnel will be attached to the British 4th and 6th Divisions to learn first-hand about the nature of trench warfare.

- In Singapore, the 5th Light Infantry battalion of the Indian army is the only remaining regular force defending the colony, as other units have been transferred to more active theaters.  The battalion, however, has long seethed with discontent, and today many of its soldiers rise in mutiny.  The unit is entirely Muslim, and fears of being sent to fight the Ottomans may have played a role in the decision to mutiny.  Conversely, other than a couple of exceptions Indian nationalism does not appear to have been a major motivating force.  Indeed, most important are causes specific to the unit itself - the commanding officer is incompetent and the officers mistrust each other, allowing other issues, such as poor rations and promotion prospects, to fester.

Initially, the mutineers, some three hundred in total, outnumber the 231 European soldiers on the island.  They also attempt to augment their ranks by freeing German prisoners of war, but the latter were more afraid of the Indians than anything and the few that did act preferred to escape rather than fight.  Rampaging in several large groups, thirty-four Britons and Asians are killed in several hours.  In response a landing party from the sloop Cadmus is put ashore and uses a machine gun to check the mutineers' advance on Singapore itself.

February 14th, 1915

- Preparations for the imminent French attack in Champagne have not gone unnoticed by the Germans, and today a report arrives at the headquarters of the German 3rd Army from OHL warning that a significant French offensive will begin within days.

- In the Vosges elements of the 51st Landwehr Brigade have advanced to secure a line running from the mountain of Le Hilsenfirst in the north to the village of Sengern to the south, paving the way for the offensive west of Munster scheduled to begin in several days time.

- Aboard his flagship Admiral Pohl receives a telegram from the Kaiser: 'For urgent political reasons, send orders by wireless to U-boats already dispatched for the present not to attack ships flying a neutral flag, unless recognized with certainty to be enemies.'  Wilhelm II is having second thoughts as the significance of the order he signed so frivolously on February 4th becomes apparent.  For his part Pohl is upset by the note; central to the whole campaign of unrestricted submarine warfare is scaring neutral merchants away from Britain, which would be nullified if such a pledge as the Kaiser suggests is given.  In response Pohl sends a telegram to the Naval Staff outlining his views and insisting that they be placed before Wilhelm II.

- This morning elements of the German 8th Army enter the town of Lyck, a vital rail junction in East Prussia near the German-Russian frontier, while the infantry columns of the German 10th Army have reached the northern edge of the Augustow Forest at Suwalki.

Only today do the Russian commanders realize that it is 10th Army that is the target of the German offensive, and that three corps - from north to south, III, XX, and XXVI Corps - are in danger of encirclement.  With only two roads open to retreat, III Corps takes the northern one while XXVI takes the southern, leaving XX Corps to stand and fight to cover their withdrawal.

February 10th, 1915

- The United States issues a strong condemnation of the recent German proclamation that starting on the 18th a war zone would exist around the British Isles and that enemy merchant ships would be sunk without warning.  The position of the American government is that any harm befalling an American ship or American citizens, even if the latter were aboard a British vessel, would be 'an indefensible violation of neutral rights,' and pledged to hold the German government strictly to account for any such act.  In short, the United States will defend its rights to trade with Britain and expect Germany not to interfere.  The tone of the American note is stronger that Chancellor Bethmann-Hollweg expected, and brings into sharp relief the tension between cutting British maritime trade and the attitude of neutral powers.

- The Russian 10th Army continues to be battered by the German offensive as it crosses the frontier between East Prussia and Russia itself.  General Rudolph Sievers, 10th Army commander, is struggling against against immense difficulties, only one of which are the Germans themselves.  The terrible blizzard bedevils his own infantry as much as the enemy, and makes redeployment and reinforcement almost impossible.  Meanwhile, most of 10th Army's supplies and ammunition are snowbound at railway depots in the rear, and communication links are tenuous at best.  Given the difficulties, Sievers has concentrated his attention on III Siberian Corps on the southern end of the line, which is putting up a stubborn defence that is at least slowing the advance of the German 8th Army opposite.  This concentration on the south, however, leaves the northern end of the line neglected, where the German 10th Army is having more success - today the German XXI Corps cuts the rail line from the front to the Russian fortress at Kovno to the north-east, and XXIX Reserve Corps surrounds and captures ten thousand Russian soldiers near Wirballen.

February 5th, 1915

- This morning the following declaration is published in Germany:

The waters surrounding Great Britain and Ireland including the whole of the English Channel are hereby declared to be a military area.  From 18 February onwards, all enemy merchant ships in these waters will be destroyed, irrespective of the impossibility of avoiding in all cases danger to the passengers and crew.

The public announcement of unrestricted submarine warfare catches many admirals by surprise, so quickly had Pohl moved to capitalize on the consent of the Chancellor and the Kaiser in recent days.  Criticism of Pohl's action focus on the unpreparedness of the German navy to actually implement unrestricted submarine warfare.  Whereas a prewar study had suggested more than two hundred submarines would be required to maintain permanent patrols around the British Isles, only thirty are available as of today.  Nevertheless, the criticisms are sent against a backdrop of general approval for striking a blow against Britain.

- After several hours of combat the battered remnants of the Austro-Hungarian 2nd Division, reduced to a thousand soldiers, pulls out of Mezölaborcz, ceding control of the town to the Russians.  The fall of Mezölaborcz cuts the railway supplying the east wing of 3rd Army, while the army as a whole has lost, over the past fourteen days, almost 89 000 men, over 50% of its strength.  In addition to combat losses, thousands die of exposure each night, while the wounded freeze before they can be evacuated.  Conrad's Carpathian offensive to relieve Przemysl has completely fallen apart, tens of thousands of lives thrown away for nothing.  Conrad for his part places blame on the commander of 3rd Army, believing that he has failed to impose a firm will on his soldiers, when the reality is that expecting the infantry to not only hold on but advance in such conditions shows that Conrad has no idea what is actually happening on the front line.  The only positive note in the fighting is that the Russians, themselves exhausted from advancing through the ice and snow, fail to press their advantage after capturing Mezölaborcz.

February 4th, 1915

- The French launch a counterattack against the line north of Massiges seized by the Germans yesterday.  Advancing at 440a, though the French are able to enter the German trenches, they are ultimately repelled in fierce hand-to-hand combat, with heavy losses on both sides.

- After several months of training in the miserable conditions of Salisbury Plain, 1st Canadian Division is preparing to depart for France.  Signalling the imminence of their departure, the soldiers are inspected today by King George V.

- Admiral Pohl, the current Chief of the Naval Staff, is appointed today as Admiral Ingenohl's replacement as commander of the High Seas Fleet, while Vice-Admiral Gustav Bachmann becomes the new Chief of the Naval Staff.  Just as his predecessor, he is bound by the Kaiser's limitations on the deployment of the fleet; indeed, in the aftermath of the Battle of Dogger Bank Wilhelm II has forbidden even Hipper's battlecruisers from putting to sea.  Pohl does, however, make use of the Kaiser's presence at the change of command ceremony to advance another goal.  Standing together in a launch as it moves among the dreadnoughts, Pohl hands the Kaiser an order for unrestricted submarine warfare to be signed.  Caught up in the moment and with his attention on his beloved warships, Wilhelm II signs his name without contemplating the significance of his action.  Pohl for his part has gotten what he desired - authorization for the commencement of unrestricted submarine warfare against Britain.

- In Galicia, after a heavy artillery bombardment the Russians break into the town of Mezölaborcz, which sits on one of the few railways in the Carpathians and thus is vital for Austro-Hungarian supply.  Despite this, Conrad is more concerned with issues of jurisdiction, insisting that Südarmee communicate through the Austro-Hungarian high command instead of going directly to OHL.

- As preparations continue to launch the naval attack on the Dardanelles, Britain and France are optimistic that Greece, emboldened by the Entente offensive, will join the war on their side.  Today the French government authorizes the dispatch of a division to northern Greece, to encourage not only the Greeks but also the Romanians to join the war by demonstrating their willingness to fight in the Balkans.

- East of the Suez Canal the commander of the Ottoman expedition to seize the Suez Canal concludes that, with the failure of yesterday's attack and no longer having the element of surprise, any further efforts would risk the annihilation of his force.  Thus in the early hours of the morning the Ottomans begin to retreat eastwards across the Sinai Peninsula towards Palestine.

The British forces on the west bank of the Canal decide not to pursue the retreating enemy.  First, they are initially concerned that the Ottomans may renew the attack.  Second, the sandstorm that had postponed the Ottoman attack from the 2nd to the 3rd had also grounded British aircraft, leaving them without aerial reconnaissance of the enemy columns.  Finally, the British formations were not prepared to enter the desert - none had the water for such an attempt.  As a result, the British permit the Ottomans to retire unmolested.

Burial parties tending to the Ottoman dead on the east bank of the Suez Canal.

February 1st, 1915

- Admiral Hugo von Pohl, Chief of the German Naval Staff, had interpreted the British declaration of November 1914 that the entire North Sea was a war zone as an effort to deter neutrals from sailing to Germany, and in particular to starve Germany via the interruption of food imports.  In response, Pohl had become a convert to the idea that Germany should use its own submarine force to attack merchant shipping bound for Britain.  Today in a meeting with Chancellor Bethmann-Hollweg, he advocates a shift in strategy to embrace what is known as unrestricted submarine warfare.

According to international maritime law, a specific procedure was to be following when a warship intercepts merchant shipping.  First, the attacker would have to halt the merchant ship either by signals or a warning shot.  Second, sailors from the warship would have to board the merchant ship to ascertain its cargo and nationality.  Third, if the merchant ship belonged to the enemy, provision had to be made for the safe evacuation of the crew and any passengers.  Only at this point could the warship actually sink the merchant ship.  These rules were drafted in the age of the sailing ship, when the attacker would be a fast light warship that nevertheless would have space to take the merchant crew aboard.  On the other hand, these rules were manifestly impossible for submarines to follow if they were to achieve any success.  Submarines relied on stealth and surprise, advantages which would have to be surrendered if they had to signal a merchant ship to stop first.  Second, a submarine is at its most vulnerable when on the surface, making it potentially disastrous to stop and wait while sailors board the merchant ship to inspect it.  Finally, the size of the submarine left no room whatsoever to take on the crew of a sunk merchant ship.  To operate in line with contemporary maritime law would greatly reduce the value of a submarine as a weapon against enemy shipping, and hence was referred to as restricted submarine warfare.

At the outset of the war the general expectation on all sides was that submarines would still adhere to maritime law, and indeed German submarines had done so for the first six months of the conflict.  However, given the tightening British naval blockade, Pohl is not the only German admiral to advocate that the U-Boat force stop adhering to international law in order to reach their full potency as a weapon against British trade, which is referred to as unrestricted submarine warfare.  To its advocates, this policy promised a means to strike back at the one main enemy that remained frustratingly beyond the reach of the German army or the High Seas Fleet.  Moreover, given British reliance on imports, especially of food, unrestricted submarine warfare had the potential to cripple the British economy, and perhaps even force its surrender.

Unrestricted submarine warfare was not without its difficulties.  For one, it would be another action that would tarnish the image of Germany elsewhere, and of particular concern was the potential for neutral merchant ships to be sunk by accident, which might lead to additional countries entering the war on the side of the Entente.  The biggest neutral, of course, is the United States, and the fear expressed by some is that adopting unrestricted submarine warfare may push it closer to the British.  Further, there could easily be incidents where passenger liners are mistaken for merchant ships, and the sinking of the former could lead to substantial civilian casualties and international outrage.  These reasons are why not only the German Chancellor but the Kaiser himself have refused to date to endorse the implementation of unrestricted submarine warfare.

Pohl, however, has persisted in his advocacy, and today attempts to assuage the Chancellor's concerns.  He argues that if Germany declares a war zone around Britain, it will scare away neutral shipping, which means that there will be neutral merchants in the area for U-Boats to sink by accident.  In additional, Pohl declares that submarine captains are able to distinguish between enemy and neutral ships, and between passenger liners and merchant ships.  Given these assurances, Bethmann-Hollweg consents to unrestricted submarine warfare.