- The finance ministers of France and Britain, meeting at Boulogne today, agree to float a joint loan in the United States, though it will formally be in Britain's name only. It was also agreed that proceeds would be shared with Russia, though Russian involvement would be kept private as American investors would be very hesitant to take up a loan backed by a government with such a poor fiscal reputation. It is hoped that American revulsion at the sinking of the passenger liners Lusitania and, two days ago, Arabic would enhance the willingness of American investors to back the Entente financially, and President Wilson has indicated privately that while he will not endorse the loan, he will not oppose it.
- The Russians opposite Prince Leopold's army group retreat during the night, and during the former's pursuit of the latter today elements of both the German 12th Army and General Woyrsch's command cut the railway linking Brest-Litovsk and Bialystok while cavalry seize the town of Kleszczeli.
Friday, August 21, 2015
Thursday, August 20, 2015
August 20th, 1915
- For several months Kitchener has resisted complying with the request of Joffre for a major British attack to accompany the fall French offensive, preferring the British contribution to be limited to a heavy artillery bombardment that would not waste large numbers of infantry in futile assaults. A discussion of operations on the Western Front at the Dardanelles Committee today, however, shows that events have conspired to wear down the opposition of the Secretary of State for War. On the Eastern Front, the recent fall of Warsaw seems to indicate that the Russians face a fresh series of disasters, and a strong effort by Britain and France is needed to prop up Russian morale. Such a success is not to be found on Gallipoli, however, given the failure of the big push over the past two weeks. The French themselves, Kitchener suggests to the committee, need to go on the attack to preserve morale, and that the hesitancy of the British to attack is leading the French 'to have grave doubts about us.' The nightmare scenario of Russia and/or France seeking a separate peace is even raised. In such circumstances, Kitchener, with the utmost reluctance, now states that the British Expeditionary Force needs to undertake a major attack along the French this fall, even though, as he replies to a colleague, 'the odds were against a great success.' The circumstances of the war have forced the British hand; as he informs the committee, 'we must make war as we must, not as we should like.' With such sentiments are thousands of British infantry condemned to die; indeed, it is an appropriate summary of how all sides view the ongoing struggle.
- On the Eastern Front only the German 12th Army is able to make significant progress today, seizing Nurec and Bielsk; the army groups of Prince Leopold and Mackensen are largely held up by strong Russian resistance. Even where the Russians are pulling back, however, the pace of the German advance is slowing, as casualty lists grow and logistical difficulties multiply; since the beginning of the month, General Gallwitz's 12th Army has suffered 60 000 losses while supplies now have to be hauled 125 kilometres by cart from the nearest railheads.
- Though it had declared war on Austria-Hungary in May, it is only today that the Italian government formally declares war on the Ottoman Empire, and technically remains at peace with Germany.
- Having successfully evaded Russian patrols in eastern Persia, the German mission to Afghanistan reaches the border at Herat today. The Germans enter the city in formal dress; the governor of the town is polite but unimpressed, and decides to hold the mission in the town while awaiting instructions from the emir of Afghanistan in Kabul.
- On the Eastern Front only the German 12th Army is able to make significant progress today, seizing Nurec and Bielsk; the army groups of Prince Leopold and Mackensen are largely held up by strong Russian resistance. Even where the Russians are pulling back, however, the pace of the German advance is slowing, as casualty lists grow and logistical difficulties multiply; since the beginning of the month, General Gallwitz's 12th Army has suffered 60 000 losses while supplies now have to be hauled 125 kilometres by cart from the nearest railheads.
- Though it had declared war on Austria-Hungary in May, it is only today that the Italian government formally declares war on the Ottoman Empire, and technically remains at peace with Germany.
- Having successfully evaded Russian patrols in eastern Persia, the German mission to Afghanistan reaches the border at Herat today. The Germans enter the city in formal dress; the governor of the town is polite but unimpressed, and decides to hold the mission in the town while awaiting instructions from the emir of Afghanistan in Kabul.
Wednesday, August 19, 2015
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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
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| 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.
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| Russian artillery captured by the Germans after the fall of Novogeorgievsk. |
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| 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.
Tuesday, August 18, 2015
August 18th, 1915
- Overnight four German Zeppelin undertake a bombing raid on London. Two turn back due to engine trouble, and the captain of L11 manages to confuse the village of Ashford with the British capital, dropping his forty-one bombs in farmers' fields. L10, however, guided by the lights of towns and villages after making landfall on the Suffolk coast, is able to find London. Even its navigation is imperfect, though, and drops its bombs on what its captain believes is the City but is actually the north-east suburbs of Leyton and Wanstead Flats. Nevertheless, it is the first time a Zeppelin of the German navy bombs London, and the strike kills ten and damages the Leyton railway station.
- Wilhelm II and Falkenhayn meet with Archduke Friedrich and Conrad at the latter's headquarters at Teschen today, ostensibly to celebrate the birthday of Emperor Franz Joseph, but also to decide further operations on the Eastern Front. Despite his continuing lack of faith in the fighting ability of the Austro-Hungarian army, Falkenhayn approves Conrad's suggestion of the latter's army conducting an offensive through Kowel. It is also agreed that the Austro-Hungarian 4th Army will be transferred from the left flank of the German 11th Army in Poland to the southeast, to join the Austro-Hungarian 1st Army in Conrad's offensive. This will leave 11th Army directly adjacent to the forces under General Worysch, and will help facilitate a clearer division of the Eastern Front between German and Austro-Hungarian sectors.
In central Poland Prince Leopold's army group push forward in pursuit of retreating Russian forces, while 12th Army on its northern flank aims for the railway between Brest-Litovsk and Bialystok. To the south, Mackensen's army group opens its offensive against Brest-Litovsk itself. The Army of the Bug has been assigned additional responsibility for the line from the Krzna River west of the fortress southeast to the Bug River, and its 119th Division, alongside XXII Reserve Corps of 11th Army to the north, is to confront the western face of Brest-Litovsk. This adjustment of responsibility has allowed 11th Army to reinforce its left wing for a drive across the Bug River downstream from Brest-Litovsk to enable the fortress to be enveloped from the northeast. Here the advance is to be led by X Reserve Corps, followed by the Guard Corps, 103rd Division, and the Guard Cavalry Division. Today XXII Reserve Corps and 47th Reserve Division of X Reserve Corps, after hard fighting, push forward to the line Kijowiec-Lipnica-Tielesnica to the west of Brest-Litovsk, while elements of 105th Division of X Reserve Corps secures a bridgehead across the Bug River downstream from the Russian fortress.
- After the successful Austro-Hungarian bombardment of Pelagosa yesterday, the Italian navy orders the evacuation today of the island, believing that it cannot be held in the face of active enemy opposition. Covered by a strong cruiser and destroyer force from Brindisi, the Italian withdrawal is accomplished without difficulty. The evacuation, however, does nothing for the reputation of the Italian navy in the eyes of their allies, as Captain Richmond, the British liasion officer, writes in his diary today:
- A revolution in 1906 had transformed the Persian government into a constitutional monarchy, and an effort by the shah to reverse the reforms ended in his deposition and exile in 1909. His son, Ahmad, came to the throne as a minor, and was only crowned ruler in his own right in 1914 at the age of 17. While the unrest weakened the control of the central government over the country, the elected assembly (the Majlis) has become a hotbed of liberal and nationalist sentiment, who see Britain and Russia (quite rightly) as the primary threats to Persian independence, and thus after the outbreak of war Persian liberals and nationalists have seen an alliance with Germany as the means by which the British and Russians can be ejected from the country. Government instability is endemic, however, with cabinets constantly collapsing, and the Maljis is just one of the interests in the country to be taken into account in the formation of new cabinets. The past month has seen yet another cabinet crisis, which is resolved today with the formation of a government by Mustaufi ul-Mamalik, whose reliance on support in the Majlis necessitates an approach to Germany. He informs the German ambassador, Prince Heinrich XXXI Reuss, that his government desires an alliance, a guarantee of independence, gold to pay the police force, and munitions with which to fight. Though Reuss recognizes the limited ability of the German government to provide material aid to the Persian government, he knows that if such an approach is rejected, a similar opportunity is not likely to arise again, and thus opens negotiations.
- Wilhelm II and Falkenhayn meet with Archduke Friedrich and Conrad at the latter's headquarters at Teschen today, ostensibly to celebrate the birthday of Emperor Franz Joseph, but also to decide further operations on the Eastern Front. Despite his continuing lack of faith in the fighting ability of the Austro-Hungarian army, Falkenhayn approves Conrad's suggestion of the latter's army conducting an offensive through Kowel. It is also agreed that the Austro-Hungarian 4th Army will be transferred from the left flank of the German 11th Army in Poland to the southeast, to join the Austro-Hungarian 1st Army in Conrad's offensive. This will leave 11th Army directly adjacent to the forces under General Worysch, and will help facilitate a clearer division of the Eastern Front between German and Austro-Hungarian sectors.
In central Poland Prince Leopold's army group push forward in pursuit of retreating Russian forces, while 12th Army on its northern flank aims for the railway between Brest-Litovsk and Bialystok. To the south, Mackensen's army group opens its offensive against Brest-Litovsk itself. The Army of the Bug has been assigned additional responsibility for the line from the Krzna River west of the fortress southeast to the Bug River, and its 119th Division, alongside XXII Reserve Corps of 11th Army to the north, is to confront the western face of Brest-Litovsk. This adjustment of responsibility has allowed 11th Army to reinforce its left wing for a drive across the Bug River downstream from Brest-Litovsk to enable the fortress to be enveloped from the northeast. Here the advance is to be led by X Reserve Corps, followed by the Guard Corps, 103rd Division, and the Guard Cavalry Division. Today XXII Reserve Corps and 47th Reserve Division of X Reserve Corps, after hard fighting, push forward to the line Kijowiec-Lipnica-Tielesnica to the west of Brest-Litovsk, while elements of 105th Division of X Reserve Corps secures a bridgehead across the Bug River downstream from the Russian fortress.
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| The German advance towards Brest-Litovsk, August 18th to 26th, 1915. |
- After the successful Austro-Hungarian bombardment of Pelagosa yesterday, the Italian navy orders the evacuation today of the island, believing that it cannot be held in the face of active enemy opposition. Covered by a strong cruiser and destroyer force from Brindisi, the Italian withdrawal is accomplished without difficulty. The evacuation, however, does nothing for the reputation of the Italian navy in the eyes of their allies, as Captain Richmond, the British liasion officer, writes in his diary today:
They have by this admitted that the Austrians have command of the sea in the Adriatic in spite of inferior naval force & without fighting an action! They have surrendered to them. They had better sell their Fleet & take up their organs & monkeys again, for, by Heaven, that seems more their profession than sea-fighting.- Immediately after assuming command of the French Army of the Near East, General Sarrail sent the government a memorandum which outlined a wide range of possible operations, from landings at Salonika in the Balkans to operations along the Anatolian and Syrian coast. The government forwarded the note to Joffre, who today offers his comments to the minister of war. Not surprisingly, Joffre is scathing, arguing that Sarrail's operations are 'incomplete, unrealizable, and disastrous,' and that one of the landings in the Near East could only be supplied by 'Arabs and mules.' Behind the harsh criticism is Joffre's continued opposition to any diversion of French strength from the Western Front.
- A revolution in 1906 had transformed the Persian government into a constitutional monarchy, and an effort by the shah to reverse the reforms ended in his deposition and exile in 1909. His son, Ahmad, came to the throne as a minor, and was only crowned ruler in his own right in 1914 at the age of 17. While the unrest weakened the control of the central government over the country, the elected assembly (the Majlis) has become a hotbed of liberal and nationalist sentiment, who see Britain and Russia (quite rightly) as the primary threats to Persian independence, and thus after the outbreak of war Persian liberals and nationalists have seen an alliance with Germany as the means by which the British and Russians can be ejected from the country. Government instability is endemic, however, with cabinets constantly collapsing, and the Maljis is just one of the interests in the country to be taken into account in the formation of new cabinets. The past month has seen yet another cabinet crisis, which is resolved today with the formation of a government by Mustaufi ul-Mamalik, whose reliance on support in the Majlis necessitates an approach to Germany. He informs the German ambassador, Prince Heinrich XXXI Reuss, that his government desires an alliance, a guarantee of independence, gold to pay the police force, and munitions with which to fight. Though Reuss recognizes the limited ability of the German government to provide material aid to the Persian government, he knows that if such an approach is rejected, a similar opportunity is not likely to arise again, and thus opens negotiations.
Monday, August 17, 2015
August 17th, 1915
- The French government passes the Dalbiez Law today to regulate the industrial workforce. While allowing for the conscription of unskilled labourers, it also exempts skilled workers from military service, limiting the ability of the army to draft as many soldiers at it desires. It is a further recognition that in a war of material as well as manpower, some are more valuable in the factory instead of the trench.
- On the Eastern Front General Alexeiev of North-West Front, though responsible for the line from the Baltics to the Bug River south of Brest-Litovsk, his attention has been squarely focussed on the ongoing threat posed by Mackensen's offensive. Concerned over the German threat in Courland, Stavka decides to split off the northern stretch of the line into a separate Northern Front, and in typical Russian fashion they appoint disgraced General Nicholas Ruzski, who had been dismissed as commander of North-West Front in April. The appointment is a reflection of both the conservatism and unimaginativeness of the Russian army.
Meanwhile, for the past nine days the Germans have systematically reduced the Russian fortifications at Kovno, which had not been modernized prior to the war. Further, though the garrison numbered ninety thousand, it was composed of poorly-trained territorial soldiers, and the fire from the defensive batteries was uncoordinated - on one occasion Russian artillery fired on a fort still held by their countrymen, thinking it had already fallen to the Germans. General Vladimir Grigoriev, the seventy-year-old commander of Kovno, had no experience with modern warfare and was convinced of German superiority, and when the German XL Reserve Corps assaults the last forts today, Grigoriev panics and flees, abandoning the garrison to its fate. In capturing Kovno the Germans seize over 1300 artillery pieces, 5300 heavy artillery shells, and 800 000 light artillery shells.
Further south, this morning the German XXV Reserve Corps of 9th Army crosses the Bug River northeast of Siedlec, while to the southeast the German X Reserve Corps of 11th Army reaches the Bug near Janow. Between the two German corps the Austro-Hungarian XVII and VIII Corps of 4th Army have also reached the river.
- The Austro-Hungarian navy bombards the Italian garrison on the island of Pelagosa in the central Adriatic today. Undertaken by the light cruisers Helgoland and Saida, accompanied by two destroyers, they blanket the island with shells, destroying among other installations the fresh-water cistern before withdrawing unhindered by the Italian navy, which had no warning of the sortie and was thus unable to respond before the Austro-Hungarians had departed.
- On the Eastern Front General Alexeiev of North-West Front, though responsible for the line from the Baltics to the Bug River south of Brest-Litovsk, his attention has been squarely focussed on the ongoing threat posed by Mackensen's offensive. Concerned over the German threat in Courland, Stavka decides to split off the northern stretch of the line into a separate Northern Front, and in typical Russian fashion they appoint disgraced General Nicholas Ruzski, who had been dismissed as commander of North-West Front in April. The appointment is a reflection of both the conservatism and unimaginativeness of the Russian army.
Meanwhile, for the past nine days the Germans have systematically reduced the Russian fortifications at Kovno, which had not been modernized prior to the war. Further, though the garrison numbered ninety thousand, it was composed of poorly-trained territorial soldiers, and the fire from the defensive batteries was uncoordinated - on one occasion Russian artillery fired on a fort still held by their countrymen, thinking it had already fallen to the Germans. General Vladimir Grigoriev, the seventy-year-old commander of Kovno, had no experience with modern warfare and was convinced of German superiority, and when the German XL Reserve Corps assaults the last forts today, Grigoriev panics and flees, abandoning the garrison to its fate. In capturing Kovno the Germans seize over 1300 artillery pieces, 5300 heavy artillery shells, and 800 000 light artillery shells.
Further south, this morning the German XXV Reserve Corps of 9th Army crosses the Bug River northeast of Siedlec, while to the southeast the German X Reserve Corps of 11th Army reaches the Bug near Janow. Between the two German corps the Austro-Hungarian XVII and VIII Corps of 4th Army have also reached the river.
- The Austro-Hungarian navy bombards the Italian garrison on the island of Pelagosa in the central Adriatic today. Undertaken by the light cruisers Helgoland and Saida, accompanied by two destroyers, they blanket the island with shells, destroying among other installations the fresh-water cistern before withdrawing unhindered by the Italian navy, which had no warning of the sortie and was thus unable to respond before the Austro-Hungarians had departed.
Sunday, August 16, 2015
August 16th, 1915
- In Poland the right wing of the German 8th Army has advanced past Tykocin, and is in position to threaten the Russian fortress of Ossoviets from the south, while the German 12th Army has pushed beyond Briansk. To the south elements of the German 9th Army, part of Prince Leopold's army group, have reached the Bug River northeast of Siedlec, while the Army of the Bug now covers a hundred kilometres of its namesake from Koden southwards. It is only between the two armies that the Russians hold ground west of the Bug, centred on the major Russian fortress at the city of Brest-Litovsk, situated on the river where its flow bends to the northwest after running northwards for several hundred kilometres. It is into this stretch of the line that the German 11th Army is advancing - X Reserve Corps, its lead formation, is today due west of Brest-Litovsk, while the Guard Corps is approaching the southern edge of the fortifications - and today Mackensen is instructed that the next objective of the German offensive is the envelopment and seizure of Brest-Litovsk.
Saturday, August 15, 2015
August 15th, 1915
- Having slowed the German advance yesterday, Russian forces in southern Poland pull back from their positions along the Slawatycze-Polubicze road, once again withdrawing before Mackensen can concentrate his artillery for an overwhelming blow. The Germans energetically pursue, and the German X Reserve Corps advances the furthest, its 105th Division reaching the town of Biala late this evening.
- In northern Africa the Senussi have concentrated their efforts on the Italian garrison in Libya, and have driven the latter north to the Mediterranean coast. The German liaison officer with the Senussi, Otto Mannesmann, is eager, however, to draw the Senussi into fighting the British in Egypt, and today attempts to manufacture an exchange of fire between a Senussi force and a British detachment today. The Senussi, however, are reluctant to embrace the German vision of a global war and remain focused on ejecting the Italians from Libya. The British, too, are not eager to engage the Senussi, recognizing that the latter do not presently pose a threat to their rule in Egypt, even if Italian entry into the war makes the Senussi at least their nominal foe.
- In northern Africa the Senussi have concentrated their efforts on the Italian garrison in Libya, and have driven the latter north to the Mediterranean coast. The German liaison officer with the Senussi, Otto Mannesmann, is eager, however, to draw the Senussi into fighting the British in Egypt, and today attempts to manufacture an exchange of fire between a Senussi force and a British detachment today. The Senussi, however, are reluctant to embrace the German vision of a global war and remain focused on ejecting the Italians from Libya. The British, too, are not eager to engage the Senussi, recognizing that the latter do not presently pose a threat to their rule in Egypt, even if Italian entry into the war makes the Senussi at least their nominal foe.
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