August 28th, 1915

- Falkenhayn today issues new orders for the Eastern Front which emphasize that once ongoing operations have been completed - especially the offensive towards Vilna undertaken by Hindenburg's army group - German forces will halt and construct a long-term defensive position stretching roughly from the upper Bug River to the Baltic Sea in Courland.  In the centre this means that the army groups under Mackensen and Prince Leopold will halt roughly along the line Ratno-Szereszowo, as Falkenhayn sees no strategic purpose in pursuing the retreating Russians into the Pripat Marshes, which would only stretch German logistics even farther than they already are.  Falkenhayn also warns Hindenburg and Ludendorff that once German forces have taken up their new defensive positions, between ten and twelve divisions will be transferred for service on other fronts.  Though Russia has not been knocked out of the war, Falkenhayn believes, with some justification, that both the ability and willingness of the Russian army to undertake offensive operations has been shattered for the foreseeable future, and thus wishes to take advantage of the opportunity to strike against other foes.  Hindenburg and Ludendorff, not surprisingly, disagree, seeing in the weakened Russian foe an opportunity to strike the knockout blow that the German chief of staff believes impossible.

Given his conclusion, Falkenhayn has been issuing orders for the redeployment of some of the German forces on the Eastern Front.  In addition to dispatching forces to the Balkans for an offensive against Serbia, the German chief of staff wishes to send some divisions back to the Western Front, where they can act as reserves while they rest and receive replacements for losses suffered during the campaign in Russia.  Today, orders go out to the Guard Corps, which is detached from Mackensen's army group and instructed to march from Brest-Litovsk to Warsaw, where it will entrain for the west.

- To the south, overnight the Russian 8th Army pulls back from the Bug River eastwards.  Conrad emphasizes to the commander of the Austro-Hungarian 1st Army the importance of quickly seizing Lutsk, and elements of the army are across the Styr River north of the city by noon.

- Despite the recent arrival of U34 and U35 in the eastern Mediterranean, Admiral Souchon has pleaded with his superiors in Berlin to send more submarines, in light of the British landing at Sulva Bay earlier this month.  It is decided to dispatch two submarines, not only for the military impact they may have, but also to given the impression of German strength to the neutral states in the Balkans.  Yesterday U39 departed Germany for the Mediterranean, followed today by U33.

- After the capture of Amara in early June General Townshend of 6th Indian Division had become ill, and departed for India to convalesce,  His soldiers, meanwhile, had endured the summer heat of Mesopotamia, with a number also becoming sick.  The summer low of the Tigris also impaired the resupply of the division, and shortages of all kinds were being felt.  Today, however, Townshend returns to Amara and reassumes command of 6th Indian Division which its soldiers take, correctly, as a sign of a return to action., as accompanying him are orders from General Nixon to advance up the Tigris River and seize Kut.  Townshend himself has concerns over the advance: reinforcements are needed, and advancing another 120 miles up the Tigris will further extend the already tenuous supply line back to Basra.  Nevertheless, he has been reassured by the commander-in-chief of the Indian army that he will not be ordered to advance beyond Kut without additional reinforcements.

August 27th, 1915

- Though for Conrad's offensive on the southern stretch of the Eastern Front the primary advance is to be undertaken by 1st Army from the north, the massive envelopment the Austro-Hungarian chief of staff desires can only be achieved if the armies to the south - 2nd, Süd, and 7th - also push forward south of the confluence of the Bug and Zlota Lipa Rivers.  Launching their assaults this morning, elements from all three armies are able to secure bridgeheads over the Zlota Ripa by this evening.

Given that Southwest Front is now confronting threats to both of its flanks, General Ivanov orders his forces in the centre - 8th and 11th Armies, along with the northern wing of 9th Army - to fall back to a line between the Bug and Styr Rivers (for the former) and along the Strypa (for the latter two).

The Austro-Hungarian offensive in Galicia and Volhynia, Aug. 27th to Sept. 2nd, 1915.

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 25th, 1915

- The German advance both north and south of Brest-Litovsk convinces General Alexeiev that the fortress is in imminent danger of envelopment.  Wanting to avoid a repetition of the debacle at Novogeorgievsk, he orders the abandonment of Brest-Litovsk today, and instructs the Russian armies in central Poland to withdraw to the line Grodno-Kobrin.  The Russian X, XIV, and III Caucasian Corps begin to pull back eastwards, and throughout the day massive explosions continuously rock the fortifications as the Russians attempt to destroy anything of military value.  German and Austro-Hungarian forces push into the ruins, though they continue to suffer casualties due to exploding mines.

August 24th, 1915

- For the past four days, the German 11th Army has attacked Russian positions on both sides of the Bug River northwest of Brest-Litovsk, but have been unable to make significant progress.  When a further assault is launched this morning, however, the enemy trenches are found to be abandoned.  Overnight the southern wing of the Russian 4th Army retreated to avoid being outflanked by the advance of Prince Leopold's army group to the north.  In response the left wing of 11th Army sets off in pursuit - 44th Reserve Division pushes to the village of Kolodno at the confluence of the Bug and Lesna River, the Guard Corps advances east through Niecholsty, and X Reserve Corps drives northeast to reach the next Russian defensive position on the line Kustyn-Barszczewo.

- After only occasional delays caused by the rearguard actions of Russian cavalry, German and Austro-Hungarian cavalry detachments under General Heydebreck occupy the city of Kowel this morning.  The German 5th and Austro-Hungarian 11th Honved Divisions turn north, pursuing the retreating Russian XXXI Corps.  This secures the northern flank for the next phase of Conrad's offensive, and the Austro-Hungarian 1st Army is assembling between Vladimir-Volynski and Kowel for an attack towards the town of Luck, aiming for the gap that has opened between the Russian 13th Army to the north and 8th Army, still along the upper Bug River, to the south.

August 23rd, 1915

- Having received instructions from Kitchener that the BEF is to attack not only in the location but also the manner desired by Joffre, Sir John French informs Haig that the latter's 1st Army is to mount a full-scale attack against the German line south of La Bassée Canal.

- Over the past four days the left and centre of the German 10th Army has pushed over halfway from Kovno to Vilna.  Along the entire Eastern Front, the only area where the Germans have not pushed significantly eastwards is the old battlefield at the forest of Augustow, where the line remains west of Grodno.

- After the decision in late July to send two ocean-going submarines to the Mediterranean, U34 and U35 had departed Heligoland on August 4th, and after a non-stop voyage both arrive at Cattaro today, which they shall use as a base for operations against Entente shipping in the Eastern Mediterranean.

August 22nd, 1915

- A centrepiece of Entente propaganda since the spring had been the German use of chlorine gas at the First Battle of Ypres, both as a violation of the rules of war and an affront to Western civilization, and had materially contributed to diminished reputation of Germany in neutral states in particular.  What was undeniable, however, had been the impact of the first use of gas on the Western Front, given the hole it 'blew' in the Entente line at Ypres and the ground subsequently captured.  Given the success the Entente powers have also been strongly tempted since April to make use of chemmical warfare themselves, and while some voices were raised in the British government opposing the use of chlorine gas on both a moral and a technical level (doubts were raised whether British industry could produce sufficient amounts of chlorine gas), the Cabinet had ultimately decided that they could not set aside a weapon that had the apparent potential to break the stalemate on the Western Front.  For several months special detachments of Royal Engineers had been training on the handling and use of chlorine gas, and today demonstrate their capabilities before General Haig and his corps commanders.  Suitably impressed, Haig adds the release of chlorine gas to his planning for the impending attack of his 1st Army south of La Bassée Canal.

- On the Eastern Front the German 8th Army seizes the Russian fortress at Ossoviets today, while a subsequent advance also captures the town of Tykocin on the Narew River.  To the south Prince Leopold's army group launches attacks to drive the Russian defenders opposite into the Bielowiese Forest further east, and though progress is made among the swamps a decisive success eludes the Germans.  On the other side of Brest-Litovsk, the German 1st and 22nd Divisions of the Army of the Bug have reached Oltusz and Radez respectively today, and their advance has forced the Russian II Caucasian Corps to pull back from the Bug River between Wlodawa and Slawatyzce, with 11th Bavarian Division crossing in pursuit.

- After several months convalescence, King Constantine I of Greece has sufficiently recovered to resume his political responsibilities, and today appoints Eleutherios Venizelos, who had emerged victorious in the June elections, Prime Minister.