October 19th, 1915

- Today Conrad achieves one of the great objectives of the war, one that however has nothing to do with the battlefield; instead it is marriage to his longtime mistress, Gina von Reininghaus.  They first met in 1907, when Conrad had become hopelessly smitten with Gina, who was less than half his age.  That Gina was already married with six children was but a mere inconvenience to Conrad, and he urged her to divorce her husband even as the two became lovers.  Conrad believed that if were victorious in war, his prestige and prominence would sweep aside all obstacles to making Gina his wife.  The current war, of course, has seen an unending succession of debacles, exposing his abysmal strategic judgement and the incompetence of the Austro-Hungarian army - the only victories he has achieved have occurred either due to Italian ineptitude (Cadorna is one of the few who legitimately rivals the Austro-Hungarian chief of staff in stubborness and detachment from the realities of war) or through German leadership.  What he has been unable to accomplish through battlefield glory has been accomplished through legal trickery: having divorced her husband, she has converted to Protestantism through a sham adoption by a sympathetic general, allowing her to skirt the Catholic Church's restrictions on divorce and remarriage.  Today's union legitimizes a relationship that Conrad and Gina had carried on openly and become the subject of mockery in Viennese social circles.  Unfortunately for the suffering Austro-Hungarian army, marital bliss does not confer martial ability on Conrad.

- In Serbia, on the western flank of the German XXII Reserve Corps the advance of 26th Division brings it into contact with the Austro-Hungarian 53rd Division of XIX Corps, held short of Obrenovac since its initial crossing of the Save River.  The arriving Germans turn the flank of the Serbian defenders, who pull back and allow the trapped Austro-Hungarians to finally break out.  To the east, the German 105th Division of IV Reserve Corps breaks through Serbian positions in the hills east of Lucić, suffering heavy casualties to overcome the fierce enemy resistance.  Meanwhile, however, the Germans score a coup when 232rd Reserve Regiment of 107th Division captures a Serbian patrol and an engineer detachment with orders to destroy the railway bridge over the Mlava River to the south.  Intelligence gleaned from the prisoners allow the Germans to capture the bridge intact, which will aid further advances.  To the south, while the Bulgarian 1st Army continues to be held up in the mountain passes east of Niš, to the south the Bulgarian 2nd Army has made much more progress, and today reaches the Vardar River at Veleš and cuts the railway linking Niš and Salonika.

- Both Russia and Italy formally declare war on Bulgaria today.

- The Serbian government has been pressuring General Sarrail to move his forces north from Salonika and concentrate them at Niš, to oppose the Bulgarians attacking from the east.  Sarrail knows that such a movement is impossible with the forces at his disposal, but recognizes that a gesture (beyond the deployment at the Strumica rail station) is needed.  As a result, he orders an infantry regiment and artillery battery, newly arrived at Salonika and from the French 57th Division, to move north to Krivolak, on the Salonika-Skopje railway thirty kilometres north of the Strumica rail station and south of Veleš.

The French advance from Salonika, October 1915.

- The Italian preliminary artillery bombardment along the lower Isonzo River is joined today by Italian aircraft, which this morning strike the Austro-Hungarian airbase at Aisovizza and begin airstrikes on marching columns and railway stations.  These raids are largely unopposed, as the Austro-Hungarian aircraft on the Italian Front are primarily designed for reconnaissance, not aerial combat.

- The government of Japan adheres to the Pact of London today, which had originally been signed on September 5th, 1914 by Russia, France, and Britain and by which they had pledged not to sign a separate peace with Germany.  Japan's agreement to remain in the war until the end does not, however, signal an expansion of the Japanese contribution to the war effort of the Entente.  Instead, the Japanese government hopes that adhering to the pact will secure it a seat at the peace conference at the end of the war and allow Japanese negotiators to secure the permanent transfer of captured German colonies in Asia and the Pacific to Japan.

October 16th, 1915

- In Serbia a further advance by the German 44th Reserve Division and the Austro-Hungarian 59th Division of the Austro-Hungarian 3rd Army secure today the northern face of the Avala Hills, the main Serbian defensive line south of Belgrade.

- The French government formally declares war on Bulgaria today.

October 15th, 1915

- Field Marshal Sir John French learns that Joffre has called off the French offensives in Artois and Champagne, which invalidates the strategic premise of the British offensive at Loos.  This, in conjunction with the failure of the attack of the 13th to secure significant gains, compels the commander of the BEF to call off the offensive in Flanders.  Henceforth, the British 1st Army will limit itself strictly to those operations essential to seize ground to protect itself from German counterattacks against the ground captured on the 13th.

Since September 25th the British 1st Army has suffered approximately 50 000 casualties, including almost 16 000 dead, while pushing forward between 800 and 2500 yards on a 6000 yard stretch of the German line north and south of the village of Loos.  As with the French in Champagne, most of this ground was seized in the first hours of the attack on the morning of the 25th, and again in common with the French the British proved unable to sustain the initial momentum and subsequent attacks proved increasingly futile.  In the case of Loos, the failures from the afternoon of the 25th onward have been ascribed by Haig and his supporters as primarily the responsibility of Field Marshal's French's mishandling of the reserves, a dispute that continues to fester in the upper ranks of the British army.  The battle has also proven to be a bitter introduction to the divisions of Kitchener's 'New Armies' to combat on the Western Front, the attack of 21st and 24th Divisions, though driven home with great courage, was an abysmal failure, gaining no ground at the cost of several thousand casualties.  They will not be the only divisions of the 'New Armies' to have such a deadly debut on the Western Front.

- With Bulgaria's entry into the war on the side of Germany with its invasion of Serbia, Great Britain and Montenegro formally declare war on Bulgaria today.

- Today Austen Chamberlain, Secretary of State for India, informs Lord Hardinge, Viceroy of India, that the Cabinet is discussing the withdrawal of the two divisions of Indian Expeditionary Force A from France and dispatching them to Mesopotamia.  This redeployment has two purposes: (1) to facilitate the capture of Baghdad; and (2) to secure the region if an Entente withdrawal from the Dardanelles allows the Ottomans to redeploy divisions there to Mesopotamia.

October 14th, 1915

- Overnight five German Zeppelins undertake a bombing raid on London.  While L11 turned back near the English coast after coming under fire, dropping his bombload on several small villages, and L16 strikes the town of Hertford, twenty miles north of London, the three others all manage to hit the British capital.  Most notably, L15, watched by members of Parliament who had been debating an emergency taxation measure, drops its bombs from Charing Cross to the Bank of England, with the second bomb exploding in Wellington Street and killing seventeen, the greatest number of deaths caused by a single bomb in a raid to date.  L13, meanwhile, targets pumping and power stations at Hampton as well as Woolwich Arsenal, and L14, after a lengthy diversion to Hythe on the Kent coast where it dropped nine bombs on an army encampment and killed fifteen soldiers, struck the suburb of Croydon where a number of homes were damaged or destroyed.  Though the Zeppelins had trouble with fog on the return voyage, all return safely (though L15 landed three miles short of Nordholz, necessitating repairs).  This raid is one of the deadliest of the war, with 71 killed and 128 injured, including 38 killed and 87 injured in London itself.

- The Kossava continues unabated in Serbia today, and the only craft able to cross the swollen Save and Danube Rivers are boats with motors or steam engines, of which only two are available to transport supply for the entire German III and X Reserve Corps.  For the German and Austro-Hungarian forces on the south banks of the rivers, supply problems continue.

South of Belgrade further attacks by the German XXII Reserve Corps and the Austro-Hungarian VIII Corps succeed in pushing the Serbians back from their forward positions, and elements of the German 43rd and 44th Reserve Divisions advance on either side of the railway running towards Ripanj.  On the front of the German 11th Army, after reconnaissance patrols yesterday established that the Serbs had evacuated Požarevac, the German 3rd Bavarian Regiment occupies the town today.

Meanwhile the Bulgarian 1st and 2nd Armies begin their advance today.  Given that the former is clearly aimed directly at Niš, the Serbs have deployed strong forces, totalling five infantry divisions and one cavalry division, to contain the Bulgarian advance in the mountain passes east of the city.  Given the strong resistance, coupled with the continuing bad weather, the Bulgarian 1st Army makes no progress today.  However, given the continued pressure the Serbs are under on all fronts, they are incapable of being strong everywhere, and only small forces can be spared to hold back the Bulgarian 2nd Army.

The deployment of the Bulgarian 1st and 2nd Armies and the Serbian forces assigned to
contain them, Oct. 14th, 1915.

- French forces begin to arrive at Strumica Station today, where they join seven Serbian battalions.  Given their proximity to the Bulgarian frontier here, however, they quickly come under Bulgarian artillery fire.

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.

June 3rd, 1915

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

May 23rd, 1915

- Though Prime Minister Salandra has long desired Italian entry into the war on the side of the Entente, he has kept knowledge of the timing of a declaration of war a closely guarded secret; notably, the armed forces have not been informed when war is to commence.  Indeed, for several weeks the heads of the army and navy have been pleading with Salandra for information on when war is expected to begin, but to no avail.  Only at noon today does the naval general staff learn that hostilities will commence at midnight, and only through an informal telephone call from an official at the foreign ministry.  Meanwhile, at 430pm Salandra officially notifies the minister of war that the declaration of war is about to be handed to the Austro-Hungarian government.  Salandra's reasoning has been to avoid any preparatory measure that might allow Austria-Hungary to argue that Italy had committed an act of aggression prior to a declaration of war.  In practice, however, it leads to the astonishing situation where the Italian government has known for four weeks that Italy is going to enter the war, but the armed forces are actually unprepared to commence hostilities when the day comes.

Meanwhile, this morning Foreign Minister Sonnino learns that the Italian ambassador in Vienna never received yesterday's telegram containing the declaration of war, and confesses to his fellow ministers that it all likelihood it was intercepted and deciphered by the Austro-Hungarians.  A second telegram is thus dispatched at 2pm, and two hours later the ambassador formally presents it to the Austro-Hungarian government, informing it that hostilities will commence as of midnight.

Crucially, the Italian government very deliberately decides not to declare war on Germany today, in part at least to avoid Germany sending significant forces to fight on the Italian frontier.  Nor does Italy declare war on the Ottoman Empire; indeed, diplomatic relations remain intact and the Ottoman embassy in Rome remains open, providing a perfect base for espionage against Italy.  This means that Italy does not actually fulfill the requirement of the Treaty of London to go to war against all enemies of the Entente, a very great irony considering how much bluster will issue forth from Italian representatives later in the war and afterwards regarding faithful adherence to the agreement.

Notably, Germany does not declare war on Italy either.  It prefers to leave open the possibility of Italian goods entering Germany through neutral Switzerland, as occurred during the period of Italian neutrality, and thus leave open a path around the British naval blockade.  The Germans also feared that a declaration of war against Italy might trigger Romania to enter the war on the side of the Entente.  Unsurprisingly this decision is unpopular in Vienna, but it is equally unsurprising that Austro-Hungarian displeasure is of no great concern to the Germans.

- Enver Pasha dispatches a message to the German government today, requesting the arrival of German submarines in the eastern Mediterranean to attack the Entente fleet off the Dardanelles.  The appeal is unnecessary - German submarines are about to make their presence felt it dramatic fashion.

- For the past two weeks, the landing party of the German light cruiser Emden have been travelling along the Hedjaz railway.  At numerous stops they have been met by German and Ottoman officials, as well as cheering crowds.  They have obtained new clothing for the first time in six months, and during a stop at Aleppo received mail from home.  This afternoon their train pulls into the station at Haider Pasha, the Asiatic terminus of the Hedjaz railway across from Constantinople.  Now attired in dress uniforms, the sailors disembark and stand in formation before Admiral Souchon and his staff.  Their journey is complete when First Officer Mücke lowers his sword before Souchon and states: 'I report the landing squad from the Emden, five officers, seven petty officers, and thirty men strong.'

After a six month journey that has taken them from the Dutch East Indies through Arabia, punctuated by a series of adventures and near-mishaps that could hardly have been invented if they had not actually happened, the landing party has managed against all odds to evade capture and return to the fight.  Moreover, the saga of the landing party has captured the attention of the world: in the midst of the hellish stalemate and impersonal slaughter of the Western Front, their voyage has shown that scope for heroism and adventure remain even in the darkest war in human history.  Even beyond Germany, Mücke's leadership is celebrated, and the British press, ever willing to celebrate the underdog, applauds the exploits of the landing party.

November 5th, 1914

- In Flanders General d'Urbal recieves instructions from General Foch that, as per communications from Joffre, the possibility of a decisive breakthrough north or south of Ypres had all but disappeared, given the time the Germans have had to entrench in their current positions.  Conversely, indications at present suggest the Germans have themselves abandoned hopes for a breakthrough.  Instead, it would be preferable to withdraw troops from the fighting to reconstitute reserves for the French army elsewhere.

The one thing Foch does not do is order d'Urbal to cease his attacks on the German lines.  In the absence of such orders, attacking is precisely what d'Urbal does.  For his efforts today precisely no ground is gained, and indeed Hill 75, just to the west of Messines, is captured by the Germans today.

On the British front it is finally possible this evening to relieve 7th Division and 3rd Brigade, 1st Division, replacing the former with battalions drawn from II Corps and the latter with 6th Cavalry Brigade.  7th Division epitomizes the struggles faced by the BEF and the losses they have suffered.  It has been in near-constant combat, and under continual shelling, since October 19th, and of the 12 522 officers and men who comprised the division when it landed at Ghent on October 12th, only 4149 men remain when it is pulled out of the line today, which includes 2000 soldiers sent as reinforcements over the past month - its commander has been heard to joke darkly that he is a divisional commander without a division.

Nevertheless, the prevailing mood at BEF HQ is that the worst has now past.  Field Marshal French and his corps commanders meet today to discuss the disposition of the BEF over the winter and the provision of leave arrangements.

This optimism, of course, is completely unfounded, as Falkenhayn has determined to make one last push at Ypres.  Today 4th Division, one of the units designated as reinforcements for the offensive, begins detraining today at Lille.

The Battle of Ypres, October 5th to 9th, 1914.

- Today the British government declares the entire North Sea a war zone, and that all vessels entering these waters do so at their own risk.  Ostensibly the move is a response to the laying of German mine fields in the North Sea, but in practice it is a further step in tightening the blockade of Germany - by declaring the North Sea a war zone, the hope is that all neutral traffic would use the Dover Straits where it could be inspected for contraband, a much easier process than patrolling the gap between Scotland and Norway.  Again the British government is undertaking a delicate balancing act - the needs of the Admiralty must constantly be balanced by the Foreign Office's concerns with the impact on neutral opinion.

- This evening the British battlecruisers Invincible and Inflexible depart Cromarty Firth on the west Scottish coast, where they had been a part of Admiral Beatty's Battlecruiser Squadron, en route to Plymouth, where they are to have machinery replaced and take on supplies prior to departure for the South Atlantic.  Their redeployment is the brainchild of Admiral Fisher, just as the ships themselves were a result of his vision of modern naval warfare expounded upon during his earlier tenure as First Sea Lord.  He believed that speed and firepower was paramount, and envisioned the battlecruiser being able to catch everything it could sink and escape from what it couldn't.  In practice this meant having the main armament, but not the armour, of a dreadnought, which gave it several knots advantage over the latter.

In sending them to the South Atlantic they are to form the cornerstone of the British effort to find and sink the German East Asiatic Squadron.  The two battlecruisers are faster than Spee's armoured cruisers, and with heavier main armament is able to fire larger shells over a distance significantly farther than Spee's own main armament can reach.  In other words, they are the perfect weapon to annihilate the German squadron and avenge Coronel - it is the Royal Navy equivalent of stacking the deck in its favour.  Indeed, this is one of the core missions Fisher had envisioned his battlecruisers undertaking - hunting down and sinking enemy commerce raiders.

Of course, the admirals losing Invincible and Inflexible are not pleased about the redeployment.  Beatty is aghast at losing two of his precious battlecruisers, and while Admiral Jellicoe can understand the logic behind the move, he is all-too-aware that it further reduce the British margin of superiority in the North Sea shortly after the loss of the dreadnought Audacious.  The next several months will constitute the closest the German High Seas Fleet will come to parity with the British Grand Fleet.

- All other options exhausted, Britain and France today declare war on the Ottoman Empire.  Simultaneously, the British announce the formal annexation the Ottoman island of Cyprus, which they have occupied since the Congress of Berlin in 1878.  Though this does little more than make de jure what has long been de facto, the action outrages public opinion in Greece, given the substantial Greek population on Cyprus and the belief that the island belongs to them.

The Entente powers are also cognizant of the potential for unrest among the Muslim population of their colonies as they go to war with the preeminent Muslim state in the world.  In an effort to neutralize the issue, the governor-general of French Algeria issues a proclamation that differentiates between the Young Turk rulers of the Ottoman Empire, who are seen as puppets of Germany, and the Turkish people as a whole.

- The Russian declaration of war on the Ottoman Empire yesterday opens a new front in the war, as the two empires share a frontier in the Caucasus.  The terrain here is rough and broken, dominated by the Caucasus and Taurus mountain ranges, and the poverty of the region was such that at the best of times the peasants were barely able to feed themselves.  Two railways on the Russian side approached the border, but their configeration was based on commerce, not defense, while on the Turkish side the nearest railway to Erzurum, the principal Ottoman city in the Caucasus, is 640 miles away.  The weather is also terrible, winter lasting from early November to between late March and May, with snow of two metres in the valleys and temperatures falling below minus twenty degrees centigrade.

All of this combines to convince the Russians that there is little risk of Ottoman invasion.  Indeed, the primary Russian focus is internal, not external - the region has always been a troublesome colonial frontier for the Russians, and groups such as the Georgians continue to agitate and organize to fight for independence.  To this end the Russian I Caucasian Corps, the main Russian force responsible for the region's defense, has been ordered to secure the line Bayazit-Eleskirt-Id, just inside the Ottoman border, this constituting a shorter front than if the corps remained on the Russian side of the frontier.  However, this evening General Georgii Bergmann, who commands I Caucasian Corps and desires glory on the battlefield, orders in his own initiative a further advance to Hasankale on the main road to Erzurum.

The Caucasus Theatre.

- At Tanga the German defenders now number 1500, but Colonel Lettow-Vorbeck is uneasy.  Though the British were repulsed yesterday, he is aware that they had managed to penetrate into Tanga before doing so, and is concerned that a more concerted and determined British advance might yet succeed.  Further, though the enemy advance on Longido failed on the 3rd, he is conscious that he has only three companies there should the British go back over onto the attack.  At 5pm, he concludes that Tanga can no longer be held, and begins preparations to withdraw.

As it turns out, however, the British had beaten him to the punch.  After the debacle of yesterday the soldiers of Indian Expeditionary Force B were hopelessly demoralized, and their commander convinced that victory was impossible.  Thus the British evacuate their forces from the beachhead near Tanga, a process complete by 320pm.  Such was their haste to evacuate that they left all of its heavy supplies behind, among which were eight machine-guns, 455 rifles, and half a million rounds, a vital contribution to Lettow-Vorbeck's force given the difficulties of resupply from Germany itself.  The entire British operation, from first to last, has been a disaster, giving the Germans a notable victory and, for now at least, bringing a halt to offensive operations against German East Africa.

Indian dead on the beaches near Tanga, November 5th, 1914.

November 4th, 1914

- At Ypres the day is cold and wet, mist turning to rain in the afternoon.  The British and French notice a distant lessening in the frequency of German infantry attacks, though German artillery bombardments continue, while French attacks, as in prior days, effect no change to the front line.  General Haig informs Field Marshal French today that 1st and 7th Division of I Corps desperately need to be relieved, as so heavy have been the losses, particularly for the latter, that they simply cannot hold a continuous trench line.

On the German side, Falkenhayn officially orders 6th Army to make one last push at Ypres, focusing on the line north of the Ypres-Comines Canal.  He hopes that with reinforcements a final attack will finally achieve the success that has eluded him on prior occasions.

- The raid on Yarmouth yesterday has an unfortunate coda for the Germans today.  A portion of the High Seas Fleet had left port and patrolled the Heligoland Bight yesterday in case they were needed to support or rescue Hipper's battlecruisers.  Overnight, however, there was a dense fog that prevented the warships from re-entering Wilhelmshaven.  At dawn today the armoured cruiser Yorck receives permission to proceed to Wilhelmshaven for repairs to its fresh-water tanks.  The fog is still so thick that it is impossible for the warships to see each other, however, and a change of current takes the unsuspecting Yorck into a defensive minefield.  It strikes two mines within a minute and rapidly sinks, and two hundred and thirty-five men drown.

The German armoured cruiser Yorck, lost today in a friendly minefield.

- The German occupation of almost all of Belgium has put an immense strain on the food supply of the latter's civilian population, as prior to the war three-quarters of all food consumed in Belgium had to be imported.  The perspective of the German government is that Belgium should continue to rely on imported food - why should they have to take responsibility for feeding them?  The counterargument of the British is that by conquering the country the Germans had assumed responsibility of the civilian population, and if food was allowed to be imported Belgium there was no guarantee that it would not be diverted to the German population.

The solution to the impasse was the formation of the Committee for the Relief of Belgium.  Headed by American mining magnate Herbert Hoover, the Committee took over responsibility for the feeding of the Belgian population by supervising the importation and distribution of food, ensuring that such supplies were not expropriated by the Germans.  Today the first food supplied by the Committee arrives in Brussels, helping to stave off starvation over the coming winter.  The Committee also makes the international reputation of Hoover, and propels him to the American Presidency.

- In London the first reports of the Battle of Coronel reach the Admiralty this morning, through sparse accounts that appear in the German press.  Though the Royal Navy makes no public comment, orders are immediately dispatched to British warships in the South Atlantic to converge, in preparation for the German East Asiatic Squadron moving around Cape Horn.  As a result, Rear Admiral A. C. Stoddart, who had been send to command the new squadron formed in the South Atlantic in October (as stated in the Admiralty's October 14th message to Craddock), will have four armoured cruisers, a force roughly equal in strength to Admiral Spee's.  However, after the humiliation of Coronel, no one at the Admiralty is interested in a fair fight.

- Without any sign from the Ottoman government repudiating the attacks undertaken by Admiral Souchon's warships on October 29th, Russia formally declares war on the Ottomans.

- At noon today Indian Expeditionary Force B begins its advance overland from its landing beaches to the town of Tanga.  The advance is as badly managed as everything else to do with this expedition.  Its commander had decided not to unload his artillery believing he could rely on the light cruiser Fox, but its captain, still fearful of mines, refused to approach close enough to Tanga to provide fire support.  The day is hot, and units lose touch with each other in the dense bush, only to stumble onto German positions at ranges under fifty yards.

The right of IEF B, comprised of its best units, manages to fight its way into Tanga itself, but the left comes under heavy fire and is halted.  One battalion on the left breaks and flees, and the rest on the left move northwards towards the more-successful right.  Thus despite British forces in the town itself, Colonel Lettow-Vorbeck is optimistic that his plan will work, and at 430pm orders his reserve company to hit the British southern flank.  The striking power of the maneouvre is muted, however, when a second company simply follows the first into the British position, instead of extending the German envelopment of IEF B even further westwards.

By nightfall confusion reigns on the battlefield.  In an effort to regain control of their units, German company commanders order their buglers to sound a recall.  The British commander, however, misinterprets this as signalling an imminent German charge, and believing himself defeated, withdraws his force back towards the landing beaches, even as the Germans also pull back to reorganize.

The British approach to Tanga and the German flanking maneouvre, November 4th, 1914.

- At the start of the war, the German light cruiser Karlsruhe was in the Caribbean, and since that time has attacking Entente shipping, capturing eighteen merchants.  Its run of good fortune comes to a sudden end today, when near Barbadoes Karlsruhe is blown in half by an internal explosion, most likely caused by unstable ammunition.  Its fate remains unconfirmed for months, until the survivors return to Germany, and for many weeks ahead the Admiralty continues to fear and plan around the existance of Karlsruhe.

August 25th, 1914

- Joffre issues General Instruction No. 2 today, which outlines the French strategy in light of the defeat in the Battle of the Frontiers.  The forces on the French left, including the BEF, are to retreat to the line Amiens-Rheims-Verdun, a retreat of over one hundred kilometres.  The massive fortress complex around Verdun is to serve as a hinge, anchoring the centre of the French line, while the left moves counterclockwise like a door.  This means the BEF and the French 5th Army, as the units furthest on the French left, will have the farthest to retreat.  During the retreat, French forces are to fight a delaying action, using quick counterattacks with artillery to keep the Germans off-balance.  As this retreat is underway, additional French forces will be concentrated at Amiens, drawn from the existing French armies between Verdun and the Swiss border.  Once this force is assembled, it would attack the exposed German flank as it passes south and, in conjunction with the BEF and other French armies on the left, envelop and destroy the invading German armies.

- The German 4th Army penetrates Sedan today, and is counterattacked by the French 4th Army to prevent the Germans from crossing the Meuse Rivier.  After bitter fighting and bayonet assaults, the French withdraw at nightfall, and blow the bridges over the river.

- The French launch a major counterattack in Lorraine today, directed towards the German forces advancing between Toul and Epinal.  From the north, 2nd Army's attack is led by Foch's XX Corps, which has already covered itself in glory in earlier fighting, and today retakes three towns and advances ten miles.  From the south, 1st Army achieves similar gains.  Despite earlier victories, the German 6th and 7th armies have sustained heavy losses, and they are thrown back across the Mortagne River and away from the gap at Charmes.  The Germans have no intention of giving up the fight - a breakthrough here might allow the envelopment and destruction of the entire French army - but the wooded and hilly terrain is ideal for the defensive, and the French also benefit from extensive pre-war fortifications.  In essence, the advantages that lay with the Germans when the French invaded Lorraine are reversed now that it is the Germans invading French Lorraine.

- General Joseph-Simon Gallieni is appointed today Military Governor of Paris.  The French government has become suddenly aware that the German advance may threaten the capital itself, and discover that its defenses have been woefully neglected.  Gallieni promises to bring energy and action to the fortification of Paris, and also insists that Joffre assigned several corps to ensure the city can be held.  Joffre demures; he needs all the corps he can to execute his retreat and counter-attack operation, and can hardly afford to have any tied down defending the capital.

- The Belgian army makes a sudden sortie today, fighting the German corps detached from the German 1st Army to cover the city.  Elements of the German corps are thrown back in confusion to Louvain before the sortie is contained and the Belgians retreat to Antwerp.  The sortie, however, would indirectly have an even larger impact on Louvain itself.  This small university town, known as the 'Oxford of Belgium,' had been occupied peacefully by the Germans for almost a week, but in the confusion tonight after the Belgian sortie German soldiers moving through the city believe they have been fired upon by Belgian civilians.  More plausible is that panicked Germans fired on each other in the darkness.  Regardless, German soldiers begin the destruction of Louvain, burning buildings and shooting civilians, which continue for several days.

- General Samsonov of the Russian 2nd Army is informed today that two corps of the German 8th Army have retreated to the fortress of Königsberg, far to the north, convincing him that the only substantial enemy forces before him is the German corps since yesterday.  Samsonov is thus encouraged to continue to advance with his centre, and when the German XX Corps comes under pressure on its flank, withdraws to the north.  Samsonov interprets this as part of an ongoing German general retreat, and continues to orders his forces to pursue.

Unintentionally, Samsonov's advance exposes the flanks of 2nd Army to the Germans.  Most of the German I Corps arrive today on the western flank of XX Corps, though General François ignores an order by Ludendorff to attack, arguing that his artillery has not arrived and an advance would be suicidal.  Meanwhile, XVII and I Reserve Corps continue to march towards their position on the eastern flank of XX Corps.

- Since the Battle of Gumbinnen on the 20th, Moltke has remained concerned about the Russian invasion of Prussia.  Despite the replacement of Prittwitz with Hindenburg and Ludendorrf, it is not yet clear if their plans for operations against the Russian 2nd Army will be successful.  Under pressure from Junkers whose East Prussian estates lay in the path of the Russians, Moltke decides that reinforcements must be sent.  His initial impulse is to take corps from 6th and 7th Armies, engaged in Lorraine.  However, the continued fighting between Toul and Epinal suggests that the armies cannot spare any corps, and moreover the Bavarian corps of 6th Army may not fight with sufficient ardour to save East Prussia.  Instead, Moltke looks to the right wing.  The fall of Namur has freed the two corps that had been beseiging the city.  Instead of rejoining the advance of the right wing, orders are issued for their redeployment to East Prussia.

- Fighting since the 23rd, the Austro-Hungarian 1st Army has turned both flanks of the Russian 4th Army, and the latter, having lost 6000 prisoners and twenty-eight guns, retreats northwards to the Kraśnik positions south of Lublin.  Victory in the Battle of Kraśnik encourages Conrad in his belief that a decisive victory can be won through his invasion of Russian Poland, and he urges the Austro-Hungarian 4th Army, to the east of 1st Army, onwards.  The Russian 4th Army, meanwhile, urges 5th Army on its east to attack southwest to disrupt the enemy 1st Army.

- In the early hours of this morning, the German commander at Kamina in Togoland destroys the nine masts and switchboard of the Kamina wireless station, and at daylight surrenders to the British and Imperial forces.  The Germans are hopelessly outnumbered, but nevertheless surrender before absolutely necessary - for example, they still have over 300 000 rifle rounds.  Moreover, German resistance has not been as stiff as it could have been - most of the colony had been abandoned without a fight, and much of the infrastructure had not been destroyed to impede the speed of the British advance.  The approach of the German commander, instead, had been to concentrate on Kamina, the only vital point in the colony, and otherwise preserve the rest of the colony.  There was only ever one possible outcome to the invasion of Togoland, and instead of destroying the colony in what would have been an obviously futile effort to hold it, a token resistance is instead offered, to preserve the 'benefits' (i.e. infrastructure, etc.) that have accrued to the African population of Togoland under German rule.

- Following its declaration of war on Germany, Japan today declares war on Austria-Hungary.

August 23rd, 1914

- The French 5th Army fights a desperate battle for survival, as crises mount by the hour.  The roads were choked with Belgian refugees, making rapid redeployment of units impossible.  At noon news arrived that the Belgians were evacuating Namur, which was to fall to the Germans later in the day.  The German 2nd Army launches a series of ferocious attacks which push elements of 5th Army southwards, while during the day the full force of the German 3rd Army is felt, as it seizes river crossings on the Meuse and directly threatens 5th Army's right flank.  Bits of news arriving by telegram of action elsewhere on the frontiers suggest the Germans are gaining all along the line, leaving him without any support.  He sees his worst nightmares coming true before his eyes - 5th Army trapped and annihilated between the two German armies, leaving France completely exposed to the German invasion of the north.  Lanrezac feels that the survival of 5th Army is essential to the survival of France itself.  At 930pm, Lanrezac informs Joffre that he has given the order to retreat.

As bad as the days events have been for 5th Army, they could have gone much worse.  General Bülow of the German 2nd Army had instructed General Hausen of 3rd Army to attack directly westwards across the Meuse, in support of his own push from the north.  Hausen complied with Bülow's order, instead of with a directive from OHL to move southwest towards Givet.  Had 3rd Army attempted OHL's manoeuvre instead, they would have been able to advance into the French 5th Army's rear, cutting its line of retreat and forcing its destruction.  By attacking frontally, Lanrezac's army is able to escape.

- When the commanders of the 3rd and 4th Armies report this morning on the devastating results of the prior day's fighting, Joffre at first cannot believe it.  So much has been invested in Plan XVII, in the notion that French infantry with sufficient elan can sweep all before them, that he can hardly comprehend that the attacks have failed.  Joffre orders both armies to resume the offensive.  As both armies struggle to resume the attack, German counter-attacks worsen the situation.  Just after noon, V Corps of 3rd Army is driven back eight miles, and to avoid envelopment the rest of 3rd Army retires the same distance.  To the north, the battered Colonial Corps of 4th Army withdraws from Neufchâteau at 5am, uncovering the flank of XII Corps which is also forced to retreat.  By the end of the day, all but two corps of 3rd and 4th armies have been driven back to the line from which they had started their offensive.

- The only decent news for the French comes from Lorraine where, despite its mauling, the French 2nd Army has managed to extricate itself and form a strong defensive line west of the Meurthe River, its northern flank anchored at Nancy and its southern linked to 1st Army.

- This evening, as the terrible news from along the front accumulates, Joffre struggles to understand the magnitude of what has transpired.  In a telegram to the War Minister, he suggests that he has been only 'momentarily checked' and that the offensive will be resumed.  The reality is that the French army has been defeated.  All of its pre-war planning and training, its emphasis on morale and infantry assaults, its unyielding faith in elan and the offensive, has been for nought.  In four days fighting, from Rupprecht's counterattack on the 20th to Lanrezac's order to retreat this evening, Plan XVII has disastrously miscarried.  Over those four days, the French army has suffered more than 140 000 casualties, and is now in retreat.

- As the French army endures a series of defeats, the British Expeditionary Force sees its first fighting of the campaign.  Acceding to Lanrezac's request, the BEF holds the line of the Mons Canal.  They are significantly outnumbered - the German 1st Army bearing down on them has four corps and three cavalry divisions, to the BEF's two corps.  Further, Smith-Dorrien's II Corps, on the left of the line, bears the brunt of the fighting, while Haig's I Corps on the right is not attacked at all.  Balancing the numbers are the quality of the British soldiers.  While the BEF is pitifully small compared to the armies of the Continental powers, it is also the only army composed of long-service regulars, instead of conscripts.  These are men who have made soldiering their profession - they train constantly, with a particular emphasis on rapid and accurate rifle fire.  Further, experience in the Boer War taught the British army the crucial importance of entrenchment and rifle accuracy.  Together this means the BEF is able to punch above its weight despite being heavily outnumbered.

The battle opens at 9am when German artillery begin firing on the British entrenchments south of the canal, followed shortly by infantry attacks.  Kluck's orders to maintain contact with 2nd Army to the east means he is unable to stretch his army westward to find and turn the BEF's flank.  As a result, 1st Army spends the day throwing itself at the British in frontal attacks.  Further, the attacks come in piecemail - 1st Army is still in marching formation, strung out along the Belgian road network, and is unable to concentrate when they stumble across the British.  Two corps of 1st Army never even engage the enemy today.  The German infantry who do enter the battle find themselves under intense rifle fire of such accuracy and frequency that some regiments report being halted by machine-gun fire instead.  By afternoon sections of the British line are being painfully forced back from the canal line, but the BEF is able to execute an orderly withdrawal to a second line of prepared entrenchments.  The Germans, for their part, are too exhausted to give chase.

German infantry advance towards Mons in the dense formations that made
them such easy targets for the British regulars, Aug. 23rd, 1914.

As evening falls, the soldiers of the BEF take satisfaction in having blunted a major German attack.  Though the British have suffered 1600 casualties, German casualties have been approximately 5000.  Further, a day has been lost for 1st Army, which has the furthest to travel.  Sir John French and his staff plan for a second day of fighting at Mons, continuing to cover the left flank of the French army.

- At 4am, the train carrying Ludendorff stops at Hanover station, where Hindenburg boards.  It is the first time the two men have met.  On the train Ludendorff explains the orders he has already issued, and Hindenburg approves, setting the pattern of the relationship between the two men.  Later today they arrive at 8th Army headquarters in East Prussia.  Meanwhile, I Corps completes its entrainment, an operation that has required precise coordination between five different railway stations.  The corps now begins its movement to the south to face the Russian 2nd Army.

- Russian operations in East Prussia reflect a fundamental misunderstanding of the strategic situation.  Zhilinskii at North-West Front, as well as both Rennenkampf (1st Army) and Samsonov (2nd Army) believe that the Germans have been beaten, and are withdrawing behind the Vistula River.  Thus Zhilinskii's top priority is to hurry the advance of 2nd Army, so it can cut off the German 8th Army before it can extract itself from East Prussia.  To achieve this, one corps of 2nd Army is left in Poland to cover the western flank, and a second corps is detailed to the Masurian Lakes to cover the eastern flank.  This reduces the strength of 2nd Army to three corps as its advance continues.

Meanwhile, Rennenkampf is in no hurry to advance westwards.  Indeed, he fears that a rapid advance to allow 1st Army to catch up to the Germans would result in another German defeat that hastens their withdrawal from East Prussia before 2nd Army can close the trap.  Thus, though 1st Army begins to move today, its progress is extremely slow, and its cavalry is completely unable to discern that the German 8th Army is no longer in front of them - indeed, there is only a single German cavalry division left.  Moreover, Rennenkampf directs 1st Army northwestward towards the major German fortress of Königsberg in order to lay siege and potentially trap a portion of the German 8th Army he believes may have retreated there.  This movement draws 1st Army even further away from 2nd Army, leaving the latter increasingly exposed.

- The first major encounter on the Galician frontier begins today when the Russian 4th Army, advancing south, runs into the Austro-Hungarian 1st Army, moving north, in the Battle of Kraśnik.  In the pitched battle near the San River just inside Russian territory, it is the Austro-Hungarians who draw first blood.  Russian cavalry had completely failed to find the approaching enemy, and the corps of 4th Army were strung out and unable to provide mutual assistance.  One Russian corps is badly mauled, one of its divisions losing half its strength.  The Russians, however, do not view the Austro-Hungarian 1st Army as part of an invasion of Russian Poland, but rather the northern flank of the expected Austro-Hungarian concentration around Lemberg.  Pre-war expectations thus sow confusion among the Russian command structure.  In particular, there is no awareness that a second Austro-Hungarian army - 4th - is also advancing north on 1st Army's eastern flank.

- Their ultimatum having expired, Japan declares war on Germany. Japan feels no special attachment to the cause of the Entente - their war aims are limited to the Pacific, and indeed would have been equally pleased if Germany had acceded to Japanese demands peacefully.  As it is, Japan begins preparations for a campaign against Tsingtao.

August 12th, 1914

- Great Britain and France today declare war on Austria-Hungary.

- The assembly of the German East Asiatic Squadron is completed at Ponape, an island in the Carolines and part of the German New Guinea colony in the Pacific.  Commanded by Vice Admiral Maximilian von Spee, the squadron consists of two armoured cruisers - Scharnhorst and Gneisenau - and three modern light cruisers - Emden, Nürnberg, and Leipzig.  Of these ships all but Leipzig is present, it being on station off the Pacific coast of South America.

- German cavalry has penetrated Belgium towards Louvain, but is held up at the bridge at Haelen by Belgian cavalry.  Fighting as dismounted infantry, the Belgians pour murderous fire into the Germans, until by evening the Germans are forced to withdraw.  The Battle of Haelen, while not of any strategic significance, is a great morale booster for the Belgians.

- The first Krupp 420 mortar is set up at Liège this afternoon, and at 630pm fires its first shell at Fort Pontisse, while several Skoda 305 mortars begin to bombard other Belgian forts near Liège.  The aiming of the mortars is assisted by observers in church towers and balloons, and after each shot corrections are sent to the mortars.  The effect is that the shells are 'walked' toward their target, each shell landing closer and closer until the target itself is hit.  The effect is terrifying for the Belgian garrisons of the forts, hearing the whistle of the incoming shell in flight, watching its detonation point move closer and closer, knowing that inevitably the massive explosions will be on the fort itself, and that there is nothing they can do about it.  Some of the defenders are driven mad at their helplessness and the inevitably of successful bombardment, foreshadowing the psychological impacts of the massive bombardments to come on the Western Front.

- Field Marshall Sir John French, commander of the British Expeditionary Force, receives instructions from Secretary of War Lord Kitchener on the coming campaign in France.  Though Kitchener writes that French is to co-operate with the French, the commander is to 'distinctly understand that your command is an entirely independent one and that you will in no case come in any sense under the orders of any Allied general.'  Kitchener's concern is the preservation of the BEF, so it may form the core of the massively-expanded army he intends to raise.  The practical impact of the instructions, though, is to impress on French that he is to place self-preservation first, regardless of the military situation or the danger France is in, and to make him unresponsive to pleas for co-operation from the generals of France.

- The Austro-Hungarian invasion of Serbia begins today, but the operation is plagued by disputes between General Oskar Potiorek, its commander, and Austro-Hungarian Chief of Staff Conrad von Hötzendorff.  As a result of Conrad's vacillations during mobilization, 2nd Army will only be available to Potiorek until August 18th, when it is to begin transfer to the Galician front against Russia.  As such, Conrad instructs Potiorek that 2nd Army, deployed to the north of Serbia along the Sava River, can only support the operations of Potiorek's other armies, and may not cross into Serbia in strength.  Potiorek, naturally, is opposed to such a limitation on his forces - indeed, subtracting 2nd Army leaves Potiorek's remaining forces outnumbered by the Serbian army (290 000 vs. 350 000).  It is on Potiorek's other two armies that the main burden of the offensive will fall.  They are 5th and 6th army, arranged north to south along the Drina River on the western border with Serbia.  Potiorek's plan is for the 5th Army to begin the assault, fixing the Serbian army on its front, after which it will be attacked on its flank by the 6th Army.  Conrad, meanwhile, believes that 5th Army's attack will be the main advance, envisioning it sweeping into central Serbia and driving the enemy army from the field.

Both conceptions of the coming operation are faulty.  First, the limitations on the actions of 2nd Army ensure that 5th Army's left flank will be uncovered as it advances.  Second, the mobilization of 6th Army has been delayed - it will be almost another week before it is in place along the Drina, which means that 5th Army's right flank will also be exposed.  It creates an opportunity for the Serbs to attack 5th Army in isolation and defeat it before turning to 6th Army.

The actions of 5th Army today hardly inspire confidence in the outcome of the offensive - the crossing of the Drina is delayed by a lack of bridging equipment, which has not yet arrived for the army.  Most of the army spends the day mulling around the river's edge, while those efforts to cross the river by boat meet accurate and sustained Serbian fire.

The first Austro-Hungarian invasion of Serbia, August 1914.

- The tiny German colony of Togoland in western Africa comes under attack today by British and Imperial forces.  Two companies of the Gold Coast Regiment, under the temporary command of Captain F. C. Bryant, seizes Lome, the colony's only port.  Lome had been largely abandoned by the small German garrison, which has retreated northward towards Kamina, home of Germany's single most important overseas wireless station, linking the home country with the rest of the German colonies in Africa as well as shipping in the South Atlantic.  Lome having fallen, the British commence an advance northwards towards Kamina.  It is during this action that the first shot is fired by a British soldier during the First World War, by Regimental Sergeant-Major Alhaji Grunshi of the West African Frontier Force.  It is a useful reminder that for all of the attention paid to the clash of armies in France and Belgium, this war is also a global and Imperial conflict for Britain, in line with prior British wars of the 18th and 19th centuries.

The German colony of Togoland, August 1914.

August 6th, 1914

- Oskar Potiorek, the military governor of Bosnia, is appointed to command all Austro-Hungarian forces on the Serbian Front.  He has a special incentive to take the war to the Serbs as thoroughly as possible - as governor of Bosnia he had been responsible for the security arrangements for the visit of Archduke Franz Ferdinand on June 28th, and in some quarters has been assigned some of the blame for the assassination.  Potiorek had also aspired to the post of Chief of Staff, but had been passed over on Conrad's appointment.  Thus professional jealousy will also cloud operations against Serbia.

Upon his appointment Potiorek is informed by Conrad that he will only have use of the 2nd Army until August 18th, at which point it was to entrain for the Russian front.  As such, the 2nd Army could only support the operations of Potiorek's other two armies - 5th and 6th - and was not to cross into Serbian territory.  Needless to say, Potiorek is less than pleased with this arrangement.

- General I. G. Zhilinskii, a former Chief of Staff of the Russian Army, is appointed commander of the North-West Front.  Facing the Germans in East Prussia, he has two armies under his authority - 1st Army, under General Paul Rennenkampf, and 2nd Army, under General Alexander Samsonov.  At the direction of Grand Duke Nicholas, Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Army, North-West Front was to launch an invasion of East Prussia as soon as possible, in order to support their French allies by compelling the Germans to move forces from the West to the East.  The coordination of the operations of 1st and 2nd Armies will be hindered, however, by the bitter professional rivalry of Rennenkampf and Samsonov.

- At Liège the Germans have their first success, in large part due to the actions of General Erich Ludendorff, a former operations officer on the General Staff who was now the liasion officer between 2nd Army and Emmich's task force.  When the advance of the 14th Brigade stalled, Ludendorff rode up to ascertain the cause.  Learning that the commander of the 14th Brigade has been killed, Ludendorff assumes command, and directs the brigade to attack into a gap between two of the Belgian forts.  In fierce fighting the brigade breaks through, and by 2pm is on the east bank of the Meuse River overlooking Liège and its citadel.  Ludendorff demanded the surrender of the Belgian commander of the town, but was refused.  In reply, the Zeppelin L-Z drops thirteen bombs on Liège, killing nine civilians - it is the first time a European city has been bombarded from the air.

- Though the Belgian commander is determined to continue resistance, the German advance between two of his forts is worrying - it raises the possibility of each fort being isolated in turn.  He decides to send the Belgian 3rd Division, which had been supporting the defense of the forts, back to the main concentration of the Belgian army to avoid it being surrounded and forced to surrender.

- Three French cavalry divisions are ordered into Belgium to reconnoiter German strength north of the Ardennes Forest.  However, General Joffre has no intention whatsoever of sending a significant French force to aid the Belgians - his focus is solely on the execution of Plan XVII and the offensives into Alsace and Lorraine.  He does not believe that the Germans are committing significant forces to the advance through Belgium, and does not want to dilute his imminent offensives by redirecting divisions northwards.

- A second meeting of the War Council in Britain finally reaches a decision on the deployment of the British Expeditionary Force.  At Kitchener's insistence, instead of the full six infantry divisions of the regular army being sent to France, only four, plus the cavalry division, will depart at once, while the fifth may follow in the near future, but the sixth is to remain home.  It is a precarious balance between those, like General Wilson, who want a full commitment to France, and those, like both Kitchener (training of an expanded army) and Asquith (public order) who have other concerns.  Under pressure from Joffre, the deployment area of the BEF will remain Maubeuge, in line with pre-war planning.  Joffre wants the BEF forward at the extreme left of the Entente line - though the left is not a priority under Plan XVII, it does need to be covered, and the BEF can fulfill that role while the important fighting is done by the French in Alsace and Lorraine.  It is worth noting that Field Marshal Sir John French, Commander of the BEF, preferred it to be deployed either in Belgium directly or Amiens.  With deployment at Maubeuge, French is being required to carry out a strategy he does not agree with.

Departure of the 1/5th Seaforth Highlanders from Wick, Scotland,
Aug. 6th, 1914

- Goeben and Breslau depart Messina this afternoon, sailing southwards.  The British light cruiser Gloucester, watching the southern exit of Messina Strait, observes the two German warships, and falls in behind them.  By nightfall Goeben and Breslau have turned southeastward, and by 11pm it is clear that they are heading not for the French troopships or the Adriatic, but the Aegean.  The British battlecruisers are hopelessly out of position, and Gloucester by herself would be easily sunk by Goeben.  However, there is a British squadron of four old armoured cruisers steaming south of Corfu.  Receiving word of the direction of Goeben and Breslau, they move to intercept.

- China formally declares its neutrality in the war.  In practice this does not mean much - the Great Powers have enclaves and zones of influence in the country, particularly at water's edge, and they will act as they deem necessary in the circumstances.

- The tiny country of Montenegro declares war on Austria-Hungary, in solidarity with its Serbian allies, and places its small army under Serbian control.

August 5th, 1914

- At dawn, Goeben and Breslau arrive at the Italian post of Messina on Sicily in order to replenish their stock of coal.  The Italian authorities, however, emphasizing the neutrality of Italy in the war, inform Admiral Souchon that his ships may remain in harbour for only 24 hours.  As the German sailors desperately shovel coal as quickly as possible, the British light cruiser Gloucester watches the southern exit of the Messina Strait, while the battlecruisers Inflexible and Indefatigable are to the northwest of Sicily, covering the French troop transports.

- General Radomir Putnik, Chief of Staff of the Serbian Army, arrives at his headquarters today.  He had actually been in Budapest when Austria-Hungary issued its declaration of war, but in an act of chivalry he was not detained and was permitted to return to Serbia.  In another remarkable episode, Putnik had with him the only set of keys to open a safe in his office which contained the only copy of Serbia's mobilization plan.  In his absence, his staff had to dynamite open the safe before they could begin to mobilize.

- Austria-Hungary today declares war on Russia.  The delay speaks to the extent to which the war had already bypassed one of its initiators.

- Representatives of twenty-one London commercial banks meet to discuss the economic fallout from the advent of war.  They calculate that they are owed £60 million by firms in Germany and Austria-Hungary, debts that they will be unable to collect.

- In Austria-Hungary, finance ministers and the central bank agree that the country's gold reserves will be allotted solely for state and military use, and that foreign payments will be halted to prevent a currency drain.

- In France, the central bank advances to the government 2.9 billion francs in new notes to finance the war efforts, raising the value of the notes in circulation by almost a third.  With convertability from notes to gold suspended, the central bank can increase the money supply almost at will.

- In Britain, a meeting of the War Council is held to discuss the deployment of the British Expeditionary Force, consisting of all six regular divisions of the British Army.  The members of the Council include civilian ministers and leading figures in the army - among the former is Asquith, Grey, and Churchill, and the latter includes Field Marshal Sir John French, commander of the BEF, and Kitchener in his new role as Secretary of State for War.  The meeting is a shambles.  The official mobilization plan for the BEF is that it is to be deployed to France as soon as possible, assembling at the French fortress of Maubeuge on the Belgian frontier.  As he had no part of developing the mobilization plan, Kitchener feels no responsibility to ensure its implementation.  He argues that Maubeuge is far too forward, risking their early destruction of the Germans move through Belgium in force.  Instead, the BEF should assemble at Amiens, far to the rear.  Other generals are appalled - General Sir Henry Wilson, author and driving force behind the pre-war mobilization plan, and who would become Deputy Chief of Staff of the BEF, felt Amiens would leave the BEF too far away from the fighting to make any difference.  Sir John French, meanwhile, suggests that instead of France the BEF should go to Antwerp in Belgium - if the war is about aiding Belgium, shouldn't the BEF land in Belgium to help directly?  Moreover, there are suggestions, particular from the civilian ministers, that some of the divisions of the BEF be held back, out of fear of German invasion.  Churchill and the Navy says this is preposterous, but the fear remains.

Kitchener also astonishes the Council when he declares that the war will last three years and require the mobilization of millions of soldiers into seventy divisions.  Everyone else, believing the war will be over in months, not years, is flabbergasted.  Here is Kitchener, on his first day in office, declaring that everyone else's perceptions of how the war will play out are completely out-of-touch.  Many, instead, believe Kitchener is the one out-of-touch.  Kitchener is doubtful of sending the BEF to France at all - better to use the trained regulars of the BEF, especially the non-commissioned officers, as a nucleus of a massively-expanded British Army.

The meeting breaks up without agreement.  It is often said that no plan survives contact with the enemy - in this case, the British plan does not survive contact with Kitchener.

- In Belgium General Emmich's brigades launch the first major attack on the four easternmost forts at Liège.  Repeated assaults are broken up, German soldiers mowed down by the fort's machine guns before they could reach the forts themselves.  The fighting is a preview of what the Western Front will become in the years ahead.  By nightfall the Germans have suffered heavy casualties without seizing any of the forts.  Morale among the Germans has been shaken as Emmich orders another assault for the next morning.

- Moltke writes this day that 'Our advance in Belgium is certainly brutal, but we are fighting for our lives and all who get in the way must take the consequences.'  These ominous words reflect how the German army will deal with civilians, especially in Belgium, who are suspected of resisting the German advance.  As German units move into Belgium, they are constantly on the lookout for francs-tireurs - the name given to civilians and partisans who sniped at Prussian soldiers in the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-1.  Furthermore, the Germans are outraged that the Belgians dare resist - they know they cannot win, so why not step aside and allow the Germans to move as they please?  The combination of these two attitudes is lethal during the German invasion of Belgium.  Official orders come down from the generals in charge of the advance that all resistance by civilians must be dealt with using the harshest means possible, and soldiers came to see such francs-tireurs around every corner.  There was a deliberate policy to 'frighten' the Belgian population into submission.  Any civilian caught with a firearm was liable for summary execution.  Further, if any village or town was suspected of harbouring civilian resisters, innocent civilians, including women and children, would be executed and the village burnt to the ground, in order to 'make an example' of those who resisted.  In reality, there is no evidence of any widespread resistance by the Belgian population - indeed, the Belgian government had told its people to hand in their guns to the nearest authorities before the Germans arrived.  Already, six hostages has been shot at Warsage and the village of Battice burnt to the ground.  These are merely the first steps of what will come to be known around the world as the 'Rape of Belgium'.

August 4th, 1914

- At 4am, Admiral Sir John Jellicoe receives orders from the Admiralty to take command of the Royal Navy's Grand Fleet as Commander-in-Chief.  The Grand Fleet is the strongest naval force in the world, consisting of dreadnoughts, battlecruisers, and supporting vessels, and is based at Scapa Flow in the Orkneys.  As its commander, Jellicoe's role is the most important in the Royal Navy.  The Grand Fleet is essential to the survival of Great Britain - should its ships be sunk, the Germans would be able to easily blockade the country and, since Britain must import food, force starvation and surrender within weeks.  Thus, as Churchill says of Jellicoe, he is 'the only man on either side who can lose the war in an afternoon.'  Jellicoe is acutely aware of the pressure and responsibilities of his role.  He sees it as his task not to destroy the German navy, but to preserve the Grand Fleet.  The status quo is satisfactory for Britain - merely by existing, the Grand Fleet is able to blockade Germany, as no German ships can possible sail through the Channel or out of the North Sea east of Scapa Flow without interception by the Royal Navy.  Thus Jellicoe does not seek battle with the Germans merely for the sake of battle, as he knows that victory in such a battle will not substantially change the status quo, but defeat can end the war.

- On the Western Front the great armies of France and Germany assemble.  Hundreds of thousands of soldiers, with their equipment and supplies, are brought like clockwork to the designated locations.  The German forces comprise seven armies (8th Army is forming in East Prussia), arranged north (1st Army) to south (7th Army).  It is 1st Army (General Alexander von Kluck) and 2nd Army (General Karl von Bülow) that carries the main burden of executing the Schlieffen Plan.  On the French side five armies assemble, arranged south (1st Army) to north (5th Army).  The first four armies are assigned the primary responsibility for executing Plan XVII, the French war plan, which prescribes an invasion of Germany.  The tiny Belgian army of six divisions assembles just east of Louvain.  For both the Germans and French, it will take several days until the process of mobilization is complete and the armies are ready to begin their advance.  For both countries, the initiation of hostilities will consist of a massive offensive - the Germans through Belgium, and the French through German-held Alsace and Lorraine.  Both also expect the successful execution of their war plans to bring about a rapid end to the war in victory.  Both sides, believing in the superiority of their arms and their cause, believe that none can stand before them, and that their enemies will be swept away.

French and German deployments on the Western Front at the start of the war.

- At 6am, the German ambassador delivers a note to the Belgian government, informing it that due to their rejection of the German proposals, the German army will take all necessary measures, including the use of force.  The Germans remain hopeful that the Belgians will not resist their invasion.  Moltke in Berlin believes that after a token resistance to satisfy honour, the Belgians will stand aside.  This is wishful thinking - nothing would suit the Germans more than for the Belgians not to resist, so that is what they expect will happen.  As with much that occurs in these first days of the war, they are incorrect.

- The first stage of the Schlieffen Plan is the capture and destruction of the large fortifications around the Belgian town of Liège.  Consisting of a dozen forts arranged in a circle around Liège on the Meuse Rivier, they are Belgium's primary defense against invasion from the East, and are widely considered to be near-impregnable.  For the Germans, Liège falls directly in the line of advance of 1st and 2nd Armies.  Due to a decision not to violate the neutrality of the Netherlands, there is no way around Liège, so the forts must be taken.

- The German invasion of Belgium begins just after 8am as German cavalry sweep forward to reconnoiter the Belgian countryside.  Behind them march six brigades under the command of General Otto von Emmich.  This task force has been specially-created to capture Liège as the rest of the German assembles.  Approaching their objective, they realize that the bridges on the Meuse north and south of the town have been blown.  When the Germans attempt to cross, they are surprised to come under heavy and sustained fire from Belgian defenders.  By nightfall a German detachment has succeeded in crossing the Meuse north of the town, but to the south the Germans have been halted, while in the centre the bulk of Emmich's force has closed up to the four easternmost forts.

The Liège forts and the initial German advance, Aug. 4th, 1914.

- The British government awaits confirmation of the German invasion of Belgium before issuing an ultimatum to Germany.  When the news arrived of German forces crossing the border near Liège, the Cabinet meets at 11am, and decide to issue an ultimatum, expiring at midnight Berlin time, requiring Germany to withdraw from Belgium, or Britain would declare war.  At 2pm Prime Minister Asquith makes his way to the House of Commons to announce the ultimatum.  The streets are thronged with bystanders, cheering every minister (and many they mistake for ministers) they see.

- That afternoon the British ambassador delivers the ultimatum to Chancellor Bethmann-Holweg directly.  The Chancellor is indignant at the British for entering the war over what he sees as the trivial matter of Belgian neutrality.  He berates the ambassador, and that all of the horrors of war to ensue will be the fault of the British, and 'all for just a word - "neutrality" - just for a scrap of paper.'  Little does Bethmann-Hollweg suspect that he has given Entente propagandists a coup - the phrase 'scrap of paper' will become infamous, and tar Germany's name around the world.

- In Berlin the deputies of the Reichstag hear an address by the Kaiser, who again emphasizes national solidarity in wartime - 'From this day on I recognize no parties but only Germans!'  At 3pm the deputies reconvene and after a speech by the Chancellor, assigning blame for the war solely on the Entente powers.  Afterwards the Reichstag unanimously approves the package of war credits to finance the war, including a short-term credit of 5 billion marks, the suspension of convertibility of bank notes to gold (to allow greater control over the amount of notes in circulation, as they no longer have to be tied to gold deposits) and the creation of special loan banks for the private sector, freeing the Reichsbank to focus on the financing of the war effort.  At the conclusion of business, the Reichstag votes itself out of session for four months, by which time it is generally expected that the war will be over.

- At a joint session of the Senate and Chamber in Paris this afternoon, an address by President Raymond Poincarè is read (the President is barred by law from appearing before the Chamber).  He concludes:

In the war which is beginning, France will have Right on her side, the eternal power of which cannot with impunity be disregarded by nations any more than by individuals.  She will be heroically defended by all her sons; nothing will break their sacred union before the enemy; today they are joined together as brothers in a common indignation against the aggressor, and in a common patriotic faith.  She is faithfully helped by Russia, her ally ; she is supported by the loyal friendship of Great Britain.  And already from every part of the civilised world sympathy and good wishes are coming to her. For today once again she stands before the universe for Liberty, Justice, and Reason.  Haut les coeurs et vive la France!

Just as elsewhere, the sacred union is a rallying cry for all Frenchmen to set aside the regular divisions of peacetime and join as one to defeat France's enemies.  It is a potent argument in the frenzied atmosphere of the first days of August - now comes the collision of such idealism with the realities of modern warfare.

- As the hours ticked down to the expiry of the British ultimatum to Germany, Prime Minister Asquith appoints Lord Kitchener to the post of Secretary of State for War.  The post had been vacant since March due to the resignation of the prior Secretary over the 'Curragh Mutiny', when some British officers refused orders they perceived would require them to suppress Ulster Unionists in the ongoing Irish crisis.  For the past several days Asquith has acted as Secretary of State for War, but a permanent appointment is obviously desirable.  The selection of Kitchener is a bold choice - he was the first serving officer to sit in the British Cabinet since 1660.  When the decision was made he was about to return to Egypt where he was serving as Consul-General - the order to return to London reaches him aboard a Channel steamer just as it was about to depart for the Continent.  Kitchener had not wanted the appointment - he was contemptuous of both War Office officials and politicians who thought they knew more about military operations than professionals - and the rest of the Cabinet was not enthusiastic about his presence.  What Kitchener brought to the appointment, however, outweighed the disadvantages.  He was arguably Britain's most famous soldier in 1914 - he had a long history of service throughout the Empire, including wars in the Sudan and South Africa.  His appointment lent instant gravitas to the Liberal government, giving it credibility in the management of military affairs that it would not otherwise have had.  It also sets the stage for epic clashes between civilian and military leadership of the war.

The face of Kitchener, with its distinctive moustache,
would be ubiquitous on recruiting posters throughout
Britain.

- In a statement to a private meeting of bankers and businessmen Lloyd George reassures them that it will be 'business as usual' regarding the economy - government intervention will be minimized, so there is no need for panic or hasty withdrawal of funds.  The slogan will become famous as a description of the British approach to the wartime economy in the early stages of the conflict, but right from the start some 'unusual' measures were being taken.  This day also sees the British government taking over the management of the nation's railways, to ensure efficient distribution of war material and food.  Railway owners were only the first to see how 'unusual' the economy could become in wartime.

- In the pre-dawn hours, two warships steam westwards from Sicily, lights out to prevent identification.  They are German - the modern battlecruiser Goeben and the light cruiser Breslau.  Assigned to the Mediterranean since 1912, the two warships comprise the entirety of Germany's naval presence in the area.  This morning they are sailing towards the Algerian coast, hoping to intercept French troopships carrying reinforcements from Algeria to metropolitan France.  At 235 am, the German commander, Rear Admiral Wilhelm Souchon, receives a telegram instructing him to sail to Constantinople, to reinforce the secret German-Ottoman treaty of August 2nd.  Almost at the Algerian coast, he continues westward until he reaches Philippeville, which he then subjected to a token bombardment.  Having made his appearance, he turns back eastwards - he intends to coal at Messina before continuing to Constantinople.

The presence of Souchon's warships is well-known to the Entente.  With the French fleet tied down escorting troopships, it is the Royal Navy that takes on the responsibility of tracking down and sinking Goeben and Breslau.  The British Mediterranean Fleet is superior to the German force, consisting of three battlecruisers, four old armoured cruisers, four modern light cruisers, and a flotilla of destroyers.  Two of the battlecruisers - Indefatigable and Indomitable - sailing westward sight Souchon's force approaching them just after 1030am.  Though war between the two countries now appears inevitable, it has formally not yet begun, so the German and British warships pass each other 8000 yards apart, all at battle stations but without training their guns on the other.  After, the two British battlecruisers swing around and follow Goeben and Breslau as they continue eastward.  The British hope to keep the Germans in sight until war is declared, when they can open fire.  Souchon, of course, wants to escape before this can happen, and he pushes his ships as fast as they can go.  Fortunately for Souchon, their fastest is just a bit faster than the British ships.  By 4pm, Goeben was slipping out of sight in the haze of the horizon.  By 730pm, all that could be seen was smoke in the distance, and by nightfall even that sign had disappeared.  The British ships are forced to call off the chase just before 10pm.  Goeben and Breslau have escaped, and none to soon - the British ultimatum to Germany expires in two hours.

- In the last minutes before the expiry of the ultimatum at 11pm London time, the British Cabinet meets at Downing Street, awaiting expiry or a last-minute telephone call.  Outside a massive crowd can be heard singing 'God Save the King'.  Suddenly the chimes of Big Ben sound, signalling 11pm.  When the last 'Boom!' echoes away, Great Britain is at war with Germany.

Crowds outside Buckingham Palace cheer the declaration of war against Germany.