November 24th, 1915

- Elements of the German IV Reserve Corps and the Bulgarian 9th Division capture the city of Priština today, and though they take a large number of prisoners, the Serbian army itself is already gone, moving towards Prizren en route to the Albanian coast. Moreover, Mackensen realizes that a large-scale pursuit was simply no longer possible.  The terrible conditions inhibited supply and had already forced some formations to go on half rations, while others found their way blocked by a combination of weather and terrain: the Austro-Hungarian 10th Mountain Brigade finds its way blocked by a 4921-foot mountain with the only track around completely iced over, and thirty men had already frozen to death.  Reluctantly, Mackensen declares an end to the Serbian campaign today.  Bulgarian forces in the area will follow the Serbs towards Prizren, but this effort is half-hearted.

The Germans under Mackensen and Seeckt have accomplished in less than two months what the Austro-Hungarians failed to do in three attempts last year under General Potiorek.  Serbia has been occupied at a cost of approximately 67 000 casualties, a mere pittance compared to the losses endured to gain a mile or two on the Western Front.  Moreover, a solid land link had been opened with the Ottoman Empire, allowing the movement of much-needed supplies in particular to the latter.  The only blemish to the effort has been the escape of the Serbian army itself.  Though barely a viable military force at this point, it still exists, and once the current trial of reaching the Adriatic Sea has past it may yet have the opportunity to recover and return to the fight.

- The Italian 3rd Army continues its efforts to capture Mt. San Michele today, and manages to seize a stretch of the enemy line on the northern slope, while to the south there is back and forth fighting near St. Martino that ultimately results in no ground gained by either side.

- Falkenhayn meets today with Enver Pasha in the Austro-Hungarian city of Orsova, where the Ottoman minister of war offers to provide forces to aid a German offensive either in France or Russia.  While Falkenhayn is impressed with Enver's generosity, he declines the suggestion, believing that the Ottoman army would not be suited to operations in the climate of northern and central Europe.  Falkenhayn's decision may also have been influenced by any Ottoman detachment needing to pass through Bulgaria to reach the Western or Eastern Fronts, a movement that would be problematic at best considering the longstanding enmity between Bulgaria and the Ottoman Empire - as recently as three years ago the two countries had been at war.

April 12th, 1915

- After several days of artillery bombardment, a renewed French assault is launched at 10am against a four kilometre stretch of the German line west of Maizeray.  This operation was one of the methodical attacks promised by General Dubail to Joffre on the 10th.  However, the advancing infantry make no progress whatsoever.  General Augustin Gérard, commander of the army detachment that launched the attack at Maizaray, blames the failure on the artillery bombardment, which cut only some of the wire and left the Germand defences and artillery positions largely unmolested.  Moreover, the prior months of 'stagnation' on this front had given the Germans time to establish a formidable defensive position, with wire barriers up to five hundred metres deep in places and concrete casemates to protect their infantry.  Gérard's report to Dubail concludes that 'to continue to seek a penetration of the enemy line in this region with quickly prepared attacks, one risks . . . ruining an excellent infantry and destroying its confidence without [achieving any] results.'

- Joffre sends a lengthy communication to Grand Duke Nicholas at Russian army headquarters today, in which he emphasizes the important of co-ordinating offensive operations between the French and British in the west, the Russians in the east, and the Serbs in the Balkans.  If simultaneous attacks can be launched, the Germans and Austro-Hungarians will be tied down on all fronts and the possibility increases of securing a substantial victory.  The French Commander-in-Chief also seeks to reassure Grand Duke Nicholas, in the face of German redeployments from west to east since November, that the French army has done and is doing everything in its power to attack the Germans.

- Enver Pasha is eager to see a land link opened between the Ottoman Empire and Austria-Hungary, which would allow the free flow of munitions and supplies and relieve many of the desparate shortages now existing in the Ottoman army.  As the conquest of Serbia the means by which this link can be achieved, the Ottoman War Minister writes to Falkenhayn today to offer to place two Ottoman corps at the disposal of the Bulgarian army, should the latter join in an offensive against Serbia undertaken by Austria-Hungary and Germany.

- Over the past week the men of the ANZAC Corps have been arriving on the island of Lemnos, having been assigned to participate in the amphibious operation against the Gallipoli peninsula, and today the ocean liner Minnewaska, carrying the divisional and corps command staff, moors in the immense anchorage at Mudros.

- In Lower Mesopotamia the now-expected Ottoman attack on the British defensive position at Shaiba opens this morning when a dozen Ottoman artillery pieces commence firing at dawn.  From 9am through nightfall, the Ottoman infantry, aided by Arab irregulars, launch a series of attacks on the British line from the south, but are halted by barbed wire and machine-gun fire, and the British and Indians suffer only five dead and sixty-six wounded.  To the east, the Indian 30th Brigade, is slogging through the ruins of Old Basra between Basra and Shaiba.  With news arriving of the Ottoman attack, and an overland advance impossible given the knee-deep flood waters, General Nixon orders the brigade back to Basra.  There they collect eighty boats, sufficient for brigade headquarters and the 24th Punjabis, and after 4pm begin moving up the river towards Shaiba.  Though sailing under fire, they arrive at the British line between 830pm and midnight.

The British position at Shaiba, west of Basra, and the Ottoman advance and retreat, April 1915.

Machine gunners of the 120th Rajputana Rifles, 18th Infantry Brigade, in a trench
at Shaiba, April 12th, 1915.

January 16th, 1915

- Conrad continues to press Falkenhayn for the deployment of the four new reserve corps on the Eastern Front, sending a telegram today arguing that these formations are urgently required to avoid further setbacks.

- In the Caucasus the Ottoman XI Corps, its flank turned by elements of the Russian II Turkestan Corps, begins today to withdraw westward, crossing the frontier back into the Ottoman Empire.  Its retreat marks the effective end of the Battle of Sarikamish.  Though it has suffered heavy casualties over the past three weeks, at least it still has some semblance of fighting capability.  To the north X Corps has been retreating for the past two weeks, and consists of only three thousand survivors.  IX Corps, finally, has ceased to exist.

The Battle of Sarikamish has been a crushing Ottoman defeat, and while the Russians played a role, ultimately the Ottoman offensive was broken by the terrain and the weather.  Trudging through waist-deep snow along mountain ranges, the Ottman 3rd Army had suffered 25 000 casualties before they even began their attack at Sarikamish.  The bitter cold claimed thousands of lives each night, and on occasion entire encampments would freeze to death, nothing remaining but ice-cold corpses in tent after tent.  After the battle the Russians would find 30 000 frozen Ottoman soldiers around Sarikamish alone.  In such conditions, even the slightest wound was fatal - it is estimated that 20 000 lightly-wounded Ottomans froze to death before medical attention could reach them.  Precise casualty figures for the Ottomans simply don't exist - thousands vanished forever in the remote mountains and valleys of the Caucasus.  Estimates for total Ottoman losses range from 75 000 to 90 000.  In comparison, the remaining effective strength of the Ottoman 3rd Army was less than 15 000 after the battle.

Frozen Ottoman soldiers outside Sarikamish, January 1915.

The Russian victory at Sarikamish has been absolute, and has secured the Russian frontier in the Caucasus.  The battle's importance, however, is far more wide-reaching.  At the start of the Ottoman offensive, Enver Pasha had broadcast that it was the beginning of a great pan-Turkic movement that would liberate all Turkic peoples from the Russian yoke.  Raising the stakes meant for Enver raising the consequences of defeat.  Many Turkic people within the Russian Caucasus had adopted a wait-and-see approach, instead of rising in rebellion, when the Ottomans invaded, and in the aftermath of Sarikamish conclude that loyalty to Russia is their only viable option.  The Russian victory thus not only safeguards the frontier with the Ottoman Empire, but also reduces the need to garrison the interior of the Caucasus, freeing up soldiers to be redeployed elsewhere on the Eastern Front.

Even more than the discrediting of Enver's pan-Turkic appeal is the impact of Sarikamish on the Ottoman effort to unify all Muslims behind their leadership in a jihad against the Entente.  The end of the battle comes just two months after the summons to holy war, and the defeat is interpreted as a sign not only of continued Ottoman decline, but of their inability to transform words into action.  Muslims throughout the British, French, and Russian empires conclude that, given the apparently dim prospects of Ottoman victory, answering the summons to jihad would simply be inviting their own destruction at the hands of their colonial masters.  Sarikamish is thus vital in limiting the potential of Muslim insurrection in the colonial world, and frustrating the German aim of using their Ottoman allies to set aflame the empires of their enemies.  As such, the Battle of Sarikamish is one of the most important and decisive of the entire war.

January 14th, 1915

- The German attack near Soissons concludes today with the seizure of the hills north of the city.  With the French pushed back to the outskirts of Soissons and to the north bank of the Aisne River, the Germans have accomplished their objectives.  Though the depth of the advance is nowhere more than two kilometres, it is considered a successful offensive, which is credited to meticulous preparations and a concentration of artillery fire, and the battle used as an example to the German army elsewhere on the Western Front on the conduct of medium-scale operations.  Overall, German losses over the past five days of fighting near Soissons have numbered about 5500.

- The Ottoman VIII Corps of 4th Army begins its advance into the Sinai peninsula, with its objective being the seizure of the Suez Canal.  Its line of march is across the centre of the peninsula held the promise of surprising the enemy and avoided either coastline where the Ottomans would be vulnerable to British seapower.  The three divisions of VIII Corps, however, must bring all of their supplies with them, as there is no railway across the Sinai.  Though the commander of 4th Army had wanted to further delay the advance to gather additional supplies, both Falkenhayn and Enver Pasha have pushed for an immediate advance, the former to gain a notable victory that will distract the British from the Western Front, and the latter to secure a triumph that will compensate and mask the failure at Sarikamish.  Thus VIII Corps is moving with inadequate ammunition, food, and water, and will need to seize the Canal quickly, as they will not be able to sustain prolonged operations.

January 4th, 1915

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

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

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

The Western Front in the Vosges.

Winter in the Vosges, 1915.

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

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

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

January 2nd, 1915

- Early this morning a dispatch from the British attache at Russian army headquarters arrives at the Foreign Office, conveying Grand Duke Nicholas' request that the British undertake a diversionary operation to distract the Ottomans from the Caucasus.  Foreign Secretary Grey conveys the message to Lord Kitchener, who then discusses the possibilities with Churchill.  Kitchener is eager to assist the Russians to avoid their collapse and surrender, but is adamant that no forces can be spared from the Western Front.  Instead, Kitchener inquires whether the navy could make a demonstration against the Dardanelles, and the suggestion piques Churchill's interest.

- In Champagne five French regiments attack the centre of the German VIII Corps at 6pm, but fail to secure any ground.

- Chancellor Bethmann-Hollweg has learned of Falkenhayn's intention to deploy the newly-raised four and a half reserve corps on the Western Front in order to undertake a major offensive.  The Chancellor, however, shares the views of Hindenburg and Ludendorff that these new formations should instead be assigned to the Eastern Front to secure a decisive victory that among other objects will influence neutrals like Italy and Romania.  Having already lost confidence in Falkenhayn as a result of the failure at Ypres, Bethmann-Hollweg recommends, in a meeting with the Kaiser, the removal of Falkenhayn and his replacement as Chief of Staff by Ludendorff.  Wilhelm II may be one of the few who still has confidence in Falkenhayn, but while he has no real influence over the operations of the German army, his is still the decisive voice regarding who will command it.  The Kaiser thus refuses the Chancellor's suggestion, and Falkenhayn remains Chief of Staff.

- The Ottoman offensive against Sarikamish has now completely fallen apart.  IX Corps is down to only a thousand men, and is under attack from the rear by Russian units at Bardiz.  Enver Pasha, who had been with IX Corps, slips away to join XI Corps, still fighting the main Russian force southwest of Sarikamish.  Meanwhile, the remnants of X Corps begin to pull back from north of Sarikamish before dawn this morning.

- In German Kamerun a British force advancing north from Duala occupies Dschang today, and destroy the fort located there.  From the British perspective, they have secured their immediate objectives in German Kamerun - they have seized the key port of Duala and cleared its hinterland of German forces that might have been able to undertake an effort to retake the town.

From the perspective of Colonel Karl Zimmerman, German commander in Kamerun, however, the situation is still manageable.  Though the west around Duala and the southeast have been lost to the British and French respectively, neither development is either a surprise - Duala could hardly have been held in the face of British naval power - nor decisive.  Zimmerman had planned to base the defence of Kamerun on the northern highlands, and as of yet no Entente forces have threatened this region.  Further, German units are still in contact with the Spanish colony at Muni, which means they can still use this neutral territory to import supplies.  Zimmerman now plans two operations to discourage the British from advancing further inland from Duala and the French from moving any further to the northwest.

December 24th, 1914

- Three days after the first attempt to bombard England from the air, at 1045am a single German Friedrichshafen FF 29 seaplane appears over Dover, flying at fifty miles per hour.  At the limit of its fifty-mile range, it carries only four 2kg bombs, which it drops near Dover Castle.  Instead of striking the landmark, they fall nearby and destroy the vegetable garden of local auctioneer Tommy Terson, who suffers minor injuries.  For the first time enemy bombs have exploded on English soil.

A German Friedrichshafen FF 29 seaplane.

- At 5am this morning, Commodore Tyrwhitt's force, consisting of three seaplane carriers, three light cruisers, and eight destroyers, sails from Harwich, bound for Heligoland Bight.  To maintain the secrecy of the raid, no preliminary warning was given to the warships before they sailed, and some have left behind stewards who had gone ashore to purchase turkeys and geese for Christmas Day.

- For the past six days the German 9th Army has been assaulting the Russian line west of Warsaw between Sochaczew on the Bzura River and Bolimov on the Rawka River, in an effort to break through to Poland's largest city.  Wave after wave of German infantry have crossed the two rivers, often in frigid water up to their chests, to assault Russian lines on the far bank.  Though in a few cases certain section of the Russian trench line were seized, at no time were the Germans able to pierce the enemy front.  9th Army has suffered over 100 000 casualties in failing to break through, and at one point a tributary of the Rawka River stopped flowing, blocked by a dam of German dead.  It now being obvious that Warsaw will not be in German hands for Christmas, Ludendorff calls off the attacks.

- In the Caucasus the occupation of Bardiz today by the Ottoman 29th Division of IX Corps masks growing problems with Enver's offensive.  Moving through heavy snow and in frigid conditions, thousands are already being lost to the elements; 17th Division of IX Corps reports that as much as 40% of its soldiers have fallen behind, some undoubtedly disappearing into the drifts of snow.  X Corps to the north, meanwhile is exhausted, but two of its divisions are pushed northwards towards Ardahan before Enver orders it to redirect itself westwards to cover IX Corps left flank.  29th Division, meanwhile, is given no rest - Enver instructs it to march immediately on Sarikamish, not only to complete the envelopment of the Russian forces facing XI Corps but because the Ottoman units need to seize Russian supplies if they are not to run out of food and starve.

On the Russian side, I Caucasian and II Turkestan Corps are in the line facing XI Corps when Enver begins his offensive, the former to the south of the latter.  The first response of General Bergmann, commander of I Caucasian Corps, had been to order his force to advance westward in an attempt to threaten the rear of the Ottoman IX and X Corps.  General Nikolai Yudenich, Chief of Staff of the Russian Caucasus Army, is better able to understand the threat the Ottoman advance poses to Sarikamish, and orders I Caucasian Corps to instead withdraw today while moving reinforcements to concentrate at the threatened town.

The Battle of Sarikamish, December 24th, 1914.

December 22nd, 1914

- By today the British line between Cuinchy and Neuve Chapelle has been stabilized by the insertion of 1st Division of I Corps into the centre of the position around Givenchy, formerly held by the Indian Corps.  Most of the original lines held before the German attack of the 20th have been regained, though some stretches of the first trench have been so destroyed by artillery fire as to render them useless.  The moment of danger has passed, though the Indian Corps has suffered almost a thousand casualties over the past three days, as compared to only 250 for the Germans opposite.  The need for 1st Division to come to the 'rescue' of the Indian Corps also does little for the confidence of the BEF leadership in the latter's fighting qualities.

- In Galicia the Russians continue to press against the Austro-Hungarian 3rd Army, and in many spots the latter is forced southward.  Further complicating matters, most of the reinforcements destined for the right wing of the army had been sucked into the fighting on the left wing in an attempt to stem the tide, making the execution of the planned advance on Przemysl by the army's right wing impossible.  In an attempt to make the best of a bad situation, Conrad approves a proposal by 3rd Army commander to attack with his left wing towards Tarnow.

The Russian advance in Galicia, December 22nd to 31st, 1914.

- In light of the failed invasions of Serbia, General Potiorek is forced into retirement today.

The Serbian Front at the end of December, 1914.

- What will become the Battle of Sarikamish begins today when Enver Pasha orders the Ottoman XI and X Corps of his 3rd Army to begin their advance into the Russian Caucasus.  Enver's objective is the town of Sarikamish, which sits at the head of the main railway supplying Russian forces in the Caucasus, but his plan bears the strong imprint of German thinking and the influence of 3rd Army's Chief of Staff Baron Bronsart von Schellendorff.  Of 3rd Army's three corps, XI Corps, reinforced by two divisions that had been originally bound for Syria and Iraq, was to frontally attack the two Russian corps southwest of Sarikamish in order to fix them in place.  This was no small task for XI Corps, given the two Russian corps number 54 000 men and the Ottoman unit would have been outnumbered by just one of the enemy corps.  The key maneouvre, however, is to be undertaken by IX and X Corps.  The former, sitting on XI Corps' left, is to advance along a mountain path known as the top yol towards Çatak, from which it can descend on Sarikamish from the northwest, outflanking the two Russian corps pinned by XI Corps.  Though the top yol is known to the Russians, they believe it was impractical to move large bodies of troops along it.  Enver, for his part, believes that not only is the path useable but its high altitude and exposed position would ensure that high winds kept it swept of snow, as compared to the valleys below.  Finally, X Corps, on the left of IX Corps, is to advance and occupy the town of Oltu, from which one portion of the corps can move to support IX Corps' move on Sarikamish, while another portion can continue northeastwards towards the town of Ardahan.  If successful, the plan promises the envelopment and annihilation of the two Russian corps southwest of Sarikamish and the opening of the way to Kars.

With its emphasis on outflanking the enemy position, it has the obvious imprint of the thinking of Schliffen and the German General Staff.  Further, Enver's plan involves precise timetabling of the advance of IX and X Corps (necessary given the lack of communications between the three corps of 3rd Army) which removes all possibility of improvisation and does not allow for any unit to fall behind schedule.  Finally, there is the emphasis on speed - the soldiers of IX Corps, for instance, are told to leave their coats and packs behind to quicken their advance.  This ignores the obvious reality of conducting operations in the Caucasus in December and January - temperatures are consistently below -30 degrees centigrade and the snow on the ground is measured in feet, not inches.  This ignorance of the human element, also a conspicuous reflection of pre-war German planning, is to be of decisive import in the days ahead.

Incidentally, Enver's decision to launch his invasion of the Russian Caucasus today is the first link in a chain of events that will lead to the collapse of the last Liberal government in Britain.  Just another example of how one cannot understand the First World War without understanding how it was a world war.

The planned advance of the Ottoman 3rd Army against Sarikamish.

- In German Kamerun the French column that occupied Nola in October today seize the village of Molundu.

- A force of Boer rebels numbering about a thousand, comprising those who managed to escape to German South-West Africa under Martiz and Kemp, cross the Orange River back into South Africa.  Though they have achieved surprise, the advance is plagued by disagreements between the two Boer leaders, Kemp refusing to serve under Maritz's leadership and wanting to return to the Transvaal.  Martiz for his part desires to avoid giving the impression of being a German puppet, and thus refuses German assistance.  The result is that when a South African force is encountered near Schuit Drift, they are driven off and retreat back over the Orange River.

December 19th, 1914

- The British undertake another attack in Flanders today, this time by the Indian Corps, which currently holds the line between Cuinchy just south of the La Bassée-Bethune Canal north to a position just west of the village of Neuve Chapelle.  Elements from both divisions of the Indian Corps participate in the attacks, which begin at 430am.  Initial successes are achieved, and the Sirhind Brigade of Lahore Division manages to occupy two German trench lines.  However, these successes cannot be maintained, as the units that have advanced find themselves attempting to hold small salients in the German lines, which allow the enemy to counterattack from three directions.  By nightfall, all of the day's gains have been given back.

- Falkenhayn and Conrad meet today at the railway station in Oppeln to discuss strategy on the Eastern Front.  The German Chief of Staff continues to believe that a decisive victory in the East is impossible because the Russian army will always be able to retreat into the interior of the country.  Thus Falkenhayn's plan is to advance to the Vistula River in order to secure a strong defensive position in Poland, which would then allow for the redeployment of significant forces to the Western Front for a decisive operation against the French in February.  Needless to say, Conrad could not disagree more, as he still argues that a massive envelopment maneouvre, with the pincers originating in East Prussia and Galicia, can surround and annihilate the Russian army.  This would knock Russia out of the war, and lead to victory in the Balkans and the West.  With such thoroughly divergent
opinions, it is not surprising that the two generals depart without having agreed to anything.

- Nine days ago Enver Pasha received a report from his acolyte Hafiz Hakki, whom he had sent out to the Ottoman 3rd Army in the Caucasus to report on its condition.  Hakki told Enver exactly what he wanted to hear - that the supply problems were overblown and that an advance to Kars is possible.  Today Enver decides to take matters into his own hands, dismissing the cautious commander of 3rd Army and appointing himself as his replacement.  He intends to launch the three corps of 3rd Army in an invasion across the Russian frontier towards Sarikamish and Kars, winning a decisive victory that will both demonstrate the continued vitality of the Ottoman Empire and rally all Turkic peoples to the Ottoman banner.  By taking command of the army himself, Enver has raised the profile of and the stakes for the coming invasion; while victory would be widely celebrated, defeat may call into question the entire strategy and war aims of the Young Turks who dominate the Ottoman government, and the viability of the call to jihad against the Entente.

- In Egypt the British are taking steps to formalize their control of the country, which they have informally occupied since 1882.  Yesterday they declared the former Ottoman province to be a British protectorate, and today they depose the pro-Ottoman Khedive Abbas Hilmi, now in Constantinople, and replace him as Khedive with his uncle Hussein Kamil.

- The British battlecruiser Inflexible, which had been hunting for the German light cruiser Dresden along the Chilean coast, is recalled to home waters today.  With Invincible having already departed for home, it leaves the search for Dresden in the hands of the armoured and light cruisers that had contributed to the destruction of the German East Asiatic Squadron on December 8th.  For its part Dresden has been living a fugitive existence, hiding among the fjords and channels along Tierra del Fuego.

November 29th, 1914

- At French army headquarters the Operations Bureau has been considering the next phase of the war on the Western Front, and submits a report to Joffre today.  It states that the past month has shown that partial and local attacks are ineffective in the new conditions of trench warfare, and that thorough preparation and concentration of forces is essential to success in such conditions.  As such, a general offensive is also discounted as dissipating the strength of the French army along the entire line.  Instead, the preferred course is to focus offensive efforts at particular points of the German front.  Ideally, several such concentrated offensives would occur more or less simultaneously, to overstretch the Germans and force the commitment of reserves that would be unable to meet other attacks.  However, the Bureau also states that the French army lacks sufficient strength, not only in manpower but also in munitions, to undertake operations of such size simultaneously.  The report concludes that the best chance of breaking the German line is in Artois, and argues that a strong attack towards Cambrai would, if successful, force the Germans to retreat to the Meuse River.

The unspoken assumption in this report is that the French should be attacking.  Given the experience of the past few months, which has shown the superiority of the defense, why are the French planning on major offensives?  The reason is rather straightforward - the German army has occupied a good portion of north-eastern France, including Lille, and their present position threatens Rheims and still poses a threat to Paris.  Joffre in particular and the French army in general feels a responsibility to liberate their countrymen and drive the invader from French soil.  Thus the French feel a compulsion to attack that the Germans, on the Western Front, will never feel.

- Grand Duke Nicholas, Commander-in-Chief of the Russian army, General Ivanov of South-West Front, and General Ruszkii of North-West Front meet at the headquarters of the latter to discuss future operations.  Ivanov is eager to keep pushing forward against Austria-Hungary, with 3rd Army moving on Krakow and 8th Army pushing through the Carpathians.  He argues that given the strength of the German army, the 'way to Berlin lies through Austria-Hungary.'  To continue his offensive, Ivanov needs Ruszkii's North-West Front to maintain their position in central Poland - if they retreat, the northern flank of South-West Front would become exposed.  Ruszkii, for his part, wants to do exactly that - 2nd and 5th Armies have suffered a hundred thousand casualties in the fighting around Lodz, and the corps sent from the Western Front by Falkenhayn are now arriving opposite Lodz to reinforce the German 9th Army.  Ruszkii argues that no invasion of Germany can be undertaken until East Prussia is occupied, as otherwise the Germans will always be able to counterattack the northern flank of any Russian advance westward, much as what has happened over the past month around Lodz.  Nicholas is unable to mediate the dispute between two generals who are determined to attack as they see fit, as opposed to co-operating.  The only thing the three are able to agree upon is to fire General Rennenkampf of 1st Army - criticized for being too slow to rescue 2nd Army at Tannenberg, he is now blamed for being too slow to cut off the German units east of Lodz.  The fact he has a Gemran-sounding last name makes him an even more ideal scapegoat.

The Eastern Front from central Poland to Krakow, November 29th, 1914.  Note II and
XXIV Reserve Corps, two of the reinforcements from the Western Front, in the
German line with 9th Army, and the Austro-Hungarians pushed back on Krakow at the
far south.

- A difference of opinion has emerged within the Ottoman leadership over future operations in the Caucasus in the aftermath of the Battle of Köprüköy.  Enver Pasha, Minister of War and arguably the most important figure in the Ottoman government, wants the Ottoman 3rd Army to invade the Russian Caucasus.  He is driven not only by the prospect not only of liberating Muslims from the Russian Empire but also of bringing more Turkic peoples within the Empire, advancing towards his vision of all Turks unified within the Ottoman Empire.  The commander of 3rd Army, however, is conscious of the shortcomings of his soldiers - today he reports that X Corps is short 17 000 overcoats, 17 400 pairs of boots, 23 000 ground sheets, and 13 000 knapsacks.  Enver's response is to dispatch Hafiz Hakki, an acolyte and the young deputy chief of the general staff, to provide a report more to his liking.

- Today the commander of Indian Expeditionary Force D dispatches a telegram to the Viceroy of India, giving his view of the military situation and the next steps he proposes to take.  With the arrival of the final elements of 6th Indian Division, he believes that he has enough military force to take and hold Baghdad, but that such a move is not possible at present - there is insufficient water for an overland advance, while more boats would be required to transport IEF D by river.  For the present, he intends to occupy Qurna just upriver at the confluence of the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers.

- At 3am, as Ayesha departs Panang, it is hailed by a rowboat just as it enters international waters.  Aboard are two Germans, both reservists who had been in the Dutch East Indies when war began.  The two - an officer and a chief engineer's mate - are eager to join Ayesha's crew, and now that the schooner has departed Dutch waters they are legally able to.  Both are accepted, though in the cramped conditions of the schooner the officer's 'bunk' is under the mess table.  This evening Ayesha begins to be followed by the Dutch warship De Zeven Provincien - evidently the Dutch now want to ensure that Ayesha leaves the West Indies and does not return.

November 22nd, 1914

- The readjustment of the position of the British Expeditionary Force on the line has been completed.  All British units are now together, and hold the front from Wytschaete, south of Ypres, to the La Bassée Canal at Givenchy, a stretch of 21 miles.  For their part the Belgians hold 15 miles of the front adjacent to the English Channel, and the French, responsible for everything else, covers 430 miles.  This graphically illustrates the extent to which the French army has shouldered the overwhelming burden of the fighting on the Western Front.  While the Belgians and the British have made vital contributions, and won deserved acclaim for their successful struggles along the Yser and around Ypres, in the end the great German attack in the west has been halted first and foremost by the French.  In saving themselves, they have preserved the hope of all in the Entente that ultimate victory may yet be achieved.

The Western Front on November 22nd, 1914, showing the position of
the BEF and the Belgian army; everything else is held by the French.

Though all three of the major combatants at Ypres consider the battle to have ended on different days, the British place its conclusion today with the end of their redeployment, which suffices as a moment to review the fighting in Flanders (incidentally, the French see the 13th and the Germans the 30th as the end).  Despite later claims by the Germans, the First Battle of Ypres has been a victory for the Entente.  The Germans had significant, sometimes near-overwhelming, numerical superiority in almost every phase of the fighting, but consistently failed to break through the British and French lines.  The failure to convert their numbers advantage into victory has been due not only to the strength of the defence in the context of the military technology of 1914, such as the machine gun, as they consistently repeated several tactical errors during the battle.  First, major German attacks were undertaken against long stretches of the Entente line in an effort to probe for weakness, as opposed to concentrating overwhelming force to break through at a place of their choosing.  Second, they consistently overestimated the size of the enemy confronting them, not realizing at several key moments how close they were to breaking through.  Third, they would use all available infantry in their attacks, leaving no reserves that could be sent to exploit the successes they achieved on several occasions.  Fourth, when they did break the British lines, in particular on October 31st and November 11th, the unit that did so did not advance further, being exhausted from their efforts and unaware of what they had accomplished, giving time for British reserves to arrive and counterattack.  Some of these mistakes could be rectified in future battles, but they pointed to one of the greatest difficulties attackers faced in the First World War - it would be consistently easier for the defender to send reserves to restore their lines than it was for the attacker to exploit any breakthrough they could achieve.

The conclusion of the First Battle of Ypres signals the end of the movement phase of the first months of the war.  Both sides are now committed to entrenching, and the rudimentary trenches dug hastily during the fighting are increasingly converted to more substantial trench systems.  The fighting at Ypres itself reflected the transition from mobile to static fighting.  Artillery did not yet dominate the battlefield as it would do so in future - foot soldiers played a vital role and the climactic moments were decided by infantry charges, not artillery bombardments.  First Ypres was also a battle still largely decided by junior officers responding to sudden circumstances, as with the British brigade commanders who ordered forward reserves at the critical moments, as opposed to the increasingly orchestrated and detailed assault plans of later set-piece battles.  Cavalry also had a role to play at Ypres, fighting in the front line and using their horses to rapidly redeploy on the battlefield.  On the other hand, First Ypres clearly indicated that small defensive forces could hold off attackers even when overwhelmingly outnumbered, and the Kindermord in particular demonstrated that no amount of spirit or elan among advancing infantry could allow them to carry a position in the face of sustained rifle and especially machine gun fire.

An exact accounting of the losses suffered by both sides is impossible, given the incompleteness of records, especially on the German side.  At minimum, the Germans suffered 134 000 casualties in the First Battle of Ypres, but possibly much more.  Of the four reserve corps thrown into the fighting in late October, each lost about half of their infantry.  French casualties were between 50 000 and 80 000, which comprised a majority of the 104 000 losses sustained by the entire French army in October and November 1914.  For the Belgians, approximately a third of those who escaped Antwerp before its fall on October 10th were lost by the end of October in the fighting along the Yser River.  British losses were calculated after the war to have been 58155, of whom 7960 were dead and 17 873 missing, most of the latter consisting of fallen soldiers whose bodies could not be recovered to verify their death.

Given that the First Battle of Ypres signals the end of the war of movement, an accounting can also be made of the losses suffered by the two sides since the outbreak of war itself.  The numbers are staggering - total French casualties are nearly one million, and include approximately 265 000 dead, while the comparable German numbers are over 700 000 losses, among which are about 241 000 dead.  The titanic and climactic battles that both sides expected have been fought, especially at the Marne, but the clashes have not brought the decisive outcome that all anticipated.  Instead, the casualty lists are merely the first installment of the ever-growing butcher's bill.

Total casualties for the British Expeditionary Force in the war to date have been 89 864.  Remarkably, the original strength of the first seven divisions to have been deployed in France had been only 84 000 - the BEF is only able to remain in the field due to replacements sent from home.  For all intents and purposes, the original British Expeditionary Force dispatched to France in early August had ceased to exist.  In most regiments an average of a single officer and thirty other ranks have survived since the first fighting at Mons on August 23rd.  The future of the BEF rests with soldiers recruited since the outbreak of the war, as the last of the BEF's original strength had been expended in the Ypres salient, fighting beyond the point of exhaustion to prevent a German breakthrough that might have had decisive results.  Ypres thus takes on an emotive significance to the British, the area becoming known as the 'Immortal Salient'.  The land is seen as consecrated by their dead, and no British commander can countenance yielding ground that had been so dearly bought.  It reflects another of the paradoxes of the First World War that will appear in future - sacrifices made on an earlier occasion become the justification for further losses to preserve what had been gained by the earlier casualties.

The lessons drawn from the battle by the British leadership, and General Haig in particular, will also have future reverberations.  Haig is well aware how close the Germans came to shattering his lines at Gheluvelt and Nonneboschen, and concludes that the Germans failed because they did not persevere in their attacks when just one more big push would have brought decisive victory.  Haig is determined that when the roles are reversed, no British attack he commands will ever fail because it was not pushed hard enough and long enough to achieve success.  It is, of course, the absolute wrong lesson to be drawn from First Ypres, and thousands of soldiers in the years to come will pay for this error with their lives.

Finally there is the contrast between the original BEF, the 'Old Contemptibles' as they referred to themselves, and the German volunteers of the reserve corps.  Both had made a conscious decision to join the army, as opposed to being forced to fight by conscription, and both were largely destroyed at Ypres.  Here, though, the similarity ends.  The German volunteers of August 1914 were motivated primarily by nationalist enthusiasm - they fought and died in the belief their service and sacrifice would benefit the German people for all time.  The soldiers of the old BEF were not driven by such high ideals - instead, each had made a deliberate and much more mundane choice to pursue, for whatever reason, a career in the army.  They had spent years, in some cases decades, honing their skills; the army was their livelihood, and when the day came for them to put their training to work they did not shirk their responsibilities and were equal to the task.  At Ypres the German volunteers died for their nation; the British soldiers because it was their job.

- Though the German effort to seize Ypres has been called off, the suffering of the town is only beginning.  It has been the target of enemy artillery fire before, but today the Germans deliberately target the magnificent Cloth Hall, symbol of the town's rich medieval heritage.  The bombardment begins at 6am, and by 9am shells are falling on the Cloth Hall, the first striking the tower and the third destroying the clock.  Within two hours the entire building is in flames and ruins.  The Germans claim that the British and French were using the Hall's tower to direct artillery fire, arguing later that 'German life is more precious than the finest Gothic architecture.'  The Germans are wrong - their lines are hidden from the tower's sights by various hills and valleys - and the destruction of the Cloth Hall is seen in much of the world as yet another example of German barbarity, that having been defeated in their efforts to take the town, they destroy it out of spite.  Its ruins become one of the iconic symbols of the destruction wrought by the First World War.

Ypres' Cloth Hall prior to the First World War.

The Cloth Hall burning under German artillery bombardment, November 22nd, 1914.

The ruins of the Cloth Hall later in the war.

- At Lodz the situation continues to deteriorate for the German 9th Army.  Its supply lines stretched to the breaking point, German units are running out of shells for their artillery.  To the east, General Rennenkampf of the Russian 1st Army has sent a force consisting of one and a half infantry and two cavalry divisions and named the Lovitch detachment southwestward towards the northern escape route for the German XXV Reserve Corps and Guards Division.  When an element of the Lovitch detachment occupies Brzeziny today, it appears the German corps and division are doomed - the Russian General Staff orders trains brought to Lodz to take the expected fifty thousand prisoners back to camps in Russia.

- The Yugoslav Committee is formed today in Florence by Ante Trumbic, a Croatian deputy in the Austrian Parliament.  The aim of the Committee is to unite all South Slavs, inside and outside Austria-Hungary, into a single independent state.

- In the Caucasus the Ottoman 3rd Army, suffering from ammunition shortages and command confusion, breaks off its operations against the Russian I Turkestan Corps and concentrates at Köprüköy.  Nevertheless, 3rd Army's attacks have stymied the Russian advance, giving the engagement the impression of being a notable Ottoman victory.  Enver Pasha in particular draws an out-sized belief in the fighting ability of 3rd Army, which will have fatal ramifications in the coming months.

- In Mesopotamia the main force of Indian Expeditionary Force D arrives at Basra shortly after midday.  They secure British control over the city and put an end to the looting of the past two days.  The trials of IEF D do not end, however - the bridges in Basra have to be reinforced before they can be used by any significant detachment of infantry, and the 'indescribably filthy condition of the town,' in the words of IEF D's commander, means the British have to set up camp outside Basra.

October 30th, 1914

- General Beseler of III Reserve Corps believes that the final breakthrough against the Belgians is imminent, and orders 5th and 6th Reserve Divisions to assault the enemy line along the railway embankment.  The Belgians are clearly at their breaking point - as of today the Belgian 2nd Division has only sixty shells per artillery piece - and one more push might shatter the enemy.  The ground is increasingly inundated and the German find water up to their ankles in places, but they attribute this to recent rains and think nothing more of it.  In the course of the day's fighting the Germans reach the embankment, and in several places pierce the Belgian line, most significantly by seizing the village of Ramscappelle to the west of the railway.  By this evening Beseler fully intends to resume the attack tomorrow, exploiting the breaches to move past the embankment and into open country.

At the supreme moment of crisis for the Belgian army, as it sits on the brink of defeat, the flooding begun on the 28th finally takes effect.  Water that was at the ankle this morning is at the knee this evening, making rapid movement impossible.  Those Germans who have reached the embankment look back on the fields they have crossed over the past few days to find instead nothing but water behind them.  German trenches are flooded, and soldiers cannot lay down in the face of machine gun and artillery fire, for to do so would mean drowning.  Not only is further advance impossible, but bringing up ammunition and provisions to resupply the Germans at the embankment is also out of the question.  With great reluctance, Beseler bows to the inevitable and just before midnight orders 5th and 6th Reserve Divisions to give up the ground captured at such great expense and retreat back across the Yser River.

The Battle of the Yser, October 1914, showing the area flooded between the
Nieuport-Dixmude railway embankment and the Yser River.

- The attack of Army Group Fabeck opens with a diversionary attack at Zonnebeke by XXVII Reserve Corps, intended to compel the British and French to commit their reserves there before the main attack is launched to the south.  After a preliminary bombardment at 600am, German infantry advance at 630.  They face elements of the British 1st and 2nd Divisions, which crucially have had time to entrench effectively, including lines of barbed wire.  The German attacks fail to break through the British lines at any point, and realizing the German threat was being contained, no reserves of I Corps are committed to the fight here.  Thus not only does the attack not capture Zonnebeke, but it fails as a diversionary effort as well.

- The main offensive begins at 645 with a heavy artillery bombardment of British positions from Zandvoorde to Messines, held by 7th Division and 3rd Cavalry Division around Zandvoorde, 2nd Cavalry Division around Hollebeke, and 1st Cavalry Division at Messines.  The British defensive position is weakest at Zandvoorde, where again 7th Division is holding trenches on a forward slope in clear view of German artillery, and by 8am the Germans had overrun the line, and at 10am occupy the village itself.  Situated on a small ridge, the capture of Zandvoorde allows the Germans pour enfilade fire on British positions nearby, including by artillery brought up to fire over direct sights.  Reserves from I Corps, Cavalry Corps, and 3rd Cavalry Division are brought forward, but, having to advance over open ground, suffer heavy losses and are unable to recapture Zandvoorde.  The best that can be done is to create a new defensive line northwest of Zandvoorde, and Haig, aware of the weakness of his position, asks General Dubois of the French IX Corps for aid.  Despite the latter continuing to attempt attacks northeast of Ypres, to his great credit Dubois instantly dispatches several battalions south.  The new defensive line northwest of Zandvoorde holds, not least because the Germans are again reluctant to keep pressing forward - indeed, by the end of the day German divisional commanders were protesting that due to heavy losses further attacks should be curtailed.

Elsewhere, at noon a heavy bombardment commences against the British 2nd Cavalry Division, and by 1230 the destruction of their meager trenches forces them to withdraw, and Hollebeke falls to the Germans.  Further south, however, German attacks against 1st Cavalry Division at Messines fail to break through.  Overall, despite tactical gains, the Germans have not achieved the decisive breakthrough desired.  The German command leadership, however, is determined to continue the advance tomorrow.  For the British, though the German attacks have been contained, the sheer strength of the German offensive, combined with the continued inability to determine the size and identity of the German formations opposite, lead to growing concerns about the continued ability of the BEF to hold on.  Sir John French gives up the idea of further attacks, ordering his forces to simply hold on, and instructing General Smith-Dorrien of II Corps to the south to send reserves northward to reinforce the British line.

The Battle of Ypres, October 30th and 31st, 1914, showing the gains achieved over these two
days by Army Group Fabeck.

- As the fighting at Ypres intensifies, Chief of the General Staff Falkenhayn meets in Berlin with General Ludendorff.  The latter seeks the redeployment of significant forces from the Western Front to the Eastern Front, to allow for another, more substantial offensive operation against the Russians after the indecisive fighting of October.  Falkenhayn, however, insists that a decisive victory can still be achieved in the West, and refuses Ludendorff's request.

- Today Admiral Sir John 'Jackie' Fisher is announced as the successor to Prince Louis of Battenberg as First Sea Lord.  The seventy-three year old Fisher already served a term as First Sea Lord from 1904 to 1910, during which he transformed and modernized the Royal Navy, overseeing the dreadnought revolution, refocusing the fleet in home waters to meet the German threat while retiring hundreds of outdated warships to reduce expenses, and revolutionizing the education of officers and the methods of promotion.  It is no exaggeration to say that the Royal Navy that entered the First World War is the creation of Jackie Fisher.

In bringing Fisher out of retirement to serve again as First Sea Lord, Churchill is hoping to tap into the admiral's famous drive and work ethic.  Despite his age, Fisher remains perhaps the textbook definition of a 'mad genius'.  He is absolute in his opinions and convinced of his own intellectual superiority - thankfully for the Royal Navy, most of the time he is right.  He is ruthless with subordinates, expecting each to perform up to Fisher's expectations or be discarded.  Not surprising, there are a legion of sworn enemies of Fisher within and without the navy, and the division of the officer corps into pro- and anti-Fisher factions was one of the contributing factors to his partially-forced retirement in 1910.  Fisher for his part relishes conflict with his foes and is merciless to those who oppose him and who he deems to have failed, while his sharp tongue and vitriolic language is legendary.  As an example, Fisher had long been dismissive of Admiral Sir Berkeley Milne, and when the latter as commander of the Mediterranean Fleet permitted the escape of Goeben and Breslau Fisher declared to a friend that the 'serpeant' 'Sir Berkeley Goeben' should be shot.

The appointment of the elderly Fisher is generally received with favour among the press and the public, being seen in a similar light to Kitchener by bringing authority and drive to the senior service.  It is hoped that he will ensure that the navy more vigourously pursues the enemy, while reigning in the wilder impulses of Churchill.  In reality, the two heads of the Royal Navy - the First Lord and the First Sea Lord - are both impulsive forces used to getting their own way.  For now, the two, who for several years have been friends, recognize each other as kindred spirits.  Should there ever be a clash between the two, however, the explosion promises to be epic.

- In the aftermath of yesterday's bombardment of the Russian Black Sea coast, the British ambassador delivers an ultimatum to the Ottoman government in Constantinople, demanding that the German crews be removed from Goeben and Breslau.  He receives no response, as the Ottoman government is divided itself about what has transpired.  The Grand Vizier is outraged that he was not consulted about the attack and threatens to resign, while a majority of the Cabinet wishes to disavow Admiral Souchon's action.  However, the counter of Enver Pasha and his supporters is simply that the die has been cast; that the logical outcome of the secret German alliance was always war with the Entente - Souchon has merely hastened the inevitable.

- For the past several weeks, the German light cruiser Königsberg has been hiding in the Rufiji River Delta in German East Africa, attempting to fix engine trouble and waiting for additional coal.  Today British warships discover the hiding place of Königsberg by sighting its masts from the mouth of the delta.  However, having discovered Königsberg, the British find themselves unable to do anything about it.  The German light cruiser is sufficiently far up the river delta to be beyond the reach of the British cruisers offshore.  Moreover, the delta itself covers 1500 square miles of islands, marshes, swamps, and channels, and only the Germans have ever charted them, leaving the British unsure of the proper path through the delta to Königsberg, or where it could emerge to go back to sea.  The only alternative at present is for the British to blockade all the exits of the Rufiji Delta, requiring the permanent deployment of twenty-five warships that can be ill-spared from other theatres.  Thus Königsberg, simply by continuing to exist, has a noticeable impact on the operations of the Royal Navy.

- Off the Chilean coast, Admiral Spee decides to send his supply ships into Valparaíso and Coronel to take on coal and other supplies.

October 27th, 1914

- Along the Yser both sides spend the day bombarding each other, the Germans in particular concluding that Dixmude needs another period of intense artillery fire before the town can be seized.  Under the supervision of the elderly lockkeepr Geeraert, this evening the Belgians make a first attempt at opening the locks, but fail due to the low tide level.

- The offensive by the French IX Corps northeast of Ypres continues today, and despite the delayed arrival of 31st Division they again make no significant progress.  Their efforts to advance come under heavy enemy fire from German positions on the high ground at Poelcappelle and Passchendaele, and only the smallest of gains are recorded.  On their right the division and brigade of I Corps in the line are also unable to accomplish anything of note.

- Bitter fighting continues today over the battered remains of the village of Neuve Chapelle, as the British II Corps attempts to recover the lines lost yesterday to the German VII Corps.  General Smith-Dorrien assembles a heterogenous force, which includes Indian troops and French bicyclists and cavalrymen, assault the German defenders repeatedly, which include all twelve battalions of 14th Reserve Division and reinforcements from neighbouring corps.  At 130pm the British attack the northern part of the village, but as the attack falters the Germans launch their own at 230pm in the south of Neuve Chapelle, which pushes the British westward out of the village.  The commitment of the last reserves of II Corps manages to reconstitute the front line, but by this evening Smith-Dorrien is forced to accept the loss of Neuve Chapelle and orders the construction of a new line of trenches to the west.

Though II Corps has managed to hold on, it has been in near-constant combat since its arrival in Flanders, and Smith-Dorrien has repeatedly warned Sir John French that his men are at the end of their endurance.  The BEF commander, who does not have a high opinion of Smith-Dorrien's abilities, nevertheless agrees that II Corps should be withdrawn from the front and replaced by the Indian Corps, the latter having only lent small units as reserves to II and III Corps over the past few days of fighting.

- For the past two days, General Rawlinson's IV Corps has consisted only of 7th Division.  To address this anomalous situation, Field Marshal French decides today to disband IV Corps and reassign 7th Division to General Haig's I Corps.  In part a move to rationalize administration of the BEF, it is also in part a reflection of the belief that 7th Division has under-performed during the battle.  As for General Rawlinson, he and the former IV Corps staff is returned to England to prepare 8th Division for deployment to France.  This has the advantage of removing from Ypres a corps commander that the Field Marshal has had trouble with while ostensibly giving him what he had asked for - he argued on the 25th that IV Corps would not be effective until 8th Division arrived, so now he can expedite their deployment directly.

- General Falkenhayn arrives today at 6th Army headquarters to discuss the progress of operations with Prince Rupprecht.  The German Chief of the General Staff is not pleased with the results achieved over the past week - despite the concentration of forces neither 4th or 6th Army had been able to achieve a decisive success.  Indeed, over the past few days the French and British have been able to go over onto the offensive northeast of Ypres, and though they have not broken through a defensive battle cannot possibly give Falkenhayn the decisive victory he believes is essential to win the war.  In his view, both 4th and 6th Armies have failed, and there is no prospect of imminent success from their efforts.

Falkenhayn, however, is unwilling to give up the initiative and fully go over on to the defensive.  Instead, he seeks a new concentration of force to achieve a breakthrough and victory.  The plight of the new reserve corps of 4th Army since the 22nd have shown the importance of battlefield experience.  Moreover, an analysis of the defensive needs of the rest of the Western Front have raised several instances where, due to the redeployment of French forces to Flanders, German units could be redeployed as well.  As a result, XV Corps from the Aisne and II Bavarian Corps from Peronne are en route to Flanders, and to this force are added 26th Division of XIII Corps, in turn replaced by a reserve division from Metz, and the 6th Bavarian Reserve Division has also just arrived in Flanders (the latter including a certain Corporal Hitler).  These units are organized into a single formation under the command of General Max von Fabeck, formerly commander of XIII Corps, and is to be called Army Group Fabeck.

The new formation is to take its place on the front line south of Menin, in the area currently occupied by the cavalry corps of 6th Army.  Falkenhayn is emphatic that Army Group Fabeck does not belong to 6th Army, and the latter cannot issue or alter orders to the former.  Instead of simply adding reinforcements to the two armies, Army Group Fabeck is to be a single cohesive offensive unit, and the two adjacent armies are reduced to a supportin role while also dispatching artillery to support the Army Group.

Falkenhayn's plan is for 4th and 6th Armies to launch spoiling attacks on October 30th to force the French and British to commit their reserves.  At the same time, Army Group Fabeck is to attack south of Ypres, against the enemy line between Gheluvelt (just northwest of Kruiseecke) and Ploegsteert Wood (north of Armentières).  Its objective is Mont Kemmel, high ground south of Ypres.  Its seizure would break the enemy line and allow the Germans to outflank the enemy positions to the north and south.  Such a success offers to Falkenhayn the potential to drive the enemy from Flanders and occupy the Channel ports, and perhaps tip the military balance on the Western Front in Germany's favour.

- For two and a half months Admiral Wilhelm Souchon and his two warships have been at Constantinople, maintaining the fictin that the two have been transferred to Ottoman control.  There is never any doubt as to where Souchon's true loyalty lies however, and as the Ottoman government continues to prevaricate over whether to enter the war, he decides the time has come for action.  With the collaboration of Enver Pasha and the other pro-German and pro-war ministers, Souchon, in his position as commander of the Ottoman navy, takes Goeben and Breslau, along with an Ottoman cruiser and four Ottoman destroyers, into the Black Sea.  Ostensibly to undertake training, the real purpose of the mission is to provoke Ottoman entry into the war.

- Admiral Craddock's signal of yesterday arrives at the Admiralty in London today.  It is a time of turmoil within the upper echelons of the Royal Navy, as the resignation of the First Sea Lord is imminent.  Thus the news from Craddock, including crucially that Canopus is not with him, is not given the attention it deserves.  Meanwhile, Craddock's four ships rendezvous off the Chilean coast near the mouth of the Huasco River, where Craddock orders Glasgow, his fastest warship, to sail to Coronel to see if any further orders had been dispatched to him.

- The German East Asiatic Squadron, meanwhile, departs Más Afuera today for the Chilean coast.  Admiral Spee has received information from German agents in Chile of the passage of a British warship through the Straits of Magellan, and thus decides for now to keep his larger armoured cruisers out of sight of the shore, while sending all radio transmissions using Leipzig's call sign, to give the appearance that only one German warship was in the area, as opposed to all five.

October 22nd, 1914

- The battle intensifies between Ypres and the Channel.  In the pre-dawn hours, the German 26th Reserve Infantry Regiment of III Reserve Corps closes up to the Yser River just south of Schoore.  By using the bayonet to clear out Belgian outposts east of the river, the defenders on the west bank have not been alarmed.  Using the cover of night, engineers bridge the river at two places, and by dawn most of two battalions are on the west bank.  The Germans are able to resist Belgian counterattacks, but the small bridgehead comes under fierce and sustained artillery fire, preventing reinforcement during the day.  Only after nightfall can additional German soldiers get across the river.

- To the south, a monumental attack is launched by the Germans against the British I and IV Corps.  The British line around Ypres today forms a semi-circle, and it is against its northern and eastern portions that the attack falls.  The bulk of the German XVI Reserve Corps, assisted by a division of XXIII Reserve Corps, throws itself against the line held by the British 1st Division between Bixschoote and Langemarck, while to the southeast the British 2nd Division spends most of the day under a heavy artillery bombardment before the Germans attempt to rush the enemy trenches at dusk.  Further south, 7th Division of IV Corps is assaulted by the German XVII Reserve Corps south of Zonnebeke.

The trial of the four reserve corps consigned to the attack by Falkenhayn is now at hand.  They form up for the advance, officers, some on horseback, in front, with the soldiers in massed ranks.  The volunteers of the corps have had time only to learn the most basic parade-ground maneouvres, while those with prior military training have either forgotten the bulk of it or learnt it so long ago as to be practically useless.  There are only a sprinkling of officers and NCOs through the corps who have seen combat in this war, and thus the infantry advance in the mass formations of peacetime - they have not gained the knowledge learnt at great cost over the past few months of the realities of the modern battlefield.  The instructions for the formations are simple - advance and overwhelm the enemy.  As they march into battle, some of the units begin to sing 'Deutschland über Alles' or 'Die Wacht am Rhein.'  In part they do so as a recognition signal - so inexperienced are they that they fear firing on their own soldiers, so singing the two great German patriotic songs is an unmistakable signal of their identity.  The singing also, however, reflects the great patriotism amongst in particular the volunteers, those who rushed to enlist in August 1914.  These volunteers, many high school and university students, sometimes with their teachers alongside, represent the pinnacle of German war enthusiasm - they march into battle because they choose to, believing in the righteousness of their cause and the irresistibility of their advance.

Their singing reaches the British soldiers huddling in their meagre trenches opposite.  As the Germans advance, flags flying in near-perfect parade-ground formation, the British open fire.  The patriotism and enthusiasm of the German volunteers meets the fire of machine guns and rifles, and the result is never in doubt.  Huge swathes are cut through the German ranks - the British regulars, trained to fire fifteen aimed rifle shots a minute, fire between 500 and 600 times today.  Hundreds and hundreds of Germans are wounded and killed as they attempt to march to the British line.  Now the inexperience of the reserve corps manifests itself in another way - they do not know when enemy fire is too intense to continue.  Not knowing better, they continue to advance long after it becomes painfully obvious to those with battlefield experience that all further attacks will accomplish is pile the German bodies higher.  Even when the Germans pull back, they simply reform and advance again.  In some cases they get as close as fifty yards to the British trenches, a range at which no British regular could possibly miss.  Even some of the British officers cannot help but admire the courage of the Germans in continuing to attack.  But as the past few months have shown, courage against the machine gun can have only one outcome.

The German attacks accomplish nothing of strategic significance.  The small village of Kortekeer is taken on the front of the British 1st Division, but no breakthrough is achieved and the British are quick to plan a counterattack.  By nightfall the sound of singing has been replaced by the piteous moans of the wounded and dying.  British soldiers peering through the twilight sees the fields before them covered by fallen Germans.  Here and there a wounded German, sometimes variously with arms or legs missing, attempts to crawl to safety.  Many of the German formations have lost half or more of their strength.

From today's attacks, and ones by the reserve corps in subsequent days, a legend will grow in Germany - the Kindermord, or Massacre of the Innocents.  The proportion of the reserve corps composed of young volunteers is inflated, such that the attack is depicted as the ultimate expression of German patriotism.  Far from being seen as a defeat, the  Kindermord comes to be celebrated as the triumph of national will, of how no trial, however arduous, can extinguish the flame of German patriotism.  The anniversary of the Kindermord comes to be celebrated each year in wartime Germany as a symbol of the unshakeable will of the German people and faith in ultimate victory.  After the war, the Kindermord will be appropriated by the right, including the Nazis, for whom the Battle of Langemarck, as the Germans call it, becomes a key touchstone for the celebration of German militarism and the patriotism that was betrayed by the 'stab in the back.'

The reality of the Kindermord is more prosaic - the soldiers of the reserve corps die miserable deaths, often without even seeing the enemy or firing a shot.  For many, the rude introduction to the realities of modern warfare become the last few seconds of their lives.  They believed they were marching to victory; instead they advanced into oblivion.

The German assaults on the British lines around Ypres, October 22nd and 23rd, 1914.

- Along the line held by the British II Corps, an early morning German attack catches the 1st Battalion, Cheshire Regiment in the open digging trenches, and within a matter of minutes their numbers are reduced from 382 to 153.  The battalion falls back and the Germans advance until held by reserve British forces.  In light of the increasing pressure, and concerned about remaining in touch with French cavalry to his north, General Smith-Dorrien orders II Corps to withdraw tonight to a reserve trench line stretching from the La Bassée Canal to Fauquissart.  The retreat is completed overnight without interference from the Germans.

The southern portion of the line held by the British, October 1914.  The thick red line is indicative of the line to which
II Corps withdrew to overnight.

- This afternoon Germans launch a major attack on the village of St. Laurent, just east of Arras, under the eyes of the Kaiser, who has arrived to witness the fall of the city.  The French Alpine Division, reinforced by cavalry that had just arrived, fight a desparate battle, and heavy fighting continues into the evening as the two forces struggle over the ruins of the village.

- This morning the old pre-dreadnought Canopus arrives at Port Stanley in the Falklands.  Its captain confirms to Rear-Admiral Craddock that his ship is capable of only 12 knots, and further that it cannot leave port again until he had fixed the ship's condensers and cleaned its boilers.  Craddock sees Canopus as no value to his command, but still feels himself bound by the earlier Admiralty orders to attack the German East Asiatic Squadron.  In the back of his mind is the escape of the Goeben and Breslau in the Mediterranean in the first days of the war.  There, Admiral Troubridge had decided against engaging the German ships with his inferior squadron, and he had been widely criticized, with some calling into question his honour and courage.  Craddock will not allow this to happen to himself - to his friend Admiral Hedworth Meux he writes today that 'I will take care I do not suffer the fate of poor Troubridge.'  The only course of action consistent not only with Admiralty orders but also with the dictates of honour is that he sail with his squadron, without Canopus, to fight the German East Asiatic Squadron.  He does so knowing that there is little chance of success - to the governor of the Falklands he states that he will not see him again.  Thus this afternoon Craddock aboard Good Hope slips out of harbour sailing westward, to join Glasgow, Monmouth, and Otranto where they will seek out battle, while Canopus is ordered to follow when possible with three colliers.  Thus the reverberations of the escape of the Goeben and Breslau continue to echo.

- Enver Pasha today transmits the Ottoman war plan for hostilities against the Entente to Germany.  It was not a monumentally-detailed plan for mobilization and operations in the vein of one produced by the German General Staff.  Indeed, it is not readily apparent that Enver sought any professional advice in developing it.  Instead, the plan contains six 'options' for war, though not in any particular order.  First, the 'new' Turkish fleet would bombard the Black Sea ports of Russia.  Second would be the declaration of holy war against the Entente, inspiring their Muslim subjects to rebellion.  Third, the Ottomans would hold the line in the Caucasus, tying down Russian units.  Fourth would be an offensive against Egypt, possibly by XII Corps, seizing the Suez Canal as its first phase.  Fifth, if Bulgaria entered the war the Ottomans would join with them in attacking Serbia.  Finally, the possibility is raised of deploying Ottoman forces to the north Black Sea coast.

The importance of the document does not rest with its detailed plans for military operations, of which there are very few details given.  Instead, the Ottoman war plan is designed primarily as a political document to demonstrate to the Germans the value of Ottoman military support.  In particular, the invasion of Egypt, the option given the most detail in the plan, accomplishes something that the Germans themselves cannot - attack the British Empire directly.  Thus by emphasizing Ottoman military potential against Britain, they enhance their stature in the eyes of the German General Staff.  Pre-war dismissals by German officials of the military value of the Ottoman army give way to tantalizing and enticing possibilities of striking deadly blows against the British.

- In South Africa, the Boer dissidents decide to rise in rebellion against the government.  They do so in protest of the war, the invasion of German South-West Africa, and conscription.  They also draw support from landless Boers who fear the growing urbanization of the country will drive them into the cities and into the working-class, and those who feel the traditional Boer values of egalitarianism and republicanism are under threat.  However, the rebellion divides the Boer populace, and significant pillars of the community, including both the Dutch Reformed Church and J. B. M. Hertzog, leader of the National Party, giving the Boer Rebellion the character of a domestic dispute among Boers, as opposed to a unified Boer uprising against British occupation and colonization.

- In August the German ports of Dar es Salaam and Tanga in their East African colony were declared to be open cities, but today the British announce that they are voiding the agreements.  They have developed plans for a two-pronged offensive against the northern portion of the colony, both utilizing units of the Indian Army - Detachment B of the Indian Expeditionary Force is to land and seize Tanga, while Detachment C will advance overland to Moshi.  Once both towns are taken the British will control both ends of the railway that connects the two, placing them in position to advance on the central railway in the colony.  The same railway, however, gives the defending Germans the ability to rapidly shift forces between the two threatened points.

August 18th, 1914

- King Albert orders the Belgian army to retire from its positions along the Gette river, which commences this evening.  Albert's objective now is to preserve the Belgian army, knowing that its destruction would end Belgian participation in the war.  The army is to retreat to Antwerp in the northwest.  The port city is surrounded by a series of forts, and will hopefully provide both a respite from German attacks and a base from which counterattacks against the German flank can be undertaken.

- The French 1st Army seizes Sarrebourg today, after it had been evacuated by the Germans.  Upon hearing of the success, Joffre issues revised orders for 2nd Army - given the apparent weakness of the German left, 2nd Army is to focus more to the north, in order to fix the German defenders there and prevent them from reinforcing the Ardennes, target of the imminent offensive of 3rd and 4th Armies.  The practical effect of the order is to pull 1st and 2nd Armies apart, weakening the point where the two armies meet.  2nd Army, meanwhile, has been receiving accurate intelligence of the German forces at Morhange, thanks to aerial reconnaissance.  General Castlenau thus understands that 2nd Army is now approaching the main German defensive position in the area.

- Even as the French 1st and 2nd Armies advance, OHL continues to mull over Prince Rupprecht's request for his 6th Army to launch a counterattack.  As no decision had been communicated by this afternoon, Rupprecht's chief of staff telephones OHL, demanding a decision.  Moltke, weighed down by the enormity of events, cannot make a choice.  One of Moltke's deputies takes the call, and refuses to give a yes or no answer, stating that Rupprecht should take the choice he prefers.  When told that the choice is to attack, the deputy merely states that it will be Rupprecht's responsibility.  Thus a critical decision to launch a major counterattack is taken without OHL having made any real decision on the matter - not exactly decisive leadership from headquarters.  6th Army begins preparation for a counterattack, to be launched on the 20th.

- A reply is delivered today to the Ottoman government from the Entente to Enver Pasha's earlier secret inquiry regarding what the Entente might offer the Ottomans to dissuade them from taking a pro-German line.  The Entente response is that they would offer a guarantee of Ottoman territorial integrity in exchange for Ottoman neutrality in the war.  There is no enthusiasm in the Entente for the restoration of recently-lost territory in Europe to the Ottomans - Russia does not want to see a revival of Ottoman power in the Balkans, preferring to dominate Balkan affairs themselves, while Britain and France do not wish to offend neutral Greece.  For the Ottomans, a guarantee of the status quo is unacceptable, given that the status quo is a weakening Ottoman Empire increasingly vulnerable to foreign aggression.  In this context, the German offer is more enticing.