March 20th, 1915

- After giving his approval on the 11th for army Zeppelins to bombard London, the Kaiser has been typically plagued by second thoughts, and rescinded his order.  Deprived of their primary target, three Zeppelins instead bombard Paris today.

- The French 4th Army calls a halt today to major offensive operations, bringing an end to the 1st Battle of Champagne.  Over the past two months of fighting, 4th Army has suffered over 93 000 casualties, while advancing an average of one kilometre over a three kilometre stretch of the front.  On the other side, German casualties were only half those of the French.  Among the lessons the French take from the campaign, which Joffre deems to have been a success, is the vital importance of heavy artillery to smash the way through enemy defenses and the need for better offensive tactics.

- After painstaking preparations, today the Bavarian 8th Reserve Division recaptures the summit of Reichsackerkopf, west of Munster in the Vosges.

The front line in the Vosges, March 1915.

- With the last breakout attempt defeated and food stocks exhausted, the fate of the Przemsyl garrison has been sealed, and today Emperor Franz Joseph sends a validictory message to the fortress commander:

It saddens me greatly that the bold breakout attempt by the Przemysl garrison was shattered yesterday by the enemy's larger force.  Yet I gaze with a sad pride upon the incomparable self-sacrifice of the brave men whose efforts weren't crowned with success.  I wholeheartedly thank everyone who fought for their heroic deed.  I make the sign of the cross over every one of them who gave their lives on the field of honor.  Even in the distant future, history will record what Austria-Hungary's warriors achieved during the stubborn defense of Przemysl.  They were unflinching and brave until the end.

February 23rd, 1915

- Despite German beliefs that the French are drawing down their Champagne offensive, at 3pm the French commence a sudden heavy artillery bombardment, followed by a number of infantry attacks.  The Germans, however, make excellent use of their own artillery, inflicting significant losses on the advancing enemy soldiers and breaking up the infantry attacks, ensuring that the German line holds.

- Sir John French replies today to Joffre's testy note of February 20th.  He emphasizes that the relief of the French IX and XX Corps had always been dependent on the BEF receiving reinforcements from Britain, and with those reinforcements now delayed, it was not possible for the British to take over the Ypres salient as previously agreed upon.  He also objected to Joffre's complaints regarding the density of British and French forces on their respective portions of the front, arguing that the terrain in the British sector required greater concentration and that the maintenance of the long line of communications back to Britain also consumed a significant number of soldiers.  Finally, the BEF commander assures Joffre that the British will be able to launch their offensive at Neuve Chapelle on or about March 7th.

- After four days of heavy fighting in the winter conditions of  the Vosges, elements of Army Detachment Gaede attacking west of Munster have made marginal progress, reaching the line Barrenkopf-Reichsackerkopf-Hilsenfirst.  With no further reserves available to commit to the fight, General Gaede orders that this line be transformed into the main defensive position along this portion of the front.

February 19th, 1915

- In Champagne renewed efforts are made by the French 4th Army to break through German lines on both sides of Perthes in a series of attacks beginning at 930am.  Here the French are largely repulsed, though in a few places they manage to enter the first German trench line and hand-to-hand fighting persists overnight.  To the east, the French attack in a series of waves, and secure initial gains against the 16th Reserve Division opposite.  Alarming reports of French breakthroughs reach 3rd Army headquarters, and a brigade in reserve is dispatched to reinforce the line.  By 5pm, however, 16th Reserve Division has covered its equilibrium and broken up the French attacks with heavy artillery fire.  Nevertheless, 3rd Army requests the transfer of additional reserves from neighbouring 5th Army to protect against the potential for future French breakthroughs.

- Joffre replies to Sir John French's note of yesterday with predictable outrage.  He insists that the relief of IX and XX Corps by the BEF is essential for the joint war effort, as these forces provide the margin needed to conduct a major French offensive in Artois.  Further, Joffre harshly criticizes the BEF, arguing that the density by which it held its portion of the line was twice that found elsewhere.  Joffre also takes another approach, asking the minister of war to appeal directly to Lord Kitchener to rescind the order dispatching 29th Division to the eastern Mediterranean.

- In the Vosges the 8th Bavarian Reserve Division, 6th Bavarian Landwehr Division, and additional elements of Army Detachment Gaede launch an attack on French lines west of the town of Munster.  In the mountainous, snow-covered terrain, however, progress is slow.

- In the eastern Carpathians, General Linsingen of Südarmee hopes that the advance of the Austro-Hungarian force under General Pflanzer-Baltin on his right will dislodge the stubborn Russians from their positions before his army.  The Russians, however, do not see things the same way.  Today they launch a sharp attack against the German XXIV Reserve Corps at Wyszkow, enveloping both wings in a pincer movement and forcing both flanks to fall back.

- In the morning hours a squadron of British and French warships leisurely approach the Dardanelles in bright sunshine and calm weather, signalling the commencement of the Entente attempt to force the straits.  Of the twelve British and four French predreadnoughts assigned to the operation, Admiral Carden has with him today, in addition to his flagship Inflexible, five of the former and all of the latter.  At anchor or steaming slowly back-and-forth, Carden's warships form a semi-circle around the mouth of the Dardanelles, targeting the outer Ottoman forts.  On the north bank is the Cape Helles fort, with two 9.4-inch guns, and the massive Sedd el Bahr, originally constructed to defend against Venetian incursions in the 17th-century.  On the opposite bank sits Kum Kale and smaller gun emplacements.  These are the older, more antiquated Ottoman defenses at the Dardanelles, as compared to their more modern counterparts inside the straits, but their destruction is necessary before the British and French warships can progress to the harder targets.

Carden's squadron opens fire at approximately 12 000 yards, beginning a slow and deliberate bombardment while the Ottoman forts, their guns lacking the necessary range, remain silent.  At 2pm the warships close to 6000 yards, where their secondary armament can fire as well.  At 445pm, Carden sends Vengeance, Cornwallis, and Suffren to within 3000 to 4000 yards, at which point the Ottoman forts suddenly begin to return fire.  After an exchange of shells Carden orders a halt to the day's bombardment, and the warships withdraw.  The bombardment illustrated for the first time some of the difficulties inherent in the shelling of shore-based defenses.  It is not sufficient to simply strike the fort itself; instead, it is necessary to actually strike the guns themselves if they are to be destroyed, requiring significantly greater accuracy than anticipated.  Further, the explosion of each shell spawned an enormous dust cloud, obscuring the target and creating great difficulties in spotting the fall of shot.  It is also difficult to hit the artillerymen either; under bombardment they simply retreated to shelter, though this at least had the benefit of stopping enemy artillery fire.  The day's fighting had indicated that the best approach would be to keep the enemy soldiers away from the guns until the warships could close to near point-blank range where they could accurately target each specific artillery piece.

The first day of the bombardment of the outer forts at the Dardanelles, February 19th, 1915.

February 14th, 1915

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

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

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

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

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

February 8th, 1915

- In East Prussia elements of the German 8th Army occupy the town of Johannisburg, and the advance eastward continues.

- In the Vosges the German 51st Landwehr Brigade attacks west in the valley of the Lauch river, located between Hartmannswillerkopf to the south and the town of Munster to the north.  The attack is designed to secure the southern flank of 8th Bavarian Reserve Division, so that the latter can undertake an offensive against the French positions west of Munster later this month.

September 19th, 1914

- At Rheims the return of the French X Corps stabilizes the line - though the Germans remain in control of the high ground north and east of the city, the French hold the fort at La Pompelle to the southeast.  The hardening line leaves Rheims in French hands but easily within German artillery range.  At the centre of the city sits historic Rheims Cathedral, whose construction began in 1211 and for centuries had been the location where the kings of France were crowned.  The French today are using the cathedral to house German wounded, and its towers were draped in the flags of the Red Cross.  Nevertheless, the cathedral is targeted by German gunners along with the rest of the city - at 4pm, a shell strikes the northwest tower, setting fire to the wooden scaffolding that had been erected in peacetime as part of the cathedral's restoration.  The spreading fire melts the leaden roof, and molten lead ignites straw in the nave below, killing a dozen German prisoners.  The fire also spreads to the Archbishop's Palace, consuming irreplaceable Roman and Gothic tapestries.  Though the stone edifice of the cathedral remains, its interior is gutted, and medieval stain-glass windows are shattered.  The devastation of Rheims Cathedral receives worldwide attention, and is seen as yet another example of German barbarism and disdain for Western civilization.  The bombardment of the cathedral and the city will continue for years to come.

A German shell strikes Rheims Cathedral, Sept. 19th, 1914.

- West of Verdun, XVI Corps launches the first part of Falkenhayn's two-pronged offensive on the flanks of the town's fortified zone.  Attacking south into the heavily-forested Argonne, XVI Corps uses overwhelming artillery fire targeted precisely on the French trenches.  Most of the French defenders are killed or scattered, and the German infantry methodically advance into the abandoned positions.

- General Hausen of 3rd Army retires today on the grounds of ill-health, replaced by General der Kavallerie von Einem, formerly of VII Corps.

- Army Detachment Gaede is formed at the far southern end of the Western Front, in the Vosges near the Swiss border.  It consists of only three Landwehr brigades under the command of General Hans Gaede, and covers what a quiet sector on the front, as its hilly and wooded terrain makes it particularly unsuitable for offensive operations.

- The first South African attack in German South-West Africa occurs today when Force C lands at Lüderitz on the coast.  They encounter no resistance, as the Germans, fearing the guns of the Royal Navy, have abandoned the town and retreated inland.  However, with three aircraft they are able to monitor the movements of the South African force.

- David Lloyd George, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, addresses a packed crowd this evening at Queen's Hall, London.  He has long had a reputation as a dazzling speaker, and brings his full oratorical powers to bear to justify British participation in the war.  Britain, Lloyd George argues, was honour-bound to come to the aid of Belgium through the guarantee of independence the British government had given almost a century ago.  This view of honour is contrasted with the action of Germany:

She [Germany] says treaties only bind you when it is to your interest to keep them.  'What is a treaty?' says the German Chancellor.  'A scrap of paper.' . . . Have you any of those neat Treasury 1 pound notes?  If you have, burn them; they are only 'scraps of paper.'  What are they made of?  Rags.  What are they worth?  The whole credit of the British Empire.

We are fighting against barbarism.  But there is only one way of putting it right.  If there are nations that say they will only respect treaties when it is to their interest to do so, we must make it to their interest to do so for the future.

Britain is not fighting to preserve the balance of power or the integrity of the Empire, says Lloyd George, but rather on behalf of the underdog, a much more appealing basis:

That is the story of the little nations.  The world owes much to little nations - and to little men.  This theory of bigness - you must have a big empire, and a big man - well, long legs have their advantage in a retreat.  Frederick the Great chose his warriors for their height, and that tradition has become a policy in Germany.  Germany applies that ideal to nations; she will only allow six-feet-two nations to stand in the ranks.  But all the world owes much to the little five feet high nations.  The greatest art of the world was the work of little nations.  The most enduring literature of the world came from little nations.  The greatest literature of England came from her when she was a nation of the size of Belgium fighting a great Empire.  The heroic deeds that thrill humanity through generations were the deeds of little nations fighting for their freedom.  Ah, yes, and the salvation of mankind came through a little nation.  God has chosen little nations as the vessels by which he carries the choicest wines to the lips of humanity, to rejoice their hearts, to exalt their vision, to stimulate and to strengthen their faith; and if we had stood by when two little nations were being crushed and broken by the brutal hands of barbarism our shame would have rung down the everlasting ages.

Lloyd George concludes by emphasizing the transformative effect he sees the war having on British society:

May I tell you, in a simple parable, what I think this war is doing for us?  I know a valley in North Wales, between the mountains and the sea - a beautiful valley, snug, comfortable, sheltered by the mountains from all the bitter blasts.  It was very enervating, and I remember how the boys were in the habit of climbing the hills above the village to have a glimpse of the great mountains in the distance and to be stimulated and freshened by the breezes which came from the hilltops, and by the great spectacle of that great valley.

We have been living in a sheltered valley for generations.  We have been too comfortable, too indulgent, many, perhaps, too selfish.  And the stern hand of fate has scourged us to an elevation where we can see the great everlasting things that matter for a nation; the great peaks of honour we had forgotten - duty and patriotism, clad in glittering white; the great pinnacle of sacrifice pointing like a rugged finger to Heaven.  We shall descend into the valleys again, but as long as the men and women of this generation last they will carry in their hearts the image of these great mountain peaks, whose foundations are unshaken though Europe rock and sway in the convulsions of a great war.