March 11th, 1915

- In direct response to the German declaration of a war zone around Britain and the commencement of unrestricted submarine warfare, the British declare a total blockade of Germany today.  Henceforth, Entente navies would prevent all cargoes, not just contraband, from reaching German ports.

- The Zeppelins belonging to the German army are today authorized to conduct aerial bombardments of London.

- In Canada, recruiting for a second contingent began even while the first was still training on Salisbury Plain.  Today, Lord Kitchener informs the Canadian government that the transportation of the first elements of the second contingent across the Atlantic will commence in late April.

- Overnight, German forces have constructed a new defensive line across the breach open yesterday at Neuve Chapelle, while also deploying additional artillery batteries.  In the morning mist the new positions go unseen, such that when a British attack is launched at 7am, it runs into a hail of machine gun and artillery fire from elements of the German 14th Division.  A second attack in the evening is similarly dispatched as further German reinforcements, this time from 6th Bavarian Division, arrive on the battlefield.

- In Champagne the major assault of the French XVI Corps is scheduled to begin tomorrow, and this evening its commander issues his final orders to his subordinates.  He instructs that every soldier is to participate in the advance, with none left to occupy trenches, and that every piece of ground seized is to be immediately consolidated and used as a launching pad for further attacks.

- The results of the reorganization of the German army, to incorporate the newest cohort of recruits while creating a large reserve of experienced divisions, are not as promising as Falkenhayn had originally hoped.  Instead of the anticipated twenty-four new divisions, it is now apparent that, due to losses and other requirements, only fourteen new divisions can be created.  This is less than the force envisioned in 6th Army's proposed operation for an offensive north of the Somme.  Despite this setback, Falkenhayn remains committed to undertaking an attack in the West - writing today to Colonel Seeckt, 11th Army's Chief of Staff, he emphasizes that he still plans to force a return to a war of movement on the Western Front through a major breakthrough that culminates in victory over the Entente.

- Since the beginning of March, the German 10th Army has been gradually falling back towards the line it held prior to the Winter Battle of the Masurian Lakes, as the position it had won in the battle had been rendered untenable due to Russian pressure on the flanks.  It has been cautiously followed by the Russian 10th Army, but two days ago the Germans turned the tables on their pursuers, and after several furious days of fighting the Russians have been halted.  The Germans are thus able to assume defensive positions and stalemate returns to the front.  Despite the victory last month at Masurian Lakes, in terms of territory the Germans find themselves right back where they started.

- After four days of fighting the offensive of the Austro-Hungarian 4th Army has stalled, unable to maintain the early momentum towards Gorlize and Staszkowka, at a cost of six thousand casualties.

Meanwhile, the garrison of the besieged fortress of Przemysl reports today that after the slaughter of all horses and a thorough search for all available food it will be able to hold out until March 24th, at which point surrender will be necessary to avoid starvation.  The winter battles in the Carpathians are approaching their climax; the Austro-Hungarians must break through immediately if Przemysl is to be relieved before it falls.

The Russians, however, have other ideas.  General Brusilov has been concerned that the advance of the left wing of the Austro-Hungarian 2nd Army, particularly near Lupkow, threatens the flank of the Russian forces facing 3rd Army to the west.  To negate this possibility, Russian forces attack today near Lupkow, and the Austro-Hungarian 29th Division is forced to yield the ground it had conquered over the past few days.

- At the Dardanelles the minesweepers are sent into the straits unescorted tonight, hoping to catch the Ottomans by surprise.  The result was about what one would expect, as Keyes related:

The less said about that night the better.  To put it briefly, the sweepers turned tail and fled as soon as they were fired upon.  I was furious and told the officers . . . that it did not matter if we lost all seven sweepers, there were twenty-eight more, and the mines had got to be swept up.  How could they talk about being stopped by heavy fire if they were not hit?

- At the Admiralty, Churchill has received reports of Ottoman ammunition shortages at the Dardanelles, and sends orders to Carden to abandon his methodical attempts to bombardment the forts and sweep the minefields, and instead press forward with maximum force.  In Churchill's views, any losses that may occur would be amply compensated by the strategic consequences of victory at the Dardanelles.

- The landing party of the German light cruiser Emden arrives today back at Hodeida, from which it had departed a month earlier.  Intending to continue their journey by sea, they must secure new vessels, as Choising, the merchant ship upon which they had crossed the Indian Ocean, had been sent away upon their arrival at Hodeida.  As there are no steamships to be had, First Officer Mücke acquires two zambuks, small sailboats fourteen meters long and four meters wide, used along the Arabian coast.  The party intends to sail from Yabana, a small bay north of Hodeida, on the fourteenth, while to deflect unwanted attention Mücke spreads the rumour that they will instead sail from Isa Bay on the thirteenth.

March 3rd, 1915

- At 7am elements of three regiments of the German XIV Corps attack French positions on the Lorette Spur north of Arras.  Advancing in the wake of the detonation of several mines, the German infantry push forward six hundred metres and occupy the French trench line, taking eight hundred prisoners.

- Despite agreeing to the deployment of the January reserves to the Eastern Front, Falkenhayn remains convinced that victory can only be achieved through a successful and decisive offensive on the Western Front.  To date, the issue for Falkenhayn has been finding the forces to undertake such an operation - the portion of the German army currently in the West is sufficient only to defend the current line, while Hindenburg and Ludendorff jealously guard their units on the Eastern Front.  However, on February 22nd Major-General Ernst von Wrisberg, director of the General War Department, had submitted a proposal to Falkenhayn that offered the prospect of creating a new reserve force that could be utilized in major offensives.  While sufficent new recruits have now been trained to form several new reserve corps, as had been done in October 1914 and January 1915, Wrisberg's proposal was to instead to assign approximately 2400 recruits to each existing division while simultaneously detaching one regiment from each division.  The detached regiments, meanwhile, would be combined into new reserve divisions.  Thus unlike prior occasions, these new reserve divisions would be comprised of experienced soldiers capable of undertaking complex operations.  Wrisberg expected that this reorganization would allow for the creation of twenty-four reserves, and Falkenhayn has eagerly embraced the proposal, seeing in it the means by which his desired offensive in the West could be undertaken.

Orders have already been issued for the formation of the first six of the new divisions, and today Falkenhayn orders the formation of a new 11th Army, which he intends to use as the core of his offensive on the Western Front.  Its commander will be General Fabeck, who brings to the position his experience in the fighting around Ypres in October and November, while as Chief of Staff Falkenhayn appoints Colonel Hans von Seeckt, an experienced and successful staff officer on the Western Front.

- Meanwhile, this evening Falkenhayn arrives at the headquarters of 3rd Army in the Champagne to discuss the ongoing French offensive.  He emphasizes the importance of not yielding an inch of ground, which corresponds with the opinion of General Einem, 3rd Army's commander.

- In northern Poland the German 8th Army has failed to make any progress in its siege of the Russian fortress at Osowiec.  The land around the fortress is marshy and criss-crossed with streams, slowing the movement and deployment of German heavy artillery, while Russian maneouvers outside Osowiec have kept the Germans off-guard.  Thus the Germans have been unable to bring their full firepower to bear on the Russian defences, in contrast to sieges at Liège and Antwerp earlier in the war.  Frustrated, and challenged by the strength of the Russian 12th Army to the west, 8th Army abandons the siege and withdraws to the northwest.

A siege gun deployed by the Germans at Osowiec.

- Over the past two days the Russian VII and XII Corps have undertaken fierce counterattacks against the left flank of 2nd Army and the right flank of 3rd Army opposite, but the Austro-Hungarian defenders have managed to hold their positions.  From Conrad at AOK comes renewed exortations, urging all armies to advance in Galicia and relieve Przemysl.  To the German command staff of Südarmee, given the heavy casualties and terrible weather, such pleas appear little more than delusional.

- Another attempt to sweep the Ottoman minefields in the Dardanelles fails tonight when the minesweepers yet again retreat under heavy fire.  Significantly, Admiral de Robeck, commanding the forward assault forces of the Entente fleet, concludes today that the straits cannot be forced until the shore batteries are silenced by the occupation of one shore or the other.

- After four weeks in Sanaa, the sailors of Emden's landing party have sufficiently recovered from their various ailments to allow for the column to depart today.  Their destination is once again Hodeida, from which they had left on January 27th; with a march overland ruled out by the climate, First Officer Mücke has resolved to attempt to continue their journey by sea.

- The detachment of Indian Expeditionary Force D sent to Ahwaz on February 11th is encamped across the Karun river from the town.  The scratch force has arrived too late to prevent hostile Arabs from cutting the vital oil pipeline to Abadan in several places, ostensibly the detachment's original mission.  Moreover, a large number of Ottoman soldiers and Arab irregulars have gathered to the north at Ghadir, and the commander of the detachment has decided to attack the enemy encampment at dawn.  His plan is to bring his artillery pieces within range of the enemy, at which point their high rate of fire would induce the Ottomans and Arabs to retreat or disperse.  When the shelling begins, however, the enemy came 'buzzing out like a disturbed wasps nest' and, instead of retreating, attacked the British column.  The latter was then forced to undertake a fighting retreat, only escaping destruction due to the unwillingness of the Arab cavalry to close up to the British lines and the steadfastness of the Dorsets infantry.

- The captain of the German light cruiser Königsberg receives a wireless signal, via the transmission tower at Windhoek in German South-West Africa, that he should communicate with the disguised merchant ship Rubens on April 1st.

February 22nd, 1915

- The French undertake renewed attacks in Champagne today, but fail to make any headway, and the commanders of the German VIII and VIII Reserve Corps opposite believe that the attacks aim merely to cover the failure of the main French offensive.

- Dutch neutrality is seen by the German army as a potential threat, as opposed to one of the last links between Germany and the global economy.  In particular, the army is concerned that the British might invade the Netherlands to outflank the German position in Belgium - a concern undoubtedly based in the knowledge that such a violation of Dutch neutrality is precisely the sort of thing the German General Staff would advocate if the positions were reversed.  4th Army, responsible for the front in Belgium along the Channel coast, has been tasked with developing a contingency plan should such a British invasion occur.  Today, 4th Army HQ informs OHL that if needed two marine brigades, the Guard Cavalry Division, a mixed infantry brigade, and a number of battalions of rear echelon troops will concentrate on the Dutch frontier to oppose a British landing.

- The revised instructions to U-boat captains regarding which targets to fire upon and how they are to determine a vessel's identity have been sufficient to overcome the remaining concerns of the Kaiser, and as such unrestricted submarine warfare begins today against Britain.

- In Augustow Forest, the remnants of the Russian XX Corps surrender, with twelve thousand soldiers marching into German captivity.  Of the rest of the Russian 10th Army, though III Siberian, III, and XXVI Corps have escaped eastwards, they have suffered heavy casualties and rendered combat-ineffective.  Ludendorff claims the Winter Battle of the Masurian Lakes to be another Tannenburg, but in practice the victory is not on the same scale.  The Russian 10th Army has lost 'only' 56 000 casualties over the past few weeks of fighting, and though battered and weakened at least still exists, in contrast to the fate of 2nd Army at Tannenburg.

A German machine-gun position during the Winter Battle of the Masurian Lakes.

The German victory over the Russian 10th Army, however, has not secured to the Germans any broader strategic consequences.  Ludendorff had hoped that victory here would threaten to outflank the Russian position in central Poland, and in consequence the Russians would pull back over the Vistula.  However, the German advance has simply formed a large salient from East Prussia to the Niemen River.  To the north the Russians remain in control of the fortress at Kovno, a threat to the German 10th Army's left flank.  To the south, much of the strength of the German 8th Army has been drawn into a siege of the fortress at Osowiec, where the rivers and marshes, combined with a skilled Russian defence, have prevented the Germans from bringing their siege artillery fully to bear on the fortress' walls.  Finally, today the Russian 12th Army finally begins its delayed advance to the west of Osowiec, and though the German 8th Army is able to contain the Russians, the Germans find themselves pinned into defensive positions, incapable of threatening anyone's flanks.

- To the west, the gap between the German 8th Army near the East Prussian frontier and the German 9th Army on the line of the Bzura River is covered by a scratch force under the command of General Max von Gallwitz.  With the forces to the east stalemated, Gallwitz launches an offensive today, advancing southeast towards the town of Prasnysz with elements of I Reserve and XVII Reserve Corps and 3rd Infantry Division.  Their ultimate objective is the Narew River, and by securing a crossing they hope to outflank the Russian line west of Warsaw and force the enemy to abandon the city.

The German advance towards Prasnysz, February 22nd, 1915.

- With the Boer Rebellion effectively crushed, Prime Minister Botha of South Africa turns his attention to the invasion of German South-West Africa.  Today he lands at Walvis Bay, assumes command over the South African force that occupied Swakopmund on January 13th, and orders an advance inland towards Windhoek along the railway (destroyed by the Germans) connecting the two towns.  Botha views the march to Windhoek, the German colonial capital, as strategically decisive, severing German communications between the north and south of the colony.  However, to prevent a German withdrawal from the south to concentrate against his column he has also ordered offensives from Lüdertiz and across the Orange River.

- The mutiny of soldiers from the 5th Light Infantry battalion at Singapore ends today, as British forces, with assistance from Russian, French, and Japanese sailors, round up the last of the mutineers who had fled to the jungle.  Next will come courts-martial to pass judgement on the one hundred and twenty-six mutineers who have been captured.

February 21st, 1915

- Advance elements of the German 8th and 10th Armies meet at the town of Lipsk, south of the Augustow Forest, encircling XX Corps.  Further, heavy Russian attacks westwards from the fortifications at Grodno over the past two days have further failed to dislodge the Germans between them and the forest, dooming XX Corps.

February 18th, 1915

- Sir John French replies today to Joffre's letter of the 16th regarding British operations in the near future, and the BEF commander outlines his plan for an attack in early March just north of La Bassée, directed at the village of Neuve Chapelle and the Aubers Ridge just beyond.  French, however, has learned of Kitchener's decision to assign 29th Division to the Dardanelles operation.  Moreover, though Kitchener has pledged to sent another division to France instead, it is composed of Territorial reserves, whom French believes will need significant further training before they can be send into the line.  As such, French informs Joffre that the BEF will be unable to conduct a major attack in early March while simultaneously relieving the French IX and XX Corps at Ypres previously agreed to on January 21st.

- In light of the Kaiser's decision to postpone the commencement of unrestricted submarine warfare, revised instructions are issued to U-boats today, intended to allow the navy to maintain an effective naval blockade of Britain without inflaming neutral opinion.  U-boat captains are to draw a clear distinction between enemy and neutral ships prior to firing, but in making such distinctions more than the flag of the merchant is to be taken into account, including course, structure, and general behaviour of the vessel.  Further, hospital ships are to spared, as well as ships belonging to the American-funded Belgian Relief Commission.  Provided such precautions are taken, captains would not be held responsible if mistakes were made.  The instructions bear the imprint of headquarters staff who have never had to determine the identity of a vessel through binoculars or a periscope while avoiding the threat of enemy fire.  Expecting U-boat captains to make what essentially is a political decision whether to fire is to invite mistakes, which is precisely what will happen.

Even as the revised instructions go out to the submarine force, the German government gives a reply to the American note of the 10th objecting to unrestricted submarine warfare.  On the one hand, the German government insists that they have the right to attack enemy ships as they see fit.  On the other hand, they assure the American government that American ships will not be attacked, as long as they are recognizable as such.

- The southern advance of the German 10th Army today sees it pass between the Russian fortress at Grodno and the Augustow Forest.  Here 10th Army takes up position facing both west and east, covering the escape routes from the Augustow Forest.

Of the Russian 10th Army, while III and XXVI Corps have made their way east and out of the forest, neither was aware that XX Corps remained behind them, and thus provided no aid to its withdrawal.  Thus XX Corps finds itself today still in Augustow Forest, and that the German 10th Army has now cut the last avenues of escape.

- For the past few days, the Austro-Hungarian 3rd Army has been attempting to recover the key town of Mezölaborcz, and today the 21st Landwehr Division gains some ground near the village of Szuko.  Otherwise, however, the strategic point remains in Russian hands.

- The French government decides today that the division assigned on the 4th to the Balkans is instead to be assigned to the Dardanelles operation.

- The merchant ship Rubens, disguised as a neutral Danish vessel to avoid interception by the British, slips out of Wilhelmshaven, beginning an unusual voyage.  Its destination is German East Africa, and its assignment is to bring supplies to the German forces defending the colony, and in particular a load of coal to enable the light cruiser Königsberg to sail for home.

February 17th, 1915

- As the French 4th Army continues to struggle in Champagne, failing to achieve a breakthrough, its commander General de Langle asks Joffre for reinforcements.  He wants to avoid repeated small-scale assaults and instead mass forces for one powerful attack that can overwhelm the Germans.

- The woods of the Argonne west of Verdun have been the scene of regular skirmishing between the Germans and French over the past several months, but today the French launch a major attack.  Since the German successes of January in carving out a salient towards Four-de-Paris, General Sarrail of 3rd Army has been eager to go onto the offensive in order to restore the morale of his solders.  The targeted sector is the western 'shoulder' of the German salient, between the ravines of Fontaine-aux-Charmes and Fontaine-de-Madame northeast of La Harazee.  Here the attack is highlighted by the explosion of three mines dug underneath the German line.  The detonation of the mines at 8am stuns the Germans, and the French are able to seize the first trench line.  Over the rest of the day there is fierce fighting as both sides struggle for the ruins of the German trench.  Gradually the French run out of ammunition, the intensity of the fire preventing resupply over the ruins of No Man's Land - indeed, for a period some French soldiers fight using captured German arms.  By 430pm the position has been regained by the Germans, the French suffering 40% casualties.

- In the pre-dawn hours the German 8th Army occupies the town of Augustow, on the western edge of the forest which bears its name.

- In the eastern Carpathians Austro-Hungarian cavalry recaptures the city of Czernowitz, while the main body of Pflanzer-Baltin's army group is directed northwest towards Dolina.  It is hoped that the latter drive into the flank of the Russians facing Südarmee, allowing the latter to advance.

- In Singapore the British authorities are gaining the upper hand on the Indian mutineers of the 5th Light Infantry.  Warships from Russia, France, and Japan have docked at the naval base, and added several hundred sailors to the colony's defenders.  Further, the mutiny is riven with internal tensions; only the Rajput half of the battalion  rebelled, while the Pathans remained loyal.

- For the past two weeks the landing party of the Emden has been at the Yemenese city of Sanaa, where they have found the climate not as inviting as they had hoped.  Because of the altitude the region is quite cold, and within several days of arrival 80% of the Germans had taken sick with fever.  Moreover, First Officer Mücke learns today that the difficulties of continuing the journey northwards by land are much greater than he had originally been informed.  Reluctantly, he concludes that they shall have to return to Hodeida and attempt to continue their voyage by sea, though this will need to wait until the sick are sufficiently recovered to travel again.

February 16th, 1915

- For several months the British 29th Division, composed of regular army battalions scattered throughout the Empire on the outbreak of war, has been assembling in the Home Islands.  Though initially intended to go to France for deployment with the British Expeditionary Force, Lord Kitchener decides today to assign the division to the Aegean to support the Dardanelles operation, either in seizing the peninsula of Gallipoli after it has been evacuated by the Ottomans or to occupy Constantinople should the navy push through to the enemy capital.  Kitchener also decides to allocate the volunteers from Australia and New Zealand, currently training in Egypt, to the Dardanelles operation.  This decision calms the fears of those who have argued that the navy alone would not suffice to force the straits and compel the Ottomans to leave the war.  On the other hand, authorizing the use of ground forces before the naval attack has even begun makes it easier for the navy to abandon the attack at the first sign of difficulty, given an alternative will already be at hand.

- After a delay of four days due to a snowstorm, the French 4th Army launches its major offensive in Champagne.  Along the five-kilometre front, XVII and I Corps are able to seize several hundred metres of the German first trench line, but are unable to advance further than five hundred metres, only a third of the advance they were scheduled to achieve today.  IV Corps, 4th Army's reserve, is thus withheld from the battle, with no breakthrough for it to exploit.

The front during the First Battle of Champagne, February to March 1915.

- As the French go over to the attack again in the Champagne, Joffre writes Sir John French today to emphasize the need for continued attacks, given intelligence reports suggesting that the Germans are massing against the Russians: 'it is important to . . . take the offensive in our theater of operations, less to profit from our numerical superiority than to hold the maximum [number] of enemy forces before us.'  The requirements of coalition warfare, then, are an impetus to striking the Germans on the Western Front.  Joffre urges the BEF to attack north and south of the Lys River, with its left advancing south of Ypres and its right moving on La Bassée.

- Advance elements of the German XXI Corps of 10th Army, already penetrating the Augustow Forest, encounter Russian forces retreating eastwards.  In pitched, close-quarters fighting, the Russians, attacking with bayonets on empty rifles, prevail, taking some prisoners while continuing their escape.

- On the far eastern wing of the Carpathian front, to the right of Südarmee, an Austro-Hungarian army group named for and under the command of General Karl von Pflanzer-Baltin has been holding the line and grappling with the Russians opposite.  As preparations continue for a resumption of the main offensive by 3rd and the redeployed 2nd Armies to the west, Pflanzer-Baltin's forces have been able to secure local victories - today, the town of Kolomea is recaptured.

The line in the eastern Carpathians just prior to the recapture of Kolomea.

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 11th, 1915

- In the Winter Battle of the Masurian Lakes the advance of the German 10th Army continues unabated.  A Russian corps, holding the northern flank of the Russian 10th Army and consisting of three second-line divisions, has disintegrated under the relentless German assaults.  The corps commander, who had been instructed that the defence of the fortress of Kovno is a priority, withdraws the remnants of his force in that direction, which also happens to remove them from the German line of advance to the southeast.  The German 10th Army is now in a position to advance to the Augustow Forest and thereby sweep around the rear of the rest of the Russian 10th Army.

The Russian leadership, meanwhile, still does not understand the nature of the German offensive; General Ruszkii of North-West Front believes the main German attack is being undertaken by the German 8th Army and is aimed towards Osowiec.  As such, he orders the still-assembling 12th Army to prepare a counter-offensive designed to hit the flank of the perceived main axis of the German advance.  For this attack to succeed, Ruszkii orders 10th Army to remain in its positions, to act as the anvil to 12th Army's hammer blow against the German 8th Army.  Such orders, of course, are the worst possible, given that it is 10th Army itself that is the target of the German offensive, and is in growing danger of being enveloped.

- Over the past few weeks several reports have reached the commander of Indian Expeditionary Force D of the potential for Arab unrest along the eastern frontier of Persia, inspired by the Ottoman call to jihad and German intrigues.  Today it is decided to dispatch a force to the city of Ahwaz on the Karun River and adjacent to the pipeline of the Anglo-Persian Oil Company, whose preservation had ostensibly been a key motivation for the initial landing in lower Mesopotamia.  The force sent, however, is too small - thirty cavalry, two Indian battalions, thirty soldiers from the Dorsetshire Regiment, and a handful of guns - to be of any value in intimidating the Arab tribes or demonstrating British strength in the region.

February 10th, 1915

- The United States issues a strong condemnation of the recent German proclamation that starting on the 18th a war zone would exist around the British Isles and that enemy merchant ships would be sunk without warning.  The position of the American government is that any harm befalling an American ship or American citizens, even if the latter were aboard a British vessel, would be 'an indefensible violation of neutral rights,' and pledged to hold the German government strictly to account for any such act.  In short, the United States will defend its rights to trade with Britain and expect Germany not to interfere.  The tone of the American note is stronger that Chancellor Bethmann-Hollweg expected, and brings into sharp relief the tension between cutting British maritime trade and the attitude of neutral powers.

- The Russian 10th Army continues to be battered by the German offensive as it crosses the frontier between East Prussia and Russia itself.  General Rudolph Sievers, 10th Army commander, is struggling against against immense difficulties, only one of which are the Germans themselves.  The terrible blizzard bedevils his own infantry as much as the enemy, and makes redeployment and reinforcement almost impossible.  Meanwhile, most of 10th Army's supplies and ammunition are snowbound at railway depots in the rear, and communication links are tenuous at best.  Given the difficulties, Sievers has concentrated his attention on III Siberian Corps on the southern end of the line, which is putting up a stubborn defence that is at least slowing the advance of the German 8th Army opposite.  This concentration on the south, however, leaves the northern end of the line neglected, where the German 10th Army is having more success - today the German XXI Corps cuts the rail line from the front to the Russian fortress at Kovno to the north-east, and XXIX Reserve Corps surrounds and captures ten thousand Russian soldiers near Wirballen.

February 9th, 1915

- A meeting of the War Council in London today includes discussion regarding Entente strategy on the Western Front, and communications from Joffre regarding the role he desires the British to play.  While desiring to cooperate and coordinate with their French ally, they are not inclined to, as Churchill remarks, give the French the 'last word' on the employment of the British Expeditionary Force.

- In Germany OHL submits a recommendation to the Prussian War Ministry today to establish a chief of field aviation (Feldflugchef) who would have authority over all aerial matters, including the coordination of airplane production.

- In East Prussia the full weight of the advancing German 10th Army falls upon two Russian cavalry divisions screening the northern flank of the Russian 10th Army.  The Russian divisions simply disintegrate, and the attack of the Germans continues unimpeded.

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.

February 7th, 1915

- The Winter Battle of the Masurian Lakes opens today as the German 8th and 10th Armies commence their advance, though the weather is the worst imaginable: a severe blizzard blankets the front, with gale-force winds driving snow into the faces of the German infantry.  Though the Germans suffer terribly, the poor weather has the unintended benefit of masking their true strength from the Russians; the entirety of 8th Army is dismissed as being a mere small detachment.  The Russians, then, have no idea of the size of the enemy force bearing down on 10th Army.  Moreover, the attention of North-West Front is on 12th Army, still assembling to the south of East Prussia and which is to launch a major Russian offensive northwards in mid-February.  With their focus to the southwest, the Russian leadership dismisses any notion of a substantial threat to 10th Army, and the latter is strung out and poorly-entrenched.  Once again, a Russian army has been left vulnerable to a German attack.

An isolated second-line Russian division finds itself in the path of the advance of the German 8th Army, which erroneously believes that the Germans are moving on the fortress of Osowiec to the south.  Under German attack, the division disintegrates, and the advance continues.

The Winter Battle of the Masurian Lakes, February 7th to 18th, 1915.

- For the past two months, Indian Expeditionary Force D has been consolidating its hold on Qurna and the Shatt al-Arab.  Little enemy activity has been seen beyond the occasional armed demonstration by Ottomans, regarded as nothing more than nuisances.  Over the past three days, Lord Hardinge, Viceroy of India, has been in the region, visiting Basra and touring the front line around Qurna.  His presence is meant to reassure nearby wavering Arab tribes that the British are here to stay.  As the Viceroy departs today, he is pleased with the balance of forces in the area, and is confident that IEF D does not need substantial reinforcement.

February 6th, 1915

- The assembly in East Prussia of the German 10th Army, based on the four reserve corps reluctantly assigned to the Eastern Front by Falkenhayn in January, is completed today.  Commanded by General Hermann von Eichhorn, 10th Army is deployed to the north of 8th Army, the latter now commanded by General Otto von Below.  Ludendorff's plan is for the two armies to advance eastwards, marching over the same terrain that 8th Army moved through before and after the Battle of Augustow in September and October.  Their target is the Russian 10th Army, and the two German armies are to envelop it from the north and south, its destruction opening the way for a further advance.  This offensive is designed as the counterpart to Austro-Hungarian operations in Galicia, the success of both, it is envisioned, forcing the Russians to evacuate Poland.  While the plan is typically bold for one devised by Ludendorff, it also fails in the broader strategic sense - not only has the Austro-Hungarian offensive gotten nowhere, but the further eastward 10th and 8th Armies advance, the more exposed their southern flank will be to a Russian counterattack.  Whatever local success Ludendorff manages to achieve here, it will be difficult for him to translate it into strategic success.  Plus, there is the fact the battle will be launched in the middle of the Russian winter, with all that portends.

- In the Carpathians the fighting is bogging down into positional warfare, as the counterattacking Russians run into the same supply and weather problems that have bedevilled the Austro-Hungarian offensive.  Conrad, however, remains desperate to relieve Przemysl, knowing the fortress will not last past March and believing its fall will be crushing to Austro-Hungarian morale and likely to prompt the intervention of Italy and Romania.  He is thus unwilling to abandon the concept of offensive operations in the Carpathians, despite the appalling casualties and conditions experienced over the past two weeks.

Conrad has also concluded that the commander of 3rd Army has been too pessimistic and shown insufficient drive and enthusiasm for the attack. As a remedy, he takes half of 3rd Army's divisions away from it, assigning them instead to a 'new' 2nd Army - the HQ of the existing 2nd Army is brought from the Polish front to command in the Carpathians, along with additional reinforcements.  Once the additional forces arrive, the Austro-Hungarians will go over to the attack once more.

The Carpathian front, February 5th to 15th, 1915.

- A conference is held today in Brazzaville, capital of French Equatorial Africa, regarding operations against German Kamerun in the coming year.  Believing that Jaunde is the key to the German defence, it is decided that one column will advance towards Lomie and Dume to the east of Jaunde, while another will advance to the Ntem River to isolate the town from the southwest.  It is hoped that the simultaneous advances will coordinate with each other and keep the Germans off-balance.

January 23rd, 1915

- In line with the decisions of the 21st, today Falkenhayn issues orders for the deployment of the new German 10th Army, which is to be sent to the Eastern Front and consists of XXXVIII, XXXIX, and XXXX Reserve Corps as well as XXI Corps drawn from the Western Front (the latter replaced by XXXXI Reserve Corps).

- Admiral Hipper, commander of the battlecruisers of the High Seas Fleet, has been badgering Admiral Ingenohl to approve a sortie of his force to Dogger Bank in the North Sea.  The propensity of the Grand Fleet to appear out of the blue precisely where it needed to be to intercept prior German raids has not gone unnoticed, but as the German navy remains supremely confident in the security of its wireless codes, Hipper has concluded that fishing trawlers around Dogger Bank have been signalling the British navy whenever German warships are at sea.  Hipper's plan is to take his battlecruisers to Dogger Bank at night, intercept any British light forces encountered at dawn, rigourously investigage each fishing trawler, and return the following evening.  Ingenohl yields today to Hipper's pressure, signalling at 1025am that the proposed sortie to Dogger Bank is approved.  The commander of the High Seas Fleet is clear, however, that no assistance from the dreadnoughts will be forthcoming - in addition to the Kaiser's edict, the 3rd Battle Squadron, composed of the newest dreadnoughts, is in the Baltic Sea undertaking gunnery practice.  Hipper promises that he will turn for home at the first sight of any significant British force.  At 545pm Hipper departs the Jade with the battlecruisers Seydlitz, Moltke, and Derfflinger (Von der Tann is in drydock for routine maintenance), the armoured cruiser Blücher, four light cruisers, and nineteen destroyers.

Unfortunately for Hipper, Room 40 has once again woven its magic, and the British Admiralty knows of the German sortie hours before the German warships have even left port.  By 1pm telegrams warning of the German raid are sent to Jellicoe, Beatty, and Tyrwhitt, and orders issued for Beatty's battlecruisers and Tyrwhitt's light warships to rendezvous at Dogger Bank at 7am tomorrow morning.  Jellicoe and the Grand Fleet, meanwhile, was instructed to put to sea and patrol 150 miles to the northwest, in case the High Seas Fleet made an appearance.  At 6pm, just fifteen minutes after Hipper's warships leave the Jade, Beatty's battlecruisers depart Rosyth and begin the voyage overnight to Dogger Bank.

Dogger Bank and the North Sea.

- The Austo-Hungarian offensive in Galicia begins today, constituting the first phase of the Winter Battles of the Carpathians.  In 3rd Army's sector small gains are recoded by elements under the command of General Szurmay, which seize the heights around Uszok Pass, and the 44th Landwehr Division reaches the Chrewt area.  To the east Südarmee is also on the move, with Corps Hofmann, commanded by General Peter Hofmann and consisting of a German infantry division and three Austro-Hungarian infantry brigades, advancing on the roads to Tucholka and Tuchla.

The greatest challenges faced by the attackers is not overcoming Russian resistance, however, but dealing with the weather and terrain.  Infantry find themselves attempting to fight through heavy snow on icy slopes, with no prospect of either prolonged periods of rest or shelter from the elements.  Indeed, many of the soldiers were already exhausted before they even reached the Russian defences, while the weather foiled efforts to evacuate the sick and wounded.  Artillery support was also almost nonexistant - while efforts had been made to supply the 3rd Army and Südarmee with additional shells, it proved practically impossible to move artillery pieces through the deep snow to support advancing infantry.  Most of the infantry in the Austro-Hungarian army had no familiarity with the mountains or how to survive in them, and their formations had already been decimated by the fighting of 1914.  In most cases the soldiers of the Austro-Hungarian army were simply no longer capable of executing the operations dreamt up by Conrad and his subordinates.

January 17th, 1915

- General Ruszkii of North-West Front meets Grand Duke Nicholas' chief of staff at Siedlec today to discuss the next phase of operations on the northern half of the Eastern Front.  Ruszkii remains convinced that an advance in central Poland is impossible as long as the Germans control East Prussia, so he proposes to form a new 12th Army, comprised of ten divisions, that will attack westwards into East Prussia, supported by 10th Army to the south.  The plan is approved, and orders begin to be issued for the redeployments necessary to create 12th Army.