The Great War (1914-1918) in real time

Day 167 of the Great War, January 10th 1915

Naval operations: Admiral Pohl, Chief of the Naval Staff, telegraphs Admiral Ingenohl of the High Seas Fleet

Admiral Pohl, Chief of the Naval Staff, telegraphs Admiral Ingenohl of the High Seas Fleet to inform the latter of a conference held three days earlier with Wilhelm II. While the Kaiser had reiterated his restrictions on the movement of the dreadnoughts of the High Seas Fleet, he did make one important concession - at Pohl's urging, Wilhelm approves the use of naval Zeppelins to bombard the docks of London and the English coast. This action has long been urged by many in the German navy as a means to strike back at the hated English foe. Even this authorization, however, is limited - Zeppelins are not permitted to bomb the centre of London, as the Kaiser fears the accidental deaths of his English regal cousins. Planning now begins for the first Zeppelin raids on Britain.

Eastern Front: Germany and Austria-Hungary agree today to the Treaty of Posen

Germany and Austria-Hungary agree today to the Treaty of Posen, by which they divide up the occupied part of Russian Poland between them. Reflecting the balance of power within the alliance, it is Germany that is assigned the more productive Polish lands.

Caucasus campaign: Russian II Turkestan Corps goes on the offensive against the Ottoman XI Corps

In the Caucasus the Russian II Turkestan Corps goes on the offensive against the Ottoman XI Corps opposite, sending 1500 soldiers through the mountains around the Ottoman left to outflank them.

Naval operations: English Channel

HMS MERSEY and SEVERN leave Dunkirk, where they have been stationed since December 15th, for Dover. Another heavy storm keeps forcing MERSEY off course. Her crew rig a sail out of the canvas bridge fences. This works quite well, and in the future monitors will be provided with sails for just this purpose.

Naval operations: Bosporus

The Turkish gunboat HIZIR REIS hits a mine near the third barrage while returning from patrol. The boat is seriously damaged forward and is towed to Istinye for docking and inspection. Repairs prove difficult and the boat is not returned to service until the middle of the year.

Day 169 of the Great War, January 12th 1915

Eastern Front: Falkenhayn travels to the headquarters of OberOst at Posen

Falkenhayn travels to the headquarters of OberOst at Posen today, where he discusses the general situation on the Eastern Front with Hindenburg and also receives a briefing from Colonel Max Hoffman regarding ongoing planning for an offensive from East Prussia. Falkenhayn, however, refuses to commit to deploying the four new reserve corps to the Eastern Front before his departure back to Berlin.

Western Front: German counterattack north of Soissons is launched on the heights east of Crouy

At 11am this morning, the German counterattack north of Soissons is launched on the heights east of Crouy, home to vital French artillery observation posts. The attack catches the French completely by surprise and the Germans capture the heights, resulting in a noticeable slackening of French artillery fire. At noon, two regiments of 9th Infantry Brigade takes the trenches north and northwest of Crouy which, in combination with an attack of 7th Reserve Division to the west, undoes the French success achieved over the past few days. This convinces General Lochow of III Corps to launch the previously-planned offensive tomorrow.

Map: the Battle of Soissons, January 12th to 14th, 1915



Naval operations: The Admiralty, London

Admiral Carden submits his plan for the attack on the Dardanelles this morning. He suggests a slow and methodical approach, knocking out the Ottoman forts one-by-one while minesweepers clears the Straits, in order to minimize losses. He estimates the operation will take one month, and should be undertaken by a force of twelve pre-dreadnoughts, three battlecruisers (to deal with Goeben), three light cruisers, sixteen destroyers, six submarines and twelve minesweepers.

Carden's plan is discussed at the Admiralty by Churchill and his senior admirals, including the First Sea Lord. No one objects to Churchill's strong endorsement of the proposal, and crucially Fisher suggests adding to the force the newly-commissioned dreadnought Queen Elizabeth. It was scheduled to undertake gunnery training off Gibraltar in February, but if it is going to be lobbing 15-inch shells in practice, they might as well be aimed at Ottoman forts instead of the open sea.

Day 171 of the Great War, January 14th 1915

Western Front: German attack near Soissons concludes

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.

Sinai and Palestine campaign: Ottoman VIII Corps of 4th Army begins its advance into the Sinai peninsula

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.

Map: the 3 ways across the Sinai Peninsula from el Aujah



Naval operations: Cape Horn

HMS BRISTOL departs Port Tamar for Possession Bay.

Naval operations: Atlantic Ocean

HMS CANOPUS departs Abrolhos for St Vincent. HMS CARNARVON has departed the Falklands to return to the search around Cape Horn.

Day 173 of the Great War, January 16th 1915

Eastern Front: Conrad continues to press Falkenhayn for the deployment of the four new reserve corps on the Eastern Front

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.

Caucasus campaign: Ottoman XI Corps begins to withdraw westward

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.

Photo: Russian trenches in the forests of Sarikamish



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.

Naval operations: London

First Lord of The Admiralty Winston Churchill receives Admiral Sturdee's report on the Falklands action. First Sea Lord Jacky Fisher has been pushing for Sturdee to be reduced to Captain of an armoured cruiser and kept in the South Atlantic until SMS DRESDEN is captured or destroyed. Recognizing that such an assignment would be an insult to the man responsible for Britain's only major naval victory thus far in the war, Churchill offers Sturdee command of the Fourth Battle Squadron, which included seven modern battleships.

As soon as Sturdee received this offer he gratefully accepted.

SS PERSIA departs Tilbury on the river Thames for Bombay. Part of her cargo are the men and planes of RNAS Expeditionary Squadron 4. Commanded by Flt. Lt. John T. Cull, the squadron had another pilot, Harold E. Watkins, with two Sopwith floatplanes and eighteen men. Their ultimate destination is Mafia Island and the Rufiji river.

Day 175 of the Great War, January 18th 1915

Naval operations: Cape Horn

HMS BRISTOL and CELTIC depart Possession Bay for Punta Arenas. HMS GLASGOW is again patrolling the Atlantic off the coast of Argentina. HMS NEWCASTLE is fighting a heavy storm of the Pacific coast of Chile. HMS CARNARVON departs Possession Bay to help patrol the Atlantic.

Japan: China gets the Twenty-One Demands

Japan had entered the First World War on the side of the Entente not because it was threatened by Germany, but rather to secure its own limited objectives in East Asia and the Pacific. Indeed, the amount of time and effort it would take the rest of the Entente to defeat Germany in Europe was of no particular concern to Japan, provided that Germany was defeated eventually. Thus Japan's focus was always limited to its immediate backyard, and by the end of 1914 had secured its immediate territorial objectives through the seizure of Tsingtao and the German islands of the north Pacific. With this accomplished, the focus of the Japanese government turned to China, still a neutral state but one in which Japan had long sought to secure economic and political hegemony. China was seen as an essential source of raw materials and a market for exports, and a dominant Japanese interest was also viewed as crucial to the security of the nascent Japanese Empire. The European colonial powers, however, had also long been interested in China, and concessions to Britain, France, and Russia threaten to crowd out Japan, while the 'Open Door' policy of the United States is equally unpalatable. The ongoing war, however, has opened an opportunity to the Japanese government to expand its influence in China without meeting the opposition of Britain, France, and Russia, given their continued desire for Japanese assistance.

Thus today the Japanese ambassador presents to the Chinese government what will become known as the Twenty-One Demands, listing the concessions expected of the Chinese. The Demands were organized into five groups:

Group 1 (four demands) confirmed Japan's recent seizure of German ports and operations in Shandong Province, and expanded Japan's sphere of influence over the railways, coasts and major cities of the province.

Group 2 (seven demands) pertained to Japan's South Manchuria Railway Zone, extending the leasehold over the territory for 99 years, and expanding Japan's sphere of influence in southern Manchuria and eastern Inner Mongolia, to include rights of settlement and extraterritoriality, appointment of financial and administrative officials to the government and priority for Japanese investments in those areas. Japan demanded access to Inner Mongolia for raw materials, as a manufacturing site, and as a strategic buffer against Russian encroachment in Korea.

Group 3 (two demands) gave Japan control of the Han-Ye-Ping (Hanyang, Daye, and Pingxiang) mining and metallurgical complex in central China; it was deep in debt to Japan.

Group 4 (one demand) barred China from giving any further coastal or island concessions to foreign powers.

Group 5 (seven demands) was the most aggressive. China was to hire Japanese advisors who could take effective control of China's finance and police. Japan would be empowered to build three major railways, and also Buddhist temples and schools. Japan would gain effective control of Fujian, across the Taiwan Strait from Taiwan, which had been ceded to Japan in 1895.

Naval operations: North Sea

E-class submarine HMS E10 sinks in the North Sea.

Day 177 of the Great War, January 20th 1915

Aerial operations: German zeppelins L 3 and L 4 return to their airbase of Fuhlsbütte

As the Zeppelins L 3 and L 4 return to their airbase of Fuhlsbüttel at 940am and 947am, the news of the first bombs dropped on Britain by airships is published in the German press to widespread acclaim. The reaction in government circles is somewhat more guarded; Wilhelm II praises the conduct of the raid, but is disturbed by the apparent bombing of the royal palace at Sandringham, raising fears among the military leadership that the temperamental Kaiser may yet rescind permission to bomb Britain. Chancellor Bethmann-Hollweg, meanwhile, is concerned at the impact on opinion in the neutral states, especially in the United States, over the apparent bombing of undefended cities for no great military gain. In Britain, meanwhile, satisfaction with the negligible damage is mixed with concern at the inability to prevent such raids - while anti-aircraft guns have been deployed around London and a small number of military targets, the two German Zeppelins had attacked elsewhere and thus flew with relative impunity.

Eastern Front: Russian North-West and South-West Fronts work at cross-purposes, pursuing their own plans instead of coordinating their efforts

On the Eastern Front General Ivanov of South-West Front believes the decision by Grand Duke Nicholas to focus on an invasion of East Prussia, as prompted by General Ruszkii, fails to take account of the apparent Russian superiority in Galicia. Instead, as he informs his subordinates today, Ivanov intends to push into and through the Carpathian Mountains into the Hungary plain, possibly knocking Austria-Hungary out of the war entirely. Regardless of the merit in Ivanov's plan, it means that once again North-West and South-West Front are working at cross-purposes, pursuing their own plans instead of coordinating their efforts.

Western Front: Mecklenburg 14th Jäger Battalion and the 11th and 15th Ulan Regiments attack in the Vosges

Over the past two days the Mecklenburg 14th Jäger Battalion and the 11th and 15th Ulan Regiments have attacked in the Vosges, working their way around the southern flank of Hartmannswillerkopf, isolating the French defenders on the summit. In preparation for a final assault on the mountain, it is targeted by a heavy artillery bombardment.

Naval operations: Cape Horn

HMS BRISTOL moves from Port Tamar to Sholl Bay.

HMS GLASGOW is in the Atlantic again, and reports several items lost overboard: "Lost overboard. 1 sinker 24 lbs. 1 Brass tube 1 stray line. 1 swivel 100 fms S.M. wire."

HMS CRANARVON moves westward from Possession Bay to Punta Arenas.

HMS NEWCASTLE is at San Quintin Bay on the Pacific coast of Chile.

SMS DRESDEN is still at Weinachts Bay, not 50 miles from Punta Arenas.