The Battle of Albert began on September 25, 1914 as part of the Race to the Sea during World War I. It directly followed the First Battle of the Marne and the First Battle of the Aisne as progress toward advancing the trench lines to the sea continued.

The French Tenth Army began to assemble at Amiens from mid-September and on September 25 began to push eastwards. De Castelnau, under the command of Joffre, launched a frontal attack on the German lines near Albert after attempts to stretch the line northward failed. De Castelnau was met with immediate resistance and counterattack as the German Sixth Army had reached Bapaume on September 26 and advanced to Thiepval on the 27th, in the midst of what was to become the Somme battlefield of 1916. The German aim was to drive westward to the English Channel, seizing the industrial and agricultural regions of Northern France, cutting off the supply route of the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) and isolating Belgium.

Neither side was able to make any decisive ground and the battle around Albert ended around September 29 as the fighting moved northwards towards Arras and Lille and into West Flanders. This confrontation and those to follow were deemed draws as the fighting settled into prolonged trench warfare.

Battle of Aqaba was the seizure of the Jordanian port of Aqaba by forces of the Arab Revolt, led by Auda ibu Tayi and T. E. Lawrence ("Lawrence of Arabia") in July 1917.

Background

Following an unsuccessful attack on Medina, forces of the Arab Revolt under Emir Faisal I were on the defensive against the Turks. Lawrence, sent by General Archibald Murray, commander of the Egyptian Expeditionary Force, to act as a military advisor to Feisal, convinced the latter to attack Aqaba. Aqaba was a Turkish-garrisoned port in Jordan, which would threaten British forces operating in Palestine; the Turks had also used it as a base during their 1915 attack on the Suez Canal. It was also suggested by Feisal that the port be taken as a means for the British to supply his Arab forces. Though he did not take part in the attack itself (his cousin Sherif Nasir rode along as the leader of his forces), Feisal lent a large number of his men to Lawrence. Lawrence also met with Auda ibu Tayi, leader of the northern Howeitat tribe of Bedouin, who agreed to lend himself and a large number of his men to the expedition.

Aqaba was not in and of itself a major military obstacle; a small village, it was not actually garrisoned by the Turks, though the Turks did keep a small garrison a short way from the town to protect from landward attack via the Sinai Peninsula. The main obstacle to a successful landward attack on the town was the large Nefud Desert, believed by many to be impassable.

Crossing the Nefud

The expedition started moving towards Aqaba in May. Despite the heat of the desert, the seasoned Bedouins encountered few obstacles aside from occasional harassment from small bands of Arabs paid off by the Turks; they lost more men to attacks by snakes and scorpions than to enemy action. During the expedition, Auda and Lawrence's forces also did severe damage to the Hejaz Railway.

Auda and his men reached the Wadi Sirhan region, occupied by the Rualla tribe. Auda payed 6,000 pounds in gold to their leader in exchange for allow his men to use Wadi Sirhan as a base.

Lawrence's plan was to convince the Turks that the target of his attack was Damascus, rather than Aqaba. At one point in this expedition, he went on a solitary reconnaissance expedition, destroying a railroad bridge at Baalbek. Lawrence did this largely to convince the Turks that the Arab force - of which they had received vague reports - was moving towards Damascus or Aleppo.

The expedition then approached Daraa, and captured a railroad station nearby. This action confirmed for the Turks, who had heretofore been misled as to the Arab army's intentions, that Aqaba was indeed their target. A squadron of 400 Turkish cavalry was sent after them, but Auda's men were easily able to avoid them.

Battle

The actual battle for Aqaba occurred for the most part at a Turkish blockhouse at Abu el Lissal, about halfway between Aqaba and the town of Maan. A group of separate Arab rebels, acting in conjunction with the expedition, had seized the blockhouse a few days before, but a Turkish infantry battalion arrived on the scene and recaptured it. The Turks then attacked a small, nearby encampment of Arabs and killed several of them.

After hearing of this, Auda personally led an attack on the Turkish troops there, attacking at mid-day on July 6. The charge was a wild success. Turkish resistance was slight; the Arabs brutally massacred hundreds of Turks as revenge before their leaders could restrain them. In all, three hundred Turks were killed and another 150 taken prisoner, in exchange for the loss of two Arabs killed (a small number were also apparently wounded in the action). Lawrence was nearly killed in the action; he accidentally shot the camel he was riding in the head with his pistol, but was fortunately thrown out of harm's way when he fell. Auda was grazed numerous times, with his favorite pair of field glasses being destroyed, but was otherwise unharmed.

Meanwhile, a small group of British naval vessels appeared offshore of Aqaba itself and began shelling it. At this point, Lawrence, Auda, and Nasir had rallied their troops; their total force had been quadrupled to 2,000 men by a local Bedouin who, with the defeat of the Turks at Lissal, now openly joined Lawrence's expedition. This force manuveured themselves past the outer works of Aqaba's defensive lines. approached the gates of Aqaba, and its garrison surrendered without further struggle.

Aftermath/Consequences

The seizure of Aqaba allowed for the transport of Feisal's army further north, where it could again begin operations with the logistical support of the British military. It also relieved pressure on British forces in Palestine and effectively isolated the Turkish forces in Medina, and opened a pathway for possible military operations into Syria and Jordan.

The battle was depicted in the film Lawrence of Arabia, though the film's depiction of a sweeping charge by the Arabs against Aqaba itself is quite false.

The Battle of Arras (also known as the First Battle of Arras), which began on October 1, 1914, was an attempt by the French Army to outflank the German Army to prevent its movement towards the English Channel during the Race to the Sea.

The French Tenth Army, led by Louis Maud'huy, attacked the advancing German forces on October 1, initially experiencing success until they reached the town of Douai. There, the German Crown Prince Rupprecht's Sixth Army launched a counter-attack. Along with additional attacks from three corps of the German First, Second and Seventh Armies. The French were forced to withdraw towards Arras.

France's failure to hold back the German Army resulted in the loss of Lens on October 4, and allowed the Germans to move further northwards towards Flanders. The French, however, were able to hold Arras.

The Battle of Asiago or Battle of the Plateaux (in Italian: Battaglia degli Altipiani), nicknamed Strafexpedition ("Punitive expedition") by the Austrians, was a counteroffensive launched by the Austro-Hungarians on the Italian Front on May 15, 1916, during World War I. It was an unexpected attack that took place near Asiago in Trentino (now in northeast Italy, then part of Austria-Hungary) after the Fifth Battle of the Isonzo (March 1916).

The idea came from Conrad von Hötzendorf, who had been maintaining for years (even before the outbreak of the war) the need of a punitive action against Italy, distrusting Italian loyalty to the Triple Alliance. Now, after Serbia's collapse and a series of Russian defeats on the Eastern Front, he had been allotted the resources to put that idea into practice. His plan consisted in a quick attack from Trentino toward the Adriatic Sea, cutting off Venetia and ensnaring General Cadorna's army in a giant trap.

It was not so easy, however, because the Italians had deployed in the area about 250,000 troops (General Brusati's First Army and part of the Fourth Army). Hötzendorff had asked Germany for help, but his request was denied because Germany was not yet at war with Italy (which would declare war on Germany three months later), and because redeploying German units on the Italian Front would have diminished German offensive capability against Russia.

Italian intelligence had been gathering information about an impending enemy offensive in Trentino — and a big one — for about a month, but Cadorna dismissed those reports, persuaded as he was that nothing could happen in that region.

On May 15, 2,000 Austrian artillery guns opened a heavy barrage against the Italian lines, setting Trentino afire. The Austrian infantry attacked along a 50km front. The Italian wings stood their ground, but the center yielded, and the Austrians broke through, reaching the beginning of the Venetian plain. With Vicenza about 30 km away, all the Italian forces on the Isonzo faced outflanking.

Cadorna hastily sent reinforcements to the First Army, and deployed the newly formed Fifth Army to engage the enemy in case they succeeded in entering the plain. The situation was critical.

However, on June 4, the Russians unexpectedly took the initiative in Galicia, where they managed to enter Austrian soil. Although they were effectively countered by German troops, Hötzendorf was forced quickly to withdraw half of his divisions from Trentino. With that, the Strafexpedition could no longer be sustained and the Austrians retired from many of their positions. Italian troops in the region were increased to 400,000 to counter the Austrian positions.

Although the Strafexpedition had been checked, it had political consequences in Italy: the Salandra Cabinet fell, and Paolo Boselli became the new Prime Minister.

The Battle of Baku was a battle of the Caucasus Campaign of World War I that took place in the vicinity of Baku, in 1918 . The Ottoman-Azerbaijani forces of the Army of Islam led by Nuri Pasha won the battle against a coalition of British, Armenian and White Russian forces led by Lionel Dunsterville.

The Battle of Bash Abaran was a battle of Caucasus Campaign of World War I that took place in the vicinity of Bash Abaran, in 1918. The Turkish divisions attacked on May 21, but after three days of fierce combat the Armenians remained firm and the Turkish regiments were defeated.

Battle of Bitlis was a battle between the Russian Empire and the Ottoman Empire during the Caucasus Campaign of World War I. The first conflict was in July 1915 which the Ottoman forces hold on the city. The second conflict began in February - 3 March 1916 which ended with Russian forces capturing the city. The city was captured by the 1. Armenian battalion of the Armenian volunteer units under the command of Andranik Toros Ozanian. The city was the last defense point for the Ottoman Army to prevent the Russians moving central Anatolia and Mesopotamia. After the capture, Ottoman Army asked Mustafa Kemal to organize the defense in the region. The forces under Mustafa Kemal's control built a resistance between 1 - 8 August 1916, which 9 August the region was recaptured.

The Battle of Bolimov was an inconclusive battle of World War I fought on January 31, 1915 between Germany and Russia and considered a preliminary to the Second Battle of the Masurian Lakes.

The German Ninth Army led by August von Mackensen attacked the Russian Second Army, under General Smirnov, near the Polish town of Bolimov, laying on the railway line connecting Łódź and Warsaw.

The Battle of Bomilov was the first attempt by the Germans at a large-scale use of poison gas; the several thousand gas shells they fired proved unsuccessful when the xylyl bromide—a type of tear gas—was blown back at their own lines. The gas caused few, if any, casualties, however, since the cold weather caused it to freeze, rendering it ineffective.

The failure of the xylyl bromide caused the German commanders to call off their attack. In response, the Russians sent 11 divisions, led by Vasily Gurko to launch a counterattack; German artillery repelled the Russian troops, who suffered 40,000 casualties.

The Battle of Bukoba was the first victory for Entente forces in German East Africa, coming after the disastrous battles of Tanga and Jassin. The British objective was the destruction of the Bukoba wireless station. Due to Bukoba's location on the shore of Lake Victoria, it was decided that the raid should take the form of an amphibious assault.

The Battle and aftermath

The raid was launched from Kisumu in British East Africa on June 21, 1915. Amongst the units chosen for the attack were the Loyal North Lacashires and the 25th (Frontiersmen) Battalion, Royal Fusiliers, more commonly known by the their nickname the 25th 'Frontiersmen'. This unusual unit had been created by Colonel Daniel Patrick Driscoll as an irregular skirmish force shaped by his experiences during the Second Boer War, and drawn largely from his peacetime paramilitary group, the Legion of Frontiersmen. A number of big game hunters were recruited to the force by Driscoll—most notably Frederick Selous, who was 64 when he joined and who died in action at the age of 65.

Upon reaching the objective at Bukoba the attackers were accidentally landed in a large swamp and were pinned down by fierce rifle and machine gun fire from the German positions. Finally managing to escape the swamp, the British force was then held up by snipers—who succeeded in stalling the attack until a Capt. Meinertzhagen advanced towards them and opened fire, killing one and driving the rest away. The attack continued for a further two days in the town; however, casualties were light on both sides. The Frontiersmen took the town on June 23. An Australian member of the unit, Lieutenant Wilbur Dartnell, climbed to the top of the town hall and removed the German Imperial Ensign from the flagpole as a symbolic gesture of victory.

Bukoma fort and the wireless station were destroyed, the British also captured rifles and 32,000 rounds of ammunition. Due to their status as an 'irregular' unit, the Frontiersmen were granted permission to loot the town by General Stewart. This predictably turned into a disaster, with the 25th robbing and burning much of the town with such ferocity that the incident became known as the "Sack of Bukoba". It was later claimed by an embarrassed high command that no looting had taken place.

The aim of the raid, the destruction of the wireless station, was counterproductive for the British as it deprived them of the possibility of intercepting German transmissions. Bukoba was abandoned.

Wilbur Dartnell

After the battle, the 25th Battalion was ordered to guard the Uganda Railway between Nairobi and Mombasa, which was coming under heavy attack from German forces. During this period Wilbur Dartnell was posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross for an action which took place near Maktau on September 3, 1915.

The 1918 Battle of Cambrai was an engagement fought between troops of the Canadian Corps, British First, Third, and Fourth Armies, the American Corps, and German Empire forces. The Battle of Cambrai was one in a long series of battles across the Hindenburg Line. The Battle took place October 8 - 10, 1918. The Battle incorporated many of the newer tactics of 1918, namely tanks, meaning that the battle was an overwhelming success with light casualties in an extremely short amount of time.

Battle

Although there were three German lines, spanning some 7,000 yards, the sector has been quiet for some time so it was lightly garrisoned: the 20th Landwehr and the 54th Reserve, supported by no more than 150 guns. The German defenders were unprepared for the "hurricane bombardment" by 324 tanks.

On October 8, the 2nd Canadian Division entered Cambrai and encountered sporadic and light resistance. However, they rapidly pressed northward, leaving the "mopping up" of the town to the 3rd Canadian Division following close behind. When the 3rd entered the town on October 10, they found it deserted. Less than 20 casualties had been taken.

Aftermath

Although the capture of Cambrai was achieved significantly quicker than expected, German resistance northeast of the town stiffened, slowing the advance and forcing the Canadian Corps to dig in.

The Battle of Caporetto (or Battle of Karfreit as it was known by the Central Powers), took place from 24 October to 9 November 1917, near Kobarid, in what is now Slovenia, on the Austro-Italian front of World War I. Austro-Hungarian forces, reinforced by German units, were able to break into the Italian front line and rout the Italian army, which had practically no mobile reserves. The battle was a demonstration of the effectiveness of the use of stormtroopers and the infiltration tactics developed in part by Oskar von Hutier.

Rommel

Erwin Rommel added lustre to his military career leading a company of Wuerttemberg mountain troops during this battle and capturing 3,000 Italians, winning a Pour le Mérite in process. His genius was shown by capturing Monte Matajur, southwest of Caporetto. He led 300 men high up into an Italian stronghold to capture a gun battery, then swinging around and capturing 2,000 troops. Rommel was ordered to defend his captured territory, but did not hesitate and captured 1,200 more Italians by convincing them that his force was the mere vanguard of thousands more. For an entire defence line knocked out he had 132 Italians dead and 4,000 captured. Rommel, on the other hand had lost no men. Despite not having slept for 45 hours Rommel did not stop there, pushing on to take a garrison held town of Longarone. This involved charging across a booby-trapped bridge and removing the explosives before they could go off and then capturing 8000 more men. It was said "Rommel always remained the lieutenant, making snap decisions and acting on the spur of the moment." The Italians were sent to POW camps, accompanied by only two men, which would be later repeated in WWII in Tobruk, when 27,000 Italians were accompanied by the same number of Australians. He had to attend military court to get his medal however, because another officer claimed he had taken the hill.

Losses

Italian losses were enormous: 11,000 were killed, 20,000 wounded and 275,000 were taken prisoners; also 2,500 guns were captured by the Austrians. Austro-German forces advanced more than 100 km in the direction of Venice, but they were not able to cross the Piave River, where the Italians (aided by French, British and American allies) established a new defensive line, which was held for the rest of the war.

The battle led to the conference at Rapallo and the creation of a Supreme War Council, with the aim of improving Allied military co-operation and developing a unified strategy.

The bloody aftermath of Caporetto was vividly described by Ernest Hemingway in his novel A Farewell to Arms.

Luigi Cadorna was in charge of the Italian forces and was forced to resign after the defeat. He was replaced by Armando Diaz and Pietro Badoglio.

The debacle was not the result of a lack of repression or coercion. In fact, 870,000 Italian soldiers came to be denounced by authorities with 210,000 sentences in military courts; 15,000 were sentenced to life in jail and 4,000 to death. There were rumors of illegal decimations taking place after the fashion of Ancient Rome to attempt to terrorise the remaining soldiers into fighting to the death. The failure of the Italian army was most likely because of the preponderance of peasants in an army which fought through terror. Many of these soldiers could not understand the national language or their battle orders.

This led governments to the realization that terror alone cannot adequately motivate a modern army. After the defeat at Caporetto, Italian propaganda offices were established and cynically promised land and social justice to soldiers. Italy also accepted a more cautious military strategy from this point on. Just one fifth of the total 650,000 Italian casualties during the war occurred after Caporetto.

After this battle, the term "Caporetto" gained a particular resonance in Italy. It is used to denote a terrible defeat - the failed General Strike of 1922 by the socialists was referred to by Mussolini as the "Caporetto of Italian Socialism".

The Battle of Cer was one of the first battles of the World War I. The battle is also known as Battle of Jadar, because the main operations were held near the estuary of the river Jadar. The battle was fought between the Austro-Hungarian Army and Serbian forces; it marked the first Allied victory in the war. The battle improved Allied-Serbian relations because western faith in the competence of the Serbian Army was much improved. Austro-Hungarian troops fought under the command of General Oskar Potiorek and Serbian troops under the command of General Stepa Stepanović.

Battle Summary

When the First World War started the Austro-Hungarian Army under the command of General Oskar Potiorek pushed into Serbia across the Sava and the Drina. Šabac fell. The Serbian Second Army under the command of General Stepa Stepanović advanced towards Cer, the Šumadija Division towards Šabac and the Cavalry Division towards Mačva. On the left flank the Third Army under the command of General Pavle Jurišić Šturm entered the battle. The Austro-Hungarian Army walked right into the area where Serbia's artillery trained many of their gunners and thus Serbs could use their artillery with great accuracy and effectiveness, while in the same time Austro-Hungarian Army had no bearing or coordiantes for the general area where the battle was fought, thus they couldn't bring to bear their advantage in artillery pieces.It is also important to note that Serbian Second Army was, due to its position in the middle of the northwestern cordon formation, strongest of the three armies, not in term of numbers (largest was the first army which was assigned to protect the entrance to the Morava river valley, this being the best possible approach to Serbia due to the lack of natural defences, unlike the mountanous northeast and northwest approaches) but in terms of quality of its divisions. It consisted only of the divisions of the first call, thus of soldiers in their 20's and with best training and matériel. These were Šumadijska, Moravska, Dunavska (which, being responsible for direct defence of Belgrade, had additional regiments attached) and Kombinovana (combined) divisions. This organisational structure was applied by Field Marshal Putnik not just to have a strong center, but also, because of their central position, Second Army's divisions could at any time be attached to either First or Third army if the strategic development dictated such an action. Thus, when all doubts about the direction of Austro-Hungarian invasion were cleared (Putnik strongly held to his belief that the northwestern advance was a demonstrative attack conducted in order to move Serbian forces out of the positions on Danube river, guarding the entrance to Morava valley, even though reports from the Drina and Sava fronts were indicating the area where major battle was about to take place), Serbian cordon conducted a regrouping (movement of app. 90 degrees counterclockwise) of all of its armies and Second Army faced von Franck's Fifth Army (only Austro-Hungarian Army which had crossed into Serbia in full strength) at Cer and Jadar valley. Another thing of great importance during Cer battle was Putnik's unwillingness to conduct aggressive offensive maneuvers (this was also the case in the First Balkan War) due to his fear of unnecessary risk which could lead to higher casualties in already undermanned Serbian army. An evident example was his overruling of General Stepanović's proposal on the eve of the third day of the battle. Stepanović sensed that Austro-Hungarian forces on Cer an Everk were beginning to crumble, so he suggested a bold maneuver in which his Kombinovana and Moravska divisions would conduct a forced frontal pursuit of opposing troops on Cer and Everk ridges, whilst the Cavalry and Timočka (this division was hardly used during the entire course of the battle, to significant dissadvantage regarding the outcome) divisions would conduct a parallel pursuit on the northern slope of Cer towards Lešnica, with orders to attack both the enemy's flanks and to reach the pontoon bridges on Drina river and therefore cut Fifth Army's main line of retreat. If this maneuver was conducted, possibillity of a catastrophe for Austro-Hungarian arms was significant. Yet, Putnik ordered Stepa to pursuit enemy force frontally and not to conduct any sort of flanking attack, which would, in itself, cause far larger casualties upon retreating enemy. Third Army's loss of contact with enemy on the third day of the battle also helped Austro-Hungarian Fifth Army to withdraw in a more orderly fashion. Considering this information, it is obvious that the invading force could have suffered a far costlier defeat and shows Putnik as a superb organiser (his mobilisation plans for both Balkans wars and World War I were excellent, considering the low quality of roads in Serbia and lack of a significant railroad network), yet overcautious in the conduct of battles.

During August 1914 a battle was waged in the area of Mt. Cer, in which around 200,000 Austro-Hungarians fought against 180,000 Serbs. The main battle at Cer lasted from August 16 to 19. The Serbian Army won the victory, pushed the Austro-Hungarian Army back across the Drina, and completely thwarted their war plan.

Outcome

Around 25,000 Austro-Hungarian officers and soldiers were killed and wounded, and around 4,500 were captured. The Serbian Army lost around 16,000 and 250 officers. As a result of the battle Austria-Hungary withdrew from Sandzak, delaying their offensive into Serbia. Austria-Hungary continued offensives into Serbia for the rest of the autumn of 1914 without much success. Cer also gave the Entente their first victory of the war against the Central Powers.

The Battle of Dobro Pole was a World War I battle, fought on September 15, 1918. The battle resulted in a decisive Anglo-French victory, with a defeated Bulgaria left to sign an armistice, which removed it from World War I.

The battle was fought at Dobro Pole, in present day Macedonia, then part of Bulgaria.

Prelude

Once the Bulgarian advance into Romania and Greece had been halted, conditions at the front deteriorated rapidly and political support for the war began to wane. Bulgaria had now achieved all its war aims, but was compelled to continue fighting in order to assist its Central Powers allies. With little manpower available for farming, serious food shortages affected both civilians and soldiers while rampant inflation damaged the economy. In 1917 food riots broke out and opposition to World War I propaganda became widely circulated.

On June 17, 1917, Greece joined the war on the side of the Entente (having issued a declaration of war on 23 November 1916). In September 1918, the Entente forces launched a two-pronged offensive into Bulgarian-occupied Macedonia.

Bulgaria was able to defeat Britain and Greece at the Battle of Doiran decisively, but Anglo-French forces did not halt their advance, and the two forces finally met at Dobro Pole.

The Battle

Bulgarian forces met a more powerful and larger army at Dobro Pole. The large majority of the Allied Powers consisted of the 122nd French Infantry Division. The Bulgarians were prized for losing no battles to this point in the war, and Ferdinand I decided to stay and fight. The machine gun companies, the 10th and 30th Bulgarian Infantry Divisions dug in. However, the Anglo-French force was drastically superior. Before the battle began, the Bulgarians were surrounded. Being outmanned and strategically inert, the Bulgarians were unable to stop the Allied advance. Even when asked to surrender, as victory was hopeless, the Bulgarians refused to give up, ignoring the Allied requests. The Allies continued to advance, and eventually their flamethrowers inflicted devastating damage upon the Bulgarians, who soon were soundly defeated.

Revolt

After the humiliating defeat at Dobro Pole, other Bulgarian soldiers began to revolt, and the Bulgarian front lines were abandoned. The rebels headed towards Sofia in order to negotiate with the government. When the rebels reached Sofia, they were crushed by Bulgarian loyalists and German troops.

Aftermath

10 days after the battle, with the front lines abandoned by the Bulgarian Army, the Entente advance in Bulgaria met little resistance. Bulgaria signed an armistice with the Allied Powers, officially leaving the war. Immediately after, a peasant-led "Agrarian" government took control.

In November 1919 the Treaty of Neuilly-sur-Seine awarded Thrace to Greece, depriving Bulgaria of access to the Aegean Sea. The newly formed Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes took Macedonia and Southern Dobruja went back to Romania. Severe limitations were placed on the size of the Bulgarian Army and enormous war reparations in goods and money were to be paid to the Allies.

The Battle of Doiran was fought from 18 September to 19 September 1918, with the Greeks and the British assaulting Bulgarian positions near Lake Doiran. The battle was part of World War I and took place in the Balkan Theatre. The battle ended with Bulgarians repulsing all attacks, but then retreating.

Prelude

The Greeks and the British set off from their base at Thessaloniki at the same time as the Serbians and the French. The Greeks and the British under George Milne set off the attack on the Bulgarian positions at Doiran while the Serbians and the French under the command of Franchet d'Esperey went to penetrate the Bulgarian defences in the Vardar Valley. The Greeks and the British were aiming to capture the Bulgarian positions in the hills above Lake Doiran.

This wasn't the first time the allies had attacked Doiran; the British had twice failed to capture it in 1917. The fortifications were well built, the Bulgarians having spent the first months of 1916 and early 1917 strengthing the positions. The terrain around the area was rough, the fortifactions being surrounded with three miles of scrub and rocks. Part of the defences were the dangerous Pip Ridge and the Grand Couronné.

The Battle

The first assault on the hills was by the 22nd and the 26th Divisions of the British army with support from the a Cretan Division of the Greek army. As they were advancing up the hills they were caught in a crossfire coming from the slopes and were driven back with heavy losses. They then assaulted the Pip Ridge, with the 12th Cheshires leading the attack. The bunkers on the hills that had machine guns in them opened fire and had a horrific effect on the allies; only 20%-30% of their soldiers reached the trenches, but those that remained continued on and captured the first two Bulgarian trenches. But by this stage the attack had become a massacre, and those that remained alive were going to an almost certain death.

While this was happening a Greek regiment was knocked back on the right. The South Wales Borders had reached Grand Couronné, the last line of defence. The bravery of the Welsh was extreme; they charged up the hill trying to get over the defences of the Grand Couronné, only to be cut down. Of the whole battalion only one officer and eighteen men made it back to the camp. The Bulgarians showed great bravery against the enemy, whose forces were 6 times larger than theirs.

Casualties

The Allies' losses were enormous: they lost around 20,000 soldiers, while the Bulgarians suffered only 2,000-5,000. The reason for this was that in the night of September 16th the allies bombarded the Bulgarian positions with heavy artillery fire (the total weight of the bombs is estimated to have been 30,000 t). The Allies believed that there would be few survivors, but due to the well-constructed bunkers the Bulgarians lost only 9 killed and 40 injured. Thus the Allied attack proved to be a complete disaster, as the Greek and the English soldiers were easy targets for the hidden Bulgarians.

Retreat

After a day of fighting all the allies had accomplished was a small gain on the right by the Greek forces. The next day the 65th Brigade attacked Pip Ridge. The assault was another defeat, with only half of the men returning alive, but the assault gained the town of Doiran and a few hills above it. All these meant nothing to the Bulgarians, however, who only had a small garrison there. After a while the Bulgarian fortifications went quiet and the Greek and British armies advanced only to find the Bulgarian positions abandoned. The Serbian and French armies had defeated the Austro-Hungarian and Bulgarian army in the Vardar valley and were advancing towards Doiran. When the Bulgarians' German advisors heard of this, they ordered the Bulgarian army to retreat so that they would not be cut off from the rear.

Aftermath

The allies continued to advance deeper into Bulgarian territory and some said the army had mutinied and were threatening Sofia. On September 30, the Bulgarians surrendered to the allies in Thessaloniki. The war was costly for Bulgaria, which lost 87,500[citation needed] soldiers killed and 275,000 civilians[citation needed]. The Bulgarians also lost all their land on the Aegean Sea to Greece and some territory in the northwest to Serbia.

When General Vladimir Vazov arrived in London to meet veterans from the war he was welcomed with great respect by his hosts, with the flags of all their regiments who participated in the battle lowered in his honour in Victoria Station.

The Battle of Erzincan was a Russian victory over the Ottoman Empire during the First World War.

The Turkish commander, Enver Pasha launched an offensive in May, 1916 intending to recapture the ground lost to Nikolai Yudenich earlier that year. In February, Yudenich had taken the cities of Erzurum and Trebizond. Trebizond had provided the Russians with a port to receive reinforcements in the Caucasus. Enver, ordered the Third Army, now under Vehip Pasha to retake Trebizond. Vehip's attack failed and General Yudenich counterattacked on July 2. The Russian attack hit the Turkish communications center of Erzincan forcing Vehip's troops to retreat as well as losing many POWs. As a result the Third Army was rendered ineffective for the rest of the year.

The Erzurum Campaign was a modest Russian victory over the Turks along the Caucasus Front during World War I. The Erzurum Campaign is often known as the Battle of Erzurum.

Background

Russia had won a significant battle at Sarikamis (1914) and had captured parts of the Turkish Caucasus but lacked the resources to exploit their victories. In August 1915 they lost Van to the Turks (though they recaptured it one month later) and in September Grand Duke Nicholas arrived as Russian viceroy in the Caucasus. The Grand Duke kept General Yudenich in command of the army and he proved his worth in the 1916 campaigns. General Yudenich planned an offensive aimed at the fortress of Erzurum which had been the launching point for the Turkish offensive in 1914.

The Battle of Gallipoli was ending and the Ottoman victory would free some divisions for redeployment elsewhere. Eight of these divisions were designated for the Caucasus Front. Yudenich believed he could launch an offensive before these divisions could be ready for battle.

The Campaign Begins

On January 11, in the middle of winter, Yudencih moved his army out from winter quarters in secrecy. The Russian Army was split into two columns, the first column would attack Erzurum from the north, and the second column from the south. The Russian Army had been issued winter weather gear before the campaign started and was better equipped then their Turkish opponents. For three days the Russians advanced with no resistance, it wasn't until the Battles of Koprukoy and Tafta on January 14 that here was any fighting in the Erzurum Campaign.

The Battle of Koprukoy

The first Russian column advanced towards Erzurum and encountered Turkish troops outside the city of Koprukoy on January 14. The Russians immediately launched attacks against the chain of Turkish forts around Koprukoy. Most of the forts were captured by the Russians on the 14th, and the rest of the Forts were captured by the Russians on January 15. The Turks retreated from the town, but were surrounded by Russian troops outside of Koprukoy. After three hours of intense fighting outside of Koprukoy, the Turkish troops surrendered to Russians and the Russians continued their advance on Erzurum.

The Battle of Tafta

The second column of the Russian offensive arrived at the town of Tafta on January 13. The Turkish troops had retreated from the town when the Russians arrived, and now the Turkish troops were gathering for an attack on the Russians in the town. The Turkish attack began on January 14 with the Turks beginning a bombardment of the town. during the night of January 14 the Russians slipped out of the town and encircled the Turkish forces. On January 15 the Turks found themselves surrounded by Russians. After a two hour battle where the Turks attempted to break out of the Russian encirclement, the Turks surrendered to Russians, who resumed their march against Erzurum.

The Battle of Semirum

The Second Russian column arrived on the outskirts of Erzurum on January 17. The entrance to the city was guarded by the fortress of Semirum. The Russians began bombarding the fort on January 17, and on January 18 the Turks advanced from the fort to the Russian lines, only to cut down by machine gun fire. After the failed Turkish attacks the Russian were able to easily storm the fort and resume their advance on Erzurum.

The Capture of Erzurum

After taking Semirum (January 18), the second Russian column camped outside the city of Erzurum. The Russians decided to wait for the first column to arrive before attacking the city. When the first Russian column arrived outside Erzurum on January 19, Kerim Pasha, the commander of the ottoman forces inside Erzurum, lost his nerve and decided to retreat from Erzurum rather than risk a battle with the superior Russian forces. The Russians marched into Erzurum unopposed on January 20.

Results

During the nine days of fighting and conquest the Russians captured some 13,000 prisoners and 323 guns. As a result of the Erzurum Campaign, the Ottomans lost an important fort, supply base and strategic position. With the Third Army once again broken and demoralized the Russians were able to advance deep into Anatolia. In the southern area of Armenia, Muş and Bitlis were captured in early March. In the north, Trebizond fell in April. As a result of this defeat, Kerim Pasha was replaced by a new commander Vehib Pasha.

Battle of Festubert was an attack by the British army on the Ypres salient of the western front during World War I. It began on May 15, 1915 and continued until May 25. This is sometimes also called the battle of Aubers.

The attack was made by the British First Army under Sir Douglas Haig against a German salient between Neuve Chapelle to the north and the village of Festubert to the south. The assault was planned along a three mile front, and would initially be made mainly by Indian troops. This would be the first British army night attack of the war.

The battle was preceded by a 60 hour bombardment by 433 artillery pieces that fired about 100,000 shells. This bombardment failed to significantly damage the front line defenses of the German Sixth Army, but the initial advance made some progress in good weather conditions. The attack was renewed on the 16th, and by the 19th the British 2nd and 7th divisions had to be withdrawn due to heavy losses.

On the 18th the Canadian Division, assisted by the 51st (Highland) Division, renewed the advance, but this made little progress in the face of effective German artillery fire. The British forces then entrenched themselves at the new front line in conditions of heavy rain. The Germans now brought up more reserves to reinforce their lines.

From May 20 until the 25th the attack was renewed, resulting in the capture of the village of Festubert. However the total offensive had only netted 1 km of advance, at a cost of 16,000 casualties.

The Battle of Gallipoli took place at Gallipoli from April 1915 to December 1915 during the First World War. A joint British and French operation was mounted in an effort to eventually capture the Ottoman capital of Constantinople (now Istanbul) and provide a safe sea route for the transportation of arms to the Russians, and export of Russian grain. The attempt failed, with heavy casualties on both sides.

In Turkey, the campaign is known as the Çanakkale Savaşları, after the province of Çanakkale. In the United Kingdom, it is called the Dardanelles Campaign or Gallipoli, and in France, Australia, New Zealand and Newfoundland it is also known simply as “Gallipoli.”

The Battle of Gallipoli left marks in the psyches of Turkey on the one side, and both Australia and New Zealand on the other. Even to this day, ANZAC (Australian and New Zealand Army Corps) Day is commemorated in Australia and New Zealand, and it is considered that the battle marked the birth of the collective national identities of both those nations, replacing that of the collective identity of the British Empire.

In Turkey, the battle is seen as one of the finest and bravest moments in the history of the Turkish people - a final surge in the defense of the motherland as the centuries-old Ottoman Empire was crumbling; which laid the grounds for the Turkish War of Independence and the foundation of the new Turkish Republic eight years later, led by Atatürk, a commander in Gallipoli himself.

Prelude

The Allies struggled throughout the war to open an effective supply route to Russia. The German Empire and Austria-Hungary blocked Russia's land trade routes to Europe, while no easy sea route existed. The White Sea in the north and the Sea of Okhotsk in the Far East were distant from the Eastern Front and often bound by ice. The Baltic Sea was blocked by Germany's formidable Kaiserliche Marine. The Black Sea's only entrance was through the Bosphorus, which was controlled by the Ottoman Empire. When the Ottoman Empire joined the Central Powers in October 1914, Russia could no longer be supplied from the Mediterranean Sea.

By late 1914, the Western Front, in France and Belgium, had effectively become fixed. A new front was desperately needed. Also, the Allies hoped that an attack on the Ottomans would draw Bulgaria and Greece into the war on the Allied side. However, an early proposal to use Greek troops to invade the Gallipoli peninsula was vetoed by Russia as its south slavic allies would feel threatened by an expansion of Greek power and influence.

A first proposal to attack Turkey had already been suggested by French Minister of Justice Aristide Briand in November 1914, but it was not supported. A suggestion by British Naval Intelligence (Room 39) to bribe the Turks over to the Allied side was not taken up.

Later in November, First Lord of the Admiralty Winston Churchill put forward his first plans for a naval attack on the Dardanelles, based at least in part on what turned out to be erroneous reports regarding Turkish troop strength, as prepared by Lieut. T. E. Lawrence. He reasoned that the Royal Navy had a large number of obsolete battleships which could not be used against the German High Seas Fleet in the North Sea, but which might well be made useful in another theatre. Initially, the attack was to be made by the Royal Navy alone, with only token forces from the army being required for routine occupation tasks.

Naval attacks

On February 19, the first attack on the Dardanelles began when a strong Anglo-French task force, including the British battleship HMS Queen Elizabeth, bombarded Turkish artillery along the coast.

A new attack was launched on 18 March, targeted at the narrowest point of the Dardanelles where the straits are just a mile wide. A massive fleet under the command of Admiral de Robeck containing no fewer than 16 battleships tried to advance through the Dardanelles. However almost every ship was damaged by sea mines which were laid along the Asian shore by the Turkish minelayer Nusrat. Trawlermen had been used by the British as minesweepers. However they retreated as the Turks opened fire on them, leaving the minefields intact. Soon afterwards three battleships were sunk (HMS Ocean and HMS Irresistible and the French Bouvet), while the battlecruiser HMS Inflexible and the French battleships Suffren and Gaulois were badly damaged.

These losses prompted the Allies to cease any further attempts to force the straits by naval power alone. The defeat of the British fleet had also given the Turks a morale boost. The Turkish gunners had almost run out of ammunition before the British fleet retreated. The results of this decision to turn back are unclear - if the British had pushed forward with the naval attack, as Churchill suggested, then Gallipoli might not have been so great a defeat. On the other hand, it is possible that they would simply have trapped themselves in the Sea of Marmara, with force insufficient to take Constantinople and a minefield between themselves and the Mediterranean Sea.

Invasion

After the failure of the naval attacks, it was decided that ground forces were necessary to eliminate the Turkish mobile artillery. This would allow minesweepers to clear the waters for the larger vessels. The British Secretary of State for War, Lord Kitchener, appointed General Sir Ian Hamilton to command the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force that was to carry out the mission.

In early 1915, Australian and New Zealand volunteer soldiers were encamped in Egypt, undergoing training prior to being sent to France. The infantry were formed into the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC), which comprised the Australian 1st Division and the New Zealand and Australian Division. General Hamilton also had the regular British 29th Division, the British 10th Division from Kitchener's New Army, the Royal Naval Division (RND) (Royal Marines and hastily drafted naval recruits) and the French Oriental Expeditionary Corps (including four Senegalese battalions) under his command.

There was a delay of over six weeks before many of the troops arrived from Britain. This gave the Turkish forces time to prepare for a land assault. There was little security or secrecy in Egypt, and the intended destination of Hamilton's force was widely known. The Turks quickly replenished their stocks of ammunition and other supplies.

Hamilton's invasion force was opposed by the Fifth Army, under the command of the German advisor to the Ottoman Army, General Otto Liman von Sanders. The Fifth Army, which had to defend both shores of the Dardanelles, comprised six of the best Turkish divisions totaling 84,000 men. At Bulair, near the neck of the peninsula, were the Turkish 5th and 7th divisions. At Cape Helles, on the tip of the peninsula, and along the Aegean coast, was the Ninth Division and, in reserve at Gaba Tepe in the middle of the peninsula was the 19th Division, under the command of Mustafa Kemal. Defending the Asian shore at Kum Kale, which lies at the entrance to the Dardanelles, were the 3rd and 11th division.

The invasion plan of 25 April 1915 was for the 29th Division to land at Helles on the tip of the peninsula and then advance upon the forts at Kilitbahir. The Anzacs were to land north of Gaba Tepe on the Aegean coast from where they could advance across the peninsula and prevent retreat from or reinforcement of Kilitbahir. The French made a diversionary landing at Kum Kale on the Asian shore. There was also a one-man diversion by Bernard Freyberg of the RND at Bulair.

Helles

The Helles landing was made by the 29th Division under the command of Major-General Aylmer Hunter-Weston, on five beaches in an arc about the tip of the peninsula, designated from east to west as S, V, W, X and Y beach.

The commander of the Y Beach landing was able to walk unopposed to within 500 metres of Krithia village, which was deserted. The British never got so close again. Y Beach was eventually evacuated the following day as Turkish reinforcements arrived.

The main landings were made at V Beach, beneath the old Seddülbahir fortress, and at W Beach, a short distance to the west on the other side of the Helles headland.

At V Beach the covering force from the Royal Munster Fusiliers and Royal Hampshires was landed from a converted collier, SS River Clyde, which was run aground beneath the fortress so that the troops could disembark directly via ramps to the shore. The Royal Dublin Fusiliers would land at V Beach from open boats. At W Beach the Lancashire Fusiliers also landed in open boats on a small beach overlooked by dunes and obstructed with barbed wire. On both beaches the Turkish defenders were in a position to inflict appalling casualties on the landing infantry. The troops emerging one by one from the sally ports on the River Clyde presented perfect targets to the machine guns in the Seddülbahir fort. Out of the first 200 soldiers to disembark, only 21 men made it onto the beach.

As at Anzac, the Turkish defenders were too few to force the British off the beach. At W Beach, thereafter known as Lancashire Landing, the Lancashires were able to overwhelm the defences despite their dreadful losses, 600 killed or wounded out of a total strength of 1000. The battalions that landed at V Beach suffered about 70% casualties. Six awards of the Victoria Cross were made amongst the Lancashires at W Beach. Six Victoria Crosses were also awarded amongst the infantry and sailors at the V Beach landing and a further three were awarded the following day as they finally fought their way off the beach. After the landings, there were so few of the Dublin Fusiliers and Munster Fusiliers left that they were amalgamated into one unit, "The Dubsters". Only one Dubliner officer survived the landing; overall, of the 1,012 Dubliners who landed, only 11 would survive the entire Gallipoli campaign unscathed.

The early battles

Anzac, the landing 1915 by George Lambert, 1922 shows the landing at Anzac Cove, 25 April 1915.

On the afternoon of 27 April Kemal launched a concerted attack to drive the Anzacs back to the beach. With the support of naval gunfire, the Turks were held off throughout the night.

On 28 April, the British, now supported by the French on the right of the line, intended to capture Krithia in what became known as the First Battle of Krithia. The plan of attack was overly complex and poorly communicated to the commanders in the field. The troops of the 29th Division were still exhausted and unnerved by the battle for the beaches and for Seddülbahir village, captured after heavy fighting on the 26th. The attack ground to a halt around 6pm with a gain of some ground but the objective of Krithia village was not reached. After the battle, the Allied trenches lay about halfway between the Helles headland and Krithia village. With Turkish opposition stiffening by the day, the opportunity for the anticipated swift victory on the peninsula was disappearing. Helles, like Anzac, became a siege. Strong Turkish counter-attacks on the nights of 1 May and 3 May were repulsed despite breaking through the French defences.

The first attempt at an offensive at Anzac took place on the evening of 2 May when New Zealand and Australian Division commander, General Godley, ordered the Australian 4th Infantry Brigade, commanded by General John Monash, and the New Zealand Infantry Brigade, to attack from Russell's Top and Quinn's Post towards Baby 700. The troops advanced a short distance during the night and tried to dig in to hold their gains but were forced to retreat by the night of 3 May, having suffered about 1,000 casualties.

Believing Anzac to be secure, Hamilton moved two brigades, the Australian Second Infantry Brigade and the New Zealand Infantry Brigade, to the Helles front as reserves for the Second Battle of Krithia starting on 6 May. This was the first major assault at Helles and gained about a quarter of a mile on a wide front at the now customary enormous cost in casualties.

The Turks launched a major assault at Anzac on 19 May — 42,000 Turks attacked 10,000 Australians and New Zealanders — but the attack miscarried. Lacking sufficient artillery and ammunition, the Turks relied on surprise and weight of numbers for success but their preparations were detected and the defenders were ready. When it was over the Turks had suffered about 10,000 casualties. In comparison, the Australian casualties were a mere 160 killed and 468 wounded. The Turkish losses were so severe that a truce was organized for 24 May in order to bury the large numbers of dead lying in no man's land.

The Sphinx, one of the battlefield's most distinctive physical landmarks.

In May the British naval artillery advantage was diminished following the torpedoing of the battleships HMS Goliath on 13 May, HMS Triumph on 25 May and HMS Majestic on 27 May. After these losses much of the battleship support was withdrawn and those remaining would fire while under way, reducing their accuracy and effectiveness.

In the Third Battle of Krithia on 4 June all thought of a decisive breakthrough was gone and the plans for battle had reverted to trench warfare with objectives being measured in hundreds of metres. Casualties ran to around 25% for both sides; the British suffering 4,500 from an attacking force of 20,000.

In June, a fresh division, the 52nd Division, began to land at Helles in time to participate in the last of the major Helles battles, the Battle of Gully Ravine which was launched on 28 June. This battle advanced the British line along the left (Aegean) flank of the battlefield which resulted in a rare but limited victory for the Allies. Between 1 July and 5 July the Turks launched a series of desperate counter-attacks against the new British line but failed to regain the lost ground. Their casualties for the period were horrendous, estimated at in excess of 14,000.

One final British action was made at Helles on 12 July before the Allied main effort was shifted north to Anzac. Two fresh brigades from the 52nd Division were thrown into an attack in the centre of the line along Achi Baba Nullah (known as Bloody Valley) and sustained 30% casualties without making any significant progress.

August offensive

A trench at Lone Pine after the battle, showing Australian and Turkish dead on the parapet

Main article: Battle of Sari Bair

The repeated failure of the Allies to capture Krithia or make any progress on the Helles front led Hamilton to pursue a new plan for the campaign which resulted in what is now called the Battle of Sari Bair. On the night of 6 August a fresh landing of two infantry divisions was to be made at Suvla, five miles north of Anzac. Meanwhile at Anzac a strong assault would be made on the Sari Bair range by breaking out into the rough and thinly defended terrain north of the Anzac perimeter.

The landing at Suvla Bay was only lightly opposed but the British commander, Lieutenant-General Sir Frederick Stopford, had so diluted his early objectives that little more than the beach was seized. Once again the Turks were able to win the race for the high ground of the Anafarta Hills thereby rendering the Suvla front another case of static trench warfare.

The offensive was preceded on the evening of 6 August by diversionary assaults at Helles and Anzac. At Helles, the diversion at Krithia Vineyard became another futile battle with no gains and heavy casualties for both sides. At Anzac, an attack on the Turkish trenches at Lone Pine by the infantry brigades of the Australian 1st Division was a rare victory for the Anzacs. However, the main assault aimed at the peaks of Chunuk Bair and Hill 971 was less successful.

The force striking for the nearer peak of Chunuk Bair comprised the New Zealand Infantry Brigade. It came within 500 metres of the peak by dawn on 7 August but was not able to seize the summit until the following morning. This delay had fatal consequences for another supporting attack on the morning of 7 August; that of the Australian 3rd Light Horse Brigade at the Nek which was to coincide with the New Zealanders attacking back down from Chunuk Bair against the rear of the Turkish defences. The New Zealanders held out on Chunuk Bair for two days before relief was provided by two New Army battalions from the Wiltshire and Loyal North Lancashire Regiments. A massive Turkish counter-attack, led in person by Mustafa Kemal, swept these two battalions from the heights.

Of the 760 men of the New Zealanders' Wellington Battalion who reached the summit, 711 were casualties.

Another planned attack on Hill 971 never took place. The attacking force of the Australian 4th Infantry Brigade (General Monash), and an Indian Brigade, were defeated by the terrain and became lost during the night. All subsequent attempts to resume the attack were easily repulsed by the Turkish defenders at great cost to the Allies.

The Suvla landing was reinforced by the arrival of the British 53rd and 54th Divisions plus the dismounted yeomanry of the 2nd Mounted Division. The unfortunate 29th Division was also shifted from Helles to Suvla for one more push. The final British attempt to resuscitate the offensive came on 21 August with attacks at Scimitar Hill and Hill 60. Control of these hills would have united the Anzac and Suvla fronts but neither battle achieved success. When fighting at Hill 60 ceased on 29 August, the battle for the Sari Bair heights, and indeed the battle for the peninsula, was effectively over.

Evacuation

Following the failure of the August Offensive, the Gallipoli campaign entered a hiatus while the future direction was debated. The persistent lack of progress was finally making an impression in the United Kingdom as contrasting news of the true nature of the campaign was smuggled out by journalists like Keith Murdoch and Ellis Ashmead-Bartlett discrediting Hamilton's performance. Disaffected senior officers such as General Stopford also contributed to the general air of gloom. The prospect of evacuation was raised on 11 October 1915 but Hamilton resisted the suggestion, fearing the damage to British prestige. He was dismissed as commander shortly afterwards and replaced by Lieutenant-General Sir Charles Monro.

The situation was complicated by the entry of Bulgaria into the war on the side of the Central Powers. On 5 October 1915 the British opened a second Mediterranean front at Salonika which would compete for reinforcements with Gallipoli. Also Germany would now have a direct land route to Turkey, enabling it to supply heavy siege artillery which would devastate the Allied trench network, especially on the confined front at Anzac.

Having reviewed the state of his command, Monro recommended evacuation. Kitchener disliked the notion of evacuating the peninsula and made a personal visit to consult with the commanders of the three corps; VIII Corps at Helles, IX Corps at Suvla and ANZAC. The decision to evacuate was made.

Evacuation of 14 divisions in winter in proximity to the enemy would be difficult and heavy losses were expected. The untenable nature of the Allied position was made apparent when a heavy storm struck on 27 November 1915 and lasted for three days. There followed a blizzard at Suvla in early December. The rain flooded trenches, drowning soldiers and washing unburied corpses into the lines. The following snow killed more men from exposure.

Ironically the evacuation was the greatest Allied success of the campaign. Suvla and Anzac were to be evacuated in late December, the last troops leaving before dawn on 20 December 1915. Troop numbers had been progressively reduced since 7 December 1915 and cunning ruses were performed to fool the Turks and prevent them discovering that the Allies were departing. At Anzac, the troops would maintain utter silence for an hour or more until the curious Turks would venture out to inspect the trenches, whereupon the Anzacs would open fire. As the numbers in the trenches were thinned, rifles were rigged to fire by water dripped into a pan attached to the trigger.

Helles was retained in case the British wanted to resume the offensive. However, a decision to evacuate there too was made on 27 December. The Turks were now warned of the likelihood of evacuation and mounted an attack on 6 January 1916 but were repulsed. The last British troops departed from Lancashire Landing on 9 January 1916.

Aftermath

Those heroes that shed their blood and lost their lives… you are now lying in the soil of a friendly country. Therefore rest in peace. There is no difference between the Johnnies and the Mehmets where they lie side by side here in this country of ours… You the mothers who sent their sons from far away countries, wipe away your tears. Your sons are now lying in our bosom and are in peace. Having lost their lives on this land they have become our sons as well.

—Mustafa Kemal

The Ottoman Empire had been dismissed by Tsar Nicholas I of Russia as "the sick man of Europe" but after victory over the Allies at Gallipoli, Turkey's visions of the empire were renewed. In Mesopotamia the Turks surrounded a British expedition at Kut Al Amara, forcing their surrender in 1916. From southern Palestine the Turks pushed into the Sinai with the aim of capturing the Suez Canal and driving the British from Egypt. Defeat at the Battle of Romani marked the end of that ambition and for the remainder of the war the British were on the offensive in the Middle East.

After the evacuation the Allied troops reformed in Egypt. The Anzacs underwent a major reorganization; the infantry were expanded and bound for the Western Front, the light horse were reunited with their horses and formed into mounted divisions for operations in the Sinai and Palestine. At the Battle of Beersheba they would finally achieve the decisive break-through victory that had eluded the Allies on Gallipoli.

Amongst the generals, Gallipoli marked the end for Hamilton and Stopford but Hunter-Weston was granted another opportunity to lead the VIII Corps on the first day of the Battle of the Somme. The competence of Australian brigade commanders, John Monash and Henry Chauvel, would be recognized with promotion to the command of divisions and ultimately corps. Winston Churchill and the First Sea Lord John Fisher both resigned as a result of the defeat, amid mutual recriminations. Lord Kitchener was too popular to be punished, but he never recovered his old reputation for invincibility and was increasingly sidelined by his colleagues until his death the following year. Gallipoli was also instrumental in the fall of the prime minister H. H. Asquith in 1916.

The significance of the Battle of Gallipoli is perhaps most strongly felt in Australia and New Zealand where it was the first great conflict experienced by those fledgling nations. Before Gallipoli the citizens of these countries were confident of the superiority of the British Empire and were proud and eager to offer their service. Gallipoli shook that confidence and three years on the Western Front would destroy it utterly.

On the Turkish side, the meteoric rise of Mustafa Kemal began at Gallipoli.

Gallipoli casualties

(compiled from various sources[attribution needed]) Died Wounded Total

Total Allies 44,072 97,037 141,109

- The United Kingdom 21,255 52,230 73,485

- France (estimated) 10,000 17,000 27,000

- Australia 8,709 19,441 28,150

- New Zealand 2,721 4,852 7,553

- India 1,358 3,421 4,779

- Newfoundland 49 93 142

Ottoman Empire 86,692 164,617 251,309

Total (both sides) 130,764 261,654 392,418

In addition to the killed, those who died of wounds and wounded listed in the table, many soldiers became sick in the unsanitary environment of the peninsula, mainly from enteric fever, dysentery and diarrhoea. It is estimated that a further 145,000 British soldiers became casualties from illness during the campaign.

Amongst the dead of the battle was the brilliant young physicist Henry Moseley. Also the poet Rupert Brooke, serving with the Royal Naval Division, died shortly before the invasion from a septic mosquito bite.

No chemical weapons were used at Gallipoli, although they were used against Ottoman troops in the Middle Eastern theatre two years later during the second and third battles of Gaza in 1917.

There were allegations that Allied forces had attacked or bombarded Turkish hospitals and hospital ships on several occasions between the start of the campaign and September 1915. By July 1915, there were 25 Ottoman hospitals with a total of 10,700 beds, and three hospital ships in the area. The French Government disputed these complaints (made through the Red Cross during the war), and the British response was that if it happened then it was accidental. Russia in turn claimed that the Turks had attacked two of their hospital ships, Portugal and Vperiod, and the Ottoman Government responded that the vessels had been the victims of naval mines.

The Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) is responsible for developing and maintaining permanent cemeteries for all Commonwealth forces — United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, India, Newfoundland and others. There are 31 CWGC cemeteries on the Gallipoli peninsula: six at Helles (plus the only solitary grave), four at Suvla and 21 at Anzac. For many of those killed, and those who died on hospital ships and were buried at sea, there is no known grave. These men's names are each recorded on one of five "memorials to the missing"; the Lone Pine memorial commemorates Australians killed in the Anzac sector; whilst the Hill 60 and Chunuk Bair Memorials commemorate New Zealanders killed at Anzac. The Twelve Tree Copse Memorial commemorates the New Zealanders killed in the Helles sector, and British and other troops (including Indian and Australian) who died in the Helles sector are commemorated on the memorial at Cape Helles. British naval casualties who were lost at sea, or buried at sea, are not recorded on these memorials, instead they are listed on memorials in the United Kingdom.

There is only one French cemetery on the Gallipoli peninsula, located near Soroz Beach, which was the French base for the duration of the campaign.

There are 2 more CWGC cementeries on the Greek island of Limnos. The first on the town of Moudros and the second on the Portianou village. Limnos was the hospital base for the allied forces and most of the buried were among the wounded who didn't survive. On the Portianou village CWGC cementery lies a grave with the name R.J.M. Mosley on it but it's rather unlikely to be the known physicist Henry Moseley.

There are no large Turkish military cemeteries on the peninsula, but there are numerous memorials, the main ones being the Çanakkale Martyrs' Memorial at Morto Bay, Cape Helles (near S Beach), the Turkish Soldier's Memorial on Chunuk Bair and the memorial and open-air mosque for the 57th Regiment near Quinn's Post (Bomba Sirt). There are a number of Turkish memorials and cemeteries on the Asian shore of the Dardanelles, demonstrating the greater emphasis Turkish history places on the victory of March 18 over the subsequent fighting on the peninsula.

The Battle of Gumbinnen, started by the Germans on August 20, 1914 was the first major offense in the Eastern Front during the First World War.

Background

At the outbreak of the war, von Prittwitz's orders were very strict and very clear: with his Eighth Army, he was just to keep his positions in East Prussia, without attempting any offensive action, as all German efforts must concentrate on the Western Front against France, according to the Schlieffen Plan. Not only must he not advance, but, should the Russians increase their pressure, he was authorized to fall back as far as the Vistula River.

Three armies were deployed in the theater: von Prittwitz's Eighth Army (three corps led by Hermann von François, August von Mackensen and Otto von Below, plus one cavalry division) was facing the Russian First Army (under Paul von Rennenkampf) and Second Army (under Alexander Samsonov). The Russians enjoyed considerable numeric superiority.

In the previous Battle of Stalluponen, von François had launched — on his own initiative and orders to the contrary notwithstanding — an attack against the enemy. Then he had to retreat to Gumbinnen, but managed to capture about 3,000 Russian prisoners.

German attack and retreat

With these premises, von François managed to persuade von Prittwitz to launch an offensive. His arguments were that his troops — many of whom were native East Prussians — would not have been happy to retreat and leave their homeland into enemy hands, and that the Russians were not as strong as they appeared to be. Thus, von Prittwitz decided to engage Rennenkampf's First Army, which meant 150,000 Germans against 200,000 Russians. It must be noted as such a decision went against the orders that von Moltke (Germany's Chief of Staff) had issued, and that categorically ruled out any offensive on the Eastern Front until France's defeat in the West.

Moreover, von François — a restless commander who showed a level of insubordination quite uncommon among the German military — acted in excessive haste, moving his army corps in the morning of August 20, hours before Mackensen's and Below's corps were ready. This premature attack alerted the Russians, which were able to deploy their heavy artillery in such a way as to repel the enemy offensive. The Germans were forced to withdraw in disarray, leaving 6,000 prisoners in Russian hands.

At this point, von Prittwitz feared that his army could be trapped between Rennenkampf and Samsonov, although the former did not seem eager to pursue the retreating German troops. Von Prittwitz panicked and, with a decision out of proportion to the effective severity of the situation, ordered a general retreat to the Vistula River, leaving East Prussia to the Russians.

German countermeasures

Part of von Prittwitz's panic contaminated von Moltke as well, who feared Berlin itself could now be threatened by the advancing Russians. The Chief of Staff reacted with two countermeasures: He removed von Prittwitz and his deputy von Waldensee, replacing them with Paul von Hindenburg and Erich Ludendorff; He transferred some divisions from the Western Front. This transfer is generally considered a wrong move, as it weakened (some scholars say fatally) that "marching wing" which — running across Belgium as fast as possible — should have outflanked the French army and caused it to surrender.

On the Prussian front, Hindenburg and Ludendorff — who were far more competent than their predecessors — halted the German retreat, and decided to take the initiative again. This would result in the Battle of Tannenberg, one of Germany's greatest victories.

The Battle of Haelen was the first Belgian victory in World War I. It took place on August 12, 1914 between the German forces lead by Georg von der Marwitz and the Belgians led by Leon De Witte and was largely a cavalry battle. The Belgian Army succeeded in driving back repeated German cavalry charges all day on the 12th.

August 11

Belgian military command was convinced the Germans would advance towards Hasselt and Diest. To block the German advance the single Belgian cavalry division under general Leon de Witte was sent to guard the Haelen bridge over the river Gete. During an evening meeting, the Belgian officers convinced their commander de Witte to fight on foot as to negate the German's numerical advantage in machine guns.

August 12

Out of wire intercepts, the Belgian army could gather that the Germans were heading towards de Witte's position in force so during the early morning hours the 4th brigade was sent to reinforce the cavalry division.

The first fighting erupted around 8 o'clock when a German scouting party advancing from Herk-de-Stad came under fire of the Belgians. About 200 hundred Belgian troopers fortified themselves in the old brewery but when the Germans brought up artillery the were driven out again. By this time the Belgian engineers had dynamited the bridge but the bridge only partly collapsed leaving it partly traversable for the Germans who used it to bring about 1000 men into Halen town.

The Belgians' central defense line was positioned west of Halen in a landscape which gave the attacker only an obstructed view. The relatively easy capture of Halen town made the Germans become overconfident and they made numerous attempts with sabres and lances to capture the position. Towards the end of the day the Germans were forced to retire towards their main armies.

Tactics

De Witte repulsed the German cavalry attacks by ordering his men (which included a company of cyclists and another of pioneer engineers) to dismount and meet the attack with massed rifle fire, which succeeded in inflicting significant casualties upon the Germans. The battle demonstrated the advent of the irrelevance of horse cavalry on the battlefield.

Outcome and effects

Although hailed as a great Belgian victory, the loss of the battle had little consequence to the Germans who conquered Belgium in several weeks.

The Germans had 150 dead, 600 wounded and some 200-300 prisoners with a loss of approx 400 horses. The Belgians lost approximately 500 men.

The battle has been nicknamed the Battle of the Silver Helmets for the many silvered helmets the uhlans left behind on the battlefield.

The Battle of Havrincourt was a World War I battle fought on September 12, 1918, involving the British Third Army (under the command of General Sir Julian Byng) against German troops, including those of the 3rd and 10th Corps, in the town of Havrincourt, France.

Three divisions of Third Army attacked the village of Havrincourt; the 62nd Division, New Zealand Division and one other. Defending Havrincourt were four German divisions, from the 3rd and 10th Corps. In the normal course of events, 62 Division would not have been there but they had been given the Havrincourt sector out of respect for their performance there in 1917.

In 1918, despite their numerical superiority and strong fortifications within the town, the Germans were unable to hold their position and by the day's end Havricourt was in British hands. The victory was not particularly showy or impressive, but it highlighted a growing lack of fighting spirit among the German soldiers on the Western Front. This victory encouraged Field Marshal Douglas Haig to approve an attack on Epéhy the following day, along with other operations to prepare for the assault on the Hindenburg Line.

The Battle of Hill 60 was a British assault that was subsidiary to the Battle of Neuve Chapelle. Hill 60 was a low rise on the southern flank of the Ypres salient and was named for the 60 metre contour which marked its bounds. The hill had been captured by the Germans on December 10, 1914 from the French forces. After the race for the sea, it was obvious the Hill had to be retaken. A great deal of the fighting around Hill 60 was underground. The British immediately began tunnelling a number of mines beneath the hill. By April 1915 six mines had been completed, containing a total of over 10,000 lb (4,500 kg) of explosives. At 19:00 on April 17, 1915 the mines were detonated, demolishing a large part of the hill and killing many German soldiers occupying the trenches. The British battalions suffered only 7 casualties in capturing the hill.

A German counter-attack succeeded in recapturing the hill but the British regained possession on April 18. Fighting continued until April 22.

Hill 60 was eventually taken by the Germans following a gas attack on 5th May, 1915. The results were devastating. The front trenches were overrun when the forward companies were almost wiped out. Only 2 officers and 70 men from one battalion remained.

It was due to a stout defence by a platoon of the Devon and Dorsets and the Battalion Headquarter Staff of the Duke of Wellington's Regiment that a major breakthrough was prevented.

The Battle of Jassin was a World War I battle that took place on 18–January 19 1915 at Jassin on the German East African side of the border with British East Africa between a German Schutztruppe force and British and Indian troops. Jassin had been occupied by the British in order to secure the border between British East Africa and German territory, but was weakly defended by four companies of Indian troops - numbering a little over 300 men.

The German commander, Paul Emil von Lettow-Vorbeck, decided to attack Jassin in order to prevent further danger to Tanga, which lay more than 50 kilometres to the south and had previously been successfully defended against a British attack. Nine companies of Schutztruppe with European officers were gathered for the assault.

Immediately after the British force surrendered, British Captains Hanson and Turner were taken to see Lettow-Vorbeck. He congratulated them on their defence of the town before releasing them on the promise they would play no further part in the war.

Although the British force surrendered, Lettow-Vorbeck realised that the level of German losses of officers and ammunition meant that he could rarely afford confrontation on such a large scale and would need to make use of guerrilla warfare instead - he turned his attention away from seeking decisive battle against the British, concentrating instead on operations against the Uganda Railway. The British response was to concentrate their forces to reduce their risks and make defence easier.

The Battle of Kara Killisse was a battle of World War I, on the Caucasus front, on September 5, 1915. The Russian army attacked the Ottomans and were victorious.

Following the Battle of Malazgirt, the Russian retreated back to the border, where they received re-enforcements. the Ottoman army slowly pursued, arriving at the Russian border, on September 5. Yudenich, commander of the Russian forces, attacked immediately, surprising the Ottomans. The Russian, Cossack cavalry quickly routed the Ottoman right flank, and the Ottoman army retreated.

The Russian army pursued, capturing Van on September 16, and Malazgirt on Spetember 20.

The Battle of Kilimanjaro took place in Tanganyika in 1914 and was a battle of First World War. It commenced with a two-pronged British invasion of German East Africa. The first prong attacked Tanga and the second prong attack the German defences around Kilimanjaro. The British attacked the German defences 3 times and they were repulsed 3 times. The British then tried out flanking the Germans with cavalry, but the cavalry was cut to pieces by German machine guns. The British then retreated back into Kenya.

The Battle of Kolubara was a major battle in Balkans during World War I. It was fought between Austria-Hungary and Serbia. The Serbian army won the battle.

After the Battle of Drina, the Serbian army retreated on the right bank of the Kolubara river. The Serbian Army had 250,000 poorly equipped soldiers and the Austro-Hungarians had a well-equipped force of 280,000 men. On 16 November 1914, Austro-Hungarian Balkan Army group (5th and 6th Army), commanded by Field Marshal Potiorek, launched an attack over the river. Potiorek's goal was to take over the railroad that led from Obrenovac to Valjevo and to use it for supplying his troops instead of using muddy roads in Macva. The 5th Army, which held the northern part of the front, captured the town of Lazarevac which was held by the Serbian 2nd Army. In the south, parts of the 6th Army (15th and 16th Corps) attacked the 1st Serbian Army, captured Mount Maljen on 24 November, and put the Serbian left wing in a difficult situation. On the 25th November, 5th Army pushed back 2nd and 3rd Army, crossed the Ljig river and flanked the 1st Army.

Because the Serbian First Army was in difficult situation, its commander, General Zivojin Misic, wanted to abandon his current positions and retreat to the new position in front of Gornji Milanovac. His plan was to delay combat, rest his troops, and then launch the counteroffensive. However, Field Marshal Putnik didn't approve that plan. He warned Misic that in that case other armies will also have to retreat, and Belgrade will have to be abandoned. But Misic firmly believed that his plan was the right one, and said to Putnik that the orders are already given, and that he will not change them while he is in command. In the end, Putnik accepted his plan.

When Belgrade was abandoned, Potiorek made a new plan. He wanted to amass the entire 5th Army in the Belgrade region and annihilate the 2nd army which was on the right wing of the Serbian front. Then the 5th Army would turn to the south, get behind the enemy and force him to capitulate. But Potiorek underestimated the offensive capabilities of the 1st Army in south. He thought that this army was too tired and weakened to do more than hold and that it would do nothing while his forces were maneuvering.

Austo-Hungarian soldiers were very tired even before this maneuver began. While they were marching, Serbian troops were resting in their new positions. On the 2 December, Misic finished all preparations for an attack. Putnik ordered the attack of the entire Serbian army on 3 December. That was the right moment, because the largest Austro-Hungarian formation, the Combined Corps, was now out of combat, marching north.

Counterattack

On the 3 December, the 1st Army launched an attack against the surprised 16th Corps. The attack was supported by the Uzice army from the left wing. 16th Corps suffered heavy casualties and was pushed back. On the 4 December, 17th Corps tried to hold the advance of the 1st Army, but failed. Potiorek ordered an attack of the 5th Army so that he could complete his operation before the 6th army is defeated. However, the Combined Corps was still on its march.

On the 5 December, 1st Serbian Army captured Mount Suvobor, the main defensive position of the 6th Austrian Army. Meanwhile, the 3rd Serbian army didn't manage to push the 15th Corps off of Mount Rudnik, and Uzice army suffered heavy casualties. However, these formations pressured the Austro-Hungarian forces and helped the 1st Serbian Army to achieve a breakthrough. In the evening, Combined Corps arrived at its new position with very tired soldiers.

On 6 December, Potiorek ordered the retreat of the 6th Army on the left bank of Kolubara. Combined Corps finally attacked the 2nd Army, but the attack was easily stopped. The Combined Corps on the 8 December launched a major attack. but the 2nd Serbian Army managed to hold its position. Other units of the 5th Army were more successful, but it was too late. The 1st Serbian Army had captured Valjevo and was pushing north. Serbian Marshal Putnik reinforced the 2nd Army with fresh troops and ordered an attack before the Austro-Hungarians fortify their positions. On the 12th December, Stepanovic's 2nd Serbian Army attacked and defeated the 8th Corps. 5th Army had to leave Belgrade and cross the Sava River on 15 December. The battle was over.

The Serbian Army captured 43,000 enemy soldiers, and the number of Austro-Hungarian casualties was even greater. General Misic was promoted to Vojvoda (Field Marshal), while the Austrian, Potiorek, was retired.

In 1914 the Austro-Hungarian Balkan Army Group lost around 227,000 men (out of a total of 450,000 engaged in the battles), while the Serbian army lost around 170,000 men (nearly its entire pre-war strength).

Results

Austria had taken massive losses and yet failed to conquer or defeat Serbia. Meanwhile it was under intense pressure from the powerful Russian army on its eastern frontier. Since Serbia did not really pose a threat to Austria, for the next 10 months the Austrians did nothing against Serbia and most of the forces in the area were transferred to the Italian front.

On the other hand, although victorious, Serbian losses were even larger as a percentage of their army strength. Coupled with a terrible typhus epidemic that raged through the countryside during the winter, Serbia was content to stay on the defensive in 1915 and hope for increased Allied support. Sadly for Serbia, this support was to come too little and too late.

Konary is a small village in the region of Sandomierz Uplands, near the town of Klimontów. During the Great War, in May and June of 1915 it was a site of a major battle between the Russian Army and the forces of Józef Piłsudski's Polish Legions. The battle started on May 16, when the Russian 4th Army started its counter-offensive against the Central Powers in the Kingdom of Poland. The offensive was directed against the wing of the Austrian 25th Infantry Division in the area of Opatów and Klimontów. The Polish 1st Brigade was used as a stop-gap measure and held out until June 23, when the Russian offensive was finally repelled. Both sides suffered heavy losses.

Battle of Kondoa Irangi. Following successes at the battles of Latema Nek and Kahe, Entente forces under the overall command of General Jan Smuts continued their advance southwards into German East Africa. By April 17, 1916, General Van Deventer's 2nd Division had reached the vicinity of the town of Kondoa Irangi - where they made contact with a unit of German Schutztruppe. The 2nd Division succeeded in pushing the enemy back, and captured the town on April 19. Entente casualties were minimal, whilst 20 Askari and 4 Germans were killed and 30 Askaris captured. Also found were 80 modern rifles with ammunition and a large herd of cattle. Despite low casualties, Van Deventer told the high command that the 2nd Division was exhausted and would be unable to continue the advance for some time. During its advance from Moschi, the division had lost more than 2,000 horses, mostly due to the Tsetse fly. Smuts then ordered van Deventer to consolidate his position at Kondoa Irangi, and reinforcements were brought up to aid this process.

During this period, the rainy season began. This caused huge supply problems for the Entente force, as railway bridges were washed away by swollen rivers and roads became impassable. The 2nd Division was completely cut off, and was forced to scavenge for supplies around Kondoa. The result was a fall in health and morale.

The German Attack

While Van Deventer was stuck in Kondoa, German commander Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck used the delay to hurriedly reinforce his positions around the town - bringing a large proportion of his total force in from Tjsambara. By early May, around 4,000 German troops had reached the area. The 2nd Division had by this point been weakened by illness and malnutrition and was reduced to just 3,000 men at Kondoa Irangi.

The enemy assault began on May 7, as Lettow-Vorbeck's companies advanced to within 6 miles of Kondoa. Van Deventer withdrew his outlying positions and prepared to defend the centre of the town itself.

On May 9 the German attack commenced once again, starting with an assault on the south-east of the town which began at 7:30 pm. Four separate waves attacked, but all were repulsed with casualties by the 12 South African Regiment. In some places Germans reached the trenches themselves before being forced back by machine gun fire. The attack stopped in the early hours of May 10, having failed to dislodge Van Deventer from the town.

After the battle, Lettow-Vorbeck continued to occupy positions to the south of Kondoa for two months, launching sporadic raids on Van Deventer's supply columns and communications, and shelling Kondoa with artillery - including two heavy guns salvaged from SMS Konigsberg. Van Deventer was unable to attempt an advance due to a lack of horses and the exhaustion of his whole division. General Smuts send three further South African Regiments - the 10th, 7th and 8th, to secure the position. These men arrived on May 23.

The Battle of Kosovo, the third major battle in history to have been fought there, occurred between 10 November 1915 and 4 December 1915. The battle began with the forcing of the South Morava by the Bulgarian 1st Army and ended with the total defeat of the Serbian army. The main blow was made by the 1st Army at the direction Niš-Priština. For 2 days, the Serbian army seized Prokuplje, where they mounted a short-lived resistance.

The Serbian army retreated, then made a futile stand near the city of Gjilan. The Serbs then tried a desperate counter-attack towards Vranje and Kumanovo to join the Anglo-French troops but were again defeated. The 6th and 9th Infantry Divisions of 1st Army easily took Priština on 24 November. Then the whole of the Bulgarian army advanced, supported from the north by parts of 11th German Army. The battle ended on 4 December when Debar was captured. The Serbs lost 30,000 soldiers, 199 guns, 150 cars and vast quantity of other military equipment.

Battle of Latema Nek. After the Battle of Salaita, General Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck, commander of German forces in East Africa, reorganised the defences to the north of the colony in anticipation of another assault. The Salaita positions were abandoned, and German forces moved south to the Latema-Reata Hills - which stood on the route to Kahe. The new defences were manned on March 8 by Major Georg Kraut, who had commanded the German defence at Salaita, with 1,500 - 2000 Schutztruppe and German officers. Aside from the fact that there were now two hills to assault (with the Nek between them), the problems facing General Wilfred Malleson were similar to those at Salaita. The hills were covered by dense bush, which became thicker further up the hills. The plains around the hills provided no cover, meaning any attacking force would be subjected to murderous fire from above.

The First Attack

The attack on Latema began on March 11, 11:45am. Brigadier-General Malleson, fresh from defeat at Salaita, had at his disposal the 1st East African Brigade for the operation, consisting of:

Belfield's Mounted Scouts

Mounted Infantry Company

Nos. 6 and 8 Field Batteries

No. 134 Howitzer Battery

2nd Rhodesia Regiment

3rd King's African Rifles

130th Baluchi Regiment

A machine gun battery of the Loyal North Lancashires

Volunteer Machine Gun Company

Malleson ordered his men into a frontal assault on Latema Hill. It was impossible for any diversionary flanking attack to take place due to the denseness of the terrain to the sides of the battlefield, especially to the south - which was covered by a swamp. The Baluchis and King's African Rifles were sent into the attack - holding the right and left respectively - with the Rhodesian Regiment held back in reserve. The infantry was supported by artillery, which bombarded the German positions from a range of 3,000 yards. Before they could reach the enemy positions, however, the British were forced back by heavy rifle, machine gun and small-calibre artillery fire. As the attack floundered British commander General Malleson asked to be relieved of his command due to serious illness. Theatre Commander Jan Smuts consented, and the able Brigadier General Tighe was brought in as a replacement.

The Second Attack

At 4pm the 5th South African Regiment arrived in reserve at Taveta. Newly appointed commander Brig. General Tighe ordered a second assault to begin at 5pm. This time the Rhodesians led the way with the King's African Rifles, the 130th Buluchis protecting the right flank. More reinforcements - the 9th and 5th Field Batteries - were sent immediately into action. The assaulting forces once again failed to reach their objective, suffering casualties which included the leader of the King's African Rifles, Lieutenant-Colonel B.R Graham. To shore up the attacking units, Tighe ordered half of the 5th South African Regiment into the line. Despite the reinforcements, however, the Entente troops were forced to withdraw. Smuts responded by putting the 7th South African Regiment under Tighe's command. The 7th reached Tighe at roughly 8pm, and a new plan was drawn up. The two South African Regiments, who were the freshest troops available, would attack the Nek at night - bayonets fixed.

The Third Attack

The third and final wave set off at 9:15pm and straight away faced the same problems as the earlier attempts to take the Nek, compounded by the lack of light. The 5th Regiment led the assault, with the 7th slightly behind them. This time the South Africans managed to force their way up both hills until the enemy was left on the Nek itself - here the advance stalled. In the confusion of the darkness, large numbers of men became lost - they retreated back to their starting positions to join the 1st East African Brigade in reserve. At the same time men of the King's African Rifles and the Rhodesians, who had been separated from their units in previous attacks and were still on the hills, rejoined the attack. Lieutenant-Colonel Freeth (with 18 men) and Major Thompson (with 170 men) held onto the summits of Latema and Reata. Tighe was unable to follow the events of the battle and fearing heavy casualties and possible counterattack, ordered a withdrawal at 4:20am. However, as patrols reached the Nek to order the retreat, they found Freeth and Thompson in command of the heights and the Germans in full retreat. Smuts ordered the 8th South African Regiment to the field in order to consolidate the position.

Following the battle the Germans retreated to Lake Kahe in order to prepare further defences. Freeth and Thompson were both awarded the Distinguished Service Order for their decisive roles in the engagement. General Tighe retained his command of the 2nd Division as Mallesons replacement.

The Battle of Le Cateau occurred on 26 August 1914, after the British, French and Belgians retreated from the Battle of Mons and set up defensive positions in Le Cateau-Cambrésis on 26 August.

In the morning on 26 August, the Germans arrived and heavily attacked the British. By the afternoon, the right, then left flanks of the British, began to break. The arrival of Sordet's French cavalry protected the left flank.

That night, the Allies withdrew to Saint-Quentin. Of the 40,000 Allied men fighting at Le Cateau, 7,812 were injured, killed or taken prisoner. Several British regiments had even disappeared from the rolls altogether.[citation needed] 38 artillery guns were lost also.

The Battle of Liège was the opening battle of the German invasion into Belgium, and the first battle of World War I. The siege of the city lasted from August 5 until the 16th when the final fort surrendered.

The Schlieffen plan

As Imperial Germany feared a long war against France and the Russian Empire, the Schlieffen plan was conceived which suggested a quick strike to beat France first, as was done successfully in the Franco-Prussian War of 1870. In order to do this, neutral Belgium had to be attacked and crossed within a few days.

However, there were two problems with this plan. The violation of the neutrality of Belgium would certainly make the United Kingdom enter the war on France's side. Also, the highly fortified city of Liège was in the path of the German forces.

FortificationsLiège Forts

Liers

Pontisse

Barchon

Evegnée

Fleron

Chaudfontaine

Embourg

Boncelles

Flemalle

Hollogne

Loncin

Lantin

The Belgian city of Liège lies at the confluence of the Meuse and the Ourthe rivers, between the Ardennes Forest to the south and Maastricht of the Netherlands to the north. The Meuse flowed through a deep ravine at Liège, posing a significant barrier to the German advance.

It lay on the main rail line leading from Germany to Brussels, and eventually to Paris - the same railway that von Schlieffen and von Moltke had planned to use as transport into France. There were massive industrial facilities, factories, and other facilities that would assist the modern defense of the city.

In addition, a ring of twelve forts, based on then-current German fortification methods, had been completed in an 6-10 km radius around the city in 1892. The forts overlapped each other's protective zones of fire, and were designed so that if any one fort fell, the two neighboring forts could still attack a force trying to move through the gap.

Six of the fortresses were built as primary forts, and were given a pentagonal shape with a surrounding ditch and barb-wire entanglements. They were concrete structures armed with 2 × 6 in (152 mm) and four 4.7-inch guns, 2 × 8 in (203 mm) mortars and four machine-guns. The guns were mounted in a cupola that could be elevated to fire, then retracted. The forts were linked by underground tunnels, and contained magazines for ammunition, crew quarters for up to eighty men, and ventilation systems. Between each pair of major forts was a triangular secondary fort, named a fortin. These were armed with 2 × 6 in (152 mm) and 2 × 4 in (102 mm) guns, a single 8-inch mortar and three machine-guns.

In total the forts had 400 pieces of artillery, although the guns were considered of obsolete design and impractical. (At the time the German Krupp Arms Works was under contract to replace the guns, so the German Army was familiar with the weaponry at the fortresses.) The other weaknesses of the forts were a lack of field artillery pieces to cover the openings between the gaps, a shortage of men needed to guard the city, and (according to German reports after their capture) extremely poor quality concrete used in their construction. Lieutenant General Gérard Mathieu Leman had been personally selected to command the Liège fortifications, and he was under orders from the King to hold the fortress system to the end. Leman had a force of about 25,000 soldiers, including members of the civic guard, to man the defenses.

The battle

Opening stages of the battle, showing the advances of the German 1st and 2nd armies. Note the ring-shaped arrangement of the fortifications around Liège.

To reduce the fortifications of Liège, a special task force of 30,000 troops was allocated, consisting of six brigades of infantry and three divisions of cavalry. These were placed under the command of General Otto von Emmich, accompanied by the staff officer Erich Ludendorff as an observer. War with Belgium was declared on the morning of August 4, and the lead elements of Task Force Emmich crossed the border a few hours later. They advanced to the Meuse river, but found the bridge crossings had been destroyed. By the 5th, however, German forces had crossed the Meuse to the north at Visé.

The Belgian 3rd Division guarded the town from behind hastily constructed earthworks, and on the 5th they successfully repulsed attacks by German infantry passing between the forts. An attack against Fort Barchon was beaten back with heavy losses due to machine-gun and artillery fire. After this failed attack, the Germans performed the first air raid in history by using a Zeppelin to drop bombs on Liège. Meanwhile cavalry moved south from Visé to encircle the town. With the town likely to be invested soon, Leman now ordered the 3rd division to withdraw from the town and rejoin the mobilizing Belgian army to the west.

Ludendorff now took command of the 14th brigade that was able to infiltrate between the forts. This brigade succeeded in capturing the town on the 7th. However the outer ring of forts continued to hold out, blocking German advance due to their interdiction of the railroad lines. The forts endured steady bombardment and attack by the German forces, but most of the forts continued to repulse enemy attacks. Only Fort Fleron was put out of action, its cupola-hoisting mechanism being destroyed by shell fire. The only fort to be captured by infantry assault would be Fort Barchon, which was taken on August 10.

To reduce these fortifications, the Germans would have to employ their massive siege artillery. These would include the Krupp "Big Bertha" 420 mm howitzer and some Austrian 305 mm Skoda guns. At the time of the construction of the forts it was assumed that the largest guns that could be moved overland were 21 cm howitzers, so they had never been designed to withstand the enormous shells from the bigger guns. The shells from these guns landed on the forts from directly above, penetrating the concrete sides and then detonating inside by means of a delayed fuse. One by one the forts were bombarded into submission, with the last, Fort Boncelles, capitulating on August 16. On the 15th Leman was injured at Fort Loncin, and he was carried out unconscious to become a prisoner of the Germans.

Some had suggested the valiant ten-day stand made at Liège served to knock the German timetable off by two days, buying time for the Allies. However, German commanders denied that the siege significantly delayed the schedule of their still-mobilizing army. The ten day siege did, however, serve as a morale boost to Allied forces, and the French President would bestow the cross of the légion d'honneur on the town for their resistance.

Belgian order of battle

The 3rd Belgian Division defended the city of Liège; it was commanded by Lieutenant General Gérard Leman. Within the division, there were four brigades and various other troops:

9th Mixed Brigade, including the 9th and 29th Infantry Regiments, along with the 43rd, 44th, and 45th Artillery Batteries

11th Mixed Brigade, including the 11th and 31st Infantry Regiments, along with the 37th, 38th, and 39th Artillery Batteries

12th Mixed Brigade, including the 12th and 32nd Infantry Regiments, along with the 40th, 41st, and 42nd Artillery Batteries

14th Mixed Brigade, including the 14th and 34th Infantry Regiments, along with the 46th, 47th, and 48th Artillery Batteries

15th Mixed Brigade (5 August), including the 1st and 4th Chausseur Regiments, along with the 61st, 62nd, and 63rd Artillery Batteries

The Fortress Guards, including the 9th, 11th, 12th, and 14th Reserve Infantry Regiments, an Artillery Regiment, four reserve batteries, and various other troops

3rd Artillery Regiment, including the 40th, 49th, and 51st Artillery Batteries

3rd Engineer Battalion

3rd Telegraphist Section

2nd Regiment of Lancers

Overall, there were about 30,000 infantry, 500 cavalry, and 250 artillery pieces to face the German onslaught.

The Battle of Malazgirt was a battle of the Caucasus Campaign of World War I, in 1915. Even though losses were heavy on both sides, the ground situation changed little by the end of the action.

On July 10, 1915, Russian General Oganovski launched an offensive to capture the hills just west of Malazgirt. He believed that the Turkish forces, in the area, were weak. However the Turkish forces contained several divisions numbering upwards of 40,000 men which was not known to the Russians. On July 16, the Ottoman Army counter-attacked under Abdul Kerim Pasha. They outnumbered the Russians by a factor of 3-1. Oganovski was forced to retreat back to Malazgirt, and in the process the Turks captured his baggage train. on July 20, the Russians were driven from Malazgirt. Yudenich, who was the Russian commander of the Caucasus front, due to the bad quality of the Russian comunications, did not learn that the Russian army was in retreat until July 22.

Yudenich quickly regrouped his forces, fired Oganovski, and launched a counter-offensive. Russian casualties were reported to be about 10,000. Malazgirt was recaptured but Yudenich didn't have a large enough force to exploit the situation further.

Aftermath

The Russian army, in Malazgirt, was outnumbered 3-1 by the Ottoman army. realizing that if the Ottomans attacked, his army would be destroyed, Yudenich ordered a retreat. the Russians retreated from Malazgirt, and the eintire Van region. this left the city of van open to an Ottoman attack, and the Ottoman's captured the city on Agust 22. however Malazgirt was re-captured after the Ottoman's were defeated at the Battle of Kara Killisse.

The Battle of Mojkovac (Serbian: ??? ?? ????????, Boj na Mojkovcu) was an infamous World War I battle fought between 6 January and 7 January of 1916 near Mojkovac, Montenegro, between the armies of Austria-Hungary and Montenegro. It ended with a minor Montenegrin victory.

Prelude

In winter of 1915, the Army of Montenegro had been fighting Austro-Hungary for three months, resisting the invasion to their territory. The Montenegrin Army was weakened by the harsh weather and lack of supplies. On 5 January 1916, they received a command to protect the retreating of Serbian army from Greece via Albania and Montenegro.

Battle

The fighting culminated on 6th and 7th January 1916 (on Orthodox Christmas). Although outnumbered, led by Serdar Janko Vukotić (and with Krsto Zrnov Popović as second in command) , the Montenegrin army defeated a numerically superior enemy. Montenegrins inflicted heavy casualties on Austro-Hungarian forces and stopped their advancement, giving enough time to the Serbian forces to retreat.

The victory was temporary, as the Austrians continued their offensive and by 25 January, the army of Montenegro laid down its weapons.

The battle of Morava occurred between 14 October 1915 and 9 November 1915 and the result was a defeat for the Serbian forces.

In the beginning due to the harsh weather and the tough terrain the Bulgarian advance was slow but despite the desperate resistance of the enemy, there was a breakthrough near Pirot in 10 days. The Serbs retreated to the Timok and the 1st Army began chasing them. The battle continued for 27 days and the Bulgarians penetrated up to 90 km deep in the enemy's territory. The Serbs lost 6,000 men; 60 guns and huge amount of military equipment.

The Battle of Moreuil Wood (March 30, 1918) was an engagement of World War I that took place on the banks of the Arve River in France, where the Canadian Cavalry Brigade attacked and forced the German 23rd Saxon Division to withdraw from Moreuil Wood, a commanding position on the river bank. This defeat at the hands of the Allies contributed to the halt of the German Spring Offensive of 1918. During the battle, a Victoria Cross was awarded to Canadian Gordon Flowerdew.

The Battle of Mount Ortigara was fought from June 10 to June 25, 1917 between the Italian and Austro-Hungarian armies for possession of Mount Ortigara, in the Asiago Plateau.

The Italians decided to launch an offensive because the Strafexpedition of the previous year had improved the Austrian defensive positions, whence the Italian armies of Cadore, Carnia and the Isonzo could be threatened.

The battle was prepared with considerable means (300,000 men with 1,600 artillery guns) concentrated on a short segment of the front just a few kilometers long. However, although the Italians enjoyed a 3-to-1 numeric superiority in both men and guns, as they faced 100,000 Austro-Hungarians with 500 guns, the attack still presented several problems:

The Austrian positions were very strong.

The arc formed by the opposing lines was such as to favor the Austrian artillery.

The Italian lines were overcrowded, which made it difficult to maneuver.

The Austrians expected the offensive, so there was no surprise.

The attack began on June 10, and after fierce and bloody fightings the Italian 52nd Alpine Division managed to capture the top of Mount Ortigara.

The Austro-Hungarian command promptly sent many and trained reinforcements. On June 25, the 11 Italian battalions guarding the summit were attacked by Austrian shock troops which retook it, the strenuous Italian resistance notwithstanding.

The 52nd Division alone suffered about half the Italian casualties. General Ettore Mambretti, commander of the Sixth Army, was considered responsible for the costly failure and removed from command.

The Battle of Mărăşeşti, Vrancea County, eastern Romania (August 6 to September 8, 1917) was a battle fought during World War I between Germany and Romania.

Premise

The Romanians participated in a joint Russian-Romanian offensive on July 22 against the Austro-Hungarian 1st Army in the Mărăşti area and on the lower part of the Siret river (the Battle of Mărăşti). After some initial success (a 30 km-wide and 20 km-deep salient in the front of the Austro-Hungarian 1st Army), the attack had to be stopped due to the successful Central Powers counter-offensive in Galicia (see the Kerensky Offensive).

German counter-attack

Field Marshall Mackensen launched a counter-attack on August 6. Mackensen, displaying his usual skill, forced the Russians to retreat. It must be admitted that the Russian army was nearly useless by this point in the war. For the next month, the Germans, together with some Austrian units, fought a see-saw battle with the Romanian army. The fighting lasted until September 8, when both sides ran out of fresh units. The German attempt to crush the last Romanian army had failed, but the Romanians had not expanded their territory either[1].

Romania lost over 27,000 men, including 610 officers, while Germany lost over 47,000. The Romanian heroine Ecaterina Teodoroiu was killed at the end of this battle, on September 6, by machine-gun fire.

Aftermath

This was the last major battle on the Romanian front. In May 1918, after the German advance in Ukraine and Russia signing the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, Romania, surrounded by the Central Powers forces, had no other choice but to sue for peace (see Treaty of Bucharest, 1918).

The Battle of Mărăşti was one of the main battles to take place on Romanian soil in World War I. It was fought between July 22 and August 1, 1917, and was an offensive operation of the Romanian and Russian Armies intended to encircle and destroy the German 9th Army. The operation was planned to occur in tandem with the Nămoloasa offensive; however, this operation was abandoned before it began.

The battle of Ovche Pole occurred between 14 October 1915 and 15 November 1915. The aim was not to allow the Serbian troops to join the Allied army in Solun. The Second Army (13th Balkan Infantry Division, 7th Rila Division and the Cavalry Division with 220 guns) had to defeat the enemy forces in Macedonia and advance to the Albanian and Greek borders.

The main blow was at Kumanovo where 13th and 7th divisions easily defeated the Serbian army. On the third day the Cavalry Division also advanced defeating the Serbia counter-attack and reached Veles and the Vardar. With this success the aim was achieved.

The Battle of Penang occurred on October 28, 1914, during World War I. It was a naval action in the Strait of Malacca, in which the German cruiser SMS Emden sank two Allied warships.

At the time, Penang was part of the Straits Settlement, a British Crown Colony. Penang is an island off the west coast of Malaysia (then known as Malaya). It is only a short distance from the mainland. The main town of Penang, George Town, is on a harbour. In the early months of the war, it was heavily used by Allied naval and merchant vessels.

Shortly after the outbreak of the war, the German East Asia Squadron left its base in Tsingtao, China. The squadron headed east for Germany, but one ship, the SMS Emden, under Korvettenkapitän (Lt. Commander) Karl von Müller, was sent on a solitary raiding mission.

Early on the morning of October 28, 1914, the Emden appeared off the George Town roads and attacked the harbour and vessels lying therein. Captain von Müller had disguised his ship by rigging a false smoke stack, which made the Emden resemble a British cruiser. Once he had entered the harbour, however, he ran up the German naval ensign and revealed what ship the newcomer actually was.

Before any of the Allied naval vessels could respond, the Russian cruiser Zhemchug, was torpedoed and sunk. The French destroyer Mosquet set off in pursuit of Emden, but was quickly sunk by the German ship.

The Emden continued its raiding mission for several more weeks, before finally being sunk at the Battle of Cocos.

The Battle of the Rufiji Delta was fought in Tanzania from 1914–1915 and was a battle of World War I. In 1914 the most powerful German ship in the Indian Ocean was the cruiser SMS Konigsberg. On November 5, British ships managed to trap the Konigsberg in the Rufiji Delta, but were unable to navigate the Delta. A blockade of the Rufiji Delta began. The crew of the Konigsberg disguised their ship so it looked like the forest around the delta. However, by March 1915 food supplies were low and many of the crew members aboard the Konigsberg died. The British sent two shallow draft warships into the delta in July 1915 where they destroyed the Konigsberg with the help of two aircraft. After the battle the British were unquestionably the strongest naval power in the Indian Ocean.

The Battle of Salaita, sometimes known as the Battle of Salaita Hill, was the first large-scale engagement of the East African Campaign to feature South African troops. The battle took place on February 12, 1916, as part of the three pronged offensive into German East Africa launched by General Jan Smuts, who had been given overall command of Entente forces in the region.

Salaita was targeted due to its importance to the Germans as a communications centre and railway link. Its close proximity to the border with British East Africa, and the fact it was thought to be defended by a small detachment of just 300 men without artillery also marked it out as an initial objective for Smuts' offensive.

The advance into German East Africa was conducted by the 2nd South African Division, commanded by Brigadier General Wilfred Malleson. Malleson had little combat experience, having served on the staff of Field Marshall Kitchener and as part of the British military mission to Afghanistan prior to the outbreak of the First World War. Brigadier General Beves' 2nd South African Infantry Brigade and the First East African Brigade were designated to attack Salaita, totalling 6,000 men including an attached Indian Artillery Brigade. Despite British intelligence suggesting the contrary, Salaita was heavily defended by approximately 1,300 men under local commander Major Georg Kraut. Furthermore, unknown to Malleson there were six Schutztruppe field companies—numbering roughly 1,000 men—in the surrounding area.

The Battle

The Entente assault began on the morning of February 12 with a preliminary bombardment of German positions. However due to incorrect intelligence the German secondary trenches at the summit of Salaita Hill were targeted instead of the front line, which was further down the slope. The barrage therefore alerted the defenders to the coming attack without disrupting their ability to oppose it. A further setback for Malleson occurred two hours into the assault as, when his men were 2,000 metres from Salaita, German artillery began firing.

Beves deployed his brigade with the 7th South African Infantry Regiment (Lt Col J C Freeth) leading the assault, with the 5th (Lt Col the Hon J J Byron) and 6th (Lt Col G M J Molyneux) Regiments holding the left and right flanks respectively. The men were arrayed in a loose skirmish formation. The South African Regiments succeeded in smashing through the German line, but were stopped and then forced to withdraw after suffering casualties from machine guns. As they retreated to their starting positions they were flanked and attacked by a German relief column from the nearby town of Taveta, led by Captain Schultz. Following this encounter the force moved further north to Serengeti, having suffered 138 casualties.

As a result of the battle, General Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck—commander of German forces in East Africa—reinforced his units in the Kilimajaro area ready to meet further attacks. Almost half of the German forces under Lettow-Vorbeck's command were eventually redeployed to the region (800 Germans and 5,200 Schutztruppe).

The Battle of San Matteo took place in the late summer of 1918 on the San Matteo Peak (3678 m) during World War I. It is sometimes called the highest battle in history (though it was surpassed, at 5600m, by the Kargil Conflict in 1999).

At the beginning of 1918 Austro-Hungarian troops set up a fortified position with small artillery pieces on the top of the San Matteo Peak, being able from their high position to bomb the road to the Gavia Pass and thus harass the Italian supply convoys directed to the front line.

On August 13th 1918 a small group of Italian Alpini (307th Company, Battaglione Ortler) conducted a surprise attack taking the fortified position, half of the Austro-Hungarian soldiers were taken prisoner and the other half fled to lower positions.

The loss of the San Matteo Peak constituted a loss of face to imperial Austria, and reinforcements were immediately sent to the region while the Italians were still organizing their defence on the top of the peak.

On September 3rd 1918 the Austro-Hungarian started operation "Gemse", an attack aimed to retake the mountain. A large scale artillery bombardment, followed by the assault of at least 150 Kaiserschützen (3rd Regiment from Dimaro) was eventually successful and the lost position was retaken. The Italians, who already considered the mountain lost, began a counter-bombardment of the fortified positions, causing many victims among both the defending Italian and the Austro-Hungarian troops.

It must be noted that the base of the peak lies at 2800m altitude, and that it takes a four-hour ice climb up a glacier to reach the top.

The Austro-Hungarians lost 17 men in the battle and the Italians 10. This was the last Austro-Hungarian victory in World War I. The armistice, concluded on November 3, 1918 at 15:00 at Villa Giusti (near Padova/Italy) ended the Alpine War in these mountains on November 4th, 1918 at 1500 h.

In the summer of 2004 the frozen bodies of three Kaiserschützen were found near the peak.

The Battle of Sardarabad was a battle of the Caucasus Campaign of World War I that took place in the village of Sardarapat, Armavir, Armenia in May 22-26, 1918.

Background

Just two months after the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk was signed, the Ottoman Empire attacked into what had been Russian-Armenian territory.[2] In violation of the Brest-Litovsk Peace Treaty with the Russian SFSR, elements of the Fourth Army crossed the border in May 1918 and attacked Alexandropol (modern-day Gyumri). The Ottoman Army intended to crush the Democratic Republic of Armenia and seize Transcaucasia. The German government objected to this attack and refused to help the Ottoman Army in this operation.

At that time, only a small area of historical Armenian territory which used to be a part of the Russian Empire remained unconquered by the Ottoman Empire, and into that area hundreds of thousands of Armenian refugees had fled after the Armenian Genocide.

The Ottoman Forces began a three-pronged attack in an attempt to conquer Armenia. When Alexandropol fell, the Ottoman Army moved into the Ararat Valley – the heart of Armenia. There they ran into a large (6,000-man?) force under the command of General Movses Silikian.

Aftermath

Worried by the Ottoman invasion of Armenia, the Democratic Republic of Georgia to the north asked for, and gained, German protection. The Democratic Republic of Armenia was forced to sign the Treaty of Batum in June 4, 1918, since the Army of Islam held positions 7 kilometers from Yerevan and only 10 kilometers from Etchmiadzin. Two days later, after the battle of Sardarapat on May 28, 1918 Armenian National Council in Tiflis proclaimed the independence of the Republic of Armenia which existed until the Bolshevik takover of Armenia in November 1920, and has been called by Armenian historians as the First Republic.

The Battle of Sarıkamış was a decisive Russian victory over the Ottoman Empire in the Caucasus region during World War I. It is sometimes spelled Sarıkamışh or Sarıkamış, known in Turkish as Sarıkamış Faciası ("Sarıkamış Tragedy").

Background

Russia viewed the Caucasus Front as secondary to the Eastern Front where most of their manpower and resources had been concentrated up to this point. However, since Russia had taken the fortress of Kars from the Turks during the Russo-Turkish War in 1877, Russia feared a Turkish invasion into the Caucasus aimed at retaking Kars and the port of Batum. In fact the major Turkish war aim against Russia was to recapture both Kars and Batum from the Russians.

Forces

Turkish War Minister Enver Pasha mobilized the Third Army numbering somewhere between 95,000 and 190,000 with himself personally in command. By the time the Third Army reached the Russian border, strength was reduced to roughly 80,000 due to frostbite, desertion, and hypothermia in winter snow in the Allahüekber Dağları Mountains.

The Russian Caucasus Army, commanded by Governor General Illarion Vorontsov-Dashkov, numbered around 100,000 troops in August of 1914 but the Russians rapidly redeployed troops from this front to reinforce the Eastern Front to replace losses they were suffering against the Germans and the Austro-Hungarians. By the time the Ottoman Army arrived, Nikolai Yudenich, Caucasus Chief-of-Staff (and Russia's most successful general[citation needed]) had some 60,000 troops defending Sarıkamış.

The battle

In mid December, Enver Pasha entered the Caucasus region through Armenia. Enver ordered his forces to attack along many routes with the goal of arriving suddenly at Sarıkamış at the same time. The chief German military advisor, General Otto von Sanders strongly argued against this plan, but was ignored. Governor General Vorontsov planned to withdraw his forces to the city of Kars. But Yudenich ignored Vorontsov's wishes to withdraw and instead stayed to defend Sarıkamış.

Enver's forces lost touch with one another and arrived at Sarakamis at different times from December 29, 1914 through the January 3, 1915. The first divisions to arrive briefly took control of the barracks in the western part of the city but were driven off. In the following days, as more Ottoman forces arrived at the battle, they attacked without coordination and the Russians fought off the attacks one by one. The Ottoman soldiers reached some of their targets but they were too fatigued to fight effectively. The battle finally ended on January 4 and the Ottoman Army retreated in complete disorganization back through the mountains in the middle of winter.

Results

The number of Turkish losses is unknown, estimates range from 175,000 dead out of an army of 190,000 to a low of 60,000 dead out of an army of 90,000 (Turkish sources). It is very likely that the majority of Turkish soldiers died because of inadequate winter clothing and field shelters during the attack and retreat. In any event, this was an extraordinarily costly defeat for the Turks; in losses this was the worst single defeat they suffered in the entire war. The Russian casualties were estimated at 35,000 (Turkish sources).

As one German officer attached to the army wrote later, the Turkish Third Army had "suffered a disaster which for rapidity and completeness is without parallel in military history."

On the other side, the victor of the battle, General Yudenich, was appointed commander of the Russian Caucasus Army and he launched an offensive of his own in the summer of 1915 towards Erzincan and Lake Van.

Enver Pasha relinquished field command to General Hafiz Hakki and never commanded Turkish troops in battle again. In May of 1915, Enver Pasha started publicly blaming his failure on the Armenian rebels attacking the Ottoman supply routes, an early step toward the Armenian Genocide.

Battle of Skra di Legen (Skora di Legen) was a two day World War I battle which took place at the Skra fortified position, located NE of Mount Paiko North of Thessaloniki on May 16, 1918.

The Allied force comprised three Greek divisions under lieutenant-general Emmanuel Zymbrakakis plus one French brigade. The three Greek divisions included the Arkipelagos division under major-general Ioannou, the Crete division under major-general Panagiotis Spiliades, and the Serres division under lieutenant colonel P. Gardicas.

The Bulgarian force comprised one division plus three regiments well defended in well fortified positions.

Victory of the allied troops with a decisive Greek contribution. In May 1918 Greek military units held a leading part in the battle of Skra di Legen, the most important among the local offensives, that resulted in the capture of a particularly fortified position, controlled until then by the Central Powers, chiefly Bulgarian troops. The battle of Skra confirmed in the eyes of the allies the fighting readiness of the Greek army that has practically just been restructured. After that the preconditions for the allied counter-attack have been laid, that was launched in September 1918. This has been marked by a series of victories and continuous advances of the allied troops against the Central Powers.

The Battle of St. Quentin is also called the Battle of Guise, and was fought during World War I.

On the night of 26 August 1914, the Allies withdrew from Le Cateau to St. Quentin. With retreat all long the line, the commander-in-chief of the French forces, Joseph Joffre, needed the Fifth Army under Charles Lanrezac to hold off the German advance through counterattacking, despite a four mile separation from the French Fourth Army on the right flank, and the continual retreat of the BEF on the left flank. The movement of Lanrezac's five corps took most of August 28, turning from facing the north, to facing west against St. Quentin.

On August 29 the French Fifth Army attacked St. Quentin with their full force. Due to orders from a captured French officer, Bülow was already aware of the counter-offensive, and had time to prepare. The attacks against the town by the XVIII corps met with heavy casualties, and little success, but the X and III corps on the right, was rallied by the commander of the I corps, Louis Franchet d'Esperey. Advances on the right were made successfully against Guise, with the Germans falling back, units of the Guard Corps, Bülow's elite.

That night, Joffre issued orders for Lanrezac to retire and destroy the bridges to the Oise as he retreated. The orders did not reach the Fifth Army until morning of August 30, beginning the retreat several hours late. However, this retirement went unmolested by the German Second Army, which neither attacked or pursued.

The German view of the battle was obscure, as Bülow reported the battle to OHL as a victory, yet sent a staff officer to the German First Army, and Alexander von Kluck to report that the army was too tired to follow the French retreat.

The stunned German armies recovered and changed their course to push south towards the Marne and Paris.

The Battle of Stalluponen was the first German victory on the Eastern Front in World War I.

Prelude

Brought on by the aggressive tactics of General Hermann von François in defense of the German province of East Prussia, the battle was completely unexpected by both sides, along with its outcome.

In mid-August, 1914, the Russian army began to execute an invasion of East Prussia at the outbreak of hostilities. At the easternmost extremity of Germany, Russian General Pavel Rennenkampf invaded East Prussia with the Russian First Army, with the city of Königsberg as his ultimate target.

The Germans expected this, and opened the war in a defensive posture because massive attacks against France on the Western Front were drawing down most of the German troops. However, François, the commander of the First Corps of the German Eighth Army, was convinced his better trained and equipped forces could slow down, if not halt, Rennenkampf's Russian forces.

The Battle

On August 17, François brought on a general engagement with the advancing Russians in spite of orders from his theatre commander, General Maximilian von Prittwitz, to withdraw if pressed. When Prittwitz learned that François had engaged the Russians, he sent an adjutant to order François to break off the attack and retreat. François by this time was too committed to safely disengage, and had no intention of doing so anyway. He contempuously, and famously, told the adjutant that "General von François will withdraw when he has defeated the Russians!" With the outcome hanging in the balance, François ordered a general attack all along the line and hammered the Russians' vanguard, inflicting 5,000 casualties and taking 3,000 prisoners.

Aftermath

While the Russians retired to the border to lick their wounds, François reluctantly obeyed Prittwitz' order and withdrew 15 miles to the west, taking a new position around Gumbinnen.

The Battle of Tanga (sometimes nicknamed the "Battle of the Bees") was the blundered attempt by the British Indian Army to capture German East Africa (present-day Tanzania) during World War I. It was the first major event in the war in Africa.

Tanga, situated only 80km from the border of British East Africa (today Kenya), was a busy seaport and the site of the crucial Usambara Railway, which ran from the city to the foot of Mount Kilimanjaro. It was initially to be bombarded by British warships, but this plan was scrapped after an agreement to refrain from initiating local aggression was extracted from Tanga's population by way of gunboat diplomacy.

However, the British broke the agreement and launched an amphibious attack on the city. From the beginning, the attack was a disaster. A few days before the amphibious attack, the British cruiser HMS Fox arrived, announcing the termination of the earlier agreement. This gave time for both the German Army and the citizens of Tanga to prepare for an attack. The German commander, Colonel Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck, reinforced Tanga's defenses (initially a single company of troops) with soldiers brought in from all around German East Africa, eventually numbering about 1,000.

Hearing of this, General Arthur Aitken wrongly assumed that von Lettow-Vorbeck had mined Tanga's harbour, and cautiously landed three miles south of the city, on November 3, 1914. Aitken failed to scout out the area beforehand, and it was only by chance that the 8,000 poorly trained Indian reserves Aitken landed were not immediately wiped out.

The next morning, Aitken ordered his troops to march on the city, again, failing to scout out the route beforehand. This time, he was not so lucky, and Tanga's garrison ambushed them and quickly broke their advance. By afternoon, the fighting had turned to jungle skirmishing, with fighting frequently interrupted by swarms of angry bees, hence the battle's nickname.

Tanga in 1914

Although outnumbered eight to one, von Lettow-Vorbeck launched a counterattack on November 4. His troops rapidly overran the poorly defended Indian positions, and the Indian troops were forced to return to their boats.

In their hasty retreat, the Indians left behind rifles, machine guns and more than 600,000 rounds of ammunition, all of which von Lettow-Vorbeck captured. However, von Lettow-Vorbeck, a gentleman, met with Aitken under a white flag and compared notes and opinions with him over a bottle of brandy. He also told German medics to care for the Indian wounded.

The Battle of Tanga was one of Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck's finest achievements, and he was promoted to General for his actions. After the war, he returned to Germany a hero.

The Battle of Tannenberg in 1914 was a decisive engagement between the Russian Empire and the German Empire in the first days of The Great War, fought by the Russian First and Second Armies and the German Eighth Army between 17 August and 2 September 1914. The battle resulted in the almost complete destruction of the Russian Second Army. A series of follow-up battles kept the Russians off-balance until the spring of 1915. The battle is notable particularly for a number of rapid movements of complete corps by train, allowing the single German Army to present a single front to both Russian Armies.

Background

Germany's initial thrust according with the Schlieffen Plan limited France's ability to successfully implement Plan 17 in August 1914 and immediately placed a greater focus on the Russian front. The Allied battle plan prior to the Battle of Tannenberg had been based on France and the United Kingdom simply halting the German Armies in the west while the huge Russian Armies--which required more time to mobilize--could be organized and brought to the front, thus forcing Germany to balance her troop allocation. The numbers were overwhelming; in perhaps as little as a month, the Russians could field around ten complete armies, more men than the German Army could muster on both fronts. Frustrating this plan was the Russians' lack of a quality railroad network that operated on a different gauge than the German railroad network, meaning that unless the Russians acquired German railroad cars, most of their armies could only be brought to the German border. The presence of the armies of Austria-Hungary to the south as well as (at first) those of Japan to the east limited Russia's involvement in the beginning.

The Germans likewise, considered the Russians to be their primary threat. The entire Schlieffen Plan was based on the idea of defeating France and Britain as quickly as possible, and then transporting their armies by train to the eastern front. This allowed the Germans to garrison Prussia fairly lightly, with a single army, the Eighth. That said, there was little allowance for anything other than a spoiling retreat while the outcome in the west was decided. In order to delay the Russian forces as long as possible, the entire area around Königsberg, near the Russian border, was heavily fortified with a long series of fieldworks.

Just prior to the opening of the war the situation developed largely as pre-war planning had expected. The German Eighth Army was in place southwest of Königsberg, while the two available Russian armies were located to the east and south, the latter in what was known as the "Polish Salient". Russian battle plans called for an immediate advance by the First Army under General Paul von Rennenkampf into East Prussia, with Königsberg as their short-term goal. The Russian Second Army under General Alexander Samsonov, located to the south, was to move westward around the Masurian Lakes and then swing north over a hilly area to cut off the Germans, who would by this point be forced into defending the area around Königsberg. Executed successfully, the Germans would be surrounded.

Prelude

When the war opened, the battle initially went largely according to the Russians' plan. The Germans had moved up about half of the units of the Eighth Army, re-enforced by small groups of the Königsberg garrison, to points to the east of Königsberg near the border. The Battle of Stalluponen, a small engagement by the German I Corps under Hermann von François was initially successful. The German theater commander, General Maximilian von Prittwitz, nevertheless ordered a spoiling retreat towards Gumbinnen. A counterattack planned for the 20th had a fair chance of succeeding but François, apparently emboldened by his success at Stalluponen, attacked early and ruined the chance for surprise. The Battle of Gumbinnen ended with the Germans forced to retreat, in many cases via rail, to positions to the south of Königsberg.

Worried about his loss at Gumbinnen and the continued advance of the Russian Second to the south, von Prittwitz ordered a retreat to the Vistula, effectively abandoning eastern Prussia. When he heard this, Helmuth von Moltke, the German Army Chief of Staff, recalled von Prittwitz and his deputy von Waldersee to Berlin. They were replaced by Paul von Hindenburg, called out of retirement, and Erich von Ludendorff as his Chief of Staff.

Things were not entirely as they seemed to the German commanders in Berlin. The two Russian commanders, Samsonov and Rennenkampf, hated each other after Samsonov had publicly complained about Rennenkampf's behavior at the Battle of Mukden in 1905. Although the common belief that the two generals had come to blows at a railway station has proved to be incorrect[1], Rennenkampf would be disinclined to help Samsonov except under dire circumstances. Meanwhile, Samsonov's Second Army was having serious problems moving forward due to fragile supply lines to the rear, and unknown even to Samsonov, Rennenkampf had decided to delay the First's advance to regroup after Gumbinnen.

Nevertheless, the scale of the forces deployed still meant the Russians had the upper hand. As they were currently deployed, the Eighth Army could not even cover the entire front along Samsonov's line of march, leaving his left wing in the southwest open to advance with no opposition. Unless troops from the Königsberg area, currently the I and XVII Corps, could be moved to check this advance, the Germans were in serious danger of being cut off.

The Plan

Colonel Max Hoffmann, von Prittwitz's deputy chief of operations, was well aware of the bad blood between the two Russian generals, and what it was likely to mean for the two armies' plan of action. Guessing that they would remain separated, as they were at the time, he proposed moving everyone not already in Königsberg's eastern defense line to the southwest, moving the I Corps by train to the left of Samsonov's line, a distance of over 100 miles. The XVII Corp, south of the I, would be readied for a move directly south to face Samsonov's right flank, the VI Corps. Additionally the small cavalry forces nearby would move to the Vistula River area to the west. It appears he hoped the cavalry would draw Samsonov westward, further separating the armies. This left only a small portion of the Königsberg area directly in front of the First Army defended, while the approaches from the south were entirely open.

In theory, the plan was extremely risky. If the First Army turned to the southwest instead of advancing directly westward towards Königsberg, they would appear on the Eight Army's extreme left flank, allowing for either a counterattack against the Eighth, or alternately turn north towards Königsberg from the south, which was now undefended. However, Hoffmann remained convinced of the plan, both because he was aware of the animosity between the generals, as well as the fact that the Russians continually sent out their next day's marching orders over unencrypted radio communications. It appears they believed that the Germans would not have access to Russian translators (see note below), but the Germans easily intercepted and translated the transmissions.

When von Hindenburg and Ludendorff arrived on 23 August they immediately stopped the retreat and put Hoffmann's plan into action. They did, however, leave the cavalry where they were, forming a screening force in front of the Russian First's left flank. François's I Corps were transported over 100 miles by rail to the far southwest to meet the left wing of Second. Hindenburg's remaining two corps, under Mackensen and Below, were to await orders to move south by foot so as to confront Samsonov's right wing. Finally, a fourth garrison corps was ordered to remain near the Vistula to meet Samsonov as his army moved north. The trap was being set.

Ludendorff also learned at this point that von Moltke had also decided to take three Corps and a cavalry division from the western front and redeploy them to the East. Ludendorff protested that they would arrive too late to have any effect, while at the same time weakening the battle against France. von Moltke considered Prussia too politically important to possibly lose, and ignored Ludendorff's protests.

Opening moves

Starting on 22 August, Samsonov's forces had met the Germans all along his front, and had successfully pushed them back in several places. On the 24th they met the Germans at the minor Battle of Orlau-Frankenau, where the heavily-entrenched German XX Corps had stopped the Russian advance. Undeterred, Samsonov saw this as a wonderful opportunity to cut this unit off completely, because, as far as he was aware, both of his flanks were unopposed. He ordered most of his units to the northwest, towards the Vistula, leaving only the VI Corps to continue towards their original objective, Seeburg.

Ludendorff issued an order to François' now-deployed I Corp to initiate the attack on Samsonov's left wing at Usdau on 25 August. François rejected this direct order, choosing to wait until his artillery support was ready on the 27th. Ludendorff and Hoffmann would have none of this, and traveled to meet François to repeat the order to his face. François agreed to commence the attack, but complained of a lack of shells.

On the way back from the meeting, Hoffmann received new intercepts from the Russian radio. Rennenkampf was going to continue the next day's march due west, ignoring Samsonov, just as Hoffmann had hoped. No matter the outcome of the next few day's battle, the Russian First Army would not be a serious concern. A second intercept of Samsonov's own plans made it clear that he would continue his march northwest, having concluded that the Germans would continue to retreat in front of Tannenburg.

Ludendorff and Hindenburg were skeptical that the intercepts were real -- after all, what commander would be stupid enough to transmit orders in the clear, let alone two commanders? [2] Nevertheless they were eventually convinced they were indeed real, and the plans were put into action. I Corps would open its attack on the Russian left flank on the 25th, while orders were sent to XVII Corps to move south and meet the Russian right flank as soon as possible.

Given the need for immediate action was no longer pressing, François once again demanded he be allowed to wait for his artillery supplies. Ludendorff and François began arguing, and eventually François delayed enough to allow the battle to open on the 27th, as he had wished.

The Battle

The morning of the 26th opened with the Russian First Army advancing westward, meeting little resistance. The troops that were formerly directly in front of them had moved to the south, facing the Second Army's right flank. There was still time to close the gap between the armies and thereby threaten the German movements, which by this point were being reported back to Russian headquarters. Nevertheless, on the night of the 25th, the Russian field commander sent orders for the First to continue directly to Königsberg, orders that were once again intercepted.

Due to François' delays, it was the German XVII Corp that opened the battle proper. They met the two separated divisions of the Russian VI Corps near Seeborg and Birchafstein, turning them both back toward the border in disarray. The right flank of the Russian Second Army was now open. In the meantime, the Russian advance toward Tannenberg continued to be blocked by the XX Corp in front of them. Their only successes were in the middle, where their XIII Corp advanced towards Allenstein unopposed.

François opened his own attack on the Russian left on the 27th, held by the Russian's own I Corp. His artillery proved to be decisive, and by the night the Russians were falling back. In order to help stabilize the line, Samsonov ordered the seemingly successful XIII Corp to abandon Allenstein and turn southwest to help break through at Tannenberg. By the time this maneuver was complete, the bulk of the Russian Second Army were all in the Tannenberg area, consisting of the newly-arrived XIII, the XV and parts of the XXIII.

(see map two for reference)

By the evening of 28 August the full extent of the potential danger to the Russians was evident. The I Corps on the left and the VI Corp on the right were both retreating. Meanwhile the center was having serious supply problems and could no longer hope to maintain an offensive. Samsonov had no option but to order a retreat to re-form the lines to their southeast near the border. Meanwhile he asked Rennenkampf to ignore Königsberg and turn southwest to help.

But it was too late. François by this time had advanced due east to form a line to the south of the Russians between Niedenburg and Willenburg, directly in front of their retreat. At the same time, the XVII in the north had moved southwest to meet him. The next day the Russian center met these troops on their way to regroup, and realized they were surrounded. A pocket formed east of Tannenberg, near Frogenau, and was pounded throughout 29 August.

Attempts by the Russian First Army to come to their aid were also far too late to help. The cavalry screen proved effective at delaying them, and by the time the battle was already over their closest unit was still to the northwest of where the initial contact between the German XVII and Russian VI, perhaps as much as 45 miles from the now developed pocket. Other units were scattered back along the line to Königsberg, and now the First was itself in a dangerously spread-out position.

By the time the battle ended on 30 August, 95,000 Russians troops were captured, another 30,000 killed or wounded, and only 10,000, mostly from the retreating flanks, managed to escape. The Second Army no longer existed. The Germans suffered fewer than 20,000 casualties and captured over 500 guns. Sixty trains were required to transport captured equipment to Germany.

Rather than report the loss of his army to the Czar, Samsonov committed suicide by shooting himself in the head on 29 August 1914.

After the battle

The German Eighth Army now faced only the Russian First. In a series of follow-up battles, notably the First Battle of the Masurian Lakes, the First was almost completely destroyed, and turned back over their borders. A Russian Army would not march on German soil again until the end of World War II.

Hindenburg and Ludendorff were both hailed as heroes, although Hoffmann was generally ignored in the press. Apparently not amused by Hindenburg's role, Hoffmann later gave tours of the area noting "this is where the Field Marshal slept before the battle, this is where he slept after the battle, and this is where he slept during the battle."

Ludendorff sent the official dispatch from Tannenberg, and the battle was named Battle of Tannenberg at the direct request of Hindenburg. Hindenburg chose Tannenberg because of its historical significance; it is the location where the Teutonic Knights were defeated by the Slavic forces at the Battle of Grunwald. Interestingly, an ancestor of Hindenburg's had fallen at the battle in 1410.

One interesting side-effect of the battle has since become a major arguing point among historians. The three corps, one complete army, that von Moltke had sent to bolster the east never arrived in time to have any effect. However, over a week was lost due to this confusion. Many have suggested that the removal of an army in the west in the midst of battle was the only reason the Schlieffen Plan failed. If this is true, it means that Tannenberg was possibly the battle won that lost the war for Germany.

The battle is at the center of Alexander Solzhenitsyn's novel August 1914.

The Battle of Canal du Nord was an engagement during the Hundred Days Offensive, fought by units of the Canadian Corps (under Arthur Currie and German Empire forces.

Background

Canal du Nord, built in early 1918, was located approximately 7 km west of the town of Cambrai, and was a major roadblock in the advance towards that town. On September 3, when Canadian forces reached the canal, German resistance began to intensify. When Haig ordered Currie to attack over the newly made canal in early September 1918, Currie flatly refused, since the reverse side contained a heavily defended German trench line. Currie believed, however, that a night attack across bridges might work. Many British generals, including Haig, tried to defuse the idea, without success. Haig then called in Julian Byng, Currie's old colleague, to attempt to dissuade him. Currie, however, managed to persuade Byng to assist him with the attack.

Battle

Over the next week, Currie and Byng prepared for the engagement. Two divisions were sent south, to cross the canal at a weaker point, while Canadian combat engineers worked to construct the wooden bridges for the assault. In the early morning of September 27, all four divisions attacked under total darkness, taking the German defenders by absolute surprise. By mid morning, all defenders had retreated or been captured. Stiffening resistance east of the canal proved that only a surprise attack had the possiblity of ending in victory. Because of Canal du Nord's capture, the final road to Cambrai was open.

The Battle of the Piave River, known in Italy as Battaglia del Solstizio (Battle of the Solstice), Battaglia di Mezzo Giugno (Battle of Middle June), or Seconda Battaglia del Piave (Second Battle of the Piave River, as the last part of the Battle of Caporetto is considered to be the first), was a decisive victory for the Italian Army during World War I. The defeat directly led to the downfall of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and the disintegration of the Austro-Hungarian Army.

Background

With the exit of Russia from the war in 1917, Austria-Hungary was now able to devote significant forces to the Italian Front and to receive reinforcements from their German allies. At the Battle of Caporetto the Austrians had decisively defeated the Italians who fell back to the Piave River.

Italian Forces

Italy's defeat at Caporetto led to General Luigi Cadorna's dismissal and General Armando Diaz replaced him as Chief of Staff of the Italian Army. Diaz set up a strong defence line along Piave River. Up until this point in the war, Italian army had been fighting alone against the Central Powers; With the defeat at Caporetto, France and Britain sent reinforcements on the Italian front. The major part of thoose reinforcements had however to be redirected to the Western Front as the German Spring Offensive began on March 1918.

Austro-Hungarian Forces

The Austro-Hungarian Army had also recently undergone a change in command, and the new Austrian Chief of Staff, Arthur Arz von Straussenburg, wished to finish off the Italians. Staussenberg's army group commanders, Franz Graf Conrad von Hötzendorf (the former Austrian Chief of Staff) and Svetozar Boroević von Bojna, both wished to make a decisive assault, counter the Italians, but not agree about the location of the attack, as Conrad wanted an attack on the Asiago Plateaux between the Astico and the Brenta rivers, directed to Vicenza, while Boroević preferred an attack along the Piave River, and Straussenburg itself was in favour of an attack on the western part of the front (the "Giudicarie" sector) leading to Brescia. Conrad and Boroević had a dislike for each other, and Straussenburg, incapable to decide between the two strong personalities, divided the army equally between them, reserving only a small part of the forces for a diversive action on the Giudicarie sector. The preparation of the offensive began on February 1918, after a meeting in Bolzano between Austrians and Germans high commands and was strongly recommended by the Germans, as Ludendorff hoped that it could force the increasing American forces in France to be diverted on the Italian front, so Straussenberg modeled the attack after Erich Ludendorff's offensive on the Western Front.

The tacticts

The Austrians, differently from their previous success at Caporetto and from the subsequent attempts to breaktrough on Mount Grappa, didn't prepare the attack as a pinpoint one, but as an all-out frontal attack, employing the entire residual strength of their army all along the front. The Austro-Hungarian formations were trained to employ the tacticts developed by the Germans on the Western Front for the Operation Michael as Austrian officials, returning from the Eastern Front, were extensively trained alongside their German counterparts. There were also innovations on the Italian side. Analyzing the defeat of Caporetto, the staff of Armando Diaz concluded that the main tactical causes of it were the lack of mobility of Italian units, caught in a too rigid defensive scheme, the too centralized command and control system, and the lack of depth of Italian defences, where too many soldiers were simply stuck on the frontline. The new schemes prepared for the battle led to the abolition of the continuous entranchment and in the developement of a higly mobile defence system, in wich even the smaller units were allowed to freely move between previously recognized strongpoints, indipendently decide to rethreat or counterattack, or directly call the support of the artillery. Moreover, 13 divisions, equipped with 6000 trucks, were organized in a central reserve, ready to be send where it was needed.

The battle

General Diaz learned the exact timing of the Austrian attack: 3:00am on 15 June, so, at 2:30am, the Italian artillery opened fire all along their front, on the crowded enemy trenches, inflicting heavy casualties. In some sector the artillery barrage had the effect to delay or stop the attack, as Austrian soldiers began to revert to the defensive positions, believing to have to face an unexpected Italian attack, but on the great part of the frontline the Austrians still attacked. Boroević launched the first assault, moving South along the Adriatic Coast and in the middle course of the Piave River. The Austrians were able to cross the Piave and gained ground against the Italians in the face of heavy resistance, before Boroević was finally stopped and forced to order a retreat. On the subsequent days Boroević renewed the assaults, but the artillery barrage destroyed many of the river's bridges and the Austrian formations that crossed the river were unable to receive reinforcement and supplies. On 19 June Diaz counterattacked and hit Boroević in the flank inflicting heavy casualties. By 23 June the Italians recaptured all territory south of the Piave and the battle was over. In the meantime Conrad attacked along the Italian lines west of Boroević, on the Asiago Plateaux, on the 15th, with the objective of capturing Vicenza. Little came of Conrad's assaults except a further 40,000 casualties to the Austrian total. In the aftermath, Boroević was particularly critical about the behaviour of Conrad that, after the complete failure of the first attack, preferred to continue the assaults in the subsequent days, but with much minor strength, rather than to send reinforcements on the Piave sector.

Results

After the Austrian retreat Diaz was pressed by the allies, particularly by General Ferdinand Foch, to not stop the action, and to try an assault to break the Austrian defences and gain a decisive victory over the Empire, but the Italian General recognized that the same tactic, that proved so effective on defence, prevented an immediate offence, as the Italian formations, at that time, were too scattered and mixed up to be effectively coordinated in a decisive assault. Moreover, once crossed the river, they'd have to face the same logistic problems of the Austrians. For these reasons, in the subsequent days, only limited actions were done, to gain better start positions for the future decisive assault. On the other side, the Battle of the Piave River was the last great military offensive of Austria-Hungary. The battle signalled the disintegration of its army as an effective fighting unit, which was finished off at the Battle of Vittorio Veneto, four months later.

The Battle of the Vistula River, also known as the Battle of Warsaw, was a Russian victory against the German Empire on the Eastern Front during the First World War.

As the Austro-Hungarian Army was being driven from Galicia in the Battle of Lemberg, Paul von Hindenburg, commanding the German forces on the Eastern Front, ordered an offensive against the Russian lines in the area of Warsaw. The battle opened on September 29 by the Ninth Army commanded by August von Mackensen. Mackensen reached the Vistula River by October 9 and was only 12 miles away from Warsaw. Here the German offensive began to falter. General Nikolai Ruzsky, commander of the Russian Northwest Front, brought up significant reinforcement against the Ninth Army. At this time Hindenburg learned of a planned Russian offensive into Silesia from a captured Russian soldier. However, Hindenburg continued to push the offensive against Warsaw. The Germans were unfamiliar with the land and unable to bring sufficient reinforcements to the Ninth Army, therefore allowing Ruzsky to concentrate his front against Mackensen. On October 17, Hindenburg ordered a retreat, and by the 31st the battle was over.

On November 1, the Ninth Army was back where it had began, minus 42,000 soldiers. This was the first of a series of attempts by Hindenburg to capture Warsaw. Ten days later, Hindenburg made another attempt at Warsaw culminating in the Battle of Łódź . Superior numbers on the Eastern Front had given the Russian army the advantage in the fall of 1914.

The Battle of the Yser secured the coastline of Belgium for the allies in the "Race to the Sea" in the first three months of World War I.

Introduction

As part of the execution of the Schlieffen Plan, Belgium had been invaded by Germany and after the Siege of Antwerp, the remnants of the Belgian Army were pushed into the far south west of the country, behind a 22 miles front on the Yser Canal as the Germans tried to reach the French Channel ports of Calais and Dunkerque. Just to the south the First Battle of Ypres started concurrent with the Battle of the Yser.

Battle of the Yser

The entire Belgian Army was deployed to defend the front. The troops were exhausted and low on ammunition after two months of fighting and retreat. France reinforced the Belgians with 6,000 Marines and an infantry division.

The first skirmishes started on October 16, 1914. The town of Diksmuide was attacked but the Germans were repelled by French marines and Belgian artillery. The following day German troops (consisting of trained conscripts, reservists and untrained students) moved southwards from Bruges and Ostend in the direction of the Yser river. It became clear that the German Fourth Army was to take the line from Nieuwpoort to Ypres.

Admiral Hood of the Royal Navy commanded three monitors, Severn, Humber and Mersey, which bombarded the German army in Lombardsijde from the sea the following day.

On October 18, the German offensive started. It initially overran the frontal defense positions of the Belgian, British and French armies along a line stretching from Nieuwpoort down to Arras in France. The objective was to defeat the Belgian and French armies and to deprive the British of access to the harbours of Calais, Boulogne and Dunkerque.

It took four days of heavy fighting for the German troops to drive the allies back and reach the borders of the river Yser. On October 21, the Germans were able to establish a small bridgehead on the other side of the river. The last bridge over the Yser was blown up on October 23. Diksmuide bore the brunt of repeated German offensives and bombardments yet the town was still not taken.

Course of the "Race to the Sea" showing dates of encounters and highlighting the significant battles.

The French high command planned to inundate large parts of their territory as a defensive measure and asked the Belgians to inundate part of their territory between the river Yser and the canals. On October 25, the pressure upon the Belgian army had grown so large that the decision was made to inundate the the entire Belgian front line. After an earlier failed experiment on october 21, during the nights of October 26 to October 29 the Belgian army managed to open the Nieuwpoort drainage channels to sea water, steadily raisind the water level until an impassable flooded marshland up to a mile wide as far south as Diksmuide was created. On October 29 Diksmuide finally fell into German hands. For October 30, the Germans had planned another decisive attack. The attack broke through the Belgian second defense line but faced with Belgian and French counterattacks in front and the flooding in their backs, the attack was called off and the front stabilized.

The Battle of Turtucaia or Battle of Tutrakan, also referred to as the Tutrakan Epopee in Bulgaria, was a battle during which an overwhelmingly Bulgarian Central Powers force captured the fortress of Tutrakan (Turtucaia in Romanian) from its Romanian defenders.

The Romanian fortress of Tutrakan was built with the aid of French military engineers after 1913, when the town and the whole of Southern Dobruja was annexed by Romania. It featured 151 cannons and 15 strong points and was commanded by General Constantin Teodorescu. The fortification was regarded as "the second Verdun" because of its alleged impregnability. However, the Romanian troops defending the fortress were almost untrained second-rate conscripts and only 3 battalions were part of the active army. They used obsolete weapons and their artillery was compared to a "museum" by witnesses.

The Bulgarian forces under General Panteley Kiselov, aided by a column of German troops led by Major Kurt von Hammerstein-Equord (whose role was limited to capturing the strong point 2), stormed the fortress in the morning of 5 September, with the Bulgarian artillery opening fire (using 105 mm leichte Feldhaubitze 16, Howitzer) at 6:30 AM and the troops attacking at 8:20 AM. Five strong points were gradually taken during the day, while the Romanians were reinforced by 15 infantry battalions and three batteries from Bucharest.

The attack was renewed on 6 September and the Bulgarian forces entered Tutrakan at around 4:00 PM, completely seizing the town a half an hour later and capturing two flags, 450 officers, more than 22,000 soldiers, 151 cannons and all of the infantry's weapons. However, during the offensive the Bulgarians lost several thousands of soldiers, including many officers, due to General Kiselov's decision to put the commanding officers in front of the subordinate soldiers.

The Battle of Van was a battle of the Caucasus Campaign of World War I that took place in the city of Van, in August 1915.

Background April-July

The Ottomans had long persecuted the Armenians of Eastern Turkey. So when the Russian army invaded the Van region in April, 1915, the Armenians rebelled against the Ottomans. The rebellion was successful, and the Ottomans were driven out of the Van region. The Armenians turned the city over to the Russian army, when it arrived.

The Battle, August

After the Battle of Malazgirt, the Russian army retreated from the Van area, leaving only a small garrison, in Van. On August 13 the Russian garrison in the city of Van issued a call for all Armenians between the ages of 18 and 25 to come to the city with any weapons they had[citation needed]. By the time the Ottoman forces arrived outside Van on the 15th, thousands of locals had come to the city from the surrounding countryside. On the 16th the Ottoman Army began a bombardment of the town.

On August 19, the Ottomans entered the city of Van, and were met by resistance forces firing rifles from every window and door. According to Ottoman sources, city was captured on August 22, after several days of intense urban fighting.

Result

The Russian victory. The Ottoman forces did not try to capture the city until 2 April 1918, which gives a rough sense of the time that the region was under the control of Armenian Aram Manougian of ARF. The modern city of Van is located some miles away from the old location; ruins of the old town can still be seen today.

The Battle of Vimy Ridge was one of the opening battles in a larger British campaign known as the Battle of Arras during the First World War. It is also considered a major event in Canadian history for the key role the Canadian Corps of First Army played in the attack.

Background

The German army fortified Vimy Ridge with tunnels, three rows of trenches behind barbed wire, massive amounts of artillery, and numerous machine gun nests. The French and British had suffered thousands of casualties in previous attempts to take it. The French alone lost 150,000 men in 1915,[3] including about half of the elite Moroccan Division and two-thirds of a full regiment (3,000 men) of the French Foreign Legion. The French had taken the ridge but were unable to hold it against a pulverising counter-attack when reinforcements failed to arrive on time.

The Allied commanders decided to launch another assault in 1917. The duty was given to the still relatively fresh, but previously successful, Canadians. For the first time, all four divisions of the Canadian Corps were brought together. They were joined by the British 5th Infantry Division (in corps reserve), and British artillery, engineer and labour units, bringing the Canadian Corps to a strength of about 170,000 all ranks, of whom 97,184 were Canadians.[4]

One of the few Allied successes of 1916 had been the French counter-offensive devised by General Robert Nivelle in the closing stages of the Battle of Verdun. Here, following extensive rehearsal, "eight French divisions, assaulting in two waves on a six-mile front with exceedingly strong artillery support, had recovered ground lost ... and inflicted very heavy casualties on five German divisions. In January 1917, a group of officers, amongst them General Arthur Currie, a divisional commander within the Canadian Corps, were sent to study his methods employed. On his return, General Currie gave a series of lectures to Corps and Division on the lessons of Verdun. The battle and tactics plan used at Vimy Ridge reflect General Nivelle's influence.

As with the Battle of Arras, tunnelling companies played a crucial role. They had been at work since December 1916 excavating a vast network of tunnels under the battlefield, enabling troops to be brought from Arras right up to the front line in secrecy and in safety. They placed mines under the German front line and dug long "subways" (tunnels), the ends of which were detonated at Z-hour, giving waiting platoons closer access to the German line.

German forces knew that a major attack was planned in the near future. However, the exact date of the attack was still unknown.

Battle

On March 25, 1917, the largest artillery barrage in history up to that point started. The German trenches were shelled for over two weeks, using over one million shells. The German artillery pieces were hidden behind the ridge, but by using observation balloons in the air and microphones on the ground to triangulate the sound and light from their firing (a technique known as "flash spotting"), the Canadians were able to locate and destroy about 83% of the German guns.

The Canadians also made many night trench raids during this week, although General Arthur Currie thought this was an unnecessary risk and a waste of men. Against this, the raids gained much intelligence which "enabled the Canadians to take their objectives with lighter losses than would otherwise have been possible". The German troops called this period the "Week of Suffering".

At dawn on Easter Monday, April 9, the assault divisions of the Canadian Corps attacked. The attack was so loud, the sound of guns could be heard plainly in southern England, about a hundred miles from the front. The first wave of about 15,000 Canadian troops attacked positions defended by roughly 5,000 Germans, followed by the second wave of 12,000 Canadians to meet 3,000 German reserves. Over 1,100 cannons of various descriptions, from British heavy naval guns mounted on railway cars miles behind the battlefield, to portable field artillery pieces dragged into place by horses, mules, or soldiers just behind the Canadian lines, fired continuously. Nearly 100,000 men in total were to take and hold the ridge. The first wave advanced behind a creeping barrage, known specifically for the battle as the Vimy Glide. This tactic had been used earlier at the Battle of Neuve Chapelle and the Battle of the Somme but - again in the absence of voice control - required fine tuning. The officer sometimes credited for planning and coordinating the barrage was Brigade Major Alan Brooke, later better known as Field-Marshal Viscount Alanbrooke, Chief of the Imperial General Staff during World War II.

After less than two hours, three of the four Canadian divisions had taken their objectives; the 4th Division, however, was held up by machine gun nests on the highest point of the ridge, known as Hill 145. The 87th Battalion suffered 50% casualties. The 85th Nova Scotia Highlanders, who had been intended to function in a supply and construction role, were sent in as reinforcements and the hill was captured by the end of the day. The fight to take Vimy Ridge cost Canada dearly, but it would become Canada won this battle because they made sure that they knew every part of land they were fighting on and prepared very well for what was to come. Additionally, the massed British and Australian divisions attacking along a 24-mile front on the Canadian Corps' north and south flanks achieved their preliminary objectives.

Results

By April 12, the Canadians controlled the entire ridge, at a cost of 3,598 men killed and 7,004 wounded, for a total of 10,602 casualties.The German Sixth Army, under General Ludwig von Falkenhausen, suffered approximately 20,000 casualties. The Canadians also took 4,000 Germans as prisoners of war. The loss of the ridge forced the Germans to retreat to the lower plains that were far more difficult to defend. It also seriously undermined German morale, as they had long regarded the ridge as one of their most impregnable strongpoints. Domination of the ridge also denied the German the rich coalfields of the plain. The Hundred Days counter-attack to the German Spring Offensive would ultimately lead to victory over Germany by November 1918.

The Battle of Vittorio Veneto was fought between 24 October and 3 November 1918, near Vittorio Veneto, during the Italian Campaign of World War I. The Italian victory determined the collapse of Austro-Hungarian Army and the end on the First World War on the Italian Front.

Some Italians see Vittorio Veneto as the final cumulation of the Risorgimento nationalist movement, in which Italy was unified and achieved its present borders.

Background

During the Battle of Caporetto, 24 October to 9 November 1917, near Kobarid, in what is now Slovenia, the Italian Army lost over 300,000 men and was forced to withdraw, causing the replacement of the Italian Supreme General Luigi Cadorna with the General Armando Diaz. Diaz reorganized the troops, blocked the enemy advance and stabilized the front-line around the Piave River.

The battle

On the 23 October 1918, the Italian Army supported by their Allied troops launched the offensive.

After crossing the Piave River, the Italian Army took Vittorio ("Veneto" was added to the name only in 1923) and advanced in the direction of Trento, threatening to block the retreat of Austrian forces.

Conclusion

From 28 October onwards, Austria-Hungary sought to negotiate a truce while the Italians hesitated, advancing in the mean time, reaching Trento, Udine and landing in Trieste. It took several days of diplomacy under controversial circumstances until the Austrian-Italian Armistice of Villa Giusti was signed 3 November near Padova to take effect 24 hours later. Due to misunderstandings, many Austrian forces did stop fighting too soon, while the Italians pushed hard to advance as far north as possible to regain territory lost early in the war, and to conquer as much Austrian territory as possible. In the process, many Austrians on their way home were taken prisoners.

Result

The battle determined the end of the First World War on the Italian front. The surrender of their primary ally made the continuation of the war for Germany impossible as an additional front in the south could have been opened. As well, this defeat marked the end of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

The Brusilov Offensive (Russian: ???????????? ??????) was the greatest Russian feat of arms during World War I, and among the most lethal battles in world history. It was a major offensive against the armies of the Central Powers on the Eastern Front, launched on June 4, 1916 and lasting until early August. It took place in what today is Ukraine, in the general vicinity of the towns of Lemberg, Kovel, and Lutsk. The offensive was named after the Russian commander in charge of the Southwestern Front, Aleksei Brusilov.

Background

Early in 1916 France called upon Russia to help relieve the pressure on Verdun by launching an offensive against the Germans on the Eastern Front, hoping Germany would transfer more units to the East to cope with the Russian attack. The Russians responded by initiating the disastrous Lake Naroch Offensive in the Vilno area, during which the Germans suffered just 1/5 as many casualties as the Russians. In the summer of 1916, the British Somme Offensive designed to the same end had resulted in a quagmire, and the western Allies called upon the Russians again to help relieve German pressure on their front. In response, General Aleksei Brusilov presented his plan to STAVKA, which involved a massive offensive by his Southwestern Front against the Austro-Hungarian forces in Galicia. The main purpose of Brusilov's operation was to take some of the pressure off French and British armies in France and the Italian Army along the Isonzo Front, and to, if possible, knock Austria-Hungary out of the War.

Russian plan

General Alexei Evert, commander of the Russian Western Army Group, favoured a defensive strategy and was opposed to Brusilov's offensive. Tsar Nicholas II had taken personal command of the army in 1915. Evert was a strong supporter of Nicholas and the Romanovs, but the Tsar approved Brusilov's plan. The objectives were to be the cities of Kovel and Lemberg which had been lost to the Central Powers in the previous year. Although STAVKA had approved Brusilov's plan, his request for supporting offensives by neighboring fronts was effectively denied.

Preparations

Mounting pressure from the western Allies caused the Russians to hurry their preparations. Brusilov amassed four armies totaling 40 infantry divisions and 15 cavalry divisions. He faced 39 Austrian infantry divisions and 10 cavalry divisions formed in a row of three defensive lines, although later German reinforcements were brought up. The Russians secretly crept to within 100 yards of the Austrian lines and at some points as close as 75 yards. Brusilov prepared for a surprise assault along a 300 mile front. The Russian General Staff (Stavka) urged Brusilov to considerably shorten his attacking front to allow for a much heavier concentration of Russian troops. Brusilov, however, insisted on his plan and Stavka relented.

Breakthrough

On June 4, the Russians opened the offensive with a massive, accurate, but brief artillery barrage against the Austro-Hungarian lines. The key point of this was the brevity and accuracy of the bombardment, in marked contrast to the customary protracted barrages of the day which gave the defenders time to bring up reserves and evacuate forward trenches. The initial attack was successful and the Austro-Hungarian lines were broken, enabling three of Brusilov's four armies to advance on a wide front. The success of the breakthrough was helped in large part by Brusilov's innovation of shock troops to attack weak points along the Austrian lines to effect a breakthrough which the main Russian Army could then exploit. Brusilov's tactical innovations anticipated the German infiltration tactics (also called Hutier tactics) used later in the Western Front.

Battle

On June 8, forces of the Southwestern Front took Lutsk. The Austrian Archduke Josef Ferdinand barely managed to escape the city before the Russians entered, a testament to the speed of the Russian advance. By now the Austrians were in full retreat and the Russians had taken over 200,000 prisoners. Brusilov's forces were becoming overextended and he made it clear that further success of the operation depended on Evert launching his part of the offensive. Evert, however, continued to delay, which gave the German high command time to send reinforcements to the Eastern Front.

In a meeting held on the same day Lutsk fell, German Chief of Staff Erich von Falkenhayn persuaded Austrian Field Marshall Franz Conrad von Hötzendorf to pull troops away from the Italian Front to counter the Russians in Galicia. General Paul von Hindenburg was again able to capitalize on good railroads to bring German reinforcements east.

At last on June 18, a weak and poorly prepared offensive commenced under Evert. On July 24, Alexander von Linsingen counterattacked the Russians south of Kovel and temporarily checked the Russians. On July 28 Brusilov resumed his own offensive, and although his armies were short on supplies he reached the Carpathian Mountains by September 20. The Russian high command started transferring troops from Evert's front to reinforce Brusilov, a transfer Brusilov strongly opposed because more troops only served to clutter Brusilov's front. All forces involved were reaching exhaustion and the offensive finally died down in late September and ended as Russian troops had to be transferred to help Romania, which was being overrun by Austro-German forces.

Results

The operation succeeded in its basic purpose, as Germany had to terminate its attack on Verdun and transfer considerable forces to the East. It also broke the back of the Austro-Hungarian Army which lost nearly 1.5 million men (including 400,000 prisoners). The Austro-Hungarian Army was never able to mount a successful attack from this point onward. Instead it had to rely on the German Army for its military successes. The early success of the offensive convinced Romania to enter the war on the side of the Entente, though with disastrous consequences.

Russian casualties were also considerable, numbering around half a million. However, given the large manpower resources of the Russian Army, this was, perhaps, militarily acceptable. The Brusilov Offensive was the high point of the Russian effort during World War I, and was a rare manifestation of good leadership and planning on the part of the Imperial Russian Army. Thereafter the effectiveness of the Russian Army started to decline, due to the deteriorating economic and political situation on the home front, which the army's heavy casualties did nothing to alleviate. Even whilst the Germans and the Austro-Hungarians were being pushed back along their front line, at least 58,016 Russian soldiers deserted. Even whilst the Russians were succeeding, their soldiers still chose to desert to the battlefield. This was only a premonition for things to come when the balance was in Germany's favor.

The operation was marked by a considerable improvement in the quality of Russian tactics. Brusilov used smaller specialized units of soldiers to attack weak points in the Austro-Hungarian trench lines and blow open holes for the rest of the Russian Army to advance into. These shock tactics were a remarkable departure from the "human wave" tactics that were prevalent until that point during World War I by the Russo-Austro-Germans, and indeed most Armies at the time. The irony was that the Russians themselves did not realize the potential of the tactics that Brusilov produced. It would be Germany that seized on the model and utilized "storm troopers" to great effect in the 1918 offensive on the Western Front, which was hastily copied and used to an even greater effect by the Western Allies. Shock tactics would later play a large role as well in the early German blitzkrieg offensives of World War II and the later attacks by the Western Allies to defeat Germany and would continue until the Korean War and the First Indochinese War, which ended the era of the mass-Trench in all but a few nations, mostly in Africa.

The Eleventh Battle of the Isonzo was a World War I battle fought by the Italian and Austro-Hungarian Armies on the Italian Front between August 18 and September 12, 1917.

On the Isonzo River, Luigi Cadorna, the Italian Chief of Staff, concentrated three quarters of his troops: 600 battalions (52 divisions) with 5,200 guns. The attack was carried forth from Tolmin (in the upper Isonzo valley) to the Adriatic Sea, and the Italians crossed the river in several points on temporary bridges, but the main effort was exerted on the Bainsizza Plateau, whose capture was to further the offensive and break the Austro-Hungarian lines in two segments, isolating the strongholds of Mount Saint Gabriel and Mount Hermada.

After fierce and deadly fightings, the Italian Second Army, led by General Capello, pushed back Boroević's Isonzo Armee, conquering the Bainsizza and Mount Santo. Other positions were taken by the Duke of Aosta's Third Army.

However, Mount Saint Gabriel and Mount Hermada turned out to be impregnable, and the offensive wore out.

After the battle, the Austro-Hungarians were exhausted, and could not have withstood another attack. Fortunately for them (and unfortunately for their opponents), so were the Italians, who could not find the resources necessary for another assault, even though it might have been the decisive one. So the final result of the battle was an inconclusive bloodbath. Moreover, the end of the battle left the Italian Second Army (until then the most successful of the Italian Armies) split in two parts across the Isonzo River, a weak point that proved to be decisive in the subsequent Twelfth Battle of the Isonzo.

The First Battle of the Aisne was the Allied follow-up offensive against the right wing of the German First Army (led by Alexander von Kluck) & Second Army (led by Karl von Bülow) as they retreated after the First Battle of the Marne earlier in September of 1914. The offensive began on the evening of 13 September, after a hasty pursuit of the Germans.

Though tired, the Allies realised on 11 September the Germans planned to stop retreating at the Aisne River.

When the two German armies arrived at the Aisne, they were reinforced by the 7th army (led by Josias von Heeringen), and commenced setting up defensive positions in trenches along the Aisne's northern banks, with their main defences based on the Chemin des Dames ridge.

Upon their arrival on 13 September, the French Fifth (led by Louis Franchet d'Esperey) & Sixth (led by Michel-Joseph Maunoury) armies, aided by the BEF (led by Sir John French), launched an assault.

On the 14th, the Allies continued to assault the Germans on Chemin des Dames ridge above them, but German counter-attacks drove them back. German machine guns and heavy artillery effectively kept the Allies at bay.

Pushed back further by the Allies on the 18th, fighting was then abandoned on the 28th. It finally became clear to both sides, that neither would be able to mount an effective frontal assault on their enemy's trenches. Besides, the French were also under severe pressure at Reims. Instead, both forces attempted to manoeuvre past the other in the "Race to the Sea" movement, started by French commander in Chief, Joseph Joffre, who moved his forces to the north and west so as to attack the exposed German right flank at Noyon (resulting in the First Battle of Albert).

There were two later battles on the Aisne; The Second Battle of the Aisne (April-May 1917) and the Third Battle of the Aisne (May-June 1918).

The First Battle of the Isonzo was fought between Italians and Austro-Hungarians on the Italian Front in World War I, between June 23 and July 7, 1915.

The Italians' aim was to drive the Austrians away from their defensive positions along the Isonzo River and on the nearby mountains.

Although the Italians enjoyed a 2:1 numeric superiority, their offensive failed because the Austrians had the advantage of fighting from uphill positions, and because the Italians attacked after an insufficient artillery barrage, so that their assault was effectively halted by the still-intact enemy barbed-wire fences.

Early in July the Austrian commander, Svetozar Boroević, got two reinforcement divisions, which put an end to the Italian efforts at breaking through the Austrian lines.

The final Italian gains were minimal: the bridgehead at Tolmino, beyond the river, and the heights near Plezzo.

The First Battle of the Masurian Lakes was a German offensive in the Eastern Front during the early stages of World War I. It pushed the Russian First Army back across its entire front, eventually ejecting them from Germany in disarray. Further progress was hampered by the arrival of the Russian Tenth Army on the German's left flank. Although not as devastating as the Battle of Tannenberg that took place a week earlier, the battle nevertheless upset the Russian plans into the spring of 1915.

Background

The Russian offensive in the east had started well enough, with General Rennenkampf's 1st Army (Army of the Neman) forcing the Germans westward from the border towards Königsberg. Meanwhile the Russian 2nd Army approached from the south, hoping to cut the Germans off in the area around the city. Instead, Colonel Max Hoffmann developed a plan to attack the Second while it attempted to move north over some particularly hilly terrain, culminating in the complete destruction of the Second Army between August 26 and 30th.

The offensive was only possible due to the personal animosity between the Russian Generals; the commander of the Second, Alexander Samsonov, had publicly criticized Rennenkampf some years earlier, and the two had apparently come to blows over the matter. Rennenkampf was in no hurry to close the gap between the two armies, leaving Samsonov isolated miles to the southwest. When the nature of the German counteroffensive became clear, Rennenkampf had his troops move as quickly as possible to help, but they were simply too far to be of any use.

By the time the battle proper ended on the 30th, the closest of Rennenkampf's units, his II Corps, was still over 45 miles from the pocket. In order to get even this close his units had to rush southward, and were now spread out over a long line running southward from just east of Königsberg, facing the wrong way. An attack by the German Eighth Army from the west would flank the entire army. Of course the Germans were also very far from him, but unlike the Russians, the Germans could easily close with his armies using the extensive rail network in the area.

On August 31, Tannenburg lost, Rennenkampf had been ordered to stand his ground in case of a German attack, which was expected. Realizing his forces were currently spread out enough to be open to attack, he ordered a withdrawal to a line running from Königsberg's defensive works in the north, to the Masurian Lakes near Angerburg in the south, anchored on the Omer River. Bolstering his forces were the newly-formed XXVI Corp, which he placed in front of Königsberg, moving his more experienced troops south into the main lines. His forces also included two infantry divisions held in reserve. All in all, he appeared to be in an excellent position to wait the arrival of the Tenth Army, forming up to his south.

The Battle

Mopping up the remains of the 2nd Army were essentially complete by 2 September, and Paul von Hindenburg immediately started moving his units to meet the southern end of Rennenkampf's line. He was able to ignore the Russian right (in the north), which was in front of the extensive defensive works outside of Königsberg. Adding to his force were two newly arrived Corps from the Western Front, the Gd.R and the XI. For the first time since the opening of the war, the Germans now had numerical superiority.

Like Rennenkampf, Hindenburg fed his newest troops into the northern end of the line, and planned an offensive against the south. But unlike Rennenkampf, Hindenberg had enough forces not only to cover the entire front in the Insterburg Gap, but had additional forces "left over". He sent his most capable units, the I and XVII Corps, far to the south of the lines near the middle of the Lakes, and send the 3rd Reserve Division even further south to Lyck, about 30 miles from the southern end of Rennenkampf's line.

Hindenberg's southern units started their advance on 5 September, initially meeting no resistance. It was not until the 7th that the forces met in any sort of battle, and the battle proper not opening until the next day. Throughout the 8th the German forces in the north hammered at the Russian forces facing them, who were forced to make an orderly withdrawal eastward. In the south, however, things were not going so well. The German XVII Corp had met their counterpart, the Russian II, but were at this point outnumbered. The II maneuvered well, and by the end of the day had managed to get their left flank into position for a flanking attack on the Germans, potentially encircling them.

All hopes of a victory vanished the next day on 9 September when the German I Corps arrived beside the XVII, now on the Russian's own flank. Meanwhile the 3 Reserve Division had met the XXII even further south, and after a fierce battle forced them to fall back southeastward; its commander wired Rennenkampf he had been attacked and defeated near Lych, and could do nothing but withdraw. Rennenkampf ordered a counteroffensive in the north to buy time to reform his lines, managing to push the German XX Corp back a number of miles. However the Germans did not stop to reform their own lines, and instead continued their advances in the south and north. This left the victorious Russian troops badly isolated, but they were nevertheless able to reach the new lines being set up.

Now the battle turned decisively in the Germans' favor. By the 11th the Russians had been pushed back to a line running from Insterburg to Angerburg in the north, with a huge flanking maneuver developing to the south. It was at this point that the threat of encirclement appeared possible. Rennenkampf ordered a general retreat toward the Russian border, which happened rapidly under the protection of a strong rear guard. It was this speed that allowed the Russian troops to prevent Hindenburg's snare from closing on them. The German commander had ordered his wings to quicken their march as much as possible, but a trivial accident, rumors of a supposed Russian attack, made his men lose about half a day, and thus the Russians managed to escape.

The Russians reached Gumbinnen the next day, and Stalluponen on the 13th. With no end in sight, the Russians retreated over the border to the safety of the guns of their border forts. The Russian Tenth Army was also forced to retreat eastward to continue forming up in safety.

Outcome

The Eighth Army had now completed one of the most astounding victories in history, completely destroying the Second Army, badly damaging the 1st, and ejecting all Russian troops from German soil.

Meanwhile new German Corps under von Der Goltz was able to use this movement to safely move his own troops into position to harass the remains of the 2nd Army, while far to the southwest the new German Ninth was forming up. It would not be long before they were able to face the Russians in a position of numerical superiority.

Even better, the "main" battles of the Eastern Front were taking place between Austria-Hungary and Russian far to the south. Like the Germans, the Austrians collapsed the Russian lines, and appeared to be in a good position to push them out of Poland entirely. This battle would soon be reversed, however, and the initial victories in the east would bog down.

The First Battle of Ypres, also called the Battle of Flanders, was the last major battle of the first year of World War I (1914). This battle and the Battle of the Yser marked the end of the so-called Race to the Sea.

The British Expeditionary Force, under the command of Field Marshal Sir John French, was redeployed north from the mobile fighting of the first two months of the war to join two divisions of reinforcements recently landed in Belgium. They advanced east from Saint-Omer, met and halted the German Army at the Passchendaele Ridge to the east of the Belgian town of Ypres. The Belgians opened the sluice gates of the river Yser to let in the sea into the low lying land to prevent further German advances. Both sides dug in for trench warfare. The town of Ypres was rapidly demolished by artillery and air attack.

The Germans called the battle "The Massacre of the Innocents" (German "Kindermord"). Eight German units consisted of young volunteers, many of them enthusiastic students, and these units suffered huge casualties during a failed attack on a smaller but highly-experienced British force, many of them veterans of the Second Boer War. The BEF was supported for the first time by battalions from the Army of India and the British Territorials, whose support was essential in holding the Germans at bay. The BEF was severely weakened at First Ypres, but the battle allowed the Allies time to strengthen their lines.

In 1917, the Mons Star was awarded to those surviving British troops who had served in France or Belgium prior to the end of the First Battle of Ypres; the last surviving holder of this decoration, Alfred Anderson, died in November 2005.

The Flămânda Offensive (or Flămânda Maneuver) was an offensive across the Danube mounted by the Romanian 2nd Army during World War I. The battle ended as a tactical victory for the Central Powers.

The Battle

On September 15, the Romanian War Council decided to suspend the Transylvania offensive and destroy the Mackensen army group instead. The plan was to attack the Central Powers forces from the rear by crossing the Danube at Flămânda, while the front-line Romanian and Russian forces were supposed to launch an offensive southwards towards Cobadin and Kurtbunar (today Tervel, Dobrich Province). The idea was to cut off Mackensen's army from its bases in northern Bulgaria.

On October 1, two Romanian divisions crossed the Danube at Flămânda and created a bridgehead 14 kilometer-wide and 4 kilometer-deep. On the same day, the joint Romanian and Russian divisions went on offensive on the Dobruja front, however with little success. The failure to break the Dobruja front, the attack of the Austro-Hungarian Donau Flotilla, which, combined with a heavy storm on the night of October 1/2, caused heavy damages to the pontoon bridge, led General Averescu to cancel the whole operation.

The Fourth Battle of the Isonzo was fought between Italians and Austro-Hungarians on the Italian Front in World War I, between November 10 and December 2, 1915.

Overview

Differently from the other Battles of the Isonzo, this offensive lasted little time, and is sometimes considered a continuation of the previous one.

Most of the clash concentrated in the direction of Gorizia and on the Kras Plateau, though the push was distributed on the whole front. The 2nd Italian Army, aiming to Gorizia, was able to capture Oslavje (Italian: Oslavia), while the Third Army, covering the rest of the front up to the sea, launched a series of large and bloody attack which brought no significative gain. Mount Sei Busi was attacked five times by the Italian forces, always in vain.

The intensity of the fightings increased until the end of November, when the bridgehead of Tolmin (Italian: Tolmino) was heavily bombed by both the parts and the casulaty ratio reached its apex. In the first fifteen days of December, however, they reduced to small scale skirmishes.

Am unsigned truce arrived together with the first great cold in the mountains of the Kras, and operations were arrested due to lack of supplying.

The Austro-Hungarian High Command, worried by the huge losses, for the first time requested troops to the German Empire, which was not formally in war against Italy at this point. Anyway the Germans intervened in the Italian front only starting from the Eleventh Battle of the Isonzo.

The Gorlice-Tarnów Offensive during World War I started as a minor German offensive to relieve Russian pressure on the Austro-Hungarians to their south on the Eastern Front, but resulted in the total collapse of the Russian lines and their retreat far into Russia. The continued series of actions lasted the majority of the campaigning season for 1915, starting in early May and only ending due to bad weather in October.

Background

In the early stages of the Eastern Front, the German Eighth Army had conducted a series of almost miraculous actions against the two Russian armies facing them. After surrounding and then destroying the Russian Second Army at the Battle of Tannenburg in late August, Paul von Hindenburg and Erich Ludendorff wheeled their troops to face the 1st Army at the First Battle of the Masurian Lakes, almost destroying them before they reached the protection of their own fortresses as they retreated across the border. When the actions petered out in late September, the vast majority of two Russian armies had been destroyed, and all Russian forces had been ejected from German soil.

Things were not going so well to their south, however. Here the bulk of the Russian army faced an equally large group of Austro-Hungarian units, who started their own offensive in late August and initially pushed the Russians back well into what is now central Poland. However, a well executed Russian counterattack in late September pushed them back over their own borders in disarray, allowing the Russians to start the Siege of Przemyśl. The Germans came to their aid by forming up the Ninth Army and attacking during the Battle of the Vistula River, and although it was initially successful, the attack eventually petered out and the Germans returned to their starting points.

The Russians followed up by redeploying their armies for a further offensive into Silesia, placing both Austria and Germany at risk. When they heard of this, the Ninth Army was redeployed to the north, allowing them to put serious pressure on the Russian right flank in what developed as the Battle of Łódź in early November. The Germans failed to encircle the Russian units, and the battle ended inconclusively with an orderly Russian withdrawal to the east near Warsaw. Weather prevented further actions over the next months.

Prelude

In early 1915 Hindenburg and Ludendorff once again executed a huge maneuver, quickly moving the Ninth Army to the north by train. This put the Ninth, Eight and the newly formed Tenth in a line near the pre-war Prussia borders with Russia, without the Russians being aware of the redeployment. In early February they launched an attack, the Second Battle of the Masurian Lakes, destroying much of the Russian 10th Army before the attack petered out. Although not as successful as initially hoped, the action nevertheless seriously threatened the Russian forces in Poland, which faced the possibility of being cut off had the German forces been able to move further south. A further action in this area seemed certain.

Instead, the German Chief of Staff, Erich von Falkenhayn, decided for a major offensive in the Gorlice-Tarnów area, south-east of Cracow, at the far southern end of the Eastern Front. In April 1915 the recently formed German XI Army (10 infantry divisions under General August von Mackensen) was transferred from the Western Front. Along with the Austrian IV Army (8 infantry and 1 cavalry divisions under Archduke Joseph Ferdinand), it had to cope with the Russian III Army (18½ infantry and 5½ cavalry divisions, under General D.R.Radko-Dmitriev), that held that sector.

General Mackensen had been given command of both German and Austro-Hungarian forces, and on May 1, after a heavy artillery bombardment, he launched an attack which caught the Russians by surprise. He concentrated 10 infantry and 1 cavalry division (126,000 men, 457 light, 159 heavy pieces of artillery and 96 mortars) on the 35 km of the breakthrough sector of the front line against 5 Russian divisions (60,000 men with 141 light and 4 heavy pieces of artillery). Russian defenses were shattered and their lines collapsed. The III Army left in enemy hands about 140,000 prisoners and almost ceased to exist as a fighting unit.

The Russians were forced to withdraw, the Central Powers recaptured most of Galicia, and the Russian threat to Austria-Hungary was averted. Particularly gratifying was the recapture of Przemyśl on 3 June. The lines stabilized around 1 June, the penetration about 100 miles at its deepest, reducing the Polish Salient to perhaps a third of its pre-war size.

The Battle Continues

During this period the buildup of forces generally favored the Central Powers. Four new German armies, the Eleventh, Twelfth, Army of the Niemen and Army Bug, were being formed up, dramatically shifting the balance of power in the area, with thirteen Central armies facing nine Russian. Under pressure from the Kaiser, Falkenhayn gave in to Hindenburg and Ludendorff's insistence that the offensive be continued.

On 13 July the Central armies opened an offensive across the entire front. Outnumbered and still off-balance due to the earlier actions, the southern end of the Russian line collapsed and started moving eastward. More worrying, the German Tenth and Niemen armies pressed through on the extreme north end of the line, once again leading to the possibility of an encirclement of the entire Russian army.

By 13 July the entire southern wing had been pushed back another 100 miles to the River Bug, leaving only a small portion of Poland in Russian hands, anchored on Warsaw. New attacks by the German Eight, Tenth and Twelfth armies moving south out of Prussia soon caused even this front to collapse, sending the entire northern end of the Russian lines streaming backward, eventually forming a line running north-south at about the pre-war eastern Prussian border.

The Germans advanced 150 kilometers (95 miles) in two weeks, expanding the front. Although the Russians, in rear-guard fighting, inflicted severe casualties on the Germans on the San and Dniester rivers, they had not enough resources to halt them. They had to evacuate Przemyśl on June 3, and the Galician capital Lviv (in German: Lemberg; in Polish: Lwów; in Russian: Lvov) on the 22nd. Between June 23 and 27 the Germans crossed the Dniester.

The Germans, after having received considerable reinforcements, took Brest-Litovsk (about 190 kilometers or 120 miles east of Warsaw) on August 25. With the continuing Russian retreat, the Polish capital itself became isolated, and the German XII Army (under Gallwitz) seized the opportunity and conquered it on August 4–5.

On September 19, Hindenburg's forces captured Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania.

At this point, the German advance was finally halted by bad weather. The new front line now ran 290 kilometers (180 miles) east of Warsaw for almost 1,000 kilometers (600 miles), from the Baltic Sea to the Romanian border.

Outcome

The Russians had had to evacuate Galicia and lost Poland, suffering heavy casualties. On September 8, Nicholas II personally took command of the Russian armed forces, replacing Grand Duke Nicholas Nikolayevich. However, in spite of the severe defeat, the Russian retreat had been in good order, and Russia was not knocked out of the war. Furthermore, in order to sustain a large-scale offensive, Falkenhayn had had to transfer forces from the Western Front, weakening his chances against the Franco-British, without being able to obtain a decisive victory against the Russians.

The Lake Naroch Offensive was a battle mainly fought in March 1916 to relieve the German pressure against the French at Verdun.

As the French situation there was becoming more and more severe, General Joffre appealed to the other Allies for a diversionary action someplace else in order to compel the Germans to withdraw part of their forces from Verdun.

Nicholas II acceded to the French request, choosing the Lake Narač area in White Russia because there 350,000 Russians (parts of two army groups) faced just 75,000 Germans (X Army under General Eichhorn).

The Russian initial artillery bombardment was quite long (it lasted two days), but inaccurate, and the Russian troops, who made the mistake of crossing no man's land in groups rather than scattered about, were easy targets for enemy machine guns. The attackers gained a few kilometers, but did not inflict any serious damage to the German defenses — which were well organized and fortified — although the Russians greatly outnumbered their adversaries.

The Russian offensive petered out in April 1916. All gained territory was lost to subsequent German counterattacks.

A secondary attack mounted near Riga on March 21 had no better luck.

The whole operation was an utter failure, as it abated the Russians' morale without providing any help to the French.

The Meuse-Argonne Offensive, also called the Battle of the Argonne Forest, was the final offensive of World War I. It was the biggest operation and victory of the American Expeditionary Force (AEF) in that war. The offensive took place in the Verdun Sector, immediately north and northwest of the town of Verdun, between September 26 - November 11, 1918. It was launched as part of Maréchal Ferdinand Foch's Grand Offensive, comprising attacks by the AEF and French Fourth Army on September 26, the British Fourth Army from September 27 and the British and Belgians at Ypres from September 28. These operations led to a general advance along most of the Western Front, resulting in the German Army's final defeat and the signing of an armistice on November 11 to bring hostilities between the Allies and Central Powers to an end.

Opposing forces

U.S. forces consisted of ten divisions of the U.S. First Army commanded by General John J. Pershing until October 16 and then by Lt. General Hunter Liggett. One million two hundred thousand U.S. troops eventually took part in the battle. The logistics were planned and directed by Col. George Marshall. German forces consisted of 5 German divisions, 4 of which were described as low grade. Resistance grew to approximately 40 German divisions from the Army Groups of the Crown Prince and General Max Karl von Gallwitz, with the largest force the Fifth Army of Group Gallwitz commanded by General Georg von der Marwitz.

Objectives

The objective of the offensive was the railway hub at Sedan, which provided supply support for the German armies in the southeastern sector of the Western Front.

First phase: September 26 to October 3

The American attack began at 5:30 a.m. on September 26 and progressed 11 kilometers (7 mi) in two days. Montfaucon d'Argonne was captured on the first day. On September 29, six new German divisions were deployed to oppose the American attack, and in the words of General Pershing, "We were no longer engaged in a maneuver for the pinching out of a salient, but were necessarily committed, generally speaking, to a direct frontal attack against strong, hostile positions fully manned by a determined enemy."

Second phase: October 4 to October 28

The attack was renewed on October 4 against 20 German line and reserve divisions. Casualties and exhaustion were such that General Pershing required 90,000 replacements, but he could obtain only 45,000 until November 1. He discussed the situation with the Allied commander-in-chief, Marshal Foch, who urged the attacks to continue, since they were aimed at the chief German line of retreat. By October 14, American units had reached and crossed portions of the Hindenburg Line.

Exploits of the U.S. Army's 77th Division, 308th Battalion from October 2, 1918 in the Argonne Forest are immortalized in the movie The Lost Battalion (2001). Without food, water or reserve ammunition and cut off from supply and communication lines, and subjected to constant assaults and bombardments, they managed to hold the enemy until they were finally rescued after five days of desperate action.

Third phase: October 26 to November 10

The American forces reorganized into two armies. The First, led by General Ligett, would continue to move to the Carignan-Sedan-Mezieres Railroad. The Second Army, led by Lieutenant General Robert L. Bullard, was directed to move eastward towards Metz. The two armies faced 31 German divisions.

The American offensive became part of a general directive by Marshal Foch to continue to exert pressure along the entire front. The lines of responsibility were shifted to allow the French, who had lost Sedan in 1870 in the Franco-Prussian War, to recapture the city.

Both sides used military aircraft extensively during this phase of the offensive, including daylight bombing of the enemy forces.

The offensive stopped when the armistice ending hostilities went into effect at 11:00 a.m. on November 11.

Aftermath

The operation was the largest set up by the U.S. Army in 1918. The strategic goal was sound: cutting the Germans from their main supply line. However, this was a failure. The two main explanations were the difficult landscape, with few roads in a hilly and forested area, and the lack of experience of the U.S. Army at all levels.

Overall, training was good, but many officers, lacking effective experience, repeated the same mistakes that French and British learned to avoid during the four preceding years. On the front, coordination suffered. The "Lost Battalion" is a good example of failure: on the attack, it was cut off from its base and surrounded. Casualties far exceeded French and British ones for similar operations, because U.S. troops took more risks and made foolish mistakes. Behind the front, traffic jams clogged roads and supply suffered.

The 1917 Battle of Passchendaele, also known as the Third Battle of Ypres or simply Third Ypres, was one of the major battles of World War I. In this battle, British, ANZAC, Canadian and South African units engaged the Imperial German Army. The battle was fought for control of the village of Passchendaele (now called Passendale) near the town of Ypres (now called Ieper) in West Flanders, Belgium. The plan was to drive a hole in the German lines and advance to the Belgian coast and capture the German submarine bases there. It was intended to create a decisive corridor in a crucial area of the front, and to take pressure off the French forces. After the Nivelle Offensive the French Army was suffering from extremely low morale, resulting in mutinies and misconduct on a scale that threatened the field-worthiness of entire divisions.

The battle took place on largely reclaimed marshland, swampy even without rain. The extremely heavy preparatory bombardment by the British tore up the surface of the land, and heavy rain from August onwards produced an impassable terrain of deep "liquid mud", in which an unknown number of soldiers drowned. Even the newly-developed tanks bogged down. The Germans were well-entrenched, with mutually-supporting pillboxes which the initial bombardment had not destroyed. After three months of fierce fighting, the village of Passchendaele was eventually taken by the Canadian Corps, but in the meantime the Allied Powers had sustained almost half a million casualties and the Germans just over a quarter of a million. After three months of fierce fighting, the Canadian Corps took Passchendaele on 6 November 1917, ending the battle. In the history of World War I, the term 'Passchendaele' has become emblematic of the horror of industrialised warfare.

Tactical overview and preliminary battles

By this stage of the war, the commanders-in-chief - Field-Marshal Douglas Haig (British Empire); General Erich Ludendorff (German Empire); and General Philippe Pétain (France) - regarded the Western Front as a single continuous battle which had started with the Battle of the Somme in July 1916. Thus, no sooner had hostilities ended in one sector then a fresh offensive started in another. The Allied objective was to keep Imperial Germany, who were also fighting the war on the Eastern Front - under constant pressure. Since the Somme, tactics and counter-tactics had significantly developed on both sides of the line.

The build up of Allied troops in the sector had alerted the Germans to the possibility of an imminent offensive. In response, General Ludendorff sent his strategist, Colonel von Lossberg, to the salient as chief of staff of the German Fourth army who were holding the line. Lossberg moved the German Army out of the trenches into a strong defensive line of pillboxes, designed to resist even very heavy artillery and to provide enfilading fire.

Haig gave General Sir Hubert Gough command of the battle. This is widely regarded as a mistake as Gough was primarily an aggressive cavalry commander, with neither the experience nor the temperament for the task ahead.

Messines Ridge

The bridge to the north of Ypres had been lost to the Germans in the First Battle of Ypres, creating an allied salient sticking out into the German positions and overlooked by German artillery on higher ground. Field Marshal Sir Douglas Haig, the allied chief commander, decided to break through the front and capture the German submarine bases on the Belgian coast. A successful action would not only put the submarines out of action, but shorten the allied lines and potentially trap a number of German troops behind the new lines.

Haig ordered General Plumer, the Second Army commander, to continue the battle, but was persuaded to delay further attacks until preparations could be made and the strategic Messines Ridge could be consolidated.

July 1917

As a second stage of the action, General Sir Hubert Gough was put in charge of the attacks to secure the Gheluvelt Plateau which overlooked Ypres. Many field guns were moved into the area and started a four-day bombardment, but the Germans recognised the sign of an impending offensive, and moved more troops in to reinforce the defences.

In July the Germans used mustard gas for the first time. It attacked sensitive parts of the body, caused blistering, damage to the lungs and inflammation of the eyes, causing blindness (sometimes temporary) and great pain.

One problem in carrying the offensive forward was the Yser canal, but this was taken on 27 July when the Allies found the German trenches empty. Four days later, the offensive proper opened with a major assault at Pilckem ridge, when the Allies gained about 2000 yards. The Allies suffered about thirty-two thousand casualties — killed, wounded or missing — in this one action.

Ground conditions during the whole Ypres- Passchendaele action were bad because the ground was already fought-over and partially flooded. Continuous shelling destroyed drainage canals in the area, and unseasonable heavy rain turned the whole area into a sea of mud and water-filled shell-craters. The troops walked up to the front over paths made of duckboards laid across the mud, often carrying up to one hundred pounds (45 kg) of equipment. It was possible for them to slip off the path into the craters and drown before they could be rescued. The trees were reduced to blunted trunks, the branches and leaves torn away, and the bodies of men buried after previous actions were often uncovered by the rain or later shelling.

September 1917

A new strategy known as "bite and hold" was adopted for the actions of September and October, after the bad weather in August had contributed to the failures of earlier large-scale attacks. The idea was to make small gains which could be held against counter-attack. Sir Herbert Plumer replaced Hubert Gough in command of the offensive.

By now, 1,295 guns were concentrated in the area, approximately one for every five yards of attack front. On 20 September at the battle of Menin Road, after a massive bombardment, the Allies attacked and managed to hold their objective of about 1,500 yards gained, despite heavy counter-attacks, suffering twenty-one thousand casualties. The Germans by this time had a semi-permanent front line, with very deep dugouts and concrete pillboxes, supported by artillery accurately ranged on no man's land.

Further advances at Polygon Wood and Broodseinde on the south-western edge of the salient accounted for another two thousand yards and thirty thousand Allied casualties. The British line was now overlooked by the Passchendaele ridge, which therefore became an important objective. An advance on 9 October at Poelkapelle (Poelcapelle) was a dismal failure for the Allies, with minor advances by exhausted troops forced back by counter-attacks.

First Battle of Passchendaele

Aerial view of Passchendaele village, before and after the battle, demonstrating that the entire village and even the roads were pulverised as combatants shelled all trace of enemy cover or transportation — urban warfare that effectively de-urbanised the terrain.

The First Battle of Passchendaele, on 12 October 1917 began with a further Triple Entente attempt to gain ground around Poelkapelle. The heavy rain again made movement difficult, and artillery could not be brought closer to the front owing to the mud. The Entente troops were fought-out, and morale was suffering. Against the well-prepared Triple Alliance defences, the gains were minimal and there were 13,000 Allied casualties.

By this point there had been 100,000 Allied casualties, with only limited gains and no strategic breakthrough.

Second Battle of Passchendaele

Canadian general Sir Arthur William Currie, who led the Canadian Corps in the Second Battle of Passchendaele. Currie correctly predicted that the Canadians would incur from 16,000 to 20,000 casualties if they were to be successful at defeating the Germans.

At this point two divisions of the Canadian Corps were moved into the line to replace the badly depleted ANZAC forces. After their successes at Vimy Ridge and the Battle of Hill 70, the Canadians were considered to be an élite force and were sent into action in some of the worst conditions of the war.

Upon his arrival, the Canadian Commander-in-Chief General Sir Arthur Currie expressed the view that the cost of the objective would be sixteen thousand casualties. While Currie viewed this figure as inordinately high in relation to the value of the objective, Haig was used to casualty figures in the hundreds of thousands after years of huge allied losses, and he ordered the offensive to proceed.

The Canadians moved into the line during mid-October, and on 26 October 1917, the Second Battle of Passchendaele began with twenty thousand men of the Third and Fourth Canadian Divisions advancing up the hills of the salient. It cost the Allies twelve thousand casualties for a gain of a few hundred yards.

Reinforced with the addition of two British divisions, a second offensive on 30 October resulted in the capture of the town in heavy rains. For the next five days the force held the town in the face of repeated German shelling and counter-attacks, and by the time a second group of reinforcements arrived on 6 November, four-fifths of two Canadian divisions had been lost.

Their replacements were the First and Second Canadian Divisions. German troops still ringed the area, so a limited attack on the 6th by the remaining troops of the Third Division allowed the First Division to make major advances and gain strong points throughout the area.

One such action on the First Division front was at Hill 52; the Tenth Battalion, CEF were called out of reserve to assist an attack on Hill 52, part of the same low rise Passchendaele itself was situated on. The Battalion was not scheduled to attack, but the Commanding Officer of the Tenth had wisely prepared his soldiers as if they would be making the main assault – a decision that paid dividends when the unit was called out of reserve. On 10 November 1917, the Tenth Battalion took the feature with light casualties.

A further attack by the Second Division the same day pushed the Germans from the slopes to the east of the town. The high ground was now firmly under Allied control.

Aftermath

Because of the Third Battle of Ypres there were insufficient reserves available to exploit the Allied success at the Battle of Cambrai, the first breakthrough by massed tanks, that restored somewhat the shaken confidence of the British government in the final victory. The politicians were reluctant however to fully replace the manpower losses, for fear the new troops would be sacrificed also. This made the British Army vulnerable to a German attack.

The major German offensive of 1918, Operation Michael, began on 21 March 1918, and a supporting operation which became the Battle of the Lys, began on 9 April. This regained almost all of the ground taken by the Allies at Passchendaele, with the Germans advancing about 6 miles. This meant that every inch of ground (that had taken 450,000 deaths and 5 months to take) gained in the offensive was lost to the Germans, in a space of about three days, further proving the point of many historians that the Ypres salient was "not the most strategically significant area on which to wage a major campaign".

These battles, and those British Empire soldiers who gave their lives, are commemorated at the Menin Gate Memorial in Ypres, the Tyne Cot Cemetery and Memorial to the Missing, the largest Commonwealth War Graves Commission cemetery in the world with nearly 12,000 graves.

Passchendaele has come to symbolise the horrific nature of the great battles of the First World War. The Germans lost approximately 270,000 men, while the British Empire forces lost about 300,000, including approximately 3, 96 New Zealanders 36,500 Australians and 16,000 Canadians — the latter of which were lost in the intense final assault between 26 October and 10 November; 90,000 British, New Zealand and Australian bodies were never identified, and 42,000 never recovered. Aerial photography showed 1,000,000 shell holes in 1 square mile (2.56 km²).

The Raid on Scarborough, Hartlepool and Whitby, which took place on December 16, 1914, was an attack by the German Navy on the British seaport towns of Scarborough, Hartlepool, West Hartlepool, and Whitby. The attack resulted in 137 fatalities and 592 casualties, many of which were civilians. The attack resulted in public outrage towards the German Navy and the Royal Navy, due to its failure to prevent the raid. The Germans believed the attack on the towns to be valid because the ports were all heavily fortified, and therefore military targets.

Prior to the raid, the Royal Navy received intelligence reports on the planned German raid and a mixed force of battleships, battlecruisers, heavy cruiser, light cruisers and submarines were sent out to stop the German fleet. On the morning of December 16 at 8:00 am, a small raiding party led by Admiral Franz von Hipper, attacked the towns. The bombardment lasted until 9:30 am and resulted in the damaging of three German cruisers after coastal defence batteries in Hartlepool began shelling the attacking ships.

After word had spread of the attack, eight battleships from Rosyth and Sir John Jellicoe's Grand Fleet from Scapa Flow set off towards Hipper's position. The Grand Fleet was able to encircle Hipper's forces, but due to poor signalling, Hipper was able to escape Admiral David Beatty's four battlecruisers.

A battle on the Western Front of World War I, the Second Battle of Artois (also known as the Battle of Aubers Ridge) was fought at the same time as the Second Battle of Ypres. Even though the French under Field Marshal Philippe Pétain gained some initial victories, the battle ended in what was largely a stalemate. This was the final allied offensive of the spring of 1915, followed by a lull in the fighting until September 1915 which saw the Battle of Champagne and the Third Battle of Artois.

The Second Battle of Champagne begun on September 25-November 6, 1915. On September 25, The French commanders agreed to launch an offensive on Champagne.

September 25-October 6

On the first days, the offensive was successful and the Germans lost ground. Artillery fired a heavy bombardment for 3 days and then the advance began. 2 miles (3km) were gained. The next day, reinforcements arrived for the Germans and the offensive lost momentum until it finally ended on October 6.

The Offensive restarts

Due to intervention, The offensive was restarted but never really got on track again. The Germans counter attacked on October 30 and managed to reclaim all the territory lost to the French. The Plan was finally abandoned on November 6.

Aftermath

The battle had led to Verdun being stripped of its artillery, drawing the attention of the German commanders. French success was due largely to the weakness of German defense in the Champagne region.

Casualties

The offensive had been disastrous for the French. They had lost 145,000 Men, while the Germans lost about half that. The French had taken 25,000 prisoners and captured 150 guns. Overall, the offensive was almost a complete waste, because the French lost the land they had recaptured anyway.

The Second Battle of the Aisne (also sometimes called the Third Battle of Champagne), in 1917 was the main action of the French Nivelle Offensive during World War I. It ended in disaster for both the French army and its commander Robert Nivelle, destroying his career and sparking widespread mutiny in the army. Nivelle instigated the plan in December 1916 after he replaced Joseph Joffre as Commander-in-Chief of the French army.

Background

When he succeeded Joffre as commander of the French army, Nivelle argued that a massive onslaught against the German lines would bring French victory in 48 hours.[1] He believed the Germans were too bloodied from the battles at Verdun and the Somme to offer an effective, sustained defence, especially if it were preceded by a large-scale diversionary attack by the British.

The French War Minister, Hubert Lyautey, and Chief of Staff General Henri-Philippe Pétain, along with British Commander-in-Chief, Sir Douglas Haig, were all strongly opposed to this plan. In the face of this opposition, Nivelle threatened to resign if the offensive did not go ahead, and the French government found itself in a difficult situation. Nivelle had not yet lost a battle, and he also had the enthusiastic support of British Prime Minister David Lloyd George. Caught between a rock and a hard place, French Prime Minister Aristide Briand decided to support Nivelle, and the war minister resigned in protest.

The Nivelle Offensive was conceived as a vast operation, involving around 1.2 million troops and 7,000 guns on a broad front between Roye and Reims. Its primary focus was a massive assault on the German positions along the Aisne river.

The plan, which had been in development since December 1916, was plagued by delays and information leaks. By the time the offensive began in April 1917, its details were well-known to the Germans, who had ample time to take appropriate defensive measures. Additionally, the German retreat to the Hindenburg Line had undercut most of the tacticial assumptions of the French plan. Despite being forced to advance across relatively unknown ground, at a defensive position carefully chosen by the enemy - about which the French had little reliable intelligence - Nivelle determined to press the attack.

Battle

On 16 April 1917, after a week of diversionary attacks by the British at Arras, nineteen divisions of the French 5th and 6th armies, led by Mazel and Charles Mangin, attacked the German line along an 80 km stretch from Soissons to Reims. An impressive amount of firepower was concentrated on the German lines, but to no avail. Forewarned, the Germans had concentrated about 100 machine guns for every 1000 metres of front; they were also well entrenched, and their positions were deep. Situated on the high ground on the banks of the Aisne River, the German 7th army (under von Boehm) had little difficulty holding their positions. On the first day of combat alone, the French suffered over 40,000 casualties and lost 76 tanks. The creeping barrage was also poorly executed and failed to adequately cover the advance.

German trenches on the Aisne.

On the second day, the French 4th army, led by François Anthoine, launched an attack east of Reims towards Moronvilliers. Fritz von Below's First Army easily repelled this assault.

Nivelle continued to order full-scale attacks until 20 April 1917. Some small gains were made by Mangin to the west of Soissons and although the assault was scaled back over the next few weeks, by 5 May 1917, a 4 km stretch of the Chemin des Dames Ridge had been captured. Incongruously, these smaller, scaled-back attacks proved more successful than the earlier, larger ones.

Aftermath

Although often characterized as a dismal failure, the offensive did net gains of as much as seven kilometers.[3] However, it had been announced and billed as a crushing blow to the Germans, and no breakthrough had been achieved. Casualty rates were incredibly high; twenty percent for the entire army by 10 May, and some divisions suffered more than sixty percent.

On 3 May the French 2nd Division refused to follow its orders to attack, and this mutiny soon spread throughout the army. Following a final, ineffective four-day assault, the Nivelle Offensive was abandoned in disarray on 9 May 1917.

While the Germans lost around 168,000, the French suffered over 187,000 casualties. The politicians and public were stunned by the chain of events in this tragedy of errors and, a week later, on 16 May Nivelle was finally sacked and moved to North Africa. He was replaced by the considerably more cautious Pétain, who made no attempts to commit his forces to large scale offensives. Henceforth the main burden of allied offensive efforts on the Western Front would fall upon British Empire forces and the soon-to-arrive American Expeditionary Force.

The Second Battle of the Isonzo was fought between Italians and Austro-Hungarians on the Italian Front in World War I, between July 18 and August 3, 1915.

Overview

After the failure of the First Battle of the Isonzo, two weeks earlier, Luigi Cadorna, commander-in-chief of the Italian forces, decided for a new thrust against the enemy lines with a heavier artillery support.

General Cadorna's tactics were as simple as they were harsh: his troops were to advance frontally against the Austrian trenches and take them, after having overcome their barbed-wire fences. But the Italian did not have a sufficient number of shears to cut the wires, and this shortcoming made their maneuver ineffective, even though they outnumbered the Austrian-Hungarians.

The battle

On the Karst Plateau — especially on Mount Nero — there took place an exhausting series of hand-to-hand fightings involving the Italian Second and Third Armies, with severe casualties on both sides. Bayonets, swords, knives, and various scrap metal and debris were all used in the terrifying melee. The Hungarian 20th division lost two-thirds of its effectives and was routed.

On July 25 the Italians occupied Mount San Michele, which was not very steep but dominated quite a large area. The Austrians sent some elite regiments led by Colonel Richter to recapture it with a desperate but ineffectual counterattack.

The battle wore out on its own when both sides ran out of ammunition. In just three weeks, almost 90,000 men had died.

The Second Battle of the Masurian Lakes, also known as the Winter Battle of the Masurian Lakes, was the northern part of the Central Powers' offensive on the Eastern Front in the winter of 1915. The offensive was intended to advance beyond the Vistula River and perhaps knock Russia out of the war.

Background

German Chief of Staff Erich von Falkenhayn strongly believed that the war was going to be won on the Western Front and was hesitant to lend support to Paul von Hindenburg, commander of the Eastern Front. However Falkenhayn did eventually sanction Hindenburg's planned offensive. Hindenburg would personally lead the northern offensive in the area of the Masurian Lakes (site of the 1914 Battle of the Masurian Lakes). General Alexander von Lisingen would lead an attack against the Russians in the Carpathians aimed at Lemberg, and further south General Borojevic von Bojna would attempt to relieve the besieged fortress at Przemysl.

Forces

Hindenburg had available for the northern offensive the German Eighth Army, commanded by Fritz von Below. A newly created force, the German Tenth Army was also being sent to the east. Facing Hindenburg was General Sievers' Russian Tenth Army in the area of the Masurian Lakes. To the south along the Russian line near the Masurian Lakes was the Russian Twelfth Army under Pavel Plehve.

The battle

On the 7th of February, in the middle of a snowstorm, Below's Eighth Army launched a surprise attack against Sievers and advanced 70 miles within the week, inflicting severe casualties on the Russians. The Russian withdrawal was disorderly and many of them were taken prisoner. The greatest loss came when the Russian XX Corps, under General Bulgakov, had become surrounded by the German Tenth Army in the Augustow Forest; on February 21 the entire corps surrendered. Yet even though the Russians had lost an entire corps, its heroic stand had enabled the rest of the Russian Tenth Army to form a new defensive position. On February 22, the next day, Plehve's Russian Twelfth Army counterattacked and checked the German advance. The counterattack ended any further German advances and brought the battle to an end.

Results

The Second Battle of Masurian Lakes ended the German offensive in the north. The Russians had suffered severe losses of soldiers and ground, but they had prevented the Germans from advancing far into Russia. Germany had also failed to come close to knocking Russia out of the war. Further south, von Lisingen's offensive had failed with the severe losses and the fortress at Przemysl had been forced to surrender to the Russians. Overall the Austro-German offensive of 1915 had failed in its major objectives. The German high command ended operations in which Germans operated as an independent force, supporting Austrian campaigns in the south. From this point on in the war, Germany and Austria-Hungary functioned under joint operations on the Eastern Front.

The Siege of Tsingtao was the attack on the German-controlled port of Tsingtao (now Qingdao) in China during World War I by Imperial Japan and United Kingdom.

It took place between October 31-7 November 1914 and was fought by Imperial Japan and the United Kingdom against Germany. It was the first encounter between Japanese and German forces and the first British-Japanese operation in World War I.

Background

Throughout the late 19th Century the German Empire became increasingly imperialist and sought to expand its influence across the world, acquiring a number of territories in the process. In China, like many world powers, the Germans began to interfere in local affairs. After two German missionaries were killed in 1897, the Chinese were forced to transfer Kiaochow in Shandong to Germany in 1898 on a 99-year lease. The Germans then began to assert their influence across the rest of the province of Shandong and built the port of Tsingtao. The port became the home base of the Kaiserliche Marine's East Asiatic Squadron, which primarily operated in support of German territories in the Pacific Ocean.

The United Kingdom perceived the German presence in China as a threat to British interests and leased Weihaiwei in Shandong in response, while Russia and France leased their own at Port Arthur (now Lüshunkou) and Kwang-Chou-Wan respectively. The British also began to forge close ties with the Japanese.

Japan's developments in the late 19th Century also mirrored that of Germany, acquiring colonial possessions, including on the Asian mainland. Unlike Germany, however, Japan and Britain relations became closer and the Anglo-Japanese treaty was signed on 30 January 1902 to form an alliance between the two nations. This was seen as a necessity by both powers, especially by Japan who saw it as a further step to being recognized as a world power. Japan demonstrated its potential of being a rival to the British Empire after its victory in the Russo-Japanese War in 1905, though the alliance was further strengthened and remained strong into World War I.

The First World War began in early August 1914. Britain soon requested Japanese assistance. The Japanese civil government, led by Prime Minister Okuma Shigenobu, feared growing military power, which was an even greater role in Japanese politics. The Government believed that maintaining a strong alliance with Britain would help maintain control over the military. Pressure also came from the competing Imperial Japanese Navy (whose structure was closely based on the British Royal Navy) and Imperial Japanese Army (which felt that it had lost prestige during the Russo-Japanese War) and growing desires to expand the Japanese Empire.

The Japanese Government decided to side with Britain in the war. On 15 August, Japan issued an ultimatum to Germany, stating that Germany needed to withdraw all their warships from Chinese and Japanese waters and transfer control of Tsingtao to Japan. The following day, Major-General Mitsuomi Kamio, commanding officer (CO) of the 18th Infantry Division, was told to begin preparations for an invasion of Tsingtao. When the ultimatum expired on 23 August, Japan declared war on Germany.

By this time, the East Asiatic Squadron, under the command of Maximilian von Spee, had left Tsingtao for the friendly base of Pagan in the Marianas. From there Von Spee's squadron, with the exception of SMS Emden which headed for the Indian Ocean, made their way to the west coast of South America. There, the squadron destroyed a mostly obsolete Royal Navy squadron at the Battle of Coronel before itself being destroyed at the Battle of the Falkland Islands.

Build-up

The Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) first sent ships under Vice-Admiral Sadakichi Kato, flying his flag in the pre-dreadnought Suwo, to blockade the coast of German-controlled Kiaochow, beginning on 27 August. During the course of the naval operations off Tsingtao, the British Royal Navy (RN) attached the China Station's pre-dreadnought HMS Triumph and the destroyer HMS Usk to the IJN. The British warships were integrated into the Second Squadron with few problems. The Japanese squadron consisted of mostly obsolete warships, though did briefly engage a number of more modern vessels. These included the dreadnoughts Kawachi, Settsu, the battlecruiser Kongō and the seaplane carrier Wakamiya, whose aircraft became the first of its kind in the world to successfully attack land and sea targets.

The 18th Infantry Division was the primary Japanese Army formation that took part in the initial landings, numbering 23,000 soldiers with support from 142 artillery pieces. They began to land on 2 September at Lungkow, Shandong, which was experiencing heavy floods at the time, and later at Laoshan Bay on 18 September, about 18 miles east of Tsingtao.

The British Government — and the international community as a whole — were concerned about Japanese intentions in the region and decided to send a small symbolic British contingent from Tientsin in an effort to allay their fears. The 1,500-man contingent was commanded by Brigadier-General Nathaniel Walter Barnardiston and consisted of 1,000 soldiers of the 2nd Battalion, The South Wales Borderers later followed by 500 soldiers of the 36th Sikhs.

The Japanese seaplane carrier Wakamiya conducted the world's first naval-launched air raids in September 1914 against German positions in Tsingtao.

The Germans responded to the threat against Tsingtao by concentrating all of their available Asian troops in the city. Kaiser Wilhelm II made the defense of Tsingtao a top priority, saying that "It would shame me more to surrender Tsingtao to the Japanese than Berlin to the Russians" (Robert B. Edgerton, Warriors of the Rising Sun, 227).

The German garrison, commanded by Captain-Governor Alfred Meyer-Waldeck, consisted of 765 German marines (III. Seebatallion) and roughly 3,400 other naval personnel and soldiers (Chinese colonial troops and Austro-Hungarian sailors and soldiers). He also had a small complement of vessels, such as the Austro-Hungarian protected cruiser Kaiserin Elizabeth, whose crew was divided in two; to man the ship and fight as part of the German land forces.

The Attack

As the Japanese approached his position, the German Commander, Captain Mayer-Waldeck, withdrew his forces from the two outer defensive lines and concentrated his troops on the innermost line of defence. On October 31, the Japanese began their bombardment of the fort and began digging parallel lines of trenches just as they had done at the Siege of Port Arthur nine years earlier. The Japanese used very large 11 inch howitzers from the land in addition to the firing by their naval guns. The bombardment continued for seven days.

On the night of November 6, the Japanese infantry attacked into the third line of defences and drove the defenders out of them. The next morning, the Germans forces along with their Austro-Hungarian allies surrendered.

The Sixth Battle of the Isonzo also known as the Battle of Gorizia was a decisive Italian victory along the Isonzo River during World War I.

Franz Graf Conrad von Hötzendorf had reduced the Austro-Hungarian forces along the Isonzo front to reinforce his Trentino Offensive. Italian Chief-of-Staff Luigi Cadorna made good use of railroads to quickly shift troops from the Trentino back to the Isonzo line for an offensive against the weakened Austro-Hungarian defenses. On August 6 the offensive was launched against Gorizia. On August 8, Gorizia fell to Cadorna and a bridgehead was finally established across the Isonzo River. The Austro-Hungarians shifted troops to the Gorizia sector to prevent a breakthrough and content with having established the bridgehead, Cadorna ended the offensive on August 17.

The attack on Gorizia was the most successful Italian offensive along the Isonzo lines and greatly boosted Italian morale. In the wake of the battle Italy finally declared war against Germany, on August 28.