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autodidact-adventures · 7 years ago

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World War I (Part 27): The Dardanelles Campaign Begins

In February, the 29th Infantry Division was the only remaining British regular division to have not yet been sent to war. A struggle erupted over where it should be sent.

JF desperately wanted more men, certain that the German lines could be broken. He demanded that the 29th be sent to him immediately, and Joffre agreed. (Joffre agreed with JF on just about everything, except for how the British forces should be used on the Western Front, and who should make the decision/s about it.)

Kitchener was the Minister of War, and he was the one with the authority to deploy troops. He did not want to send the 29th to the Western Front. He was fine with territorial units being sent there (he saw them as third-rate), and also colonial troops (such as from Canada and India). But he was fiercely protective of the volunteer recruits (known as Kitchener's Army), and also of the 29th. By now, a division that was both a) intact, and b) made up of professional soldiers, was rare and incredibly valuable.

The British high command were trying to decide on another theatre of operations, and if this happened, then the 29th would be important for that. By February, the choice of Salonika (Thessaloniki) appeared to have been made – a Greek port city on the Aegean Sea's north coast, and west of the Dardanelles. Salonika had been recommended by the War Council, which had been established in January to evaluate possible new fronts. It quickly received a lot of support, especially from Lloyd George – from Salonika, they could possibly send troops into the Balkans (to the north), which would threaten Turkey and Austria-Hungary. Greece was still officially neutral, but they were indicating that they wouldn't be unfriendly to a potential landing there.

In early February, 5,000 Turks led by a German Lieutenant Colonel crossed the Sinai Desert, and managed to reach the Suez Canal before being driven back. Egypt was under British control at this time, and this threatened their control of India. The Grand Duke had been asking for support in the Middle East, and it was getting more obvious that the British had to take some kind of action in order to help. Also, many people wanted to use British troops more productively than in Flanders. Because of all this, support for the Salonika landing grew even more.

Lloyd George travelled to Paris for a meeting on financial matters. While he was there, he brought up the Salonika idea. Joffre replied that he had no troops to spare for it, but the Minister of War Alexandre Millerand was more supportive.

Days later, they found out that Bulgaria had accepted a large loan from Germany, and was likely to join the Central Powers. Now it was definitely necessary to land at Salonika, and the War Council approved it, with Kitchener one of the strongest supporters. He ordered the 29th Division to go to the Aegean island of Lemnos, which the Greeks agreed to make available for them. When everything was ready, they would travel from there to Salonika.

Lemnos marked with the red pointer.

JF was not happy. He'd promised Joffre that the British would take over part of the French line near Ypres, and launch an attack in support of his next offensive. Now, he said, he wouldn't be able to do that. Both men protested, and put so much pressure on Kitchener that he called off the 29th's deployment and kept it in England for the time being. Inexperienced New Zealand & Australian troops, who were training in Egypt, were sent to Lemnos instead.

Many of the British who supported the Salonika idea also supported the Dardanelles possibility. Both campaigns could be done at the same time, because they would use infantry & the navy respectively, and thus not compete for resources. Salonika would only need ships to transport the men there, and for supplies. Britain's naval superiority was even greater in the Mediterranean, because there were French ships concentrated there as well.

If they attacked the Dardanelles, a fleet would advance northwards from the Mediterranean to the Strait. Churchill was enthusiastic about this idea – Vice-Admiral Sackville Carden (the commander of the British naval squadron in the eastern Mediterranean) had told him that they could reach Constantinople (Istanbul) in 30 days, if they had enough minesweepers and a fleet of warships. They wouldn't need much army involvement at all.

On February 19th, Carden steamed up to the entry of the Dardanelles Strait and began shelling the forts there. His fleet included 12 British & 4 French battleships (the second biggest & heaviest-armed ships in the world, after the dreadnoughts), 14 British & 6 French destroyers (much smaller, unarmoured, and built for speed & firepower), cruisers (between battleships & destroyers in size), and 35 fishing trawlers. The trawlers had been brought there from the North Sea for minesweeping, with their civilian crews.

Most of the battleships were old, and practically obsolete, but their heavy guns could still do massive damage at long range. And they had the HMS Queen Elizabeth – a brand-new dreadnought which had just been launched, and happened to be in the Mediterranean for her sea trials. So she was ordered to join the Dardanelles fleet.

First, they would have the clear the mines that Turkey had laid in the Dardanelles. They would have to attack quickly, shelling & destroying the artillery on the high ground above both sides of the strait. From there, they would advance into the Sea of Marmara. Constantinople was on the other side of Marmara.

Turks (and their German military advisers) had been expecting this sort of attack, but their defenses were pitiful – about 100 artillery pieces on the high ground, and very few troops (which they would need to fight off landing parties). The Germans figured that if the enemy was prepared to lose 10 ships, it would be impossible to stop them. The Turkish government began preparations to flee into the interior.

But Carden was more cautious than that, and he had no experience in commanding large forces. On the first foray, he kept at a distance, shelling the forts from about 5km away. At sunset, he called a halt. Vice-Admiral John de Robeck asked permission to continue but was denied it.

Carden had intended to keep going the next day, but the weather was terrible and spoiled their visibility. So the fleet waited offshore. The Turks, meanwhile, had time get ready, and hurried to fortify their positions.

On February 25th, the ships returned. De Robeck was in charge this time (possibly because of Carden's poor health). They attacked the forts again, and also landed some raiding parties which met almost no resistance. They'd neutralized all the outer forts within 24hrs. Some of the big ships moved just inside the 4km-wide entry to the strait, but they didn't dare move further. The strait was heavily mined, and there were more forts to the north, especially where the strait was only about 1.6km wide.

Clearing the mines was the first major problem. The civilian crews of the trawlers refused to keep going under fire. So navy crews replaced them, but they were inexperienced with handling the trawlers and their complicated minesweeping equipment. A group of 7 trawlers made the most aggressive foray when they moved beyond the entry to the strait after dark. But the Turks turned on spotlights, fired heavily on them, and sank one. The others fled.

The British & French didn't have much in the way of aerial reconnaissance. Also, the Turks' howitzers were firing from behind the ridges that lined the strait, and the navy's guns, with their flat trajectories, were blocked from reaching them. So De Robeck ordered another withdrawal. The enemy was given even more time to work on their defenses. Churchill was still in England, and he sent many messages to Carden, demanding that he resume the attack.

Even though the Dardanelles Campaign was mostly to help the Russians, they didn't get involved at first. Russia had substantial forces to the north (including warships in the Black Sea), so they certainly could have. Later, Sazonov would say, “I intensely disliked the thought that the Straits and Constantinople might be taken by our Allies. When the Gallipoli expedition was finally decided upon by our Allies...I had difficulty in concealing from them how painfully the news had affected me.” If Britain & France captured Constantinople, they were highly unlikely to give it to Russia.

On March 1st, the Greek government offered 3 infantry divisions for Britain to use in the Dardanelles campaign. This was excellent, not just because Greece would be joining the Entente side, but because Italy, Bulgaria and Romania might also do so in order to gain territory alongside them. Also, landing infantry at the Dardanelles would allow them to clear out the Turkish forts, thus getting rid of the threat to the navy. JF and Joffre would have no reason to object to this.

But Samsonov didn't want the Greeks getting involved, either. Greece was a potential challenge to Russia's post-war dominance of the Balkans region. Samsonov sent a message to their government, saying that “in no circumstances can we allow Greek forces to participate in the Allied attack on Constantinople.”

Edward Grey tried to sort things out by promising Russia that they could have Constantinople after the war, as well as territory around it. But it was too late for such a solution. When the news of Greece's offer and Russia's rejection became widely known, it threw Athens into a turmoil. The Greeks changed their offer, saying that they would give troops only if Bulgaria joined the Dardanelles Campaign as well. They were afraid that if they sent troops to the other side of the Aegean, Bulgaria would take advantage and attack them. There was no chance of getting Bulgaria to join them, so the Greek troops were never sent.

At this point, an infantry landing would have been an excellent move, and those divisions would have been of great help. The Turkish army's official account of the Dardanelles Campaign would later state that “it would have been possible to effect a landing successfully at any point on the peninsula, and the capture of the straits by land forces would have been comparatively easy.”

The Greek government fell, and its replacement was friendly to the Germans. The King of Greece was married to the kaiser's sister, and he was pleased with this development.

In London, divisions began to appear within the high command. Churchill was becoming the main advocate of the Dardanelles Campaign, and he demanded that they resume the attack. He had brought Admiral John Fisher out of retirement at the start of the war, and the two men were usually close allies. Now, however, Fisher disagreed with him. He wanted a landing on Germany's Baltic coast (the riskiest of all the possible new fronts being considered), and wanted the troops for there. He believed that a Dardanelles landing would be possible without perhaps 100,000 troops. So he and Churchill began to drift apart.

JF was also against the Dardanelles Campaign. “To attack Turkey would be to play the German game, and to bring about the end which Germany had in mind when she induced Turkey to join the war – namely, to draw off troops from the decisive spot, which is Germany himself.” He wanted to focus entirely on the Western Front.

Churchill believed they didn't need troops at all, so he wasn't in any conflict with JF. He telegraphed Carden, saying that, “The unavoidable losses must be accepted. The enemy is harrassed and anxious now. The time is precious.”

Kitchener agreed with Churchill, saying that since they'd “entered on the project of forcing the straits, there can be no idea of abandoning the scheme.” Lloyd George pointed out that continuing an offensive that has already proven unsuccessful seldom turns out well.

On March 10th, Kitchener released the 29th Division (which he'd earlier deployed to Salonika but called it off) to the Dardanelles. Along with the NZ & Australian troops being transferred from Egypt, it would become part of a new expeditionary force. General Sir Ian Hamilton would command it. Hamilton was 62yrs old, and a longtime friend and protégé of Kitchener's. He had served in India and the Second Boer War, and been a British observer in the Russo-Japanese War. He had a reputation for being fearless under fire.

Ian Hamilton.

Kitchener was calling this new force the Constantinople Expeditionary Force. However, Hamilton suggested that calling it that might tempt fate, so it was called the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force instead.

The French had also organized a new infantry division for the Dardanelles, despite Joffre's reluctance. Now almost 80,000 troops were going to be involved. Russia had been swayed by Grey's promise of Constantinople, and they promised to provide a corps – as soon as the British & French reached the Sea of Marmara.

Progress was continuing in the Dardanelles. The mines were being cleared away from the mouth of the strait. The attack should only be days ago, if the weather permitted it. However, Carden was struggling, finding it difficult to eat or sleep.

On March 13th, Carden suddenly announced that he couldn't keep on, and he'd have to resign. De Robeck, worried that it would mean the end of Carden's career, tried to persuade him otherwise, but was unsuccessful. A doctor examined him and told him that he had to return at home at once, because he was on the verge of a nervous breakdown. De Robeck took charge.

Hamilton left England on the 13th, but he had no specific orders, and no staff appropriate for his new responsibilities. He was to travel quickly by train to the Mediterranean, then sail on a fast ship, arriving in the Aegean within a few days. When he arrived, he was to assess the situation and decide what was to be done. He arrived in the Mediterranean on the 18th, just hours before De Robeck resumed the attack.

In the morning of March 18th, De Robeck took a huge fleet into the Dardanelles strait. It had 16 battleships (4 French, 12 British). Most of the battleships were old, but they were huge, heavily-armoured, and had massive guns. The HMS Queen Elizabeth was De Robeck's flagship, and she travelled at the head of the formation. She had a dozen guns that fired 15-inch (38cm) diameter shells. She was at the head of the formation, along with three British battleships.

About 1.5km behind (astern) were the four French battleships, sailing side by side. Their French admiral was eager for combat, and happy to follow De Robeck's orders.

Four more battleships guarded the flanks of these two groups. The others waited outside the mouth of the strait.

The Turks had very few guns that were capable of penetrating battleship armour, and they were all at the Narrows – a place where the strait was only 1.5km wide. If they could deal with these guns, and also the mines in the Narrows, then the British & French could easily get to the Sea of Marmara.

After entering the strait, the Queen Elizabeth and the other 3 vanguard ships stopped at a point where their bigger guns could fire on the Narrows. The Turkish guns that could reach them were too light to be any more than a nuisance. The heaviest Turkish guns (manned by Turkish & German crews) couldn't reach them where they were.

The four ships attacked the Narrows' gun emplacements for 30min. They couldn't see what was happening to their targets, so they didn't know if they'd managed to destroy them (but certainly they were doing massive damage).

Then came the next phase of the offensive. De Robeck signalled the 4 French ships to move past them, further into the strait. The French commander had wanted the honour of a prominent part in the assault, so this was a courtesy to him.

When the French ships were north of De Robeck's line, they began firing. They continued for the next 2hrs, with the Turkish returning fire decreasing and becoming less accurate. Then De Robeck ordered the French ship to return, and the ships that hadn't taken part yet to come forward.

Everything had been going perfectly up until now. But what De Robeck didn't know was that 10 days ago, on the night of March 8th, a little Turkish steamer that they'd converted into a minelayer had snuck past the destroyers guarding a section of waters the British had already cleared. It was called the Nousret, and her crew had laid a line of 20 mines parallel to the coast, and then returned without noticed. Now the mines lay still beneath the surface of the water, and the British had no idea they were there.

The French ships made U-turns to starboard (to the right), and began returning in single file. But suddenly, the Bouvet, who was second in line, blew up and sank rapidly, disappearing in under 2min. She had a crew of over 600, and almost all of them were lost.

The Bouvet sinking.

Even then, they didn't realize about the mines. They assumed that a Turkish shell had penetrated one of her shell storage compartments; or perhaps an enemy submarine had entered the strait. It was, they thought, an isolated incident. The rest of the retreat was fine.

Six British battleships replaced them, moving even further north. They fired on the Turks for another 2hrs, and by late afternoon, the return fire had almost ended.

Now De Robeck called the minesweepers into action. But they soon came under heavy fire from Turkish howitzers in the hills, and fled.

Meanwhile, the battleship HMS Inflexible had been attacking all afternoon, despite having substantial damage to her superstructure. She was now at the same place where the Bouvet had sunk, and she suddenly tilted sharply to starboard. The captain sent up signal flags, indicating that he'd hit a mine, and began withdrawing to the entrance of the strait.

Minutes later, the exact same thing happened to the HMS Irresistible. She was so badly damaged that De Robeck sent in a destroyer to rescue the crew. The situation was getting rather chaotic. De Robeck was withdrawing his gunships, and sending destroyers in to either tow the Irresistible to safety, or sink her to stop the Turks from getting her. And in the confusion, yet another British battleship was hit, and sunk to the bottom.

The Irresistible, abandoned and sinking (March 18th).

This was terrible. They'd lost two battleships, and another two were seriously damaged. De Robeck was certain he'd be dismissed because of it. But Churchill sent word that another 4 British battleships, and a French replacement for the Bouvet, were already on their way to join him. The trawlers were replaced with destroyers fitted with minesweeping equipment. Things weren't so bad after all, and De Robeck telegraphed London that he was eager to return and finish the job. Churchill was delighted, and even Fisher was pleased, his doubts temporarily swept away by De Robeck's confidence.

But Ian Hamilton did not agree. He had been instructed to telegraph Kitchener, and in the message he said, “I am being most reluctantly driven towards the conclusion that the Dardanelles are less likely to be forced by battleships than at one time seemed probable, and if the Army is to participate, its operations will not assume the subsidiary form anticipated.” I.e., they would need a lot of troops after all.

The telegram continued, saying that an army would have to be landed, and this “must be a deliberate and prepared military operation, carried out at full strength, so as to open a passage for the Navy.” Kitchener agreed with this, saying that the next phase “must be a deliberate and prepared military operation.” I.e., not just by the navy.

By March 22nd, De Robeck had changed his mind to agree with Hamilton. He reported to London that he was now dubious about the possibility of clearing the straits with his battleships. This led to divisions within the navy and army staffs. But no-one suggested cancelling the campaign – the pros (if they succeeded) were too great – i.e. getting Turkey out of the war; and Bulgaria, Italy & Romania possibly joining the Entente. The cons (if they failed), however, were also great – the Balkan states might then stay neutral, or even join the Central Powers.

Churchill, obviously, was still determined to keep going. He wrote up a telegram ordering De Robeck to resume the attack at the first opportunity, but when he showed it to several senior admirals (including Fisher) they refused to endorse it. They told him they couldn't possibly insist on an action that the responsible admiral on the scene didn't support.

Churchill tried yet again to change De Robeck's mind. De Robeck's chief of staff was doing the same thing. But neither succeeded. Asquith thought Churchill was probably right, but he found it impossible to override what Fisher and so many other admirals wanted. Eventually, Churchill had to give in.

Actually, if De Robeck had immediately resumed the attack, he would quite likely have succeeded. The Turks & Germans were very surprised that he didn't do so, and they didn't expect they could stop him if he did. True, most of their guns were still working, and the worst damage at the Narrows was quickly repaired. But they were dangerously low on ammunition (which the British knew) and they had no way of resupplying. They had fewer than 30 armour-piercing shells along the entire strait. Officials in Constantinople were getting their families out of the city, and preparing the government for flight.

Nor was Turkey prepared for a military landing. But the British & French weren't ready to do that yet, either. Hamilton was still waiting for most of his troops. The troops he did have weren't ready for such a complicated amphibious operation. Lemnos didn't have enough fresh water for all the troops arriving. Hamilton decided to transfer the troopships to Egypt, where they could be unloaded and then reloaded in an orderly manner. He would have to decide where & how to land his forces.

At least the Russians were no longer so desperate for relief. It was now weeks past their defeat in the Second Battle of the Masurian Lakes, which had done little lasting damage to them. The Eastern Front was stabilized. By late March, they were attacking the enemy again in the south, around and in the Carpathians.

They'd had Przemsyl under siege for 194 days, and on March 22nd, they captured it. The people inside had been starving, but the top military officials & their mistresses had secretly hoarded plenty of food for themselves. An hour before surrendering, the Austrian commanders blew up their remaining supplies of shells so that the Russians couldn't use them.

Salis Soglio, one of the Przemsyl forts, in 1915.

A Polish woman who had gone to Przemsyl in an attempt to save her family's house wrote about it. “The first ammunition dump exploded with a terrifying boom, the ground shook and the glass fell out of all the windows. Clouds of ash cascaded from chimneys and stoves, and chunks of plaster fell from the walls and ceiling. There was soon a second boom. As the day dawned the town looked like a glowing, smoking crater with pink flames glowing from below and morning mist floating above – an amazing, menacing sight. These hours were perhaps the only hours like this in the whole history of the world. Countless people died of nervous convulsions last night, without any physical injuries or illness. By the time the sun climbed into the sky everything was still. Soldiers knelt on their balconies, praying.”

She continued, “There is a corpse in our house, on the floor above the Litwinskis'. The man seems to have died of fear. I have to do something about him, but nobody wants to get involved, they are all leaving it to me. I persuaded one of the workmen to go down to the army hospital to ask what to do...he was told they would deal with it tomorrow, they've got too many corpses today as it is, littering the streets awaiting collection.”

The Russians had captured 120,000 troops, 9 generals, and hundreds of guns. When Emperor Franz Joseph heard about this, he fell into fits of weeping. Also, three Russian corps were now freed up to join a spring offensive that seemed increasingly promising.

However, the Russians still couldn't move their surplus grain (which was piling up) from the Black Sea to the Mediterranean, in order to get money they badly needed. Nor could the British & French send supplies to them via the Black Sea ports. But these problems would be solved if the Dardanelles Campaign succeeded.

The suspension of the naval offensive, and the delay in sorting out the military offensive, was a great help to the Turks & Germans. They were still badly-equipped and widely dispersed, but now they had time to gradually pull together their defenses to fend off Hamilton's offensive when it came.

#book: a world undone #history #military history #ww1 #dardanelles campaign #siege of przemyśl #turkey #ottoman empire #poland #hms queen elizabeth (1913)#bouvet #hms inflexible #hms irresistible #sackville carden #john de robeck #ian hamilton

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today-in-wwi · 7 years ago

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German Advance Continues

German engineers build a bridge over a crater as their troops’ advance continues.

March 22 1918, Peronne--Although the Germans had won probably the greatest victory on the Western Front since 1914, they were still far short of the sort of victory Ludendorff wanted--a complete breakthrough of the British lines and collapse of their morale. On the second day of their offensive, they took the remainder of Fifth Army’s second line. As on the previous day, the British were worst off in the far south, where the Germans crossed the Crozat canal by the end of the day, an advance of ten miles from the original front. Precipitate withdrawals there forced retreats along the rest of the line, and by the evening of the 22nd General Gough had decided to fall back to behind the Somme. To the north, General Byng’s Third Army, which had more reserves, was largely able to resist further German attacks, but Gough’s troubles threatened his flanks. That evening, Byng was reluctantly forced to give up the Flesquières salient he had won at Cambrai.

Today in 1917: U-Boat Sinks American Tanker Outside War Zone, Killing 21 Today in 1916: First Successful Use of Depth Charges Today in 1915: Przemyśl Surrenders After Four-Month Siege

#wwi #ww1 #ww1 history #ww1 centenary #the great war #march 1918 #spring offensive #kaiserschlacht #operation michael #world war 1 #world war i #world war one #the first world war #Western Front

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artofreddit · 4 years ago

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Bayonet fight between Austro-Hungarians and Russians at fortress Przemyśl, longest siege of WW1, by August von Meissl posted by Reddit User: WorriedMike99 Visit artofreddit.com for more art #battlepaintings

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brookstonalmanac · 1 year ago

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Events 9.16 (before 1960)

681 – Pope Honorius I is posthumously excommunicated by the Sixth Ecumenical Council. 1400 – Owain Glyndŵr is declared Prince of Wales by his followers. 1620 – A determined band of 35 religious dissenters – Pilgrims set sail for Virginia from Plymouth, England in the Mayflower, jubilant at the prospect of practicing their unorthodox brand of worship in the New World. 1701 – James Francis Edward Stuart, sometimes called the "Old Pretender", becomes the Jacobite claimant to the thrones of England and Scotland. 1732 – In Campo Maior, Portugal, a storm hits the Armory and a violent explosion ensues, killing two-thirds of its inhabitants. 1776 – American Revolutionary War: The Battle of Harlem Heights is fought. 1779 – American Revolutionary War: The Franco-American Siege of Savannah begins. 1810 – With the Grito de Dolores, Father Miguel Hidalgo begins Mexico's fight for independence from Spain. 1822 – French physicist Augustin-Jean Fresnel, in a "note" read to the Academy of Sciences, reports a direct refraction experiment verifying David Brewster's hypothesis that photoelasticity (as it is now known) is stress-induced birefringence. 1863 – Robert College, in Istanbul, the first American educational institution outside the United States, is founded by Christopher Robert, an American philanthropist. 1880 – The Cornell Daily Sun prints its first issue in Ithaca, New York. 1893 – Settlers make a land run for prime land in the Cherokee Strip in Oklahoma. 1908 – The General Motors Corporation is founded. 1914 – World War I: The Siege of Przemyśl (present-day Poland) begins. 1920 – The Wall Street bombing: A bomb in a horse wagon explodes in front of the J. P. Morgan building in New York City killing 38 and injuring 400. 1940 – World War II: Italian troops conquer Sidi Barrani. 1943 – World War II: The German Tenth Army reports that it can no longer contain the Allied bridgehead around Salerno. 1945 – World War II: The Japanese occupation of Hong Kong comes to an end. 1953 – American Airlines Flight 723 crashes in Colonie, New York, killing 28 people. 1955 – The military coup to unseat President Juan Perón of Argentina is launched at midnight. 1955 – A Soviet Zulu-class submarine becomes the first to launch a ballistic missile. 1956 – TCN-9 Sydney is the first Australian television station to commence regular broadcasts. 1959 – The first successful photocopier, the Xerox 914, is introduced in a demonstration on live television from New York City.

#Events

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linuxgamenews · 4 years ago

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Tannenberg due to get a new map

Tannenberg to get a new map this month called Przemyśl on Linux, Mac and Windows PC. Thanks to developer M2H and Blackmill Games. Available now with a huge discount on Steam but regular price on Humble Store. Tannenberg puts players in the boots of an infantry soldier. While taking on the Eastern Front of WW1 as the Russian Empire clashes with the might of Germany. Authentic weapons, uniforms, and battlefields combine. While give players the experience of maneuver warfare on the Eastern Front. All in stark contrast to the gritty and close quarters nature of combat. So you can take on the Western Front as depicted in its predecessor Verdun. Tannenberg will feature a new map centered on fighting around the fortified town of Przemyśl. Due to arrive on Steam on July 24th. Players participate in 40 player battles of maneuver. Where the goal is to capture key sectors. While draining the enemy's victory points. Choose your squad, pick a loadout, and fight to control the battlefield. Utilize artillery, gas, heavy machine guns to gain victory. Every nation in Tannenberg is comes with authentic weapons. Including gear and uniforms true to the times. Every effort to include the often forgotten participants in the Eastern Front fighting. From Roumania and Latvia to Austria Hungary and Bulgaria.

Tannenberg Console Release and New Map Trailer

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New Przemyśl map features fierce fortress fighting

The community has been vocal with their enthusiasm. So as a thank you for their patience the developers are making sure to add a new map. The upcoming map release takes place in Austro Hungarian fortress of Przemyśl. The secure town of Przemyśl is the site of the longest siege in the First World War. Due to the Austro Hungarian defenders eventually surrender to the Russians. Large barricades make this a very different battlefield. if you compare it to the generally more open areas seen in many Tannenberg maps. Since the battle for the East is waged across a wide range of terrains. From large forests and burnt out villages to Roumanian mountain peaks. Also Latvian swamps and Austro Hungarian strongholds. Also, if you haven't played Tannenberg yet. The games available with a 60% discount on Steam but regular price of $19.99 USD on Humble Store. With builds for Linux, Mac and Windows PC.

#tannenberg #new map #przemyśl #linux #gaming news #m2h #blackmill games #ubuntu #mac #windows #pc

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thatnordicguy · 6 years ago

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Mario executing prisoners of war during the siege of Przemyśl, October 1914.

A man in a Mario mascot suit helps a steamroller operator destroy a shipment of illegal Game Boy games seized at the border in the Netherlands in 1994.

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chrislaguna1-blog · 6 years ago

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Max Liedtke and Dr. Albert Battel were two Wehrmacht officers who became known for their daring stance against the SS during the liquidation of the Przemyśl ghetto in Poland. Their brave action resulted in saving the lives of an estimated 500 Jews, by preventing their deportation to the Belzec concentration camp. In the morning of 26 July 1942, the SS surrounded and cordoned off the ghetto to carry out their “liquidation process.” In a quick consultation among the local Wehrmacht officers, Battel proposed blocking the bridge leading to the ghetto, under the legal guise of declaring a “state of siege.” Liedtke, at considerable risk to himself, adopted the proposed course, which led to an inevitable confrontation with the all-powerful SS. “The worst they can do to us” - he remarked - “is to shoot us.” Their defiant operation successfully prevented the SS troops from entering the ghetto, and when they continued to advance trying to find their way in, the Wehrmacht threatened to open fire unless they withdrew. Later that afternoon, an army detachment under Battel’s command broke into the cordoned-off area and using army trucks, they evacuated about a hundred Jews together with their families. They were all transported to the local military base and were placed under the protection of the Wehrmacht. After this incident Liedtke was dismissed as military commander of Przemyśl and was transferred to the front at the Caucasus. After the war he was handed over to the Russians and was sentenced for alleged war crimes. He was imprisoned in a Soviet prison camp in the Ural Mountains, where he died in 1955. The SS investigated Battel as well, and found that despite his Nazi party membership, he showed 'sympathetic behavior' towards Jews in the past. According to post-war evidence, Battel protected Jewish professors as well as other politically persecuted, openly expressing his sympathy with them. His case has reached all the way up to Hitler, and Himmler expressed his intention to imprison Battel immediately after the war. In 1945, Battel also fell into the hands of the Soviets but managed to return home to West Germany, only to be accused of being a Nazi. (at Hollywood Hills) https://www.instagram.com/p/BpQXmqZASmo/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=xwock1xjmrei

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georgy-konstantinovich-zhukov · 10 years ago

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Russian artillery arrayed around the fortress town of Przemyśl.

Following their defeat at Galicia in the late summer of 1914, the Austro-Hungarian forces pulled out of Poland, except for the garrison of Przemyśl, which was quickly laid siege to by the Russians. Aside from a brief withdrawal that allowed most of the civilian inhabitants to flee, the Russians invested the fortifications and pummeled them continually with artillery. Relief efforts failed to reach the besieged town, which finally capitulated on March 22, 1915 after the failure of a final attempt to break out.

(Hulton-Getty)

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intothewire · 13 years ago

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Early Action on the Eastern Front

In 1915, the Austro-Hungarian Army was under pressure from the Imperial Russian Army on their southern lines. During the initial stages of conflict on the Eastern Front, the German army had achieved seemingly miraculous victories against the invading Russian forces. Paul von Hindenburg and his German Eighth Army had successfully encircled and destroyed the Russian Second Army at the Battle of Tannenberg in August 1914. Following this Hindenburg and Erich Ludendorff quickly spun around their troops to meet the Russian First Army at the First Battle of the Masurian. The Germans destroyed the Second Army almost entirely before they were able to reach the protection of their forts. After the fighting died down in September, the Germans stood victorious over two crush Russian Armies.

Despite these German successes, their Austro-Hungarian allies were not fairing as well. To the South, they were facing the bulk of the Russian army on nearly equal terms. Despite an initial success in driving the Russians back into what is now Poland, the Austro-Hungarians were feeling the pressure of a Russian counter-attack, and they withdrew back into their own borders in disarray. The Russians used this success to begin the Siege of Przemyśl in September 1914. This siege would continue until October when it was interrupted due to an offensive by the Austro-Hungarians. In November the siege resumed and continued to late March 1915, when the garrison surrendered. The loss of Przemyśl dealt a serious blow to Austro-Hungarian moral due largely to the fact that nearly twice as many soldiers surrendered as were to be stationed at Przemyśl, some 110,000 troops. However, the Russians would not hold Przemyśl for long.

In response to the success of the Russians against their Austro-Hungarian allies, the Germans formed the Ninth Army attacked at the Battle of the Vistula River on 28 September 1914. Two days later, the battle was joined by the Austrian-Hungarian First Army. However, by November the results of the battle were that the German 9th Army was back where it had started, with the loss of some 21,000 soldiers, the First Army had lost 50,000. The Russians had suffered 65,000 casualties, 15,000 of which were deaths. The Central Powers would attack again at the Battle of Łódź, but again, the results were inconclusive. The Germans had been repulsed from Warsaw, but the Russian offensive into Silesia had also been halted. There would be no major action over the next few months due to inclement weather.

#ww1 #eastern front #Siege of Przemyśl

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autodidact-adventures · 7 years ago

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World War I (Part 25): Early 1915 on the Eastern Front

Joffre had ordered two offensives along the French-German border in late December, in the Champagne and Artois regions. By January 8th, they were basically finished. The French had managed to advance only ½ km in 3 weeks, with the Germans launching counterattacks against them. The First Battle of Champagne cost 90,000 French casualties. But Joffre didn't give up. He would try again in February and in March, believing he was about to achieve a breakthrough. These failures reinforced the British War Council's lack of faith in the French.

The Germans were still arguing over strategy, and there was no way for them to be brought together to sort things out. The kaiser seldom attempted to do this; he neither led nor allowed anyone else to do so. The divisions within the high command were getting worse, leading to constant backstabbing and infighting. Falkenhayn deleted Hindenburg & Ludendorff's names from reports of eastern successes. Those who wanted to focus on the Eastern Front tried to have him dismissed. This series of crises lasted a year and a half.

Falkenhayn had refused to send troops to help the Austrians in the Przemsyl offensive. When Hindenburg demanded that the new corps, which hadn't been assigned to anywhere yet, be sent to him, he refused again. So Hindenburg and Ludendorff decided to take 3.5 divisions from the Ninth Army and send them north to Conrad. In the strict Prussian army, defying their superior in this way was seldom done. Falkenhayn protested to the kaiser, and Hindenburg also appealed to him for support.

Falkenhayn now declared that these 3.5 divisions would become the core of a new Army of the South, commanded by General Alexander von Linsingen, one of his protégés. Linsingen would report to Falkenhayn, not Hindenburg, and Ludendorff would be his Chief of Staff, thus breaking up the Hindenburg-Ludendorff duo.

Ludendorff had to obey orders, but before he left, he helped Hindenburg write a telegram to the kaiser (although Hindenburg did little more than just sign it). “I have grown into close union with my Chief of Staff. He has become to me my true helper and friend, irreplaceable by any other, one on whom I bestow my fullest confidence. Your majesty knows from the history of war how important such a happy relationship is for the conduct of affairs and the well-being of the troops...[Ludendorff's] new and so much smaller sphere of action does not do justice to the General's comprehensive ability and great capacity.” It ended, “I venture most respectfully to beg that my war comrade may graciously be restored to me as soon as the operation in the south is underway.”

Then he left and joined Linsengen & Conrad in finalizing plans for an advance out of the Carpathian Mountains. He'd added a team of code-breakers to his staff, and learned from them that they were indeed planning another assault through the Carpathians. They were also planning to resume the offense in East Prussia, and other Russian armies were going to advance through Poland into Germany. Ludendorff decided, as always, to strike first. They would co-ordinate attacks in both the north and south.

On January 11th, Falkenhayn, Conrad, Linsingen & Ludendorff met at Breslau to work on the planning. Falkenhayn said it was ridiculous to attack superior forces in the mountains in mid-winter, but Conrad said that he was familiar with the terrain and knew what he was doing.

On the 12th, Falkenhayn met with Hindenburg, Ludendorff & Hoffmann at Posen. It was a more private meeting, and it didn't go well. Hindenburg treated Falkenhayn with open contempt, telling him that he (Falkenhayn) didn't have the confidence of the men under him, and he should resign.

After Falkenhayn left, Ludendorff & Hoffman persuaded Hindenburg to send another telegram to the kaiser. The telegram demanded Falkenhayn's resignation, the return of Ludendorff to Hindenburg's staff, and the four new corps. It also implied that Hindenburg was threatening to resign.

The kaiser was offended by Hindenburg's presumption, and called Ludendorff “a dubious character devoured by personal ambition,” and declared that he'd have them both court-martialled. Chancellor Bethmann Hollweg was usually perfectly happy to stay out of military affairs, but he had to intervene, saying that they couldn't possibly punish the hero of Tannenberg publically, and that Falkenhayn should resign. Nearly the whole imperial court got involved in the struggle.

Falkenhayn's many influential enemies weren't happy about his warnings that the war would be a long one, preferring to listen to Ludendorff & Hindenburg, who said the opposite. The Empress Augusta Victoria (the kaiser's wife) and the Crown Prince Wilhelm were against him, and so was Moltke, whom Bethmann had encouraged to hope that if Falkenhayn was dismissed, he might regain his old position. But the kaiser still supported him.

In the end, Wilhelm decided on a compromise. Falkenhayn would still be Chief of the General Staff, but not Minister of War. The four new army corps would be sent east, which the kaiser was now calling the “theatre of decision”. Ludendorff would return to Hindenburg's staff as soon as he could be spared.

Falkenhayn's authority had been undermined. It wasn't a good move to dismiss him as Minister of War, as he was a capable administrator, and had done a lot to prepare Germany's army & economy for a long war. Also, the kaiser's credibility as a commander (which hadn't been very strong in the first place) had been damaged. He was coping well with the war – he'd withdrawn almost completely from the work of planning & conducting the war, and spent hours cutting wood to deal with his nervous energy. He had great difficulty sleeping, and spent many nights reading popular novels. He had to beg Hindenburg not to resign, and to accept the new arrangement.

At one point, it was suggested that Falkenhayn should leave the army and become the new Chancellor instead of Bethmann. Falkenhayn refused to do this, worried that it would leave Ludendorff in effective charge of the army.

Ludendorff said, “I can only love and hate, and I hate General Falkenhayn. It is impossible for me to work together with him.” Hoffmann told his staff that Falkenhayn was “the fatherland's evil angel.”

The Przemsyl offensive began on January 23rd. 41 German/Austrian divisions advanced on 42 Russian divisions in the Carpathian Mountains, with the goal of retaking Galicia and liberating the fortress of Przemsyl. Przemsyl was surrounded by Russian forces, with 150,000 troops & civilians trapped inside, running out of food and supplies. It was the strongest Austro-Hungarian fortress, and it was the centre from which Vienna had dominated Galicia's Polish-Ukrainian population for a long time. So it was important both strategically and in terms of morale.

But Falkenhayn had been right in warning about the weather. The men had to climb up ice-covered mountain passes, and the advance stalled almost as soon as it began. They had some victories, but just as many failures. An Austrian army captured the city of Czernowitz (now Chernivtsi in western Ukraine), taking 60,000 Russian prisoners; but another Austrian army lost 89,000 men in a fortnight. It was common for whole army encampments to freeze to death in their sleep. Conrad stayed far away in his headquarters, where generals lived with their wives in private villas.

On the 28th, Ludendorff ordered another assault in the north, and for the first time, gas was used. They used xylyl bromide, a tear gas that was carried into the Russian lines by the wind. The Germans began their assault by opening 18,000 canisters of this gas, but the temperatures made it useless. The Russians barely noticed it, and didn't tell the British & French about it.

After releasing the gas, the infantry advanced, and made some gains at first. But the Russians soon stopped them, with 11 Russian divisions counterattacking and taking back nearly all the ground the Germans had taken. It took them three days, and they suffered 40,000 casualties. The German losses weren't very bad, because their infantry had made an orderly retreat while their artillery bombarded the dense Russian formations.

Ludendorff called off the assault. The point of it had been to keep the Russians busy while they finalized preparations for a more important attack on another part of the north-eastern front, and it succeeded at that.

Meanwhile, the Austrians were not doing well. The ground that Conrad had planned to take in the first day had actually taken a month, and Przemsyl was still far away. The Russians soon reversed the situation and advanced in their turn, and for a while they managed to push back the enemy. But they, too, were eventually stopped by the weather.

Ludendorff had put the Tenth Army north of the Masurian Lakes, and the Eighth Army to the south. On February 8th, he was ready to launch a new offensive, with the goal of encircling & destroying all the Russian forces in the area. It was an incredibly ambitious goal, but the Grand Duke helped make it possible.

He was under a lot of pressure from the generals who commanded the northern & southern regions, and was trying to satisfy everyone. Russia had 100 divisions on the Eastern Front, and more were coming up to join them. They also had a strong defensive position in Galicia. The Central Powers, on the other hand, had only 83 divisions on the Eastern Front. Half were Austro-Hungarian, and many of those weren't very reliable. The Duke could have concentrated most of his forces in the north, thus making it possible to overwhelm the Germans there. But to do that he would need to move troops from the south to the north, and he didn't do that.

But just when the Germans were about to start, it began to snow heavily. It lasted for two days, and was 1.5m deep. The temperature dropped to -40°C. But they launched their offensive regardless. This took the Russians by surprise, and they were driven out of their defensive positions.

On February 14th, there was a sudden thaw, turning the ice to ice water, and the frozen earth to mud. Earlier, the Germans had needed up to 18 horses to move one gun through the snow, but now they couldn't move them at all. The soldiers were drenched in sweat and snowmelt, and their clothing froze to them as night fell. Here and in the Carpathian Mountains, men died by freezing to death as often as by being shot.

On the 18th, a German corps fought its way through deep snow around the Forest of Augustów, encircling a Russian corps inside it. The Russians put up a good defense for 3 days, but they had to surrender. The next day, some of the escaped Russian forces launched a counterattack, winning hardly any ground, but stopping the German advance.

German propagandists hailed Augustów as a great victory, as great as the Battle of Tannenberg. Ludendorff himself claimed that they'd captured 100,000 soldiers and 1,000 artillery pieces, but it was only 56,000 prisoners and 185 artillery prisoners. Still, it was a considerable success – they'd pushed the Russians back about 110km. And more importantly, the Grand Duke's plans for an attack in the north-east in spring were no longer possible. Hindenburg was, once again, a national hero.

But, contrary to what Ludendorff had said, the Russian forces in the north were not destroyed. And 110km was not much of an achievement, not on the Eastern Front. Hindenburg admitted that “we failed strategically”.

Further south, things were going badly. Conrad had tried to resume the offensive on February 17th, but it got nowhere. By the time the winter campaign ended, the Austrians had suffered another 800,000 casualties (in 1914 it had been a million). They'd lost at least 6x the number of men trapped inside Przemsyl, and still failed to take it. By April, Austria would have only about 500,000 troops available to fight on the front, even after rushing the 1914 recruits into combat. And against Russia, this was practically useless.

In general, very little had been achieved on the Eastern Front. Falkenhayn had been proved right about the weather.

#book: a world undone #history #military history #ww1 #first battle of champagne #first battle of artois #siege of przemyśl #second battle of the masurian lakes

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autodidact-adventures · 7 years ago

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World War I (Part 24): The Situation in 1915

On January 1st, a German submarine fired a torpedo into the British battleship Formidable in the English Channel, killing 546 men. Along the Western Front, the French were on the offensive (or trying to be) – in Flanders, the Argonne (on the Belgian border), Alsace, and the Champagne region west of Verdun (where casualties were astronomical).

On the Eastern Front, hundreds of men were freezing to death as they slept, every night. Russia was slowly pushing Austria-Hungary back into the Carpathian passes which separated the Galician plains from Austria.

In the Caucasus Mountains, a poorly-led, poorly-equipped Turkish army was fighting the Russians, but the enemy and the weather were destroying them. Fighting was also happening in Africa, Asia, the South Pacific, and the South Atlantic.

And it was getting nowhere, for either side. Joffre and JF believed that victory lay just around the corner, but it was foolish idealism. Kitchener and Falkenhayn were far more realistic about the situation. But for everyone, the question was the same – what to do now? Except for France and Austria-Hungary, leaders were divided on the answer.

In France, a huge amount of important territory was occupied by the Germans – 14% of the industrial workforce, 2/3 of its steel production, 90% of its iron mines, 40% of its sugar refineries, and large parts of its coal, wood and chemical output. The French objective was simple – to drive the Germans out by any means possible.

Joseph Joffre, the commander of the French military forces, was almost dictatorial in his authority. Some had doubted him, especially during the Grand Retreat, when many had called for his dismissal. However, the outcome of the Battle of the Marne had removed these doubts. It is true that it wasn't really a victory in the sense that the French had beaten the Germans, and that it was uncertain what it meant in the long term. But the fact that Joffre had been in command during the battle raised him above challenge.

Austria-Hungary was united in their opinion, too, but for very different reasons. Russia had over 3x the number of troops than them. Conrad's offensives into Galicia & Serbia had destroyed some of the army's most elite units, been devastating to morale, and made Germany contemptuous of their ally. Serbia was still not beaten, Russia was still advancing, and Italy was possibly going to join the Entente side. With all that, Austria had only one goal – to prevent Russia from getting through the Carpathian Mountains. But to do this, they would definitely need German support.

Despite the constant failures, Conrad was still raring to go on the offensive. His new plan would drive the Russians out of the Carpathians, and relieve the besieged fortress of Przemsyl, which lay beyond the mountains (still in Austrian territory). Conrad hoped that if they showed themselves to be strong enough, then Italy, Romania and Bulgaria might not join the Entente. (All three countries were eager to join the war & gain territory, but not certain of what side they should join.) So he asked the Germans for four divisions (at least 60,000 troops).

The German high command were extremely dubious. They didn't think that the Austrians could achieve this without German support, and that even with German support it was unlikely. However, if the Austrians just sat and waited for Russia to attack, the results could be disastrous. Falkenhayn, who was Minister of War and Chief of the General Staff (replacing Moltke in the latter position), had 4 new corps – over 100,000 new troops, who were well-equipped and led by experienced officers (both commissioned & non-commissioned). Nobody could decide on how these new corps should be used, and the high command was split into factions.

As well as the Austrian issue, the Germans also had to deal with both the Eastern and Western Fronts. The Russians, despite huge losses, still outnumbered them, and were preparing to resume the offensive. So Germany had to balance their resources and figure out the best way to use them. There was no obvious path to victory on either front, though, and the army & government leaders were divided on what to do. The disagreements were so bad that they threatened to disrupt the war effort.

Falkenhayn seemed to have all the authority to decide on strategy, and he was certain of what to do. He was horrified at the losses of 1914, describing the German army as “a broken instrument”. He believed that there was no possible way of defeating all their enemies, so a negotiated peace had to be worked out for at least one of the fronts.

Britain was unconquerable because of its geographical isolation, and an acceptable peace settlement in the west wouldn't be possible without their agreement – the only way to achieve this was to take one of their allies out of the war. The massive Eastern Front, and the size of the Russian armies, made it highly unlikely that Germany could win a war there within a reasonable period of time. So Falkenhayn decided the solution was to focus as much as possible on defeating France (whom he described as a sword in the hand of the British), while dealing enough damage in the east to make Russia receptive to an eventual settlement. “If we succeed in bringing Russia to terms, we could then deal France and England so crushing a blow that we could dictate peace terms.”

Because of this, Falkenhayn didn't want to send more troops east; nor did he want to weaken the existing East Prussian forces to help the Austrians. But Hindenburg and Ludendorff disagreed. (Ludendorff was the most important of the two, because he & Max Hoffmann were the brains of the eastern team.) These two men were exceedingly contemptuous of Falkenhayn, who was by far their superior.

Falkenhayn's reputation had been damaged by the Ypres failure, while the Tannenberg & Masurian Lakes victories had bolstered Hindenburg's reputation to almost as good as Joffre's. And Hindenburg did not want to use his prestige to support Falkenhayn. Egged on by Ludendorff, he criticized him at every opportunity, saying openly that he was unfit for his positions, and encouraging his admirers at court & in the government to do the same. Falkenhayn responded by doing the same thing.

The Russian Commander-in-Chief was the Grand Duke Nicholas Romanov. He was the tsar's cousin, and a competent, aggressive commander, but his political position was unsteady. He hated the monk Rasputin, and once informed him that if he visited army headquarters, he'd have him hanged on the spot. Partially because of this, Tsarina Alexandra distrusted him; she also was convinced that he wanted the throne.

The Russian general staff disagreed on how best to defeat Germany. Some wanted to strike directly at central Germany. Others wanted to break through the Carpathian Mountains and deal with Austria-Hungary before Germany. The Grand Duke, lacking sufficient support or guidance from the tsar, was trying to satisfy everyone.

Turkey's recent entry into the war brought a new element into the mix. Turkey was no longer one of the great powers, “the sick man of Europe”, and nor was it capable of being a competent partner to any of them. It had a lot to lose by going to war on either side. But the Young Turks, who had seized power back in 1908, the August crisis had seemed an excellent opportunity. Suddenly the Europeans, who had disdained and sidelined them for so long, wanted Turkey as an ally.

This had not been the case for a very long time. Becoming an ally of Turkey would reap few advantages – to the contrary, it would mean having obligations to a country that couldn't really reciprocate, and it would also mean not being able to seize parts of its territory when the opportunity arose. So Turkey remained politically isolated while its territory shrunk. Greece, Serbia, Bulgaria and Romania broke away. Britain took Egypt & Cyprus; France took Algeria; Greece took Crete and Austria-Hungary annexed Bosnia-Herzegovina.

Turkey's closest relationships were with Britain and Germany. Britain was its main protector against Russian expansion (because it threatened their own interests).

Germany's economic interests in the Middle East had been growing, including a Berlin-to-Baghdad railway. Back in 1822, Prussia had been given responsibility for training the Turkish army. The German General Otto Liman von Sanders arrived in Constantinople in 1913 to continue this mission, he was also named inspector of the army – basically the Chief of Staff.

To counterbalance this, the Young Turks invited Britain to take charge of upgrading their navy, and ordered two new dreadnoughts to be built in England. This would cost £11 million – a huge sum – but the decision was so popular with the people that most of the money was raised through public fundraising drives.

When the war began, though, Turkey wasn't sure of which side to join. The decision was eventually made for them through naval matters. During the July crisis, a crew of Turkish seamen was in Britain, ready to take possession of the first dreadnought. But on July 28th (the day Austria declared war on Serbia), Churchill confiscated both the ships. This was an understandable decision – obviously he didn't want these two great warships in the hands of the enemy. But it could have been done better: for example, the British government could have negotiated with Turkey, offering to release the ships in exchange for an alliance. Some of the Young Turks, at least, would have been glad of this offer. But this didn't happen, and Churchill's decision caused outrage in Turkey. At the start of the August, only hours before the war properly began, the Turkish government proposed a formal alliance with Germany. But they got more than they bargained for.

Germany already had a draft ready, and they telegraphed it to Constantinople. This draft required Turkey to enter any war that Germany was involved in, and the Young Turks were not expecting such a major commitment. They made excuses for not signing it, and secretly approached Russia to talk about a possible alliance. But the Russians brushed them off – they were confident in the Entente's ability to deal with the Central Powers, and it seemed to them that Turkey was just wanting to stop them taking Constantinople.

Meanwhile, two German warships, the Göben and the Breslau, were attacking the British & French fleets, playing hide-and-seek with them across the Mediterranean. On August 10th, after shelling the Algerian coast, they were fleeing with the enemy in pursuit. They arrived at the entrance to the Dardanelles and asked Turkey for permission to enter.

British ships following the Göben and Breslau.

34-yr-old Enver Pasha was the Minister of War, and a promiment member of the Young Turks. The situation put him under pressure from all sides. His German advisers demanded that he allow the ships in; the British & French diplomats demanded the opposite. He tried to delay, but the Germans insisted on an immediate decision, so he gave in. The German warships sailed north to Constantinople, and when their enemies arrived, they were denied permission to follow. The Dardanelles were no longer a passageway which Russia could use, and their exports were now unable to reach the Mediterranean from the Black Sea.

On August 16th Germany gave the Göben and the Breslau to the Turkish government. The ships were renamed with Turkish names, but they kept their German crews & still took orders from Berlin, so it was nothing but an empty gesture. Turkey still wasn't ready to commit to an alliance, and things remained up in the air.

At the end of September, the two warships sailed up the Bosphorus Strait into the Black Sea, with the deliberate intent of causing a crisis. While flying the Turkish flag, they shelled the Russian cities of Feodosia, Odessa and Sevastopol. The Young Turks were alarmed at this, and they hurried to reassure the Russians that it was a German assault, and that they remained neutral. Russia replied that Turkey could prove this by expelling the Germans. But Turkey couldn't do this, and were unable to answer an Entente ultimatum. On November 30th, Russia declared war on Turkey. Britain & France declared war a few days later.

Some of the British believed that Turkey's entry into the war gave them new opportunities. Because they didn't have to worry about being invaded, Britain wasn't required to commit themselves to any certain theatre of operations. By early 1915, JF had over 300,000 troops in Europe. These included units of the regular armies of Australia, New Zealand, Canada and India. There were also 100,000's more troops training back in England – men who'd volunteered at the start of the war, and known as “Kitchener's Army”. So Britain had plenty of manpower, but the cabinet & army couldn't agree on what to do with it.

JF was convinced that they could break through Germany's defenses, believing the enemy to be nearing exhaustion. This was partially because of Entente propagandists, who exaggerated German casualties, and depicted nearly every fight as a slaughter of Germans who were mounting suicide attacks. (In fact, German losses were often much lower than Entente ones.) In London, the director of military operations produced an analysis that showed how Germany would run out of men “a few months hence”. This belief continued on for quite a while: in June 1915, another director of operations said that if Britain would “keep hammering away...we shall wear Germany out and the war will be over in six months.”

Joffre & JF's goals were much the same, and they insisted that every possible British soldier should be sent to the Western Front as soon as possible. However, JF didn't want to work under Joffre, or even with him. He continued to demand that he be allowed to operate independently.

In early January 1915, JF went to London and met with the War Council. This was a new group, and consisted of 7 members, including Prime Minister Henry Asquith, Kitchener, Churchill, Edward Grey, and David Lloyd George. The latter was Chancellor of the Exchequer, and not really a central figure in Britain's military planning, but he was determined to make himself one.

At the meeting, JF suggested a new offensive to recapture the Belgian Channel ports, moving along the coast. Churchill supported the idea – he thought it was a good way to bring the Netherlands (currently neutral) in on their side. Also, it would draw more German troops westwards, thus preparing the way for an Entente landing on Germany's Baltic (north-eastern) coast.

But the War Council turned the idea down at first. Most believed it was too risky, and Joffre wanted the British to keep attacking near Ypres, rather than along the coast. But the plan was brought back days later, although only as a possibility.

Asquith didn't like the idea, and Kitchener completely opposed it. He wanted to let France and Germany exhaust each other, and then bring in huge British forces. (This was not something that was talked about openly.) “The German armies in France may be looked upon as a fortress that cannot be carried by assault,” he told JF. The British lines “may be held by an investing force while operations proceed elsewhere.”

This “elsewhere” was an attempt to avoid the terrible losses from the first months of the war, but it wasn't certain where it could be. The Grand Duke was telegraphing Kitchener, asking him to attack in the Middle East, thus forcing the Turks to stop their fighting in Persia and the Caucasus. One idea was to start a campaign in Syria, which was north of Turkey. And if Turkish troops were drawn southwards into Syria, this could free up Russian troops for the Eastern Front.

Another possibility was a landing on Germany's Baltic coast. The navy were currently building a fleet of 600 motor barges and other craft for such an invasion. (It would use Russian troops, although Russia hadn't actually been informed of this.)

Or they could make a landing in north-western Greece, at the port of Salonika (Thessaloniki). This would be less risky than a Baltic landing. Greece was currently neutral (both sides were trying to get it to join them), and the War Council hoped that bringing their troops into that region might get Greece to join the Entente, and perhaps Romania, Bulgaria & Italy as well. An army could go northwards out of Salonika and secure Serbia, and then perhaps invade Austria-Hungary after being reinforced. Kitchener and Lloyd George both approved of this idea.

The last possibility was the Dardanelles, which could cause major problems for the enemy. Churchill telegraphed the commander of the British fleet in the eastern Mediterranean, asking if a naval force could fight its way through the Dardanelles to Constantinople. The commander replied that it could be possible “by extended operations with a large number of ships.” Churchill told him to submit a detailed plan for this. The Dardanelles were becoming the most likely region for a new theatre of operations.

#book: a world undone #history #military history #ww1 #caucasus campaign #siege of przemyśl #pursuit of göben and breslau #gallipoli campaign #ottoman empire #turkey #enver pasha #young turks #lead-up to ww1

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