Łukasz Skowroń
Author
(1516)1917
January
- 05
- Rome conferenceOn 5–7 January 1917 the Allies conferred in Rome. Lloyd George wanted to send Italy heavy guns for an offensive on the Isonzo, but the plan was shelved.
- End of the fighting in DobrujaOn 5 January 1917 the last Russians from the bridgehead at Măcin crossed the Danube. All of Dobruja except the delta was now in the hands of the Central Powers.
- 09
- Start of the Battle of Kut (1917)On 9 January 1917 the Indian 3rd Division stormed Turkish trenches in the Khadairi Bend near Kut. The chronology dates the Battle of Kut, 1917 from that day.
- Sinking of HMS CornwallisOn 9 January 1917 the German U-32 torpedoed the British battleship Cornwallis, a Dardanelles veteran, east of Malta. The ship sank and 15 sailors died.
- 11
- Central Powers' note on responsibility for the warOn 11 January 1917 Germany and Austria-Hungary answered the Entente's refusal in notes to the neutrals, blaming their enemies for the continuing war.
- German-Turkish treaty in BerlinOn 11 January 1917 Germany and Turkey signed a package of ten legal agreements in Berlin. Based on equality, they were to replace the abolished capitulations.
- 23
- Harwich Force clashes with German torpedo boatsOn the night of 23 January 1917 the Harwich Force tried to intercept the German 6th Flotilla bound for Flanders. It damaged V69 but lost the destroyer Simoom.
- Arabs capture WejhOn 23 January 1917 Arab rebels and sailors landed near Wejh in the Hejaz and forced their way into the town. Faisal made the port the revolt's new base.
February
- 01
- Unrestricted submarine warfare beginsOn 1 February 1917 German submarines began sinking ships without warning around the British Isles. Neutral shipowners kept their ships in port.
- Petrograd ConferenceOn 1 February 1917 a conference of Russia, Britain, France and Italy met in Petrograd. It was to agree the 1917 offensives and arms deliveries to Russia.
- 25
- Start of the pursuit to BaghdadOn 25 February 1917 Maude's troops and gunboats moved up the Tigris after the Turks retreating from Kut. At Imam Mahdi a Turkish rearguard held them up.
- Sinking of the LaconiaOn 25 February 1917 U-50 sank the liner Laconia off Ireland. Twelve died, including two American women, and the US asked whether this was a cause for war.
March
- 12
- Key eventFebruary RevolutionOn 12 March 1917 the Petrograd garrison joined the strikers. Tsarist rule in the capital collapsed; a Duma Committee and a Soviet arose in the Tauride Palace.
- United States arms its merchant shipsOn 12 March 1917 the State Department informed foreign governments that American ships sailing through the war zone would get guns and crews from the Navy.
- London conference on the commandOn 12–13 March 1917 in London the British and French clarified the Calais agreement. Haig was to keep Nivelle informed but did not hand over his armies.
- 14
- Main German retreat to the Hindenburg Line beginsOn 14 March 1917 the British noticed the Germans leaving their trenches in St Pierre Vaast Wood. The main retreat to the Hindenburg Line was beginning.
- Action at MushahidaOn 14 March 1917 the British 7th Division drove the Turkish rearguard from Mushahida station on the Baghdad–Samarra line. The Black Watch lost 43% of its men.
- Order No. 1On 14 March 1917 the Petrograd Soviet issued Order No. 1. Soldiers were to elect committees, control weapons and obey above all the Soviet, not their officers.
- 17
- French take RoyeOn 17 March 1917 the French advance guard entered Roye, ruined by the Germans. About 800 inhabitants whom the occupiers had not deported awaited the troops.
- Fall of the Briand governmentOn 17 March 1917 Aristide Briand, French prime minister since October 1915, resigned with his cabinet. After Lyautey left he found no new war minister.
- Airship L 39 destroyedAt dawn on 17 March 1917, after a failed raid on England, French anti-aircraft guns shot down the airship L 39 over Compiègne. The whole crew was killed.
- 18
- Raid on Ramsgate and BroadstairsOn the night of 17/18 March 1917 German torpedo boats from Flanders sank the destroyer Paragon in the Strait of Dover, then shelled Ramsgate and Broadstairs.
- Sinking of three American shipsBetween 16 and 18 March 1917 German submarines sank the ships Vigilancia, City of Memphis and Illinois. Fifteen men died on the Vigilancia.
- 22
- Recognition of the Provisional GovernmentOn 22 March 1917 the United States became the first to officially recognise Russia's Provisional Government. Britain, France and Italy followed two days later.
- Möwe returns from her second cruiseOn 22 March 1917 the raider Möwe returned to Kiel after four months in the Atlantic. On the way home she fought a fierce action with the New Zealand ship Otaki.
- 30
- Key eventProvisional Government proclamation to the PolesOn 30 March 1917 the Russian Provisional Government's proclamation recognised the Poles' right to an independent state, bound to Russia by a military alliance.
- Torpedoing of the hospital ship Gloucester CastleOn the night of 30–31 March 1917 the German UB-32 torpedoed the hospital ship Gloucester Castle in the Channel with wounded aboard. She survived; 3 people died.
April
- 09
- Key eventBattle of Arras (1917) beginsOn Easter Monday, 9 April 1917, the British and Canadians attacked at Arras. In one day they advanced 5 km and took thousands of prisoners.
- Admiral Sims arrives in EnglandOn 9 April 1917 Rear-Admiral William Sims arrived in Liverpool in civilian clothes. In London Jellicoe showed him the true tonnage losses.
- Provisional Government on war aimsOn 9 April 1917 the Provisional Government declared that free Russia's aim was not conquest but a lasting peace. It was a compromise with the Petrograd Soviet.
- 19
- End of the Second Battle of GazaOn 19 April 1917 the British assault on Gaza, despite tanks and gas, broke on the Turkish redoubts. The British lost over 6,000 men and failed to take the town.
- Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne conferenceOn 19 April 1917 the prime ministers of Britain, France and Italy agreed an Italian zone in Asia Minor. Sonnino rejected a separate peace with Austria.
- 20
- Collapse of the Nivelle offensiveAround 20 April 1917 the French gave up hope of a breakthrough on the Aisne. They had 20,000 prisoners and huge losses; the Chemin des Dames fighting went on.
- Clash of Swift and BrokeOn the night of 20/21 April 1917 the British leaders Swift and Broke caught German torpedo boats in the Dover Strait and sank two of them, G 42 and G 85.
- 30
- Turks retake MuşOn 30 April 1917 Ottoman troops entered Muş, abandoned by the Russians. It was the first important town that the disintegrating Russian army gave up in Armenia.
- Bloody AprilIn April 1917 over Arras German fighter squadrons shot down more than 240 British aircraft. RFC airmen called the month "Bloody April".
May
- 03
- Key eventThird Battle of the Scarpe beginsAt 3.45 a.m. on 3 May 1917, still in darkness, three British armies struck again at Arras. They failed almost everywhere. Only the Canadians succeeded.
- Key eventStart of the French Army mutiniesOn 3 May 1917 near Soissons about 1,000 men of the 2nd Colonial Division shouted "Down with the war!". After Nivelle's defeat, mutinies swept the army.
- April CrisisOn 3 May 1917 the papers published Milyukov's note on war to victory. Soldiers marched on the seat of government and Petrograd saw two days of demonstrations.
- 17
- End of the Battle of BullecourtOn 17 May 1917 Londoners of the 58th Division took the last of the ruins of Bullecourt. The two-week fight cost the Australians and British over 14,000 men.
- Convoy committeeOn 17 May 1917 the Admiralty set up a committee to draw up a plan for ocean convoys. The first trial convoy from Gibraltar was then under way.
- 18
- Selective Service Act comes into forceOn 18 May 1917 Wilson signed the draft law and set 5 June for registering men aged 21 to 30. He also refused Roosevelt his volunteer divisions.
- Nicaragua breaks off relations with GermanyOn 18 May 1917 Nicaragua's Congress broke off relations with Germany and let President Chamorro offer the US the country's ports and territorial waters.
June
- 04
- Decree creating the Polish Army in FranceOn 4 June 1917 President Poincaré signed a decree creating in France an autonomous Polish army, fighting under the Polish flag.
- Portuguese in action on the Western FrontOn the night of 3/4 June 1917 the Germans first attacked Portuguese trenches near Neuve-Chapelle. The 35th Infantry Battalion from Coimbra repulsed them.
- 11
- Jonnart's ultimatumOn 11 June 1917 High Commissioner Jonnart demanded that Prime Minister Zaimis secure King Constantine's abdication within a day. The king gave way that day.
- Dominican Republic breaks off relations with GermanyIn June 1917 the American military government in Santo Domingo withdrew the exequatur of German consuls, so the occupied Dominican Republic broke with Germany.
- 14
- Destruction of airship L 43On the morning of 14 June 1917 a British flying boat from Felixstowe shot down the naval airship L 43 near the island of Vlieland. The whole crew was killed.
- Admiralty approves the convoy systemOn 14 June 1917 Admiral Jellicoe formally approved the plan of the Convoy Committee. Regular convoys from America did not begin, however, until early July.
July
- 01
- Manchu restoration in ChinaOn 1 July 1917 General Zhang Xun seized Peking and proclaimed the return of eleven-year-old Puyi to the throne. President Li Yuanhong refused to back the coup.
- Key eventKerensky Offensive beginsOn 1 July 1917, after two days of artillery fire, Russian infantry attacked in eastern Galicia. At Koniuchy it broke through the Austro-Hungarian front.
- 06
- Canadian House of Commons passes conscriptionEarly on 6 July 1917 the Canadian House of Commons passed the conscription bill at second reading, 118 votes to 55. Laurier's referendum motion failed.
- Richthofen woundedOn 6 July 1917 over Flanders Manfred von Richthofen was shot in the head fighting British F.E.2ds. He managed to land but never fully recovered.
- 09
- Explosion of the battleship VanguardShortly before midnight on 9 July 1917 the British dreadnought Vanguard blew up in Scapa Flow. Of the 845 men aboard, only two survived.
- Oath crisisOn 9 July 1917, at Piłsudski's call, I and III Brigade legionaries refused an oath of brotherhood in arms with Germany and Austria-Hungary. Internment followed.
- 19
- Battle of NarungombeOn 19 July 1917 the Kilwa columns assaulted the German trenches at Narungombe all day. The Germans withdrew at night, but the British lost more than 600 men.
- Carson leaves the AdmiraltyIn July 1917 Edward Carson moved from the Admiralty to the War Cabinet. The railwayman and organiser Eric Geddes became First Lord of the Admiralty.
- The counter-offensive in Eastern Galicia beginsOn 19 July 1917 the Germans struck the Russian Eleventh Army near Złoczów. Within hours they broke through all its lines, and Russian soldiers began to flee.
- 22
- Key eventSiam declares war on Germany and Austria-HungaryOn 22 July 1917 King Vajiravudh declared war on Germany and Austria-Hungary. At dawn the Siamese interned the Germans and seized nine German ships.
- Key eventArrest of PiłsudskiOn the night of 21–22 July 1917 the Germans arrested Józef Piłsudski and Kazimierz Sosnkowski in Warsaw. The Commandant spent over a year in Magdeburg.
- 28
- End of the counter-offensive in eastern GaliciaOn 28 July 1917 the Germans reached the Zbruch frontier river at Husiatyn and their strike group halted near Tarnopol. Russia had lost almost all of Galicia.
- Formation of the Tank CorpsOn 28 July 1917 the British tank units were separated from the Machine Gun Corps as an independent Tank Corps. It was commanded by General Hugh Elles.
August
- 17
- Start of the eleventh battle of the IsonzoOn 17 August 1917 Italian batteries on the Isonzo were firing almost as in a barrage. The Eleventh Battle of the Isonzo, Italy's largest offensive, began.
- Métin becomes under-secretary for the blockadeOn 17 August 1917 the Radical Albert Métin replaced the Catholic Denys Cochin as head of the French blockade, a crack in the "Sacred Union".
- 21
- Wekerle becomes prime minister of HungaryIn August 1917 Sándor Wekerle, 68, became Hungary's prime minister for the third time. He kept Esterházy's ministers and his promise of electoral reform.
- Destruction of airship L 23On 21 August 1917 off Denmark a Sopwith Pup flown off the cruiser HMS Yarmouth shot down the airship L 23. The whole crew was killed.
- 25
- End of the Battle of Hill 70On 25 August 1917 the Canadians took Aloof Trench near Lens, ending the Battle of Hill 70. They held the hill, but the attacks on Lens itself failed.
- Moscow State ConferenceOn 25–28 August 1917 the State Conference met in Moscow's Bolshoi Theatre. Instead of uniting Russia around Kerensky, it laid bare the country's split.
September
- 04
- First Gotha night raid on LondonOn the night of 4 September 1917 Gothas bombed London after dark for the first time. A bomb hit a tram by Cleopatra's Needle. In the capital 16 people died.
- London conference on aid to ItalyOn 4 September 1917 in London Foch asked for consent to send Italy a hundred French heavy guns from Flanders. The War Cabinet left the decision to Haig.
- 12
- Painlevé governmentOn 12 September 1917 Paul Painlevé became French Prime Minister and Ribot Foreign Minister. For the first time since 1914 no socialists sat in the government.
- Key eventPatent on the Regency CouncilOn 12 September 1917 Germany and Austria-Hungary issued a patent giving power in the Kingdom of Poland to a three-man Regency Council, under occupiers' control.
October
- 15
- Regency Council is appointedOn 15 October 1917 Berlin and Vienna approved the regents of the Kingdom of Poland, Archbishop Kakowski, Prince Lubomirski and Józef Ostrowski.
- Britain recognises the Polish National CommitteeOn 15 October 1917 Britain recognised the Paris-based Polish National Committee as the official Polish organisation, the second Entente power after France.
- 17
- Attack on the Norwegian convoyOn 17 October 1917 the German cruisers Brummer and Bremse smashed a convoy from Norway east of Shetland. Two British destroyers and 9 ships were sunk.
- Sinking of the battleship SlavaAt Moon Sound the dreadnought König crippled the Russian battleship Slava. Drawing too much water for the shallow channel, she was blown up by her crew.
November
- 01
- Ministry of National Service takes over recruitingOn 1 November 1917 Geddes's Ministry of National Service took over army recruiting from the War Office; civilian medical boards began to examine recruits.
- Hertling becomes ChancellorOn 1 November 1917 the Kaiser dismissed Georg Michaelis and appointed the 74-year-old Bavarian premier Georg von Hertling, a Centre politician, Chancellor.
- 02
- Kattegat raidOn 2 November 1917 British destroyers broke into the Kattegat and sank the German Q-ship K and the eight or nine trawlers it was escorting.
- Lansing–Ishii AgreementOn 2 November 1917 Lansing and Ishii exchanged notes on China in Washington. The US recognised Japan's "special interests"; both upheld the Open Door.
- 06
- Canadians capture PasschendaeleOn 6 November 1917 two Canadian divisions took the ruins of Passchendaele, goal of the offensive since 31 July, in under 3 hours, and Mosselmarkt and Goudberg.
- British occupy TikritOn the night of 5–6 November 1917 the Turks abandoned Tikrit on the Tigris, burning their stores. The British took the town but returned to Samarra days later.
- 13
- Charge at El MugharOn 13 November 1917 the Buckinghamshire, Dorset and Berkshire yeomanry took the ridge at El Mughar in a charge, and Scottish infantry took El Mughar and Katrah.
- Fall of the Painlevé governmentOn 13 November 1917 the Chamber of Deputies refused Painlevé a postponement of interpellations on the scandals. His cabinet fell after just two months.
- 17
- Battle of Nabi Samwil beginsOn 17 November 1917 Allenby prepared to march into the Judean Hills, to bypass Jerusalem to the north and cut the Nablus road without fighting for the city.
- Second Battle of Heligoland BightOn 17 November 1917 British cruisers surprised German minesweepers in the Heligoland Bight. The chase was ended by minefields and two German battleships.
- 30
- German counter-attack at CambraiOn 30 November 1917 the German Second Army struck the British salient at Cambrai. In the south it took Gouzeaucourt and 158 guns; at Bourlon it was repulsed.
- Austria-Hungary accepts the offer of negotiationsOn 30 November 1917 Czernin informed Lenin's government by telegram that Austria-Hungary would join armistice and peace talks due to start on 2 December.
December
- 03
- End of the Battle of CambraiOn 3 December 1917 the Germans took La Vacquerie and the Marcoing canal bend, and Haig ordered the Bourlon Wood salient abandoned for Flesquières Ridge.
- Allied Maritime Transport CouncilOn 3 December 1917 a conference in Paris decided that the Allies would allocate their ships jointly. This gave rise to the Allied Maritime Transport Council.
- Death of General DukhoninOn 3 December 1917 Krylenko's troops occupied the Stavka at Mogilev. The arrested General Dukhonin was lynched at the station by a mob of soldiers and sailors.
- 11
- Allenby enters JerusalemOn 11 December 1917 Allenby entered Jerusalem on foot through the Jaffa Gate and proclaimed martial law, promising to protect the holy places of three faiths.
- The Constituent Assembly fails to openThe Constituent Assembly was due to meet in Petrograd on 11 December 1917. A few dozen deputies came, and that evening Lenin outlawed the Kadets.
- Declaration of the TarybaOn 11 December 1917 the Lithuanian Taryba in Vilna proclaimed an independent state with Vilna as capital, bound to Germany by a "perpetual" alliance.
- 26
- End of the First Battle of the PiaveOn 26 December 1917 the Austrians left the Zenson bridgehead over the Piave. After the last attacks on Asolone and Col del Rosso fighting in Italy died down.
- Defence of Jerusalem beginsOn the night of 26–27 December 1917 the Turks attacked the British near Jerusalem to retake the city. The attack broke down below the hill of Tall al-Ful.