Military
Category
(381)1918
January
February
- 01
- The East Persian Cordon is extendedOn 1 February 1918 Indian troops of the East Persian Cordon began moving north into Khorasan to replace the Russians withdrawing from there.
- Mutiny at KotorOn 1 February 1918 sailors on Austro-Hungarian ships in the Bay of Kotor hoisted red flags and demanded peace. The mutiny collapsed after three days.
March
April
- 01
- Russians leave EnzeliOn 1 April 1918 the last regular Russian troops left the Persian port of Enzeli. A Bolshevik committee still ruled it; the Jangalis held the area around.
- Formation of the RAFOn 1 April 1918 the Royal Flying Corps and the Royal Naval Air Service merged to form the Royal Air Force, independent of both the army and the navy.
May
June
- 18
- Scuttling of the Black Sea FleetOn 18 June 1918 at Novorossiysk sailors scuttled ships, including the dreadnought *Svobodnaya Rossiya*, rather than surrender them. The rest went to Sevastopol.
- Franchet d'Espèrey takes command at SalonikaOn 18 June 1918 General Franchet d'Espèrey took command of the Allied armies at Salonika. Guillaumat returned to France as Military Governor of Paris.
July
August
September
October
November
- 05
- Foch supreme commander against GermanyAfter Austria-Hungary's surrender the Entente leaders gave Foch strategic direction of the war against Germany on all fronts, including the Italian and Balkan.
- Italians in FiumeOn 4 November 1918 Italian warships led by the battleship Emanuele Filiberto entered the port of Fiume. The city, however, was still governed by the Croats.
- Sinking of HMS CampaniaOn 5 November 1918 Campania, a former liner converted into a seaplane carrier, sank in the Firth of Forth. Torn from her anchorage, she rammed two warships.
- 16
- Allied march to the RhineIn mid-November 1918 the Allied armies followed the retreating Germans towards the Rhine. The British chronology gives 16 November, other sources the 17th.
- Mobilisation in EstoniaOn 16 November 1918 the Estonian Provisional Government decided to raise a volunteer People's Army, conscripting only officers, doctors and military officials.
- 18
- Germans leave FranceAccording to the British chronology, on 18 November 1918 the last Germans crossed back over France's 1914 border. The occupation of the north-east was over.
- Italians reinforce FiumeOn 17 November 1918 Italian troops under General San Marzano entered Fiume. The Croatian authorities were removed, and the Yugoslavs protested.
- 19
- The French enter MetzOn 19 November 1918 troops of the Tenth Army entered Metz, capital of German Lorraine. The parade was watched by Pétain, who learned of his promotion that day.
- Pétain becomes Marshal of FranceOn 19 November 1918, the day the French entered Metz, General Pétain learned he would be made a Marshal of France. The decree was signed on 21 November.
- 20
- Surrender of the U-boatsOn 20 November 1918 the first 20 German submarines surrendered off Harwich to Rear-Admiral Tyrwhitt's force. By the spring of 1919, 176 had been handed over.
- Marushevsky in ArchangelIn November 1918 General Vladimir Marushevsky arrived in Archangel, taking command of the Northern Region's Russian troops and the post of governor-general.
- 21
- Internment of the High Seas FleetOn 21 November 1918 the Grand Fleet met the High Seas Fleet and escorted 70 German warships into the Firth of Forth, from where they went on to Scapa Flow.
- British occupy NamurOn 21 November 1918 the British entered Namur, the Belgian fortress taken by the Germans in 1914. Here the troops marching to the Rhine halted.
- 26
- Allies reach the German borderIn late November 1918 the last Germans left Belgium and Allied troops reached the German border. On 1 December all of them moved on towards the Rhine.
- Allies in SevastopolIn late November 1918 an Allied squadron entered Sevastopol and took over from the Germans the old Black Sea Fleet ships, including the dreadnought Volya.
December
- 16
- Internment of MackensenOn 16 December 1918 Field Marshal Mackensen's train from Romania was stopped in Budapest. At French insistence the Hungarians interned him at Fót.
- Germans leave FinlandOn 16 December 1918 the last units of von der Goltz's Baltic Division sailed from Helsinki for Stettin. Thousands of the capital's inhabitants saw them off.