Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman Empire in the First World War →Tag
(334)1918
January
- 28
- Arabs destroy the Dead Sea flotillaAt dawn on 28 January 1918 Abdullah al-Fair's Bedouin raided the Al-Mazraa landing, sank the Turkish grain flotilla on the Dead Sea and took 60 prisoners.
- End of the operations at TafilehOn 28 January 1918 the operations at Tafileh ended. The Arabs held the town and stopped shipping on the Dead Sea, but snow halted their march north.
February
March
April
- 05
- Turks retake VanIn early April 1918 Ottoman troops returned to ruined Van, held by the Russians and Armenians since 1915. The Armenians had left the town beforehand.
- Turks take SarıkamışOn 5 April 1918 the Turks regained Sarıkamış, scene of Enver's defeat in 1914–15. The Armenians had left the town in the night, fearing encirclement.
May
- 11
- Finno-Turkish peaceOn 11 May 1918 in Berlin representatives of Finland and Turkey signed a peace treaty. It stated that there was no state of war between the two countries.
- Batum peace talksOn 11 May 1918 a Turkish-Transcaucasian peace conference met at Batum. The Turks rejected the Brest terms and demanded more land and railways.
- 28
- Azerbaijan declares independenceOn 28 May 1918 the Azerbaijani National Council proclaimed Azerbaijan's independence in Tiflis. Its capital, Baku, was however in Bolshevik hands.
- Armenian independenceOn 28 May 1918 the Armenian National Council in Tiflis resolved to assume power over the Armenian lands. The day counts as the birth of independent Armenia.
June
- 12
- Germans occupy TiflisIn June 1918 German battalions came to Tiflis at the Georgian government's invitation. On the night of 11/12 June they left to guard the Turkish border.
- Baku Commune troops take KurdamirOn 12 June 1918 the troops of Bolshevik Baku took Kurdamir station after a short fight. The Turks, named by the chronology as its captors, entered it in July.
July
August
September
October
- 14
- İzzet Pasha becomes grand vizierOn 14 October 1918, after Talat Pasha's resignation, Marshal Ahmed İzzet Pasha became grand vizier. His task was to lead the empire out of the war.
- Turkish peace noteOn 14 October 1918 President Wilson received, via Spain, an Ottoman government note asking for an armistice and peace on the basis of the Fourteen Points.
- 30
- Key eventArmistice of MudrosOn 30 October 1918, aboard the battleship Agamemnon at Mudros, the Ottoman Empire signed an armistice with the Entente. Fighting ended at noon on 31 October.
- Surrender at SharqatOn 30 October 1918 the encircled Turkish Tigris Group surrendered on the Tigris at Sharqat. Ismail Hakki Bey gave himself up with several thousand men.
November
- 09
- Occupation of AlexandrettaOn 9 November 1918 British and French warships entered the Gulf of Alexandretta. Mustafa Kemal wished to defend the port, but Constantinople made him yield.
- Anglo-French DeclarationIn early November 1918 Britain and France declared that they sought the "complete liberation" of Syria and Mesopotamia and governments chosen by their peoples.