Russia
Russia in the First World War →Tag
(562)1918
January
- 08
- British occupy Qasr-e ShirinThe British chronology records the British occupation of Qasr-e Shirin on 8 January 1918. Their column was to guard the road into Persia as the Russians left.
- Trotsky at Brest-LitovskOn 8 January 1918 peace talks resumed at Brest-Litovsk. The Soviet delegation was now led by Trotsky, who turned the sessions into a verbal duel with Kühlmann.
- 19
- Key eventDispersal of the Constituent AssemblyAt dawn on 19 January 1918 the guard broke up the Constituent Assembly; that evening Soviet power dissolved it. Russia's first free parliament met only once.
- Mostowfi ol-Mamalek prime minister of Persia againThe British chronology records on 19 January 1918 Mostowfi ol-Mamalek's return as head of Persia's government. Moshaver ol-Mamalek took foreign affairs.
- 27
- Dunsterville's missionOn 27 January 1918 General Lionel Dunsterville left Baghdad with 41 Fords across Persia for the Caspian to organise a defence of the Caucasus against the Turks.
- The Finnish Civil War beginsOn the night of 27/28 January 1918 the Red Guard seized Helsinki, while Mannerheim's Whites disarmed Russian garrisons in Ostrobothnia. A civil war began.
- 28
- Russia breaks off relations with RomaniaOn 28 January 1918 the Romanian minister had to leave Petrograd. After the Romanians entered Bessarabia, Lenin cut ties and seized Romania's gold in Moscow.
- Creation of the Red ArmyOn 28 January 1918 the Council of People's Commissars decided to create a volunteer Workers' and Peasants' Red Army in place of the disintegrating old army.
- 30
- Peace talks resume at Brest-LitovskOn 30 January 1918 the peace talks resumed at Brest. Trotsky brought delegates of Soviet Ukraine and challenged the right of the Kiev Rada to negotiate.
- Latvian Provisional National Council calls for independenceOn 30 January 1918 the Latvian Provisional National Council resolved in Petrograd that Latvia must be an independent republic, but did not yet proclaim it.
February
- 24
- Turks retake TrebizondOn 24 February 1918 Ottoman troops entered Trebizond without a fight. After the Russian Caucasus Army fell apart, the Turks were regaining lands lost in 1916.
- Germans take DorpatOn 24 February 1918 the Germans entered Dorpat (Tartu), the university town of Livonia, unopposed. That day the Estonians declared independence in Tallinn.
- Estonia declares independenceOn 24 February 1918, as the Bolsheviks fled and the Germans neared, the Estonian Salvation Committee proclaimed the Republic of Estonia in Tallinn.
- 25
- Germans take Reval and PskovOn 25 February 1918 the Germans entered Reval (Tallinn), and in the night after a brief fight they took Pskov. The road to Petrograd lay open before them.
- Convention of BobruiskOn 25–26 February 1918 at Bobruisk Gen. Dowbor-Muśnicki's I Polish Corps agreed with the Germans that it would be treated as a neutral force and keep its arms.
March
- 03
- Key eventTreaty of Brest-LitovskOn 3 March 1918 Soviet Russia signed peace with the Central Powers at Brest. It lost Poland, Lithuania, Courland, Livonia, Estonia, Finland and Ukraine.
- British occupy MashhadThe British chronology records the entry of East Persia Cordon troops into Mashhad on 3 March 1918. Other sources say they arrived there in mid-March.
- 12
- Turks retake ErzurumOn 12 March 1918 Ottoman troops entered Erzurum, abandoned overnight by Andranik's Armenians. They had lost the fortress to the Russians in February 1916.
- Moscow becomes the capital of RussiaOn 10–11 March 1918 Lenin's government secretly moved from Petrograd to Moscow, announcing it on 12 March. Moscow was the capital again after 200 years.
April
- 05
- Landing at VladivostokOn 5 April 1918, after a Japanese was killed, Japanese and then British sailors landed at Vladivostok. It was the first step of the intervention in Siberia.
- 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
June
- 07
- British occupy KemOn 7 June 1918, on news of a Finnish White march on Kem on the White Sea, General Poole sent marines and Serbs there. They took the town without a fight.
- Czechoslovaks take OmskOn 7 June 1918 the Bolshevik soviet fled Omsk by steamer down the Irtysh. Russian anti-Bolsheviks took the city, and next day Czechoslovak trains arrived.
- 12
- 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.
- Ukrainian–Russian armisticeOn 12 June 1918 in Kiev the Ukrainian State and Soviet Russia signed a preliminary agreement halting the fighting along the whole front during the talks.
July
- 10
- Horvat governmentIn July 1918 Dmitry Horvat, head of the Chinese Eastern Railway, declared himself Provisional Ruler of Russia at Grodekovo. The Allies told him to withdraw.
- Turks take KurdamirOn 10 July 1918, after three days of fighting, Turks and Azerbaijanis took Kurdamir station. Baku Commune troops and Bicherakhov's Cossacks fell back on Baku.
- 26
- French in MurmanskOn 26 July 1918 a French colonial infantry battalion arrived in Murmansk. General Poole had been waiting for it before moving on Archangel.
- Fall of the Baku CommuneOn 25 July 1918 the Baku Soviet voted to invite the British. The Bolsheviks gave up power, and on 1 August the Centrocaspian Dictatorship took over.
- British assurance to RussiaAt the end of July 1918 the British government declared it had no wish to violate Russia's territorial integrity and that its aim was to expel the Germans.
August
- 02
- Allies in ArchangelOn 2 August 1918 conspirators overthrew Bolshevik rule in Archangel and General Poole's ships sailed into the city. Nikolai Chaikovsky formed a government.
- Japan decides to interveneOn 2 August 1918 Japan announced it would send troops to Vladivostok at the US request to help the Czechoslovaks, but would not fix their number in advance.
- 24
- Horvat's coupOn the night of 23–24 August 1918 a Russian unit in Vladivostok went over to General Horvat and seized its headquarters. The Allies had it disarmed.
- Battle of DukhovskayaOn 24 August 1918 the Japanese 12th Division, with British, French and Czechoslovaks, routed the Reds on the Ussuri. The Ussuri front collapsed.
- 27
- British occupy KrasnovodskIn late August 1918 British infantry from Enzeli reached Krasnovodsk, a port on the eastern Caspian shore, with the consent of the Transcaspian government.
- Supplementary treaty to Brest-LitovskOn 27 August 1918 Germany and Soviet Russia signed in Berlin a supplementary treaty to the Peace of Brest-Litovsk. Russia agreed to pay 6 billion marks.
September
- 04
- The Allies take ObozerskayaOn 4 September 1918 the Allies took Obozerskaya station on the Archangel–Vologda railway. Its defence collapsed when a Red regiment went over to them.
- Americans arrive in ArchangelOn 4 September 1918 about 4,500 Americans, mainly of the 339th Infantry Regiment, arrived in Archangel. The British sent them straight to the front.
- 05
- Japanese take KhabarovskOn 5 September 1918 Ataman Kalmykov's Cossacks and the Japanese 12th Division entered Khabarovsk, abandoned by the Reds. The Japanese seized the Amur Flotilla.
- Red TerrorOn 5 September 1918 the Council of People's Commissars adopted the resolution "On the Red Terror". The Cheka could shoot "class enemies" or hold them in camps.
October
- 14
- Ironside takes command at ArchangelOn 14 October 1918 General Poole sailed from Archangel for England and never returned. Command of the Allied forces passed to his chief of staff, Ironside.
- Battle of DushakOn 14 October 1918 Punjabis and Indian cavalry took Dushak station in Transcaspia. They suffered heavy losses, but the Bolsheviks soon fell back.
November
December
- 10
- Unconditional union of BessarabiaOn the night of 9–10 December 1918 the Sfatul Țării in Chișinău gave up Bessarabia's autonomy, declared unconditional union with Romania and dissolved.
- Bolsheviks take MinskOn 10 December 1918 the Red Army, following the withdrawing Germans, entered Minsk almost without a fight. The Belarusian People's Republic lost its capital.
- 18
- Germans leave DorpatOn 18 December 1918 the Germans withdrew from Dorpat (Tartu). A few days later the Estonians gave up the town without a fight and the Red Army entered it.
- French land at OdessaOn 18 December 1918 General Borius's French division landed at Odessa. At the French demand, the Directorate's troops began to leave the city.
- 30
- Allies take KodishOn 30 December 1918 Americans of the 339th Infantry, backed by Canadian artillery, retook the village of Kodish from the Bolsheviks south of Archangel.
- Reports of the capture of BirskThe British chronology records Kolchak's troops taking Birsk on 30 December 1918. Russian sources do not confirm it; the Whites took the town in spring 1919.