December 1914

December

• 01

  • Battle of Limanowa beginsOn 1 December 1914 Austro-Hungarian troops assembled in the Raba valley moved down from the mountains to strike the flank of the Russian Third Army near Kraków.
  • Australians and New Zealanders at SuezOn 1 December 1914 the first ships of the convoy from Australia and New Zealand anchored at Suez. The troops, bound for England, were to stay in Egypt.
  • Capture of Christiaan de WetOn 1 December 1914 at Waterbury farm near Vryburg a government force surrounded and captured Gen. Christiaan de Wet, one of the leaders of the Boer rebellion.
• 02

  • Austrians occupy BelgradeOn 2 December 1914 Austro-Hungarian troops took abandoned Belgrade without a fight. The same day the Serbian command issued the order for a counter-offensive.
  • Battle of Kraków endsThe British chronology ends the Battle of Kraków on 2 December 1914. Fighting north of the fortress had died down days earlier, and the front had moved south.
  • Liebknecht votes against war creditsOn 2 December 1914 the Reichstag passed another 5 billion marks of war credits. The only deputy to vote against was the Social Democrat Karl Liebknecht.
• 03

  • Serbian counter-offensive on the KolubaraOn 3 December 1914 the Serbian army unexpectedly struck Potiorek's forces. The heaviest blow, by Mišić's First Army, fell on the Austro-Hungarian XVI Corps.
  • Australia will not occupy the islands north of the equatorIn early December 1914 London gave way to Japan and decided that the Australians would not occupy the German islands north of the equator held by Japan.
• 04

  • Fighting for Qurna beginsOn 4 December 1914 Indian troops landed near Qurna and drove the Turks out of the village of Muzaira, but failed to cross the Tigris and returned to camp.
  • Wapshare replaces AitkenAfter the defeat at Tanga Gen. Arthur Aitken was recalled. Command of the British forces in East Africa passed to Gen. Richard Wapshare.
  • Portuguese reinforcements sail for AngolaIn early December 1914 more Portuguese units sailed from Lisbon to Angola to strengthen the colony's defence against a German attack from the south.
  • The Puławy Legion is formedOn 4 December 1914 the first volunteers of a Polish Legion, raised with Russian consent and National Democrat backing against Piłsudski's, reached Puławy.
• 05

  • Entente démarche in Athens, Sofia and BucharestAccording to the British chronology, on 5 December 1914 the Entente took steps in Athens, Sofia and Bucharest to secure help for embattled Serbia.
  • Serbia will not conclude a separate peaceOn 5 December 1914 Nikola Pašić formed a coalition government in Niš. On 7 December it declared that Serbia, loyal to its allies, would fight to victory.
• 06

  • Austrian defeat on the KolubaraOn 6 December 1914 the beaten XVI Corps lost its last mountain positions. Potiorek ordered the 6th Army back behind the Kolubara, and panic seized the rear.
  • Romania refuses guarantees for GreeceAccording to the British chronology, on 6 December 1914 Romania refused guarantees for Greece. Without them Athens, fearing Bulgaria, would not help Serbia.
  • Germans take ŁódźOn 6 December 1914 German troops entered Łódź, abandoned by the Russians. For its inhabitants an occupation lasting almost four years began.
• 07

  • A British envoy to the VaticanIn December 1914 Sir Henry Howard became Britain's envoy to Benedict XV. He was London's first official envoy in Rome since the 17th century.
• 08

  • End of the fighting for QurnaOn 8 December 1914 Indian troops crossed the Tigris above Qurna and threatened to cut off the garrison. That night Turkish envoys came to surrender.
  • Battle of the Falkland IslandsOn 8 December 1914 the British destroyed Admiral von Spee's squadron off the Falklands. Scharnhorst, Gneisenau, Leipzig and Nürnberg sank; only Dresden escaped.
• 09

  • British take QurnaOn 9 December 1914 Subhi Bey, vali of Basra, surrendered Qurna. Over a thousand Turks were captured and the British took a town held to be the biblical Eden.
• 10

  • Von der Goltz leaves for TurkeyOn 10 December 1914 Field Marshal Colmar von der Goltz set out for Constantinople. He did not command the Ottoman army but became the Sultan's aide-de-camp.
  • Goeben shells BatumOn 10 December 1914 the battlecruiser Goeben shelled the Russian port of Batum in the Caucasus. The bombardment lasted under ten minutes and did little damage.
• 11

  • Bernardino Machado's government resignsIn December 1914 Bernardino Machado's government fell. The non-party cabinet did not survive republican quarrels over elections and Portugal's role in the war.
• 12

  • End of the second Russian invasion of HungaryA British chronicle records the end of the second Russian invasion of Hungary on 12 December 1914. The last Russian units then fell back behind the Carpathians.
  • Azevedo Coutinho becomes Prime Minister of PortugalOn 12 December 1914 naval officer Vítor Hugo de Azevedo Coutinho became Portugal's prime minister. His almost wholly Democratic cabinet met resistance at once.
• 13

  • Submarine B11 sinks the battleship MesudiyeOn 13 December 1914 the British submarine B11 passed under the minefields deep into the Dardanelles and sank the Turkish battleship Mesudiye.
• 14

  • Attack at WytschaeteOn 14 December 1914 the Allies attacked in Flanders. Two Scottish battalions struck at Petit Bois and Maedelstede near Wytschaete, suffering heavy losses.
  • Internment of Cormoran at GuamOn 14 December 1914 the German auxiliary cruiser Cormoran, formerly the Russian Ryazan, reached American Guam out of coal. The ship and her crew were interned.
• 15

  • End of the Battle of ŁódźA British chronology ends the Battle of Łódź on 15 December 1914. Łódź fell on 6 December, but in mid-month the Russians were still falling back to the Bzura.
  • Serbs retake BelgradeOn 15 December 1914 the last Austro-Hungarian units withdrew across the Sava and the Serbian army returned to Belgrade. The third invasion of Serbia had failed.
  • Key eventGerman airship off the English coastOn 15 December 1914 a German airship was sighted off the Humber estuary. It was the first confirmed presence of an enemy aircraft off the English coast.
• 16

  • Bombardment of Scarborough and HartlepoolOn 16 December 1914 Hipper's battlecruisers shelled Scarborough, Hartlepool and Whitby. Over a hundred people died, mostly civilians, and the Germans escaped.
  • Japan will not give up the islands north of the equatorIn December 1914 Foreign Minister Katō Takaaki told the Diet that the fate of the German islands held by Japan would be settled only at the peace conference.
• 17

  • End of the Battle of the BzuraOn 17 December 1914 the battle of Łowicz and Sanniki came to an end. The Russians gave up Łowicz and took up new positions behind the lower Bzura and the Rawka.
  • End of the Battle of LimanowaThe British chronology ends the Battle of Limanowa on 17 December 1914. Fighting had stopped days earlier, but Vienna then announced a general Russian retreat.
  • Turkish offensive in the CaucasusThe British chronology dates the start of the Turkish offensive in the Caucasus to 17 December 1914. In fact Enver Pasha was then finishing his preparations.
• 18

  • British protectorate over EgyptOn 18 December 1914 Britain proclaimed a protectorate over Egypt. This ended the formal suzerainty of the Ottoman sultan over the country.
  • Meeting of the Scandinavian kings in MalmöOn 18–19 December 1914 the kings of Sweden, Denmark and Norway met in Malmö. With their foreign ministers they made a show of common neutrality.
  • Fighting begins on the Rawka and the BzuraOn 18 December 1914 the Germans attacked new Russian positions on the Rawka and the Bzura, opening fighting that became trench warfare lasting until July 1915.
• 19

  • Deposition of Abbas II HilmiOn 19 December 1914 the British announced the deposition of Khedive Abbas II Hilmi. His uncle Hussein Kamel became ruler of Egypt with the title of sultan.
  • Britain recognises the Treaty of FezOn 19 December 1914 Britain recognised the 1912 French protectorate over Morocco. In return France recognised the British protectorate over Egypt.
• 20

  • Key eventFirst Battle of Champagne beginsOn 20 December 1914 the French Fourth Army attacked the German trenches in Champagne. The first great offensive against fortified lines in the west had begun.
  • Key eventDefence of GivenchyOn 20 December 1914 the Germans blew mines under the Indian Corps' trenches at Givenchy and broke its line. Men from Manchester retook the village that evening.
• 21

  • First German air raid on EnglandOn 21 December 1914 a German seaplane from Zeebrugge dropped two bombs into the sea near the harbour at Dover. It was the first German air raid on England.
  • British take JasinAt the end of December 1914 Gen. Michael Tighe's troops cleared the Germans from the British East Africa border and took Jasin on the Umba river.
• 22

  • Battle of ŁowczówekOn 22 December 1914 the First Brigade of the Legions, called from Nowy Sącz, attacked at dusk at Łowczówek near Tarnów and retook Hill 360 from the Russians.
• 23

  • Another British contraband listOn 23 December 1914 Britain issued new contraband lists. Among the items added were turpentine, tungsten and ingredients of explosives.
• 24

  • First bomb on English soilOn 24 December 1914 a German seaplane dropped a bomb on Dover. It fell in a garden near the castle. It was the first aerial bomb to fall on land in England.
• 25

  • Cuxhaven raidOn 25 December 1914 seven British seaplanes took off from ships off Heligoland to bomb the Zeppelin sheds. They failed to find their target.
  • Christmas truceAt Christmas 1914, on parts of the Western Front, soldiers stopped fighting of their own accord, left the trenches, exchanged gifts and buried the dead.
• 26

  • Italians land at VlorëAt the end of December 1914 neutral Italy occupied the Albanian port of Vlorë. Rome assured Vienna that the occupation was temporary.
  • Garibaldi Legion in the ArgonneOn 26 December 1914 Peppino Garibaldi's Italian volunteers first attacked in the Argonne. His brother Bruno, grandson of the hero of Italian unity, fell.
• 28

  • End of the Boer rebellionA British chronology records the end of the organised rebellion in South Africa on 28 December 1914. The last rebels laid down their arms in February 1915.
• 29

  • Battle of Sarikamish beginsIn late December 1914 Enver Pasha's troops stormed Sarikamish in the Russian rear. On 29 December a Turkish detachment broke into the town but was driven out.
  • London defends its blockade against a US protestAt the end of December 1914 the US government protested against the detention of American ships and cargoes. London replied by defending its control of trade.
• 30

  • Grand Duke Nicholas appeals for helpAt the end of December 1914 the Russian commander-in-chief asked the British to strike at Turkey to relieve the Caucasus. It spurred the Dardanelles attack.
• 31

  • Indian Expeditionary Force "C" merged into Force "B"On 31 December 1914 Indian Expeditionary Force "C", which had defended British East Africa, was formally merged into Force "B".