July 1915

July

• 01

  • Second Battle of Kraśnik beginsOn 1 July 1915 the Austro-Hungarian Fourth Army advanced between the Vistula and the Bystrzyca towards Lublin. At Kraśnik it met fortified Russian positions.
  • South Africans take OtavifonteinOn 1 July 1915 Manie Botha's mounted brigade surprised the Germans near Otavi after a night march and took Otavifontein, the last good water before their line.
• 02

  • End of the fighting for Gully RavineOn 2 July 1915 the Turks attacked across open ground to retake lost trenches above Gully Ravine at Helles. British batteries and a destroyer broke the attack.
  • Naval battle off GotlandOn 2 July 1915 Russian cruisers forced the German minelayer Albatross to run aground on Gotland. Off Rozewie the E9 torpedoed the Prinz Adalbert.
  • Munitions of War ActOn 2 July 1915 the British Munitions of War Act came into force. It banned strikes in the armaments industry and placed factories under state control.
  • Ministry of MunitionsFrom 2 July 1915 Lloyd George's Ministry of Munitions, at work for a few weeks, could take control of factories and direct workers to jobs.
• 04

  • Turks capture LahejOn 4 July 1915 Ottoman troops from Yemen broke into Lahej near Aden. An exhausted British column fell back, and the Sultan was mortally wounded.
  • Serbs in central AlbaniaThe British chronology records the Serbian capture of Durrës on 4 July 1915. In reality they held Tirana and Elbasan, but did not enter Esad's city.
• 06

  • First Calais conferenceOn 6 July 1915 the prime ministers of Britain and France met for the first time at Calais. Each side left with a different idea of what had been agreed.
• 07

  • End of the First Battle of the IsonzoOn 7 July 1915 Cadorna halted the attacks on the Isonzo. After two weeks the Italians had won only a strip of the Karst at Sagrado, losing some 15,000 men.
  • Sinking of the cruiser AmalfiOn 7 July 1915 the German submarine UB-14, sailing under the Austro-Hungarian flag as U-26, sank the Italian armoured cruiser Amalfi off Venice.
• 09

  • Surrender of German South West AfricaOn 9 July 1915 at Khorab Governor Seitz and Lt-Col. Franke signed the surrender to Gen. Botha. Germany lost the colony and its troops laid down their arms.
• 11

  • Destruction of the cruiser KönigsbergOn 11 July 1915 the British monitors Severn and Mersey, directed from an aircraft, wrecked the cruiser Königsberg in the Rufiji delta. Her crew blew her up.
  • Italians occupy PelagosaOn 11 July 1915 Italian sailors landed on the Austrian islet of Pelagosa in the middle of the Adriatic and set up an observation and signal post there.
• 12

  • Attack on the British residency at BushehrOn 12 July 1915 Tangistani tribesmen attacked the British residency at Bushehr. Two officers died in an ambush, but the assault on the posts was beaten off.
• 13

  • Central Powers' great offensive in the east beginsOn 13 July 1915 the Germans struck from East Prussia towards the Narew. An offensive began that was to drive the Russians out of the Kingdom of Poland.
  • Battle of the Narew and Biebrza beginsOn 13 July 1915 Gallwitz's and Scholtz's armies attacked the Russian front between the Vistula and Biebrza, aiming at the Narew crossings and Warsaw's rear.
  • Second Battle of Przasnysz beginsOn 13 July 1915, after a bombardment of several hours from some 800 guns, Army Group Gallwitz broke the Russian First Army's main defence line at Przasnysz.
  • Battles of Masłomęcz and Grabowiec beginOn 13 July 1915 the German Army of the Bug took up positions between Hrubieszów and Grabowiec. The attack on the Russian Thirteenth Army began on 15 July.
• 14

  • Borden attends a British Cabinet meetingOn 14 July 1915 Canadian Prime Minister Robert Borden attended a British Cabinet meeting. The London press called it a precedent of the greatest importance.
  • Sharif of Mecca opens talks with the BritishOn 14 July 1915 a letter was sent from Mecca to Cairo in which Sharif Hussein demanded recognition of Arab independence. So began the McMahon correspondence.
  • Start of the battle of ŠiauliaiOn 14 July 1915 the German Niemen Army crossed the Venta in Courland and attacked the Russian 5th Army. An offensive began on the northern wing of the front.
• 15

  • National Registration ActOn 15 July 1915 the British National Registration Act became law. Every civilian aged 15–65 had to state their age, occupation and skills.
• 16

  • Battle of Krasnystaw beginsOn 16 July 1915 the German 11th Army, led by the Prussian Guard, attacked at Krasnystaw. It took Russian trenches and 6,000 prisoners but did not break through.
• 17

  • Battle of SiennoOn 17 July 1915 Woyrsch's Silesian Landwehr broke the Russian front at Sienno on the west bank of the Vistula. The Russians fell back towards Ivangorod.
  • End of the second battle of PrzasnyszBy 17 July 1915 the Germans had pushed the Russian 1st Army back about 30 km from Przasnysz and Ciechanów to fortified bridgeheads on the Narew.
  • Women march for the "right to serve"On 17 July 1915 Emmeline Pankhurst led tens of thousands of women through London in a procession demanding work in the munitions factories.
• 18

  • Start of the Second Battle of the IsonzoOn 18 July 1915 the Italians struck on the Isonzo for the second time. With much stronger artillery they attacked Monte San Michele and Sei Busi on the Karst.
  • Sinking of the cruiser Giuseppe GaribaldiOn 18 July 1915 the Austro-Hungarian submarine U-4 sank the Italian armoured cruiser Giuseppe Garibaldi off Cavtat as it shelled the railway in Dalmatia.
  • End of the battles of Masłomęcz and GrabowiecOn 18 July 1915 the Russian Thirteenth Army still held off the Bug Army near Hrubieszów and Grabowiec. It fell back that night as the front broke at Krasnystaw.
  • End of the Battle of KrasnystawOn 18 July 1915 the Germans held Krasnystaw and the Wieprz bridgehead despite Russian Guards counter-attacks. At night the Russians fell back near the railway.
• 19

  • End of the second battle of KraśnikOn the night of 18–19 July 1915 the Russians abandoned their positions at Kraśnik and Urzędów and fell back closer to Lublin. As they left, they burned Urzędów.
  • Battles of Hrubieszów and Wojsławice beginOn 19 July 1915 the Russians fell back to a new line running west from Hrubieszów. The Army of the Bug followed them and stopped before more trenches.
• 20

  • Key eventStart of the Battle of Le LingeOn 20 July 1915 French chasseurs alpins attacked the German positions on the Linge ridge in the Vosges. The first assault collapsed under fire from bunkers.
  • Start of the second battle of IvangorodOn 20 July 1915 Woyrsch's troops attacked the last Russian field position before the fortress of Ivangorod (Dęblin). The Austro-Hungarians entered Radom.
• 21

  • Central Powers encircle IvangorodOn 21 July 1915 Woyrsch's troops reached Ivangorod. Kövess's Austro-Hungarians closed it off from the west; the Germans prepared to cross the Vistula.
  • End of the second battle of IvangorodOn 21 July 1915 the Silesian Landwehr broke the front at Zwoleń. The Russians left Ivangorod's forefield for the Kozienice–Gniewoszów line on the Vistula.
  • Fall of the Ain od-Dowleh governmentIn July 1915 the government of Persian prime minister Ain od-Dowleh fell. The Majlis attacked his minister Farmanfarma, and he stood by the British protégé.
• 24

  • Germans take Różan and PułtuskOn 24 July 1915 the Germans entered Różan and Pułtusk, abandoned by the Russians overnight, and crossed the Narew. The Russians prepared to retreat from Warsaw.
• 25

  • British capture NasiriyahOn 25 July 1915 General Gorringe's troops entered Nasiriyah, abandoned by the Turks at night after a lost battle. The whole Basra vilayet was in British hands.
  • Britain promises Mytilene to GreeceAccording to the British chronology, on 25 July 1915 London assured Greece that after the war Turkey would give up Lesbos, where the British had a base.
• 26

  • Battle of the Narew and Biebrza endsOn 26 July 1915 the Russians attacked the German bridgeheads over the Narew but failed to dislodge them. The Germans held the crossings, but the Bug was far.
• 29

  • Entente warns MontenegroAt the end of July 1915 the Entente ministers in Cetinje declared that their governments did not recognise Montenegro's occupation of Scutari and north Albania.
  • East Persian Cordon is formedAt the end of July 1915 the British and Russians began to form a cordon in eastern Persia to stop German missions from getting through to Afghanistan.
  • Battle of Biskupice beginsOn 29 July 1915 the German 11th Army broke the Russian front at Biskupice and reached the Lublin–Chełm railway at Trawniki. The Russians began to retreat.
• 30

  • Benedict XV appeals for peaceOn the first anniversary of the war Benedict XV appealed to the warring peoples and their rulers to end the "horrible slaughter". It went unanswered.
  • Battles of Hrubieszów and Wojsławice endOn 30 July 1915 the Russian 13th Army began to retreat from Hrubieszów. After twelve days of fighting the Bug Army reached Strzelce and Leszczany.
  • End of the Battle of BiskupiceOn 30 July 1915, after their defeat at Biskupice, the Russians fell back all along the front between the Vistula and the Bug. The Austro-Hungarians took Lublin.
  • Start of the Battle of KupiškisOn 30 July 1915 the Russian 5th Army struck at Kupiškis in Lithuania, into the gap between Niemen Army cavalry corps due to set off for Vilna and Dvinsk.
• 31

  • Battle of StrzelceOn 31 July 1915 Gerok's corps of the Bug Army broke the front of the Russian 13th Army at Strzelce and opened the way to Chełm.