February 1916

February

• 01

  • *Appam* puts in at NorfolkOn 1 February 1916 the British liner Appam, captured by the raider Möwe, anchored under the German flag in Hampton Roads. A row over US neutrality began.
  • Boris Stürmer becomes prime minister of RussiaIn early February 1916 the Tsar removed the 76-year-old premier Goremykin. His successor was Boris Stürmer, a conservative close to the Tsarina.
• 02

  • Bulgarians take ElbasanAt the turn of January and February 1916 the Bulgarians entered Elbasan in central Albania, forestalling the Austrians, their rivals for influence there.
  • Loss of Zeppelin L 19On 2 February 1916 the airship L 19, back from a raid on the Midlands, sank in the North Sea. The trawler King Stephen refused to help; 16 airmen died.
• 08

  • Britain asks Japan for naval helpOn 8 February 1916 the Admiralty framed a request for Japanese warships. Tokyo refused to send destroyers to Europe but stepped up patrols in the Indian Ocean.
  • Sinking of the cruiser Amiral CharnerOn 8 February 1916 Otto Hersing's U-21 torpedoed the French cruiser Amiral Charner off Lebanon. She sank in minutes; only one sailor survived.
• 09

  • Serbian government on CorfuAt the beginning of February 1916 the whole leadership of Serbia in exile gathered on Corfu. On 6 February the regent Alexander arrived there from Albania.
  • Sinking of the gunboat Hedwig von WissmannOn 9 February 1916 the British boats Fifi and Mimi caught the German gunboat Hedwig von Wissmann on Lake Tanganyika and sank her after a chase of several hours.
• 10

  • Military Service Act comes into forceOn 10 February 1916 the British Military Service Act came into force. Single men had three weeks to come forward or to apply for exemption from conscription.
  • Serbian army assembled on CorfuIn February 1916 most of the surviving Serbian army assembled on Corfu. The French fed and clothed the soldiers, and the staff formed them into new divisions.
  • German memorandum on armed merchant shipsOn 10 February 1916 Berlin told the neutrals in a memorandum that from the end of February armed enemy merchant ships would be treated as warships.
• 11

  • Sinking of the cruiser ArethusaOn 11 February 1916 the cruiser Arethusa, Commodore Tyrwhitt's flagship, struck a mine off Harwich. She could not be towed in and was wrecked on a shoal.
  • Italian detachment on CorfuIn February 1916 Italian Carabinieri landed on Corfu. Greece, suspecting Rome of designs on the island, protested and a diplomatic dispute broke out.
• 12

  • Start of the assault on ErzurumOn the night of 11–12 February 1916 the Russians broke into Fort Dalangöz at Erzurum. Next day they beat off eight counter-attacks and took Fort Karagöbek.
• 13

  • Entente notifies Greece of the transfer of the Montenegrins to CorfuOn 13 February 1916 the Entente told Greece that Montenegrin soldiers would also be taken to Corfu. Only a handful of King Nicholas's broken army survived.
• 14

  • Declaration of Sainte-AdresseOn 14 February 1916 France, Britain and Russia undertook not to end the war until Belgium had regained its independence and received compensation.
• 15

  • Agreement with the BakhtiariOn 15 February 1916 the British reached an agreement with the Bakhtiari khans on cooperation in protecting the Anglo-Persian Oil Company's oilfields in Persia.
  • Extension of British shipping licencesOn 15 February 1916 a British order brought almost every ocean voyage by a ship from the British Isles under licence, to make better use of scarce tonnage.
• 16

  • Key eventRussians capture ErzurumOn 16 February 1916 Cossacks rode into Erzurum, left by the Turks. The fall of a fortress thought impregnable was Russia's greatest success in the Caucasus.
  • Montenegrin soldiers on CorfuIn mid-February 1916 Montenegrin soldiers who had not laid down their arms reached Corfu. They were a handful, as King Nicholas's army had already dispersed.
  • War Office takes over air defenceOn 16 February 1916 the air defence of London passed from the Admiralty to Field Marshal John French, and soon after that of the whole country.
  • War Office takes over the Mesopotamian campaignIn mid-February 1916 control of operations in Mesopotamia passed from the Government of India and the India Office to the War Office in London.
• 17

  • Arrest of the consuls on ChiosIn mid-February 1916 Allied sailors arrested the German and Austro-Hungarian consuls on the Greek island of Chios. Greece protested.
  • Pro-Austrian Albanians occupy BeratIn mid-February 1916 Essad Pasha's men gave up Berat. The town was taken by Albanian units allied with the Austrians, and soon the Bulgarians appeared there.
  • Germans cross into Spanish GuineaOn 17 February 1916 Kamerun's governor told Berlin he had taken refuge in Spanish Muni with his whole force. The last units had crossed two days earlier.
• 18

  • Russians occupy MuşIn mid-February 1916 Russian Cossacks rode into Muş unopposed. They found the valley, whose Armenian inhabitants had been massacred in 1915, depopulated.
  • Key eventSurrender of MoraOn 18 February 1916, after a siege of a year and a half, the German garrison of the mountain above Mora surrendered. It was the end of the fighting in Kamerun.
• 19

  • Smuts takes command in East AfricaOn 19 February 1916 Gen. Jan Smuts landed at Mombasa and took over the East African command from Gen. Tighe. He decided to strike before the rainy season.
• 21

  • Key eventStart of the Battle of VerdunOn 21 February 1916 more than 1,200 German guns opened fire on the French positions at Verdun. A battle began that lasted until December 1916.
  • Airship LZ 77 shot downOn the evening of 21 February 1916 a French anti-aircraft gun shot down the airship LZ 77 near Revigny, flying behind Verdun. None of the crew survived.
  • Dispute in Congress over armed merchant shipsIn late February 1916 Berlin maintained that armed Entente merchantmen were auxiliary cruisers. In the US Congress a revolt against Wilson's line grew.
  • Dismissal of Henry SclaterOn 21 February 1916 Gen. Henry Sclater ceased to be Adjutant-General of the British Army. His place at the War Office was taken by Nevil Macready.
  • Macready leaves the BEF staffOn 21 February 1916 General Nevil Macready ceased to be Adjutant-General of the BEF. He had handled its manpower since the first days of the war in France.
• 22

  • Fowke becomes adjutant-general of the BEFOn 22 February 1916 Gen. George Fowke, until then Engineer-in-Chief, became adjutant-general of the BEF, in charge of personnel in Haig's army to the war's end.
  • Macready appointed Adjutant-GeneralOn 22 February 1916 General Nevil Macready became Adjutant-General of the British Army. At the War Office his main task was to find men for the front.
• 23

  • Portugal seizes German shipsOn 23 February 1916, at Britain's request, the Portuguese seized 36 German and Austrian ships that had lain in the Tagus off Lisbon since the start of the war.
  • Robert Cecil becomes Minister of BlockadeOn 23 February 1916 Asquith announced that Lord Robert Cecil, with Cabinet rank, would direct the whole blockade of Germany. So the Ministry of Blockade arose.
• 24

  • Essad Pasha's government leaves DurrësOn 24 February 1916, as the Austrians stormed the Italian lines at Durrës, Essad Pasha left for Italy on a destroyer. His government ceased to act in Albania.
• 25

  • Germans capture Fort DouaumontOn 25 February 1916 a few dozen Brandenburgers walked without a shot into Fort Douaumont, the largest fort of Verdun, held by a handful of Frenchmen.
• 26

  • Charge at AgagiaOn 26 February 1916 the Dorset Yeomanry caught the Senussi retreating from Agagia, broke them with a charge and captured their commander, Ja'far al-Askari.
  • Russians take KermanshahAt the end of February 1916 Baratov's corps entered abandoned Kermanshah. Persian nationalists, Germans and Turks fell back towards the Iraqi border.
• 27

  • Austrians occupy DurrësOn the night of 26–27 February 1916 the Austrians entered burning Durrës. The Italian Savona Brigade left for Vlorë under fire, losing guns and hundreds of men.
• 28

  • British squadron formed to bomb German industryIn February 1916 the British naval air service formed a squadron of Sopwith aircraft to raid factories in Germany. It became the nucleus of No. 3 Wing RNAS.
  • Reports of Essad Pasha's government in NaplesA British chronology records the move of Essad Pasha's government to Naples on 28 February 1916. Sources show that Rome was only proposing the city to him.
• 29

  • Action between Alcantara and GreifOn 29 February 1916 the armed merchant cruiser Alcantara fought the German raider Greif off Shetland. Both ships sank and more than 200 sailors died.
  • Lifting of the blockade of KamerunOn 29 February 1916, after the end of the fighting in Kamerun, the Allies lifted the blockade of its coast, declared in April 1915.
  • Germany will not postpone submarine warfareAt the end of February 1916 Berlin told Washington it would not defer its orders against armed ships. Intensified submarine warfare took effect from 1 March.