March 1916

March

• 01

  • Extended submarine warfare beginsFrom 1 March 1916 German submarines could attack armed Entente merchant ships without warning. Passenger ships were to be spared.
  • Start of the war with the Sultan of DarfurAt the beginning of March 1916 the Governor of Sudan, Reginald Wingate, decided to strike at the Sultan of Darfur, Ali Dinar, who had sided with Turkey in 1915.
• 02

  • Russians capture BitlisIn early March 1916 General Abatsiev's Russian column took Bitlis, the gateway from Armenia to Mesopotamia, with a night bayonet attack in a snowstorm.
• 03

  • Provisional partition of KamerunIn early March 1916 London and Paris agreed a provisional partition of conquered Kamerun. The Picot line gave France almost the whole colony, including Duala.
• 04

  • Möwe returns from her first cruiseOn 4 March 1916 Germany announced the raider Möwe's return from a cruise of over two months. She sank or took 15 ships; her mines sank a British battleship.
  • Russian landing at AtinaAt dawn on 4 March 1916 Russian plastuns landed at Atina, behind a Turkish position on the Black Sea. The Turks fled and the road to Rize lay open.
• 05

  • Key eventStart of the Kilimanjaro offensiveOn 5 March 1916 General Stewart's 1st Division set off south from Longido. It was to go round Kilimanjaro from the west and cut off the German retreat.
  • Resignation of FarmanfarmaAt the turn of February and March 1916 the government of Prince Farmanfarma, Britain's closest friend in Tehran, fell. It had lasted just over two months.
  • Resignation of the Persian foreign ministerAlong with Farmanfarma's government in March 1916, Persia's foreign minister Moshaver ol-Mamalek left office, not Mohtasham os-Saltaneh as the chronology says.
• 06

  • Newton Baker becomes US Secretary of WarOn 6 March 1916 Wilson announced that the new US Secretary of War would be Newton Baker, former mayor of Cleveland, seen as a pacifist. He replaced L. Garrison.
  • Sepahsalar becomes prime minister of PersiaIn early March 1916 Mohammad Vali Khan Tonekaboni, the Sepahsalar, hero of the 1909 revolution and advocate of accord with Russia, became Persian premier.
  • Sarem od-Dowleh becomes foreign minister of PersiaIn early March 1916 Prince Akbar Mirza, Sarem od-Dowleh, a grandson of Naser al-Din Shah educated in England, became head of Persian diplomacy.
• 08

  • Defeat at DujailaOn 8 March 1916 the Tigris Corps attacked the Dujaila Redoubt near Kut after a night march. The assault failed; Townshend's garrison awaited relief in vain.
• 09

  • Key eventGermany declares war on PortugalOn 9 March 1916 the German minister Friedrich Rosen handed over a note in Lisbon stating that Germany considered itself at war with Portugal.
• 10

  • British retake TavetaOn 10 March 1916 South African horsemen drove the Germans out of Taveta below Kilimanjaro. The border settlement returned to British hands after 18 months.
• 11

  • Fighting at Latema Nek beginsOn 11 March 1916 Gen. Tighe's troops attacked the Germans on the Latema and Reata hills by Taveta head-on. Day assaults failed; a night bayonet attack followed.
  • Start of the Fifth Battle of the IsonzoOn 11 March 1916 the Italian artillery opened fire along the whole Isonzo front. Cadorna began a limited offensive to relieve Verdun at France's request.
• 12

  • End of the fighting at Latema NekAt dawn on 12 March 1916 the British saw their own men on the Latema ridge. The Germans had left the pass during the night and fallen back towards Kahe.
  • Reports of the capture of KerendAccording to British sources, on 12 March 1916 the Russians took Kerend on the Kermanshah–Baghdad road. They did not hold it: in April the Turks defended it.
  • Third Chantilly ConferenceOn 12 March 1916 at Chantilly Allied commanders resolved that a joint offensive would start soon to relieve Verdun, and that the Salonika army would stay.
• 13

  • British occupy MoshiOn 13–14 March 1916 van Deventer's horsemen reached Moshi, terminus of the railway from Tanga. The town was empty; the Germans had fallen back to the south.
• 14

  • British retake SollumOn 14 March 1916 General Peyton's troops entered Sollum unopposed, and the Duke of Westminster's armoured cars routed the fleeing Senussi forces.
  • Dismissal of Alfred von TirpitzIn mid-March 1916 Grand Admiral Alfred von Tirpitz, creator of the German navy, left office after losing the dispute over submarine warfare.
• 15

  • Austria-Hungary breaks off relations with PortugalOn 15 March 1916, six days after the German declaration of war, Austria-Hungary broke off diplomatic relations with Portugal. Its minister left Lisbon.
  • Key eventAustria-Hungary at war with PortugalOn 15 March 1916 Austria-Hungary followed Germany and broke with Portugal. The two were now at war, though by contemporary sources with no separate declaration.
  • Eduard von Capelle becomes naval secretaryOn 15 March 1916 Berlin announced that Tirpitz's successor at the Imperial Naval Office would be Admiral Eduard von Capelle, his long-time collaborator.
  • António José de Almeida becomes prime minister of PortugalOn 15 March 1916 the Evolutionist António José de Almeida took charge of the wartime "Sacred Union" government. Afonso Costa became its finance minister.
• 16

  • Sudanese troops enter DarfurOn 16 March 1916 Kelly's mounted units left En Nahud for the Darfur border. By the end of March they held the wells of Umm Shanga and Jebel el Hilla.
  • Roques replaces GallieniOn 16 March 1916 the gravely ill Gallieni resigned as Minister of War. His successor was General Pierre Roques, 1st Army commander and an old friend of Joffre.
  • Russians take MamahatunOn 16 March 1916 a Russian outflanking detachment entered Mamahatun on the Erzurum–Erzincan road, taking 800 prisoners and five guns, per Allen and Muratoff.
• 17

  • End of the Fifth Battle of the IsonzoThe British chronology ends the Fifth Battle of the Isonzo on 17 March 1916. That evening the Austrians attacked at Tolmin and took over 500 prisoners.
• 18

  • Start of the Lake Naroch offensiveOn 18 March 1916 the Russian 2nd Army attacked the Germans at Lake Naroch to relieve Verdun. On the first day it lost more than 15,000 men and gained nothing.
• 19

  • Murray takes command of all troops in EgyptOn 19 March 1916 General Archibald Murray took over all troops in Egypt from General John Maxwell; they took the name Egyptian Expeditionary Force.
• 20

  • Denys Cochin heads the French blockadeIn March 1916 Briand's government put Minister of State Denys Cochin at the head of the blockade committee. He became under-secretary for it only in December.
• 21

  • Fighting at KaheOn 21 March 1916 van Deventer's horsemen took Kahe hill and station, while Sheppard's infantry stalled at the Soko Nassai. At night Lettow-Vorbeck withdrew.
  • Germans withdraw from KilimanjaroOn the night of 21–22 March 1916 Lettow-Vorbeck left his Ruvu positions and fell back along the Usambara Railway. Kilimanjaro passed to the British.
• 22

  • Yuan Shikai renounces the throneOn 22 March 1916, after the southern provinces rebelled and his own generals refused support, Yuan Shikai cancelled the monarchy. He stayed President.
• 24

  • Key eventTorpedoing of the SussexOn 24 March 1916 UB-29 torpedoed the French passenger ferry Sussex without warning in the Channel. At least 50 people died; Americans were among the wounded.
• 28

  • Inter-Allied conference in ParisOn 27–28 March 1916 representatives of eight Allied states met in Paris. They proclaimed unity of military, economic and diplomatic action.
• 29

  • Shuvayev replaces PolivanovAt the end of March 1916 Tsar Nicholas II dismissed the Minister of War, Aleksei Polivanov. He was succeeded by the army's chief quartermaster, Dmitry Shuvayev.
  • General Oka resignsAt the end of March 1916 Japan's war minister Oka Ichinosuke left office through illness. During his tenure Japan entered the war and took Tsingtao.
• 30

  • Sinking of the hospital ship PortugalOn 30 March 1916 the German U-33 torpedoed the Russian hospital ship Portugal in the Black Sea off Rize. Between 85 and 115 people died, including nurses.
  • Ōshima becomes Japanese minister of warOn 30 March 1916 Vice-Minister General Ken'ichi Ōshima became Japan's minister of war. He held the post until 1918, including in Masatake Terauchi's cabinet.
• 31

  • Zeppelin L 15 shot downOn the evening of 31 March 1916 anti-aircraft guns on the Thames hit the airship L 15. It fell into the sea off the estuary and its crew were taken prisoner.