January 1917

January

• 01

  • Haig becomes field marshalOn 1 January 1917 Douglas Haig, British commander in France, was made a field marshal. The King called it a New Year's gift from himself and the country.
• 03

  • Anglo-Portuguese military conventionOn 3 January 1917 Portugal and Britain signed a convention on a corps for France, to fight under British command. The first troops arrived in February.
  • Fighting at Beho-Beho beginsOn 3 January 1917 Smuts's columns caught the Germans at Beho-Beho, north of the Rufiji, and Beves's brigade crossed the river. The ring began to close.
• 04

  • Sinking of the battleship PeresvetOn 4 January 1917 the Russian Peresvet, bought back from Japan, hit U-73's mines off Port Said and sank in a quarter of an hour. Sources give 91 to 252 dead.
  • Death of Frederick SelousOn 4 January 1917 at Beho-Beho the 65-year-old Captain Frederick Selous, the famous hunter and explorer, was killed. The Germans escaped across the Rufiji.
• 05

  • Rome conferenceOn 5–7 January 1917 the Allies conferred in Rome. Lloyd George wanted to send Italy heavy guns for an offensive on the Isonzo, but the plan was shelved.
  • Germans take BrăilaOn 5 January 1917 German cavalry and Bulgarian infantry entered Brăila, the great grain port on the Danube. The Russians withdrew behind the Siret.
  • End of the fighting in DobrujaOn 5 January 1917 the last Russians from the bridgehead at Măcin crossed the Danube. All of Dobruja except the delta was now in the hands of the Central Powers.
• 06

  • Inter-Allied Chartering CommitteeOn 6 January 1917 London, Paris and Rome agreed to charter neutral ships jointly, through a single office in London, instead of outbidding one another.
• 08

  • Germans take FocșaniOn 8 January 1917 the Germans entered Focșani, abandoned by the Russians overnight after fighting on the Milcov. The front settled on the Putna and the Siret.
• 09

  • Start of the Battle of Kut (1917)On 9 January 1917 the Indian 3rd Division stormed Turkish trenches in the Khadairi Bend near Kut. The chronology dates the Battle of Kut, 1917 from that day.
  • Action at RafahOn 9 January 1917 Chetwode's mounted troops took the Turkish redoubts at Rafah on the Sinai border, capturing over 1,600 men. No Turks remained in Sinai.
  • Sinking of HMS CornwallisOn 9 January 1917 the German U-32 torpedoed the British battleship Cornwallis, a Dardanelles veteran, east of Malta. The ship sank and 15 sailors died.
  • Golitsyn becomes prime minister of RussiaOn 9 January 1917 the Tsar dismissed Prime Minister Trepov. The post went to 66-year-old Prince Nikolai Golitsyn, who had begged to be spared.
• 10

  • Entente reply to Wilson's noteOn 10 January 1917 the Allies replied to Wilson and for the first time jointly stated their war aims. Belgium added a separate note.
• 11

  • Central Powers' note on responsibility for the warOn 11 January 1917 Germany and Austria-Hungary answered the Entente's refusal in notes to the neutrals, blaming their enemies for the continuing war.
  • German-Turkish treaty in BerlinOn 11 January 1917 Germany and Turkey signed a package of ten legal agreements in Berlin. Based on equality, they were to replace the abolished capitulations.
• 14

  • First session of the Provisional Council of StateOn 14 January 1917 at the Royal Castle in Warsaw the members of the Provisional Council of State received their appointments. Wacław Niemojowski was marshal.
  • Explosion of the cruiser TsukubaOn 14 January 1917 the magazine of the Japanese battlecruiser Tsukuba blew up in Yokosuka harbour. The ship sank and more than 150 men were killed.
• 15

  • Italy accedes to the prize conventionOn 15 January 1917 Italy acceded to the Anglo-French convention of 1914, which settled whose courts would judge ships seized by the Allies.
• 16

  • Belyaev becomes Russian Minister of WarOn 16 January 1917 the Tsar dismissed War Minister Shuvayev. He was replaced by General Mikhail Belyaev, an efficient bureaucrat trusted by the Tsarina.
  • Pokrovsky asks to resignOn 16 January 1917 the Russian foreign minister Nikolai Pokrovsky begged the Tsar to release him and to break with Protopopov. The Tsar told him to stay.
• 19

  • Key eventThe Zimmermann TelegramOn 19 January 1917 the German embassy in Washington passed a secret offer of an alliance against the US to Mexico. The British had been reading it for two days.
• 20

  • Hoskins replaces SmutsOn 20 January 1917 General Smuts, called to London, handed over command in East Africa to General Hoskins. The Germans were beyond the Rufiji, but not beaten.
• 22

  • Peace without victoryOn 22 January 1917 Wilson called in the Senate for a "peace without victory" and a league to protect it. He also backed a united, independent Poland.
• 23

  • Harwich Force clashes with German torpedo boatsOn the night of 23 January 1917 the Harwich Force tried to intercept the German 6th Flotilla bound for Flanders. It damaged V69 but lost the destroyer Simoom.
  • Arabs capture WejhOn 23 January 1917 Arab rebels and sailors landed near Wejh in the Hejaz and forced their way into the town. Faisal made the port the revolt's new base.
• 24

  • Greece apologises to the AlliesOn 24–25 January 1917 Greece dismissed General Kallaris and formally apologised to the Entente ministers for 1 December. The flags were saluted on 29 January.
  • Allied naval conference in LondonOn 23–24 January 1917 the admiralties of Britain, France and Italy met in London on defending Mediterranean shipping. Much was said of the lack of ships.
• 25

  • Shelling of SouthwoldOn the night of 25 January 1917 German torpedo boats from Flanders shelled Southwold in Suffolk. The shells damaged a few houses; no one was killed.
• 31

  • Key eventGermany declares unrestricted submarine warfareOn 31 January 1917 Germany told the USA that from the next day its U-boats would sink all ships around the British Isles without warning.