June 1917

June

• 03

  • Italy proclaims a protectorate over AlbaniaOn 3 June 1917 General Giacinto Ferrero proclaimed at Gjirokastër the unity and independence of all Albania under Italian protection, unannounced to the Allies.
• 04

  • Brusilov becomes commander-in-chiefOn 4 June 1917 the Provisional Government dismissed General Alekseyev and made Brusilov commander-in-chief. He was to lead the army into a summer offensive.
  • Decree creating the Polish Army in FranceOn 4 June 1917 President Poincaré signed a decree creating in France an autonomous Polish army, fighting under the Polish flag.
  • Portuguese in action on the Western FrontOn the night of 3/4 June 1917 the Germans first attacked Portuguese trenches near Neuve-Chapelle. The 35th Infantry Battalion from Coimbra repulsed them.
• 05

  • Raid on SheernessOn 5 June 1917 Gothas bombed Shoeburyness and the naval port of Sheerness. Thirteen people died, and an anti-aircraft gun downed one bomber into the sea.
  • End of the Tenth Battle of the IsonzoOn 5 June 1917 the Austro-Hungarian counter-attack on the Karst died down. The Italians lost most of their gains at Hermada; the Tenth Isonzo battle ended.
• 06

  • Ala al-Saltaneh becomes prime minister of PersiaOn 6 June 1917 the elderly diplomat Ala al-Saltaneh again became head of the Persian government, in a Tehran haunted by the secret Punishment Committee.
• 07

  • Key eventBattle of Messines (1917) beginsOn 7 June 1917 at 3.10 a.m. 19 great mines blew up under German trenches on Messines Ridge. By evening Plumer's 2nd Army held the ridge and Oosttaverne Line.
• 08

  • Italians occupy IoanninaOn 8 June 1917 Italian troops from Albania, without warning London or Paris, occupied Ioannina, capital of Greek Epirus. Two days later they entered Preveza.
  • Pershing in EnglandOn 8 June 1917 General John Pershing and his staff landed at Liverpool. In London King George V received him, and the prime minister and generals began talks.
• 09

  • Russia rejects a German armistice offerOn 9 June 1917 Petrograd published its reply to a German radio message urging Russian troops to a separate armistice. Russia rejected it.
  • Currie takes command of the Canadian CorpsOn 9 June 1917 General Arthur Currie officially succeeded Julian Byng in command of the Canadian Corps. He was the first Canadian to lead the whole corps.
• 11

  • Jonnart's ultimatumOn 11 June 1917 High Commissioner Jonnart demanded that Prime Minister Zaimis secure King Constantine's abdication within a day. The king gave way that day.
  • Dominican Republic breaks off relations with GermanyIn June 1917 the American military government in Santo Domingo withdrew the exequatur of German consuls, so the occupied Dominican Republic broke with Germany.
• 12

  • Key eventAbdication of King ConstantineOn 12 June 1917 King Constantine I, forced by the Entente, left Athens, leaving the throne to his younger son Alexander. He did not formally abdicate.
  • Entente occupies Thessaly and the Isthmus of CorinthOn 10–12 June 1917 the French occupied the Isthmus of Corinth and entered Thessaly. On 12 June they took Larissa, and a landing force went ashore at Piraeus.
• 13

  • Key eventGotha raid on LondonOn 13 June 1917 fourteen Gothas bombed the City and East End by day, killing 162 people, 18 of them children at a Poplar school. No bomber was lost.
  • Pershing in FranceOn 13 June 1917 Gen. John Pershing and his staff landed at Boulogne. That evening crowds greeted him in Paris, and in the next days Poincaré, Joffre and Pétain.
• 14

  • Battle of Messines (1917) endsOn 14 June 1917 the British 2nd Army closed up to the German Warneton Line, ending the Battle of Messines. Gough took over the main offensive from Ypres.
  • Destruction of airship L 43On the morning of 14 June 1917 a British flying boat from Felixstowe shot down the naval airship L 43 near the island of Vlieland. The whole crew was killed.
  • Admiralty approves the convoy systemOn 14 June 1917 Admiral Jellicoe formally approved the plan of the Convoy Committee. Regular convoys from America did not begin, however, until early July.
• 15

  • Esterházy becomes Prime Minister of HungaryOn 15 June 1917 Count Móric Esterházy, 36, took over the Hungarian government. Suffrage reformers joined his cabinet, but Tisza's party ruled parliament.
• 16

  • Haiti breaks off relations with GermanyOn 16 June 1917 US-occupied Haiti sent home the German chargé d'affaires. Earlier, Germany had expelled the Haitian diplomat from Berlin.
• 17

  • Destruction of airship L 48Early on 17 June 1917 British airmen shot down the new airship L 48 over Suffolk. It fell near Theberton. Sixteen men were killed and three survived.
• 18

  • Sims in command at QueenstownOn 18 June 1917 Vice-Admiral William Sims took command at Queenstown for a few days in place of Bayly. An American was commanding ships of the Royal Navy.
• 19

  • Mutiny of the Black Sea FleetOn 19 June 1917 sailors at Sevastopol disarmed the officers of the Black Sea Fleet. Admiral Kolchak threw his sword into the sea and gave up command.
• 23

  • Seidler becomes Austrian prime ministerOn 23 June 1917 Emperor Charles I appointed the official Ernst Seidler prime minister of Austria. Clam-Martinic fell, lacking a majority once parliament met.
• 26

  • Venizelos becomes prime minister of GreeceOn 24 June 1917 Zaimis refused to revive the chamber of 1915 and resigned. On 26 June Venizelos formed a government of the whole of Greece, now reunited.
  • First American troops in FranceOn 26 June 1917 the first soldiers of the American 1st Division landed at Saint-Nazaire. The convoy from New York had crossed the Atlantic without loss.
• 27

  • Key eventGreece enters the warOn 27 June 1917 Venizelos took power in Athens. His government broke off relations with the Central Powers, and all of Greece went to war on the Entente side.
  • Sinking of the cruiser KléberOn 27 June 1917 the French armoured cruiser Kléber struck a mine laid by UC-61 at the approach to Brest and sank. Between 38 and 42 sailors were killed.
• 28

  • Allenby replaces MurrayOn 28 June 1917 Gen. Edmund Allenby took over command in Egypt from Archibald Murray. London expected him to take Jerusalem before Christmas.