July 1917

July

• 01

  • Manchu restoration in ChinaOn 1 July 1917 General Zhang Xun seized Peking and proclaimed the return of eleven-year-old Puyi to the throne. President Li Yuanhong refused to back the coup.
  • Key eventKerensky Offensive beginsOn 1 July 1917, after two days of artillery fire, Russian infantry attacked in eastern Galicia. At Koniuchy it broke through the Austro-Hungarian front.
• 02

  • Hague agreement on prisoners of warOn 2 July 1917 Britain and Germany signed an agreement on prisoners at The Hague. The Netherlands offered places for 16,000 internees from both sides.
  • First regular convoyOn 2 July 1917 convoy HH 6 left Hampton Roads, the first of a regular series of convoys sailing every four days from Virginia to Britain.
  • Battle of ZborovOn 2 July 1917 a Czechoslovak brigade in the Russian army broke the Austro-Hungarian front at Zborov. Facing it were two Czech regiments.
• 04

  • Shelling of Ponta DelgadaOn 4 July 1917 the German submarine cruiser U-155, formerly the Deutschland, shelled Ponta Delgada in the Azores. The US collier Orion drove her off.
  • Women's Battalion of DeathOn 4 July 1917 in Petrograd the banner of Maria Bochkareva's women's battalion of death was blessed. The women were meant to shame war-weary soldiers.
• 06

  • Arabs capture AqabaOn 6 July 1917 the Arab rebels of Sharif Nasir, Auda Abu Tayi and Lawrence entered Aqaba from inland. The revolt gained a port near the Palestine front.
  • Canadian House of Commons passes conscriptionEarly on 6 July 1917 the Canadian House of Commons passed the conscription bill at second reading, 118 votes to 55. Laurier's referendum motion failed.
  • Resignation of President Li YuanhongOn 6 July 1917 Vice-President Feng Guozhang assumed the duties of President of China in Nanking from Li Yuanhong, who was hiding in the Japanese legation.
  • Richthofen woundedOn 6 July 1917 over Flanders Manfred von Richthofen was shot in the head fighting British F.E.2ds. He managed to land but never fully recovered.
• 07

  • Raid on London of 7 JulyOn the morning of 7 July 1917 21 Gothas again bombed the City and East End by day. 57 people died, and Londoners' anger forced the government to act.
• 08

  • Russians abandon Qasr-e ShirinA British chronology dates the Russian withdrawal from western Persia to 8 July 1917, but the Turks took Qasr-e Shirin in June, as the Russians left.
• 09

  • Explosion of the battleship VanguardShortly before midnight on 9 July 1917 the British dreadnought Vanguard blew up in Scapa Flow. Of the 845 men aboard, only two survived.
  • Oath crisisOn 9 July 1917, at Piłsudski's call, I and III Brigade legionaries refused an oath of brotherhood in arms with Germany and Austria-Hungary. Internment followed.
• 11

  • Attack on RamadiOn 11 July 1917 the British attacked the Turks at Ramadi on the Euphrates. In heat above 50 °C the attack stalled; heatstroke claimed more men than the enemy.
• 12

  • Abdication of PuyiOn 12 July 1917 republican troops took Peking, Zhang Xun fled to the Dutch legation and Puyi gave up the throne again. The restoration lasted 12 days.
• 14

  • Michaelis becomes Reich ChancellorOn 14 July 1917 Georg Michaelis became Reich Chancellor. He replaced Bethmann Hollweg, brought down by the army chiefs with the help of Reichstag deputies.
• 16

  • The July Days in PetrogradOn 16–18 July 1917 soldiers, Kronstadt sailors and workers in Petrograd demanded "all power to the soviets". The rising collapsed and Lenin had to hide.
• 17

  • The House of WindsorOn 17 July 1917 George V announced that the British royal house would henceforth be called Windsor. The king's family renounced all German titles.
• 19

  • Battle of NarungombeOn 19 July 1917 the Kilwa columns assaulted the German trenches at Narungombe all day. The Germans withdrew at night, but the British lost more than 600 men.
  • Carson leaves the AdmiraltyIn July 1917 Edward Carson moved from the Admiralty to the War Cabinet. The railwayman and organiser Eric Geddes became First Lord of the Admiralty.
  • Reichstag peace resolutionOn 19 July 1917 the Reichstag, with Social Democrat, Centre and Progressive votes, called for a peace of understanding without forced annexations.
  • The counter-offensive in Eastern Galicia beginsOn 19 July 1917 the Germans struck the Russian Eleventh Army near Złoczów. Within hours they broke through all its lines, and Russian soldiers began to flee.
• 20

  • Corfu DeclarationOn 20 July 1917 on Corfu, Nikola Pašić and Ante Trumbić signed a declaration on a future Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes under the Karađorđević dynasty.
• 21

  • Kerensky becomes prime minister of RussiaOn 21 July 1917, after Prince Lvov's resignation, Alexander Kerensky became head of the Provisional Government. He also kept the ministry of war and the navy.
• 22

  • Battle of Mărăști beginsOn 22 July 1917 Averescu's Romanian Second Army opened fire on German positions in Vrancea. It was Romania's first offensive in six months.
  • Key eventSiam declares war on Germany and Austria-HungaryOn 22 July 1917 King Vajiravudh declared war on Germany and Austria-Hungary. At dawn the Siamese interned the Germans and seized nine German ships.
  • Key eventArrest of PiłsudskiOn the night of 21–22 July 1917 the Germans arrested Józef Piłsudski and Kazimierz Sosnkowski in Warsaw. The Commandant spent over a year in Magdeburg.
• 24

  • Fall of Tarnopol and StanislauOn 24 July 1917 the Austrians entered Stanislau, and on the morning of 25 July the Germans entered Tarnopol. Retreating Russian soldiers looted both towns.
• 25

  • Paris conference on the BalkansOn 25–26 July 1917 the Allies met in Paris on the Balkans. The British wanted to take a division from Salonika, but the other Allies opposed it as one.
• 27

  • Franco-Italian agreement on Asia MinorOn 26–27 July 1917 France and Italy exchanged notes in Paris, fixing the boundary of their future zones in Asia Minor on the Lamas river, west of Mersin.
• 28

  • End of the counter-offensive in eastern GaliciaOn 28 July 1917 the Germans reached the Zbruch frontier river at Husiatyn and their strike group halted near Tarnopol. Russia had lost almost all of Galicia.
  • Formation of the Tank CorpsOn 28 July 1917 the British tank units were separated from the Machine Gun Corps as an independent Tank Corps. It was commanded by General Hugh Elles.
• 30

  • The Austrians retake ZaleszczykiAt the end of July 1917 the Hungarian 38th Honvéd Division took the Russian bridgehead at Zaleszczyki on the Dniester. The chronology records it under 30 July.
  • Siegfried Sassoon's protestOn 30 July 1917 the Commons heard the protest of the poet Siegfried Sassoon, a decorated officer who refused to serve on in a war he saw as wilfully prolonged.
• 31

  • Key eventThird Battle of Ypres beginsOn 31 July 1917 the British and French attacked from Ypres. They took Pilckem Ridge but stalled on the Gheluvelt plateau, and in the afternoon a downpour began.
  • Kornilov becomes commander-in-chiefOn 31 July 1917 the Provisional Government dismissed Brusilov and gave the supreme command to General Kornilov, who at once set conditions for Kerensky.