September 1917

September

• 01

  • Battle of Riga beginsOn 1 September 1917, after five hours of gas and shellfire, the Germans crossed the Dvina at Ikšķile near Riga and shattered the division defending the bank.
• 02

  • Night raid on DoverOn the night of 2 September 1917 one or two German bombers struck Dover without warning. An officer was killed, and Germany began its night raids on England.
• 03

  • End of the Battle of MărășeștiOn 3 September 1917 Eben and Grigorescu ordered attacks halted and positions dug in. That evening Ecaterina Teodoroiu, the heroine of the Jiu, fell at Muncelu.
  • The Germans take RigaOn 3 September 1917 Hutier's troops entered Riga, abandoned by the Russians. Baltic Germans greeted them with flowers; Petrograd feared a march on the capital.
  • Air raid on ChathamOn the night of 3 September 1917 Gothas bombed Chatham. Two bombs hit a naval barracks hall where several hundred men were sleeping. About 130 sailors died.
• 04

  • First Gotha night raid on LondonOn the night of 4 September 1917 Gothas bombed London after dark for the first time. A bomb hit a tram by Cleopatra's Needle. In the capital 16 people died.
  • Shelling of Scarborough (1917)On the evening of 4 September 1917 the German submarine UB-21 shelled Scarborough in Yorkshire with its deck gun. Three people were killed and several wounded.
  • London conference on aid to ItalyOn 4 September 1917 in London Foch asked for consent to send Italy a hundred French heavy guns from Flanders. The War Cabinet left the decision to Haig.
• 05

  • End of the Battle of RigaOn 5 September 1917 fighting at Riga ended. The Russian Twelfth Army escaped encirclement to Wenden; Ludendorff halted the Eighth Army and sent divisions away.
  • Execution of Reichpietsch and KöbisOn 5 September 1917 at the Wahn range near Cologne the sailors Max Reichpietsch and Albin Köbis, leaders of the peace movement in the fleet, were shot.
• 08

  • Key eventKornilov affairOn 8 September 1917 Vladimir Lvov passed General Kornilov's "demands" to Kerensky, who took them for a coup and that night dismissed the commander-in-chief.
• 10

  • Kerensky declares Kornilov a traitorOn 10 September 1917 the newspapers declared General Kornilov a rebel. Kerensky, holding full powers, wavered all day, and found his support in the soviets.
• 11

  • First repatriated prisoners from SwitzerlandOn 11 September 1917, according to a British chronology, the first group of prisoners sent home from internment in Switzerland reached England.
  • Disappearance of Georges GuynemerOn 11 September 1917 Captain Georges Guynemer, a French ace with 53 victories, went missing over Poelkapelle. His body and aircraft were never found.
• 12

  • End of the Eleventh Battle of the IsonzoOn 12 September 1917 the last great Italian assault on Monte San Gabriele failed. That day the Austrians got orders for a joint offensive with the Germans.
  • Painlevé governmentOn 12 September 1917 Paul Painlevé became French Prime Minister and Ribot Foreign Minister. For the first time since 1914 no socialists sat in the government.
  • Key eventPatent on the Regency CouncilOn 12 September 1917 Germany and Austria-Hungary issued a patent giving power in the Kingdom of Poland to a three-man Regency Council, under occupiers' control.
• 14

  • Collapse of the Kornilov affairOn 13 September 1917 General Krymov shot himself in Petrograd; next day General Alekseyev arrested Kornilov in Mogilev. The revolt collapsed without a fight.
  • Russia becomes a republicOn 14 September 1917 the Provisional Government, not waiting for the Constituent Assembly, proclaimed the Russian Republic under a five-man Directory.
• 18

  • Vilna conferenceOn 18 September 1917 over 200 Lithuanian activists met in Vilna with German consent. It demanded an independent Lithuania and elected the Taryba.
• 20

  • Key eventStart of the Battle of the Menin Road RidgeOn 20 September 1917 Plumer's armies advanced at Ypres behind a huge barrage. The Australians took Glencorse Wood and Nonne Bosschen and reached Polygon Wood.
  • France recognises the Polish National CommitteeOn 20 September 1917 France became the first to recognise Roman Dmowski's Polish National Committee as an official Polish organisation based in Paris.
• 21

  • The Bernstorff affairOn 21 September 1917 Lansing released a cable in which Ambassador Bernstorff asked Berlin for $50,000 to influence Congress. Washington was in uproar.
  • Costa Rica breaks off relations with GermanyOn 21 September 1917 Federico Tinoco's government, not recognised by Washington, broke off relations with Germany, hoping to win over Wilson.
• 22

  • Germans capture JakobstadtOn 21–22 September 1917 the Germans stormed the Russian bridgehead at Jakobstadt (Jēkabpils) on the Dvina. Some 4,000–5,000 Russians were taken prisoner.
• 25

  • End of the Battle of the Menin Road RidgeOn 25 September 1917 the Germans attacked at Ypres south of Polygon Wood and pushed back the 33rd Division. Plumer still kept the attack set for the morning.
  • Boulogne conferenceOn 25 September 1917 at Boulogne Lloyd George and Painlevé agreed that the British would take over more front and the guns sent to Italy would return.
• 26

  • Key eventBattle of Polygon Wood beginsOn 26 September 1917 the Australians took Polygon Wood and the Butte near Ypres, and the British entered Zonnebeke. Artillery broke the German counter-attacks.
• 28

  • British capture RamadiOn 28 September 1917 General Brooking's 15th Division surrounded the Turks at Ramadi on the Euphrates. Next day Ahmed Bey surrendered with over 3,400 men.