December 1917

December

• 01

  • First meeting of the Supreme War CouncilOn 1 December 1917 the Allied Supreme War Council met at Versailles. Clemenceau told the military advisers to assess how the war should be waged in 1918.
  • Germans leave German East AfricaAt the beginning of December 1917 the British considered German East Africa conquered. Lettow-Vorbeck fought on in Mozambique, outside the colony.
• 03

  • End of the Battle of CambraiOn 3 December 1917 the Germans took La Vacquerie and the Marcoing canal bend, and Haig ordered the Bourlon Wood salient abandoned for Flesquières Ridge.
  • Armistice negotiations open at Brest-LitovskOn 3 December 1917 at Brest-Litovsk Adolph Joffe's Bolshevik delegation sat down to armistice talks with the Central Powers' officers under Gen. Hoffmann.
  • Allied Maritime Transport CouncilOn 3 December 1917 a conference in Paris decided that the Allies would allocate their ships jointly. This gave rise to the Allied Maritime Transport Council.
  • Death of General DukhoninOn 3 December 1917 Krylenko's troops occupied the Stavka at Mogilev. The arrested General Dukhonin was lynched at the station by a mob of soldiers and sailors.
• 05

  • Temporary armistice on the Eastern FrontOn 5 December 1917 at Brest-Litovsk Russia and the Central Powers signed a ten-day ceasefire, from 7 to 17 December. Talks were suspended for a week.
• 06

  • Finland declares independenceOn 6 December 1917 the Eduskunta voted 100 to 88 to adopt the declaration of independence presented by Svinhufvud's senate. Finland broke away from Russia.
  • Halifax explosionOn 6 December 1917 a French munitions ship blew up in Halifax harbour. Nearly 2,000 people died, about 9,000 were injured and the North End lay in ruins.
• 07

  • Key eventUnited States declares war on Austria-HungaryOn 7 December 1917 Congress, at Wilson's request, declared the United States at war with Austria-Hungary. Only one congressman voted against.
  • Ecuador breaks off relations with GermanyOn 7 December 1917 Ecuador broke off diplomatic relations with Germany, following Peru and Uruguay, which had done so in October.
  • American battleships join the Grand FleetOn 7 December 1917 Rear Admiral Rodman's four American dreadnoughts entered Scapa Flow. They joined the Grand Fleet as the 6th Battle Squadron.
• 08

  • Sidónio Pais's coupOn 8 December 1917, after three days of fighting in Lisbon, Costa's government fell to the revolutionary junta of Major Sidónio Pais, an opponent of the war.
• 09

  • Key eventSurrender of JerusalemOn 9 December 1917, after the Turks fled overnight, Jerusalem's mayor went out to the British with a white flag. The city surrendered without a fight or damage.
  • Sinking of the battleship WienOn the night of 9/10 December 1917 two Italian torpedo boats broke into Trieste harbour. Luigi Rizzo's MAS 9 sank the Austro-Hungarian battleship Wien.
  • Armistice of FocșaniOn 9 December 1917 at Focșani the armies of the Romanian Front signed an armistice with the Central Powers. Isolated, unbeaten Romania stopped fighting.
• 10

  • Key eventPanama declares war on Austria-HungaryOn 10 December 1917 Panama's National Assembly unanimously declared a state of war with Austria-Hungary, three days after the US Congress did so.
  • Sarrail recalledOn 10 December 1917 Clemenceau removed Gen. Sarrail from command of the Allied armies in Macedonia. He was succeeded by Gen. Guillaumat.
• 11

  • Allenby enters JerusalemOn 11 December 1917 Allenby entered Jerusalem on foot through the Jaffa Gate and proclaimed martial law, promising to protect the holy places of three faiths.
  • The Constituent Assembly fails to openThe Constituent Assembly was due to meet in Petrograd on 11 December 1917. A few dozen deputies came, and that evening Lenin outlawed the Kadets.
  • Sidónio Pais takes powerOn 11 December 1917 a revolutionary junta removed Portugal's President Bernardino Machado and exiled him, and Sidónio Pais became head of the government.
  • Declaration of the TarybaOn 11 December 1917 the Lithuanian Taryba in Vilna proclaimed an independent state with Vilna as capital, bound to Germany by a "perpetual" alliance.
• 12

  • Second bombardment of FunchalOn 12 December 1917 the German U-cruiser U-156 shelled Funchal on Madeira. In 20 minutes it fired 52 shells and killed several of the town's residents.
  • Sinking of HMS PartridgeOn 12 December 1917 four German destroyers wrecked a convoy from Lerwick off Norway. The destroyer Partridge, six ships and four trawlers were sunk.
  • Saint-Michel-de-Maurienne derailmentOn the night of 12/13 December 1917 a train carrying French soldiers on leave from Italy derailed and burned in the Alps. At least 425 men died.
• 14

  • Sinking of the cruiser ChâteaurenaultOn 14 December 1917 UC-38 torpedoed the French cruiser Châteaurenault, carrying troops to Greece, off Kefalonia. The escort sank the submarine.
• 15

  • Key eventArmistice of Brest-LitovskOn 15 December 1917 at Brest-Litovsk Soviet Russia and the Central Powers signed an armistice from the Baltic to the Black Sea, taking Russia out of the war.
  • End of the Second Offensive Battle of VerdunOn 15 December 1917, by French nomenclature, the Second Offensive Battle of Verdun ended. By autumn the fighting was only for positions on the right bank.
  • Proclamation of the Moldavian Democratic RepublicOn 15 December 1917 the Sfatul Țării in Kishinev proclaimed Bessarabia the Moldavian Democratic Republic, an equal part of a federal Russian republic.
• 16

  • Key eventCuba declares war on Austria-HungaryOn 16 December 1917 Cuba proclaimed a state of war with Austria-Hungary. President Menocal's request passed both houses of Congress in a few days.
• 17

  • Canadian general electionOn 17 December 1917 Borden's Union government won Canada's election, in effect a plebiscite on conscription. Laurier's Liberals took 62 of 65 seats in Quebec.
• 20

  • Second conscription referendum in AustraliaOn 20 December 1917 Australians rejected conscription for overseas service for the second time. Almost 54 per cent voted no, more than a year earlier.
  • Creation of the ChekaOn 20 December 1917 Lenin's government created the All-Russian Extraordinary Commission to Combat Counter-Revolution and Sabotage, headed by Felix Dzerzhinsky.
• 21

  • Start of the Battle of JaffaOn the night of 20/21 December 1917 the Scottish 52nd Division crossed the Auja north of Jaffa. The surprised Turks lost all the hills above the river by dawn.
  • Creation of the Air CouncilOn 21 December 1917 an Order in Council of King George V set the membership of the Air Council, which was to run an air force independent of the army and navy.
• 22

  • End of the Battle of JaffaOn 22 December 1917 XXI Corps advanced past the Yarkon, pushing the Turks back to Arsuf against little resistance. Jaffa and its port were out of Turkish range.
  • Peace negotiations open at Brest-LitovskOn 22 December 1917 the Central Powers and Soviet Russia opened a peace conference at Brest-Litovsk. Joffe set out six principles of peace without annexations.
  • Changes in Haig's staffOn 22 December 1917 BEF Quartermaster-General Ronald Maxwell stood down for Travers Clarke. After Cambrai the government forced Haig to change his staff.
• 24

  • Jellicoe dismissedOn Christmas Eve 1917 Eric Geddes dismissed the First Sea Lord, John Jellicoe, by letter. His place was taken by Admiral Rosslyn Wemyss.
• 26

  • End of the First Battle of the PiaveOn 26 December 1917 the Austrians left the Zenson bridgehead over the Piave. After the last attacks on Asolone and Col del Rosso fighting in Italy died down.
  • Defence of Jerusalem beginsOn the night of 26–27 December 1917 the Turks attacked the British near Jerusalem to retake the city. The attack broke down below the hill of Tall al-Ful.
• 27

  • Sidónio Pais becomes presidentOn 27 December 1917 Sidónio Pais, Portugal's prime minister after a coup, also took on the presidency by decree, beginning a presidential regime.
• 28

  • Pichon on France's war aimsOn 28 December 1917 Foreign Minister Pichon set out France's war aims in the Chamber of Deputies. He rejected the Brest talks and demanded Alsace-Lorraine back.
• 30

  • End of the defence of JerusalemOn 30 December 1917 the British took Beitin north of Jerusalem, and General Chetwode halted the advance. The Palestine campaign of 1917 was over.
  • French retake Monte TombaOn 30 December 1917 the French 47th Division took the Monte Tomba ridge above the Piave, with over 1,500 prisoners. It was the first French attack in Italy.
  • Sinking of the troopship AragonOn 30 December 1917 off Alexandria UC-34 torpedoed the troopship Aragon, bound for Palestine, and the destroyer Attack rescuing survivors. About 620 died.