March 1918

March

• 01

  • Treaty between Red Finland and Soviet RussiaOn 1 March 1918 in Petrograd Lenin's government and the Finnish Reds signed a treaty of friendship. Russia ceded its property in Finland and promised Petsamo.
• 02

  • Germans occupy KievOn 1–2 March 1918 Ukrainian People's Republic troops entered Kiev, followed by the Germans. The Central Rada soon returned, but under German protection.
• 03

  • Key eventTreaty of Brest-LitovskOn 3 March 1918 Soviet Russia signed peace with the Central Powers at Brest. It lost Poland, Lithuania, Courland, Livonia, Estonia, Finland and Ukraine.
  • British occupy MashhadThe British chronology records the entry of East Persia Cordon troops into Mashhad on 3 March 1918. Other sources say they arrived there in mid-March.
• 04

  • Germans take NarvaOn the morning of 4 March 1918, a day after peace at Brest, the Germans entered Narva, abandoned by Dybenko's sailors. They went no further towards Petrograd.
  • First flu cases at Camp FunstonOn 4 March 1918 a cook, Albert Gitchell, fell ill with flu at Camp Funston in Kansas. Within three weeks more than 1,100 soldiers had been hospitalised.
• 05

  • Peace of BufteaOn 5 March 1918 at Buftea Romania signed a preliminary peace with the Central Powers. It ceded Dobruja and accepted a border correction and demobilisation.
  • Germans land on the Åland IslandsOn 5 March 1918 a German squadron carrying a Jäger battalion reached Eckerö in the Åland Islands, held by the Swedes since February. Sweden gave way.
• 07

  • Giants raid LondonOn the night of 7 March 1918 German giant bombers attacked London without moonlight. A bomb weighing a ton destroyed houses in Warrington Crescent.
  • German–Finnish peaceOn 7 March 1918 in Berlin Hertling and envoys of Finland's White government signed a peace treaty and a trade agreement. Finland entered Germany's orbit.
  • Note on the Dutch shipsOn 7 March 1918 Britain demanded that the Dutch hand the Allies their ships with no limits on waters, by 18 March. The Hague replied conditionally.
• 09

  • British take HitOn 9 March 1918 the British Indian 15th Division took Hit on the Euphrates without a fight, after the Turks had abandoned it. A day later it entered Sahiliya.
  • Romanian–Soviet treatyOn 9 March 1918 in Odessa Rakovsky signed an agreement with Romania. The Romanians promised to leave Bessarabia within two months, but never did.
• 10

  • Attack on the hospital ship Guildford CastleOn 10 March 1918 a U-boat fired two torpedoes in the Bristol Channel at the hospital ship Guildford Castle with 438 wounded. One hit but did not explode.
• 11

  • First meeting of the Allied Maritime Transport CouncilFrom 11 to 14 March 1918 the Allied Maritime Transport Council met in London. It approved a coal plan for Italy and accepted a 10m-ton import shortfall.
  • Airship raid on NaplesOn the night of 10–11 March 1918 the German airship L 59, flying from Bulgaria, bombed Naples. Sixteen people were killed; the military targets were unharmed.
• 12

  • Turks retake ErzurumOn 12 March 1918 Ottoman troops entered Erzurum, abandoned overnight by Andranik's Armenians. They had lost the fortress to the Russians in February 1916.
  • Averescu resignsOn 12 March 1918 General Averescu resigned when King Ferdinand admitted that he no longer had confidence in his government. Marghiloman arrived in Iași.
  • Moscow becomes the capital of RussiaOn 10–11 March 1918 Lenin's government secretly moved from Petrograd to Moscow, announcing it on 12 March. Moscow was the capital again after 200 years.
• 13

  • Germans occupy OdessaOn 13 March 1918 German and Austro-Hungarian troops entered Odessa. The Odessa Soviet Republic collapsed and its authorities fled by ship to Sevastopol.
  • Chicherin and TrotskyOn 13 March 1918 Trotsky left the Commissariat for Foreign Affairs and took over military affairs. Soviet diplomacy passed to Georgy Chicherin.
• 14

  • Congress of Soviets ratifies the Treaty of Brest-LitovskOn 14 March 1918 the Fourth Extraordinary Congress of Soviets met in Moscow. Next day it approved the Brest treaty, and the Left SRs left Lenin's government.
• 15

  • Protectorate over CourlandOn 15 March 1918 Wilhelm II recognised the Duchy of Courland, proclaimed a week earlier by a Baltic German council, as a state closely tied to the Reich.
• 16

  • Russians leave HamadanOn 16 March 1918 the last regular Russian troops left Hamadan. Only Bicherakhov's Cossacks, now paid by the British, remained in western Persia.
• 17

  • Germans occupy NikolayevOn 17 March 1918 Central Powers troops entered Nikolayev, the centre of Black Sea shipbuilding. In its yards they seized an unfinished battleship.
• 18

  • Allies reject the Treaty of Brest-LitovskOn 18 March 1918 the Entente premiers and foreign ministers declared that they did not recognise the Brest peace, warning of a fourth partition of Poland.
  • Marghiloman becomes prime minister of RomaniaOn 18 March 1918 King Ferdinand entrusted the government to the Germanophile Alexandru Marghiloman. Constantin Arion became foreign minister.
• 20

  • Allied Blockade CommitteeIn March 1918 Britain, France, Italy and the United States set up the Allied Blockade Committee in London to coordinate policy towards the neutrals.
• 21

  • Key eventOperation Michael beginsOn 21 March 1918, after a five-hour bombardment and in thick fog, three German armies broke the British front on the Somme. The British lost over 38,000 men.
  • Crossing of the JordanOn the night of 21–22 March 1918 London swimmers took ropes across the swollen Jordan at Hajlah. By 23 March the British had built five bridges over the river.
  • Destroyer action off DunkirkBefore dawn on 21 March 1918 Allied destroyers intercepted a German raid off Dunkirk. They sank two torpedo boats, but a French torpedo hit HMS Botha.
  • Requisition of Dutch shipsOn 20–21 March 1918 the United States and Britain, invoking the right of angary, seized Dutch ships in their ports. The Netherlands protested.
• 23

  • Paris shelled by a long-range gunOn 23 March 1918 shells fired from about 120 km away began to fall on Paris. Thus began the shelling of the city by a German long-range gun.
• 24

  • Key eventGermans take Bapaume and PéronneOn 24 March 1918 the Germans crossed the old Somme battlefield. Péronne was theirs, the British gave up Bapaume at night, and at Dury Pétain alarmed Haig.
  • Fighting at Es SaltOn 24–25 March 1918 London infantry broke weak defences below the hills of Moab; on the evening of the 25th Australian horsemen rode into Es Salt unopposed.
  • British occupy KermanshahOn 24 March 1918 the first British detachment reached Kermanshah, fifty riflemen of the Hampshire Regiment with Lt-Col. Capper and Consul Kennion.
• 25

  • Key eventGermans capture NoyonOn 25 March 1918 Hutier's army broke the French reinforcements on the Oise and entered Noyon in the evening. The gap between the French and British widened.
  • Belarusian People's RepublicOn 25 March 1918, in German-occupied Minsk, the Rada of the Belarusian People's Republic declared Belarus independent. Germany did not recognise the new state.
• 26

  • Germans take Albert, Chaulnes and RoyeOn 26 March 1918 the Germans took Roye and Chaulnes south of the Somme, and in the evening entered the ruins of Albert with its famous "Leaning Virgin".
  • Fighting at Khan al-BaghdadiOn 26 March 1918 the 15th Division's infantry took the Turkish trenches at Khan al-Baghdadi on the Euphrates; cavalry and armoured cars cut off the retreat.
  • Key eventDoullens conferenceOn 26 March 1918, in the town hall at Doullens, the French and British entrusted General Foch with coordinating the Allied armies on the Western Front.
• 27

  • Key eventFighting at RosièresOn 27 March 1918 six exhausted divisions of British XIX Corps held off an attack by eleven German divisions before Rosières, on the road to Amiens.
  • Germans take MontdidierOn 27 March 1918 French corps at the junction with the British fell back, and the German 18th Army entered Montdidier, south of Amiens, without a fight.
  • Attack on AmmanFrom 27 to 30 March 1918 Australian and New Zealand horsemen, the Camel Brigade and London infantry assaulted Amman. In rain and mud they failed to take it.
• 28

  • Key eventGerman attack at ArrasOn 28 March 1918 the Germans attacked at Arras in Operation Mars. The British defence held; in the evening Ludendorff called it off and turned to Amiens.
  • British occupy AnaOn 28 March 1918 British armoured cars drove unopposed into Ana on the Euphrates, and beyond the town freed two officers whom the Turks had taken prisoner.
  • Dismissal of GoughOn 28 March 1918 Gen. Hubert Gough handed the retreating Fifth Army to Gen. Henry Rawlinson. The government made him the scapegoat for defeat on the Somme.
• 29

  • Germans take PoltavaOn 29 March 1918 the Ukrainian Zaporozhian Division and German troops drove the Bolsheviks out of Poltava. The road to Kharkov and eastern Ukraine lay open.
  • Shell hits the church of Saint-GervaisOn Good Friday, 29 March 1918, a Paris Gun shell hit the church of Saint-Gervais during a service. The collapsing vault killed about 90 worshippers.