May 1918

May

• 01

  • Germans occupy SevastopolOn 1 May 1918 the Germans entered Sevastopol and seized the old ships of the Black Sea Fleet. Admiral Sablin took the dreadnoughts out to Novorossiysk.
• 02

  • Dutch sand and gravel agreementIn early May 1918 the Netherlands yielded to Germany and resumed the transit of sand and gravel to Belgium. The Allies said it went into concrete defences.
• 03

  • Samsam ol-Saltaneh becomes prime minister of PersiaThe British chronology says that on 3 May 1918 the Bakhtiari chief Samsam ol-Saltaneh, hostile to the Entente, became Persia's premier. He resigned on 31 May.
  • Landing at PechengaOn 3 May 1918 the British cruiser Cochrane landed sailors and marines at Pechenga on the Arctic Ocean to defend it against the Finnish Whites.
• 04

  • End of the second raid on Es SaltOn 3–4 May 1918 the Australians left Es Salt and came down to the plain; by midnight all Chauvel's units but two bridgeheads were back across the Jordan.
  • Armistice of KorenevoOn 4 May 1918 at Korenevo station near Kursk, envoys of Soviet Russia and the German-Ukrainian command agreed an armistice and marked out a neutral zone.
• 05

  • French becomes Lord Lieutenant of IrelandIn early May 1918 Field Marshal John French became Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, to govern it as a "military viceroy" during the conscription crisis.
• 07

  • British take KirkukOn 7 May 1918 the British entered Kirkuk unopposed after the Turks left it overnight. Lack of supplies made them withdraw from the town by 24 May.
  • End of the Finnish Civil WarIn early May 1918 the Whites took Kotka and Hamina, and the last Reds laid down their arms on the Kymijoki. The Finnish Civil War was over.
  • Key eventPeace of BucharestOn 7 May 1918 in Bucharest the Marghiloman government signed peace with the Central Powers. Romania lost Dobruja and the Carpathian passes; Germany got its oil.
• 08

  • Key eventNicaragua declares war on GermanyOn 8 May 1918 Nicaragua announced that Congress had declared war on Germany and Austria-Hungary. President Chamorro openly sided with the United States.
  • Germans occupy RostovOn 8 May 1918 the Germans entered Rostov-on-Don, abandoned by the Bolsheviks, without a fight. Insurgent Cossacks took power on the Don.
• 09

  • Second Ostend raidOn the night of 9/10 May 1918 the British scuttled the old cruiser Vindictive in the entrance to Ostend harbour. The wreck blocked only part of the channel.
  • Lyzohub governmentIn early May 1918 Hetman Skoropadskyi entrusted the government to Fedir Lyzohub. Kadets dominated the cabinet; the Ukrainian socialists boycotted it.
  • Allied trade committee in the NetherlandsIn spring 1918 trade envoys of four Entente states formed a committee in The Hague to ensure that imports into the Netherlands did not go on to Germany.
  • Sidónio Pais elected presidentOn 9 May 1918 Sidónio Pais was proclaimed president of Portugal, elected on 28 April in the country's first ever direct election of a head of state.
• 11

  • Finno-Turkish peaceOn 11 May 1918 in Berlin representatives of Finland and Turkey signed a peace treaty. It stated that there was no state of war between the two countries.
  • Key eventFighting at KaniówIn the night of 10/11 May 1918 the Germans attacked the Polish II Corps at Kaniów. The Poles held out all day, but short of ammunition they capitulated.
  • Batum peace talksOn 11 May 1918 a Turkish-Transcaucasian peace conference met at Batum. The Turks rejected the Brest terms and demanded more land and railways.
• 12

  • Meeting at SpaOn 12 May 1918 at Spa Emperor Charles I, compromised by the Sixtus affair, agreed with Wilhelm II on a close military and economic alliance with Germany.
• 14

  • Italian raid on PolaOn the night of 13/14 May 1918 the Italian barrier-climbing boat Grillo forced some of the booms at Pola but was sunk. Her crew were taken prisoner.
• 15

  • Shelling of St KildaOn 15 May 1918 the German submarine U-90 shelled St Kilda, the remotest archipelago of the Hebrides, and destroyed a Royal Navy radio station. No one died.
  • Portuguese prime minister resignsOn 15 May 1918 Sidónio Pais's first government left office. The president himself led a cabinet of secretaries of state; no prime minister until December.
  • Turks take AlexandropolOn 15 May 1918 the Turks crossed the Arpaçay without awaiting a reply to an ultimatum and took Alexandropol. The Armenians fell back to Erivan and Karakilisa.
• 16

  • Sino-Japanese military agreementOn 16 May 1918 China and Japan signed in Peking a secret pact of joint defence against Germany and the Bolsheviks, and on 19 May a naval one. Chinese protested.
• 17

  • Arrests of Sinn Féin leadersOn the night of 17/18 May 1918 police and troops in Ireland arrested the leaders of Sinn Féin, including de Valera and Griffith, over the "German Plot".
  • Independence of the DonOn 17 May 1918 the Krug for the Salvation of the Don adopted the basic laws of the All-Great Don Host. A Cossack state under Ataman Krasnov arose on the Don.
• 18

  • Air raid on CologneOn 18 May 1918 six RAF DH.4 bombers attacked Cologne by day. The city had no warning, about 40 people were killed, and alarm spread through the Rhineland.
• 19

  • Last air raid on LondonOn the night of 19 May 1918 over 40 German bombers attacked London, killing 49 people. The Germans lost seven machines. It was their last raid on England.
  • Air raid on ÉtaplesOn the night of 19 May 1918 the Germans bombed the railway bridge at Étaples. Bombs hit hospitals and camps, killing 182 people, including a Canadian nurse.
• 21

  • Disbandment of the I Polish CorpsOn 21 May 1918 in Minsk Gen. Dowbor-Muśnicki's representative accepted a German ultimatum. The I Polish Corps was to lay down its arms and disperse home.
• 22

  • Battle of Sardarabad beginsOn 22 May 1918 the Armenians counter-attacked the Turks, who had taken Sardarabad near Etchmiadzin the day before, and retook the village and station.
  • Flu in SpainOn 22 May 1918 the Madrid press reported a mysterious illness among garrison soldiers. Neutral Spain wrote openly about the epidemic and gave it its name.
• 23

  • Key eventCosta Rica declares war on GermanyOn 23 May 1918 Federico Tinoco's government, unrecognised by Washington, declared war on Germany. Congress gave way only under threat of dissolution.
• 24

  • Poole in MurmanskOn 24 May 1918 the British General Frederick Poole went ashore at Murmansk to take command of Allied forces in northern Russia. He found few troops there.
• 25

  • Revolt of the Czechoslovak LegionOn 25 May 1918 Trotsky ordered the Czechoslovaks travelling on the Trans-Siberian to Vladivostok disarmed. The legionaries took up arms and seized stations.
• 26

  • Independence of GeorgiaOn 26 May 1918 the Transcaucasian Seim declared the federation dissolved and the Georgian National Council declared independence, relying on German protection.
• 27

  • Key eventThird Battle of the Aisne beginsOn 27 May 1918, after a bombardment by over 1,000 batteries, the Germans took the Chemin des Dames, broke British IX Corps and crossed the Aisne to the Vesle.
  • Germans retake CraonneAt dawn on 27 May 1918 the Germans took the Californie plateau and the ruins of Craonne, held by the British. The Allies had held the village since May 1917.
• 28

  • Americans capture CantignyOn 28 May 1918 the US 1st Division took Cantigny near Montdidier and beat off German counter-attacks. It was the first attack by an American division.
  • Azerbaijan declares independenceOn 28 May 1918 the Azerbaijani National Council proclaimed Azerbaijan's independence in Tiflis. Its capital, Baku, was however in Bolshevik hands.
  • Armenian independenceOn 28 May 1918 the Armenian National Council in Tiflis resolved to assume power over the Armenian lands. The day counts as the birth of independent Armenia.
• 29

  • Austro-Finnish peaceOn 29 May 1918 in Vienna Finland made peace with Austria-Hungary. It was the last of its four peace treaties with the Central Powers.
  • Germans retake SoissonsOn 29 May 1918 the Germans took Soissons on the Aisne. Their troops had entered it the evening before but were pulled back. The occupation lasted until August.
  • Germans take Fère-en-TardenoisOn 29 May 1918 the Germans took Fère-en-Tardenois, a railway junction and supply centre of the French Sixth Army. Clemenceau nearly fell into their hands there.
• 30

  • Victory at Skra di LegenAt dawn on 30 May 1918 the Greeks stormed the Bulgarian salient of Skra di Legen in Macedonia, took about 2,000 prisoners and beat off every counter-attack.
• 31

  • Germans reach the MarneOn 31 May 1918 the Germans stood on the Marne from Château-Thierry to Dormans, first time since 1914. The first Americans of the 3rd Division reached the town.
  • Cooreman becomes prime minister of BelgiumOn 31 May 1918 Belgian premier Charles de Broqueville resigned. The government in exile passed to the Catholic Gérard Cooreman, a banker and former Speaker.