June 1918

June

• 03

  • Key eventVersailles declarationOn 3 June 1918 at Versailles the French, British and Italian prime ministers made a united, independent Poland with access to the sea a condition of peace.
• 04

  • Treaties of BatumOn 4 June 1918 at Batum the Ottoman Empire made peace with Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan. Armenia kept only a scrap of land around Erivan.
• 05

  • Creation of the Independent ForceOn 5 June 1918 Hugh Trenchard took command of the British bombers near Nancy. The next day they became the Independent Force for raids on Germany.
• 06

  • End of the Third Battle of the AisneOn 6 June 1918 the British retook the hill at Bligny and the German Aisne offensive died down. The Germans stood on the Marne, but in a narrow, exposed salient.
  • Sinking of the Koningin RegentesOn 6 June 1918 the Dutch hospital ship Koningin Regentes, carrying prisoners for exchange, was torpedoed in the North Sea. Seven seamen were killed.
  • Americans attack at Belleau WoodOn 6 June 1918 US Marines took Hill 142 and Bouresches and broke into Belleau Wood. The brigade lost more than a thousand men that day.
• 07

  • British occupy KemOn 7 June 1918, on news of a Finnish White march on Kem on the White Sea, General Poole sent marines and Serbs there. They took the town without a fight.
  • Czechoslovaks take OmskOn 7 June 1918 the Bolshevik soviet fled Omsk by steamer down the Irtysh. Russian anti-Bolsheviks took the city, and next day Czechoslovak trains arrived.
• 08

  • Germans land at PotiOn 8 June 1918 two German battalions from the Crimea landed at the Georgian port of Poti, to protect Georgia from the Turks and guard the railway to Baku.
  • Bolsheviks demand the withdrawal of Entente troopsOn 8 June 1918 the Murmansk soviet read General Poole a Lenin–Chicherin telegram ordering the Allies to leave Russia at once. The soviet preferred they stay.
• 09

  • Key eventStart of the Battle of the MatzOn 9 June 1918 the German Eighteenth Army struck between Montdidier and Noyon. The French knew the hour of attack, yet by evening lost 10 km in the centre.
  • Hague conference on prisoners of warIn June 1918 a second Anglo-German conference on prisoners opened at The Hague. London sent the Home Secretary, George Cave.
• 10

  • Sinking of the Szent IstvánOn 10 June 1918 Luigi Rizzo's MAS 15 torpedoed the dreadnought Szent István off Premuda. Horthy called off the fleet's attack on the Otranto barrage.
• 12

  • Germans occupy TiflisIn June 1918 German battalions came to Tiflis at the Georgian government's invitation. On the night of 11/12 June they left to guard the Turkish border.
  • Baku Commune troops take KurdamirOn 12 June 1918 the troops of Bolshevik Baku took Kurdamir station after a short fight. The Turks, named by the chronology as its captors, entered it in July.
  • Ukrainian–Russian armisticeOn 12 June 1918 in Kiev the Ukrainian State and Soviet Russia signed a preliminary agreement halting the fighting along the whole front during the talks.
• 14

  • End of the Battle of the MatzIn mid-June 1918 the Battle of the Matz died down. After Mangin's counter-attack of 11 June the Germans broke off their attack without reaching Compiègne.
  • Turks retake TabrizIn June 1918 Ottoman troops entered Tabriz for the second time in the war. A Turkish communiqué of 14 June cited the need to cover the Caucasus front's flank.
• 15

  • Key eventStart of the Second Battle of the PiaveOn 15 June 1918 Austria-Hungary attacked at Asiago, the Grappa and the Piave. In the mountains it failed, but on the river it took the Montello and bridgeheads.
• 18

  • Scuttling of the Black Sea FleetOn 18 June 1918 at Novorossiysk sailors scuttled ships, including the dreadnought *Svobodnaya Rossiya*, rather than surrender them. The rest went to Sevastopol.
  • Franchet d'Espèrey takes command at SalonikaOn 18 June 1918 General Franchet d'Espèrey took command of the Allied armies at Salonika. Guillaumat returned to France as Military Governor of Paris.
• 20

  • Samsam ol-Saltaneh prime minister againThe British chronology records Samsam ol-Saltaneh reappointed Prime Minister of Persia on 20 June 1918. Persian sources see a cabinet reshuffle instead.
• 21

  • Radoslavov resignsOn 21 June 1918 Tsar Ferdinand appointed Malinov's government. Radoslavov's cabinet, which took Bulgaria into the war and failed over Dobruja, stood down.
• 22

  • Colours for the Polish Army in FranceOn 22 June 1918 at Mailly in Champagne regiments of the Polish Army in France received colours from French cities and swore an oath before Poincaré.
• 23

  • British reinforcements at MurmanskOn 23 June 1918 General Charles Maynard's "Syren" force and the "Elope" mission, bound for Archangel, arrived at Murmansk. Together a few hundred men.
  • Seidler government crisisOn 23 June 1918 Austrian premier Ernst Seidler, having lost the Polish Club's support, judged resignation unavoidable and offered it to Emperor Charles I.
• 24

  • End of the Second Battle of the PiaveBy 24 June 1918 the Austrians had withdrawn over the Piave and the Italians had regained the whole right bank. Austria-Hungary's last offensive ended in defeat.
  • Kühlmann's speechOn 24 June 1918 Richard von Kühlmann told the Reichstag that the war could not be ended by military decisions alone. The right was outraged.
• 27

  • Sinking of the Llandovery CastleOn 27 June 1918 U-86 torpedoed the Canadian hospital ship Llandovery Castle and fired on the lifeboats. 234 people died, including 14 nurses.
• 29

  • Lansing declarationAt the end of June 1918 Secretary of State Lansing announced that the US government held that all Slavs should be freed from German and Austrian rule.
• 30

  • Americans in ItalyAt the end of June 1918 the first US Army units, ambulance sections, reached Italy. An infantry regiment arrived only in July; airmen had been there since 1917.
  • Murmansk soviet sides with the EntenteOn 30 June 1918 the Murmansk soviet resolved to defy Moscow's orders to expel the Allies and invited the Entente to defend the region jointly against Germany.
  • Czechoslovaks take the oath at DarneyOn 30 June 1918 at Darney Czechoslovak soldiers took the oath and received a colour from Poincaré, and France recognised the Czechoslovak National Council.