Hiatus

Due to family obligations I have been up able to take the time to research and write post for this blog. I intend to keep this project going but I will need to take a hiatus. I hope to resume (and can catch up on the missed months) in June. Thank you for you interest in following the blog.

February 7, 1915

One Hundred years ago today the Second Battle of the Masurian Lakes began. This battle had its origins in that the German high command was split on how the war was to be prosecuted at this point. Germany could not sustain a war against Russia in the east and France in the west at the same time. Germany needed to force the surrender of one of these nations soon or the war would become unwinnable. Some in the German high command felt that the army should focus on the Western Front other felt that the focus should be on the Eastern Front. The French army was strong but the German army was already deep into France. The Russian army was weak but the German army would have to invade hundreds of miles into Russia to have any real impact.

As 1915 began, even the most staunch supporters of focusing on the Western Front knew that the situation on the Western Front had become static. However the Russians were still reeling from a string of defeats in the fall. A plan was formed to launch two major offensives against Russia. One conducted by the German army in the what is today northeast Poland and one conducted by the Austro-Hungarian army in what is today southeast Poland.  These would smash the bulk of the Russian army leaving its frontier more or less undefended. It was the German high commands hopes that after the Russian army was in tatters the Russian Empire would approach Germany with a separate peace offer in the hopes of not losing territory, or perhaps swapping some territory for peace (Germany was unaware that Russia, France and Great Britain had previously signed an agreement with each other stating they would not pursue separate peace talks with Germany). With Russia out of the way Austria-Hungary could finally crush Serbia and perhaps Bulgaria or Romania could be enticed to join German as allies. With new allies and no eastern front to worry about German could defeat France to the west, or at least this was the plan.

So on February 7, 1915 in the middle of a snowstorm the German army launch a surprise attack against Russia (in what is today northeastern Poland) and for the second time in less than a year the German army smashed the Russian army near the Masurian Lakes. The Russian forces were caught by surprise not expecting a major offensive in winter. German forces penetrated deep into Russian territory and much of Russian army was in full retreat. The German army was in a prime position to surround the bulk of the Russian army in northern Poland and destroy it. The Russian army would have been doomed if it was not for the sacrifice of tens of thousands Russian soldiers who held an untenable position in Augustow forest. When the German army started to surround the Augustow forest, instead of retreating these soldiers held position in the forest and defended it until February 22, 1915, when the last of the remaining Russian soldiers surrendered. Their sacrifice bought the rest of the Russian army the time it needed to escape and reorganize. On February 23, 1915, the Russian army launched a counter attack bring the German advance to an end and ended the Second Battle of the Masurian Lakes. The Russian suffered horrendous losses, over 100,000 casualties and another 100,000 were captured. German losses were paltry by comparison, only losing about 16,000 casualties.

Though the battle was a massive victory for the Germans it fell short of the ultimate goal. The Russian army remained intact. In the north the Russian army suffered terrible losses, but narrowly escaped destruction and the Austro-Hungarian offensive to the south stalled and made little progress. The Second Battle of the Masurian Lakes was over and the war on the Eastern Front would continue. 

January 31, 1915

One Hundred years ago today the first large scale use of chemical weapons occurred during World War One. Germany was in a precarious situation at this point in the war. It was deadlocked on two fronts and would be overwhelmed if the situation did not change. German could not overcome the entrenched armies of the French and British to the west and was pressed by large number of Russian armies to the east. On January 31, 1915 the German army experimented with a new weapon in the hopes of breaking the stalemate. Near Bolimov (in modern day central Poland) German artillery fired approximately 18,000 shells at Russian positions. But instead of high explosives the shells were filled with xylyl bromide. Each shell contained about seven pounds of the chemical and a small explosive charge to spread the substance. Xylyl bromide was similar to what we would call tear gas today. The attack had little effect as the cold weather froze the xylyl bromide solid and the shells did little more than spread a white harmless powder over the battlefield. It is likely the Russian soldiers were unaware that they had been subject to a chemical attack. But the attack did trigger a Russian counter attack and the ensuing battle resulted in 60,000 casualties on both side with only the use of conventional weapons.

It should be noted that this was not the first use of chemical weapons during the war. On the onset of the war the French issued grenades to its soldiers that contained ethyl bromoacetate, another tear gas like substance. It was use to almost no effect (it was reported to cause little more than sneezing fits) and after the French depleted their stocks of the grenades they did not manufacture more.

The use of “asphyxiating” weapons was prohibited by the Hague convention prior to the war (the prohibition of which all the major participants of the war had agreed to uphold). The French used ethyl bromoacetate with the argument that it did not result in suffocation, and thus not banned by the Hague convention. The Germans would repeat this explanation when using xylyl bromide. However, the Germans would cite the French use of ethyl bromoacetate as justification when it used more lethal chemical weapons later in the war.      

January 26, 1915

One Hundred years ago today Ottoman forces in Palestine attacked British forces in control of the Suez Canal. These attacks were the start of series of raids which were intended to disrupt shipping through the canal, which would impact the British economy and take pressure of the Ottoman's German allies.

As the raids continued it was the beginning of a series of battles in the Sinai Peninsula. Both the British and the Ottoman Empires would deploy increasing larger forces to the region in the months and years to come. But much of the fighting would be limited to a small scale when compared to the battles in Europe . The lack of water in the region made it difficult for either side to launch major operations in the Sinai, making the region yet another where armies would become deadlocked. Little would change in 1915 with the Ottomans raiding British forces along the Suez Canal and British Forces sending raids out in to the desert of the Sinai to take control of water sources in an attempt to limit the Ottomans ability to approach the Suez. 

Though the Germans were hopeful the Ottomans could significantly slow, or even stop traffic through the Suez the Ottomans would never achieve this. As the war continued, the Ottomans would be forced on the defensive and would never be able to muster sufficient forces to seriously threaten British holdings in Egypt.  

     

January 19, 1915

One hundred years ago today the first Zeppelin air raid was conducted by Germany against Great Britain.

A Zeppelin was a large type of airship (a blimp like aircraft with a ridged structure). Zeppelins were  viewed as a super weapon in their day. They could fly higher than any contemporary airplane and could fly higher than any ground based artillery could fire with any degree of accuracy. At the start of 1915 a high altitude raid from a Zeppelin was unstoppable. If was the intent of the German commanders to attack naval facilities along the east coast of England. But the same high altitude that protected the Zeppelins also prevented any accuracy when bombing targets. The result was that bombs were dropped, almost indiscriminately, on British seaside towns that had naval facilities.

The bombing attacks on January 19, 1915 killed four and wounded. Though the bombings only resulted in minor damage the psychological effect it had on the British public and government was intense. As the bombings continued and became more and more destructive the British military expended massive amounts of resources trying to halt these raids in an attempt to respond the nation wide fear of Zeppelin raids.