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THE FIRST WORLD WAR: A DOCUMENTARY RECORD Series One: European War 1914-1919, the War Reserve Collection (WRA-WRE) from Cambridge University Library
Part 1: The Card Catalogue and Manuscript Listings
Editorial Introduction by Dr. J.M. Winter
Between 1914 and 1918 the University of Cambridge was a hollow institution. Its primary raison d’etre – the education of undergraduate men – was eclipsed, and even though women and foreigners were still taught and examined, the University virtually came to a halt during the dark years of war. Education mattered less than military service, an unavoidable fact which rendered marginal most of the teaching, research and pastoral work of senior resident members of the University.
Some filled the void by engaging in war-related work, or by writing patriotic tracts, sermons or poems. Others spoke out against the war, or tried to find a way forward through activity related to post-war reconstruction. Some tried to keep in touch with former students in uniform and their families, and to help in any way possible console those whose sons, husbands, brothers and fathers were killed in the war.
Another task was to ensure that a documentary record of these momentous days was kept and preserved for posterity. This aim was the origin of the War Reserve Collection of Cambridge University, as it was of similar collections in Paris (the Bibliothèque du documentation internationale contemporaine at the University of Paris X at Nanterre); in Stuttgart (Kriegsbibliothek, now the Bibliothek fUr Zeitgeschichte); and in California (at the Hoover Institution, Stanford University).
In each case one individual was instrumental in providing the vision and stamina necessary to create a full documentary record of the war. In Cambridge it was Francis Jenkinson, Fellow of Trinity College, and University Librarian. Jenkinson decided in 1915 to write to every conceivable public and institutional office or personal contact, asking friends and colleagues if they would care to deposit official and ephemeral material on the war in the Cambridge University Library.
The outcome of his efforts is the collection here preserved and available for the first time in microfilm. It is an extraordinary record of the voices of ordinary people swept up in the whirlwind of the war. Anyone interested in the attempts of soldiers, civilians, and neutrals to understand or make sense of the war will profit from using this resource.
The material in it is strongest in what may be called the cultural history of the war. By that I mean first the struggle of governments to present the war as a conflict of good versus evil, of higher versus lower values, of one civilization versus another. The history of wartime propaganda can be written from this collection alone. Secondly, the cultural history of the war is here disclosed in its unofficial aspects. That is, most propaganda was not commissioned or produced by governments, but came from the private sector or from private initiatives. Civilian voices are here in abundance. Thirdly, and perhaps most originally, the cultural history of the men in uniform is described here in their own words. There is a rich, and to a degree, unparalleled collection of trench journals, flysheets and papers produced by men in uniform, most of the time at or near the front line. These newspapers provided evidence of soldiers’ attitudes and anger, at the enemy, at civilian ignorance of their hardships, and at the seemingly endless nature of the war itself.
The military, economic, diplomatic and political history of the war is also abundantly documented. Much material contained here is very rare. The official history of the blockade of Germany was not circulated; neither was the history of the Ministry of Munitions. Both can be read in their entirety in this collection. The complex diplomatic record associated with the war crisis of 1914, with attempts at mediation during the conflict, and with peacemaking is similarly preserved in easily usable form.
In sum, Jenkinson succeeded in providing ‘an essential record and a particularly valuable tool for the study of the Great War, at school, at university or research levels. It will remain for years to come a rich resource for anyone interested in twentieth century history, in the history of international conflict, or simply in the capacity of ordinary people to survive and transcend the disasters of this century’. J M Winter Pembroke College, Cambridge
THE FIRST WORLD WAR: A DOCUMENTARY RECORD Series One: European War 1914-1919, the War Reserve Collection (WRA-WRE) from Cambridge University Library
Part 1: The Card Catalogue and Manuscript Listings
Publisher's Note
Beginning our major microfilm series on the First World War we are making available to a wider audience for the first time the riches of the Cambridge War Reserve Collection. Part 1 provides the Card Catalogue and Manuscript Listings which highlight the great range and scope of the material covered. We are very pleased that Dr J M Winter, University Lecturer in History and Fellow of Pembroke College, Cambridge has agreed to act as our Consultant Editor for this project.
The Great War, with its tale of splendour and misery, stirred Francis Jenkinson profoundly. As Cambridge University Librarian, Jenkinson decided at the beginning of 1915 to embark upon a comprehensive and systematic collection of all materials pertaining to the European conflict. He set to work at once, writing in all directions, literally from China to Peru, to public offices at home and abroad, to men on every front, to English exiles and to sympathetic neutrals.
The result was the Cambridge War Reserve Collection which documents the military campaigns, the social and political scene, the role of women, the impact of science and technology, reconstruction, Versailles and the League of Nations, and the unsatisfactory and inconclusive nature of the peace.
Much poignant and detailed information is revealed through letters and poems, press cuttings from foreign newspapers, propaganda, eye witness accounts, personal reminiscences and diaries, pamphlets and leaflets, posters, postcards and photographs.
A flavour of some of the material is given by Jenkinson’s own letters:
“Dear Sir I see in the Morning Post reference to the Fifth Gloucester Gazette, and your name is mentioned in connexion with the poems of Lieut. F.W. Harvey. I am making great efforts to get together a War Collection for preservation in this library, as likely to be interesting hereafter and also useful. I have a certain number of trench magazines, etc, but I have not this. Can you help me get a set? Or pass this on to some one who can and will? So many of these publications will disappear after the War that copies ought to be housed in a few safe places.
Believe me, Yours faithfully FRANCIS JENKINSON Librarian”
In May 1915 he wrote:
“An attempt is being made to form an historical collection of pamphlets, newspapers, proclamations, fly sheets, etc…., illustrative of the War”
In 1916 he wrote
“A special effort has been made to collect, while it is still possible, such ephemeral literature arising out of the War as might hereafter be interesting and useful to students. German propaganda literature has been accumulated chiefly from Italy, Spain, the United States, and some of the South American Republics. Much of this is printed in Germany; but some is produced by partisans at Genoa, Barcelona, Castellon, New York, Chicago, Shanghai, Bogatá, Medellin, Barranquilla, San José, Santiago, Curaçoa…. All serial publications, newspapers, pamphlets, posters, leaflets…., connected with the war have been welcomed, and much help has been given by kind friends, both here and abroad.”
C E Sayle’s editorial piece on the War Collection in ULC (a short periodical record of library achievements published between 1920 and 1923) highlights:
“Among the novelties which form part of the Collection may be mentioned 2 balloons received from Viscount Esher, used for the distribution of propaganda leaflets over the enemy lines; a large number of War Posters from T. Knox-Shaw MA, Lt J.G.A. North and others, some of which were obtained from hoardings in the occupied territory; postcards and letters from prisoners of war; regimental Christmas Cards; a specimen of a cheap novel in Low German, in which is inserted a sheet of printed matter containing news of officers and men in prisoner’s camps in this and other countries; Bolshevik paper money; local credit notes issued in France and Belgium and many other items.”
According to C E Sayle the Collection contains over 10,000 items. He adds that
“These contributions are due entirely to the enthusiasm and energy of the Librarian, who has in most cases made a personal appeal to the donors. We are greatly indebted to all those who have interested themselves in our work, and helped to preserve the memorials of the Great War.”
“…there can be no doubt that he rendered a great public service….and that some day the historian….will turn with avidity to the ill-printed scraps, often stained with the Flanders mud, to the pages of The Grim Old Lion’s Dare Devil Gazette or The Two-Asuere, and bless the man who managed to save them from the dust heap.”
Above all C E Sayle says that Jenkinson’s decision to embark on such a collection was an act of great “mental alertness, vision and initiatory genius”.
The microfilm project tries to capture all aspects of the great conflict. In particular, to highlight the role of industry, the part played by women, the views and experiences of the soldiers themselves, the significance of propaganda, the different phases of the war, the unsatisfactory nature of the Peace Settlement and the need for Post-War Reconstruction, the project brings together a fascinating diversity of source material.
The material will be reproduced in stages:
Part 1 makes available the full card catalogue Index and Manuscript Listings. These are essential to all researchers using the Collection.
Part 2 portrays the conflict through a host of personal reminiscences. The varied range of this material – poignant, bitter, hopeful, anxious, desperate or elated, often emotional and always vivid – is a great tribute to Jenkinson’s collecting abilities. Such documents tell the researcher so much.
There are contributions from women and children. They come from all levels of society.
Parts 3 and 4 focus on Allied and German Propaganda. Germany spent over 100 million dollars on direct propaganda in newspapers and other publications. The British centre for propaganda at Wellington House, London was headed by Sir Gilbert Parker. Much of the effort was aimed at the United States before 1917. The great battles of Verdun, the Somme and Passchendaele gave rise to tremendous outpourings on each side trying to justify the stalemate, slaughter and renewed offensives. In this project all types of material are portrayed: appeals to keep up morale; the undermining of enemy civilian and front-line morale and finally the wooing of neutrals.
Part 5 brings together a vast array of material which demonstrates the importance of the Auxiliary Services – particularly the Red Cross, the Royal Medical Corps, the Military Surgeons and the new Ambulance Corps – and greatly enrich our understanding of a much under-studied dimension of the subject.
Part 6 concentrates on the military campaigns of 1914 – The Battles of Mons (Aug 23); Tannenberg (Aug 26-29); The First Battle of the Marne (Sep 5-10); Masurian Lakes (Sep 6-15); Lemberg (Sep 8-12); The First Battle of Ypres (Oct 12-Nov 17); and the Battle of Coronel (Nov 1).
Future parts will cover military operations 1915-1918, naval and aerial operations, Russia, the Bolsheviks and the Eastern Front, Economics, Socialism, Reconstruction 1917-1919, Peace, the Versailles Settlement and the creation of the League of Nations 1918-1919, Pictures, Posters and Illustrations, Memorial Volumes and Regimental Records 1914-1918.
The First World War dominates the history of the first half of the twentieth century. The shock waves it set off were felt long after the Armistice of November 1918. Thus no Library concentrating on twentieth century studies should be without the Cambridge War Reserve Collection. Two new parts will be made available each year. The microfilm edition is a major contribution to a fuller understanding of the conflict and it will pave the way for much new research and reappraisal.
The brief guide explaining the Card Catalogue and the Manuscript Listings and providing a general introduction to the project accompanies Part 1 of the microfilm edition.
THE FIRST WORLD WAR: A DOCUMENTARY RECORD Series One: European War 1914-1919, the War Reserve Collection (WRA-WRE) from Cambridge University Library
Part 1: The Card Catalogue and Manuscript Listings
Explanation of the Scope of the War Reserve Collection (WRA-WRE) and an Explanation of the Card Catalogue and Manuscript Listings
The Cambridge War Reserve Collection (WRA-WRE) is a large collection of ephemeral, manuscript and printed sources relating to the First World War. The way in which the collection was formed and the character of its contents are described in the Publisher’s Note and the Introduction by Dr J M Winter.
The main body of the material is organised in two ways. Firstly by size, categorised as:
WRA – 24-47 cm or larger in height WRB – 24-31cm in height WRC – 21-24cm in height WRD – 17-21cm in height WRE – 10-16cm in height
Secondly, by subject code number:
1. …Parliamentary Papers, Diplomatic Correspondence & Official Documents (we propose to omit all widely available sections – such as Official Papers – where appropriate)
2. …Political and Historical Literature (including general histories, causes, origins) (we propose to omit all widely available sections where appropriate)
11. Military Operations
12. Naval Operations
13. Aerial Operations
14. RAMC, Red Cross work. YMCA. Auxiliary services
15. German Occupation. Deportations. Vandalism
16. Prisoners. Atrocities
17. Personal narratives & reminiscences
18. Regimental records
19. Pictures, illustrations
30. Economics. Finance. Socialism
33. Russian Affairs. Bolshevism
34. Pacifist Literature
35a. Propaganda (Allies)
35b. Propaganda (Germany)
36. Sermons. Charities. Religion. Benevolent Societies 40. Social Life. Sports & Amusements
41. Peace. League of Nations
42. Literature
44. Rolls of Honour. Memorial Volumes
45. Reconstruction
46. Miscellaneous
50. Bibliography
Books, periodicals and pamphlets are given three figure item numbers as follows:
Books and Pamphlets
1 - Bound books with printed slips in the General Catalogue: 101 - Unbound books with printed slips in the General Catalogue: 201 - Bound books listed only in the Card Catalogue: 301 - Unbound books listed only in the Card Catalogue: 401 - Continuation of Bound books with printed slips in the General Catalogue where 1- fills up: 1001- Continuation of Bound books with printed slips in the General Catalogue where 1- and 401- fills up: eg: WRC17.301 This is an unbound item listed only in the Card Catalogue.
EXPLANATION OF THE COLLECTION
Periodicals
101 - Bound periodicals with printed slips in the General Catalogue: 201 - Unbound periodicals with printed slips in the General Catalogue: 301 - Bound periodicals listed only in the Card Catalogue: 401 - Unbound periodicals listed only in the Card Catalogue:
Posters are given the coding WRP. “P” for Posters. Newspapers are given the coding WRN. “N” for Newspapers
THE CARD CATALOGUE
Here are reproductions of two sample cards from the collection:
WRD. 35b 382
A los amigos de la libertad y del derecho
15cm. (Barcelona) (1916)
538. c. 91. 704 (18:80)
ABLAY (Maurice). De la gloire et du sang.
19cm. Londres. (1917).
On the first of these examples WRD indicates that this item is part of the Cambridge War Reserve Collection and that the size of the material is between 17 and 21cm in height. The number following WRD ie: 35b gives the subject classification of this item: German Propaganda. The next number ie: 382 is the item number. The author is not given in this case. The title, size, place and date of publication are self explanatory.
The second card refers to an item in the General Collection of the University Library, Cambridge of relevance to the First World War. There is no WR prefix and therefore it is not part of the War Reserve Collection. The number given in the top left hand corner is the shelf mark reference. The number in the right hand corner refers to the University Library system of printed slips. It is the serial number of the appropriate printed slip. The first two digits denote the year of classification eg: 18 means 1918 and the number after the colon is the number of the printed slip in the sequence of that particular year. The inclusion of these cards greatly enhances the value of the card catalogue as a resource describing material available for the study of the First World War.
It will be noted that the majority of the cards describing the items in the War Reserve Collection are in manuscript form whilst most of the cards for materials in the General Collection are printed.
The author, title, size place and date of publication are again self explanatory.
The Card Catalogue is arranged in alphabetical order interfiling authors and titles in one alphabetical sequence and with ample cross referencing.
THE MANUSCRIPT LISTINGS
This is a full listing of the War Reserve Collection WRA-WRE in manuscript form and is comprised of two volumes.
Vol 1 WRA-WRC. 16 Vol 2 WRC. 17-WRE
This details all ephemeral, manuscript and printed sources within the Collection, but not items in the General Collection.
It follows the straightforward sequence with all the WRA items coming first in subject code order, then all the WRB items, then the WRC items (although these are split between volumes 1 and 2) then the WRD items and finally the WRE items.
EXPLANATION OF THE COLLECTION
Periodicals, books and pamphlets with three figure numbers are listed as additional material after the sequence of subject coded material.
Each new subject coded category starts on a new page.
The first pages you will see are entries for the following:
WRA 1.1 (just one item) WRA 1.101 WRA 1.201 WRA 1.301-509 (list of items 301-509) WRA 2.1-43 WRA 2.301-315 WRA 11.1 WRA 11.101 WRA 11.301-302 WRA 12.1 WRA 12.301
Please refer back to the subject code list for descriptions of the subject code categories `1´, `2´, `11´ and `12´
Hence it will be seen that to get a listing of all the items that have been categorised, for example, a Personal Narratives and Reminiscences, with the subject code 17, one must look under: WRA 17 WRB 17 WRC 17 WRD 17 WRE 17
THE FIRST WORLD WAR: A DOCUMENTARY RECORD Series One: European War 1914-1919, the War Reserve Collection (WRA-WRE) from Cambridge University Library
Part 1: The Card Catalogue and Manuscript Listings
The Nature and Scope of the Microfim Project
The availability of the complete card catalogue and manuscript listings will clearly be of great benefit to scholars wishing to understand the full range of materials contained in one of the largest assemblages of material for the study of the First World War.
However, to reproduce all of the items within the entire Cambridge War Reserve Collection WRA-WRE would not be desirable, as it does include some material which would be common to many collections – for instance: Parliamentary Papers and prominent monographs.
Our selection policy under the guidance of our Consultant Editor, Dr J M Winter, Fellow of Pembroke College, Cambridge, has been to approach the collection on a subject basis concentrating on ephemeral materials, manuscript and rare printed items not likely to be held by most other libraries.
We have identified specific subject themes for each part of the microfilm project. ie:
Part 1: The Card Catalogue Index and Manuscript Listings Part 2: Personal Narratives and Reminiscences Part 3: Allied Propaganda of the First World War Part 4: German Propaganda of the First World War Part 5: The Royal Army Medical Corps, Red Cross and other Auxiliary Services Part 6: Military Operations 1914
Other subject themes to be covered by future parts include: military operations 1915-1918, naval and aerial operations, Russia, the Bolsheviks and the Eastern Front, Economics, Socialism, Reconstruction 1917-1919, Peace, the Versailles Settlement and the creation of the League of Nations 1918-1919, Pictures, Posters and Illustrations, Memorial Volumes and Regimental Records 1914-1918.
THE FIRST WORLD WAR: A DOCUMENTARY RECORD Series One: European War 1914-1919, the War Reserve Collection (WRA-WRE) from Cambridge University Library
Part 1: The Card Catalogue and Manuscript Listings
Contents of Reels
REEL 1
The Card Catalogue A – BER The Card Catalogue BER – CHA
REEL 2
The Card Catalogue CHA – DOM The Card Catalogue DON – GET
REEL 3
The Card Catalogue GHA – HSI The Card Catalogue HUB – LAZ
REEL 4
The Card Catalogue LEA – MES The Card Catalogue MIA – PAR
REEL 5
The Card Catalogue PAR – RXS The Card Catalogue SAA – TOY
REEL 6
The Card Catalogue TRA – ZWE The Card Catalogue NEWSPAPERS
REEL 7
Manuscript Listings Vol 1 WRA – WRC 16 Manuscript Listings Vol 2 WRC 17 – WRE
THE FIRST WORLD WAR: A DOCUMENTARY RECORD Series One: European War 1914-1919, the War Reserve Collection (WRA-WRE) from Cambridge University Library
Part 1: The Card Catalogue and Manuscript Listings
Chronology
JUNE 1914
28 Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand by Gavrilo Princip
Third reading of Plural Voting Bill in the British Parliament.
JULY 1914
3 Germany pledges support for action against Serbia
23 Austria-Hungary ultimatum issued to Serbia
28 Austria-Hungary declares war on Serbia
Buckingham Palace Conference fails to reach a compromise on the exclusion of Ulster from the Home Rule Bill
AUGUST 1914
1 Germany declares war on Russia
2 Moltke appointed Commander of German Field Armies
Mons despatch in The Times
3 Germany declares war on France
4 UK declares war on Germany
Germany declares war on Belgium
Germany invades Belgium
Sir John French appointed Commander of British Expeditionary Force
Council Meeting of the British Red Cross Society at St James’s Palace
7 Devonshire House becomes centre of British Red Cross activities
7-16 British Expeditionary Force lands in France
18 First Red Cross Commission under Sir Alfred Keogh leaves for Belgium
21 Ludendorff appointed Chief of Staff of German Eighth Army
22 Hindenburg appointed Commander of German Eighth Army
23 Japan declares war on Germany Battle of Mons
24 Main German Armies enter France War Refugees’ Committee founded by Lady Lugard, Mrs Lyttelton and Viscount Gladstone
26-30 Battle of Tannenberg
Start of First East African Campaign
Declaration of US neutrality
Lord Northcliffe begins pro-conscription campaign.
Press censorship introduced in Britain under the Defence of the Realm Act.
British Red Cross Fund raises £16 million through The Times
SEPTEMBER 1914
2 First Conference organised by Charles Masterman to establish the principles on which to base the British propaganda effort
5-10 First Battle of the Marne – German invasion halted
6-15 Battle of the Masurian Lakes
7 Second Conference organised by Charles Masterman to consider British propaganda effort. With foreign Office support Masterman sets up War Propaganda Bureau at Wellington House. US branch directed by Sir Gilbert Parker
8-12 Battle of Lemberg
15 First trenches are dug on the Western Front
17 Start of the “Race to the Sea”
OCTOBER 1914
9 No 2 Motor Ambulance Convoy lands at Boulogne, the first complete British unit of its type sent to France
12 Start of First Battle of Ypres (continues until 11 November)
21 Free Red Cross Supplement in The Times
Allied conquest of German Southwest Africa
NOVEMBER 1914
1 Battle of Coronel
2 Russia declares war on Turkey
6 UK and France declare war on Turkey
11 Germans launch Russian offensive
DECEMBER 1914
2 Austro-Hungarians capture Belgrade
8 Battle of the Falkland Islands 11 Serbians recapture Belgrade
26 German Government takes over control and allocation of food supplies
UK Government declares all foodstuffs on the high seas destined for enemy parts to be considered as contraband
JANUARY 1915
3 Germans make first use of gas-filled shells
19 First German airship raid on England
24 Battle of Dogger Bank
Dame Katherine Furse takes charge of newly established Voluntary Aid Detachments of Military Nurses
FEBRUARY 1915
8-22 Winter Battle of Masuria
Start of first period of intensive German submarine warfare (continues until September)
Start of Allied campaign in Mesopotamia along the River Tigris (continues until November)
Allied bombard Turkish forts at entrance to the Dardanelles
Zeppelins bomb Yarmouth
Germans impose submarine blockade on the British Isles
Women’s Volunteer Reserve established
MARCH 1915
9-10 Battle of Aubers Ridge
10-13 Battle of Neuve La Chapelle
17 UK - `Treasury Agreement´ negotiated between the Government and the Trade Unions
18 Allies attempt naval attack on the Dardanelles
APRIL 1915
22 Start of Second Battle of Ypres (continues until 27 May)
German poison gas attack at Ypres
25 Start of Allied landing operations at Gallipoli (continues until 9 January 1916)
26 Italy and Allies agree Treaty of London
MAY 1915
2-4 Battle of Gorlice-Tarnow
4 Start of Second Battle of Artois (continues until 18 June) 7 Sinking of the Lusitania
15-25 Battle of Festubert
23 Italy declares war on Austria-Hungary
25 Asquith forms Coalition Government in Britain
JUNE 1915
15 Pétain appointed Commander of French Armies
23 Start of the Battle of the Isonzo (continues until 7 July)
Start of Main Allied campaign in Cameroon (continues until January1916)
Anti-German riots in the East End of London
JULY 1915
15 UK – National Registration Act requires registration of men eligible for military service
17 Mass demonstration in London by Women’s Social and Political Union
UK – Ministry of Munitions formed with David Lloyd George as Minister of Munitions
Miners strike in South Wales
AUGUST 1915
25 Italy declares war on Turkey
26 Italy declares war on Germany
SEPTEMBER 1915
5 Czar Nicholas II takes command of Russian Armies
25 Start of French Offensive in the Champagne district (continues until 6 October)
Start of Third Battle of Artois (continues until 14 October)
Start of Battle of Loos (continues until 4 November)
OCTOBER 1915
3 Allied troops begin disembarking at Salonika
7 Austro-Hungarians invade Serbia (continues until 20 November)
12 British nurse, Edith Cavell, executed by Germans in Belgium for aiding the escape of Allied prisoners of war
14 Bulgaria joins Central Powers
Agreement between British Film Industry and War Office reached over the production of propaganda films
NOVEMBER 1915 10 UK – Privy Council authorises requisition of ships for carriage of foodstuffs
30 France, UK, Russia and Japan sign Pact of London
UK – Naval and Military War Pensions Act
DECEMBER 1915
3 Joffre appointed Commander of French Armies
5 Start of Siege of Kut (continues until 29 April 1916)
19 Haig becomes Commander of British Expeditionary Force
23 UK – Rent Restrictions Act introduces rent controls as a wartime measure
Robertson appointed Chief of Imperial General Staff
JANUARY 1916
Conscription introduced in Britain. House of Commons passes First Military Service Bill.
FEBRUARY 1916
21 Start of Battle of Verdun (continues until 18 December)
MARCH 1916
Beginning of second period of intensive German submarine warfare (continues until April)
APRIL 1916
4 Brusilov appointed Commander of Russian Southern Armies
24-29 Easter Rising in Dublin
26 Berlin agreement to transfer sick prisoners to Switzerland
First convoy of Women Voluntary Aid Detachment drivers arrives in France and takes over from a men’s unit at Étretat. Other units soon followed
UK – Second Military Service Bill passed: compulsory military service extended to married men
MAY 1916
31 Start of the Battle of Jutland (continues until 1 June)
By May 1916 the British Parliamentary Recruiting Committee had printed over 34 million leaflets and some five and a half million pamphlets
JUNE 1916
1 Germans set up War Food Office. Failure to organise civilian food situation and poor harvests lead to a deteriorating situation
4 Start of Brusilov offensive (continues until 10 October)
5 UK minister of war, Kitchener, killed when HMS Hampshire is sunk 6 Start of Arab Revolt in the Hejaz
JULY 1916
1 Start of the Battle of the Somme (continues until 19 November)
Lloyd George becomes Secretary for War
AUGUST 1916
6-17 Sixth Battle of the Isonzo
29 Hindenberg becomes Commander of German Field Armies with Ludendorff as Quartermaster General
SEPTEMBER 1916
4 Allies capture Dar Es Salaam in German East Africa
24 British aeroplanes bomb Krupp works at Essen
Central Powers invade Rumania (continues until December)
Tanks used by the British for the first time on the Somme
OCTOBER 1916
Germans forcibly deport over 60,000 Belgian workers to Germany (continues until February 1917)
NOVEMBER 1916
7 Woodrow Wilson is re-elected President of the USA
21 Death of Austro-Hungarian Emperor, Franz Josef
25 German Army establishes Air Forces as a separate military division
DECEMBER 1916
7 Lloyd George becomes Prime Minister of the UK
12 Lloyd George creates War Cabinet
Nivelle is appointed Commander of French Northern and Northeastern Armies
JANUARY 1917
1 Robert Donald, editor of the Daily Chronicle, appointed to investigate the entire question of British Propaganda. First Donald Report produced its findings later in January 1917
Sporadic fighting in the Carpathian Mountains (continues until February)
FEBRUARY 1917
1 Germans recommence unrestricted submarine warfare
9 John Buchan appointed Director of the new Department of Information 24 Start of British offensive to retake Kut and capture Baghdad (continues until 11 March)
Bread riots in New York
British Government introduces bread rationing
MARCH 1917
15 Czar Nicholas II of Russia abdicates
APRIL 1917
6 USA enters the war on Allied side
16-29 Chemin des Dames offensive on Western Front
24 Start of Battle of Doiran (continues until 22 May)
29 Pétain appointed Chief of French General Staff
USA – Liberty Loan Act authorizes issue of war bonds. USA makes first loan of 200 million dollars to UK
Corn Production Act
Strikes in Berlin and other German cities
Battle of Arras and bitter fighting for Vimy Ridge
MAY 1917
10 Pershing appointed Commander of American Expeditionary Forces
15 Foch appointed Chief of French General Staff
25 UK – Commission of Enquiry appointed to investigate into recent industrial unrest and the Whitley Councils established to report on ‘Relations between Employers and Employees’
Strike by Parisian seamstresses
JUNE 1917
18 Start of Kerensky offensive (continues until 13 July)
Brusilov appointed Commander of Russian Armies
First wave of influenza epidemic
Allenby takes command in Palestine
JULY 1917
31 Start of Third Battle of Ypres (continues until 10 November)
AUGUST 1917
21 UK – Ministry of Reconstruction established
British National War Aims Committee arranges a staggering 3192 meetings from August through to October. The NWAC used posters, postcard and other pictorial propaganda much as the Parliamentary Recruiting Committee had done. Greater emphasis was placed upon the use of pamphlets, including material for foreign audiences produced by Wellington House
SEPTEMBER 1917
3 Germans capture Riga
OCTOBER 1917
24 Start of Battle of Caporetto (continues until 10 November)
NOVEMBER 1917
2 Balfour Declaration for a National Homeland for the Jews in Palestine
7 Bolsheviks overthrow the provisional government in Russia
16 Clemenceau becomes Prime Minister of France
20 Start of Battle of Cambrai (continues until 8 December)
Failure of German Zeppelin mass raid on London
British take Gaza
DECEMBER 1917
3 Bolshevik government in Russia signs armistice with Germany
11 British capture Jerusalem
Start of Lettow – Vorbeck’s long retreat (continues until 25 November 1918)
Second Donald Report re-examines the entire system for British Official propaganda
JANUARY 1918
28 Bolsheviks found the Red Army in Soviet Russia
Woodrow Wilson, US President, publishes fourteen points as a basis for peace negotiations
Industrial unrest in major Austrian cities
FEBRUARY 1918
Representation of the People Act creates universal male and limited female suffrage in Britain. Only women aged over 30 can vote. Women entitled to become MPs. Northcliffe appointed Director of Propaganda in Enemy countries
MARCH 1918
3 Russia and Central Powers sign the Treaty of Brest – Litovsk
21 Start of German Spring offensive on Western Front (continues until 18 July)
23 Germans start shelling Paris (continues until 15 August) Ministry of Information created under Lord Beaverbrook. Beaverbrook and Northcliffe assume full control over Britain’s propaganda machinery
APRIL 1918
1 Formation of the Royal Air Force
2 US troops enter war on Western Front
14 Foch appointed Commander of Allied Forces
23 Zeebrugge Raid on German advance base for U-boats and destroyers
MAY 1918
Rumania and Central Powers sign the Peace of Bucharest
JULY 1918
18 Start of Allied counter-offensive on Western Front (continues until 10 November)
Second Battle of the Marne
AUGUST 1918
8 Allied tank offensive at Amiens. “The black day of the German Army”
UK – Education Act passed Trade Boards Act passed Maternity and Child Welfare Act passed
SEPTEMBER 1918
14-29 Allied offensive makes gains against Bulgaria
19 Start of British offensive resulting in the capture Damascus, Beirut and Aleppo (continues until 25 October)
30 Armistice concluded between Allies and Bulgaria
Fourth Battle of Ypres
Germany Army on the Western Front pulls back to the Hindenburg line
Japanese troops enter eastern Siberia
OCTOBER 1918
3 Prince Max von Baden appointed Chancellor of Germany
3-4 Germans offer peace based on Wilson’s Fourteen Points
24 Start of Battle of Vittorio Veneto (continues until 2 November)
27 Austria-Hungary asks Italy for an armistice
Ludendorff resigns command
28 Mutiny of German sailors at Kiel Turkey surrenders
NOVEMBER 1918
5 Foch given overall responsibility for Allied strategy
9 German Kaiser abdicates. Revolution in Berlin, Proclamation of a Republic. Provisional government formed by SPD chairman Friedrich Ebert
11 Armistice between Allies and Germany takes effect
Armistice with Austria-Hungary
Peak of influenza epidemic
DECEMBER 1918
Lloyd George wins British General Election and heads Coalition Government (with 478 Coalition MPs returned, the vast majority being Conservatives). Seventy Sinn Fein MPs refuse to take their seats
JANUARY 1919
5-11 Spartacist Revolt in Germany
Rosa Luxemburg and Karl Liebknecht are murdered by Freikorps military police
Spartacist uprising defeated
18 Peace Conference begins at Versailles
Engineers strike at Clyde and Belfast (continues until February)
Irish Free State proclaimed
FEBRUARY 1919
Opening of the first Weimar Assembly. Friedrich Ebert elected President. Philip Scheidermann becomes the first Chancellor
UK National Industrial Conference established
Sanky Commission appointed to investigate into the printing industry
MARCH 1919
Demobilisation disturbances in London and in Rhyl, North Wales
MAY 1919
7 Allied peace terms are handed to Germany
Allies intervene in Russian Civil War (from May to October)
JUNE 1919
2 Allied peace terms are handed to Austria
3 UK – Ministry of Health established 21 German Fleet scuppered at Scapa Flow
28 Versailles Treaty signed
General Strike in Glasgow
JULY 1919
31 UK – Housing and Town Planning Act provides subsidies to local authorities for municipal housing schemes
AUGUST 1919
11 The Weimar Constitution comes into force
15 UK – Police Act passed
Sinn Fein declared an illegal organisation
Police strike and rioting in Liverpool
SEPTEMBER 1919
10 Treaty of Saint-Germain is signed with Austria
Railway strike in Britain
OCTOBER 1919
Meetings of the British War Cabinet discontinued. Curzon replaces Balfour as Foreign Secretary
NOVEMBER 1919
Treaty of Neuilly is signed with Bulgaria
DECEMBER 1919
23 UK – Sex Disqualification Removal Act opens all professions, except the Church, to women.
Viscountess Astor becomes first woman MP to take her seat in the British Parliament
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