Monthly Archives: January 2017

CRISIS IN RUSSIA

Casualties in the Millions; Enormous Desertions. Revolution in the Air. Special to The Great War Project (15-21 January) The situation in the Russian army is precarious and desperate. At this moment in the war a century ago, Russia had so far, writes historian Adam Hochschild, “suffered a staggering six million war casualties. “Its huge clumsy…

GERMANS DEBATE WIDENING U-BOAT OPERATIONS

Seeking A Knockout Blow Against Britain; Close Eye on America.   A Poet in No-Man’s-Land. Special to The Great War Project. (7-12 January) On these days a century ago, the Germans make a fateful decision. On January 9th the German Kaiser,” writes historian Martin Gilbert, “presided over a Crown Council at which the long-debated question of…

THE LANDSCAPE OF DEATH

Deeper and Longer Trenches Divide Europe into Two Armed Camps. Little Changed in Nearly Three Years. Special to The Great War Project (4-8 January) With the coming of January a century ago, what does the global battlefield look like after more than two-and-a-half years of war? “The face of the war at the beginning of…

A TRULY GLOBAL WAR

As 1916 Ends, A Yearning for Peace; But the Slaughter Continues. Special to The Great War Project. (1 January) As 1917 begins, the war just keeps on spreading, on all fronts. Eleven European nations are now at war, plus the Turkish Ottoman empire which is fighting mostly in Asia. The Allied side,” observes historian Martin…