British Use Millions of Artillery Shells, Some with Deadly Gas; Gains on the Ground Are Minimal. A German Spy Ring Uncovered in Britain. Special to The Great War Project. (13-15 June) All sides are hard at work – desperate really – to decode top secret messages of their enemies. In June of 1915, French cryptographers…
RUSSIAN ARMY COLLAPSES
by Mike Shuster
Germany Takes Control of Eastern Front, Rescues Austrian Forces. Chaotic Russian Retreat Special to The Great War Project (10-12 June) The Eastern Front is seeing a dramatic reversal of fortune, with Russia losing much of the territory in Eastern Europe it seized earlier in 1915. Austria-Hungary, which looked to be on the brink of collapse…
TURKS INTRODUCE BATTLEFIED INNOVATION – SNIPING
by Mike Shuster
Invisible Killers Terrorize Allied Troops; Stories of Female Snipers Improbable but Persistent Special to The Great War Project (7-9 June) The Turks introduce a new tactic into the butchery on the Gallipoli Peninsula – sniping. It may be difficult to believe a century later, but according to historian Eugene Rogan… …“at first the Allied troops…
SLAUGHTER AT GALLIPOLI
by Mike Shuster
Allies Fail to Take Key Hill and Village Stiff Turkish Defenses; Great Losses on Both Sides Special to The Great War Project (4-6 June) June 4th a century ago: One of the bloodiest days of the war. Fighting is sharp and bloody on the Gallipoli peninsular in western Turkey. A major battle is shaping up…
ALLIES PRESS AMERICA TO ENTER WAR
by Mike Shuster
Lusitania Sinking Forces Wilson to Ponder Joining Allies The President’s Advisers Are Split Special to The Great War Project (1-3 June) Ever since the sinking of the British ocean liner Lusitania on May 7th by a German submarine off the south coast of Ireland, the American President Woodrow Wilson is struggling with how to respond.…
ITALY AT WAR WITH AUSTRIA AND GERMANY!
by Mike Shuster
Former Allies Now Enemies; Italy Covets Austrian Territory Now It’s War on Seven Fronts. Special to The Great War Project (28-31 May) A new front – the seventh — opens up in these days a century ago – the war between Italy and Austria. Italy declares war on Austria-Hungary just a few days previous. The…
THE SLAUGHTER GRINDS ON
by Mike Shuster
Stalemate is Deadly on Western Front; Russia Collapsing in East. Secret Orders for Mass Murder of Armenians in Turkey Special to The Great War Project (25-27 May) Thousands of soldiers are dying every day, and the news is dismal from all corners of the war’s battlefields. On May 25 a century ago, the Second Battle…
GERMAN AND TURKISH DEFENSES STOP BRITISH ADVANCE
by Mike Shuster
A Leadership Change in London; Churchill’s Fall from Grace. At Gallipoli A Truce to Bury the Dead Special to The Great War Project (21-24 May) Stalemate and suffering for the British and their allies on two fronts: the Western Front in Belgium and the Turkish front at Gallipoli and the Dardanelles waterway. The war in…
HUGE GERMAN GAS ATTACK AT YPRES
by Mike Shuster
German Offensive in West a Ruse; Russians in East are Main Target. The War in Verse Special to The Great War Project (18-20 May) Over the course of the past two weeks a century ago on the Western Front, fighting intensifies at the Belgian city of Ypres. It’s being called the Second Battle of Ypres.…
RUSSIA FACESS ‘GREAT DISASTER’ ON EASTERN FRONT
by Mike Shuster
Retreating Russian Troops Burn Towns, Farms; Thousands of Non-Russians Uprooted Special to The Great War Project (15-17 May) On the often ignored Eastern Front, the German army is engaged in an enormous attack on the Russian forces in control of much of western Ukraine and Poland. “In May 1915,” observes historian Adam Hochschild, “on the…