Mike Shuster

BRITISH ASSAULT EXPECTED IN DARDANELLES

A Massive Concentration of Warships. Turks Fortify Strategic Waterway; Constantinople Threatened. Special to The Great War Project (14-16 March) A fleet of sixteen British battleships is gathering in the Aegean Sea just outside the Dardanelles. This is the narrow, strategic waterway that leads from the Mediterranean to Constantinople, the Ottoman capital and on to the…

THOUSANDS OF BRITISH, GERMANS PERISH AT NEUVE CHAPELLE.

‘This is Not War; It is the Ending of the World.’ Special to The Great War Project (11-13 March) In France the battle for Neuve Chapelle lasts for three terrible days. “It began well,” writes historian Michael Neiberg, “but soon degenerated into chaos that the Germans exploited. By the end, the British gained little for…

IN FRANCE BRITISH SEEK BREAKOUT AT NEUVE CHAPELLE

Initial Success Yields to Disaster; Communications Confusion Brings Tragedy Special to The Great War Project (8-10 March) After weeks of little action on the Western Front, the British launch a major attack on the Germans at the already destroyed French village of Neuve Chapelle. The goal: to break through the German trench lines and capture…

PANIC IN CONSTANTINOPLE

British Assault on Dardanelle Straits Widely Expected; Target is Ottoman Capital Special to The Great War Project (5-7 March) By this time a century ago, the British decide to “force the Dardanelles.” This narrow waterway in northwest Turkey, thirty miles long and less than a mile wide at its most narrow, is the key to…

IN EAST THOUSANDS OF JEWS EXPELLED AND MURDERED,

Russian Occupation Leaves No Room for Poles, Ukrainians, and Jews; Pogroms widespread Special to The Great War Project (3-4 March) Life is becoming very difficult for ethnic minorities living in territory that Russia has seized in its victories over the Austrians in Central Europe. Russian successes on the battle field are delivering into Russian hands. much…

WRETCHED CONDITIONS IN THE CARPATHIANS

In the Frozen Heights Austrian Soldiers Die in Their Sleep Russians Prevail; Austrian Army Shattered Special to The Great War Project (28 February-2 March) A century ago, the Eastern Front war in the Carpathian Mountains is brutal – and largely unknown in the West. Yet the Carpathian campaign may prove to be decisive for both…

NEW WEAPONS HIT THE BATTLEFIELDS

Will Flamethrowers and Grenades Break Deadlock? Russia’s Problem: Desperate Shortage of Rifles. Special to The Great War Project (25-27 February) Many areas of the Western Front are inactive and confined to trenches. Despite the stalemate though, attacks and counterattacks are a regular and in some cases murderous presence in many sections of the extensive trench…

AUSTRIA FACES COLLAPSE UNDER RELENTLESS RUSSIAN PRESSURE

On Eastern Front, A String of Austrian Defeats; Germany on Its Own. Special to The Great War Project (22-24 February) Stalemate remains the order of the day on the Western Front, but on the Eastern Front, the war is more fluid. “The scale of battle remained a formidable one,” reports historian Martin Gilbert. Consequently, there…

BRITISH BOMBARDMENT OF THE DARDANELLES

Turkish Forts in Ruins. Attack on Strategic Straits To ‘Knock Turkey Out of War.’ Special to The Great War Project. (19-21 February) British warships are bombarding the ancient forts in the Dardanelles in western Turkey. The British bombardment is successful. It reduces two forts there to rubble. The Dardanelles is a very narrow strait that…

GERMAN DECLARATION OF WAR ON NEUTRAL SHIPPING.

Retaliation for British Blockade of Germany. In Singapore, Mutiny Against British Fails Special to The Great War Project (15-18 February) Germany’s announcement that it intends to sink all Allied and neutral ships approaching the British Isles makes big headlines in the United States. The New York Tribune trumpets that news on its front page on…