Evening star., 1916-12-31
The War
Month
by Month

enorts or the entente allies to force the
Dardanelles was definitely abandoned
and the forces Of the allies entirely
evacuated the Gallipoli peninsula. The
west front was quiet until January 20,
when the Germans launched a new Of
fensive. but on January 81 1t was an
nounced that this offensive had been
checked German Zeppelin fleets were
active In the closing days of the month.
On January % Paris was raided and
fwenty-four persons killed. Two days
later sixty-seven were killed in a raid
over midland and northeast counties Of
England
after a lull in the fghtine, resumed
tneir offensive in Galicia and on Feb
ruary 10 they crossed the Dneister and
threatened Czernowits. The Russians.
unued their drive in the Caucasus and
on February IA they captured the i'm
portant town of Erzerum- On Febru-
ary Il the Germans. led BY the crown
prince. launched their attack on Yer
0un. and during the next few days thev
smashed their way through the outer
oefenses until they came within gun
range Of the French stronghold The
to give ground. but by the last of the
month they had strengthened their
shattered lines and had checked the
GERMAN drive. In the Verdun sector
Of the most sanguinary fighting of the
entire war. The German strategists
evidently had determined to stake
their all on the western front in an
Snort to break through the French
lines at this point. and they launched
assault after assault with apparent
disregard for their losses in men The
stubborn defense put up by the French
forces In the face of the deadly as
saults threw back the masses Of Ger
mans with terrific losses on both sides
and finally sounded the death knell
OF the German hopes in the west The
Austrians had considerable success on
the Italian front during the month.
entering Durrago on February 26 and
driving the Italians before them Portu-
gal signalized its entry into the great
conflict on February 20 by seizing thir-
ty-four German steamers interned in
Portuguese ports. Germany demanded
the release Of the ships and on March
, declared war on Portugal. the thir-
xeenth nation to enter the conflict
During the remainder of the year Por-
tugal took no active part in the hos
Utilities In Europe, conflning it's actIvi-
ties to Africa.
The month of March was marked
chiefly by the continued determined
attack of the Germans upon Verdun
The assault entered its third stage in
this month with repeated attacks on
.vaux. Douaumont and other outlying
ttowns. most of which were repulsed
with terrific losses. During this month
the Italians enally checked the AUS
trian drive and launched a big Of
tensiVe along the entire Austrian
front The Russians continued their
victorious drive against the Turks in
Armenia. capturing BItlis on March 2
and other important towns later in the
month. The Russians continued their
drive and swept back the Germans on
the Dvinsk front. Terrific fightinp
between the Italians and Austrians al
the Goritz bridgehead marked the
closing days OF the month. The Ger
mans continued TO smash their wav
slowly toward Verdun. taking the vii.
1age Of Maloncourt. near verdun, March
81. at terrific cost
The early days OF April saw a slow
ing up OF the Russian offensive in
Galicia- The Germans launched a coun-
ter offensive all along the Russian
front. but gained little headway. The
following months saw terrific hghting
along this front. On April 23 the Brit
ish admitted a defeat at the hands OF
the Turks in Mesopotamia. and on
April 20 Gen. Townshend and 10000
British soldiers. who had been be-
sieged by the Turks at Kut-el-Amara
were forced TO surrender after repeated
EFFORTS to relieve them had failed In
the closing days OF the month the
French made decided gains on the Yer
dun front.
The verdun region was comparative
ly quiet In May until nearly the last
OF the month, when the French launch
ed a heavy attack on the Germans and
retook Fort Douaumont, an Important
key to the Nerdun defenses. Two DAYS
later the Germans retook this fort
after a terrific fight. During this month
Great Britain definitely abandoned its
volunteer system of enlistment and
enacted a compulsory service law. an
p1icable to all able bodied men he
tween the ages OF eighteen and forty-
one. In the closing days OF the month
the Germans renewed their drive on
verdun and drove their way to within
six miles of the city's gates
The FIRST great naval battle of the
war was fought by the German and
British high seas feet OF the coast of
Jutiand. Denmark. May 81. The Brit
tsh admit the loss of six cruisers and
eight destroyers: the Germans one bat
tleship. one battle cruiser and a num-
ber OF light cruisers and destroyers
More than 5000 lives were lost Both
sides claim the victory. Five days
later Great Britain received a stagger-
sing blow when the British cruiser