1915 - Political Events

Political Events

The Great War in Europe intensifies; casualty lists mount for both sides on the Eastern and Western fronts. Kaiser Wilhelm permits Field Marshal von Hindenburg and Gen. Ludendorff to launch an offensive on the Eastern Front February 7, despite opposition to the plan by Gen. Falkenhayn, who declines to provide adequate reinforcements. Flamethrowers and grenades are introduced in February as the British abandon public-school notions of sportsmanship, and a German U-boat (submarine) blockade of Britain begins February 18.

British naval forces attack the Dardanelles beginning February 19 to prevent the Germans from blocking supplies to Russia via the Bosphorus and the Black Sea. Germany has gained the support of the Ottoman Turks, Russia has requested the British action to relieve pressure on her defenses in the oil-rich Caucasus, and the British have agreed January 2 to stage a demonstration against the Turks. A naval bombardment has begun February 16 and it resumes February 25 after being halted by bad weather; the weather forces another interruption that continues until March 18. Three British battleships trying to force the Narrows are sunk by mines March 18, three others are damaged, and British admiral John de Robeck withdraws, thereby losing an opportunity to seize the Dardanelles at a time when the Turks have no supplies and are practically defenseless. Ottoman authorities at Constantinople say that Armenians side with Russia and begin April 24 to deport them, putting to death all who resist in an operation commanded by the Ottoman minister of the interior Mehmed Talat, 40, and the viceroy for Syria Gen. Ahmed Cemal, 42. Some 1.75 million Armenians will be deported, some 600,000 will starve to death in the Mesopotamian desert, one-third will survive.

British, French, and Australian-New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC) land from transports on the Gallipoli Peninsula beginning April 25 (the date will be revered in Australian and Kiwi history), but Turkish artillery pins down the Allied units, whose trenches are often no more than 10 yards from those of the Ottoman Turks. Reverses suffered during the Balkan Wars have diminished the effectiveness of Turkish forces, but German general Liman von Sanders, 60, has built up their capabilities; he commands the 5th Turkish Army, and his Turkish officer Mustafa Kemal, 34, says to his 19th Division troops, "I do not order you to attack. I order you to die." (Kemal himself is hit by a piece of shrapnel, but it is stopped by the watch he wears in his breast pocket and he is promoted to colonel June 1.) First Sea Lord John A. Fisher, Baron Fisher of Kilverstone, now 74, had proposed the Gallipoli campaign as a way to cut the Turks off from Europe, open the disputed Dardanelles straits to British warships, and supply the Russians, but he has turned against the idea and resigned in May, saying, "Damn the Dardanelles. They will be our grave," and leaving his closest friend, Winston Churchill, to take blame for the failure as political head of the Admiralty.

Corfu-born Boer War veteran Gen. Sir Ian (Standish Monteith) Hamilton, 62, and other cavalrymen command the Allied forces in Gallipoli but remain 15 miles behind the lines; their troops are mostly inexperienced and inadequately equipped, there is an acute shortage of artillery shells, the Allies do not have the benefit of surprise, the contested area covers only a few square miles but there are no reliable maps, and intelligence on the Turks is virtually nil. Gen. Hamilton is recalled October 16 and will be given no further command; Lieut. Gen. Sir Charles Munro replaces Hamilton and recommends a withdrawal, Secretary of State for War Lord Kitchener visits Gallipoli in November and agrees that the campaign must be abandoned; Gen. Julian H. G. (Hedworth George) Byng, 53, has taken command of the IX Corps in August and under his direction the British finally evacuate the peninsula beginning in December after terrible carnage on both sides (the Turks take no prisoners, and Allied casualties total 213,980, not counting severe losses sustained among old naval vessels).

The British Admiralty enlists the aid of Middle East expert Gertrude Lowthian Bell, now 47, who 2 years ago pushed south from Damascus into the Nejd area of central Arabia. Traveling with only one servant, Bell copied ancient inscriptions, took photographs, made notes, dealt with wild tribespeople, collected valuable information, and met T. E. (Thomas Edward) Lawrence, now 26, a Welsh-born Orientalist and archaeologist with whom she now works briefly at Cairo before being sent to Delhi. There she serves for a few weeks as a liaison between the government of India and the newly-formed Arab Intelligence Bureau, preparing a gazeteer, or geographical dictionary. Bell is then sent to Basra, where she compares her information on the desert tribes with that being received by the British Expeditionary Force in Mesopotamia. The illegitimate son of Sir Thomas Chapman by Sarah Junner (the family's former governess), Lawrence has worked in Syria as foreman to some 200 Arab workmen, learned two of their dialects, adopted their attire, and discussed with his friends the possibility of creating an Arab revolt against Turkish rule (see 1916). British forces advance 90 miles up the Tigris River from May to June and push on toward Baghdad (see 1914); 7,000 men under the command of Gen. Charles Townsend occupy al-Kut in September, extending their penetration 500 miles from Basra, but Ottoman troops mount a strong resistance at Ctesiphon November 22 just 18 miles from Baghdad, the British retreat to al-Kut, and the Turks lay siege beginning December 7 (see 1916).

A British artillery barrage on the Western Front in March raises the scale of warfare to new heights: 342 guns fire for 35 minutes, using more shells than were fired in the entire Boer War.

Former Russian prime minister Count Sergei Yulevich Witte dies at Petrograd March 13 at age 65.

The Germans use chlorine gas April 22 at the Second Battle of Ypres in the first use of poison gas by any warring power (chemist Fritz Haber has persuaded the German high command to use the weapon; his wife is so horrified that she takes his revolver out to the garden and shoots herself). Clouds of greenish-yellow phosgene (chlorine mixed with carbon monoxide) choke French colonial troops, who flee in panic, but Canadians plug the 4½-mile gap left by the routed Algerians (see mustard gas, 1917). The British finally issue steel helmets to their troops in the field; Germany has a monopoly on binoculars, so the British obtain 32,000 pairs of German binoculars through Swiss sources.

World War I Gas Mask
Poison gas that seared the lungs and blistered the skin brought new horrors to trench warfare in Europe. (The Library of Congress.)

A torpedo from the German submarine U-20 hits the Cunard Line passenger ship R.M.S. Lusitania at 2:10 in the afternoon of May 7 off the coast of Ireland, and the huge vessel sinks in 18 minutes, killing 1,198 who include 100 children and 128 U.S. citizens. It will turn out that the 8-year-old Lusitania carried 173 tons of rifle ammunition, shrapnel casings, fuses, and contraband food from the United States but had no escort and remained on course despite recent U-boat sightings in the area. When U-boat commanders sighted merchant ships heretofore they have surfaced, inspected the ships' papers, and blown them up if they were carrying cargoes that would help the Allies, but only after making sure that all passengers had been safely debarked in lifeboats. The Lusitania's casualties include railroad magnate Alfred Gwynne Vanderbilt, 38, and New York theatrical magnate Charles Frohman, 75; U.S. Ambassador to Britain Walter Hines Page calls for a declaration of war on Germany.

"There is such a thing as a man being too proud to fight," says President Wilson May 10. "There is such a thing as a nation being so right that it does not need to convince others by force that it is right." But the sinking of the Lusitania with so many women and children fires anti-German sentiment. "We have come to a parting of the ways," says presidential aide Col. Edward M. House, 57, a formal protest is sent to Berlin May 13, and pacifist Secretary of State William Jennings Bryan resigns June 8.

Rear Admiral Bradley A. Fiske, U.S. Navy, resigns at age 61, having invented an electric range finder, electric ammunition hoists, electric gun-turret motors, a naval telescope mount and sight, radio systems for torpedo control, electrical control systems that keep naval batteries aimed at their targets while maintaining continuous fire, and other inventions (see Battle of Manila Bay, 1898). Fiske has for years argued the need for a naval general staff to prepare adequately for a possible war, and the navy finally creates an Office of the Chief of Naval Operations. Former navy chief engineer Benjamin F. Isherwood of Civil War fame dies at his native New York June 19 at age 92.

Italy declares war on Austria-Hungary May 23, turning against her former ally in hopes of obtaining territory along the Adriatic and in the Alps. Nobel Peace Prize recipient Ernesto T. Moneta, now 81, has advocated Italian entry into the war to thwart the imperialist designs of the Central Powers; Britain, France, and Russia have induced the Italians to abandon the Triple Alliance and join the Allies under terms of the secret Treaty of London signed April 26. The Austrians have fortified the mountains flanking the Isonzo River, and Gen. Luigi Cadorna, 64, has completely reorganized the Italian army, but his men are unable to cross the river and scale the heights beyond when he launches an attack June 23. Fighting continues for 14 days, resumes from July 18 to August 3, resumes again from October 18 to November 3 and from November 10 to December 2, but the Italians are unable to penetrate the Austrian lines for more than a few miles and only at the cost of many lives (see 1916).

Prime Minister Asquith forms a wartime coalition ministry May 25, with former prime minister Arthur J. Balfour, now 66, replacing Winston Churchill as first lord of the Admiralty (blame for the costly failure in Gallipoli has fallen on Churchill, who was the chief proponent of the assault and now takes command of an infantry battalion in France).

The German Navy zeppelin LZ 38 drops a bomb on London's East End May 31, killing a 3-year-old girl in the first "strategic bombing" of a civilian target.

France gives the 59-year-old Gen. Henri (Philippe Benoni Omer Joseph) Pétain command of an army June 15.

German forces on the Eastern Front make a major breakthrough in June against the Russians in Poland's Godice-Tarnów region. Gen. August von Mackenson, 65, is promoted to field marshal June 20. Warsaw falls to the Germans August 7, and by September the Russians have lost all of Poland, Lithuania, and Courland, along with nearly 1 million men.

Hampshire-born Royal Flying Corps pilot Lanoe (George) Hawker, 24, brings down two German aircraft over Ypres July 25 and forces a third to land; he has mounted a variant of the Lewis gun on the starboard side of his Bristol Scout, and his feat wins him the Victoria Cross, but the Germans have superiority in the air over Britain and France (see 1916). Major General Hugh Trenchard becomes general officer commander in the field of the Flying Corps in August.

German authorities in occupied Brussels arrest British Red Cross nurse Edith Louisa Cavell, 50, August 4 on charges of having assisted Allied military prisoners to escape. Tried and convicted, she is executed by a firing squad October 12 along with a Belgian who has provided guides; British propagandists use her death to inflame public sentiment against the savage Boche and ignore the fact that the French have shot a woman for a similar offense.

Gen. Pétain launches a great attack in Champagne September 25 and follows it with a report containing principles of a new tactical doctrine.

Italy declares war on the Ottoman Empire August 21, Germany sends reinforcements to southern Austria, the Central Powers conclude a treaty with Bulgaria September 6 by promising territory to be taken from Serbia, French troops under the command of Gen. Maurice Serrail reach Salonika October 5 just as the Greek premier Vinizélos falls from power, Austro-German forces launch an attack south of the Danube October 6, and Bulgaria defies a Russian ultimatum and attacks eastern Serbia October 11. Britain declares war on Bulgaria October 13 and is joined by Montenegro, Bulgaria declares war on Serbia October 14 and attacks Serbian Montenegro, France declares war on Bulgaria October 16, Russia and Italy follow suit October 19, Allied forces fall back across the Greek border to the Salonika region, and Serbian forces retreat across the Albanian mountains to the island of Corfu (see 1916).

British field marshal William R. (Robert) Robertson, 55, is appointed chief of the Imperial General Staff in December, having been appointed chief of staff to Sir John French in January.

The 21 demands presented by Tokyo to Beijing (Peking) January 18 include the demands that Japan take over German rights in Shandong (Shantung) Province, that Japanese leases in southern Manchuria be extended to 99 years with commercial freedom for the Japanese in Manchuria; that China give Japan a half-interest in the Han-yehping Co., which operates iron and steel mills at Han-yang, iron mines at Ta-yeh, and a colliery at P'ingshan; and that China declare her determination not to lease or cede any part of her coast to any power. The Chinese have given modified acceptance to these four demands but have set aside others calling for railway concessions in the Yangtze River Valley, which is within Britain's sphere of influence, and for Japanese advisers in Chinese political, financial, and military affairs. Vietnamese prince Cuong De returns to Japan after a 6-year absence spent in vain efforts to obtain Asian or European support for his cause against French rule in his country; he is given a stipend and assurance that if France is defeated in the war the Japanese will guarantee Vietnam's autonomy (see 1945; Korea, 1919).

Japan's prime minister Shigenobu Okuma comes under attack from Yukio Ozaki, now 56, who supported Okuma in the early 1880s but now accuses him of having used bribery to win the March elections. Foreign Minister Takaaki Kato, now 55, resigns in protest against Okuma's corrupt tactics, Japan enjoys an economic boom as a result of the Great War, but Okuma will resign next year, announcing that it is for reasons of health.

The Defence of India Act approved by Parliament March 18 gives the British colonial government special powers to deal with revolutionary threats, especially in the Punjab, where German agents have been fomenting trouble. The wartime measure is to expire 6 months after the end of hostilities; meanwhile, it allows internment of suspects and provides for a special tribunal where defendants will have no appeal. Some 800 persons will be in custody by 1918 (but see 1919).

Malay leader To Janggut (originally Mummad Hasan bin Munas) organizes a tax revolt in April and then leads a peasant rebellion against British colonial rule (700 men of the 5th light infantry have mutinied at Singapore February 15 and seized control of a fort before Gora platoons could subdue them). The British have to bring in troops from nearby Singapore to quell the uprising by nearly 2,000 farmers, they attack the white-bearded To Janggut's stronghold at Pasir Putch, and he is killed there May 24 at age 62, but relatively few other lives are lost.

London-born Australian attorney general William M. (Morris) Hughes, 53, succeeds Andrew Fisher as Australia's prime minister, a position he will retain until 1923. When his Labor Party and the electorate reject his proposal for conscription next year, he will help to form the Nationalist Party and continue as prime minister.

The army of Mexico's provisional president Venustiano Carranza defeats the forces of Pancho Villa and Gen. Alvaro Obregón at the bloody Battle of Celaya in Guanajuáto state in April (see 1914). Protected by barbed wire and firing from trenches, Carranza's machine gunners cut down Villa's cavalry and he retreats northward, where he will continue to make bandit raids while Carranza consolidates his control of the country (see 1916). Former Mexican president Porfirio Díaz dies in poverty at Paris July 2 at age 84.

U.S. Marines land in Haiti (see 1859). Washington claims that the move has been made for humanitarian reasons and is justified under the Monroe Doctrine, but many Haitians believe that the purpose is to protect American business interests and establish a base for guarding the approaches to the Panama Canal. Lieut. Col. Smedley Darlington Butler, 34, storms the stronghold of a guerilla resistance group at Fort Rivière November 17, crushes the uprising, and organizes a native constabulary. Haiti signs a treaty providing for U.S. occupation until 1925 (see constitution, 1918). A veteran of the Spanish-American War who saw service in the Philippine insurrection and Boxer Rebellion, the Pennsylvania-born Butler will soon go to France and eventually become commandant of the Marine Corps (see commerce ["bonus marchers"], 1932).

Henry Ford charters the Scandinavian-American liner Oskar II to carry a group of Americans to Europe on an unofficial mission of mediation. The ship leaves Hoboken, N.J., December 4 with more than 160 aboard, including social reformers, students, and reporters (most of whom ridicule Ford's "Peace Ship") in a vain but much-publicized attempt to "get the boys out of the trenches by Christmas." Ford becomes ill, and when the ship arrives at Christiana, Norway, he turns about for home.

Mississippi voters elect demagogue Theodore G. (Gilmore) Bilbo, 38, governor. Scarcely five feet tall, Bilbo makes up in promises what he lacks in stature; the state senate censured him for accepting a bribe; he persuaded white backwoods voters that he championed their interests against aristocratic Delta planters, the railroads, and blacks; he has served as lieutenant governor since 1912; and although he was tried last year on charges of accepting a bribe he won acquittal and will obtain some significant reforms in the state during his term as governor, demonstrating genuine concern for disadvantaged whites and using government to help them. Bilbo will put through a tax equalization law empowering a central board to revise assessments on property that has been undervalued by county officials beholden to corporations or large planters, while at the same time using vituperative race baiting to maintain his political base (see human rights, 1927).

President Wilson, now 58, remarries at Washington December 18. His second wife, Edith Bolling Galt, 43, will wield greater power than any previous first lady (see 1919).