US President Wilson published his ‘Fourteen Points’ which must be conceded by Germany before the US could think of peace. With one exception they were the same as British Prime Minister Lloyd George’s and although not all agreed by the French they became recognised as the general basis upon which the Allies would consent to negotiate.
Category: WW1
20th Dec 1917: Australian people reject conscription in second referendum
The Australian people rejected conscription for the second time in a referendum. Although the soldiers voted marginally in favour, the majority of the men at the front voted against, with the pro-conscription coming from the newly arrived reinforcements in the depots in England. With voluntary enlistment falling, commanders were facing the prospect of some units having to be broken up.
15th Dec 1917: Armistice between Russia and Germany
Following the revolution and the collapse of their army, Russia agreed the Armistice with Germany, thereby enabling the German commanders to move hundreds of thousands of men with their, guns and equipment to the Western Front.
28th Nov 1917: Allies reject Armistice talks offer
On the day that the Russians were discussing the Armistice on the Eastern Front, Trotsky as Bolshevik Commissioner for Foreign Affairs, issued an invitation to the Allies to take part. The Allies declined.
20th Nov 1917: First large-scale use of tanks in Battle of Cambrai
The Battle of Cambrai saw the first large-scale use of tanks in WW1 combined with artillery and infantry working in tandem. Punching through the heavily barbed wired German defences the success of the tanks on the first day was then followed by failure with the unreliability of the tanks plus strong German artillery and infantry defence. Within three days the Germans realised that the Allied breakthrough had failed and they themselves looked to deliver a decisive counter-attack using their newly formed stormtrooper tactics. By the end of the fighting on the 7th December neither side had gained any significant territorial advantage and at comparable losses of about 45,000 men on both sides. Cambrai however saw both sides put into action strategies that would lead to greater successes in the coming year.
10th Nov 1917: Canadians take Passchendaele, and so ends the 3rd Ypres offensive
The Canadian 1st and 2nd Divisions mounted the final and successful attack to take Passchendaele. The final attack was carried out in a rainstorm. The weather, combined with a reinforcing response to the joint Austrian-German attack in Italy at Caporetto that necessitated the sending of six British divisions to bolster the Italians, resulted in the end for the 3rd Ypres offensive. Furthermore the removal of the British Divisions together with the shortage of reinforcements meant that any plans Haig had for a resumption of the offensive in the Spring 1918 were now receding.
7th Nov 1917: October Revolution hastens Russia’s exit from WW1
Capitalising on the February revolution which overthrew the Tsarist autocracy in Russia, an armed insurrection led by the Bolsheviks and Vladimir Lenin took place on 25th October 1917 (7th November 1917 in the New Style) in Petrograd, leading to the world’s first self-proclaimed socialist state. The October Revolution hastened Russia’s exit from WW1, leading to the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk signed on 3rd March 1918 between the new Bolshevik government of Soviet Russia and the Central Powers (Germany, Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria, and the Ottoman Empire).
26th Oct 1917: Canadians lead Second Battle of Passchendaele
The Second Battle of Passchendaele began to complete the previous stage and gain a base for the final assault on the village of Passchendaele. The 6th Battalion took part in an attack by the Canadians towards the Keiberg, and despite early success they had to withdraw. The attackers on the southern flank quickly captured Crest Farm and sent patrols beyond the final objective into Passchendaele. The attack on the northern flank again met with exceptional German resistance. The 3rd Canadian Division captured Vapour Farm on the corps boundary, Furst Farm to the west of Meetcheele and the crossroads at Meetcheele but remained short of its objective. In the three subsequent battles in which the Canadians captured Passchendaele the Australian infantry took no part, but supported with artillery and machine gun fire.
24th Oct 1917: Massive defeat for Italian Army at Caporetto
Austro-Hungarian forces reinforced by German units attacked the Italians in what became the Battle of Caporetto. The attacking forces, employing the use of stormtrooper tactics and poison gas routed the Italian Army in what was one the greatest defeats in Italian military history. The reinforcing response resulted in the sending of six British divisions to bolster the Italians, and together with the weather in northern Europe on the Western Front effectively ended the 3rd Ypres offensive. Furthermore the removal of the British divisions together with the shortage of reinforcements meant that any plans Field Marshall Haig had for a resumption of the Ypres offensive in the Spring 1918 were now receding.
9th Oct 1917: Under-strength 22nd Bn attacks on flank in Battle of Poelcappelle
The French First Army and British Second and Fifth armies attacked in the Battle of Poelcappelle on 9th October 1917, on a 13,500 yards front, from the Broodseinde ridge towards Passchendaele. The AIF 2nd Division would provide the 5th & 6th Brigades for the right flank of the attack. The 5th Brigade made its second objective, but with the failure of the untried British 66th Division within General Godley’s II Anzac Corps on their left, were alone and with numbers too small to eject the Germans who remained between the posts, they themselves were beaten back to the first objective suffering heavy losses. On the right the 6th Brigade attacked with all four under-strength battalions – 23rd, 21st, 24th and 22nd Battalions from north to south – on a frontage of 1,200 yards but with an average strength of just 7 officers and 150 other ranks, and at least half of the men fresh from the nucleus at Caestre. So thin was the barrage that from the start the German machine guns were able to cause havoc for the advancing parties. During the attack the AIF 2nd Division suffered 1,253 casualties. General Birdwood later wrote that the return of heavy rain and mud sloughs was the main cause of the failure to hold captured ground. German General Kuhl concluded that the fighting strained German fighting power to the limit but that the German forces managed to prevent a breakthrough, although it was becoming much harder for them to replace losses.
Following the Twenty-Second 