Looking Back and Looking Forward - 2021 and 2022

2021 has come and gone and I doubt that I will miss it. It was a stressful year and a strange for my personal study of history. In fact I have devoted even more time to history than usual, as a very big part of the year was filled with writing my master thesis. That however means on the other hand that I had very little time for leisure with my stamps, postcards and blogs. My main blog suffered, but this blog suffered even more. Only four posts I have published here, one each in January, March, April and December. I had actually planned many more including two or three bigger posts. Maybe I will write them this year, but I do not think so, as it will be another stressful year and I have already new plans. Apart from these personal reasons for a different year of devoting time to history also the pandemic still plays a role in changing plans especially with regard to museums, which for me are an important part of engaging with history in a leisurely way. Due to Covid-19 museums here in the region were closed on 1st November 2020 and apart from one week in March were just allowed to reopen in late May. Nonetheless I still managed to do roughly 20 museum visits in 2021. The highlights were the Nebra Sky Disc exhibition in Halle an der Saale, the new permanent exhibition at the Bavarian Army Museum in Ingolstadt, "Kinosaurier" in Hanover, the Premonstratensians in Magdeburg, Plagues in Hildesheim and exhibitions about Rudolf Manga Bell and the Silk Road in Hamburg. In my Outlook of 2021 I had written about nine exhibitions that I had hopes to visit during the year. Two of them were postponed and six of them I actually visited. Only the Late Gothic exhibition in Berlin I have not seen. When I wrote that the opening of the Humboldt Forum was not on my radar. I have not visited it yet, but hope to do so this year. 

In my outlook I had already mentioned that there seems to be no big jubilee in 2021 and I was right. I had added some jubiless to my original list and these here the stamp issue numbers I have for them:

• zero issues: 150 years Proclamation of the German Empire, 500 years Diet of Worms, 650th birthday of Zheng He, 750 years Beginning of Marco Polo's Journey
• one issue: 100th birthday of Friedrich Dürrenmatt (Switzerland), 100th birthday of Sophie Scholl (Germany), 150th birthday of Friedrich Ebert (Germany), 450th birthday of Johannes Kepler (KEP), 500 years Fuggerei in Augsburg (Germany), 1600 years Venice (Italy), 1700 years Jewish Life in Germany (Germany), 1900th birthday of Marcus Aurelius (Slovakia)
• two issues: 100th birthday of Joseph Beuys (Germany, Serbia), 100th birthday of Stanislaw Lem (Poland, Serbia), 150th birthday of Marcel Proust (Monaco, Portugal), 200th birthday of Charles Baudelaire (France, Serbia), 200th birthday of Gustave Flaubert (France, Monaco), 200 years Beginning of the Greek Revolution (Cyprus, Greece), 300 years End of the Great Northern War (Åland Islands, Russia)
• three issues: 450 years Battle of Lepanto (Italy, Montenegro, Spain)
• four issues: 450th birthday of Caravaggio (Bulgaria, North Macedonia, San Marino, Vatican), 550th birthday of Albrecht Dürer (Bulgaria, Hungary, KEP, San Marino)
• five issues: 100 years Communist Party of China (Armenia, China, Hong Kong, Macau, Serbia), 100 years Discovery of Insulin (Brazil, Canada, North Macedonia, Pakistan, Switzerland), 200th death anniversary of Napoleon (Andorra - French Post, France, Italy, Malta, Saint Helena + Cuba (EDIT: 6th February 2022)), 400th birthday of Jean de La Fontaine (Bulgaria, France, Hungary, Monaco, Portugal)
• six issues: 700th death anniversary of Dante Alighieri (Czechia, Georgia, Italy, Liechtenstein, Uruguay, Vatican)
• seven issues: 200th birthday of Fyodor Dostoevsky (Bosnia and Herzegovina - Republic Srpska, Bulgaria, KEP, Monaco, North Macedonia, Russia, Serbia)

And just for comparison these are the number for recent BIG jubilees:

• 16 issues: 100 years End of World War I (2018)
• 19 issues: 500 years Reformation (2017)
• 30 issues: 50 years Moon Landing (2019)
• 40 issues: 250th birthday of Ludwig van Beethoven (2020)

In the outlook I wondered whether Dante or Napoleon might become the BIG jubilee of the year and indeed both performed rather well, but are nothing near the jubilees of the last years. Fyodor Dostoevsky on the other hand was not on my radar at all.

The end of the year also means once again to choose My Favourite History Stamps of the Year in addition to my general My Favourite Stamps of 2021 over on my stamp blog. Unlike last year I am contended with this list, so without further ado:

11. Robert Blum (Germany)

Robert Blum is one of the most famous German proponents of the Revolution of 1848, yet this is the first time that he is shown on a stamp. I actually thought that this might be the "prequel" for a 175th anniversary stamp issue of the revolution itself in 2023, but no such stamp is planned. This souvenir sheet is not connected to any anniversary and is actually part of the stamp series "Aufrechte Demokraten" (Upright Democrats), which was started in 2002, but for which this is just the sixth issue. It is great to see Blum honoured with a stamp, but I do not like this design at all with the white streak on his face and the text in the background that is covered and thus unreadable. Hence just the 11th rank.

10. 400th Birthday of Jean de La Fontaine (France)

I really like the design of this sheet, but more so because I collect also Childhood Heroes on Stamps. La Fontaine was not on my historical radar until recently, his works are however of immense importance and this sheets thus deserves to be included here.

9. Bicentenary of the Congress of Laibach (Slovenia)

This congress in Laibach, which is now called Ljubljana and is Slovenia's capital, was one of four successor congresses of the Congress of Vienna and an "attempt of the five Great Powers to settle international problems after the Napoleonic Wars through discussion and collective weight rather than on the battlefield" (Wikipedia). I guess it is not widely known that these congresses existed at all, but it is nice to see that at least one is remembered on a local/national level. This is a nice little stamp, but unfortunately a victim of my own course of the year. I bought it online, scanned it, put in my album and did not think about it further. Still a worthy addition to any stamp collection about European history.

8. Industrial Revolutions (United Kingdom)

This is a very interesting set. I am not aware of any other issue that decidedly thematises this theme and shows different inventions of the era (although I am actually sure that there are some), so this is a set of immense interest for my collection.

7. Birth Centenary of Sophie Scholl (Germany)

Standing up against extremism is once again of big importance these days and so a list like this would not be complete without Sophie Scholl. It is nice to see that they used a different image than usual and they have chosen an interesting quote: "Such a nice, sunny day and I shall go. What however is my death due to, if through us thousands of people are startled and awaken" (22nd February 1943, Scholl's death day). The question however remains why her brother Hans did not get the same treatment in 2018.

6. 230th anniversary of the Constitution of 3 May 1791 (Poland)

Did you know that Poland (or more precisely the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth) was one of the first democratic states in Europa? A democratic constitution was introduced already in 1791, but was not effective very long, as the country was divided soon after and disappeared from the map for over 100 years. A rather odd jubilee, but this constitution got the European Heritage Label. Once again a painting by Jan Matejko was chosen to illustrate a historic theme on a Polish stamp.

5. 1700th anniversary of Jewish Life in Germany (Germany)

This is a striking yet simple design and once again a theme to remember these days. Like the Slovenian stamp this one was issued in early 2021 and I have forgetten it a bit in the course of the year. I guess Covid-19 prevented many bigger celebrations. This stamp is also a reminder for the sad fact that the number of special postmarks in Germany was drastically decreased in 2021. In 2019 there were over 360 special postmarks used in Germany (I mean those that are organised locally and not officially tied to a stamp issue), last year there were only roughly 170. That means a great loss for the philatelic commemoration for smaller and local events and anniversaries. In a normal year I guess there would have been multiple postmarks highlighting local connections to this jubilee, but under these circumstances there was only this one from Seelow. It is nonetheless interesting for showing a Stolperstein, the ubiquitous memorial to the Shoa.

4. Margarete Schütte-Lihotzky and the Frankfurt Kitchen (Austria)

This is another stamp without jubilee, but I like it very much, as it closes a big gap in the philatelic documentation of modern architecture. The Frankfurt Kitchen was designed by Margarete Schütte-Lihotzky, one of the first women to study architecture in the Austro-Hungarian Empire and probably the first who actually worked fully as architect, for Ernst May's social housing project New Frankfurt. It is considered to be the forerunner of the modern fitted kitchen. Schütte-Lihotzky however was not only a designer, but also a communist activist in the Austrian resistance to Nazism. A worthy and long overdue commemoration!

3. Margaret Atwood (Canada)

Do not worry, Margaret Atwood is not dead yet. So you might wonder, why do I include a stamp like this in my list of history stamps? Well the reason is that reading The Handmaid's Tale shaped my interest in historic themes in the recent years like nothing else. Compared to Brave New World, Nineteen Eighty-Four and Fahrenheit 451, I think that this dystopia is the most frightening and also most realistic and in case you did not know, Atwood says that everything that she described in her book had an equivalent in real history. Is that not reason enough to investigate the dark sides of humanity's past from dictatorships to genocides for many years to come? 

2. 150th anniversary of the Internment of the Bourbaki Army (Switzerland)

As I said before, I have written my master thesis this year. The theme was the change of depiction of the Foundation of the German Empire in German history schoolbooks between 1971 and 2021 and the reason why I chose this theme was the omission of a German stamp for the jubilee. 1971 there was a stamp and my assumption was that if back then there was and now there is not a stamp there had to be changes as well in how the schools want to communicate the theme to the following generations. Well, in the books however there is no big change at all and so I am wondering even more why there was no such stamp. Our southwestern neighbour however issued a stamp about an event in the atmosphere of the German Empire's foundation. The French Armée de l'Est originally under General Charles Denis Bourbaki was interned in Switzerland in the late phase of the Franco-Prussian War and Switzerland was thus able to consolidate its reputation as a humanitarian nation. The stamp shows a detail of a panorama painting about this event. Apparently you could scan it with a particular app to view the complete painting, but I have not tried.

Honourable Mention: Konrad Adenauer (Spain)

Last year my first place stamp was the Spanish stamp about Robert Schuman that was said to be the start of a series about the Founding Figures of the European Union and I said that I was looking for the stamp about Konrad Adenauer. That stamp was now already issued, but I do not have it yet, so just a honourable mention.

1. Death Bicentenary of Napoleon Bonaparte (France)

Even if I would have got the Adenauer stamp it would not have stand a chance against this sheet. I think this is one of the most beautiful stamp issues that I have ever seen and talking about history-themed stamps nothing comes near it for me in 2021. A well deserved first place and in fact the only theme I managed to write a post about in 2021, so nothing more to add.

With Looking Back finished, let's now begin the Looking Forward.

2022 will bring us of course the announcement of the new European Heritage Label sites. That is something I always look forward to and it might happen in March. Checking out some museum programs and other online news the biggest German history exhibition of the year seems to happen in Trier. From June to November a state exhibition in three museums will thematise the Fall of the Roman Empire. Other German exhibitions I hope to visit will be held in Hildesheim (Islamic Art in Medieval treasures), Münster (Barbarossa) and maybe Stuttgart (History of Beer and Wine). The National Museum of History and Art in Luxembourg plans an exhibition about the Luxembourgian entanglement with the (Belgian) imperialism, which sounds very enticing. Too far away but still noteworthy are the exhibition about the Nebra Sky Disc at the British Museum in London and the openings of Grand Egyptian Museum in Cairo, the Palace Museum in Hong Kong and the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art in Los Angeles. 

This is my preliminary list of Jubilees in 2022:

50 years The Limits to Growth

75 years Independence of India

100th birthday of Betty White

100th birthday of Doris Day

100th birthday of Kurt Vonnegut

100 years Discovery of the Tomb of Tutankhamun

100 years Irish Free State

100 years Soviet Union

150th birthday of Piet Mondrian

150th birthday of Otto Braun

150th death anniversary of Giuseppe Mazzini

150 years Yellowstone National Park

200th birthday of Gregor Mendel

200th birthday of Heinrich Schliemann

200th birthday of Louis Pasteur

200th death anniversary of Karl August von Hardenberg

200 years Decipherment of the Hieroglyphs

200 years Independence of Brazil

250th birthday of Novalis

250 years First Partition of Poland

350th birthday of Peter the Great

350 years Rampjaar

400th birthday of Molière

450 years Herzog August Library in Wolfenbüttel

450 years Os Lusíadas

450 years Saint Bartholomew's Day Massacre

550th birthday of Lucas Cranach the Elder

900th birthday of Frederick Barbarossa

Once again there is no jubilee that stands out, so most likely there will be again no BIG jubilee. I am however aware of at least one stamp for most of the themes. I would guess that of these either Mendel, Moliere or Pasteur will have the most stamps issued by the end of the year. As this year will be busy, I do not want to plan too much, but I think about posts for Ancient Egypt, Louis Pasteur and maybe Guiseppe Mazzini.

1917: Первая мировая война and World War I (Belarus, Bulgaria, Canada, Faroe Islands, France, Greece, Ireland, Israel, Latvia, Monaco, New Zealand, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Slovenia, Thailand, United Kingdom)

Originally posted on 11th October 2018

12th January - Big Protests in Hamburg due to the bad situation of the civilian population in the German Steckrübenwinter (Turnip Winter)

16th January - The secret Zimmermann Telegram is issued from the German Foreign Office that proposed a military alliance between Germany and Mexico in the case that the USA declared war on the Central Powers and that promised Mexico the recovery of various lost former territories. The British intercepted the telegram and later decoded it.

1st February - Resumption of the unrestricted submarine warfare by the German Empire

The Resumption of the unrestricted submarine warfare impressively shows how the war also affected a neutral territory, the Faroe Islands. Already short after the declaration of war there were shortages in supply on the Faroe Islands, as the belligerents put up naval blockades. In these times of dearth the Faroese started to experiment around to get the most necessary goods. For example they used roe to extend rye flour or blubber as lamp oil and fuel for motorboats. On 1st February 1917 the German Empire declared the waters around the British Islands as war zone, which also stretched to the southern part of the Faroe Islands, and announced to dump all boats in the zone by submarines, but full of hope the Faroese still sent out their fishing boats. The tragedy occurred on the 23rd and 24th May 1917, when a German submarine dumped altogether eight Faroese boats. 

21st February - Beginning of the Toplica Uprising

The Toplica Uprising was a Serb rebellion in 1917 carried out by Serbian guerrillas in the Toplica District in the eastern part of the Kingdom of Serbia against the Bulgarian occupation force. Serbia was occupied since October 1915, but when Romania entered the war in August 1916, new hope awakened among the Serbian population. Some armed themselves and took to the forests. Even a secret resistance organisation was founded. On 21st February the rebellion broke out and the Serbs started to liberate some cities. On 15th March the Bulgarians started a counter-attack with Austro-Hungarian support and although some rebels survived and escaped, the order was fully restored by the 25th March. During the rebellion several thousand people were killed including civilians. It was the only rebellion in the territories occupied by the armies of the Central Powers during World War I.

8th March - Beginning of the February Revolution

In the early 20th century Russia was coined by the conservative and authoritarian government of Tsar Nicholas II and a growing proletariat in the cities, but at the beginning of World War I the country was still caught by a wave of nationalism. Heavy military setbacks and the horrible situation of the civilian population at home however changed the people's mind. Soon this would also led to a loss of confidence in the regime, as the Tsar was made responsible for all the problems. Beginning in February 1917 there were big strikes and demonstrations in Saint Petersburg. On 8th March (or 23rd February according to the Julian calendar used then in Russia), International Women's Day, small demonstrations turned into economic and political gatherings. A few days later factories and other enterprises had to be closed down, as too many workers were demonstrating. The Tsar hoped that the available soldiers would quell the riots, but when he actually ordered the army to suppress them, many soldiers began to mutiny. After he figured out his desperate situation, he abdicated on 15th March. One day later a Provisional Government was established. Already four days earlier the socialists had formed the Petrograd Soviet. In the following time these two bodies competed for power over Russia. Thus they created a factual dual power.

11th March - Bagdad is captured by the British.

19th March - As part of the Operation Alberich, which began on the 9th February, the German Empire had withdrawn to new positions on the shorter and more easily defended Hindenburg Line on the Western Front.

6th April - The USA enter World War I alongside the Entente.

Although they had already supplied the Entente countries earlier, the USA officially remained neutral during World War I until their declaration of war on Germany on 6th April 1917. Reasons for the entry included the resumption of the unrestricted submarine warfare and Zimmermann Telegram. The USA were an independent power and did not officially join the Entente, but they closely cooperated militarily. American soldiers arrived in large numbers on the Western Front in the summer of 1918. 110,000 of them died and never came back home.

9th April - Beginning of the Battle of Arras

9th April - Beginning of the Battle of Vimy Ridge

The Battle of Vimy Ridge was fought in 1917 between the German Empire and the British Empire and is a part of the Battle of Arras. It was the first battle in which the four divisions of Canadian Expeditionary Force fought together and became a symbol of Canadian national achievement. It ended with a victory of the British Empire. 

11th April - The Independent Social Democratic Party of Germany (USPD), which later played an important role in the Weimar Republic, is founded.

16th April - Beginning of the Battle of Chemin des Dames

The Battle of Chemin des Dames, also known as Second Battle of the Aisne, was fought between the German Empire and France in April and May 1917. The battle began as part of a meticulously planned Franco-British offensive, but had to be abandoned after many French divisions mutinied. It ended with a tactical victory of the German Empire. Prince Louis II of Monaco, who volunteered to serve in the French Army in August 1914, took part in the battle.

22nd April - Beginning of the Second Battle of Doiran

After Bulgaria's entry into the war the Balkan theatre saw successful campaigns of rapid movement in 1915 and 1916, but soon the conflict degraded into a state of trench warfare. The Second Battle of Doiran was fought between Bulgaria and the United Kingdom in April and May 1917. It ended with a Bulgarian victory and thus thwarted an Allied breakthrough at the Balkan front.

12th May - Beginning of the Tenth Battle of the Isonzo

4th June - The Polish military contingent known as Blue Army is created in France to fight alongside the Entente. After fighting on the Western Front it was later moved to Poland to fight for the return of Poland's independence.

7th June - Beginning of the Battle of Messines Ridge

The Battle of Messines Ridge was fought near the village of Messines in West Flanders in June 1917. The battle resulted in a British victory and the recapturing of the Messines Ridge. During the battle Irish soldiers, supporting and opposing the ideas of the Easter Rising, fought together.

29th June - Greece enters the war alongside the Entente.

1st July - Although big parts of the population and the soldiers were against a further participation in the war, Alexander Kerensky, Minister of War in the Provisional Government, decided to start a new offensive against the Central Powers, the Kerensky Offensive. After an initial success the offensive ended on 19th July with a military catastrophe, which further weakened the Provisional Government.

14th July - The German Chancellor Theobald von Bethmann-Hollweg resigns.

20th July - The Corfu Declaration is signed.

After Serbia was occupied by the Central Powers, Corfu became the new seat of the Serbian government in exile. On 20th July 1917 Croatian, Serbian and Slovenian politicians in exile with the support of France and the United Kingdom signed there the Corfu Declaration, which enabled the creation of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes after the war.

22nd July - Thailand enters World War I alongside the Entente.

Thailand, back then known as Siam, is possibly one of the least well-known participants in World War I, although an Expeditionary Force was sent to France to fight on the Western Front, which began operations in the middle of September 1918. Siam was the only state in Southeast Asia to enter the conflict entirely of its own free will and as an equal of the European powers. During the war 19 soldiers of Siam died. After it Siam became a founding member of the League of Nations.

22nd July - Beginning of the Battle of Mărăști

When Romania entered World War I alongside the Entente in 1916, there were soon some victories of the Romanian forces aided by Russia against the Central Powers, but when the Central Powers started to fight back, big parts of Romania were occupied by the end of 1916. The three battles of Mărăști, Mărășești and Oituz, which were fought between July and August 1917 and which all ended with Romanian successes, left the remaining Romanian territories unoccupied and seemed like a relief, but the situation once again took a turn for the worse for Romania in November 1917, when Russia's involvement in the war ended with the October Revolution.

31st July - Beginning of the Battle of Passchendaele

The Battle of Passchendaele, which is also known as Third Battle of Ypres or Dritte Flandernschlacht in German, was fought by Belgium, the British Empire and France against the German Empire between the 31st July and the 10th November 1917. The battle ended, when Canadian troops captured the village of Passchendaele. The quite big gains of territory for the Allies were bought with horrible losses and thus the battle became another symbol of the absurdity and brutality of the war. The Tyne Cot Cemetery, the largest cemetery for Commonwealth forces in the World, is located on the former battleground.

14th August - China enters the war alongside the Entente.

17th August - Beginning of the Eleventh Battle of the Isonzo

3rd September - Riga is captured by the Germans.

At the beginning of World War I the Latvian territory was a part of the Russian Empire and had a direct border with the German Empire. Already in August 1914 Liepaja and the Užava Lighthouse were attacked by German troops, but just in May 1915 the war reached the whole of Latvia leading to many Latvians leaving their region. Also much of the region's industry was evacuated to Russia and was lost forever. In September 1917 Riga was captured by German troops. After the Russian Revolution parts of Latvia were given to the Germans according to the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, who quickly established an occupational regime which ruled between March and November 1918. After the end of World War I the Latvian War of Independence was fought, which ended with the recognition of the Latvian Republic by Soviet Russia in 1920.

24th October - Beginning of the Twelfth Battle of the Isonzo

The region around Kobarid was located near the Isonzo Front and was hard fought between the Austro-Hungarian Empire and Italy. After a long trench warfare the Battle of Kobarid, fought in October and November 1917, resulted in a victory of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and the collapse of the Italian Second Army. The battle is also known as the Twelfth Battle of the Isonzo, Battle of Caporetto (Italian name of Kobarid) or Battle of Karfreit (German name of Kobarid).

26th October - Brazil enters World War I alongside the Entente.

31st October - Beginning of the Battle of Beersheba in Ottoman Syria, which ended with a British victory and thus paved the way for the Battle of Jerusalem

2nd November - The Balfour Declaration is issued by the British government.

The Balfour Declaration was a public statement issued by the British government on 2nd November 1917. With it the British government announced their support for the Zionist aim of establishing a "national home for the Jewish people" in Palestine, which was then still under Ottoman rule. Thus the British hoped to mobilise new resources.

7th November - Beginning of the October Revolution

In the unstable time of the dual power Vladimir Lenin, the leader of the Bolshevik Party, returned with German help from his exile in Switzerland to Russia. His return was enabled by the democratisation of politics after the February Revolution and the legalisation of formerly banned political parties. One of his main political aims as formulated in his April Theses was the accession to power by the soviets. At the beginning Lenin's Bolsheviks formed a minority in the both big cities of Moscow and Saint Petersburg, but in the following months various events led to a strengthening of their power. The October Revolution finally began on 7th November (or 25th October according to Julian calendar), which saw the overthrow of the Provisional Government and the accession to power by the Soviets. This event would later mark the beginning of the spread of communism in the 20th century and would create the Soviet Union as new global power, but for the moment it laid the foundation for the Russian Civil War.

17th November - Beginning of the Battle of Jerusalem

The Battle of Jerusalem was a part of the British Sinai and Palestine Campaign against the Ottoman Empire. The battle started on 17th November 1917 and already on the 9th December Jerusalem surrendered to the British, although fightings continued until the 30th December. When General Edmund Allenby entered the Old City on 11th December, he was the first Christian in many centuries to control the holy city. The capture of Jerusalem was a great morale boost for the British Empire and led to a loss of prestige for the Ottoman Empire in the Arabic World. After the battle the British established a new strategically strong fortified line.

20th November - Beginning of the Battle of Cambrai

4th December - Russia and the German Empire sign a ceasefire agreement. One day later a ceasefire agreement with all Central Powers followed.

9th December - Romania and the Central Powers sign the Armistice of Focșani.

15th December - Russia and the Central Powers sign an armistice.

22nd December - Beginning of peace negotiations between Russia and the Central Powers in Brest-Litovsk

1916: Première Guerre Mondiale and Erster Weltkrieg (Australia, Belgium, France, Germany, Ireland, Isle of Man, Italy, Montenegro, New Zealand, Portugal, Russia, Slovenia, Turkey)

Originally posted on 11th September 2018

5th January - Beginning of the Montenegrin Campaign of the Austro-Hungarian Empire

After the Kingdom of Serbia was defeated by the Central Powers and after the remnants of the Serbian army had withdrawn through Montenegro and Albania to Italy and later to Corfu, the Austro-Hungarian Empire also turned towards Montenegro. At the end of the Montenegrin Campaign, that was fought between the 5th and the 17th January 1916, Montenegro was defeated and occupied by the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

The Battle of Mojkovac was fought on 6th and 7th January and is probably the most famous battle of the campaign. Although the Montenegrin army won the battle, this could not prevent the final defeat, but still gave the Serbian army more time for their retreat.

10th January - Beginning of the Erzurum Offensive

The Erzurum Offensive was a winter offensive of the Imperial Russian Army against the Ottoman Empire. It took place in January and February 1916 and ended with the conquest of the strategic city Erzurum on 16th February.

24th January - Afghanistan and the German Empire sign a friendship and trade agreement.

In 1915 the diplomatic Niedermayer-Hentig Expedition was sent to Afghanistan by the German and the Ottoman Empire. Its purpose was to encourage Afghanistan to declare full independence from the British Empire, enter World War I on the side of the Central Powers and attack British India. Although the Russian Empire and the United Kingdom tried to intercept the mission, it reached Kabul in September 1915. The mission failed in its main task of rallying Afghanistan, but a friendship treaty between Afghanistan and the German Empire was signed in January 1916.

27th January - The United Kingdom introduces the military conscription for all unmarried men between 18 and 41.

21st February - Beginning of the Battle of Verdun

The Battle of Verdun began on 21st February 1916, when the German army attacked the French defences of the Fortified Region of Verdun. Despite initial German success the French forces recaptured much of the lost territory in August and December. When the battle was finally over on 18th December 1916, it had become the longest battle on the Western Front of World War I and one of the most costly battles in human history. In both France and Germany Verdun became a symbol of the futility of the war. Beginning in the 1960s it has also become a symbol of the Franco-German reconciliation.

1st March - Beginning of the Fifth Battle of the Isonzo

8th or 12th March - An avalanche buries a Prisoners of War camp on the Vršič pass.

During World War I approximately 12000 Russians were transported by the Austro-Hungarian Empire to the Vršič pass as Prisoners of War. There they were forced to build a road over the pass so that the reaching of the new front line in the Isonzo Valley would become easier. Several thousand young Russian prisoners died building this road. The prisoners also built a wooden Russian Chapel to honour their fallen countrymen.

9th March - Portugal enters World War I alongside the Entente.

At the beginning of World War I Portugal remained officially neutral, but already shortly after there were hostile engagements between Portugal and the German Empire due to the German campaign in Angola and the submarine warfare which sought to blockade the United Kingdom, the most important market for Portuguese products. On 9th March 1916 the German Empire declared war on Portugal followed by Portugal's reciprocal declaration. Around 12000 Portuguese troops died during World War I. After the war the German Empire was forced to cede the port of Kionga to Portugal.

24th April - Beginning of the Easter Rising against British rule in Ireland, which was quelled six days later

29th April - End of the Siege of Kut Al Amara

The Siege of Kut Al Amara took place between the 7th December 1915 and the 29th April 1916, when a British-Indian garrison was besieged by the Ottoman Army in the town of Kut in modern day Iraq. The siege happened, as Allied troops had to retreat after the Battle of Ctesiphon and as General Townshend decided to stay in Kut instead of moving forward to Basra. The Ottoman army was supported by the German general and military historian Baron von der Goltz. After some efforts to relieve the city had failed, the Allied surrendered after 147 days of siege. The surviving soldiers became prisoners and were forced to march to Aleppo. The British went back on the offensive in December 1916 and retook Kut on the 23rd February 1917.

16th May - Due to the foreseen defeat of the Ottoman Empire, France and the United Kingdom divide the Middle East into spheres of influence with the Sykes-Picot Agreement.

31st May - Beginning of the Battle of Jutland

The Battle of Jutland was fought between the 31st May and 1st June 1916 near the coast of Denmark's Jutland Peninsula. It was the largest naval battle and the only major encounter between the British Royal Navy's Grand Fleet and the Imperial German Navy's High Seas Fleet during World War I. It formed a part of a larger German strategy to break the British blockade against Germany and to allow German naval vessels to access the Atlantic. Fourteen British and eleven German ships were sunk with a great loss of life. But although more ships and sailors were lost on British side, they were able to prevent the German plans. In German it is known as Skagerrakschlacht (Battle of Skagerrak).

4th June - Beginning of the Brusilov Offensive

The Brusilov Offensive was a Russian offensive against the Central Powers between June and September 1916. Although many soldiers lost the lives, it was one of the most successful Allied offensives of World War I.

5th June - Death of Lord Kitchener

Herbert Kitchener became Secretary of State for War in 1914 and then already foresee a long war. He organised the largest volunteer army that Britain had seen and oversaw a significant expansion of materials production to fight on the Western Front. On 5th June 1916 Kitchener was on the HMS Hampshire to attend negotiations in Russia, when it struck a German mine.

10th June - Hussein ibn Ali al-Hashimi, the Sharif and Emir of Mecca, officially initiates the Arab Revolt against Ottoman rule.

1st July - Beginning of the Battle of the Somme

The Battle of the Somme was fought between the 1st July and the 18th November 1916 by the German Empire against France and the United Kingdom. The battle started with a large-scale offensive of the Triple Entente and ended without a big achievement. It was the largest battle on the Western Front of the World War I and one of the bloodiest battles in human history. At the Somme the British used tanks for the first time in a battle.

19th July - Beginning of the Battle of Fromelles

The Battle of Fromelles was fought on the 19th and 20th July 1916 between troops of the German Empire and the British Empire. It was subsidiary to the Battle of the Somme and resulted in a German victory, as preparations for the attack were rushed, the troops involved lacked experience in trench warfare and the power of the German defence was underestimated. The attack was the debut of the First Australian Imperial Force on the Western Front. Later it was described as the worst 24 hours in Australia's entire history.

4th August - Beginning of the Sixth Battle of the Isonzo

The Sixth Battle of the Isonzo, also known as Battle of Gorizia, was the most successful of the twelve battles of the Isonzo for the Italians. It resulted in the Italian conquest of Gorizia, but also saw many Italian casualties.

27th August - Romania enters World War I alongside the Entente.

8th September - Beginning of the Battle of Tabora

The Battle of Tabora was fought in September 1916 between forces from the Belgian Congo and German East Africa. During the battle the Belgian forces conquered Tabora, Kigoma and the Tanganjikabahn railway. The victory left much of the Ruanda-Urundi territory under Belgian military occupation.

13th September - Beginning of the Allied Monastir Offensive in modern day Macedonia, which was intended to lead to a Bulgarian defeat, but which just stabilised the Macedonian Front after the Allied capture of Monastir

14th September - Beginning of the Seventh Battle of the Isonzo

9th October - Beginning of the Eighth Battle of the Isonzo

31st October - Beginning of the Ninth Battle of the Isonzo

5th November - The Regency Kingdom of Poland is founded on former Russian territory as puppet state of the Central Powers.

21st November - Death of Emperor Franz Joseph I

12th December - The Central Powers sent a peace offer to the Entente, but it is rejected.