1918 Details Page

HISTORICAL DATA-1918:

JANUARY: On January 8 of this year the American President, Woodrow Wilson issues his "Fourteen Points" plan. This is his outline of the war aims of the United States; they are almost the same as the goals of the British as set out by Lloyd George.
JANUARY: In the United States of America on January 16 of this year the War Department authorizes the creation of the Tank Service of the National Army. On this date the chief of engineers, Major General William M. Black, raises the first tank unit under this authorization, the 65th Engineer Regiment. It consists of two light tank battalions and two heavy battalions. The heavy units are the 1st Separate Battalion, Heavy Tank Service, and 2d Battalion, Heavy Tank Service. Most units to be raised for this new Service will remain in the United States. (SOURCE: Hell on Wheels The 2d Armored Division by Donald E. Houston, Presidio Press , Novto, California 1995 ((paperback)), page 4).
JANUARY (WHOLE MONTH): All during this month the 30th Infantry Division is continuing its military training at Camp Sevier near Greenville, South Carolina. (SOURCE: WORK HORSE OF THE WESTERN FRONT The Story of The 30th Infantry Division By ROBERT L. HEWITT WASHINGTON INFANTRY JOURNAL PRESS AUGUST 1946, page 1).
JANUARY (NO SPECIFIC DATE): At about this time (the beginning of the year), the Socialist-Revolutionary Combat Organization is reestablished in Petrograd, Russia. The Combat Organization is a political-terrorist group which has only fourteen members at this time. Some of them are intellectuals, some are workers, and they are functioning without approval or direction from the Socialist Revolutionary Party Central Committee. They are anti-Bolshevik, and they do not draw the line at political assassination; in fact, they pick Leon Trotsky as their first victim. However, Trotsky is much too cautious and elusive in his movements, and so they change to Vladimir Lenin as their initial victim.
JANUARY (NO SPECIFIC DATE): At some time this month the head of the Independent Socialist Party in Germany, Kurt Eisner, takes an active and important role in the wave of strikes that are making life in Munich so unpredictable. (SOURCE: The Life and Death of Adolf Hitler, by Robert Payne, Barnes & Noble Books ((paperback)), 1995, pg. 122).
JANUARY (NO SPECIFIC DATE): At some time during this month the unrest that is sweeping through Central and Eastern Europe reaches Hungary, as a general strike lnvolving about 500,000 workers breaks out in Budapest and in other industrial cities in the country. (SOURCE: The Making of the Atomic Bomb, by Richard Rhodes, A Touchstone Book Published by Simon & Schuster, Inc. New York, London, Toronto, Sydney Tokuo ((paperback)) 1988, pg. 109).
FEBRUARY: On February 16 of this year the Germans use one of their large "Giant" bombers-with a huge 138-foot wingspan-to drop a 2,000 pound, thirteen foot long high-explosive bomb on the grounds of the Royal Hospital in Chelsea, West London, England. This is the largest bomb to be dropped in this war. (SOURCE: The Making of the Atomic Bomb, by Richard Rhodes, A Touchstone Book by Simon & Schuster, Inc. New York London Toronto Sydney Tokyo ((papereback)) 1988, pg. 100).
FEBRUARY: At some time during this month the architect Alfred Rosenberg leaves Moscow in Russia and returns to his birthplace in Reval, Estonia, where he is living when the German Army reaches the city. He volunteers for service with the German Army, but he is rejected on the grounds that he is a "Russian" by birth.
    MARCH:   On March 21 of this year in France, the German forces begin a relatively short but very heavy artillery bombardment of the British lines. Then the German infantry begins an assault that will push the British back on a front from Arras to La Fere.

     (No specific date): At some time during this month, the German "List Regiment" (the 16th Bavarian Reserve Infantry Regiment) of which Adolf Hitler is a member is pulled out of its combat position in the Oise-Aisne sector of France, and told to attack the French lines at Montdidier. The attack turns into a disaster; the German supply trains and field kitchens turn up missing along the road, and the troops soon run dangerously short of both food and ammunition. However, they somehow manage to hang on.

    (No specific date): At some time during this month in France, the Commanding Officer of the supply trains for the U. S. 2nd Infantry Division holds a contest to choose a unique identification badge for display on the vehicles of the train. He is inspired to do this after seeing that the vehicles of adjacent French units had their own identifying symbols. He sends out a memorandum on the subject through his adjutant, announcing the establishment of several prizes for the best designs that are submitted. The first prize is in the amount of forty francs. (Source: Combat History of the Second Infantry Division in World War II--Reprinted by THE BATTERY PRESS, Nashville, TN 37219--1979, page 12).
(No specific date): At some time during this month Alexander de Seversky arrives in the United States as part of the Russian Naval Aviation Mission to America. He intends to study aircraft design and manufacturing. (SOURCE: P-47 THUNDERBOLT AT WAR by Cory Graff Zenith Press St. Paul, MN 2007 ((paperback)), page 10).
APRIL: (No specific date): At some time during this month in France, Division Headquarters of the U. S. 2nd Infantry Division gives final approval to the selection of an insignia to be displayed on the vehicles of the division's supply train. The chosen design is for a red-and-blue Indianhead, displayed within a five-pointed white star. The head is centered within the star, so that only the points of the star are visible. At this time Major General Omar Bundy is the commander of the 2nd Infantry Division. (Source: Combat History of the Second Infantry Division in World War II--Reprinted by THE BATTERY PRESS, Nashville, TN 37219--1979, page 12).
MAY: In the United States the 30th Infantry Division completes its military training at Camp Sevier near Greenville, South Carolina on May 1 of this year, and they prepare to move to New York for embarkation to Eurtope. (SOURCE: WORK HORSE OF THE WESTERN FRONT The Story of The 30th Infantry Division By ROBERT L. HEWITT WASHINGTON INFANTRY JOURNAL PRESS AUGUST 1946, pages 1-2).
MAY: On May 27 of this year the German Army in France begins another heavy attack against the Allied lines. They capture a ridge called the Chemin des Dames, and prepare to cross the River Aisne. By May 31 the Germans have seized the towns of Fismes and Soissons, and reached the banks of the Marne River. Then they begin an advance toward Chateau-Thierry, but this movement is finally halted by a combined French and American force just about forty-two miles from Paris.

(No specific date): At about this time (Spring, 1918), the Bolshevik Government in Russia moves its headquarters to Moscow, and some members of the Socialist-Revolutionary Combat Organization follow them there. By now, most of the leaders of the Socialist-Revolutionary Party have moved to Samara, but a small detachment is still in Moscow; this group is led by Abraham Gots. The Combat Organization seeks to obtain approval from the Moscow detachment for an attempt on the life of Lenin, but they are refused. At the same time, the leaders of the Moscow branch indicate that they wouldn't object, if the deed were not traceable to the Party itself.
JUNE: On June 4 of this year in France the German Army makes yet another assault on the Allied lines, this time in the area from Montdidier to Noyon. The Germans run into stiffening resistance and make only slight gains.
JUNE: At some time during this month, workers in Hungary stage another general strike, and again almost 500,000 people join the strikers. (SOURCE: The Making of the Atomic Bomb, by Richard Rhodes, A Touchstone Book by Simon & Schuster, Inc. New York London Toronto Sydney Tokyo ((papereback)) 1988, pg. 109).
JULY: In Belgium the U.S. 30th Infantry Division enters combat on Julty 9 of this year when it is assigned, along with the 27th (New York) Infantry Division, to defend the East Poperinghe Line, and to defensive positions in the Dickebusch Lake and Scherpenberg sectors. (SOURCE: WORK HORSE OF THE WESTERN FRONT The Story of The 30th Infantry Division By ROBERT L. HEWITT WASHINGTON INFANTRY JOURNAL PRESS AUGUST 1946, page 2).
JULY: On July 15 of this year the German Army begins an attack along a front that stretches from Chateau-Thierry to Rheims. The Germans again run into fierce resistance on both sides of the Marne River.

On July 18 of this year French General Foch begins a strong counterattack against the German troops who are attacking on both sides of the Marne River. He sends great numbers of troops, including Americans, to beat back the western side of the German salient from Chateau-Thierry and on to the north.
JULY: On July 28 of this year in Washington, D.C. Secretary of War Newton D. Baker writes to General John J. Pershing and proposes that General George Goethals, Director of the Purchase, Storage and Traffic Division of the War Department General Staff, have his authority extended to include conrol of the Services of Supply of the American Expeditionary Forces; General Pershing's reaction is to strongly oppose this idea. (SOURCE: UNITED STATES ARMY IN WORLD WAR II The Army Service Forces THE ORGANIZATION AND ROLE OF THE ARMY SERVICE FORCES by John D. Millett OFFICE OF THE CHIEF OF MILITARY HISTORY DEPARTMENT OF THE ARMY WASHINGTON, D.C., 1954, page 12).
JULY: At some time during this month U. S. Army Major General George Goethals, Director of the Purchase, Storage and Traffic Division of the War Department General Staff, develops a plan for centralizing the procurement of almost all of the Army's material needs except for aircraft and heavy guns and ammunition under The Quartermaster General. (SOURCE: UNITED STATES ARMY IN WORLD WAR II The Army Service Forces THE ORGANIZATION AND ROLE OF THE ARMY SERVICE FORCES by John D. Millett OFFICE OF THE CHIEF OF MILITARY HISTORY DEPARTMENT OF THE ARMY WASHINGTON, D.C., 1954, page 12).
JULY: At some time during this month the U. S. 29th Infantry Division-an activated National Guard Division-arrives on the Western Front in Europe. (Source: Stackpole Military History Seroies Destination Normandy, by G. H. Bennett ((paperback)), pg. 7).
AUGUST: On Sunday, August 4 Adolf Hitler is awarded the Iron Cross 1st Class, but it is for former achievements and not for the capture of four French prisoners that he accomplished this past June. The commendation for Hitler's award reads, simply, "For personal bravery and general merit." It is presented to him by the battalion adjutant who had initiated the award, 1st Lieutenant Hugo Gutmann, who is a Jew. This award is seldom given to an enlisted man (Hitler is a corporal in the 16th Bavarian Reserve Infantry Regiment), but it is clear that he has earned it. (SOURCE: Adolf Hitler-John Toland (paper), pg. 70).
AUGUST: On Friday, August 9 of this year the U.S. 30th Infantry Division is recalled from its front-line positions in Flanders, Belgium for specialized training. (SOURCE: WORK HORSE OF THE WESTERN FRONT The Story of The 30th Infantry Division By ROBERT L. HEWITT WASHINGTON INFANTRY JOURNAL PRESS AUGUST 1946, page 2).
On Friday, August 16, Vladimir Lenin delivers an address to a gathering of the Moscow Committee of the Communist Party of Russia; he is being stalked by a small group belonging to the Socialist-Revolutionary Combat Organization, but he somehow manages to elude their observer today. (At about this time the Socialist-Revolutionary Party leaders in Samara, basing their claims upon the military victories of the Czechs, are starting to claim that they have ruling authority in Russia.)
On Monday, August 19 of this year the U. S. 30th Infantry Division returns to action in the Ypres-Lys region of Flanders, Belgium after having received specialized training with British forces. (SOURCE: WORK HORSE OF THE WESTERN FRONT The Story of The 30th Infantry Division By ROBERT L. HEWITT WASHINGTON INFANTRY JOURNAL PRESS AUGUST 1946, page 2).
On Friday, August 23, Vladimir Lenin delivers another speech; this one is at the Polytechnic Museum in Moscow. There is a large crowd at the Museum, including his stalkers from the Socialist-Revolutionary Combat Organization. However, at the last minute, the appointed executioner from the Combat Organization proves unable to pull the trigger, and Lenin escapes again.
    On Monday, August 26 of this year the U.S. War Department in Washington, D.C. issues General Order 80, which says, among other things, that the Chief of Staff of the Army by law takes rank and precedence over all other officers of the Army, and he has authority in the name of the Secretary of War to issue orders throughout the Military Establishment. (SOURCE: UNITED STATES ARMY IN WORLD WAR II The Army Service Forces THE ORGANIZATION AND ROLE OF THE ARMY SERVICE FORCES by John D. Millett OFFICE OF THE CHIEF OF MILITARY HISTORY DEPARTMENT OF THE ARMY WASHINGTON, D.C., 1954, page 11).

    On Tuesday, August 27 of this year, the U. S. First Army Headquarters orders that the newly-developed "tank" armored vehicles should be employed in a tactical role when it publishes a memo entitled, "Combat Instructions for Troops of First Army". It states that the first mission of these new weapons is to clear paths through enemy barbed wire defenses; their second role is to drive enemy defenders under cover and away from their weapons, to allow our own infantry to advance. Our infantrymen are told to stick to their assigned route of advance regardless of contrary maneuvers of the tanks, and not to place themselves between tanks-positions which would keep the tanks from firing to their flanks. Infantrymen are to remain close to the tanks, so that they can exploit the shock value of the tanks' advances, and to point out targets upon which the tanks might fire. Finally, engineer troops are insructed to remain close enough to the tanks so that   they could assist their passage over difficult terrain, and artillery units are instructed to fire smoke shells during a tank attack,to blind enemy anti-tank gunners. (SOURCE: HELL ON WHEELS THE 2d ARMORED DIVISION By Donald E. Houston Presidio Press Novato, CA 1995 ((paperback)), pg. 3).
     On Friday, August 30, Lenin makes an appearance at the Mikhelson factory on Serpukhovskii Square, in the southern part of Moscow. G. Semenov, the leader of the small Socialist-Revolutionary Combat Organization faction that has been stalking him, sends two of his most trusted and effective agents to assassinate him. Fannie Kaplan, the designated shooter, hits Lenin and wounds him in the neck. She is quickly captured.
AUGUST: On Saturday night, August 31 of this year the U.S. 30th Infantry Division sends out patrols to investigate a rumor that the Germans are pulling back troops from the division's area. They find that the rumors are true. (SOURCE: WORK HORSE OF THE WESTERN FRONT The Story of The 30th Infantry Division By ROBERT L. HEWITT WASHINGTON INFANTRY JOURNAL PRESS AUGUST 1946, page 2).
AUGUST: Starting at some time during this month, the U. S. War Department General Staff's supply responsibilities are exercised through the Purchase, Storage and Traffic Division, directed by Major General George Goethals, whose ambition it is to bring all supply activities of the Army into a single integrated organization based upon functional specialization. (SOURCE: UNITED STATES ARMY IN WORLD WAR II The Army Service Forces THE ORGANIZATION AND ROLE OF THE ARMY SERVICE FORCES by John D. Millett OFFICE OF THE CHIEF OF MILITARY HISTORY DEPARTMENT OF THE ARMY WASHINGTON, D.C., 1954, pages 11-12).
SEPTEMBER: On Sunday morning, September 1st of this year the U.S. 30th Infantry Division attacks German positions in Flanders, Belgium. The Americans capture Moated Grange, Voormezeele, Lock Number 8 and Lankhof Farm. They establish a line which connects this area wth their original front line at Gunner's Lodge, with the U.S. 27th Division on their right and the British 14th Division on their left. (SOURCE: WORK HORSE OF THE WESTERN FRONT The Story of The 30th Infantry Division By ROBERT L. HEWITT WASHINGTON INFANTRY JOURNAL PRESS AUGUST 1946, page 2).
SEPTEMBER: At some time in the early part of this month the British launch a surprise attack near Amiens, France and the German lines cave in almost without resistance. The Kaiser's men surrender en masse; at times whole groups of them find single enemy (British) soldiers and proffer their surrender. (SOURCE: Adolf Hitler- John Toland (paperback), Prologue, pg. (XVII).
SEPTEMBER: On September 6 the Russian newspaper Pravda carries a short disclaimer from the Central Committee of the Socialist-Revolutionary Party, in which the Party denies any connection to the recent attempt on Lenin's life.
SEPTEMBER: On September 15 of this year the Division artillery of the U. S. 30th Infantry Division is detached from temporary assignment to the 89th Division and sent to the V Corps to support the 37th Division in the Avocourt sector. It will fire missions there for the next ten days. (SOURCE: WORK HORSE OF THE WESTERN FRONT The Story of The 30th Infantry Division By ROBERT L. HEWITT WASHINGTON INFANTRY JOURNAL PRESS AUGUST 1946, page 2).
SEPTEMBER: On September 21 of this year the American 30th Division joins the Somme offensive; it occupies the Lincourt-Bouchy sector with the British Fourth Army. (SOURCE: WORK HORSE OF THE WESTERN FRONT The Story of The 30th Infantry Division By ROBERT L. HEWITT WASHINGTON INFANTRY JOURNAL PRESS AUGUST 1946, page 2).
SEPTEMBER: On September 26 of this year the U. S.30th Infantry Division attacks from its line of departure which is about 400 meters to the east of the French town of La Haute Bruy'ere. On its left is the U. S. 27th Infantry Division, with which it had been associated since the beginning of this month. (SOURCE: WORK HORSE OF THE WESTERN FRONT The Story of The 30th Infantry Division By ROBERT L. HEWITT WASHINGTON INFANTRY JOURNAL PRESS AUGUST 1946, page 2).
SEPTEMBER: On September 28 of this year General Erich Ludendorff, the leader of the German Army High Command, calls for an armistice on the fighting fronts immediately. He is supported in this demand by his theoretical commander, Field Marshal von Hindenburg.
SEPTEMBER: At about this time also (the end of September), the German civilian government headed by Prince Max of Baden learns for the first time about the seriously worsening military situation currently facing the German Army. This civilian government resists, for now, the Army's insistent call for an immediate armistice on the battlefields.
OCTOBER: On October 2 of this year a meeting of the Crown Council takes place in Berlin, Germany. Kaiser Wilhelm II himself presides over this meeting, and at it Field Marshal Paul von Hindenburg repeats the call of the Army High Command for an immediate armistice in the current fighting. He says that the Army cannot give the Council two days to make up its mind. The Army needs a truce right away. On this day also Field Marshal von Hindenburg writes a letter in which he states clearly that it is the military situation which makes it necessary to halt the curent military campaign.
At some time during this month also, Corporal Adolf Hitler of the Bavarian "List" Regiment is temporarily blinded by a British gas attack near Ypres. This happens on the night of October 13 during a British attack on a hill south of Werwick. He is evacuated to a military hospital at Pasewalk, which is a small town in Pomerania northeast of Berlin.
OCTOBER: At about October 28 of this year open revolt breaks out in Germany when the German fleet is ordered to proceed to sea. The crews of six battleships protest, and an actual mutiny is staged in Kiel as sailors pilage armories and samll arms lockers; they also seize control of most of the city. (SOURCE: Adolf Hitler-John Toland ((paperback)), page 71).
OCTOBER: On October 28 of this year Czechoslovakia is officially declared to be an independent state in a ceremony held in the Smetana Hall of the Municipal House in Prague. This is a setting which has strong emotional ties for Czech nationalists. (SOURCE: See 'the brandon effect blog" at http://thebrandoneffect.blog.cz/0903/the-first-republic-and-wold-war-ii-1918-1945 )
OCTOBER (NO SPECIFIC DATE): At about this time (Fall of 1918) large groups of soldiers, students and workers gather in Budapest, Hungary to protest against the government. By late this month, after the Hungarian National Council has been formed with Count Miha'ly Ka'roli as its leader, people in this country are looking forward to the establishment of real democracy; the Council issues a manifesto which calls for Hungarian independence, an end to the war in Europe, press freedom, and a secret ballot-with full voting rights for women, something that even women in the United States of America do not yet enjoy, though there is a very strong women's suffrage movement there. (SOURCE: The Making of the Atomic Bomb, by Richard Rhodes, A Touchstone Book by Simon & Schuster, Inc. New York London Toronto Sydney Tokyo ((papereback)) 1988, pp. 109-110).
NOVEMBER: On Sunday, November 3 of this year, as the political scene in Central Europe is rapidly changing because of the perceived weakness of Germany and its allies, Polish nationalist leaders proclaim the establishment of a republic in Warsaw. The Regency Council, which is the government which had been set up two years ago by the Germans when they occupied the country, takes over executive authority in Poland. The Council then quickly calls upon Jozef Pilsudski, who had led Polish military forces when they fought the Russians, to be their new leader. Pilsudski is given the powers of a military dictator and he immediately invites Ignace Paderewski and other exiled Polish leaders to return to their homeland. (SOURCE: See hyperwar's digital version of the U. S. Army's book, "The German Campaign in Poland (1939) " by Robert M. Kennedy, Major, Infantry United States Army 1956 here:).
NOVEMBER: On Wednesday, November 6 of this year the German Army refuses to send a military representative to negotiate armistice terms with the Allies, despite their worsening conditions on the battlefield, and the deteriorating political conditions in Germany itself. Instead, Mathias Erzberger, whom some Germans consider to be a defeatist and to not be representative of their opinions, is sent. (SOURCE: THE U.S. ARMY IN THE OCCUPATION OF GERMANY 1944-1946 by Earl F. Ziemke Center of Military History United States Army Washington, D.C. 1990, pg. 109).
NOVEMBER: On Thursday, November 7 of this year the Jewish writer Kurt Eisner goes wandering through the streets of Munich, Germany, leading a small band of a few hundred men. He is able to occupy the seat of parliament without any shots being fired, and he proclaims the establishment of a republic. According to John Cornwell, in his book "Hitler's Pope The Secret History of Pius XII" , it is on the next day, November 8, that Eisner, whom he labels an Independent Social Democrat, declares the establishment of a socialist republic here. Cornwell also says that Archbishop Pacelli is resident in Munich at this time as well. (SOURCE: HITLER'S POPE THE SECRET HISTORY OF PIUS XII by John Cornwell Penguin Books ((paperback)) 2000, pg. 73).
NOVEMBER: On Thursday evening, November 7 of this year, trucks filled with occupants flourishing red flags rattle through Munich in Bavaria,Germany. The radical Kurt Eisner's men seize the main railroad station and government buildings, according to John Toland. No one offers resistance, and the police look the other way as rebels set up machine guns at strategic corners. (SOURCE: Adolf Hitler by John Toland ((paperback)), page 72).
NOVEMBER: On the morning of November 8 of this year the burghers of Munich in Bavaria, Germany awaken to find that their Bavaria has become a republic. Revolution has come, German style, without too much fuss and without a single serious casualty. The people acdcept their lot in a calm spirit. There is no violent reaction. The Muncheners just grumbleand wait. (Source: Adolf Hitler by John Toland ((paperback)), page 72).
NOVEMBER: On or about Friday, November 8 of this year a few shots are fired in Cologne, Germany when the city's garrison of 45,000 troops goes Red, but order quickly settles over the city. (SOURCE: Adolf Hitler by John Toland ((paperback)), page 72).
NOVEMBER: Civilian unrest also breaks out in Leipzig, Germany at about November 8 of this year; it is directed against the Kaiser's government. (SOURCE: Adolf Hitler by John Toland ((paperback)), page 72).
NOVEMBER: At about this time also (the beginning of November, 1918), a mutiny is staged by the naval garrison at Kiel, Germany. Prince Max of Baden calls upon Gustav Noske, a former master butcher and current leading figure in the Social Democratic Party in the Reichstag, to put it down. He succeeds in breaking the mutiny, and his prospects are enhanced in the Reichstag.
NOVEMBER: Also early in November of this year archbishop Pacelli in Munich sends three coded messages to Cardinal Gasparri, the Vatican Secretary of State. Pacelli tells the cardinal that there is mounting tension and almost a state of political anarchy in Munich. In his final message the Archbishop reports that Kurt Eisner's new government has issued an edict preventing the transmission of ciphered messages from Munich to Rome. Pacelli suggests that it might, indeed, be time for him to return to the Vatican. (SOURCE: HITLER'S POPE THE SECRET HISTORY OF PIUS XII by John Cornwell Penguin Books ((paperback)) 2000, pg. 73).
NOVEMBER: On Saturday, November 9 of this year a republic is proclaimed in Berlin, Germany. In the afternoon of November 9 the German political party called the Majority Social Democrats, led by Freidrich Ebert and Philipp Scheidemann are meeting in the Reichstag after Chancellor Prince Max of Baden has resigned. They have no plan for what steps to take at this time. Prince Max announces that the Kaiser has abdicated the throne, and Freidrich Ebert's first thought is that anyone but the dissolute Crown Prince should take the throne, because Ebert wants a constitutional monarchy on the style of Great Britain. Even though he is the leader of the Social Democrats, Ebert detests actual social revolution. However, there is a strong desire for just such a movement at large in the streets of Berlin at this time. The city is locked in a general strike and the left-wing Spartacists, under the leadership of the Left Socialists Rosa Luxemburg and Karl Liebnecht, are getting ready at the Kaiser's palace to proclaim the establishment of a soviet republic. When this news reaches those assembled in the Reichstag, there is a strong and emotional reaction. The politicians there feel that something must be done immediately to head off the Spartacists, but they don't really know what to do. Then Philipp Scheidemann has an inspiration. He jumps up, goes to a window and begins to address the large crowd that has gathered below on the Koenigsplatz. He tells them that a Republic has just been established by the Reichstag members. This is a shock to Ebert, who had hoped to save the Hohenzollern monarchy. And so it comes to pass that the German Republic is "founded". Later on the night of November 9 Ebert receives a telephone call in his study in the Reich Chancellery in Berlin. This is the special and secret telephone to the Supreme Headquarters of the Army at Spa. General Wilhelm Groener is on the line; he is the successor to Field Marshal Ludendorff as First Quartermaster General of the Army, and earlier this day at Spa General Groener had told the Kaiser in no uncertain terms that the Kaiser no longer could count upon the loyalty of the German troops and that therefore he must leave, abdicate the throne. He had done this when Field Marshal von Hindenburg had hestated to break the news to the Kaiser, and the upper ranks of the Army caste syatem never forgave Groener for his outspokenness, Now, in this secret telephone call, General Groener and Ebert the Socialist leader come to an agreement which will seal Germany's fate for years to come. Ebert agrees to supress any anarchy or Bolshevism which may erupt in the country; he also promises to support the Army in all of its traditions. For his part, General Groener agrees to put the Army at the disposal of Ebert's new government as it tries to establish itself and to carry out its programs. General Groener says that von Hindenburg will retain overall command of the Army, while Ebert will have political authority in the country.And then, on Sunday, November 10 Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany flees to Holland. On this same day, November 10, 1918, the leading groups of Soldiers' and Workers' Councils in Germany elect a Council of People's Representatives and appoint Ebert as their leader. This Council is established by the Soldiers' and Workers' Councils to govern the country while a more formal, Russian-style government is being formed.A little later on this day a pastor comes to the military hospital at Pasewalk to give this news to the wounded soldiers there, including Adolf Hitler. The minister also tells the troops that an armistice will be signed tomorrow with the victorious Allied governments. The war is over, and Germany has lost. Hitler will later call this the greatest villainy of the century.
NOVEMBER: On November 11 of this year an armistice is formalized at Compiegne, France between Germany and the Allied Powers when Mathias Erzberger- a representative of Friedrich Ebert's government in Germany-signs the Allied armistice document in French Marshal Foch's private railway car. According to the terms of this document, hostilities between the belligerents will cease at 11 A. M. today. (SOURCE: ADOLF HITLER-by John Toland ((paperback)), pg. 73).
NOVEMBER: In France when the Armistice is signed to end the First World War, the United States Army Corps of Engineers has 174,000 men assigned to locations in this country, and the Corps has a total strength of almost 300,000 officers and enlisted men. The Army Transportation Corps has an additional 60,000 men in this country; these men function only indirectly for the chief engineer of the American Expeditionary Forces. (SOURCE: UNITED STATES ARMY IN WORLD WAR II The Technical Services THE CORPS OF ENGINEERS: THE WAR AGAINST GERMANY by Alfred M. Beck Abe Bortz Charles W. Lynch Lida Mayo and Ralph F. Weld CENTER OF MILITARY HISTORY UNITED STATES ARMY WASHINGTON, D.C., 1985, pg. 3 and note 1).
NOVEMBER: In Vatican City, Italy on November 13 of this year the Cardinal Secretary of State, Pietro Cardinal Gasparri, sends a message to Archbishop Pacelli, the Apostolic Nuncio in Munich, Germany, telling him that Pope Benedict XV had agreed to allow Pacelli to transfer the office of the nunciature out of Munich, but Gasparri adds that Pacelli should first talk to the archbishop of Munich and seek his advice about the move. (SOURCE: HITLER'S POPE THE SECRET HISTORY OF PIUS XII by John Cornwell Penguin Books ((paperback)) 2000, pg. 73).
NOVEMBER: In Czechoslovakia on November 14 of this year Thomas Masaryk is declared President of the new Czech Republic which had been proclaimed on October 28 of this year. (Source: See the Brandon Effect blog website here:).
NOVEMBER: In Europe the Third United States Army is officially created on November 15 of this year; its initial encampment is at Ligny-en-Barrios in France. (SOURCE: PATTON'S THIRD ARMY A Daily Combat Diary by Charles M. Province, Hippocrene Books New York, 1992, Introduction, page 9).
NOVEMBER: In Europe in the continuing breakup of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the free Republic of Hungary is proclaimed on November 16 of this year. (SOURCE: The Making of the Atomic Bomb, by Richard Rhodes, A Touchstone Book by Simon & Schuster, Inc. New York London Toronto Sydney Tokyo ((papereback)) 1988, pg. 110).
In Hungary on November 20 of this year, just four days after the proclamation of the new Republic of Hungary, soldiers released from prisoner-of-war camps in Russia-where they had been indoctrinated by their captors-establish the Hungarian Communist Party. One of the leaders of the new party is a former war prisoner and follower of Lenin, Be'la Kun. (SOURCE: The Making of the Atomic Bomb, by Richard Rhodes, A Touchstone Book by Simon & Schuster, Inc. New York London Toronto Sydney Tokyo ((papereback)) 1988, pg. 110).
NOVEMBER: In Munich, Germany by about November 20 of this year Archbishop Eugenio Paceli sends a message to the Roman Catholic Cardinal Secretary of State, Cardinal Gasparri, in which the Archbishop and Papal Nuncio says that the local archbishop in Munich has advised him to leave Germany and to take up residence in Switzerland. Pacelli goes on to say in his message, "Today I depart for the time being to Rorschach....The state of things looks uncerttain and grave." (SOURCE: Vatican Secretariat of State Archive, Bavaria, Fasc. 40, folio 17, quoted in HITLER'S POPE THE SECRET HISTORY OF PIUS XII by John Cornwell Penguin Books ((paperback)) 2000, pg. 73).
At about this time the Social Democratic Party comes to power in .Germany, but its leaders are reluctant to exercise their powers fully, and when they do so, it is only to stave off the total anarchy which they fear could lead to the establishment of a Bolshevik state in Germany. At this time, in fact, Soldiers' and Workers' Councils of the Russian Bolshevik style are being formed all over Germany.
NOVEMBER: At about November 30 of this year AdolfHitler is discharged from the hospital in Pasewalk, Germany; he has been declared to be "fit for field service" since he "no longer complained of anything but a burning of the membrane". He is ordered to report to the replacement battalion of his regiment. This is located in Munich, and on his way he has to pass through Berlin, which is in the hands of the Executive Council of the Workers' and Soldiers' Councils. At this time the Executive Council is a coalition not only of soldiers and workers but of Majority and Independent Socialists. This group has already established the eight-hour workday, granteed labor the unrestricted right to organize into unions; increaased workers' old-age, sick and unemployment benefits, abolished censorship of the press, and released political prisoners.(SOURCE: Adolf Hitler, by John Toland ((paperback)), pages 73-74).
NOVEMBER: At the end of November of this year Adolf Hitler returns to Munich from a military hospital in Pasewalk, and he finds it hard to recognize his former adopted city. A revolution had taken place there, and the Wittelsbach King has abdicated the throne., leaving Bavaria in the hands of the Social Democrats. They have established a "People's State" in Bavaria; it is led by Kurt Eisner, who is a popular Jewish author who had been born in Berlin. He also finds that his former military battalion has been taken over by the "Soldiers' Councils". He is extremely upset by what he sees all around him, and he makes up his mind that he will get out of his once-beloved city at the first possible opportunity. [ G. Dempsey note: One of the things which may have upset Hitler at just this time is the establishment of a Czech Republic right across the border from his adopted homeland of Bavaria.]

At this time also the soldiers of Adolf Hitler's unit in Munich, the List Regiment, have joined with the social revolutionaries in the city, and Hitler is forced to wear the red armband of the revolutionary army. (SOURCE: THE LIFE & DEATH OF ADOLF HITLER by Robert Payne, Barnes & Noble Books ((paperback)), 1995, pg. 123).
DECEMBER: On December 8 of this year the men of the 2nd Battalion, 39th Infantry of the U.S. 4th Division begin their occupation duties in Coblenz, Germany by patrolling the city which is located at the junction of the Moselle and Rhine Rivers. (SOURCE: Article, "Representative of a Victorious People The Doughboy Watch on the Rhine" by Alexander F. Barnes in Army History magazine, Fall 2010, pg. 9).
DECEMBER: On or about December 8 of this year some 250,000 United States soldiers and all of their equipment are moving along the roads of France, enroute to their occupation posts in western Germany. Under the terms of the just-concluded armistice with Germany, the United States is assigned over 2,500 square miles of territory in that area with a million inhabitants as their zone of post-war control. The United States Third Army is given a sector extending from the border with Luxembourg to an area on the eastern side of the Rhne River which will soon be known as the Coblenz bridgehead. At this time the Third Army is composed of eight divisions: from the Regular Army there are the 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th Divisions; from the National Guard there are the nationwide "Rainbow Division"-the 42nd-and the 32nd Division from Michigan and Wisconsin, as well as the 89th National Army Division from the United States' heartland of Missouri, Kansas and Colorado, and the 90th Division from Texas and Oklahoma. The Third Army's commander is Major General Joseph T. Dickman. (SOURCE: Article, "Representative of a Victorious People The Doughboy Watch on the Rhine" by Alexander F. Barnes in Army History magazine, Fall 2010, pp. 9-10).
DECEMBER: On December 13 of this year large numbers of Allied forces cross the Rhine River to take up occupation positions inside Germany, on the eastern shore of the Rhine. (SOURCE: Article, "Representative of a Victorious People The Doughboy Watch on the Rhine" by Alexander F. Barnes in Army History magazine, Fall 2010, pg. 10).
   DECEMBER:    At some time during this month Adolf Hitler has made his way from Munich to a prisoner-of-war camp at Traunstein, which is near the Austrian border. There, he becomes a guard for the prisoners.

    At some time during this month the architect Alfred Rosenberg comes to Munich in Bavaria from his home in Reval, Estonia. When he gets himself established in the Bavarian capital, he joins the local White Russian emigre groups. At this time Rosenberg has not met, and does not know, Adolf Hitler, who is no longer in Munich.

    At some time during this month in Germany the first Soviet Congress of Germany meets in Berlin. The delegates to this Congress, who have been sent by the Soldiers' and Workers' Councils from all over the country, draw up a list of demands. One of their chief goals is to have Hindenburg dismissed. They also want to abolish the entire Regular Army, and to replace it with a civil guard police-type orgnization having officers who would be elected by the rank and file of the units; this national guard would be under the supreme authority of the central Soldiers' and Workers' Council.

    Following the announcement of these demands, Hindenburg and General Groener refuse to accept the authority of the new government established by the Soviet Congress in Berlin, and the country is plunged into a constitutional crisis. Friedrich Ebert, who has been appointed head of the Soviet government, refuses to carry out its instructions. The Army, for its part, demands more than just passive resistance from Ebert and his allies.
DECEMBER: On December 8 of this year the men of the 2nd Battalion, 39th Infantry of the U.S. 4th Division begin their occupation duties in Coblenz, Germany by patrolling the city which is located at the junction of the Moselle and Rhine Rivers. (SOURCE: Article, "Representative of a Victorious People The Doughboy Watch on the Rhine"; by Alexander F. Barnes in Army History magazine, Fall 2010;pg. 9).
DECEMBER: On December 23, 1918, the People's Marine Division in Germany takes control of the Wilhelmstrasse and forces its way into the Chancellery. This Division is now controlled by the Communist Spartacists, and it cuts the telephone lines leading into and out of the Chancellery, which is the German equivalent of the White House in the United States. They miss, however, the secret line from the Chancellery to Army Headquarters. Ebert makes use of it to call for help from the Army. The Army pledges help from the Potsdam garrison, but the mutinous sailors who have taken control of the Chancellery return to their quarters before the Potsdamers arrive. The sailors are living in the stables of the Imperial palace, which is still under Spartacist control.
DECEMBER: On Christmas Eve, December 24, 1918, the People's Marine Division, a Communist organization, beats back an attempt by the German Regular Army troops from Potsdam to force them out of their fortified site in the Imperial stables in Berlin. They do this with little trouble, while the two leading Communist Sparticist agitators, Karl Liebknecht and Rosa Luxemburg, continue to make strenuous efforts to get the people to form a soviet republic in Germany. Generals von Hindenburg and Groener put increasing pressure on Friedrich Ebert to get him to honor his promise to suppress the Bolsheviks by political or other governmental means. Ebert is very eager to comply.
DECEMBER: By Christmas Eve, December 24 of this year, Berlin-the capital city of Germany-is close to anarchy. The Sparticists, a far-leftist group named after the slave who led a rebellion against the Romans, have taken to the streets to make revolution with the help of rebellious sailors. (SOURCE: Adolf Hitler, by John Toland ((paperback)), apge 74).
DECEMBER: On December 27, 1918 Friedrich Ebert, the Socialist leader of the German Reichstag, appoints Gustav Noske to the post of Minister of National Defense. Noske has come to power through the German trade-union movement and the Social Democratic Party; he was a master butcher by training. He is a long-standing member of the Reichstag, having been first elected to that body in 1906, and he is recognized as the Social Democratic Party's military-affairs expert. He is also a strong nationalist.
DECEMBER: On December 31 of this year in the United States there are about 2,987 enlisted men in the Army whose duty assignments require them to take part in regular and frequent aircraft flights; more than half of them (1,656) are enlisted cadets who are in training which will lead to a commission, according to a memo which will be sent to the Director of Finance, Purchase, Storage and Traffic Division of the Army General Staff on January 21 next year by Lieutenant Colonel Rush B. Lincoln, A. S. (A), Chief of Personnel. (SOURCE: Copy of memo at page 29 in text of "Hearings Before the Committee On Military Affairs, House of Representatives, Sixty-Fifth Congress, Third Session, January 18 to February 7, 1919, Volume One " Digitized by GOOGLE at: https://play.google.com/books/reader?id=wEY2AQAAIAAJ&rdid=book-wEY2AQAAIAAJ&printsec=frontcover&output=reader&hl=en&pg=GBS.pp9 accessed 5/13/2016-GD).
(NO SPECIFIC DATE):    At some time near the end of this year, as part of the international realignments taking place following the end of the First World War, Poland regains its independence after some 123 years of foreign control. (SOURCE: THE POLISH CAMPAIGN 1939 --By Steven Zaloga & Victor Madej (1985)--Hippocrene Books, Inc., New York, NY 10016 ((hardcover)), pg. 3).
(NO SPECIFIC DATE): At some time during this year the M. H. Renken Dairy Company opens its headquarters in a large building at 584 Myrtle Avenue and Classon Avenue, in the Clinton Hill section of Brooklyn, New York. Several other buildings have also been erected at the same site. (SOURCE: See website for Eating in Translation here :)

BACK: 1911-1920 EXIT: WELCOME SCREEN