4 January 1917Battle of PutnaEric von Falkenhayn
Begins the first day of the Battle of Putna
Historical records for Germany in 1917, rendered directly from the World History Database and ordered by month, day and event.
Begins the first day of the Battle of Putna
Captures Gurgueti
Captures Romanuli
At a GHQ meeting agrees to unrestricted submarine warfare
A mile long stretch of French trenches is stormed at Hill 304 but recaptured
Consolidates German control of Romania
Captures Jijila
Captures Macin
German forces begin abandoning exposed positions on the Ancre front under British pressure.
German forces withdraw from exposed positions on the Ancre front.
Supports the withdrawal to a shorter defensive line known to the Allies as the Hindenburg Line.
Authorises Operation Alberich to withdraw German forces to the prepared Siegfried defensive system.
The German withdrawal plan toward the Siegfried Line is accelerated by a preliminary retirement.
The main German withdrawal toward the Hindenburg Line begins after preparations under Operation Alberich.
German attacks in the Avocourt-Mort Sector are repulsed
German forces complete the withdrawal from exposed Somme positions to the new defensive line.
The USPD was founded at a conference in Gotha, with Hugo Haase as the party's first chairman
The USPD was founded at a conference in Gotha, with Hugo Haase as the party's first chairman
Commands German Sixth Army defending the Arras sector against British and Canadian attacks.
The British begin the Nivelle offensive against the German 6th under von Falkenhausen. A British tactical victory
The British begin the Nivelle offensive against the German 6th under von Falkenhausen
Appointed Chairman of the Independent Social Democratic Party of Germany (USPD)
Demands immediate peace negotiations
Offers an immediate peace to Russia
Jodl serves as a regimental adjutant after his period of battery command.
Rupprecht moves additional divisions toward Flanders as German commanders anticipate a major British offensive.
Transfers 10 Divisions from the Lens-Lille sector to Flanders
Reports that an offensive against Baghdad is feasible
Appointed Commander of the U-Boats
Appointed Commander of the U-Boats
German troops lose Messines Ridge near Ypres.
German forces under Rupprecht's army group lose key positions on Messines Ridge after the British assault.
Prepares the German artillery for the attack on Tarnopol
Is appointed Regierungspräsident, or regional president, of Upper Bavaria.
Commands German forces opposing the Russian attack near Zborov.
The Kaiser rejects Bethmanns peace policy
Oversees German strategic support for the counterattack.
Assesses Russian collapse and supports plans for a counterblow.
Organises support for the Central Powers counteroffensive in Galicia.
Coordinates forces preparing to exploit Russian weakness.
The passage of the Peace Resolution by an alliance of the Social Democratic, Progressive, and Center parties, forces his resignation and replacement by the political nonentity Georg Michaelis
Appointed Chancellor of Germany as well as Minister President of Prussia
German forces launch the counteroffensive that breaks the Russian line.
Armin defends German positions around Ypres.
Ludendorff becomes the dominant figure in the 3rd Supreme Command and after the resignation of Theobald Bethmann Hollweg takes political, military and economic control of Germany
Introduces the Peace Resolution to the Reichstag which is passed. Carries a resolution favoring peace free from annexations
Introduces the Peace Resolution to the Reichstag which is passed
Ludendorff becomes the dominant figure in the 3rd Supreme Command and after the resignation of Theobald Bethmann Hollweg takes political, military and economic control of Germany
Ludendorff becomes the dominant figure in the 3rd Supreme Command and after the resignation of Theobald Bethmann Hollweg takes political, military and economic control of Germany
Carries a resolution favoring peace free from annexations
Appointed Foreign Minister
Appointed Secretary of State
Appointed Secretary of State
Rupprecht's command relies on layered defences and counterattacks to absorb British attacks east of Ypres.
Prepares the German artillery for the attack on Riga. Hutier & Bruchmuller use artilley on to break holes in the defensive line
Hutiers Eighth Army attacks Russian positions around Riga to clear the coastal salient. Hutier & Bruchmuller use artilley to break holes in the defensive line
Establishes a bridgehead over the Dvina & the Russian Twelfth Army flees
Establishes a bridgehead over the Dvina & the Russian Twelfth Army flees
Riga is evacuated
Bruchmuller & Hutier capture Riga, remains in German hands until the end of the war
Riga remains in German hands until the end of the war. Bruchmuller & Hutier capture Riga
Bruchmuller & Hutier capture Riga, remains in German hands until the end of the war
Bruchmuller & Hutier capture Riga, remains in German hands until the end of the war
Riga remains in German hands until the end of the war
Awarded the Bavarian Service Cross
Victory enables the German March offensive on the Western Front. Bombards Caporetto & crosses the River Isonzo. 300,000 Italians are taken prisoner
Bombards Caporetto & crosses the River Isonzo
Ludendorf crosses the River Isonzo
Austro-Hungarian forces, reinforced by German units, were able to break into the Italian front line and rout the Italian army, which had practically no mobile reserves.
The Austro-German 14th Army, under General der Infanterie Otto von Below, achieved a significant victory against the Italian Army at the Battle of Caporetto.
The Battle was a demonstration of the effectiveness of the use of stormtroopers and the infiltration tactics developed in part by Oskar von Hutier.
The Germans under von Bulow break through Italian lines at Isonzo & head for Caporetto
The use of poison gas by the Germans played a key role in the collapse of the Italian Second Army. The Battle was a demonstration of the effectiveness of the use of stormtroopers and the infiltration tactics developed in part by Oskar von Hutier
Erwin Rommel, who, as a junior officer, won the Pour le Merite for his exploits in the battle
The Germans under von Bulow break through Italian lines at Isonzo & head for Caporetto
The Germann Army captures Caporetto
Appointed Chancellor of Germany
Calls for the dismissal of the Chancellor, Georg Michaelis
The Italians are forced back as far as the River Piave
Armin commands German defence at Ypres.
Convenes a General Staff Meeting to consider an offensive in the west
A surprise British tank attack.
During the battle casualties were high, the Germans suffered losses of approximately 50,000 and the British 45,000.
Orders an immediate counter-attack only to discover that reserves could not be brought forward for a further two days, at one stage he even contemplates a general withdrawal from the Cambrai front.
Within hours the lightly defended Germans are forced back 6 km to Cambrai, the three trench systems of the Hindenburg Line pierced for the first time in the war.
20 divisions are deployed during the German counter-attack, the so-called Hutier infiltration tactics (named after the German commander who had first deployed them, Oskar von Hutier), within a week virtually all lost ground had been reclaimed
During the battle casualties were high, the Germans suffered losses of approximately 50,000 and the British 45,000.
In pressing home wave after wave of German counterattacks, starting 20 November, he worked to recover all ground lost to the British. Facing the British attack is the German Second Army led by Georg von der Marwitz.
Within hours the lightly defended Germans are forced back 6 km to Cambrai, the three trench systems of the Hindenburg Line pierced for the first time in the war.
Within hours the lightly defended Germans are forced back 6 km to Cambrai, the three trench systems of the Hindenburg Line pierced for the first time in the war
Within hours the lightly defended Germans are forced back 6 km to Cambrai, the three trench systems of the Hindenburg Line pierced for the first time in the war
Facing the British attack is the German Second Army led by Georg von der Marwitz
Within hours the lightly defended Germans are forced back 6 km to Cambrai, the three trench systems of the Hindenburg Line pierced for the first time in the war
Pays host to the Russian Armistice Commission behind German lines at Dvinsk
A German counter-offensive wipes out British gains
German representitive at Brest Litovsk where the Russians are seeking an armistice
Universum Film AG is founded, creating a major German studio structure.
Birth of Heinrich Boll
Ludendorfs 2nd council of war
Revolution breaks out across Germany, the leftists, led by Rosa Luxemburg and the Spartacist League, form the KPD
Jodl returns west as adjutant to an artillery commander.
Revolution breaks out across Germany, the leftists, led by Rosa Luxemburg and the Spartacist League, form the KPD
Appointed Ambassador of Turkey
Russian commanders report declining discipline and weakening morale among troops.
Appointed Captain
Appointed co-Chairman of the SDP
Appointed Chief of the General Staff for the Turkish Army
Appointed Chief of the General Staff for the Turkish Army
Einstein adds the cosmological constant to his gravitational field equations to permit a static universe, creating the mathematical term later associated with dark energy.
The Kerensky Offensive ends after the Russian retreat.
Appointed General Governor of Belgium
German and Austro-Hungarian forces launch their counterstroke.
German forces exploit Russian weakness following the failed attack.
German units reinforce Austro-Hungarian forces during the counteroffensive.
Jodl commands a battery in the 72nd Royal Hungarian Field Artillery Regiment.
The party's stance, under the leadership of Ebert and other revisionists like Scheidemann, in favour of the war eventually led to a split, with the more left wing elements in the party leaving in early 1917 to form the USPD
Awarded the Iron Cross, 1st class
Becomes founding director of the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute for Physics.
Kirchbach directs Austro-Hungarian units during defensive operations.
Appointed Mayor of Cologne
Appointed leader of the Independent Social Democratic Party
Helps draft the Reichstag Peace Resolution
Hopes for President Woodrow Wilson's mediation come to nothing, and, over Bethmann Hollwegs objections, Hindenburg and Ludendorff force the adoption of unrestricted submarine warfare bringing the US into the war in 1917
The offensive failure influences Kerensky's rise to prime minister.
Applies general relativity to the universe and introduces the cosmological constant in a static cosmological model.
Einstein interprets the cosmological constant as a repulsive contribution capable of balancing ordinary gravitational attraction on the largest cosmic scales.
Plans the successful Riga Offensive
Offers to negotiate but Lloyd George supports France in recovering Alsace & Lorraine
Offers to negotiate but Lloyd George supports France in recovering Alsace & Lorraine
The offensive ends with major losses and withdrawal.
The offensive fails to achieve its strategic objectives.
Formulates stimulated emission in his quantum theory of radiation, a principle later fundamental to lasers.
After the withdrawal of Russia from the war in Ludendorff is a key figure in the Brest Litovsk negotiations
Kerensky appeals to soldiers to continue fighting for revolutionary Russia.
Ludendorff manages German defence during Third Ypres.
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