Anniversaries – Page 6 – First World War Centenary News Archive

October 28, 2016 CN Editorial Team

Centenary Anniversary: Conscription defeated in Australian referendum

28th October 1916: Australian voters reject a proposal to introduce compulsory military service overseas.

November 18, 2016 CN Editorial Team

Centenary Anniversary: Battle of the Somme ends

18th November 1916: The Battle of the Somme drew to a close after more than four months of fighting.

November 21, 2016 CN Editorial Team

Centenary Anniversary: Emperor Franz Joseph dies

21st November 1916: Austria-Hungary became the first of the major powers to lose its head of state during WW1 when Emperor Franz Joseph died.

December 6, 2016 CN Editorial Team

Centenary Anniversary: Bucharest falls to Central Powers

6th December 1916: Bucharest became the latest European capital to fall to the Central Powers when German-led troops entered the city.

December 7, 2016 CN Editorial Team

Centenary Anniversary: David Lloyd George becomes UK Prime Minister

7th December 1916: David Lloyd George took office as British Prime Minister, replacing Herbert Asquith.

December 13, 2016 CN Editorial Team

Centenary Anniversary: Joffre loses French command to Nivelle

13th December 1916: General Joseph Joffre was replaced as French army chief, in the latest leadership shake-up among the big powers.

December 18, 2016 CN Editorial Team

Centenary Anniversary: Battle of Verdun ends

18th December 1916: Verdun, the longest battle of the First World War, ended after a 10-month struggle.

January 19, 2017 CN Editorial Team

Centenary Anniversary: Silvertown munitions factory blast

19th January 1917: More than 70 people were killed, and hundreds more were injured, in a blast at a munitions factory in London’s docklands.

February 1, 2017 CN Editorial Team

Centenary Anniversary: German resumes ‘sink on sight’ U-boat war

1st February 1917: Germany took the fateful step of resuming unrestricted submarine attacks on merchant ships, provoking America’s declaration of war in April.

February 21, 2017 CN Editorial Team

Centenary Anniversary: South African troops lost in sinking of SS Mendi

21st February 1917: The troopship SS Mendi sank after a collision, claiming the lives of more than 600 South Africans in one of the worst First World War disasters in English coastal waters.