On December 31st 2014, Dennis Cross published the latest instalment to his Centennial Countdown blog. Here is his email summary of the posting:
‘As the year 1914 comes to an end, the World War is five months old and is already unprecedented in geographic scope and its widespread destruction of lives and property. In December Austria-Hungary attacks Serbia again; this time it occupies Belgrade, but only temporarily. In the South Atlantic, the long journey of the German East Asia squadron comes to an end as it rounds Cape Horn and approaches the Falkland Islands. German ships from the High Seas Fleet cross the North Sea to bombard three towns on the east coast of England, barely escaping destruction on the way home. On the Western Front, in the first major offensive since the opposing armies reached the North Sea, French forces attack German positions in the Champagne region of France. The new Pope calls for the warring nations to lay down their arms, and in some parts of the Western Front peace breaks out, temporarily, on Christmas Day. For the first time in history, aircraft carriers launch an airstrike. In the United States, the short (post-election) session of the Sixty-third Congress begins. (The Twentieth Amendment to the Constitution, designed in part to eliminate such “lame duck” sessions, will be adopted in 1933.)’
The full blog post can be read here.
Posted by: Hannah Schneider, Centenary News