World War I: london Times Documentary History 11 Volumes

Description

World War I: A Documentary History Timeline & Key Figures

Timeline of Main Events Covered

Pre-War Tensions and Diplomatic Maneuvering (Covered in Volumes 1, 2, and 9):

• Prior to July 1914: Diplomatic negotiations and correspondence between Great Britain, France, Russia, Belgium, Serbia, Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Japan. These aimed at maintaining peace and managing international relations.
• July 1914: The critical period leading up to the outbreak of the war. This involved intense diplomatic activity, exchanges of dispatches, and public utterances as nations reacted to the escalating crisis (likely triggered by the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, though not explicitly stated in the excerpts). Telegrams passed between Berlin and Vienna.
• August 1914: Declarations of war by various powers. British notifications of a state of war. King George V exchanges correspondence with the President of the French Republic and the Czar.
• Early War Period (August – September 1914):Publication of “White Books,” “Yellow Books,” “Red Books,” etc., by the belligerent powers to justify their actions. These contained official documents like dispatches and correspondence.
• German controversial documents regarding Anglo-Belgian relations and German actions before the war, along with British and Belgian replies.
• Canadian government correspondence, Orders in Council, Proclamations, Parliamentary Debates, War Statutes, and speeches related to Canada’s entry into the war and the formation of the First Canadian Contingent.
• Newfoundland government activities and report covering August 1914 to March 1915.
• December 5, 1914: Signor Giolitti’s speech in the Italian Chamber explaining Italy’s decision to remain neutral for the time being.
• March 1915: Sir Edward Grey’s speech on the origin and main issue of the War.
• January – February 1915: Additional Naval documents (Volume 7).
• Spring 1918: Publication of Prince Lichnowsky’s “My Mission to London, 1912-1914.”

Military Actions (Covered in Volumes 3, 4, 5, and 8):

• Throughout the War (Naval): Specific naval events, policy questions, and acts of state related to the conduct of war at sea. Publication of Admiralty Monthly Orders and lists of enemy merchant vessels detained or captured.
• 1914 (Military):Royal Proclamations, Orders, and Public Notices relating to military affairs.
• Extracts from Army Orders.
• Appointments and Promotions of general officers.
• Parliamentary Proceedings and Public Speeches on military matters.
• Proclamations and exchanges of messages between belligerent powers on military matters.
• Documents illustrating the alleged use of illegal ammunition by the enemy.
• Discussion of the violation of frontiers before the war.
• Sir John French’s dispatches and those related to operations around Antwerp.
• Orders and Reports of British Generals.
• List of Victoria Crosses gazetted.
• Campaign in the West, illustrated by dispatches from British Eyewitnesses and French and Belgian Official and semi-Official Reports.
• Turkish campaign, documented through Turkish Papers, dispatches, and communiqués.
• Japanese operations at Kiao-chau.
• Capture of German Pacific Possessions by Expeditionary Forces from Australia and New Zealand.

Overseas Involvement (Covered in Volumes 6 and 10):

• August – September 1914 (Canada): Correspondence between the Home and Canadian Governments, cablegrams between Sir Robert Borden and Mr. (later Sir G. H.) Perley, Canadian Orders in Council, Proclamations, Debates of the Dominion Parliament, War Statutes, non-Parliamentary Speeches, and documents showing public opinion. Material related to the composition and equipment of the Canadian Expeditionary Force.
• August 1914 – March 1915 (Newfoundland): Report of the Governor detailing events.
• Pre-War and Early War (Australia and New Zealand): Documents showcasing their activities during the same period as the Canadian First Contingent. Included reports on defense schemes and military forces.

Diplomatic Rupture with Turkey (Covered in Volume 9):

• Events and documents leading to the rupture of diplomatic relations with the Ottoman Empire.

Key Treaties and Agreements (Mentioned in Volume 5):

• The Hague Declarations of 1899 respecting Expanding Bullets and Asphyxiating Gases.
• The Geneva Convention of 1906.
• The Hague Conventions of 1907 concerning the Opening of Hostilities and the Laws and Customs of War on Land.

Pre-War Military Planning and Imperial Cooperation (Mentioned in Volumes 6 and 10):

• Reports by Sir John French and Sir Ian Hamilton on Canadian Military Forces (1910, 1913).
• Report by Major-General Sir P. H. N. Lake on implementing Sir John French’s recommendations (1910).
• Correspondence relating to the proposed formation of an Imperial General Staff.
• Papers laid before the Imperial Conference, 1911, on Naval and Military Defence.
• Report of the Committee of Imperial Defence upon a General Scheme of Defence for Australia (1906).
• Lord Kitchener’s Memorandum on the Defence of Australia (1910).
• Memorandum by the Australian Chief of the General Staff (1910).
• Reports by Sir Ian Hamilton on the Military Forces of Australia and New Zealand (1914).
• Admiral Sir Reginald Henderson’s Recommendations regarding the Naval Forces of Australia (1911).

Cast of Characters and Brief Bios

• King George V (1865-1936): King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, during World War I. His correspondence with the leaders of France and Russia during the lead-up to and early stages of the war reflects the diplomatic efforts and the unfolding crisis.
• Czar Nicholas II (1868-1918): The last Emperor of Russia. His correspondence with King George V highlights the relationship between the two empires in the context of the escalating European tensions.
• President of the French Republic (Raymond Poincaré likely, 1860-1934): The President of France during the outbreak of World War I. The exchange of correspondence with King George V underscores the Entente Cordiale between Britain and France.
• Baron Kato Takaaki (1860-1926): The Foreign Minister of Japan at the beginning of World War I. His speech in the Imperial Diet at Tokyo provides insight into Japan’s perspective and actions during the early stages of the conflict.
• Signor Giovanni Giolitti (1842-1928): A prominent Italian statesman and former Prime Minister. His speech of December 5, 1914, in the Italian Chamber explained Italy’s initial neutrality despite being part of the Triple Alliance.
• Sir Edward Grey (1862-1933): The British Foreign Secretary at the outbreak of World War I. His important speech in March 1915 discussed the origins and the core issues of the war from the British perspective.
• Prince Karl Max von Lichnowsky (1860-1928): German Ambassador to the United Kingdom from 1912 to 1914. His memoir, “My Mission to London, 1912-1914,” offers a German perspective on the diplomatic events leading up to the war and his role in them.
• Herr Theobald von Bethmann Hollweg (1856-1921): The Chancellor of the German Empire at the start of World War I. A passage from his Reichstag speech in August 1915 provides information regarding the crucial telegrams exchanged between Berlin and Vienna in July 1914.
• M. Sergey Sazonov (1860-1927): The Russian Foreign Minister at the beginning of World War I. His speech in the Duma in August 1914 outlines the Russian view of the unfolding crisis.
• Kaiser Wilhelm II (1859-1941): The German Emperor. His telegram to President Woodrow Wilson reflects Germany’s attempts to influence neutral opinion.
• Mr. Andrew Bonar Law (1858-1923): Leader of the Conservative Party in the UK. His letter promising support to Mr. Asquith’s Liberal government at the outset of the war demonstrated British political unity during the crisis.
• Sir John French (1852-1925): Commander of the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) in France in 1914. His dispatches provide first-hand accounts of the early military operations. He also authored a report on the Canadian Military Forces in 1910.
• Sir Ian Hamilton (1853-1947): A prominent British Army officer. He authored reports on the Canadian Military Forces (1913) and the Military Forces of Australia and New Zealand (1914), indicating his involvement in assessing and advising on Dominion military capabilities.
• Major-General Sir Percy Henry Noel Lake (1855-1940): A British officer who served in Canada. His 1910 report focused on the best way to implement Sir John French’s recommendations regarding the Canadian military.
• Sir Robert Borden (1854-1937): The Prime Minister of Canada during World War I. His correspondence and involvement in Canadian wartime legislation and mobilization are documented.
• Mr. (later Sir George Halsey) Perley (1857-1938): Acting Canadian High Commissioner in London at the start of the war. His cablegrams with Sir Robert Borden illustrate the communication between the Canadian government and its representative in Britain.
• Lord Kitchener (Horatio Herbert Kitchener, 1st Earl Kitchener of Khartoum and of Broome, 1850-1916): British Secretary of State for War at the beginning of the war. His 1910 memorandum focused on the defense of Australia.
• Admiral Sir Reginald Henderson (1862-1947): A senior Royal Navy officer. His 1911 recommendations concerned the naval forces of Australia.
• Mr. James W. Gerard (1867-1951): United States Ambassador to Germany during the early years of World War I. The excerpt mentions a facsimile in his book, “My Four Years in Germany,” containing Kaiser Wilhelm II’s telegram to President Wilson.

World War I: london Times Documentary History 11 Volumes

5,900 pages, in 11 volumes of the Times Documentary History of the War.

The London Times between 1917  and 1920 published 11 volumes of transcripts of documents related to World War I.

Volumes 1 & 2 Diplomatic Part 1 & 2

The first and second Diplomatic volumes deal with the outbreak of the War and embrace the documentary records of events, negotiations, correspondence, and important public utterances emanating from Great Britain, France, Russia, Belgium, Serbia, Germany, Austria-Hungary, Japan, and in one instance Italy. Foreign documents are given in English in official translations.

The whole of the first volume and more than half the second are filled by the British Blue-book and the official translations of the French Yellow-book, the Russian Orangebook, the Belgian Grey-book, the Serbian Blue-book, the German White-book, and the Austro-Hungarian Red-book, which contain the dispatches published by the various belligerent Powers to justify or explain their proceedings during the critical period that led up to the War.

The papers in the remainder of the second volume are miscellaneous in character. They include certain Japanese documents among these an important speech delivered by Baron Kato, the Foreign Minister, in the Imperial Diet at Tokyo, the published correspondence of King George V. with the President of the French Republic and with the Czar; the British notifications of a State of War; a series of German controversial documents regarding Anglo-Belgian relations, together with the British and Belgian replies; a similar series bearing on the action of Germany before the War; Signer Giolitti’s notable speech of December 5, 1914, in the Italian Chamber, throwing light upon the attitude of Italy in separating herself from her allies; the considered utterances of British statesmen, including Sir Edward Grey’s important speech on the origin and main issue of the War, delivered at the Bechstein Hall in March, 1915 ; certain Foreign Addresses, Proclamations and Messages; and, finally, the text, in whole or in part, of Treaties mentioned in the course of the Correspondence.

Volume 3 & 4 – Naval Part 1 & 2

This volume begins the Naval division of The Times Documentary History of the War. The documents contained in it are of a distinctly naval character. They deal either with specific naval events or with questions of policy and acts of State having a direct bearing on the conduct of the War on the seas.

The arrangement of the volume is, in the main, chronological, each event being recorded either under the date on which it occurred, or under that on which it was first mentioned in any public document, official or unofficial. The source of each document is, as a rule, given in the margin, as also its date, unless the latter is found in the document itself. The month to which the several documents refer is indicated at the inner top corner of each left-hand page, and the year at the corresponding inner corner of the page on the right.

Documents include:

A list of enemy merchant vessels detained in British and Allied ports, or captured at sea by His Majesty’s armed forces and those of the Allies, was published periodically in the London Gazette. These lists are given in extension at the end of each month.

Admiralty Monthly Orders, a collection of all the Orders issued to the Fleet from time to time during the preceding month. These Orders, being issued solely for the use of the Fleet, were not commonly made public, some of them being of a confidential character, others of purely technical and professional interest. By the courtesy of the British Admiralty, the Editors  had access to them, and, subject to the approval of the Admiralty in each particular case, were allowed to print such of them as seemed to be invested with general or historical interest. Under the heading “Admiralty Monthly Orders,” a selection of these Orders will be found at the end of the record of each month represented in this volume.

Volume 5 Military Part 1

Contains documents dealing with the Military aspects of the War The first volume covers the year 1914 in respect of Royal Proclamations and Orders, and Public Notices relating to Military affairs ; Extracts from Army Orders connected with the War; Appointments and Promotions of general officers; Parliamentary Proceedings and Public Speeches; and proclamations of and exchanges of Messages between the Belligerent Powers on Military matters. In the sub-section devoted to the Proclamations of Powers hostile to Great Britain, one of the aims kept in view is to show by characteristic examples a class of document which is countless in number, but the whole of which could not be obtained.

Documents cover: The use of illegal ammunition by the enemy is illustrated by a number of documents dealing with operations in 1914. The question of the violation of frontiers before the war is also dealt with. Sir John French’s dispatches issued in 1914, and those relating to the operations around Antwerp, are included, and these are illustrated by maps. Orders and Reports of British Generals, and a list of Victoria Crosses gazetted in 1914 conclude the volume.

In the Appendix will be found the official English text of The Hague Declarations of 1899 respecting Expanding Bullets and Asphyxiating Gases ; of the Geneva Convention of 1906 ; and of the Hague Conventions of 1907 concerning the Opening of Hostilities and the Laws and Customs of War on Land.

Volume 6 – Overseas

This volume contains documents which, with the exception of two included in the Appendix, relate exclusively to the Dominion of Canada. Apart from those in the Appendix, these documents cover the period between the outbreak of the Great War and the departure of the First Canadian Contingent for England.

The material is arranged as follows. First, the Correspondence between the Home and Canadian Governments during August and September 1914, and the cablegrams which passed between Sir Robert Borden and Mr. (now Sir G. H.) Perley, who was acting as Canadian High Commissioner in London. Next come Orders in Council and Proclamations of the Canadian Government in August and September 1914,  a selection from the Debates of the Dominion Parliament in its Extraordinary Session of August 1914, some of the War Statutes enacted, non-Parliamentary Speeches and Messages of Canadian statesmen, and other documents showing the state of public opinion in the Dominion from the end of July to the end of September 1914. In the last section will  be found material relating to the Canadian Expeditionary Force. In addition to documents relating to its composition, particulars are given of contracts which had to be made for its equipment.

In an Appendix will be found the reports of Sir John French and Sir Ian Hamilton on the Canadian Military Forces, dated respectively July 5, 1910, and July 30, 1913; also the report of Major-General Sir P. H. N. Lake, dated September 14, 1910, upon the best method of giving effect to the recommendations of Sir John French ; the Correspondence relating to the proposed formation of an Imperial General Staff and the Papers laid before the Imperial Conference, 1911 : Naval and Military Defence. The two last-mentioned documents relate not only to Canada but to other of the self-governing Dominions.

Volume 7 – Naval Part 3

Additional Naval documents from January and February 1915.

Volume 8 – Military Part 2

This volume continues the publication of documents dealing with the Military aspects of the War in 1914. Dispatches from British Eyewitnesses and French and Belgian Official and semi-Official Reports illustrate the campaign in the West in that year. Dispatches and Communiques dealing with the Turkish campaign of 1914 are prefaced by a selection from the Turkish Papers, in so far as they are concerned with Military matters. Then follows material relating to the Japanese operations at Kiao-chau, and extracts from the Correspondence and dealing with the capture of German Pacific Possessions by Expeditionary Forces from Australia and New Zealand.

 
Volume 9 – Diplomatic Part 3

The contents of this volume fall into three groups. The first relates, as did the two previous volumes in the Diplomatic division of this work, to the outbreak of the war (pp. 1-63) ; the second concerns the rupture with Turkey (pp. 64-309); the third consists of the second Belgian Grey Book, a miscellaneous collection of dispatches and reports dealing in part with these same two subjects, but by no means confined to them (pp. 310-501).

In the first group the chief item is Prince Lichnowsky’s My Mission to London, 1912-1914, of which a special translation has been made (pp. 1-39). This belongs to the earliest period, although it was not published until the spring of 1918. The next two items, an article from the North German Gazette of October 12, 1917 (pp. 40-46), and a passage from Herr von Bethmann Hollweg’s speech in the Reichstag of August 19, 1915 (pp. 47-48), supply information respecting telegrams that passed between Berlin and Vienna in July 1914.  The original German text of the instructions embodying the demand for the surrender of Toul and Verdun (p. 49) has been supplied through the courtesy of the French Foreign Office. M. Sazonof’s speech in the Duma of August 8, 1914 (pp. 52-55), is taken from a Russian official source which was not available when the first two volumes of The Times Documentary History of the War were prepared. The text of the German Emperor’s telegram to President Wilson (pp. 56-58) is copied by permission from the facsimile in Mr. James W. Gerard’s My Four Years in Germany. Mr. Bonar Law’s letter promising support to Mr. Asquith’s Government (pp. 59-60), and certain official British statements (pp. 61-63), conclude this group.

Volume 10 – Overseas Part 2

The first of the volumes in the Overseas Division of The Times Documentary History Of The War related exclusively to Canada and covered the period between the outbreak of the Great War and the departure for England, at the end of September 1914, of the First Canadian Contingent.

In this, the second volume of the series, the activities during the same period of Newfoundland, Australia, and New Zealand are exhibited. In the case of Newfoundland, the important Report of the Governor, dated March 31, 1915, dealing with events between August 12, 1914, and the end of March 1915, has been included. In an Appendix will be found the Report of the Committee of Imperial Defence upon a General Scheme of Defence for Australia, published in August, 1906 ; Lord Kitchener’s  Memorandum on the Defence of Australia of February 12, 1910 ; the Memorandum by the Australian Chief of the General Staff and of the Commonwealth Section of the Imperial General Staff of July 8, 1910 ; the greater part of the Reports, dated respectively April 24, 1914, and June 4, 1914, of Sir Ian Hamilton on the Military Forces of Australia and New Zealand ; and lastly, part of Admiral Sir Reginald Henderson’s Recommendations of March 1, 1911, in regard to the Naval Forces of Australia.

By perusing these, and the documents relating to Australia and New Zealand, included in other volumes of the Documentary History, the reader will be able properly to appreciate the gigantic efforts made by Australia and New Zealand after the outbreak of the war. The Report of the Committee of Imperial Defence, also, lucidly explains the British Naval Strategy in 1906, while the Memorandum of Lord Kitchener and the Reports of Sir Ian Hamilton are of peculiar interest because of the distinguished part played by their authors after hostilities had commenced.