100 Years Ago Today

[Sailor Steve]

December 30, 1918


Georgian forces recapture Sadakhlo, Georgia from the Armenians.

German anti-war activist Rosa Luxemburg starts an effort to rename the left-leaning Spartacus League to the Communist Party of Germany.

The Communist Party of Byelorussia is established in Belarus.

The association football Sport Club Paysandú is established in Brusque, Santa Catarina, Brazil.

[Jimbuna]

31st Decenber 1918

Eastern Front

Ufa and Sterlitamak (eastern Russia) taken by Bolsheviks.

Two French (African) battalions landed at Odessa.

Political, etc.

Draft of German Constitution published by the Vorwarts.

London. The war cabinet meets for the last time.

British pilot and Victoria Cross recipient Leefe Robinson, the first British pilot to shoot down a German airship over Britain, dies of the Spanish flu.


British cruiser HMS Caradoc firing at Bolshevik positions in Estonia.


President Wilson is greeted by a French honour guard at Calais after returning from his trip in Britain.

[Sailor Steve]

December 31, 1918


The two-week-old Georgian-Armenian war comes to a halt as both sides agree to a ceasefire put together by the British.

The Red Army enters Smolensk and dissolves the Belarusian People's Republic.

A Royal Navy squadron under the command of Rear Admiral Edwyn Alexander-Sinclair arrives at Tallinn, Estonia and delivered 6,500 rifles, 200 machine guns, and two field guns to the Estonian armed forces, then captures two Russian destroyers and turns them over to the Estonian Navy.

Bolshevik occupation forces shut down Lithuania's, newspaper Lietuvos Aidas

The Dutch daily newspaper Het Belgisch Dagblad stops publication.

The Municipality of Jerilderie and Wunnamurra Shire merged to become Jerilderie Shire in New South Wales, Australia.

Born Today:

Al Lakeman, American baseball player, catcher for the Cincinnati Reds, Philadelphia Phillies, Boston Braves, and Detroit Tigers from 1942 to 1954, in Cincinnati, Ohio (died 1976).

Griffin Bell, American lawyer, 72nd United States Attorney General, in Americus, Georgia (died 2009).

Joachim Müncheberg, German air force officer, commander of Jagdgeschwaders 26 and 77 for the Luftwaffe during World War Two, recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross, in Friedrichsdorf, Germany (now part of Poland) (died 1943).

[Jimbuna]

1st January 1919

Edsel Ford takes over as President of the Ford Motor Company after his father Henry Ford resigned due to disagreements with shareholders,


HMY Iolaire, carrying soldiers back home to the Scottish island of Lewis, accidentally runs aground and sinks, resulting in 205 deaths.


Ship Losses:

HMS Iolaire (Royal Navy) The naval yacht ran aground on the Beasts of Holm, Stornoway, Isle of Lewis and sank with the loss of 205 of the people on board.
USS Northern Pacific (United States Navy) The troopship ran aground off Fire Island, New York, She was refloated on 18 January.

[Sailor Steve]

January 1, 1919


The Czechoslovak Legions capture the city of Pressburg, making it part of the new republic of Czechoslovakia.

[Jimbuna]

2nd January 1919

Aftermath of War

Bolshevist forces advancing on Riga and Reval; fighting in the Ukraine.

Fighting between Czechs and Magyars at Pressburg.

Sir Hugh Trenchard's despatch on Independent Air Force Published.

Brigadier-General Cockerill's message on Special Intelligence work published.

Ship Losses:

Nanyo Maru (Japan) The cargo ship foundered off Tukuyama, Hokkaidō with the loss of all hands.
Polly and Emily (France) The schooner ran aground off Ambleteuse, Pas-de-Calais, France. Her crew were rescued.

[Sailor Steve]

January 2, 1919


The Bolshevik 11th Army attacks the Armavir -Tikhoretsk line held by the White troops of General Anton Ivanovich Denikin, while the 12th Army attacks the Makhachkala - Derbent line with the support of the Astrakhan-Caspian Military Flotilla. Both attacks are stopped by fierce opposition from the White armies.

Lithuania becomes an independent nation.

An anti-British uprising begins in Ireland.

[Sailor Steve]

January 3, 1919


An agreement is signed by Emir Faisal of Hejaz and Zionist leader Chaim Weizmann proclaiming friendship between the two movements and cooperation between them in working to develop a Jewish homeland in Palestine and an independent Arab state in the Middle East.


The Civil War between Red and White Russians continues in the Caucasus Mountain region.

[Jimbuna]

3rd January 1919

Aftermath of War

President Wilson arrives in Rome.

Protest of soldiers at Folkestone, re: demobilisation.

Food Council to feed enemy appointed under Mr. Hoover in Paris.

Ship Losses:

Fairhaven (United Kingdom) The cargo ship ran aground 1.5 nautical miles (2.8 km) off Walney Island, Lancashire. Her crew were rescued. She later broke her back.
William Morton (United Kingdom) The schooner foundered 10 nautical miles (19 km) south of Cape Sacratif, Spain with the loss of three of her crew.

[Jimbuna]

4th January 1919

Aftermath of War

President Wilson, acclaimed in Rome, asks for $20 million for food for Central Europe.

Bolsheviks take Riga.

Death of Count Hertling, German ex-Chancellor, aged 76.

Ship Losses:

Temple E. Dore (United States) The cargo ship caught fire and sank at Colimar, Cuba.

[Sailor Steve]

January 4, 1919


The Russian Red Army continues its Northern Caucasus Operation but is stalemated by superior White Army forces.

[Jimbuna]

5th January 1919

Aftermath of War

Troubles in Warsaw; coup d'etat under Prince Sapieha crushed.

President Wilson arrives at Milan.

President Wilson arrives in Rome, Italy as part of his European tour before the Paris Peace Conference.

[Sailor Steve]

January 5, 1919


The Sparticist Uprising begins in Berlin. Named for legendary leader of the Roman slave rebellion, Spartacus, and headed by Marxist leaders Karl Liebknecht and Rosa Luxemburg, the Sparticist League is devoted to bringing the Russian Bolshevik movement to Germany.

The Deutsche Arbeiterpartei (German Workers' Party) is founded by Anton Drexler. He wanted to call it the German Socialist Workers' Party, but others of his group wanted to avoid association with the Russian Communist Party. Drexler and his fellows made a point of assuring the German people that, unlike the Communists they supported the middle class and intended to improve Germany's economy through profit-sharing rather than Socialism. A little over a year later this will grow into the Nazi Party.

[Jimbuna]

6th January 1919

Aftermath of War

Fighting in Berlin between Government party and Spartacists.

Political, etc.

Theodore Roosevelt, 26th President of the United States, has passed away in his sleep.


Vice President Thomas R. Marshall: "Death had to take Roosevelt sleeping, for if he had been awake, there would have been a fight.”

Ship Losses:

Vila de Buarcos (Portugal) The sailing ship was abandoned in the Bay of Biscay off Ouessant, Finistère, France. All eleven crew were rescued by Malte ( France).

[Jimbuna]

7th January 1919

Aftermath of War

Fighting in Berlin between Government party and Spartacists.

British squadron leaves the Baltic; British force sent to Caucasus.

President Wilson arrives in Paris.

Herr Noske appointed Governor of Berlin.

Socialist and Communist parties in Germany announce a general strike, and 500,000 German workers in Berlin participate. There are also counter-protests against the Communist Spartacists.


A crashed German Fokker D.VII plane near an abandoned zeppelin shed in Namur, Belgium.