1918
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4 January 1918 The Bolshevik government recognizes the independence of Finland, as does Sweden and France.
Former French Prime Minister Joseph Caillaux is arrested, on orders of Prime Minister Georges Clemenceau, for fomenting a coup and seeking peace with Germany.
5 January 1918 Sergey Rakhmaninov (44) and his wife leave Petrograd and Russia, never to return.
6 January 1918 Czech deputies in the Austrian parliament, Czech members of provincial assemblies, leading Czech intellectuals and businessmen join in the Epiphany Declaration, demanding independence for Czechs and Slovaks.
Germany recognizes the independence of Finland.
Sergey Rakhmaninov (44) and his wife arrive in Stockholm from Petrograd. He has been requested to appear in Stockholm by a Swedish concert manager. This turns out to be a perfect pretext for fleeing the Bolshevik Revolution.
8 January 1918 Speaking to a joint session of Congress, President Wilson of the United States outlines his “Fourteen Points” for world peace.
The French ambassador in Washington requests US cooperation in an invasion of Siberia.
12 January 1918 Zoltán Kodály’s (35) orchestral work Old Hungarian Soldier’s Song is performed for the first time, in Vienna along with the premiere of Five Slovak Folksongs for male chorus and three of the Eight Hungarian Folksongs for voice and piano by Béla Bartók (36).
13 January 1918 Romania dispatches troops to help Moldavia against the Bolsheviks.
15 January 1918 The Austrian government reduces the daily flour ration from 200 grams to 150.
Six Poèmes for voice and piano by Arthur Honegger (25) to words of Apollinaire, is given its first complete performance, at the Théâtre du Vieux Colombier, Paris. See 11 July 1916.
16 January 1918 Bedouin tribesmen capture Tafila (At Tafilah, Jordan) from the Turks.
US President Wilson refuses a French request for an invasion of Siberia.
Two songs for voice and violin by Gustav Holst (43) op.35/3&4, I Sing of a Maiden and My Leman is So True, both to anonymous words, are performed for the first time, at Morley College, London.
17 January 1918 Francis Poulenc (19) enters the French military.
18 January 1918 The first openly, freely elected assembly in Russian history meets in the Tauride Palace, Petrograd. Red Guards surround the building. They battle with crowds outside. Six people are killed, 34 injured.
19 January 1918 The first openly, freely elected assembly in Russian history is dissolved by the Bolshevik government.
A general strike begins in Vienna over a cut in flour rations.
Cello Sonata no.1 op.109 by Gabriel Fauré (72) is performed for the first time, by the Société National de Musique, Paris.
The first two movements of the Violin Sonata no.1 by Arthur Honegger (25) are performed for the first time, at the Panthéon, Paris. See 19 March 1918.
March of the Finnish Jaeger Batallion op.91/1 for male chorus and brass septet by Jean Sibelius (52) to words of Nurmio is given its first public performance, in Helsinki.
20 January 1918 Bolshevik soldiers enter a ward in Marinskaya Hospital in Petrograd where two former members of the Kerensky government currently reside. They bayonet the two to death.
After giving successful battle to the Royal Navy, the Turkish cruiser Midilli (formerly the German Breslau) strikes a mine near Imbros Island near the Dardanelles. It sinks with most of its crew.
Verdun: Solemn March and Heroic Epilogue for orchestra by Charles Villiers Stanford (65) is performed for the first time, in London.
21 January 1918 The Philharmonic Society of New York bans works by living German composers.
Private Virgil Thomson (21) is transferred from a medical unit to the School of Military Aeronautics in Austin, Texas.
22 January 1918 New York Philharmonic board member Mrs. William Jay, supported by the Daughters of the American Revolution and others on the right, writes to the Boston Symphony Orchestra demanding the removal of its Germanic conductor, Karl Muck.
23 January 1918 The Red Army of Workers and Peasants is established in Russia.
A Turkish counterattack retakes Tafila from the Arabs.
24 January 1918 Sonatina no.4 in diem Nativitatis Christi MCMXVII, for piano by Ferruccio Busoni (53) is performed for the first time, in the Zürich Tonhalle.
25 January 1918 Arabs commanded by TE Lawrence defeat Turks at Tafila.
26 January 1918 Le vaisseau op.28/4 for voice and piano by Charles Koechlin (50) to words of Haraucourt is performed for the first time, in Paris.
27 January 1918 A left-wing paramilitary group, Finnish Red Guard, begins a takeover of the Finnish government.
The first part of Pause del silenzio for orchestra by Gian Francesco Malipiero (35) is performed for the first time, in Teatro Augusteo, Rome.
28 January 1918 Russia breaks relations with Romania over Moldavia.
400,000 workers strike in Berlin demanding peace and democracy. Strikes will subsequently spread throughout German cities, involving around 1,000,000 workers.
A revolutionary government, backed by Red Army troops, takes power in Helsinki, headed by Kullervo Manner. A counterrevolution led by CGE Mannerheim simultaneously begins operations in central Finland.
29 January 1918 Cinq Chansons de Bilitis op.39 for voice and piano by Charles Koechlin (50) to words of Louÿs is performed completely for the first time, in Théâtre du Vieux-Colombier, Paris. See 14 March 1899.
31 January 1918 Claude Champagne’s (26) orchestral arrangement of the folk song J’ai du bon tabac is performed for the first time, in Montreal.
1 February 1918 George Gershwin (19) begins work at the music publisher TB Harms in New York as a songwriter.
4 February 1918 Mr. Justice Arthur Drysdale, empowered to conduct an official investigation of the Halifax Explosion, concludes that the pilot and master of the Mont Blanc are solely to blame.
5 February 1918 The Russian government announces the separation of the Russian Orthodox Church from the state and schools.
The first concert of Nouveaux Jeunes takes place at the Théâtre du Vieux-Colombier, Paris, beginning with a lecture entitled “Éloge des critiques” by Erik Satie (51).
6 February 1918 The Red Army and Armenians attack the Turkestan Moslem government in Kokand. A massacre ensues.
Red forces attack Bokhara (Buxoro, Uzbekistan) but are driven back.
The British Representation of the People Act of 1918 is granted royal assent. Enfranchisement is extended to almost all adult men and most women over 30 years of age. Henceforth, all voting in general elections will be held on the same day.
Two Duets on Poems by Otto Julius Bierbaum, Maikaterlied and Abendlied for voice and piano by Kurt Weill (17) are performed for the first time, in the Protestant Community Hall in Dessau, the composer at the piano. They are part of a vocal recital by students of the soprano Emilie Feuge. Weill accompanies all the singers. He receives good notices, both as pianist and composer.
7 February 1918 As part of the National Committee on Army and Navy Camp Music, John Alden Carpenter (41) attends a meeting in Washington with John Philip Sousa to improve band music in the military.
8 February 1918 The Siberian Regional Duma in Tomsk is dissolved by the local soviet who create an anti-Bolshevik government to rule Siberia.
9 February 1918 The Red Army enters Kiev and begins a reign of terror against any perceived counterrevolutionaries.
Germany and Austria-Hungary conclude peace with the Ukrainian Rada. Both recognize the independence of Ukraine. Germany grants the Polish province of Chelm to Ukraine. The government of the Kingdom of Poland resigns in protest.
Alexandru Averescu replaces Ion I. Constantin Bratianu as Prime Minister of Romania. Bratianu refused to negotiate with the Germans and resigned.
Two collections for piano four hands by Igor Stravinsky (35) are performed for the first time, in Paris: Three Easy Pieces and Five Easy Pieces.
10 February 1918 The Bolsheviks walk out of peace negotiations, refusing both the enemy’s terms and the resumption of war.
11 February 1918 Fearing the loss of Rostov to the Bolsheviks, Cossack leader Aleksey Kaledin, commander of an independent anti-Bolshevik army, resigns and then shoots himself to death.
The Bolshevik leadership decrees the demobilization of the Russian Army.
Romanian Folk Dances for orchestra by Béla Bartók (36) are performed for the first time, in Budapest.
Pan and Syrinx, a symphonic poem by Carl Nielsen (52), is performed for the first time, in Copenhagen.
12 February 1918 During the Finnish Civil War, Red troops search the house of Jean Sibelius (52) in Järvenpää, while the composer plays the piano to calm his children.
All Broadway Theatres are closed in an attempt to save coal.
14 February 1918 Russia adopts the Gregorian calendar.
15 February 1918 Incidental music to Sigurjónsson’s play The Liar by Carl Nielsen (52) is performed for the first time, in Copenhagen.
Sergey Rakhmaninov (44) makes his first appearance as an emigre artist, in Copenhagen with the Copenhagen Symphony Orchestra.
16 February 1918 The Lithuanian Regional Council declares the independence of the State of Lithuania.
A British drive from Mesopotamia to Baku reaches Rasht.
French military authorities take direct control of Albania.
In spite of parliamentary inquiries about spending tax money on some Czech nationalist, Jenufa by Leos Janácek (63) is produced at the Vienna Hofoper. With many nobility and important officials present, it is a great success.
17 February 1918 British forces reaching Bandar-e Pahlavi (Bandar-e Anzali, Iran), on the south shore of the Caspian Sea, learn from the Bolshevik garrison their that they have been ordered to stop the British advance.
18 February 1918 Germany launches an offensive against Russia in Ukraine to enforce their peace demands.
19 February 1918 The Bolshevik government of Russia nationalizes all land.
The Estonian Council of Elders creates the Estonian Liberation Committee to serve as supreme authority in the province.
20 February 1918 British forces withdraw from Bandar-e Pahlavi (Bandar-e Anzali, Iran).
Jean Sibelius (52), his wife and three of his children move by sledge from his home, Ainola, to his brother’s home at the Lapinlahti mental hospital in Helsinki.
21 February 1918 Australian forces capture Jericho from the Turks.
German troops enter Minsk.
Easter Hymn for voice and piano by Frank Bridge (38) to words of Wagemann, is performed for the first time, at the Royal College of Music, London.
22 February 1918 Silvestre Revueltas (18) performs music of Tchaikovsky (†24) and Massenet (†5) at a mass on the campus of St. Edward’s College, Austin, Texas, which he is attending.
Deità Silvane for high voice and 15 instruments by Ottorino Respighi (38) to words of Rubino is performed for the first time, in Rome.
Pribaoutki for solo voice and chamber ensemble by Igor Stravinsky (35) is performed for the first time, in Aeolian Hall, London. This performance is done with piano accompaniment. See 6 June 1919.
23 February 1918 A mass meeting to recruit for the Red Army draws 60,000 in Petrograd.
The Red Army captures Rostov
The Parliament of Transcaucasia meets for the first time, in Tiflis (Tbilisi).
Henry Cowell (20) enlists in the United States Army. He will spend most of his 15 months in uniform as a flutist at Camp Crane near Allenstown, Pennsylvania.
24 February 1918 The Estonian Liberation Committee, created five days ago, declares the independence of Estonia from Russia. Konstantin Päts is named leader of the provisional government.
German troops capture Zhytomyr (Ukraine).
The Bolshevik Central Committee accepts the German peace offer.
Lev Trotsky is appointed Russian Commissar of Foreign Affairs.
25 February 1918 The main body of the German Jäger Battalion arrives in Finland, providing an anti-Bolshevik army. Germans occupy Estonia.
The Red Army captures Novocherkassk, the capital of the Cossack region.
26 February 1918 A Piano Sonata by Charles T. Griffes (33) is performed for the first time, by the composer, in the first all-Griffes concert, sponsored by the McDowell Club of New York.
27 February 1918 Anton Ponikowski replaces Jan Kucharzewski as Prime Minister of Poland.
1 March 1918 The Bolshevik government recognizes the revolutionary government in Helsinki and turns over Petsamo to it.
Ralph Vaughan Williams (45) embarks for France a second time, from Southampton. This time, he is assigned to the artillery.
2 March 1918 German troops enter Kiev.
3 March 1918 A treaty between Russia and the Central Powers is signed in Brest-Litovsk. Russia recognizes the independence of Ukraine, Georgia, and Finland while handing over Poland and the Baltic States to Germany and Austria-Hungary. Kars, Ardahan, and Batum are given to the Ottoman Empire. The Armenians still alive in these districts are now placed back under Turkish rule.
Communal riots begin in Baku between Azeris and Armenians. They will continue through March.
The Second String Quartet of Béla Bartók (36) is performed for the first time, in Budapest.
Sonata in b minor for violin and piano by Ottorino Respighi (38) is performed for the first time, in Bologna, the composer at the keyboard.
The Volunteers, a march by John Philip Sousa (63), is performed for the first time, at the New York Hippodrome.
4 March 1918 German forces capture Narva (Estonia), 130 km from Petrograd.
5 March 1918 German and Romanian representatives sign a preliminary peace agreement at Buftea. Romania gives up Dobrudja and territories along the Hungarian border.
6 March 1918 A detachment of Royal Marines lands in Murmansk.
Piano Quintet in e minor op.7 by Paul Hindemith (22) is performed for the first time, in Frankfurt-am-Main.
8 March 1918 Clairières dans le Ciel by Lili Boulanger (24) is performed for the first time, in Paris. While the premiere proceeds, the composer lies extremely ill in nearby Mézy.
J’entends dans le lointain, one of the three Ombres op.64 for piano by Florent Schmitt (57) is performed for the first time, in Paris. See 15 February 1930.
9 March 1918 Byelorussia declares its independence.
By a directive of Commissar of Public Education Anatoly Lunacharsky, Alyeksandr Glazunov (52) is saved from having his apartment confiscated by the government.
Romania agrees to withdraw its troops from Moldavia.
British troops occupy Hit on the Euphrates, without opposition.
10 March 1918 In memoriam: An Irish Elegy by Arnold Bax (34) for english horn, harp, and string quartet is performed for the first time, privately, at the Plough Club, London. See 13 February 1919.
We Are Coming, a song for voice and band by John Philip Sousa (63) to words of Linn, is performed for the first time, at the New York Hippodrome.
11 March 1918 German planes bomb Paris killing 106 people and injuring 79. Many buildings are destroyed.
Hundreds of soldiers at Fort Riley, Kansas begin showing symptoms of influenza.
Incidental music to Barber’s play The Cortege by Granville Bantock (49) entitled Music for a Harlequinade is performed for the first time, in London.
12 March 1918 Lenin and the Bolshevik government depart Petrograd for the new capital, Moscow.
Turkish troops reoccupy Erzurum.
13 March 1918 German and Austro-Hungarian troops enter Odessa.
Erik Satie (51) is almost killed by a German air raid in the Place de la Concorde, Paris.
14 March 1918 Hundreds of police are stationed in and around Carnegie Hall, New York as the Boston Symphony Orchestra gives a concert directed by Karl Muck. Dr. Muck has been criticized for refusing to conduct The Star-Spangled Banner (which is untrue) and demands have been made to prove that he is not a German citizen. Muck does conduct The Star-Spangled Banner followed by the Third Symphony of Johannes Brahms (†20). Founder of the BSO, Henry Higginson, then appears on stage and presents the audience with proof of Muck’s Swiss citizenship.
15 March 1918 Ernst Krenek (17) reports for military service and is posted to the 13th Imperial-Royal Heavy Field Artillery Regiment of the Austro-Hungarian army.
Edward Elgar (60) undergoes a tonsillectomy in London. The operation is a success but recovery will be slow. While hospitalized, Elgar will write down the opening theme of his Cello Concerto.
The French Minister of the Interior probationally suspends the punishment of Erik Satie (51) on good conduct. See 27 November 1917.
After receiving the last rights of the Roman Catholic Church, Lili Boulanger dies in Mézy-par-Meulan at the age of 24 years, six months, and 22 days.
16 March 1918 After five months at Kislovodsk in the Caucasus, Sergey Prokofiev (26) departs for Moscow with a safe conduct pass from the local soviet.
17 March 1918 Edgard Varèse (34) conducts the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra. But a tour with the orchestra is cancelled because of his affair with the still-married Louise McCutcheon Norton.
18 March 1918 One of the Hymns from the Rig-Veda for solo voice and piano op.24/8 by Gustav Holst (43) to his own translation is performed for the first time, in Wigmore Hall, London.
19 March 1918 Pro-German Alexandru Marghiloman replaces Alexandru Averescu as Prime Minister of Romania.
A funeral in memory of Lili Boulanger takes place in L’Église de la Trinité, Paris. Following this, her mortal remains are laid to rest in Montmartre.
Violin Sonata no.1 by Arthur Honegger (26) is performed completely for the first time, at the Théâtre du Vieux Colombier, Paris. Also on the program is the premiere of Poèmes sénégalais for voice and string quartet by Francis Poulenc (19). See 19 January 1918.
The Standard Time Act becomes law in the United States. It authorizes the Interstate Commerce Commission to establish standardized time zones for the country. Daylight Savings Time will begin on 31 March.
20 March 1918 Bernd Alois Zimmermann is born in Bliesheim, near Cologne, the third of five children born to Jakob Zimmermann, a farmer and Katharina Broichheuser, daughter of farmers.
21 March 1918 04:40 A massive German offensive (Second Battle of the Somme) begins along a 100 km front from Arras to the Oise at La Fère. 7,000 artillery pieces begin firing over 1,000,000 shells, one-quarter of which are gas. The infantry attack begins at 09:30. The Germans make gains all along the front. Among the thousands of British casualties is the baritone Lance Corporal Charles Mott who is mortally wounded. Mott took part in the premiere of Elgar's (60) The Fringes of the Fleet last year.
22 March 1918 British forces begin stiffening in the northern sector of the Somme front, but the Germans continue to make gains through the day, capturing Vracourt, Tergnier, and the Oise Canal.
Antonio Maura y Montaner replaces Manuel García Prieto, marques de Alhucemas as Prime Minister of Spain.
23 March 1918 German forces continue to press their advantage on the Somme as the British pull back.
The Paris Opéra cancels its evening performance due to the bombardment of the city by Big Bertha, a gigantic long-range artillery piece used by the Germans. It was so christened by the French, who named it after the wife of the German arms manufacturer Krupp. Twenty-two shells hit the city today, killing 16 people and injuring 29.
The ballet pantomime The Dance in Place Congo by Henry F. Gilbert (49) is performed for the first time, in the Metropolitan Opera House, New York.
24 March 1918 German forces take Peronne after advancing 23 km in four days. The British begin a full-scale retreat.
Big Bertha continues to shell Paris.
25 March 1918 The Byelorussian Rada declares the country a national republic at Minsk.
Big Bertha resumes the shelling of Paris.
22:00 During the German bombardment Achille-Claude Debussy dies in Paris of cancer, aged 55 years, seven months, and three days.
On his return from concertizing in New York, Boston Symphony Orchestra conductor Karl Muck is arrested by Boston police and federal agents as an enemy alien. He claims Swiss citizenship.
26 March 1918 British forces defeat Turks at Khan al Baghdadi.
Tsezar Antonovich Kyui (Cui) dies in Petrograd, aged 83 years, two months, and eight days.
27 March 1918 German forces reach Montdidier, 90 km north of Paris.
British forces take Alus and Al Hadithah from the Turks.
After the treaty of Brest-Litovsk, Romania annexes Bessarabia.
28 March 1918 The body of Claude Debussy is laid to rest in the cemetery of Père-Lachaise, Paris, in the presence of the Minister of Education and about 25 others. 50 began the procession, but many drifted off along the way.
A stand by British forces at Arras turns back the German offensive.
29 March 1918 Big Bertha begins shelling Paris again. Only four rounds hit the city but one lands on the Church of Saint Gervais while a concert is in progress, killing 75 people and injuring 90 others.
31 March 1918 The Austro-Hungarian Air Service begins the first regularly scheduled air mail runs, between Vienna and Lemberg (Lviv).
1 April 1918 British troops withdraw from Transcaucasia.
The Royal Flying Corps and the Royal Naval Air Service are joined together to form the Royal Air Force. It is the first independent air force in the world.
3 April 1918 A German division lands at Hanko to aid Finnish counterrevolutionaries.
Erik Satie (51) writes of Claude Debussy, “My poor friend! What a sad end. Now people will discover that he had enormous talent. But that's life!”
Erik Satie’s (51) drame symphonique Socrate, to words of Plato translated by Cousin, is performed for the first time, privately, at the Paris home of the Princesse de Polignac, the composer at the piano. See 24 June 1918 and 14 February 1920.
4 April 1918 The German offensive slows to a halt after going 70 km since 21 March. They are now just 20 km east of Amiens.
5 April 1918 Japanese troops occupy Vladivostok.
American and British forces land at Murmansk.
The German offensive in the Second Battle of the Somme peters out.
Turkish troops reoccupy Van.
6 April 1918 Jan Kanty Steczkowski replaces Anton Ponikowski as Prime Minister of Poland.
In the decisive battle of the Finnish Civil War, the Reds surrender at Tampere.
Karl Muck, conductor of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, is transported from the East Cambridge, Massachusetts jail to Ft. Oglethorpe, Georgia where is interned for the rest of the war as an enemy alien.
8 April 1918 White forces capture Kharkov.
9 April 1918 Moldavia votes for union with Romania.
German forces attack British and Portuguese troops along a 20 km front south of Ypres (Battle of the Lys). They cross the Lys at Bac-St.-Maur and make excellent headway south of Armentières.
A second production of Molière’s Le bourgeois gentilhomme with incidental music by Richard Strauss (53) is performed for the first time, in the Deutsches Theater, Berlin. Strauss has composed some new music for this production. Unfortunately, it is a failure.
10 April 1918 White forces attack Yekaterinodar (Krasnodar).
German forces attack north of Armentières, north and south of Ypres. They capture the town of Armentières.
11 April 1918 While staying in his brother’s quarters at Lapinlahti mental hospital to avoid the fighting, Jean Sibelius (52) records in his diary the sounds of war in the Helsinki area, “April 11 during the bombardment. Have never dreamt of anything so tremendous. Horrible, but grand! Shall I be alive tomorrow?”
12 April 1918 German troops arrive in Helsinki.
British/colonial troops battle German/colonial troops at Medo, Portuguese East Africa (Mozambique) without strategic result.
The German offensive is halted at Meteren, just west of Bailleuil near Ypres.
13 April 1918 During the battle for Yekaterinodar (Krasnodar) a lucky Red artillery shell hits the headquarters of White commander Lavr Georgiyevich Kornilov, killing him. The Whites retire.
Lev Trotsky is appointed Commissar for War.
Turkish forces occupy Kars.
14 April 1918 Turkish forces occupy Adjaria.
US warplanes engage in combat for the first time in the war. They manage to shoot down two German planes over Toul, France.
15 April 1918 Visions fugitives and the Piano Sonata no.3 by Sergey Prokofiev (26) are performed for the first time, by the composer, in Petrograd.
I selvaggi, a puppet ballet by Gian Francesco Malipiero (36) to a story by Depero, is performed for the first time, in Teatro dei Piccoli, Rome.
16 April 1918 Three of the Six Choral Folksongs by Gustav Holst (43) are performed for the first time, at the Royal Victoria Hall, London. See 27 June 1916.
17 April 1918 German forces resume their push between Bethune and Dixmude but make only small gains.
Piano Sonata no.4 by Sergey Prokofiev (26) is performed for the first time, by the composer in Petrograd.
18 April 1918 Le chant du Nigamon, a symphonic poem by Arthur Honegger (26), is performed for the first time, privately at the Paris Conservatoire the composer conducting. See 3 January 1920.
19 April 1918 Incidental music to Wilde’s play Salome by Granville Bantock (49) is performed for the first time, in London.
21 April 1918 German air ace Baron Manfred von Richtofen is shot down on the Somme front, either by ground fire or by Canadian Capt. AR Brown.
Eduard replaces Friedrich II as Duke of Anhalt.
Symphony no.1 “Classical” by Sergey Prokofiev (26) is performed for the first time, in Petrograd conducted by the composer. Commissar of Public Education Anatoly Lunacharsky is present and tells Prokofiev that if he wants to travel overseas, he will not stop him.
22 April 1918 The Russian provinces of Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Armenia join together to form the Autonomous and Democratic Transcaucasian Federal Republic.
The Royal Navy raids the U-Boat base at Zeebrugge to little effect.
Guatemala declares war on Germany.
Private Virgil Thomson (21) arrives in New York to attend the Army Air Service school for radio officers at Columbia University.
Two songs by Charles T. Griffes (33), Waikiki op.9/2 to words of Brooke and The Sorrow of Mydath from Two Poems to Words of Masefield, are performed for the first time, in Aeolian Hall, New York.
Voting takes place for elections to the Danish Folketing. The number of seats has been increased from 114 to 140. All the major parties gain seats, with the Conservative Peoples Party gaining the most.
23 April 1918 The Bolshevik government nationalizes all foreign trade.
Symphony no.1 by Willem Pijper (23) is performed for the first time, in Amsterdam.
24 April 1918 Australian troops halt the German advance at Villers-Bretonneux.
Vincent d’Indy (67) calls a meeting of the staff of the Schola Cantorum, Paris. Because of the many civilian casualties, he feels it is not his prerogative alone to keep the school open. The meeting decides to keep the school open.
25 April 1918 Józef Lutoslawski, father of Witold (5), is arrested in Murmansk after a revolt of Polish army officers in the city. His brother Marian was arrested two days ago. They are charged with counterrevolutionary activities. See 5 September 1918.
Three Paganini Caprices for violin and piano by Karol Szymanowski (35) is performed for the first time, in Yelisavetgrad.
Die Gezeichneten, an opera by Franz Schreker (40) to his own words, is performed for the first time, in Frankfurt-am-Main.
26 April 1918 The former Russian royal family is moved from Tobolsk to Yekaterinburg.
27 April 1918 British forces take Qarah Tappah and Kulawand, north of the Tigris.
Folk-Tale for cello and piano by Arnold Bax (34) is performed for the first time, in Wigmore Hall, London.
28 April 1918 At the home of Valentine Gross in Paris, Francis Poulenc (19) meets Guillaume Apollinaire for the first time. Poulenc will set Apollinaire’s words to music many times in the coming decades.
The Ottoman Empire recognizes the Transcaucasian Republic.
Sidónio Pais replaces Bernardino Machado Guimarães as President of Portugal.
Gavrilo Princip dies in prison at Theresienstadt of tuberculosis at the age of 23.
29 April 1918 British forces capture Tuz Khurmatu and Daquq south of Kirkuk.
Finns and Germans defeat the Red Army at Vyborg, driving the Russians out of Finland.
The Germans overthrow the Ukrainian Rada and install a puppet government.
German forces cease their offensive at Ypres begun 9 April . They have advanced 20 km and caused 225,000 casualties.
30 April 1918 On about this date, Leos Janácek (63) is physically attacked outside his office by the deranged caretaker of the Brno Organ School. He is not seriously hurt and the woman becomes lucid and asks forgiveness.
1 May 1918 German troops occupy Sevastapol and install a puppet government in Crimea. Russian sailors scuttle the Black Sea fleet.
2 May 1918 Chevrolet Motor Company is bought by General Motors Corporation.
3 May 1918 British and colonial troops take Taza (Taza Khurmatu, Iraq) just south of Kirkuk.
4 May 1918 British and colonial troops enter Kirkuk.
The Berkshire Colony is formally dedicated in Pittsfield, Massachusetts under the patronage of Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge.
6 May 1918 Cossacks recapture their capital Novocherkassk from the Reds.
7 May 1918 Sergey Prokofiev (27) leaves Petrograd (for only a few months, he thinks) on the Trans-Siberian Railway, making for Vladivostok.
Romania signs a peace treaty with the Central Powers in Bucharest. Romania cedes Dobrudja and the Carpathian passes, pays for an occupation army and leases its oil fields to Germany for 99 years.
Nicaragua declares war on the Central Powers.
New works by Zoltán Kodály (35) are performed for the first time, in Budapest: Belated Melodies op.6, a cycle for voice and piano to words of various poets, Duo op.7 for violin and cello, Sonata for Solo Cello op.8 and String Quartet no.2 op.10. See 16 April 1920.
8 May 1918 German and White troops take Rostov from the Red Army.
9 May 1918 The Bolshevik government creates the Food Dictatorship. In an effort to distribute dwindling food supplies more effectively, local officials are given power over anything produced by peasants.
The Kiss op.72/3, a song for voice and piano by Jean Sibelius (52) to words of Runeberg, is performed for the first time, in Helsinki.
11 May 1918 A North Caucasian Federal Republic is founded in Tiflis (Tbilisi).
14 May 1918 Fighting between Czechs and Hungarians in Chelyabinsk cause the Czech Legion to defend itself. They take over the railway station and capture 2,000 Red Guards.
Doppelfuge op.1a for piano by Ernst Krenek (17) is performed for the first time, in the Vienna Staatsakademie für Musik und Darstellende Kunst. This is the first public performance of a Krenek work.
15 May 1918 Finnish troops complete the conquest of Karelia.
Turkish forces invade Alexandropol to the northwest of Yerevan. Stiff Armenian resistance allows thousands of civilians to escape.
The first regular civilian airmail service in the United States begins between Washington and New York.
US officials roundup 80 suspected anarchists throughout the country.
16 May 1918 The Sedition Act is passed by the United States Congress. It prohibits any criticism of the government, criticism of the draft, or labor action.
Eamon De Valera and most of the leadership of Sinn Fein are arrested after they lead a successful campaign against conscription in Ireland.
18 May 1918 Pehr Evind Svinhufvud is given power to “exercise supreme authority” in Finland. For the sake of convenience, he is given the title of Regent for the Kingdom of Finland.
Diverus and Lazarus, for chorus by Gustav Holst (43), is performed for the first time, at Thaxted Parish Church, Essex the composer conducting.
19 May 1918 This Have I Done For My True Love op.34/1, a choral work by Gustav Holst (43) to anonymous words, is performed for the first time, in Thaxted Church, Essex the composer conducting.
20 May 1918 Hungarian soldiers in Pecs mutiny and are disarmed after heavy fighting with loyal Habsburg troops.
Exaltation op.10, a song for voice and piano by Howard Hanson (21) is performed for the first time.
22 May 1918 Armenian forces, including many survivors of genocide, make a last stand against invading Turks at Sardarabad (Armavir, Armenia), Bash-Abaran (Aparan, Armenia), and Karakilisa (Vanadzor, Armenia). They manage to stop the Turkish advance and drive them back to Hamamalu, thus saving the Armenian people from complete annihilation.
24 May 1918 British and colonial troops abandon Kirkuk and set up bases at Tuz (Tuz Khurmatu, Iraq) and Kifri (Iraq).
Duke Bluebeard’s Castle op.11, an opera by Béla Bartók (37) to words of Balázs, is performed for the first time, at the Budapest Opera House. The press is generally favorable.
Costa Rica declares war on the Central Powers.
25 May 1918 Fighting breaks out all along the Trans-Siberian Railway between former allies: the Czech Corps and the Red Army. This is seen as the beginning of the civil war.
26 May 1918 The Transcaucasian Federal Republic disintegrates. The Georgian Democratic Republic is proclaimed under President of the National Council Noe Nikolozis dze Zhordania.
Silvestre Revueltas (18) performs as violin soloist at a commencement ceremony at St. Edwards College, Austin, Texas.
27 May 1918 German forces attack the French along a 40 km front between Soissons and Rheims in the Third Battle of the Aisne, crossing the river and splitting the French and British forces. By the end of the day they have achieved a 20 km salient and the entire Chemin des Dames.
Juho Kusti Paasikivi replaces Pehr Evind Svinhufvud as Prime Minister of Finland.
Leos Janácek (63) falls in front of a tram in Brünn (Brno) and is pulled off the tracks in the nick of time. “Just a hair’s breadth and my hands would have been run over!” (Tyrell II, 241)
28 May 1918 The Azerbaijan Peoples Republic is established.
German forces push ahead in the Aisne offensive, taking Fisme.
American forces take Cantigny from the Germans.
29 May 1918 The Bolsheviks introduce conscription in areas they control.
The Czech legion takes Penza from the Red Army.
The Aisne offensive continues as the Germans take Fere-en-Tardenois and cross the Ourcq.
30 May 1918 As the Transcaucasian Republic dissolves, Armenia declares its independence.
The Czech Legion captures Tomsk.
German forces reach the Marne River, 60 km from Paris, creating a salient 30 km deep and 50 km wide.
During a visit of Thomas Masaryk to the United States, Czechs in exile draw up a charter of independence in Pittsburgh.
1 June 1918 Sergey Prokofiev (27) reaches Tokyo, just missing his boat for Rio de Janeiro. He will give concerts in Tokyo to small, polite audiences.
At Omsk, a Commissariat of West Siberia, dominated by Social Revolutionaries, proclaims the autonomy of Siberia outside Bolshevik control.
The German advance on the Aisne front is minimal today.
Jaroslav Novotny, a 32-year-old Czech composer, is killed in action in the Ural Mountains in a skirmish between Red Army troops and the Czech Legion.
2 June 1918 German forces reach the River Marne at Château-Thierry, 90 km from Paris.
3 June 1918 Gerhard Cooreman replaces Charles, Baron de Broqueville as Prime Minister of Belgium.
The Polish National Committee is recognized as an “allied belligerent nation.”
French forces dislodge the German bridgehead on the south bank of the Marne at Jaulgonne.
George (19) and Ira Gershwin collaborate for the first time, and create the song The Real American Folk Song.
4 June 1918 The Ottoman Empire claims a protectorate over Armenia.
Horatio Parker’s (54) morality play The Dream of Mary op.82 to words of Chapman, is performed for the first time, in Norfolk, Connecticut. Also premiered is Land of Our Hearts for male chorus and orchestra by George Whitefield Chadwick (63) to words of Ware, conducted by the composer.
United States forces see major action for the first time in the war, at Belleau Wood, near Château-Thierry.
The Port of New York is closed after German U-boats sink nine ships off the Atlantic coast yesterday.
5 June 1918 German forces suspend their offensive in France and begin to dig in.
Frederick Delius (56) and his wife arrive in Biarritz from their home at Grez-sur-Loing. Here he will take the baths and compose.
6 June 1918 American troops drive the Germans out of Bouresches.
You-Oo just You, a song by George Gershwin (19) to words of Caesar, is performed for the first time, as part of the revue Hitchy-koo of 1918 in the Globe Theatre, New York.
7 June 1918 The Czech Legion takes Omsk.
The String Quartet no.1 by Arnold Bax (34) is performed for the first time, in Aeolian Hall, London. It is dedicated to Edward Elgar (61).
8 June 1918 The Czech Legion captures Samara. An anti-Bolshevik government for Siberia is established there.
9 June 1918 German forces attack the allies in the Marne salient. They gain ten kilometers and stall.
Incidental music to Bax’s play The Sneezing Charm by Gustav Holst (43), is performed for the first time, at the Royal Court Theatre, London.
10 June 1918 Germans make further advances in the Marne salient.
Arrigo Boito dies in Milan of a heart ailment aged 76 years, three months, and 17 days.
11 June 1918 French and American troops counterattack the Marne salient. Americans take Belleau Wood while the French capture Mery, Belloy, and Fretoy.
150 US Marines arrive in Murmansk to prevent its use as a German U-boat base.
William Walton (16) passes the first half of his Bachelor of Music examination at New College, Oxford. Dr. Thomas Strong, Dean of Christ Church Cathedral, writes to Walton’s father, urging him to allow the boy to matriculate at Oxford.
12 June 1918 Germans attack in the Marne salient, driving towards Compiègne, but are driven back by the French.
At a public rehearsal in Vienna, an unknown woman approaches Arnold Schoenberg (43) and hands him an envelope. In it are 10,000 kronen and a note which reads “To the great artist, an admirer, a Jew.”
13 June 1918 Austro-Hungarian forces attack the Italians through the Tonale Pass. The attack fails.
Germans counterattack in Belleau Wood but are driven back by Americans.
At the internment camp of Ruhleben, Germany, Ernest MacMillan (24) receives word that his Oxford examiners have accepted his oratorio England: an Ode. See 15 April 1918.
14 June 1918 Turkish troops advance into Persia and take Tabriz.
Gustav Holst (43) passes the minimum medical examination to become a YMCA Music Organizer. His duties may include organizing musical activities among training camps and hospitals in England, or internment camps in neutral and enemy countries.
Hubert Parry (70) receives a letter from Macmillan publishers rejecting his manuscript Instinct and Character.
15 June 1918 The Bolshevik government demands that the Allies evacuate Murmansk.
The main Austro-Hungarian offensive begins along the River Piave from Lake Garda to the Adriatic. They make limited gains but are quickly countered by the Italians.
16 June 1918 Austro-Hungarian forces attack Italians across the Piave River. In the Montello sector they establish an effective bridgehead but elsewhere they are driven back to their original line.
18 June 1918 Italians begin a counterattack on the Piave front.
The Ziegfeld Follies of 1918 opens at the New Amsterdam Theatre, New York, for the first time with the participation of George Gershwin (19).
20 June 1918 The Czech Legion captures Krasnoyarsk.
The Hungarian army is called out to quell civil unrest. This action prompts a nine-day general strike.
Frederick Delius (56) writes from Biarritz that his home in Grez-sur-Loing has been requisitioned and occupied by the French army.
Ruth Crawford (16) gives a public performance of the Variations Brillantes op.12 by Frédéric Chopin (†68), in Duval Theatre at a recital of the advanced students of the School of Musical Art, Jacksonville, Florida.
21 June 1918 Aleksandur Pavlov Malinov replaces Vasil Hristov Radoslavov as Prime Minister of Bulgaria.
22 June 1918 White Russian troops begin an offensive in the northern Caucasus.
Austro-Hungarian forces which had forced their way across the River Piave on 16 June withdraw back across the river.
23 June 1918 Alban Berg (33) considers this his greatest day. He may now address Arnold Schoenberg (43) as “du.”
24 June 1918 2,000 Armenians remaining in Kara-Kilise (Karakilise, Turkey) are killed by the Turks.
Excerpts from Erik Satie’s (52) drame symphonique Socrate, to words of Plato translated by Cousin, are performed at the home of soprano Jane Bathori in Paris. See 3 April 1918 and 14 February 1920.
26 June 1918 After 20 continuous days of fighting, sometimes close in, American troops force the Germans out of Belleau Wood.
27 June 1918 British forces take Bandar-e Pahlavi (Bandar-e Anzali, Iran).
28 June 1918 The Russian government nationalizes all major industries in the country without compensation.
30 June 1918 Arnold Schoenberg (43), Alban Berg (33), Anton von Webern (34), Dr. Ernst Bachrich, and Erwin Ratz meet at Schoenberg’s house in Mödling and plan a society for the performance of contemporary music.
France recognizes an independent Czechoslovakia.
1 July 1918 Arthur Farwell (46) enters upon duties as Associate Professor of Music at the University of California at Berkeley.
2 July 1918 Duke Ellington (19) marries Edna Thompson, a high school student, in Washington. She is pregnant.
3 July 1918 Sultan Mehmet V of the Ottoman Empire dies in Constantinople and is succeeded by his brother, Mehmet VI.
Voting for the Dutch Parliament sees the Roman Catholic League win the most seats followed by the Social Democratic Workers Party. It is the first Dutch general election with universal male suffrage.
4 July 1918 Allied (United Kingdom-Australia-United States) forces attack at Hamel.
5 July 1918 A seven-man junta led by Sun Yat-sen (Sun Yixian) comes to power in the Nanking (Nanjing) government of China.
Aaron George Rochberg is born in Paterson, New Jersey, son of Morris Rochberg and Anna Hoffman, immigrants from the Ukraine.
6 July 1918 Sergey Prokofiev (27) gives a recital in Tokyo, on his way from Russia to the United States.
Socialist Revolutionaries take control of Yaroslavl, killing many local Bolshevik leaders.
Two Left Socialist Revolutionaries shoot Count Wilhelm von Mirbach, the German ambassador to Russia, to death in Moscow. They hope to embarrass the Bolsheviks and force Germany to reopen the war. Left SRs begin taking important government buildings in the city. However, the do not press their advantage by attacking a lightly defended Kremlin.
Italian forces counterattack against the Austro-Hungarians, winning back all Austro-Hungarian gains since 13 June.
7 July 1918 Red forces destroy Left Socialist Revolutionary headquarters in Moscow, ending the uprising and saving the revolution.
Five RAF de Haviland bombers attack Constantinople, setting fire to an ammunition factory.
8 July 1918 A Red Cross ambulance driver named Ernest Hemingway is wounded during fighting near Fossalta, Italy.
9 July 1918 The Lithuanian State Council proclaims the State of Lithuania as a kingdom.
10 July 1918 The Russian Soviet Federated Socialist Republic is established by the Bolsheviks. A constitution is published by the All-Russia Council of Soviets.
12 July 1918 The Petrograd and Moscow Conservatories are nationalized by the Bolshevik government.
The brother of Tsar Nikolay II, Grand Duke Mikhail, along with his English secretary is shot to death in Perm by the Reds.
13 July 1918 Wilhelm von Urach, Duke of Württemberg is proclaimed King Mindaugas II of an independent Kingdom of Lithuania.
Turkish forces begin their last offensive to recover Jericho.
Virgil Thomson (21) completes his training at the Army Air Service school for radio officers at Columbia University and is commissioned a second lieutenant. He is ordered to report to Fort Sill, Oklahoma.
15 July 1918 After a silence of five weeks, Big Bertha begins shelling Paris again.
16 July 1918 German forces attack the Allies (France-Italy-United States) around Rheims and cross the River Marne west of the city.
A brigade of British troops reaches Hamadan, Persia (Hamedan, Iran).
17 July 1918 Tsar Nikolay II, Tsaritsa Alyeksandra, their children Olga, Tatiana, Maria, Anastasia, Alyeksis and others in their retinue are shot to death by Bolsheviks in the cellar of a merchant’s house in Yekaterinburg.
The German advance begun 15 July is halted by French, Italian, and American troops along the Marne.
18 July 1918 Russian music stores, warehouses, and publishing houses are nationalized by the government.
French, British, and American forces attack the Germans in the Aisne-Marne Salient. The Germans quickly fall back.
At Alapayevsk, near Yekaterinburg, five Romanov princes are killed by Bolsheviks, along with Grand Duchess Yelizabeta Fyodorovna (now a nun), and a secretary. They are thrown down a mineshaft followed by handgrenades.
19 July 1918 A general German retreat from the Marne begins.
21 July 1918 American troops advance to within five km of Soissons.
22 July 1918 US President Wilson approves the transport of three battalions of soldiers to northern Russia.
23 July 1918 Bolsheviks retake Yaroslavl.
25 July 1918 The Czech Legion enters Yekaterinberg, a week after the Russian royal family was killed.
Max, Baron Hussarek von Heinlein replaces Ernst Seidler von Feuchtenegg as Prime Minister of Austria.
26 July 1918 White forces pull off a coup d’etat in Baku, imprisoning Red officials.
28 July 1918 American and German troops exchange possession of the village of Sergy seven times. At the end of the day, it is in American hands.
30 July 1918 31-year-old poet Joyce Kilmer is killed in battle near Seringes.
2 August 1918 Sergey Prokofiev (27) departs Tokyo for Honolulu.
Two more divisions of Japanese troops land at Vladivostok.
A relatively small group of Allied troops land in Arkhangelsk and scatter local Bolsheviks. A provisional government is set up.
3 August 1918 Schoolmaster Halfar, for male chorus by Leos Janácek (64) to words of Bezruc, is performed for the first time, in Luhacovice.
Shepherd’s Sunday Song for voice and piano by Bohuslav Martinu (27) is performed for the first time, in Policka.
5 August 1918 A small unit of British troops reaches Baku to aid in the city’s defense. More British and colonial troops will arrive over the coming weeks.
Big Bertha begins shelling Paris again.
6 August 1918 Anti-Bolshevik (white) forces capture Kazan, 720 km east of Moscow, and the Tsarist government gold reserves.
7 August 1918 As the Allies force the Germans back to their lines of 27 March, the Second Battle of the Marne ends.
8 August 1918 British, French, Australian, and Canadian forces attack the Germans along a 23 km front in the Amiens-Somme-Noyon Salient east of Amiens. British tanks advance 10-12 km on the first day. Thousands of Germans surrender. Canadian forces advance beyond Mézières taking German positions between Beaucourt and Cayeux. This will become known as “The Black Day of the German Army.”
9 August 1918 Lenin orders “mass terror” against Whites, kulaks, priests, prostitutes, all those whom he sees as enemies of the revolution.
Big Bertha sends its last round towards Paris. The Germans are retreating.
10 August 1918 French forces capture Montdidier pushing the Germans back.
11 August 1918 The Allied offensive at Amiens makes modest gains.
Symphonie de chambre no.1 for chamber ensemble by Darius Milhaud (25) is performed for the first time, in Rio de Janeiro.
12 August 1918 The Allied offensive at Amiens pauses.
At Spa, Belgium, Kaiser Wilhelm II acknowledges to his general staff what they have already told him. The war must be ended.
13 August 1918 Bayerische Motoren Werke AG is entered in the Commercial Register in Munich.
14 August 1918 Emperor Karl of Austria-Hungary visits Kaiser Wilhelm at Spa, Belgium.
15 August 1918 The United States severs diplomatic relations with the Bolshevik government.
The fourth act of Izaht, an opera by Heitor Villa-Lobos (31) to words of Junior and Villalba Filho (pseud. Villa-Lobos), is performed for the first time, in the Teatro Municipal, Rio de Janeiro. Also on the program are premieres of two orchestral works by Villa-Lobos: the symphonic poem Myremis and Tédio de alvorada. An artistic triumph, the concert is a financial disaster. See 16 November 1921 and 13 November 1958.
16 August 1918 The White Army takes Yekaterinodar (Krasnodar, Russia) from the Reds.
17 August 1918 In the face of food riots, the Japanese government commandeers all stores of rice.
United States troops arrive at Vladivostok.
A combined force of British and White Russians move north from Baku with the intent of taking Novkhani. Turkish troops send them into retreat.
In spite of his intention to become a United States citizen, German-born Frederick Stock resigns as conductor of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.
20 August 1918 French forces attack the Germans near Soissons.
21 August 1918 Cen Chunxuan replaces a seven-man junta as leader of the military government of China.
British forces attack the Germans at Arras.
Frederick Delius (56) writes from Grez-sur-Loing that upon arriving from Biarritz he and his wife found their home trashed by the French army during their occupation of it. They plan to soon depart for England.
Sergey Prokofiev (27) arrives in San Francisco from Japan by way of Hawaii. He is detained on Angel Island while US officials satisfy themselves that he is not carrying the Bolshevik contagion.
22 August 1918 British troops retake Albert.
23 August 1918 British and French forces attack along the front from Soissons to Arras. The French make little gain but the British and Australians advance well.
24 August 1918 After three days of detention and interrogation, Sergey Prokofiev (27) is allowed to enter the United States in San Francisco.
25 August 1918 RAF bombers attack the War Office and railway station in Constantinople.
Around 13:00 Louis (Leonard) Bernstein is born in Lawrence, Massachusetts, first of three children born to Sam Bernstein, a beauty supply dealer and Jennie Resnick, daughter of a wool dyer. Although they live in Mattapan, Mrs. Bernstein is at her mother’s home in Lawrence, fleeing a difficult marital situation. The boy’s name is officially Louis but he will always be called Leonard or Lenny at home. He will legally change his name to Leonard at age 16.
26 August 1918 The White Army captures the Black Sea naval base at Novorossisk, but finds that half of the Black Sea Fleet has been scuttled.
Turkish forces assault the defenders of Baku but are driven off.
Canadian troops advance six km near Arras. The Germans begin a general withdrawal to a line Péronne-Ham-Noyon.
28 August 1918 The second wave of influenza appears in Boston when eight sailors are reported sick. Within a week there are 119 cases.
29 August 1918 Sergey Prokofiev (27) departs San Francisco by train making for New York.
30 August 1918 As part of a general campaign of murder against government officials by the Social-Revolutionaries, Fanya (Dora) Kaplan shoots Lenin in Moscow, wounding him severely. Earlier in the day, Moisei Solomonovich Uritsky, head of the Cheka in Petrograd, is shot to death by Leonid Kanegisser.
Australian troops cross the Somme and occupy Clery.
In Leavenworth, Kansas, 93 members of the Industrial Workers of the World are found guilty of violating the Sedition Act. They are sentenced to jail terms and heavy fines.
31 August 1918 Turkish troops capture the outer defenses of Baku.
In fierce fighting, Australians secure a foothold on Mont Saint-Quentin, north of Péronne.
1 September 1918 Australian forces capture Péronne.
US President Wilson signs into law a bill requiring the conscription of men between the ages of 18-45.
2 September 1918 British and Canadians break through part of the Hindenburg Line east of Arras. The Germans order a general withdrawal to this line.
3 September 1918 Fanya Kaplan is shot in Moscow for the attempted murder of Lenin.
Allied forces occupy territory given up by the Germans yesterday.
4 September 1918 The first US troops land at Arkhangelsk.
Canadian forces cross the Somme at Péronne.
Austria-Hungary requests of all warring nations that peace negotiations begin at once.
5 September 1918 Sweeping powers are granted to the Cheka, beginning the “Red Terror” in areas controlled by the Bolsheviks. Mass executions begin. As part of this, Józef Lutoslawski, father of Witold (5), and his brother Marian are executed by firing squad by the Bolsheviks in Vsekh-Shvyatskoye, outside of Moscow. They were arrested in Murmansk in April and charged with counterrevolutionary activities for trying to organize the transportation of Polish troops.
Sonata for violin and piano op.27 by Hans Pfitzner (49) is performed for the first time, in Munich at the first event of the newly founded Hans-Pfitzner-Vereins für deutsche Tonkunst.
The Massachusetts Department of Health announces that an influenza epidemic is occurring in the state.
Two songs by Charles T. Griffes (33) are performed for the first time, in National Thurston Auditorium, Lockport, New York, the composer at the piano: Come, Love, Across the Sunlit Land op.4/2 and La fuite de la lune op.3/1.
6 September 1918 Jan Kucharzewski replaces Jan Kanty Steczkowski as Prime Minister of Poland.
The first aircraft carrier, HMS Argus, is commissioned by the Royal Navy.
Sergey Prokofiev (27) arrives in New York.
7 September 1918 A large distention is found on the groin of Hubert Parry (70). He is ordered to bed by a doctor. Soon, it will be learned that his blood has been poisoned.
8 September 1918 The State Conference convenes in Ufa in an attempt to form a unified anti-Bolshevik authority.
The first three deaths from the second wave of influenza occur in Boston.
9 September 1918 Their protest march planned for yesterday having been banned, Moslems in Calcutta begin rioting. They are angry at an article in the Indian Daily News which they consider insulting to the Prophet Mohammed.
Charles Joseph Maria Ruys de Beerenbrouck replaces Pieter Wilhelm Adriaan Cort van der Linden as first minister of the Netherlands.
10 September 1918 After weeks of fighting, the Red Army, led by Lev Trotsky, recaptures Kazan from the Whites.
11 September 1918 Moselm rioting in Calcutta is ended by security forces.
The first cases of influenza in Philadelphia are reported at the Navy Yard.
12 September 1918 The Red Army captures Simbirsk.
New Zealanders breach the outer defenses of the Hindenburg Line at Havrincourt, southeast of Cambrai.
American and French forces attack the Germans in the St. Mihiel Salient, near Verdun. The salient will be reduced in four days. Three American officers see action, Colonel Douglas MacArthur, Colonel George Patton, and Captain George C. Marshall.
13 September 1918 American troops take Vigneulles and later close the pincers surrounding the German salient. Americans now control a line from Haudiomont to Vandieres.
Joachim Ernst replaces Eduard as Duke of Anhalt.
14 September 1918 Turkish forces begin an assault on Baku, defended by British, White Russians, and Armenians. As resistance begins to crumble, the British take ship and return to Bandar-e Pahlavi (Bandar-e Anzali, Iran).
An Allied offensive in Macedonia begins with an artillery barrage on a line from Monastir (Bitola, Macedonia) to the Vardar River.
American socialist leader Eugene V. Debs is sentenced to ten years for violating wartime espionage and sedition laws.
15 September 1918 French and Serbian forces advance in Macedonia heading towards the Crna River against fierce Bulgarian resistance.
Turkish forces take Baku. They immediately begin the annihilation of the city’s Armenian population over the next three days.
US newspapers begin publishing the so-called “Sisson Documents.” These are documents from Russian sources collected by journalist Edgar Sisson in Petrograd who delivers them to the Secretary of State in Washington. They show that Lenin and Trotsky are German agents and the US government has distributed them to newspapers. They are forgeries.
16 September 1918 Arab forces under Prince Feisal and TE Lawrence destroy the Turkish rail line north, south, and west of Der’a.
Serbian forces take the summit of Kozyak Mountain.
17 September 1918 British and Greek troops enter the offensive in Macedonia to the east of Lake Dojran.
Arab forces take Muzeirib.
18 September 1918 Greek troops take Dojran but the British can make no headway in the Macedonian offensive.
British forces attack along an eleven km front centering on Epehy on the Somme.
Gustavus Theodorus von Holst (43) legally changes his name to Gustav Theodore Holst after his application to become a YMCA music organizer was rejected because his name is too “Germanic.”
Ernest Bristow Farrar, a 33-year-old English composer, is killed in action on the Somme.
19 September 1918 British and Greek troops attack north of Dojran but are forced back.
20 September 1918 26 Bolshevik commissars are shot in Baku.
Allied troops capture Nazareth, Afula, Jenin, and El Lajjun.
Bulgarians begin an orderly retreat from Lake Dojran but strafing by RAF planes causes a general panic.
21 September 1918 Allied troops take Nablus.
22 September 1918 Advancing Serbians reach the Vardar River while French, Greeks, and Italians push northeast of Monastir (Bitola, Macedonia).
The Marconi wireless station at Caernarvon, Wales transmits the first wireless message from Europe to Australia. It is received at Wahroonga, New South Wales.
23 September 1918 After meeting for three weeks, the Whites set up the Provisional All-Russian Government, at Ufa. It will last two months.
British forces capture Acre (Akko) and Haifa.
24 September 1918 The first influenza case is reported in San Francisco in a man newly arrived from Chicago.
25 September 1918 Anzac troops take Amman and Samakh.
Serbian troops take Gradsko.
British forces cross from Greece into Bulgaria.
Brazil declares war on Austria-Hungary.
Sonata for violin and piano op.27 by Hans Pfitzner (49) is performed for the first time, in Munich.
26 September 1918 American and French forces attack the Germans in the Meuse-Argonne region while the French attack simultaneously in Champagne.
In the midst of an epidemic, 160 citizens of Boston die of influenza or pneumonia today.
27 September 1918 British troops take Irbid while Australians capture Er Ramtha, south of Der’a. Arabs defeat a Turkish force at Sheikh Saad.
British forces attack the Germans between Péronne and Lens, reaching Cambrai.
28 September 1918 British troops capture Der’a.
Kaiser Wilhelm II is advised by his High Command to sue for peace.
Raiko Daskalov declares a republic of Bulgaria with Alexandur Stamboliiski as president.
Belgian forces attack the Germans in the coastal lowlands towards Ghent.
German and colonial troops cross the Rovuma River back into German East Africa (Tanzania) from Portuguese East Africa (Mozambique).
L’Histoire du Soldat, a theatre piece by CF Ramuz and music by Igor Stravinsky (36), is performed for the first time, in the Lausanne Municipal Theatre.
200,000 people gather for a Liberty Loan drive in Philadelphia. Within a week over 600 cases of influenza will be reported.
29 September 1918 Hara Takashi replaces Count Musatake Terauchi as Prime Minister of Japan. He is the first commoner to serve in this capacity.
The British begin an offensive in Palestine.
British troops reach Strumica, 90 km north of Thessaloniki while the French capture Uskub (Skopje).
British forces cross the Hindenburg Line at the Bellenglise Salient.
Gustav Holst’s (44) suite The Planets, for female chorus and orchestra, is performed for the first time, privately, in Queen’s Hall, London. See 15 November 1920.
30 September 1918 Bulgaria signs an armistice with allied officials at Thessaloniki. Bulgarian troops repulse an attack by republican rebels on Sofiya.
Americans advance beyond Nauroy.
Georg, Count Hertling resigns as Chancellor of Germany and Minister-President of Prussia in order that a liberal government may be appointed to make peace.
1 October 1918 Australian forces along with Arab irregulars capture Damascus from the Turks.
Charles Ives (43) spends the day arguing with other members of the Liberty Bond Committee in the Manhattan Hotel, New York. Ives is able to persuade them to accept a $50 bond so less affluent people could participate in the war effort. That night, he suffers a heart attack brought on by stress and diabetes. Too sick to be moved, he will remain in the hotel for a week.
2 October 1918 An emissary from the general staff informs the Reichstag that the war can be continued, but not won. The members are dumbfounded.
The Joint Council of Ministers of Austria-Hungary asks for an armistice based on the Fourteen Points of President Wilson.
202 influenza deaths are registered in Boston today.
3 October 1918 Maximilian Prinz von Baden replaces Georg Friederich, Count von Hertling as Chancellor of Germany and Minister-President of Prussia. He is expected to negotiate peace.
American forces capture Montfaucon, northwest of Verdun, from the Germans.
The City of Philadelphia closes schools, churches and anywhere large numbers of people might gather, in an attempt to arrest the flu epidemic.
4 October 1918 King Ferdinand of Bulgaria abdicates, succeeded by his son, Boris III. Under protection of German troops he leaves for Germany.
Indian troops capture Tyre (Sour, Lebanon).
Germany and Austria ask President Wilson for an armistice based on his “Fourteen Points.”
American troops renew their offensive in the Meuse-Argonne.
5 October 1918 Chancellor Max, Prinz von Baden announces to the Reichstag that he is henceforth responsible to them and not the Kaiser. The State of Siege will be relaxed. He further informs them of his note to President Wilson of 4 October asking for peace based on Wilson’s “Fourteen Points.”
In the offensive begun 27 September, British troops breach the Hindenburg Line.
6 October 1918 Indian forces enter Sidon (Saïda, Lebanon).
289 influenza deaths are registered in Philadelphia today.
7 October 1918 The Red Army takes Samara, thus opening up the Volga region.
The Regency Council of the Polish kingdom declares the independence of Poland.
After a month of pain and some delirium, Charles Hubert Hastings Parry dies in Rustington, Sussex, aged 70 years, seven months, and ten days.
8 October 1918 The National Council of the Slovenes, Croats, and Serbs is formed in Zagreb by leading south Slav politicians.
Corporal Alvin C. York, USA, after becoming separated from his unit in the Argonne Forest, kills 20 Germans, and captures a hill, 35 machine guns and 132 German soldiers, singlehandedly.
Béla Bartók (37) contracts the Spanish influenza, now a worldwide epidemic. He is confined to his bed in Budapest.
9 October 1918 Allied troops take Beirut.
The White Directorate sets up its capital at Omsk.
Friedrich Karl, Prince of Hesse, is chosen as King of Finland. In December he will refuse the throne.
10 October 1918 Hsü Shih-chang (Xu Shichang) replaces Feng Kuo-chang (Feng Guozhang) as President of China in the Canton administration.
Today 759 people die of influenza in Philadelphia.
12 October 1918 Great Britain recognizes the control of the Polish National Committee over the Polish army in France. This makes the committee a government-in-exile.
13 October 1918 Allied troops occupy Tripoli (Tarabulus, Lebanon).
14 October 1918 President Wilson publicly responds to peace overtures from Germany and Austria-Hungary. All submarine warfare must end, Germany must define the nature of its government, Allied officers will decide the process of evacuating Belgium and France.
Ahmed Izzet Pasha replaces Mehmed Talat Pasha as Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire.
15 October 1918 Polish deputies in the Austro-Hungarian Parliament declare that they are citizens of an independent Poland. Austro-Hungarian authorities turn over control of Lublin and the surrounding district to Poles.
16 October 1918 Emperor Karl issues the October Manifesto, promising a federal structure for the Austrian part of Austria-Hungary.
A funeral in memory of Charles Hubert Hastings Parry takes place in St. Paul’s Cathedral, London, presided over by the Archbishop of Canterbury. The building is full, including Edward Elgar (61), Charles Villiers Stanford (66) and representatives of the King, Queen, Prince of Wales, the Universities of Oxford, Cambridge, London, Trinity College, Dublin, the Royal Academy of Music and various musical and academic societies. Lento (in memoriam CHHP) for organ by Frank Bridge (39) is performed for the first time.
Hans Pfitzner (49) gives his last concert in Strasbourg.
17 October 1918 Hungary responds to yesterday’s October Manifesto by declaring complete independence, while the Habsburg monarch remains king.
British troops take Ostend.
American troops breach the German defensive line north of Verdun.
18 October 1918 In Washington, Tomás Garrigue Masaryk issues the Czechoslovak declaration of independence.
In the midst of an epidemic, Berlin counts 1,700 deaths from influenza today alone.
19 October 1918 A republic is established in Western Ukraine.
Belgian forces enter Zeebrugge and Bruges.
20 October 1918 Joseph Boulnois, a 34-year-old French composer, is killed in action at Chalaires.
A new government in Constantinople sends peace overtures to the Allies.
21 October 1918 The German-speaking deputies in the Austrian assembly constitute themselves as a national assembly for German-Austria.
When Croatian troops on the Italian front hear of President Wilson’s answer to peace overtures, they mutiny.
The Boston Public Schools reopen after three weeks closure due to the influenza epidemic.
22 October 1918 Józef Swierzynski replaces Jan Kucharzewsky as Prime Minister of Poland.
Chancellor Max, Prinz von Baden announces a number of constitutional reforms giving more power to the Reichstag and less to the Kaiser and the armed forces. Many think the reforms do not go far enough.
The cities of Baltimore and Washington run out of coffins due to the flu epidemic.
23 October 1918 Croatian troops occupy Fiume.
President Wilson informs Germany that the Allies will not negotiate with a military dictatorship.
As part of a general amnesty in Germany, Communist leader Karl Liebknecht is released from prison. Large crowds in several German cities hail the event. Liebknecht is feted in the streets of Berlin, drawn by workers in a carriage through the streets.
24 October 1918 Italian forces with some British, French, American, and Czech contingents attack the Austro-Hungarians along the River Piave.
When the Kaiser refuses to support the high command against the government, General Erich Ludendorff resigns, thus ending the virtual military dictatorship that has existed in Germany since 1916.
Constantin Coanda replaces Alexandru Marghiloman as Prime Minister of Romania.
Oma Maa (Our Native Land), a cantata by Jean Sibelius (52) to words of Kallio, is performed for the first time, in Kansalliskuoro, as part of a concert organized for the German army. The piece was written to honor Gösta Schybergson, a medical student killed by communists on 2 February.
The Real American Folk Song, a song by George Gershwin (20) to words of Ira Gershwin, is performed for the first time as part of the musical comedy Ladies First, at the Broadhurst Theatre, New York. Also premiered is Gershwin’s song Some Wonderful Sort of Someone to words of Greene.
25 October 1918 British forces along with some Arabs enter Aleppo (Halab) and engage in street fighting with the Turkish garrison. The Turks withdraw. In the region of Aleppo, the Allies rescue the 125,000 Armenian deportees left alive in the desert.
A Hungarian National Council is formed under the chairmanship of Mihály, Count Károlyi, but it does not have much support in Parliament. Emperor Karl releases Hungary from fealty to the House of Habsburg.
26 October 1918 British forces defeat the Turks at Al Fathah (Iraq), southwest of Kirkuk, and continue on towards Mosul.
Emissaries of the Turkish cabinet arrive at Mitilini, Lesbos to conduct peace negotiations with Admiral Gough-Calthorpe.
Rudolf Heinze replaces Max, Baron Hausen as Prime Minister of Saxony.
Italian forces cross the River Piave.
Blow out you bugles for tenor and orchestra by Frank Bridge (39) to words of Brooke, is performed for the first time, in Queen’s Hall, London, the composer conducting.
27 October 1918 Heinrich Lammasch replaces Max, Baron Hussarek von Heinlein as Prime Minister of Austria.
János Count Hadik de Futak is named Prime Minister of Hungary.
Austrians counterattack at the Piave River and the battlefront becomes a stalemate.
Romanians in Bukovina announce their secession from Austria-Hungary.
28 October 1918 Representatives of the Prague National Committee peacefully take control of Bohemia and Moravia, establish a provisional government and proclaim the Czechoslovak Republic. The Chairman of the National Council is Karel Kramar.
Zdenka Janáckova writes about the scene in Brno, “It seemed to us that heaven on earth had come…Leos (64) now came out with everything that he had learnt (about the political situation) from Jan Herben. And already he had his own idea: to turn the Organ School into a conservatory. He talked about it constantly, he thought about it and began to negotiate with influential people. He was amazingly happy…”
Measures passed by the Reichstag are signed by Kaiser Wilhelm II, converting Germany into a constitutional monarchy.
Protests against the war and in favor of independence take place on the Chain Bridge in Budapest. Government forces attack, killing three people and injuring 52.
A series of articles against a League of Nations, written by Theodore Roosevelt, begins running in the Kansas City Star.
29 October 1918 British forces defeat the Turks at Ash Sharqat and Qayyarah on their way to Mosul.
Crews of the German High Seas Fleet take control of their ships at Wangerooge. Two ships run up red flags.
Sergey Prokofiev (27) makes his first concert appearance in the United States, almost unnoticed, at the Brooklyn Museum.
The Croatian Sabor proclaims independence from Austria-Hungary in a new state of Slovenes, Croats, and Serbs.
Slovak leaders meet in Turciansky Sväty Martin and agree to secede from Hungary and join in a common state with the Czechs.
Kaiser Wilhelm departs Potsdam, where calls for his abdication are increasing, to join the high command at Spa, Belgium.
30 October 1918 British and Turkish delegations conclude an armistice aboard HMS Agamemnon in Mudros Bay to take effect at noon tomorrow. Allied troops will occupy the Dardanelles and Bosporus forts, all mines will be cleared, all Turkish war ships surrendered, the Turkish army demobilized, all prisoners freed and all Germans and Austrians expelled. The Ottoman Empire ceases to exist. Total Turkish casualties in the war number 2,920,000 men.
Allied forces (mostly Italian) capture Vittorio Veneto and Sacile, breaking the Austro-Hungarian line and sending them into wholesale retreat. Austria-Hungary asks for an armistice in Italy.
After a report circulates that the German Fleet is being readied for a last stand against the British, sailors at Kiel and Wilhelmshaven revolt.
A constitution for German-Austria is proclaimed. It declares Austria part of the German Republic.
Troops loyal to the Hungarian National Council seize public buildings in Budapest. Imperial troops are sent to confront the council but most of them desert along the way.
Five songs for voice and piano by Frank Bridge (39) are performed for the first time, in Wigmore Hall, London: Adoration to words of Keats, Come to me in my dreams to words of Arnold, Mantle of blue to words of Colum, So early in the morning, to words of Stephens, and Where she lies asleep to words of ME Coleridge.
31 October 1918 In hopes of obtaining favorable terms from the Allies, Emperor Karl names Mihály, Count Károlyi de Nagykároly as Prime Minister of Hungary at the head of a revolutionary government.
Revolutionary soldiers break into the Budapest home of István, Count Tisza, once a royal Prime Minister of Hungary, and kill him, blaming him for defeat in the war.
Loyal officers, sailors and marines manage to end the revolt in Wilhelmshaven started yesterday. 500 mutineers are arrested.
Prince-regent Aleksandar of Serbia enters Belgrade in triumph.
Cello Sonata by Frederick Delius (56) is performed for the first time, in Wigmore Hall, London.
1 November 1918 The Norwegian ship Bergensfjord, with Sergey Rakhmaninov (45) and his wife aboard, steams out of Christiania (Oslo) for the United States. The composer has three offers in the US, but no definite plans, except to get away from Europe.
180 mutineers are arrested by German naval authorities at Kiel.
War begins between Poland and Ukraine over Galicia.
Mihály, Count Károlyi proclaims the independence of Hungary.
The Society for Private Performances is formed in Vienna.
Italian troops take Belluno, 80 km north of Venice.
French forces enter Belgrade.
American forces begin an offensive towards Sedan, smashing through the German lines at Buzancy and advancing eight km.
The British government recognizes the Provisional All-Russian Government as the legitimate government for Russia.
YMCA Music Organizer Gustav Holst (44) arrives in France.
Seven leaders of the ruling party of Turkey escape Constantinople aboard a German destroyer.
2 November 1918 The 13 July proclamation of Wilhelm von Urach, Duke of Württemberg as King Mandaugas II of Lithuania is rescinded. The country reverts to a republic under Chairman of the Lithuanian National Council Presidium Antanas Smetona and Prime Minister Augustinas Voldemaras.
The Germans release General Józef Pilsudski from prison. He returns to Warsaw.
East African Germans invade Northern Rhodesia.
The new Hungarian government recalls all Hungarian troops from the front.
3 November 1918 British troops occupy Mosul (Al Mawsil), 350 km northwest of Baghdad.
Alban Berg (33) leaves the army and his post at the Austrian Ministry of War.
The Polish Republic is proclaimed in Warsaw by the government of Józef Swiezynski as a Polish army enters Galicia.
British and French forces take Trento.
Allied ships capture Trieste.
Italy annexes the Austrian territories of Brixen (Bressanone) and Trent (Trento).
After two days of indignation meetings by sailors in Kiel, led by members of the Independent Socialist Party, officers sound the emergency recall alarm. No one responds. 3,000 men and women from Kiel demonstrate in support of the sailors. Sailors march on the prison to free their comrades but are fired upon by troops loyal to the government. Eight sailors are killed, 29 injured.
4 November 1918 Delegates from Austria-Hungary and the Allied nations sign an armistice in Padua. Hostilities cease on the Italian front.
Rebellious sailors in Kiel arm themselves and take control of the city. Loyal troops and ships flee. Ships still in port raise the red flag. Workers in Kiel create a Workers’ and Soldiers’ Council, disarm their officers and liberate their arrested comrades. Delegations are sent to other ports. Within two days, all important German ports, including Hamburg, Wilhelmshaven, and Bremerhaven, are in revolt.
American forces capture Beaufort.
British forces renew their offensive in the Cambrai sector, crossing the Sambre Canal and reaching the Mormal Forest.
25-year-old poet Wilfred Owen is killed in battle in France.
5 November 1918 Wladyslaw Wróblewski replaces Józef Swierzynski as Prime Minister of Poland.
Gustav Noske, sent by the Berlin government to assess the situation in Kiel, is made governor of the town by the workers and sailors. Noske accepts in an attempt to restore order. He will succeed.
Voting in the United States elects members of the Congress. The Republicans gain 25 seats and a majority in the House of Representatives. Republican gains in the Senate give them a bare majority.
6 November 1918 Theodor Liesching replaces Wilhelm August von Breitling as Prime Minister of Württemberg.
American forces reach the Meuse River, eight km from Sedan.
Mutinous sailors now control Lübeck, Hamburg, Cuxhaven, Bremen, Bremerhaven, Wilhelmshaven, and towns in Schleswig-Holstein.
7 November 1918 Thousands of workers demanding bread, peace and removal of the monarchy demonstrate peacefully in Munich. At night, King Ludwig III leaves his palace and will never return.
Mutinous sailors reach Cologne precipitating insurrection in the Rhineland.
French forces enter Sedan.
British troops cross the Scheldt River.
The United Press flashes a false armistice report setting off celebrations in France and the US.
Richard Strauss (54) conducts Salome in Berlin. It is the last production at the Berlin Court Opera. In two days, the German court will cease to exist.
8 November 1918 German negotiators reach the forest of Compiègne near Rethondes and the train of Allied commander Ferdinand Foch. They are handed Foch’s armistice demands, in effect a surrender, and given 72 hours to decide.
The monarchy under King Ludwig III of Bavaria is abolished in favor of a republic. The Constituent Soldiers’, Workers’, and Peasants’ Council proclaims the Bavarian Social and Democratic Republic, in Munich. They name Kurt Eisner as head of government.
With riots and uprisings occurring in major German cities, the government turns Berlin into an armed camp. Police arrest revolutionary leader Ernst Dämig and find plans for an insurrection to begin 11 November. Chancellor Prince Max von Baden makes one last plea by telephone for Kaiser Wilhelm to abdicate. The Kaiser refuses.
Prime Minister Constantin Coanda of Romania repeals all laws of the previous government including universal suffrage. Romania declares war on Germany and forces troops of the Central Powers out of Wallachia.
9 November 1918 A general strike begins in Berlin and other German cities. Workers march on the Chancellery in the capital. Troops take the strikers’ side in Berlin, Hannover, Cologne, Kassel, and Frankfurt-am-Main. Feeling desperate, the Chancellor announces the abdication of the Kaiser. At German headquarters in Spa, Belgium, Kaiser Wilhelm II is informed that he has abdicated. He leaves for exile in the Netherlands. The German Republic is proclaimed. “People’s Representatives” replace the imperial government of Chancellor Maximilian, Prince of Baden. Friedrich Ebert takes over as provisional Chancellor. Communists and revolutionary mobs begin taking over strategic points in the capital. The high command pledges its support to the new government. An aspiring musician named Kurt Weill (18) spends the entire day at the Reichstag, watching the proceedings.
The government of Grand Duke Wilhelm II of Württemberg ceases to function.
Agreement is reached in Geneva between the National Council of Slovenes, Croats, and Serbs, the Yugoslav Committee and the Serbian government on a new entity for the south Slavs.
Manuel García Prieto, marqués de Alhucemas replaces Antonio Maura y Montaner as Prime Minister of Spain.
German and colonial troops capture Kasama, Northern Rhodesia (Zambia).
Hans Pfitzner (49) and his family depart Strasbourg for Munich. It has been their home since 1908. He will never see it again.
Still recovering from his wounds of 17 March 1916, Guillaume Apollinaire dies of influenza in Paris at the age of 38.
“Gipsy Song” from The Bard of the Dimbovitza for mezzo-soprano and orchestra by Arnold Bax (35) is performed for the first time, in Aeolian Hall, London. See 8 April 1921.
Elegy for Brahms (†21) for orchestra by Hubert Parry (†0) is performed for the first time, at the Royal College of Music, London, conducted by Charles Villiers Stanford (66), 21 years after it was composed.
10 November 1918 French and Serbian forces cross the Danube into Romania. Romanian forces invade Transylvania.
After two years of German imprisonment, General Józef Pilsudski arrives in Warsaw to a hero’s welcome.
Elections are held in all German factories. Those elected convene in the evening to form a provisional government: the Executive Council of the Socialist German Republic. Over the next few days, the executive council enacts sweeping social reforms including the eight-hour day, the right to organize, press freedom and release of political prisoners. Friedrich Ebert and Hugo Haase are named Chairmen of the Council of People’s Commissioners.
American forces begin a new offensive north from the Meuse towards Montmédy.
Sergey Rakhmaninov (45) and his wife arrive in New York from Europe.
Charles Koechlin (50) arrives in New York from France to give a series of lectures on French music.
John Philip Sousa (64) leads his band in Toronto as part of a campaign to aid the Victory Loans of Canada. With so many amputee veterans in attendance, Sousa calls it one of the most moving experiences of his life.
11 November 1918 05:10 An armistice between Germany and the Allied countries is signed in a railroad car in the forest of Compiègne. Six hours later, the Great War comes to an end. The war cost approximately 10,000,000 lives. 21,000,000 were wounded.
While completing his instrumentation of Rag-time in Lausanne, Igor Stravinsky (36) hears a buzzing in his ears. Going down to the street, he sees that everyone else heard the same buzz. They later learn that the noise is a cannon on the French frontier signaling the armistice.
The Second Polish Republic is founded, headed by Józef Pilsudski. What constitutes “Poland” is still a matter of some dispute. German troops are disarmed and expelled from Warsaw.
Richard Strauss (54) is named interim artistic advisor of the Berlin Opera.
The Republic of Estonia is restored following the German defeat.
Ahmed Tevfik Pasha replaces Ahmed Izzet Pasha as Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire.
12 November 1918 The first Allied (France) troops enter Constantinople. British troops will arrive tomorrow.
The Austrian provisional government declares itself part of the German Republic and requests the German government to effect the union. No further action is taken. Emperor Karl abdicates the imperial throne ending the Habsburg dynasty. A Directory of the Council of State takes power in Austria, with three members rotating the chair weekly. Karl Renner is named Chancellor.
German and British troops battle near Kasama, Northern Rhodesia (Zambia).
13 November 1918 The governing body of Christ Church, Oxford, grants William Walton (16) an in-College Exhibition of £85 per year for two years.
The monarchy under King Friedrich August III of Saxony is abolished in favor of a republic.
The Bolshevik government renounces the treaty of Brest-Litovsk.
Czechoslovakia adopts a provisional constitution.
Hungarian troops reoccupy Slovakia and force the government to flee to Moravia. János Hock becomes Chairman of the National Council, effectively head of state.
German troops withdraw from Warsaw.
14 November 1918 The monarchy under Grand Duke Friedrich II of Baden is abolished.
A National Assembly for Czechoslovakia meets and elects Tomás Garrigue Masaryk as first President. Karel Kramar becomes the first Prime Minister.
Józef Pilsudski is appointed by the Council of Regency to be the first president of Poland. Ignacy Daszynski replaces Wladyslaw Wróblewski as Prime Minister of Poland. Polish representatives to the German Reichstag meet in Posen (Poznan) and declare independence from Germany and attachment to Poland.
German troops evacuate Finland.
Survivors of the German force from East Africa surrender to British authorities in Northern Rhodesia.
15 November 1918 Delfin Moreira da Costa Ribeiro replaces Wenceslao Braz Pereira Gomes as President of Brazil.
Russians, a cycle for voice and orchestra by Daniel Gregory Mason (44) to words of Bynner, is performed for the first time, in Chicago.
16 November 1918 The provincial government of Dalmatia requests that the National Council of Slovenes, Croats, and Serbs immediately seek union with Serbia and Montenegro, fearing that they are about to be occupied by Italy.
In front of the Houses of Parliament, the National Council proclaims the Hungarian Republic. Mihály, Count Károlyi de Nagykároly is named interim President.
A Tripolitanian Republic is set up in Libya, opposed to rule by Italy.
Otto Klemperer conducts the first German performance of Leos Janácek’s (64) Jenufa in Cologne. He has to fight a chorus opposed to singing a Slavic work, journalists who wonder why a Czech work is being performed “when our Austrian brothers have to suffer so much from the effrontery of uncultured Slavs”, the privations of post-war Germany, and a half-empty hall. Nevertheless, the work is a success.
17 November 1918 Twenty ships bring British troops and Cossacks to take possession of Baku from the Turks.
German troops leave Brussels.
18 November 1918 The Provisional All-Russian Government in Omsk is overthrown by the military. Admiral Alyeksandr Kolchak is named Supreme Ruler of White dominated areas of Russia.
White forces recapture Stavropol.
Jedrzej Edward Moraczewski replaces Ignacy Daszynski as Prime Minister of Poland.
The Republic of Latvia is declared independent by the Latvian People’s Council, formed yesterday. Janis Cakste is elected Chairman of the Latvian People’s Council (Head of State). Karlis Ulmanis is Prime Minister.
19 November 1918 Italian forces occupy Dalmatia.
Charles Koechlin (50) dines at the White House, discussing the League of Nations with President Wilson.
20 November 1918 The first 20 German submarines surrender to the Royal Navy at Harwich. Over 100 U-boats will be surrendered throughout the coming months.
Leaders of the Transylvanian Romanians declare their intention to secede from Hungary and join Romania.
Sergey Prokofiev (27) makes his first well-publicized appearance in the United States, in Aeolian Hall, New York. It is generally successful with public and critics. Present is another recent arrival, Sergey Rakhmaninov (45).
Berceuse du chat, for solo voice and three clarinets by Igor Stravinsky (36) is performed for the first time, in the Salle des agriculteurs, Paris. This performance is done with piano accompaniment. See 6 June 1919.
21 November 1918 The Commonwealth Electoral Act is given royal assent. By this act, Australia adopts the preferential voting system on a nationwide basis.
King Albert I returns to Brussels and assembles a government.
The Dallapiccola family (including Luigi (14)) return to their home in Pisino d’Istria after having been interned in Graz by Austrian authorities who suspected them of Italian nationalism.
The German surface fleet surrenders to British authorities at the Firth of Forth.
The last German troops leave Alsace and Lorraine.
Mélodie for violin or cello and piano by Frank Bridge (39) is performed for the first time, at the Royal College of Music, London.
After 2,122 deaths, sirens announce to the citizens of San Francisco that they may remove facemasks shielding them from influenza. Next month there will be 5,000 new cases in the city.
22 November 1918 Léon Delacroix replaces Gerhard Cooreman as Prime Minister of Belgium.
23 November 1918 Lwow (Lviv) falls to Polish troops.
Darius Milhaud (26) leaves Brazil after almost two years working in the French embassy. He is returning to France via the West Indies and New York.
The first general meeting of the Verein für Musikalische Privataufführungen (Society for Private Performances) is held in Vienna. An executive committee is elected. Arnold Schoenberg (44) is named President.
24 November 1918 The Hungarian Communist Party is founded by Béla Kun.
Ernest MacMillan (25) departs Ruhleben, Germany after almost four years of internment.
Belvedere, the third of the Songs of Hradcany by Leos Janácek (62) for soprano, female chorus, flute, and harp, to words of Procházka, is performed for the first time, in Brno.
25 November 1918 Serbs from Vojvodina Province proclaim unification with Serbia.
French troops march into Strasbourg, the largest city in Alsace and Lorraine. These areas were taken from France by Germany after the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-71.
German forces in east Africa surrender to the British at Abercorn, Northern Rhodesia (Mbala, Zambia).
Richard Strauss (54) resigns as interim artistic advisor to the Berlin Opera. He is planning a move to Vienna.
Chile and Peru break relations with each other.
26 November 1918 Kurt Eisner, head of government for the Bavarian republic, announces that Bavaria is ending relations with Berlin and henceforth, Bavaria will conduct its own foreign policy.
The Great National Assembly of Montenegro dethrones the Petrovic dynasty and votes for unification with Serbia. King Nikola, currently in exile in Paris, is deposed.
27 November 1918 Lauri Johannes Ingman replaces Juho Kusti Paasikivi as Prime Minister of Finland.
The National Council of Bessarabia votes to join Romania.
28 November 1918 Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany officially abdicates his throne.
The Polish government grants universal suffrage to all citizens over 21.
The National Council of Bukovina votes to join Romania.
Todor Ivanov Todorov replaces Aleksandur Pavlov Malinov as Prime Minister of Bulgaria.
29 November 1918 The Estonian Soviet Republic is proclaimed in Russian-occupied Estonia.
The allied powers recognize the independence of Lithuania.
30 November 1918 King Ferdinand of Romania and his cabinet reassert control in Bucharest.
Une châtelaine en sa tour op.110 for harp by Gabriel Fauré (73) is performed for the first time, by the Société National de Musique, Paris.
Nikola Pasic, Prime Minister of Serbia, is named to be the first Prime Minister of the Kingdom of the Serbs, Croats and Slovenes.
The Société de l’orchestre de la Suisse Romande gives its inaugural concert in Geneva.
1 December 1918 The Kingdom of the Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes is constituted under King Petar I of Serbia and Prime Minister Nikola Pasic.
An assembly of 100,000 Romanian delegates from Transylvania and the Banat meets in Abu Iulia and votes to leave Hungary and join Romania.
Allied occupation of the Rhineland officially begins.
A meeting of representatives of Soldiers’ Councils called by General Wilhelm Groener takes place in Ems. Groener’s proposal that the congress adopt a resolution dissolving the councils and all military groups other than the army is voted down. Officers will henceforth be required to recognize the councils as representatives of the popular will.
Iceland is separated from Denmark, but in personal union with the Danish crown.
Gustav Holst (44) arrives in Thessaloniki. He will organize musical activities among troops suffering the effects of war, malaria, poison gas, and influenza.
2 December 1918 Incidental music to Méral’s play Le Dit des Jeux du Monde by Arthur Honegger (26) is performed for the first time, at the Théâtre du Vieux Colombier, Paris. It causes a scandal, complete with whistles, cheers, clapping, screaming, and fighting. Among the audience are Maurice Ravel (43), Florent Schmitt (48), Albert Roussel (49), Pablo Picasso, and Jean Cocteau. Honegger is now famous.
3 December 1918 Two pieces for piano, Prélude and Filigrane, by Claude Champagne (27) are performed for the first time, in Windsor Hall, Montreal.
4 December 1918 Poland issues an ultimatum to Germany to withdraw from Polish territory.
Friedrich Karl, Prince of Hesse refuses the Finnish throne.
US President Woodrow Wilson sails from New York to attend the Versailles peace conference.
An Irish Concertino for violin, cello, and piano by Charles Villiers Stanford (66) is performed for the first time, in London. See 22 April 1920.
5 December 1918 Croatian soldiers of the former Austro-Hungarian Army stage a violent protest against the Yugoslav union in Jelacic Square, Zagreb. Soldiers loyal to the National Council put down the demonstration. 13 people are killed.
Álvaro Figueroa y Torres Mendieta, conde de Romanones replaces Manuel García Prieto, marqués de Alhucemas as Prime Minister of Spain.
6 December 1918 Allied troops enter Cologne.
Conservative functionaries at the German Foreign Office gather several hundred soldiers and make a sort of coup d’etat in an attempt to remove Independent Socialists from positions of power. They march on the Chancellery and name Friedrich Ebert as dictator. Ebert refuses the coup and a clash between the soldiers and leftist demonstrators leaves 16 dead. The coup leaders flee the country.
Sergey Prokofiev (27) performs in Chicago with the Chicago Symphony. He is the soloist in his own Piano Concerto no.1 and conducts his Scythian Suite.
7 December 1918 Sparticist leader Karl Liebknecht leads an indignation meeting in Berlin to protest the events of yesterday.
8 December 1918 A large crowd of Sparticist supporters gathers before the Chancellery in Berlin and denounces the socialist government, tainted by the events of 6 December. From this point, increasing numbers of Independent Socialists desert the government for the Sparticists.
Sergey Rakhmaninov (45) makes his first concert appearance in the United States since leaving Europe, in Providence, Rhode Island. He is in the process of recovering from influenza.
9 December 1918 Poland breaks relations with Russia.
Allied troops enter Mainz.
Concertino for clarinet and small orchestra op.48 by Ferruccio Busoni (52) is performed for the first time, in the Zürich Tonhalle.
Half Past Eight, a revue with music by George Gershwin (20) is performed for the first time, in the Empire Theatre, Syracuse, New York. It never reaches New York City.
10 December 1918 Max Planck is awarded the Nobel Prize in physics for his development of quantum theory.
In an article written by Carl Ruggles (42), the Rand School of Social Science in New York announces the formation of a Workers’ Symphony Orchestra with Ruggles as the director.
11 December 1918 After a compromise with the government, German army units back from the front march into Berlin. They carry side arms, but are not accompanied by machine guns or tanks. They are met by civilians with indifference. Army units march into Berlin over the next two days. Within a short while, the army will dissolve, as soldiers return to their homes without being discharged.
12 December 1918 Karl Gustaf Emil, Baron Mannerheim replaces Pehr Evind Svinhufvud as regent for the vacant throne of King of Finland.
14 December 1918 The German puppet government in Kiev is overthrown by leftist nationalists. They set up the Ukrainian Peoples Republic.
Voting takes place in a general election across the United Kingdom, for the first time all on the same day. It is the first general election since 1910. Coalition Conservatives and Coalition Liberals take the great majority of seats.
Il Trittico, a series of three operas by Giacomo Puccini (59), Il tabarro, to words of Adami after Gold, Suor Angelica, to words of Forzano, and Gianni Schicchi to words of Forzano after Dante, are performed for the first time, at the Metropolitan Opera, New York. It was originally hoped that the premiere would take place in Rome, but too many performers are in the armed forces.
President Wilson of the United States arrives in Paris for the post-war peace conference.
Nine days after surviving an attempt on his life, President Sidónio Bernardino Cardoso da Silva Pais of Portugal enters the main railroad station in Lisbon and is shot and fatally wounded by a fanatic.
The Moscow Professional Composers Union is founded. Nikolay Roslavets (37) is elected chairman of the governing board.
15 December 1918 After Germany refuses the Polish ultimatum of 4 December, Poland severs relations.
16 December 1918 The Communist Workers Party of Poland is founded advocating union with Russia.
The first Congress of German Soviets convenes in Berlin. They approve quick elections for a constituent assembly. A central committee is established.
Turkish forces evacuate Kars (Turkey), Ardahan (Turkey), and Batum (Batumi, Georgia).
João do Canto e Castro Silva Antunes becomes acting President of Portugal.
17 December 1918 The Latvian Conciliar (Soviet) Republic is proclaimed in opposition to the Republic of Latvia.
French troops land in Odessa to maintain order and ensure the evacuation of the Germans.
Roger Sessions (21) becomes engaged to Barbara Foster, an art history student at Smith College, where he is currently teaching. She is two years his junior.
18 December 1918 Czech forces capture Troppau, the principal city of the Sudetenland, essentially winning the area for Czechoslovakia.
19 December 1918 Ion I. Constantin Bratianu replaces Constantin Coanda as Prime Minister of Romania.
The Allies force Hungary to leave Slovakia.
20 December 1918 President Masaryk returns to Prague from exile in the United States.
Two representatives of the German high command meet in Berlin with Chairman Ebert and tell him they will not agree to the plan passed by the Congress of German Soviets to abolish insignias of rank, institute elections for officers and abolish the army, replacing it with a People’s Army. Ebert accedes to their demands. Leftist members of the government inform workers’ councils that Ebert has sold out to the old order.
Stojan Protic replaces Nikola Pasic as Prime Minister of the Kingdom of the Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes.
The Canadian government creates the Canadian National Railway.
21 December 1918 Tomás Garrigue Masaryk arrives in Czechoslovakia to take up his post as President.
A Sonata for violin and piano by Francis Poulenc (19) is performed for the first time, in Paris.
23 December 1918 A putsch by sailors of the Volksmarine Division occupies several buildings in Berlin and takes a few members of the government hostage.
João Tamagnini de Sousa Barbosa replaces Sidónio Bernardino Cardoso da Silva Pais as Prime Minister of Portugal.
24 December 1918 Loyal army units, who entered the city last night, begin to battle with the Volksmarine in Berlin. Crowds of leftist citizens come to the aid of the sailors and manage to convince the soldiers to give up the fight.
Ignacy Paderewski arrives in Danzig (Gdansk) aboard a British ship. German authorities balk at letting him ashore. The British force the issue and he is allowed to accompany them to Warsaw.
25 December 1918 White forces capture Perm from the Reds.
A leftist crowd in Berlin takes over the offices of Vorwärts, the newspaper of Chairman Ebert’s Majority Socialists.
Ignacy Paderewski arrives in Posen (Poznan) to deliriously cheering crowds. German troops demand that foreign flags flown by the Poles be removed since this was still German territory. When the police protest that this can not be accomplished with their small numbers, the soldiers begin to tear down flags across the city. Gunfire begins between these soldiers and Polish militia members.
26 December 1918 Polish irregulars begin attacking police and army posts and taking over small towns in the Posen (Poznan) district. After several days of fighting, armed Poles manage to take control of the city and district.
Mykolas Slezevicius replaces Augustinas Voldemaras as Prime Minister of Lithuania.
27 December 1918 Polish forces take control of Poznan.
King Ferdinand of Romania officially proclaims the annexation of Bukovina, Transylvania, and the Banat.
28 December 1918 48 Albanian leaders meet in Durrës and elect Turhan Pasha as president.
29 December 1918 Independent Socialists leave the German government of Friedrich Ebert making him sole Chairman of the Council of People’s Commissioners.
The first performance of the Society for Private Performances takes place in Vienna. The program includes Alyeksandr Skryabin’s (†3) Piano Sonatas nos.4&7, four songs and Proses lyriques by Claude Debussy (†0) and the Seventh Symphony of Gustav Mahler (†7) in an arrangement for piano-four hands.
30 December 1918 Within a half-hour of each other, three bombs set by anarchists explode in Philadelphia. One at the president of the local Chamber of Commerce, one at the home of the police chief, and one at the home of a justice of the state supreme court. None of the targets are injured.
31 December 1918 The Red Army capture Ufa.
Red Army troops enter Vilnius. The government of Lithuania moves to Kaunas.
At a Spartacist Congress in Berlin, they decide to leave the Independent Social Democratic Party and create their own program. They create the Communist Party of Germany under the leadership of Rosa Luxemburg and Karl Liebknecht.
©2004-2012 Paul Scharfenberger
17 June 2012
Last Updated (Sunday, 17 June 2012 04:45)