17 November

Great War events that took place on 17 November.

1914 (Tuesday)

Western Front	End of the First Battle of Ypres; stationary warfare now the rule.
Eastern Front	▶ Poland: Violent conflicts round Plotsk.	▶ Galicia: Russians begin to recover over Carpathian Passes.
Asiatic and Egyptian Theatres	Mesopotamia: Turks decisively routed at Sahil.
Political	Great Britain: Lloyd George introduces his first War Budget.^[a]

Notes

↑ First War Budget - Chief points: War Loan of 350 million at 3½ per cent, issued at 95, redeemable at par from 10-14 years. Income Tax and Super-tax doubled (2s. 6d. earned, 1s. 6d. unearned), a third extra only charged this year. Beer to cost consumer ½d. per half-pint extra; Tea tax raised 3d. per lb., making it 8d.; Reduction of licence duty for publicans according to curtailment of business hours.

Sources: Various material contemporary with the war have been used to compile The Great War On This Day and its associated Compendium.

On This Day pages are styled as timelines and have been transcribed from two out-of-copyright sources: Chronology of the War (1918-1920), and History of the Great War – Principle Events 1914-1918 (1922). The spelling of place-names is a particularly convoluted subject. Some names were spelt differently depending on source, others have changed over time for various political or geographical reasons. In general, spelling of place names are original to British use at the time of, and shortly after, the war. Some typos have been altered or corrected for consistency. Similar events between these sources have been amalgamated; as a result the date and wording may differ to their original texts.

Compendium entries form the central hub of (a) An index-like collection of places, people, ships, battles, political events, etc., and (b) Words and phrases of the Armed Forces of Great Britain during the Great War. The majority of these have been transcribed from Chronology of the War (1918-1920) and Soldier and Sailor Words and Phrases (1925) respectively, the later which is reflected in the language used and some may seem derogatory by today's standards.

Images come from scans or photographs of original sources, Wikimedia Commons, and the Imperial War Museum's online collections under the IWM Non-Commercial Licence. Attribution is given separately to the latter and does not come under the general licence of this site. Please be aware that some images, although very few, may depict distressing scenes.

Advisory note: The information in these sources may not accurately represent updated histories, present-day spellings, or geographical borders. It is also written from a British perspective, and words such as "enemy" are used extensively. For further details and a full list of sources, click here.

Browse index by letter: Top – A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

[1] First War Budget - Chief points: War Loan of 350 million at 3½ per cent, issued at 95, redeemable at par from 10-14 years. Income Tax and Super-tax doubled (2s. 6d. earned, 1s. 6d. unearned), a third extra only charged this year. Beer to cost consumer ½d. per half-pint extra; Tea tax raised 3d. per lb., making it 8d.; Reduction of licence duty for publicans according to curtailment of business hours.

[a]