21 January

Great War events that took place on 21 January.

1915 (Thursday)

French take woods near the farm of Beauséjour, but lose ground in the Bois-le-Prêtre.
Further Austrian attack at the Kirlibaba Pass repulsed.
Lieut-Gen. Erich von Falkenhayn succeeded as German Minister for War by Lieut-Gen. Wild von Hohenborn (see 30 October, 1916). Von Falkenhayn remains Chief of the General Staff (see 29 August, 1916).
British SS Durward sunk by submarine near Maas lightship.
H.M. Ambassador at Washington announces that SS Dacia, if captured, will be placed in a Prize Court.^[a]

1916 (Friday)

1917 (Sunday)

1918 (Monday)

Notes

↑ The Dacia, a vessel of the Hamburg-Amerika line, had been lying at Port Arthur, Texas, since the outbreak of war. With the permission of the United States Government, she was bought by an American citizen of German origin, Breitung by name, who purposed to send her to Bremen with a cargo of cotton shipped by American citizens. The destination, however, was afterwards changed to Rotterdam. The point at issue was the validity of the transference to neutrals of vessels belonging to a belligerent. Cotton not being treated as contraband at this time, the British Government offered, if the ship were seized, to purchase the cargo or have it forwarded without charge to Rotterdam.

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

Text has 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). Spelling of place names are original to British use at the time. Some typos have been altered or corrected for consistency. Duplicate or identical events between these sources have been amalgamated; as a result the date and wording may differ to the original texts.
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 do not come under the general licence of this site.
Advisory note: The information in these sources may not accurately represent up-to-date histories, present-day spelling of place names, or geographical boundaries. In some instances the language used may appear sexist or derogatory to the modern reader, and in rare cases, images may depict distressing scenes.
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[1] The Dacia, a vessel of the Hamburg-Amerika line, had been lying at Port Arthur, Texas, since the outbreak of war. With the permission of the United States Government, she was bought by an American citizen of German origin, Breitung by name, who purposed to send her to Bremen with a cargo of cotton shipped by American citizens. The destination, however, was afterwards changed to Rotterdam. The point at issue was the validity of the transference to neutrals of vessels belonging to a belligerent. Cotton not being treated as contraband at this time, the British Government offered, if the ship were seized, to purchase the cargo or have it forwarded without charge to Rotterdam.

[a]