Attachment 240718
9th February 1918
Bertrand Russell is sentenced to six months in prison for advocating in public that the British government accept a German offer to open peace negotiations.
Attachment 240719
Bertrand Arthur William Russell, 3rd Earl Russell, (18 May 1872 – 2 February 1970) was a British philosopher, logician, mathematician, historian, writer, social critic, political activist and Nobel laureate. At various points in his life, Russell considered himself a liberal, a socialist and a pacifist, but he also admitted that he had "never been any of these things, in any profound sense".Russell was born in Monmouthshire into one of the most prominent aristocratic families in the United Kingdom. In the early 20th century, Russell led the British "revolt against idealism". He is considered one of the founders of analytic philosophy along with his predecessor Gottlob Frege, colleague G. E. Moore and protégé Ludwig Wittgenstein. He is widely held to be one of the 20th century's premier logicians. With A. N. Whitehead he wrote Principia Mathematica, an attempt to create a logical basis for mathematics. His philosophical essay "On Denoting" has been considered a "paradigm of philosophy".His work has had a considerable influence on mathematics, logic, set theory, linguistics, artificial intelligence, cognitive science, computer science (see type theory and type system) and philosophy, especially the philosophy of language, epistemology and metaphysics. Russell was a prominent anti-war activist and he championed anti-imperialism. Occasionally, he advocated preventive nuclear war, before the opportunity provided by the atomic monopoly had passed and "welcomed with enthusiasm" world government. He went to prison for his pacifism during World War I.Later, Russell concluded war against Adolf Hitler was a necessary "lesser of two evils" and criticized Stalinist totalitarianism, attacked the involvement of the United States in the Vietnam War and was an outspoken proponent of nuclear disarmament. In 1950, Russell was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature "in recognition of his varied and significant writings in which he champions humanitarian ideals and freedom of thought.
Some key Bertrand Russell quotes:
The trouble with the world is that the stupid are cocksure and the intelligent are full of doubt.
War does not determine who is right - only who is left.
The War in the Air
General Headquarters, February 10th.
“Several successful reconnaissances were carried out by our aeroplanes on the 9th inst. in spite of low clouds, mist, and high winds. Hostile batteries were engaged effectively by our artillery with observation from the air, and nearly one ton of bombs was dropped by us on various targets. In air fighting, one hostile machine was driven down out of control. One of our machines is missing On the night of the 9th-ioth inst., our night-bombing machines carried out a successful raid into Germany, although the weather was by no means good. Nearly a ton of bombs was dropped with very good results on the important railway junction and sidings at Courcelles-les-Metz, south-east of Metz. One of our bombing machines is missing."
RFC Communiqué number 126:
In spite of low clouds and a strong wind, a certain amount of flying was done.
Eight successful reconnaissances were completed (five by the 5th Brigade and three by the 3rd Brigade).
Five hostile batteries were successfully engaged for destruction and two neutralized; two gun-pits were destroyed, three damaged, three explosions and two fires caused. Seven zone calls were sent down.
Fifty-two photographs were taken (all by the 5th Brigade), 138 bombs dropped, and 8,057 rounds fired at ground targets as follows:—
Night 8th/9th - 9th Wing: 44 25-lb bombs on Courtrai, lights near Bisseghem, Menin, Moorslede, billets at Heule, and St. Denis Westrem by No 102 Squadron.
By Day - 1st Brigade: 1st Wing dropped 30 25-lb bombs on miscellaneous targets and fired 4.090 rounds.
3rd Brigade: 23 25-lb bombs were dropped and 870 rounds fired.
5th Brigade: 15th Wing took 52 photographs, dropped 37 25-lb bombs and fired 2,597 rounds, and 22nd Wing dropped four 25-lb bombs.
Enemy Aircraft:
Enemy aircraft very slight and only one decisive combat took place.
2nd-Lieut H H Hartley & Lieut R S Herring, 48 Sqn, Albatros Scout out of control south of Guise at 12:00/13:00 - 2nd-Lieut Hartley and Lieut Herring, No 48 Squadron, shot down one EA completely out of control and it was last seen a height of 2,000 feet still in the same condition. It was impossible two see the EA crash owing to clouds
Casualties:
2nd-Lieut J L S Hanman (Ok) & Lieut Wood (Ok), 12 Sqn, RE8 A3766 - attacked by 6 EA at 6,200 feet over Sh51b.W.18 [east of Marquion] and shot through during line reconnaissance
2nd-Lieut F R Hunt (Inj) & Lieut J E M Evans (Inj), 48 Sqn, Bristol F.2B B1210 - force landed 62c.V.28.a [north of Guizancourt] due engine failure on camera co-operation St Quentin
2nd-Lieut G A C Manley (Pow), 54 Sqn, Camel B5417 – took off 09:35/10:35 and last seen at 8,000 feet east of line near Sissy during wireless interruption
2nd-Lieut O B Swart (Pow) & 2nd-Lieut A Fielding-Clarke (Pow), 100 Sqn, FE2b B439 – took off 17:51/18:51 then missing from bombing Courcelles; engine failure
There were just the two claims reported by aces on this day...
Attachment 240720
A total of five British Airmen were lost on this day
Attachment 240721
Eastern Front
Central Powers sign separate peace with Ukraine including 1 million t food for Polish Kholm land.
Attachment 240723
Skoropadsky, Hetman of the Ukraine, talks to the Kaiser.
The Treaty of Brest-Litovsk was a peace treaty signed on 3 March 1918 between the Russian SFSR and the Central Powers, but prior to that on 9 February 1918, the Central Powers signed an exclusive protectorate treaty (German: Brotfrieden, "peace for bread") with the Ukrainian People's Republic as part of the negotiations that took place in Brest-Litovsk, Grodno Governorate (now Brest, Belarus) recognizing the sovereignty of the Ukrainian republic. Although not formally annexing the territory of the former Russian Empire, Germany and Austria-Hungary secured food-supply support in return for providing military protection. The Quadruple Alliance recognized Ukraine as a neutral state. Because of the Bolshevik Russian aggression (see Group of forces in battle with the counterrevolution in the South of Russia), the Ukrainian People's Republic declared its independence under the government of the General Secretariat of Ukraine. In its declaration the General Secretariat announced elections for the Ukrainian Constituent Assembly to be held on 9 January 1918 and the first convocation on January 22 of the same year.
On 17 December 1917, Vladimir Lenin as the head of the Sovnarkom released an ultimatum in which he accused the Central Rada of disorganizing the frontlines, stopping "any troops going into the region of the Don, the Urals, or elsewhere", sheltering political enemies such as the members of the Cadet party and ones who sided with Kaledine, as well as a requirement to "put an end to the attempts to crush the armies of the Soviet and of the Red Guard in Ukraine". Lenin gave 24 hours' notice to the government of what he called "the independent and bourgeois Republic of the Ukraine" to respond. Having Soviet armies already in Ukraine, the government of Ukraine had to act quickly to preserve the sovereignty of the state. The Ukrainian Central Rada expressed a desire for a peace treaty with foreign countries and its recognition worldwide. Since the representatives of the British and French Empires did not wish to recognize its sovereignty considering it as a part of their major ally, the Russian Empire, the treaty would give a chance for some recognition in face of the Central Powers. On 1 January 1918, a Ukrainian delegation headed by Vsevolod Holubovych arrived at Brest-Litovsk. The initial delegation beside Mykola Liubynsky, Oleksandr Sevriuk, and Mykola Levytsky included Mykhailo Poloz.
Attachment 240724
Signing of the Peace Treaty of Brest-Litovsk during the night between 9 and 10 February 1918. Sitting in the middle from the left: Count Ottokar Czernin, Richard von Kühlmann and Vasil Radoslavov
The peace negotiation was initiated by the government of Soviet Russia on 3 December 1917 represented by the delegation headed by the Ukrainian-born Leon Trotsky. Several resolutions were reached between 22–26 December and on 28 December 1917 an armistice was signed suspending hostilities at front-lines. Prior to that a Soviet government of Ukrainian Socialist Soviet Republic was formed in Kharkiv on 17 December 1917. The final undersigning was being procrastinated by Bolsheviks in hope of reaching some agreement with the Entente treaty members. On 12 January 1918, Count Ottokar Czernin as a representative of the Central Powers recognized the independent delegation from the Ukrainian People's Republic, but together with Csáky refused to discuss the questions of Halychyna, Bucovina, and Subcarpathian Rus. They agreed that the Kholm Governorate and the region of Podlachia were part of the Ukrainian People's Republic. The Russian Bolshevik delegation, headed by Leon Trotsky, had at first also recognized the independent Ukrainian delegation on January 10. The Ukrainian delegation returned on 20 January 1918 to Kiev, where the Tsentralna Rada proclaimed a fully sovereign Ukrainian state on January 25 (dated January 22). Right after this a new Ukrainian delegation was sent to Brest headed now by Oleksandr Sevriuk. Meanwhile, Bolshevik revolts occurred in different cities in Ukraine, which more or less forced the Ukrainian People's Republic – which was lacking organized military forces – to seek foreign aid.[However, the situation for the Central Powers was also critical, especially for Austria-Hungary, which suffered severe food shortages. On February 1, a plenary session of the Congress was attended also by the Soviet government of Ukraine in the presence of Yukhym Medvediev and Vasyl' Shakhrai. Nevertheless, the Central Powers continued to negotiate with the delegation from the Ukrainian People's Republic as the sole representatives of Ukraine. While the Tsentralna Rada was abandoning Kiev for Bolshevik troops, a peace treaty was signed in Brest-Litovsk during the night of February 8–9 over the Bolsheviks' protests.
The German newspaper "Lubeck Ads" on its front page (Extrablatt) printed the announcement about "Peace with the Ukraine". "Today on 9 February 1918 at 2 o'clock in the morning the Peace between the Quadruple Alliance and the Ukrainian People's Republic was signed.
Western Front
Somme: GHQ allows Gough (Fifth Army) to conduct fighting withdrawal before expected spring offensive.
Home Fronts
Turkey: First Women’s Labour battalion (male officers initially) attached to First Army.
Attachment 240725 Armistice Countdown 275 days