Theodore Ellyson become first U.S. Navy Pilot

June 30, 1911: Commander Theodore Ellyson becomes the first U.S. Navy Pilot when he flew the first plane purchased by the U.S. Navy at Keuka Lake, near Hammondsport, NY.

The airplane, a Curtiss model E-8-75, was designated A-1 by the Navy. It operated as a seaplan. The originally purchased plane was outfitted with a large central pontoon and outriggers under the wings. It and was manufactured by the Curtiss Aeroplane Company. It had a top speed of 65 mph, powered by a 75 hp, V-8 engine.

The  A-1 was the first of 14 E type fliers ordered by the Navy. leading the development of aviation in the U.S. Navy, including the first catapult launch of a seaplane. The Curtiss Aeroplane Company would be the the major provider of airplanes for the First World War.

Russia launched its first dreadnought sized battleship the Sevastopol

June 29, 1911:
From the New York Times: Russia's first dreadnought, the Sevastapol, was successfully launched at noon today from the Baltic Works in the presence of the Minister of Marine, Naval attaches, a large representation of society, legislators and officials.
Special precautions against a mishap had been taken as there was only a foot of space on either side of the slip. The battleship was laid down June 16, 1909, and it is expected that another two years will be occupied in equipping her. The Sevastapol has a displacement of 23,000 tons and, with 42,000 horsepower, is expected to build a speed of 23 knots per hour. Her armament will consist of twelve 12 inch guns, sixteen 4.7 inch guns, and smaller artillery. The vessel and her equipment have been or will be constructed in Russia.
The Poltava, a sister ship of the Sevastapol, will be launched on July 10. The keels of these two battleships, and of the two others, Petropavlovsk and the Gangut, were laid on the same date, and when the ships are commissioned, they will form the first squadron of the new Baltic fleet. 

After the Russo-Japanese War in 1905, Russia's Naval Fleet was decimated. This dropped Russia to sixth as a Naval power from third. Fear that St. Petersburg and the Baltic coast could not be defended, prompted the construction of battleships, cruisers, and destroyers, of which the Sevastapol was one of the first. Further deterioration of relations with Germany and the Ottoman Empire forced an increase the number of ships ordered.


The Sevastopol (Севастополь) and her sister ships were not readied for action until mid-1915. The ship's principle role would be in training and providing cover for mine laying operations. She would have more of a role after the fall of Imperial Russia.

Joseph Caillaux forms new government in France

June 28, 1911: Another Government is formed in France, when the new Prime Minister, Joseph Caillaux, appoints his cabinet. This will be the government that deals with the Second Moroccan crisis in the alliance chess match that Germany will force.

He was appointed prime minister by the Chamber of Deputies (Congress) of France, after Ernest Monis was removed by a lack of confidence vote. He was part of the Radical Party, that aligned themselves with other moderates. It was the largest represented party after the 1910 legislative elections, holding 149 of the 590 seats in the Chamber.

His was a coalition government, that chose a more conciliatory approach towards the German Empire. There would be six changes in prime minister before the beginning of WWI. A Radical prime minister would not be appointed for over two years.

The Royal Military College of Australia opens

The Royal Military College of Australia, Duntroon was opened on 27 June 1911 near the newly formed Australian capital of Canberra.

Field Marshall Lord Kitchener of England, invited by the Australian government to advise of defense requirements, recommended that a College be established for the training of officers for a permanent military force
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The first commandant of the College was Sir William Throsby Bridges. He toured several Military Academies in which to model the new academy,

Bridges modeled Duntroon on the US Military Academy at West Point, based on the recommendations of Lord Kitchener. The first class of 41 cadets, 31 from Australia and 10 from New Zealand, moved in and the college was officially opened on 27 June 1911.

At the start of the First World War, Major-General Bridges was given command of the 1st AIF Division. He died at Gallipoli and his body was returned to Australia and buried on the slopes of Mount Pleasant, overlooking the college. In total, forty of the 117 Australian graduates died in the First World War.

Baron Von Bienerth, the Chancellor of the Empire of Austria resigns

June 26, 1911:
Count Richard von Bienerth-Schmerling, prime minister of Austria, resigns after his ruling party, the Christian Socialists lose their majority in Parliament to the Marxist based Social Democratic Party of Austria in the General Elections.

In the Austrian Cabinet, the prime minister was appointed by the Emperor, Franz Joseph, to lead the Cabinet Ministers. Von Bienerth had been appointed in 1908, replacing the existing prime minister who could not break a deadlock between the Czech and German groups. He had survived a realignment of the Cabinet earlier in the year, however the Czechs had disrupted proceedings in the Reichsrat, to the point where there was a  suspension of the Parliament and and von Bienerth lead by decree.

After the election, he was replaced by Paul Gautsch von Frankenthurn. This was the second election in Austria, where voting was not based on the payment of taxes. This incorporated voters of all classes and ethnic groups.

Austrian Election Results 1911

Mehmed V Ends European Tour in Macedonia

June 25, 1911:

The Ottoman Sultan Mehmed V essentially concludes his tour of European areas of the Ottoman Empire, in the historical regions of Thrace and Macedonia. These areas include, amongst others, modern day Albania, Kosovo, Montenegro, and Northern Greece. His tour concluded were it had begun, in Salonica, now Thessaloniki in Greece.

The tour was orchestrated by the top officials of the Committee of Union and Progress (CUP), the ruling party of the Ottoman Parliament, to essentially rally those groups in the area loyal to the Empire, in a show of solidarity. Increasing unrest in the region, because of perceived Ottoman oppression, had led to uprisings, most notably nationalistic Albanians. This led to the postponement of  the Sultan's visit, which was planned earlier in the year.

The Sultan himself was considered but a figurehead, guided by the "Young Turk" founders of the CUP, like Enver Pasha. This was one of the few times he left Istanbul. The principal purpose was  to be the embodiment of the lineage of the Sultans of the Empire. However his visits on the tour to temples which held relics of past Sultans, were designed to revive flagging loyalty, as well as a show of unity to partisans. In Kosovo, the centerpiece of the visit, was a grand selamlik, or prayer service. Perhaps 100,000 or more loyalists, made their way to Kosovo, for this occasion. The Sultan visited a small mosque in Kosovo, holding a relic of the Sultan Murad (Amaruth), who has conquered the Serbians and expanded the Ottoman Empire into the Balkans, in the late 14th century.  These wholly symbolic and premeditated intimidating events, drew the ire of many observers, such as the American consul George Horton. The Battle of Kosovo is particularly important to Serbian history, tradition, and national identity, further intensifying the insensitivity of the visit to the affected peoples not loyal to the Empire.

The positive effects of the visit were short lived, as in the coming months Organized revolts against the Ottoman Empire and the policies of the C.U.P. ,would result in  regional wars, that would diminish Ottoman influence, and provide the spark for World War One. In just a few weeks: Italy and the Ottoman Empire would clash.

Further links: Sultan Mehmet V's visit to Kosovo in June 1911

A surprisingly opinionated insight of one at the salemlik: Blight of Asia

SMS Viribus Unitis

The SMS Viribus Unitis (With United Forces) was launched on this day on June 24, 1911, from the port city of Trieste in Austria-Hungary, now part of Italy. It was the the first of the dreadnoughts built for the Austria-Hungarian Navy. Though it saw little action because of coal shortages, it did participate in maneuvers to assist German ships and U-boats evade Allied forces. It was destroyed near the end of the war by Italians who did not know that the ship had been surrendered to the state to be known after the war  as Yugoslavia.

Ernest Monis loses vote of confidence

JUNE 23, 1911: François Goiran, French Defense Minister, remarked that "there was no provision for a Commander in Chief of French forces in time of war." Three days later, one hundred years ago today, the French Prime Minister, Ernest Monis, would lose a vote of confidence from the Chamber of Deputies. A new government of Radicals would be formed 3 days later, led by his Finance Minister. Nine Defense Ministers would serve in France from June 23, 1911 until the beginning of the war for France. In contrast, the United States only had two, due to change in presidency. Great Britain had three during this period. Germany, being an imperial power, may have had only one, in Moltke the Younger although there were two Defense Ministers.

Coronation of George V

June 22, 1911: The coronation of King George V of England takes place in Westminster Abbey. 
He along with the Queen Consort, Mary of Teck, were crowned by the Archbishop of Canterbury, as was custom, although the future Archbishop, Cosmo Gordon Lang, played a prominent role in the ceremonies.

There is much to be said of this ascension.

Mary, the Queen Consort, was born in Slavonia, in present day Croatia. This part of the Balkans, would  be a key player in the coming years, leading to the beginning of the Great War. She was at first betrothed to George's brother, Prince Albert Victor, who died during the great influenza pandemic of 1889–92. Prince George and Victoria Mary, later Mary, would marry in the following year. She would be known to her family as May.

Events of the coronation:

All accounts of the day suggest that it was a regal yet restrained occasion. The London Times reported on the day as follows:

The great day of the Coronation is over. King George V and his Consort, Queen Mary, have been crowned in Westminster Abbey. The impressive service, of which so little has been changed for centuries, and of which a part goes back to the days of the Kings of Israel, has been sung and said with all the state and ceremony to which the last two Coronations had accustomed the people of this century, and without the wasteful extravagance by which George IV thought to purchase the loyalty of an indifferent nation.

There is much to be said in that brief paragraph. This was only the second coronation in England since 1838. Many contemporary reports were from the reverent and respectful, as in many American periodicals, such as the New York Times, to irreverent, as in the case of French newspapers (crown too big for George).


How his father Edward VII influenced his feelings towards Germany, leads to conjecture, but there was much family infighting. His first cousin, the Emperor of Germany, the Kaiser Wilhelm II, was the son of his father's sister, Princess Victoria. His other first cousin, the Tsar Nicholas II, shared the same maternal grandmother with George, Louise of Hessel-Kassel ( Luise Wilhelmine Friederike Caroline Auguste Julie von Hessen-Kassel). Nicholas and Wilhelm were not first cousins.

George was the second monarch  of England to ascend from the House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. The house was later to be renamed the house of Windsor after the start of the war. The lineage is from his grandfather Prince Albert. Prince Albert and Queen Victoria were first cousins. She was from the house of Hanover.What happened to the Tudors and the Stuarts that the there were no Anglo-Saxon houses?

Edward VII can no longer intimidate his nephew, the Kaiser from the grave. A cousin he barely knows, rules the world's greatest empire at the time. The question in the coming years is: where do the loyalties and political influences of a monarchy lie? George V had threatened Parliament before his ascension that he would create hundreds of new Liberal peers to neutralize the Conservative majority in the Lords.

This day, one hundred years ago, were heard the tumultuous shouts of "God Save King George! Long Live King George!"

Before WWI - 100 Years Ago

August 1, 2014 will mark the 100th anniversary of the commencement of World War One. The United Kingdom would declare war on the 4th of August of the same year, and the United States on April 6, 1917. The causes and the results of this war had very long reaching effects that are still felt to this day both globally and regionally. It is not wished to create a chronology of events 100 years in the past during the war. These are well documented by those much more learned than I. What will be noted are those events that influenced the start of hostilities and the prosecution of the war, from June 22, 1911 to August 1, 1914.

It may be difficult, as an American, to justly commemorate these events. I have never been able to walk down a road or pasture or village that was ravaged by the physical or psychological effects of this war. I have not heard accounts from family members of those that never returned, nor the stories of a population forced to flee to another part of a continent. What I wish to relate are those prewar events that took place a hundred years ago, so that they are not forgotten.

The remembrance begins tomorrow, June 22, 2011, with the 100th anniversary of the Coronation of King George V of  England.