Western Front
France: Nivelle visits and impresses King Albert from Belgium, tells him ‘We must gain our objectives in the first two days of the offensive’. Nivelle also forms a General Staff 4e bureau to handle all logistics at army level.
Eastern Front
Dobruja: Russians defeated at Vacareni, and begin evacuating out of the Dubruja region of Romania as Central Power’s gains threaten to cut off supply lines.
Baltic Provinces: Germans fail to cross to right bank of Dvina near Glandau.
Romania: Mackensen takes Gurgueti and Romanul, piercing Braila bridgehead which Russians evacuate. Falkenhayn begins Battle of the Putna until January 8.
Southern Front
Salonika: British airmen bomb Maritza bridge at Kuleli Burgas (south of Adrianople).
Asiatic and Egyptian Theaters
Armenia: Due to nearly 6 feet of snow, military operations by the Russians and Ottomans in the Caucasus come to a halt.
Naval and Overseas Operations
Eastern Mediterranean: Russian pre-Dreadnought battleship
Peresviet sinks on U-boat (probably
U-73) mine off Port Said; ship was a Russo-Japanese War prize bought back from Japan.
http://imgur.com/89MfteL
East Africa: Action of Beho-Beho ends (see 3rd).
Political, etc.
Austria-Hungary: Emperor and Empress of Austria-Hungary sends an envoy to the Vatican to urge the Pope to intervene for peace.
Germany: London and Berlin agree to swap all internees over 45 years of age.
Kaiser Wilhelm visits Vienna to meet with Austro-Hungarian officials to discuss the war.
France: New French tax on tobacco causes the closure of more than half of the retail shops, leading to shortages.
Belgium: German Governor General of Belgium issues decree ordering the collection of household goods made of brass, copper, tin, nickel, or bronze.
United States: (Listed for yesterday): Former President Theodore Roosevelt says Wilson’s attempts to mediate a peace is “immoral,” as it helps Germany.
Wilson speech ‘There will be no war … it would be a crime against civilisation for us to go in’.
U.S. Federal Reserve Board estimates the belligerent nations have accrued $49.455 billion in new debt since the start of the war.