World War I: Germany is the first to make large-scale use of poison gas in warfare in the Battle of Bolimów against Russia.

World War I

1914–1918 global conflict

World War I or the First World War, also known as the Great War, was a global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies and the Central Powers. Main areas of conflict included Europe and the Middle East, as well as parts of Africa and the Asia-Pacific. There were important…

German Empire

German state from 1871 to 1918

The German Empire, also referred to as Imperial Germany, the Second Reich or simply Germany, was the period of the German Reich from the unification of Germany in 1871 until the November Revolution in 1918, when the German Reich changed its form of government from a monarchy to…

Chemical weapons in World War I

The use of toxic chemicals as weapons dates back thousands of years, but the first large-scale use of chemical weapons was during World War I. They were primarily used to demoralize, injure, and kill entrenched defenders, against whom the indiscriminate and generally very…

Battle of Humin-Bolimów

Battle in 1915 during the First World War

The Battle of Humin-Bolimów was an inconclusive battle of World War I fought between January 14 and February 28, 1915 between the Imperial German Army and Russia. The battle is considered a preliminary to the Second Battle of the Masurian Lakes.

Russian Empire

Eurasian empire (1721–1917)

The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about 22,800,000 km2 (8,800,000 sq mi), roughly…

January 31

Day of the year

January 31 is the 31st day of the year in the Gregorian calendar; 334 days remain until the end of the year.