And in 1918. . .

Don Cossacks under Cossack leader Pyotr Nikolayevich Krasnov took Rostov on the Don with German assistance.

In the now hopelessly topsy turvy situation in Russia the Imperial Russian Lt. General through in with his former enemies, the German Empire, against the Reds, opening up the area to the Germans and to the declaration of a white independent government.  When the Germans lost the Great War, he had to recognize the leadership of Allied aligned Whites, but of course he was on the losing side of the Russian Civil War and became an emigre to Europe.

And so the Germans occupied more ground in the fractured East, while their offensive in the West ground to a halt.

He threw in with the Germans again in World War Two and, after surrendering to the British at the end of the war, was handed over to the Soviets and executed on January 17, 1947.

Elsewhere, Nicaragua declared war on the Central Powers.

And the US opened a submarine base in Panama.

Czar and son, March 16, 1917

Dated this date, but perhaps published on this date.  Things were not going well in Russia.

Poster Saturday: Russian recruiting poster, World War One.

Wednesday, March 10, 1909. Field Gray.

The Imperial Russian Army adopted a new greenish-grey, single-breasted cloth tunic with five buttons.  The familiar uniform would remain in use at least until after the Russian Civil War. At some point an updated version, which really wasn't much different than it, would replace it prior to World War Two.

The uniform closely resembled a prior one, which didn't feature the field gray color.  I don't know a great deal about Russian uniforms, so I'll cease particular comment there.  

This era, the turn of the 19th into the 20th Centuries, saw almost all armies making a switch of this type, something brought about by the adoption of smokeless gunpowder, which changed battlefield conditions, bringing about a need for subdued uniforms. The British had used khaki in Indian since 1846 but went to service wide khaki in 1902, something that can be confusing in terms of the British as "khaki" has a broader meaning than the color tan in British military parlance.  The U.S. Army adopted khaki, i.e., tan, in 1898 for field use and then introduced an olive uniform in 1902.  The Prussian element of the Imperial German Army adopted field gray in 1907, and the rest of the German Army followed during World War One.  The French, however, were holdouts, retaining a colored uniform throughout World War One, with horizon blue being its wartime choice.

Thailand (Siam) ceded the Malayan peninsular states of Kelantan, Trengganu, Perlis and Kedah to the British Empire.

Jack Johnson fought Victor McLaglen, better known as a legendary character actor, to a draw in Vancouver in an exhibition fight.

Last prior:

Tuesday, March 9, 1909. San Bernardino.