Portal:War/Selected anniversaries/March

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Selected anniversaries in March

January • February • March • April • May • June • July • August • September • October • November • December

March 1

86 BC - Lucius Cornelius Sulla, at the head of a Roman Republic army, enters in Athens, removing the tyrant Aristion who was supported by troops of Mithridates VI of Pontus.
1562 - Over 1,000 Huguenots are massacred by Catholics in Wassy, France marking the start of the French Wars of Religion.
1896 - Battle of Adowa, an Ethiopian army defeats an outnumbered Italian force, ending the First Italo-Abyssinian War.
1918 - German submarine Unterseeboot 19 (U-19) sinks HMS Calgarian off Rathlin Island.

March 2

1888 - The Convention of Constantinople is signed, guaranteeing free maritime passage through the Suez Canal during war and peace.
1943 - World War II: Battle of the Bismarck Sea - United States and Australian forces sink Japanese convoy ships.
1962 - In Burma, the army led by General Ne Win seizes power in a coup.
1969 - Soviet and Chinese forces clash at a border outpost on the Ussuri River.

March 3

1857 - France and the United Kingdom declare war on China.
1918 - Germany, Austria and Russia sign the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk ending Russia's involvement in World War I, and leading to the independence of Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland.
1942 - World War II: Ten Japanese warplanes raid the town of Broome, Western Australia killing more than 100 people.
1944 - The Order of Nakhimov and Order of Ushakov were instituted in USSR as the highest naval awards.

March 4

1665 - English king Charles II declares war on The Netherlands which marked the start of the Second Anglo-Dutch War.
1793 - French troops conquer Geertruidenberg, Netherlands.
1863 - American Civil War: The Battle of Thompson's Station in Tennessee.
1941 - Britain launches Operation Claymore on the Lofoten Islands, during World War II.

March 5

1824 - First Burmese War: The British officially declares war on Burma.
1836 - Samuel Colt makes the first production-model revolver (.34-caliber).
1842 - Over 500 Mexican troops led by Rafael Vasquez invade Texas, briefly occupy San Antonio and then head back to the Rio Grande.
1905 - Russian troops begin to retreat from Mukden, Manchuria after losing 100,000 troops in three days.

March 6

1454 - Thirteen Years' War: Delegates of the Prussian Confederation pledged allegiance to Casimir IV of Poland, and the Polish king agreed to help in their struggle for independence from the Teutonic Knights.
1836 - Texas Revolution: Battle of the Alamo - After a 13-day siege by an army of 3,000 Mexican troops, the 189 Texas volunteers defending the Alamo are defeated and the fort taken.
1940 - Winter War: An armistice is signed by Finland and the Soviet Union.
1957 - Israel withdraws its troops from the Sinai Peninsula.

March 7

1814 - Napoleon wins the Battle of Craonne.
1827 - Brazilian marines sail up the Rio Negro (Argentina) and attack the temporary naval base of Carmen de Patagones, Argentina. They are defeated by the local citizens.
1862 - American Civil War: Battle of Pea Ridge - Union forces led by General Samuel Curtis defeat Confederate troops under General Earl Van Dorn at Pea Ridge in northwestern Arkansas.
1936 - World War II: In violation of the Locarno Pact and the Treaty of Versailles, Germany reoccupies the Rhineland.
1945 - World War II: American troops seize the bridge over the Rhine River at Remagen, Germany and begin to cross.

March 8

1862 - American Civil War: The iron-clad CSS Virginia (formerly USS Merrimack) is launched at Hampton Roads, Virginia.
1942 - World War II: The Dutch surrender to Japanese forces on Java.
1942 - World War II: Japan captures Rangoon, Burma.
1943 - World War II: Japanese troops counter-attack American forces on Hill 700 in Bougainville in a battle that will last five days.
1965 - Vietnam War: 3,500 United States Marines arrive in South Vietnam, becoming the first American combat troops in Vietnam.

March 9

1847 - Mexican-American War: United States forces under General Winfield Scott invade Mexico near Vera Cruz.
1862 - American Civil War: The first battle between two ironclad warships - In a five-hour battle near Hampton Roads, Virginia the USS Monitor fights the CSS Virginia to a draw.
1945 - World War II: Bombing of Tokyo - American B-29 bombers attack Tokyo, Japan with incendiary bombs. The resulting fire storm kills over 100,000 people.

March 10

241 BC - First Punic War: Battle of the Aegates Islands - The Romans sink the Carthaginian fleet; end of First Punic War.
1814 - Napoleon I of France is defeated at the Battle of Laon in France.
1831 - The French Foreign Legion is established by King Louis-Philippe to support his war in Algeria.
1848 - The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo is ratified by the United States Senate, ending the Mexican-American War.
1902 - Second Boer War: South African Boers win their last battle over British forces, with the capture of a British general and 200 of his men.

March 11

1900 - Second Boer War: Boer leader Paul Kruger's peace overtures are rejected by Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Lord Salisbury.
1917 - Baghdad falls to the Anglo-Indian forces commanded by General Maude.
1941 - World War II: President Franklin Delano Roosevelt signs the Lend-Lease Act into law, allowing American-built war supplies to be shipped to the Allies on loan.
1942 - World War II: General Douglas MacArthur abandons Corregidor.
1988 - Iran-Iraq War: Cease Fire declared.

March 12

538 - Vittigis, king of the Goths ends his siege of Rome and retreats to Ravenna, leaving the city in the hands of the victorious Roman general, Belisarius.
1938 - Anschluss: German troops occupy Austria; annexation declared the following day.
1940 - Winter War: Finland signs a harsh peace treaty with the Soviet Union, ceding almost all of Finnish Karelia. Finnish troops and remaining population are immediately evacuated.

March 13

1865 - American Civil War: The Confederate States of America reluctantly agrees to the use of African American troops.
1884 - The siege of Khartoum, Sudan begins (ends on January 26, 1885).
1900 - Boer War: British forces occupy Bloemfontein, Orange Free State.
1940 - Winter War ended.
1943 - World War II: In Bougainville, Japanese troops end their assault on American forces at Hill 700.

March 14

1590 - Battle of Ivry: Henry of Navarre and the Huguenots defeat the forces of the Catholic League under the Duc de Mayenne during the French Wars of Religion.
1647 - Thirty Years War: Bavaria, Cologne, France and Sweden sign the Truce of Ulm.
1757 - On-board the HMS Monarch, Admiral John Byng is executed by firing squad for neglecting his duty.
1869 - Defeat of Titokowaru.
1915 - World War I: Cornered off the coast of Chile by the Royal Navy after fleeing the disastrous Battle of the Falkland Islands, the German light cruiser SMS Dresden is abandoned and scuttled by her crew.
1939 - German troops fully occupy the Czechoslovak provinces of Bohemia and Moravia.
1951 - Korean War: For the second time, United Nations troops recapture Seoul.

March 15

1311 - Battle of Halmyros: The Catalan Company defeats Walter V of Brienne to take control of the Duchy of Athens, a Crusader state in Greece.
1781 - American Revolutionary War: Battle of Guilford Courthouse - Near present-day Greensboro, North Carolina, 1,900 British troops under General Charles Cornwallis defeat an American force numbering 4,400.
1939 - World War II: Nazi troops occupy the remaining part of Bohemia and Moravia; Czechoslovakia ceases to exist.
1943 - World War II: Third Battle of Kharkov - the Germans retook the city of Kharkov from the Soviet armies in bitter street fighting.
1944 - World War II: Battle of Monte Cassino - Allied aircraft bomb the Nazi-held monastery and stage an assault.

March 16

597 BC - Babylonians capture Jerusalem, replace Jehoiachin with Zedekiah as king
1689 - The 23rd Regiment of Foot or Royal Welch Fusiliers is founded.
1802 - The United States Military Academy West Point is established.
1812 - Battle of Badajoz (March 16 - April 6) - British and Portuguese forces besiege and defeat French garrison during Peninsular War.
1818 - Battle of Cancha Rayada - Spanish forces defeat Chileans under José de San Martín.
1916 - 7th and 10th US cavalry regiments under John J. Pershing cross the border to join the hunt of Pancho Villa.

March 17

45 BC - In his last victory, Julius Caesar defeats the Pompeian forces of Titus Labienus and Pompey the Younger in the Battle of Munda.
624 - A key victory by Muhammad over his Meccan adversaries in the Battle of Badr.
1776 - American Revolution: British forces evacuate Boston, Massachusetts after George Washington places artillery overlooking the city.
1939 - Sino-Japanese War (1937-1945): The Battle of Nanchang between the Kuomintang and the Japanese break out.
1970 - My Lai massacre: The United States Army charges 14 officers with suppressing information related to the incident.

March 18

1915 - World War I: Massive naval attack in Battle of Gallipoli. Three battleships are sunk during a failed British & French naval attack on the Dardanelles.
1937 - Spanish Civil War: Spanish Republican forces hand the Italian forces a grave defeat at the Battle of Guadalajara.
1940 - World War II: Axis Powers - Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini meet at Brenner Pass in the Alps and agree to form an alliance against France and the United Kingdom.
1945 - World War II: 1,250 American bombers attack Berlin.
1962 - France and Algeria sign an agreement ending the Algerian War.

March 19

1279 - A Mongolian victory in the Battle of Yamen ends the Song Dynasty in China.
1861 - The First Taranaki War ends in New Zealand.
1865 - American Civil War: The Battle of Bentonville begins. By the end of the battle two days later the Confederate forces have retreated from Greenville, North Carolina.
1945 - World War II: Off the coast of Japan, a dive bomber hits the aircraft carrier USS Franklin, killing 800 of her crew and crippling the ship.
1945 - World War II: Adolf Hitler issues his "Nero Decree" ordering all industries, military installations, shops, transportation facilities and communications facilities in Germany be destroyed.
1962 - Algerian War of Independence: A ceasefire takes effect.
1982 - Falklands War: Argentines land on South Georgia Island, precipitating war.

March 20

1815 - Napoleon enters Paris after escaping from Elba with a regular army of 140,000 and a volunteer force of around 200,000, beginning his "Hundred Days" rule.
1856 - Costa Rican troops rout Walker's soldiers.
1922 - The USS Langley is commissioned as the first United States Navy aircraft carrier.
1942 - General Douglas MacArthur, at Terowie, South Australia, makes his famous speech regarding the fall of the Philippines, in which he says: "I came out of Bataan and I shall return".

March 21

1801 - The Battle of Alexandria was fought between British and French forces near the ruins of Nicopolis in Egypt.
1918 - World War I: Second Battle of the Somme begins
1945 - World War II: British troops liberate Mandalay, Burma

March 22

1849 - The Austrians defeat the Piedmontese at the Battle of Novara.
1939 - World War II: Germany takes Memel from Lithuania.
1942 - World War II: In the Mediterranean Sea, Regia Marina defeats Royal Navy in the Second Battle of Sirte.

March 23

1568 - Peace of Longjumeau ends the Second War of Religion in France. Again Catherine de Medici and Charles IX of France make substantial concessions to the Huguenots.
1708 - James Francis Edward Stuart lands at the Firth of Forth.
1942 - World War II: In the Indian Ocean, Japanese forces capture the Andaman Islands.
1983 - Strategic Defense Initiative: President Ronald Reagan makes his initial proposal to develop technology to intercept enemy missiles.

March 24

1878 - The UK frigate Eurydice sinks, killing 300.
1944 - In an event later dramatized in the movie The Great Escape, 76 prisoners begin breaking out of Stalag Luft III.
1976 - Argentina's military forces depose president Isabel Perón.
1999 - Kosovo War: NATO commences air bombardment against Yugoslavia, marking the first time NATO has attacked a sovereign country.

March 25

1821 - Greece declares its independence from the Ottoman Empire, beginning the Greek War of Independence.
1865 - American Civil War: In Virginia, Confederate forces capture Fort Stedman from the Union in a bloody battle.
1941 - Kingdom of Yugoslavia joins the Axis powers.

March 26

1913 - Balkan War: Bulgarian forces take Adrianople.
1917 - World War I: First Battle of Gaza - British troops are halted after 17,000 Turks block their advance.
1943 - World War II: Battle of Komandorski Islands - In the Aleutian Islands the battle begins when United States Navy forces intercept Japanese attempting to reinforce a garrison at Kiska.
1975 - The Biological Weapons Convention enters into force.