A Russian POW leaning on a shovel or other tool. A drawing by Wilhelm Hartmann dated September 22, 1915.
Im Felde, den 22.9.1915Lieber Hermann!
"Germany now prepared to face the might of the United States. The danger of America's entry into the war was offset, however, as far as the German High Command was concerned, by the continual news from Russia of military weakness and anti-war feeling behind the lines. On February 16 [German] General Hoffmann noted in his diary: 'There is very encouraging news from the interior of Russia. It would seem that she cannot hold out longer than the autumn.'"
Russia was coming to a crisis in a winter of brutal cold that disabled transport,and kept supplies from the army and food from Petrograd, the capital, and Moscow. In the armed forces, cities, and factories, antiwar and anti-Tsarist sentiment flared.
The First World War, a Complete History by Martin Gilbert, page 309, copyright © 1994 by Martin Gilbert, publisher: Henry Holt and Company, publication date: 1994
1917-02-16, 1917, February, Russia, Russian POW worker
