The disparity in the number of nations arrayed against the Central Powers was a common motif, and was updated as the numbers on each side increased. Italy's entry into the war on May 23, 1915 changed the numbers again.

Central Powers (top) Sultan Mohammed V of Turkey, Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany, Kaiser Franz Joseph of Austria-Hungary. Allies (center and bottom rows) Tsar Nicholas II of Russia, King George V of the United Kingdom, President Raymond Poincaré of France, King Nikola of Montenegro, King Peter of Serbia, King Victor Emmanuel of Italy, King Albert I of Belgium, Emperor Taishō of Japan.

In the center, a poem: Drei gegen Acht, Three against Eight.

Drei gegen Acht.



Gebt Acht, Ihr “Acht”, es blitzt und kracht

und schlägt manch’ schwere Lücke.

Jung-Siegfrieds Schwert schlug unversehrt

Den Ambosz einst in Stücke.

Und Treue, Mut und Einigkeit

Geb’ uns zum Siege das Geleit.

- Richard Ott



Three against eight



Take heed, your "night" flashes and crashes

And suggests some serious gap.

Young Siegfried's sword split the anvil

Yet stayed intact.

And loyalty, courage and unity

Will lead us to victory.



Reverse:

Postmarked Frankfurt, July 21, 1915

Other views: Larger, Back

Friday, July 5, 1918

"At the beginning of July [1918] a new assault was expected in Champagne. But the situation had lost its critical aspect. The British Army was able to fill its gaps, the American Army totalled more than twenty divisions and its effectives were increasing rapidly. The Franco-British disposed of an incontestable superiority in tanks and aviation. In fact, for the first time under the far-sighted impulse of General Pétain the French Army was to practise a reasonable defence tactic similar to that adopted by the Belgians on the day of Merckem.

No serious danger seemed to threaten the Belgian sector, and the King and Queen could accept an invitation which both gladdened and flattered them: a visit to the British Fleet which was cruising in Scottish waters.

On the 5th July Their Majesties flew over the Pas de Calais in a Belgian military seaplane."

Quotation Context

The War Diaries of Albert, King of the Belgians were assembled by General R. Van Overstraeten from the monarch's diary and other sources. This selection is from what Van Overstraeten refers to as his 'general succinct framework' for Albert's entries. Germany had already mounted four offensives on the Western Front in 1918, the last ending on June 14. French General Henri Philippe Pétain had rebuilt the French Army after the mutinies of 1917, both men and materiel. In April 1917, the Belgians repulsed a German attack at Merckem.

Source

The War Diaries of Albert I King of the Belgians by Albert I, page 216, copyright © 1954, publisher: William Kimber

Tags

1918-07-05, Pétain, Petain, Albert