To the left, caricatures of a fallen King Albert of Belgium, Tsar Nicholas of Russia, President Poincare of France, generic (?) caricatures of an English man and a Japanese soldier, Kings Peter of Serbia, and Nikola of Montenegro engaging in a tug of war, the rope being held on the right by a German (in gray) and an Austro-Hungarian soldier. Between the teams and behind the rope stands the diminutive caped figure of King Victor Emmanuel of Italy, all hat, mustache, and chin.

Das Europaische Gleichgewicht 1914



The European Equilibrium, 1914

Other views:

Tuesday, December 15, 1914

"The Serbs reentered Belgrade on 15 December[, 1914].

Conrad spoke of an unexpected 'thunder bolt' from the south and acknowledged that the Balkans had been lost. Potiorek's reckless offensive had not achieved any of its major objectives — to knock Serbia out of the war, to induce Bulgaria to join the Central Powers, and to convince Romania permanently to remain neutral. The savage fighting cost Potiorek virtually half his original army of 450 000 men, including 28 000 dead and 122 000 wounded. The Habsburg Fifth and Sixth armies were merged into a single Fifth Army of 95 000 men. A total disaster was avoided only because the Serbian Army had also suffered horrendous casualties: 22 000 dead, 91 000 wounded, and 19 000 captured or missing. Dysentery, cholera, and typhus ravaged both armies."

Quotation Context

The third of Austria-Hungary's 1914 invasions of Serbia ended in defeat, and at great cost. Potiorek, military governor of Bosnia-Herzegovina and host to Archduke Franz Ferdinand when Gavrilo Princip assassinated him, was relieved of his command on December 22 for 'this most ignominious, rankling and derisory defeat'. Austro-Hungarian Commander in Chief Conrad von Hötzendorf had been defeated not only by Serbia, had twice invaded Russia, and twice retreated. In five months, he had lost his best officers and men

Source

The First World War: Germany and Austria Hungary 1914-1918 by Holger H. Herwig, page 112, copyright © 1997 Holger H. Herwig, publisher: Arnold, publication date: 1997

Tags

1914-12-15, December, 1914, Serbia