Zweibund — the Dual Alliance — Germany and Austria-Hungary united, were the core of the Central Powers, and here join hands. The bars of Germany's flag border the top left, and those of the Habsburg Austrian Empire and ruling house the bottom right.

Schulter an Schulter

Untrennbar vereint

in Freud und in Leid!'



Shoulder to shoulder

Inseparably united

in joy and in sorrow!

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Tuesday, January 5, 1915

"On the morning of the fifth, the medical officer evacuated me to Ste-Menehould. From the automobile that carried me toward the rear, I could hear the familiar roll of the cannon fading little by little into the distance.

VI

Thus from August 10, 1914, to January 5, 1915, I led a life as different as possible from my ordinary existence: a life at once barbarous, violent, often colorful, also often of a dreary monotony combined with bits of comedy and moments of grim tragedy. In five months in the field, who would not have amassed a rich harvest of experiences?"

Quotation Context

Excerpt from the memoirs of French historian Marc Bloch, a sergeant, later adjutant, with the 272nd and 72nd infantry regiment in the Argonne. Bloch was on convalescent leave from January 5 to July 13, 1915. In the first five months of his service he observed the 'total inadequacy of our material preparation as well as of our military training' — poor tools for digging, wire with no barbs, inadequate phone lines. He is a sharp observer of men, their strengths and weaknesses.

Source

Memoirs of War 1914-15 by Marc Bloch, pp. 157-159, copyright © Cambridge University Press 1988, publisher: Cambridge University Press, publication date: 1988

Tags

1915-01-05, 1915, January, Marc Bloch, Bloch