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Russian troops fleeing a solitary German soldier. The Russian First Army invaded Germany in August 1914, and defeated the Germans in the Battle of Gumbinnen on the 20th. In September the Germans drove them out of Russia in the First Battle of the Masurian Lakes. In September and October, a joint German, Austro-Hungarian offensive drove the Russians back almost to Warsaw. Illustration by E. H. Nunes.
Text:
Die Russen haben große Hoffnungen auf den Krieg gesetzt, - es ist aber auch eine Kehrseite dabei.
The Russians have set high hopes for the war - but there is also a downside to that.
Reverse:
Kriegs-Postkarte der Meggendorfer-Blätter, München. Nr. 25
War postcard of the Meggendorfer Blätter, Munich. # 25

Russian troops fleeing a solitary German soldier. The Russian First Army invaded Germany in August 1914, and defeated the Germans in the Battle of Gumbinnen on the 20th. In September the Germans drove them out of Russia in the First Battle of the Masurian Lakes. In September and October, a joint German, Austro-Hungarian offensive drove the Russians back almost to Warsaw. Illustration by E. H. Nunes.

Image text

Die Russen haben große Hoffnungen auf den Krieg gesetzt, - es ist aber auch eine Kehrseite dabei.



The Russians have set high hopes for the war - but there is also a downside to that.



Reverse:

Kriegs-Postkarte der Meggendorfer-Blätter, München. Nr. 25



War postcard of the Meggendorfer Blätter, Munich. # 25

Other views: Larger

Thursday, May 6, 1915

"Thursday, May 6, 1915.

Between the Carpathians and the Vistula the Russian situation is becoming critical. After very severe fighting at Tarnov, Gorlice, and Jaslo they are hastily retiring behind the Dunajec and Wisloka. The losses are enormous: the number of prisoners is said to be 40,000."

Quotation Context

Entry for Thursday, May 6, 1915, from the memoirs of the French Ambassador in Russia, Maurice Paléologue. Commanding a joint German-Austro-Hungarian army, German commander August von Mackensen began his Gorlice-Tarnow Offensive on May 2, 1915 with a bombardment of an estimated 700,000 shells along a 30-mile front. By May 4, the Russian line had broken, and Erich von Falkenhayn, Commander in Chief of the German Army, observed that by then it was obvious the Russians would not be able to halt the offensive 'within an appreciable time.' They would not do so for months.

Source

An Ambassador's Memoirs Vol. I by Maurice Paléologue, page 336, publisher: George H. Doran Company, publication date: 1925

Tags

1915-05-06, 1915, May, Gorlice-Tarnow Offensive, retreat,