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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Saturday, September 11, 1915

"11th September [1915]

General Joffre has just told me of the new big offensive which the French and the English are going to attempt, involving more than a million. They have plenty of ammunition and new big guns. The General is very hopeful. The main attack will take place in Champagne, with a subsidiary attack at Arras, next to that of the English.

'Whether it succeeds or not,' said Joffre, 'we can do no more. The Italians will make a great effort towards the end of September; the Russians lack guns, but they have plenty of man power.'

General Foch, who had come before the Generalissimo to announce the visit and tell me the latter's plans, was not very optimistic."

Quotation Context

Excerpt from the September 11, 1915 entry from the diary of Albert, King of the Belgians. With the industrial north of their country occupied, Italy's failures in its initial battles, and Russia's continuing retreat before the month's-long German-Austro-Hungarian advance, French Commander-in-Chief Joffre and other French leaders believed they had no alternative. General Foch, who would command the French 10th Army in Artois, was not alone in his skepticism, which was shared by General Castelnau, commander of the French attack in Champagne, British General Haig, and other senior officers.

Source

The War Diaries of Albert I King of the Belgians by Albert I, page 61, copyright © 1954, publisher: William Kimber

Tags

1915-09-11, 1915, September, Joffre, Foch, King Albert, Champagne, Arras