A Swiss postcard of 'The European War' in 1914. The Central Powers of Germany and Austria-Hungary face enemies to the east, west, and south. Germany is fighting the war it tried to avoid, battling Russia to the east and France to the west. Germany had also hoped to avoid fighting England which came to the aid of neutral (and prostrate) Belgium, and straddles the Channel. Austria-Hungary also fights on two fronts, against Russia to the east and Serbia and Montenegro to the south. Italy, the third member of the Triple Alliance with Germany and Austria-Hungary, declared neutrality, and looks on. Other neutral nations include Spain, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Switzerland, Romania, Bulgaria, and Albania. Japan enters from the east to battle Germany. The German Fleet stays close to port in the North and Baltic Seas while a German Zeppelin targets England. The Austro-Hungarian Fleet keeps watch in the Adriatic. Turkey is not represented, and entered the war at the end of October, 1914; Italy in late May, 1915.
Image text: Der Europäische KriegThe European WarReverse:Kriegskarte No. 61. Verlag K. Essig, BaselKunstanstalt (Art Institute) Frobenius A.G. Basel
An Italian postcard of the Industry of War. Kaiser Wilhelm of Germany squeezes gold from France and Belgium, filling sacks of money he provides to his ally Emperor Franz Josef of Austria-Hungary who feeds his guns to fire at Tsar Nicholas of Russia who vomits up troops. On the bottom right, Serbia, Montenegro, and Japan join the battle against Germany and Austria-Hungary. To the left, Great Britain flees to its ships. King Victor Emmanuel III of Italy surveys it all, serenely neutral until May 1915. Germany taxed Belgium and occupied France heavily during its occupation, in money, in food and other necessities, and in human life and labor. Austria-Hungary borrowed heavily from Germany to support its war effort. The enormous manpower of Russia was a source of consolation for its allies, and of trepidation to its enemies. Some suspected Great Britain would take its small army and return to its ships, home, and empire.
Image text: Le Industrie della GuerraThe Industry of War
View of Moscow, the Kremlin and St. Basil's Cathedral along the Moskva River. The message on the reverse was dated from Moscow May 29, 1914 (new style); multiple postmarks May 17 (old style; May 30 new style) and May 21 (old style; June 3 new style).
Image text: Москва-Кремль Moscou-KremlinVue généraleReverse:Message dated from Moscow May 29, 1914 (new style); multiple postmarks May 17 (old style; May 30 new style) and May 21 (old style; June 3 new style)
Advertising postcard map of European Russia, with inset images of a mounted Cossack lancer, a troika, and St. Petersburg.
Image text: Text in French and Dutch:Il n'est pas de meilleur Amidon que l'Amidon REMY, Fabrique de Riz Pur.Er bestaat geenen beteren Stijfsel dan den Stijfsel REMY, Vervaardigd met Zuiveren Rijst.There is no better starch than Remy Starch, made of pure rice.Reverse:Demandez L'Amidon REMY en paquets de 1, 1/2 et 1/4 kg.Vraagt het stijfsel REMY in pakken van 1, 1/2 et 1/4 ko.Ask for REMY Starch in packages of 1, 1/2, and 1/4 kg.
Metal grave markers at the Laventie German Military Cemetery, Laventie, France. A plowed field and village is in the background. © 2013 by John M. Shea
Image text:
"Meanwhile, during the 5th September [1914], north-east of the capital, General Maunoury's Sixth Army had by General Galliéni's orders advanced north of the Marne towards the Ourcq, and in the afternoon had come into contact with the German IV. Reserve Corps between Meaux and St. Soupplets. This Army was steadily increasing in numbers as divisions reached it from the east." ((1), more)
"My duty to my country, which has been intrusted to me by God, impels me to-day, when the enemy has penetrated into the interior of the Empire, to take the supreme command of the active forces and to share with my army the fatigues of war, and to safeguard with it Russian soil from the attempts of the enemy.The ways of Providence are inscrutable, but my duty and my desire determine me in my resolution for the good of the State." ((2), more)
"Newcomers have told us many stories of life in the heart of Russia. In some places there is such a shortage of foodstuffs that, unless the authorities build up sufficient stocks, there could be famine during the coming winter. Dissatisfaction is still rife in many cities. There have been rumours of strikes and even riots in Moscow, but nothing has been officially confirmed. In the city of Petrograd, there is such unrest; and there is severe criticism regarding the Imperial Family. The Empress comes in for a big share of it and in certain cliques is referred to openly as the Nemka [German woman]. The Tsar — God bless and preserve him,' they said — is doing his best to please his family, to whom he is devoted . . ." ((3), more)
"Tuesday, 22nd AugustThe latest news from Moscow and Petrograd says the rioting has relaxed somewhat, but there are outbreaks of violence among the workers in the large factories and mills. . . . On the Russian North-West Front, the Russians, aided by Lettish troops, were unable to check a fierce offensive by Prussian forces on the Baltic seaport of Riga and the ancient city had been occupied by the enemy. . . .Wednesday, 23nd AugustRumour has it that Riga was not taken by the Germans, but given to them." ((4), more)
"South of Peronne, the armies of Debeney and Rawlinson crossed the Somme on September 5th. Mangin's French Army was now north of the Ailette River, its right wing moving eastward along the Chemin-des-Dames. The Franco-American troops had driven the foe from the Vesle River and occupied the heights between that river and the Aisne.In Flanders the British had recovered Neuve Chapelle and Fanquissart, while Lens had been evacuated but not yet occupied by Gen. Horne's army.The Germans were now in bad plight. Since their great offensive began in March, they had lost more than 1,500,000 men in dead, wounded, and captured. Their reserves were scanty and the morale of the troops was declining." ((5), more)
(1) The long retreat of French and British forces has ended, and French Commander Joffre had ordered his counterattack for September 6, 1914. Joffre had been building the Sixth Army, redeploying troops from the French right wing to its left.
Military Operations France and Belgium, 1914, Vol. I, August to October by J. E. Edmonds, page 258, copyright © Second Edition 1925, publisher: MacMillan and Co., Limited, publication date: 1925
(2) Proclamation of September 5, 1915 by Russian Tsar Nicholas II to the Grand Duke Nicholas, announcing his replacement as Commander of the Russian Armies by the Tsar himself. For four months, since the beginning of the German-Austro-Hungarian Gorlice-Tarnow Offensive, Russia have been retreating, ceding not only its Austro-Hungarian conquests in Galicia, but, by September 5, parts of the Empire itself, including Polish Russia and Lithuania.
The Great Events of the Great War in Seven Volumes by Charles F. Horne, Vol. III, 1915, pp. 316, 317, copyright © 1920 by The National Alumnia, publisher: The National Alumni, publication date: 1920
(3) Beginning of the entry for September 5 (August 23 Old Style), 1916, from the diary of Florence Farmborough, an English nurse serving with the Russian Red Cross. Tsaritsa Alexandra, the German-born wife of Tsar Nicholas II, although raised for much of her life in England, was widely believed to be sympathetic to Germany if not actively working in its interest. She was deeply under the influence of the monk Rasputin at whose direction she urged her husband to replace ministers, to wage or terminate military campaigns, and to be an autocrat in all. Nicholas was weak, and when he resisted her, did so briefly.
Nurse at the Russian Front, a Diary 1914-18 by Florence Farmborough, page 233, copyright © 1974 by Florence Farmborough, publisher: Constable and Company Limited, publication date: 1974
(4) Beginnings of the entries for September 4 and 5, (August 22 and 23, Old Style), 1917 from the diary of Florence Farmborough, an English nurse serving with the Russian Red Cross, recording the news from Moscow and the capital of Petrograd. Riga was a major port with a population of a quarter of a million, and was dangerously close to Petrograd. It was taken by German forces on September 3. In the days of which she wrote, General Lavr Kornilov was plotting a military coup against the government of Alexander Kerensky. In his memoir Russia and History's Turning Point, Kerensky wrote that Kornilov had ordered Russian troops to abandon Riga preferring 'the loss of territory to the loss of the army' (p. 298).
Nurse at the Russian Front, a Diary 1914-18 by Florence Farmborough, page 308, copyright © 1974 by Florence Farmborough, publisher: Constable and Company Limited, publication date: 1974
(5) Germany's five offensives of 1918 began on March 21 and continued through July 17. After that final, failed offensive and the Allied victory in the Second Battle of the Marne, the Allies took back nearly all the ground that German forces had captured. Although both sides suffered heavily, the allies had advantages in armaments including tanks and airplanes, and in the arrival of 250,000 American troops in France each month. On September 5, the Americans, who had been fighting under French and British command (as some would continue to do), were about to launch their first offensive as the new American First Army.
King's Complete History of the World War by W.C. King, page 455, copyright © 1922, by W.C. King, publisher: The History Associates, publication date: 1922
