The Blow on the Yser, November 10, 1914, the sixth in a series of six postcards on the German invasion of France and the forming of the Western Front. The snaking bodies of French commander Joffre and German Kaiser Wilhelm turned to the north after the Battle of the Marne, shaping the Race to the Sea. Joffre has struck the Kaiser a roundhouse blow, sending his helmet flying. In the Battle of the Yser, the Belgian army, determined to hold native ground, inundated the coastal lowland along the Yser River. Behind Joffre's head is the small corner of Belgium they held throughout the war.From L'Attaque & la Riposte — Originale présentation des phases de la GuerreEhrmann, Édition Lorraine, a set of six postcards and envelope.Over maps of the French theater of operations on the western front in 1914 — Luxemburg, Belgium, northern France — cartoon figures of the French and German armies struggle. General Joffre represents the forces he commands. His adversary's upward-pointing mustache indicates Kaiser Wilhelm.
Image text: No. 6. 10 Novembre [Le Coup de l'Yser]From "L'Attaque & la Riposte — Originale présentation des phases de la Guerre" — The Attack and the Retort — Original Presentation of the Phases of the War — a set of six postcards and envelope by Ehrmann, Édition Lorraine. No. 6. Le Coup de l'Yser, the Blow on the Yser.The titles of the cards appear only on the envelope: No. 6. Le Coup de l'Yser.1re SérieReverse:Carte PostaleTous les Pays étrangers n'acceptent pas la Correspondance au recto. (Se renseigner a la Poste).Not all foreign countries accepts correspondence on the front. (Ask at the Post Office.)Edition Lorraine
Map showing the territorial gains (darker shades) of Romania, Bulgaria, Serbia, Montenegro, and Greece, primarily at the expense of Turkey, agreed in the Treaty of Bucharest following the Second Balkan War. Despite its gains, Bulgaria also lost territory to both Romania and Turkey.
Image text: The Balkan States According to the Treaty of Bucharest; Acquisitions of New Territory shown by darker shades
Help our glorious troops by subscribing to a war loan paying 5 1/2%. Imperial Russian Soldiers in a snow-covered trench, rifles at the ready. War Bond Postcard dated October 15, 1916.
Image text: Всто должны помогать нашимъ славнымъ войскам и кто можетъ долженъ подписатьсяна 5 1/2%ВОЕННЫЙ ЗАЕМЬ.ESPO should help our glorious troops, and those who can should subscribe5 1/2%War Loan.Reverse:ОТКРЫТОЕ ПИСЬМОOpen Letter15-X-1916October 15, 1916
Allied Commanders Henri Philippe Pétain, Douglas Haig, Ferdinand Foch, and John J. Pershing. Foch was Allied Commander in Chief, the other men commanders of the French Army, the British Expeditionary Force, and the American Expeditionary Force respectively. From The Memoirs of Marshall Foch by Marshall Foch.
Image text: Commanders of the Allies in 1918 and their autographs.Pétain Haig Foch Pershing
A map of the Belgian battlefield from Bruges to Ostend and the Belgian coast to Blankenburg. German forces took Ostend on October 17, 1914. Bruges was an important German submarine base with canals connecting it to the North Sea ports of Ostend and Zeebrugge, ports the British attacked the night of April 22–23, 1918 in an attempt to block the canals. Zeebrugge is just off the map to the right.
Image text: Belgischer KriegsschauplatzOstende, Blankenberghe u. BrüggeBelgian battlefieldOstend, Bruges and BlankenbergheReverse:Belgische KüsteVerzweiflungskämpfe der Verbündeten. Siegreiches Vordringen der Deutschen. 17 October Ostende eingenommen.(Belgian coastDesperate struggles of the allies. Victorious advance of the Germans. 17 October Ostend taken.)Kunstverlag Eug. Felle, Isny, Wttbg. (Art publisher Eug. Furs, Isny, Wittenburg??.)
"Reaching the Yser on the 15th of October [1914], the Belgian army was attacked the following day. On this day, indeed, the Germans endeavored to dislodge the French Marine Fusiliers, who had no artillery, from Dixmude; it was the Belgian artillery, so renowned for the skill of its gun-layers and efficiency of its fire, which supported the French. On the 17th German shells were falling on the whole line of the advanced Belgian positions between Dixmude and the sea." ((1), more)
"German artillery arrived on 16 October [1915] and took Zabrežje under fire. Hartiger's regiment advanced across the previous No Man's Land. It was a sobering experience. The meadow was littered with bodies, infantry mowed down by Serbian machine guns, some sited in trees for better command of the flat terrain. 'Countless worms covered the wounds and a disgusting stench of decaying corpses forced us on.' The dead had been picked clean of all possessions. Hartinger entered Zabrežje on 17 October after German artillery had forced the Serbs to evacuate the town. 'All the houses were in ruins, the streets torn up. Our 30.5 cm howitzers were especially effective. There were craters in the clay soil in which whole groups found cover; we used them to bury the corpses.' Hartinger found shelter for the night in a shot-up tavern. Delousing was first on the agenda. 'Whoever felt like it, counted them [lice] by the thousands.'" ((2), more)
"'The food problem,' [Trepov] said, 'has certainly become very worrying; but the opposition parties misuse it to attack the government. I'll tell you frankly what the position is. In the first place, the crisis is far from being general; it attains serious proportions only in the towns and certain rural areas. But it is true that the public is nervous in certain cities, Moscow for example. On the other hand, there is no shortage of food, except certain products which we used to import from abroad. But the means of transport are inadequate and the method of distribution is defective. . . .''There is now a deadlock on the Russian front, from one end to the other,' [Wrangel] said. 'You must not expect any further offensive on our side. In any case we're helpless against the Germans; we shall never beat them.'" ((3), more)
"Marshall Haig has embarked upon this giant offensive in Flanders at the risk of exhausting the entire British Army. They are in their eighth battle! The weather is becoming quite unfavourable. This operation has been badly staged: a narrow front, and a pivoting movement demanding an advance on the part of the right flank, which could not be realised. Furthermore, the enemy had time to bring all his reserves up to Flanders, as a result of the inaction of the French troops and the growing weakness of the Russian Army.Marshall Haig is supported in his obstinacy by several politicians who look upon this offensive from the standpoint of political advantages, which bear no relationship to the military point of view." ((4), more)
"I learned of the evacuation of Ostend by the enemy, and the landing there of the 9th Squadron, before the entry of our troops. Earlier in the morning, Jacquet and Marcel de Crombrugghe de Looringhe, in their two-seater Spad, in the course of a look round at a low height at daybreak, noticed that our troops were no longer in touch with the enemy. Where had the Germans gone?Proceeding in a series of progressive curves that carried them farther afield, they advanced eastward toward Bruges—and still they saw no sign of the Germans. . . .Then the entire 9th Squadron, strengthened by Commandant Jaumotte and perhaps one or two others, set out for Ostend, and landed on the sands. . . . At the same moment, a motor launch of the British Navy entered Ostend harbour with the Belgian King and Queen on board, alone but for a few of their personal entourage. None of our troops were there as yet, and the enthusiasm was immense in the town." ((5), more)
(1) The Belgian Army held the left end of the Allied line on the North Sea, behind the Yser canal in Flanders. The reclaimed land was flat, and much of it was below sea level at high tide. The water table was a foot or two below the surface, making it difficult to dig trenches. Having been driven across their country since early August by the German advance, the army was demoralized. The army held the last morsel of unoccupied Belgium: the French border was barely a dozen miles behind them. Supported by French Marines, with British forces strengthening their position on their right in Ypres, the Belgians awaited French reinforcements. The Germans began an desperate assault to break through the Belgian line that would last until October 30. Excerpt from an address by Carton de Wiart in London, June, 1915.
The Great Events of the Great War in Seven Volumes by Charles F. Horne, Vol. II, 1914, pp. 318, 319, copyright © 1920 by The National Alumnia, publisher: The National Alumni, publication date: 1920
(2) Excerpt from Holger Herwig quoting Hans Hartiger, an Austrian non-commissioned officer with the Austro-Hungarian Third Army in the German-Austro-Hungarian invasion of Serbia in October, 1915. Fighting against overwhelming odds, Serbia inflicted heavy casualties on the invaders coming from the north and northwest, but was doomed when Bulgaria joined the war, attacking across Serbia's eastern border. Zabrežje, Serbia, is on the Save River southwest of the capital of Belgrade.
The First World War: Germany and Austria Hungary 1914-1918 by Holger H. Herwig, page 163, copyright © 1997 Holger H. Herwig, publisher: Arnold, publication date: 1997
(3) Excerpts from the diary entry for October 17, 1916 of Maurice Paléologue, French Ambassador to Russia, host of a farewell dinner for Japanese Ambassador Viscount Motono who had been appointed Japan's Minister of Foreign Affairs earlier in the month. The first speaker is Russian Minister of Communications Trepov; the second General Wrangel, aide-de-camp to Grand Duke Michael, the brother of Tsar Nicholas II. Throughout the war Russian forces were frequently successful against both Austria-Hungary and Turkey, but not against Germany.
An Ambassador's Memoirs Vol. III by Maurice Paléologue, pp. 59, 60, publisher: George H. Doran Company
(4) Excerpt from the entry for October 17, 1917 from the diary of King Albert I of Belgium. British commander General Douglas Haig and his general Gough and Plummer continued attacks in the Third Battle of Ypres. British politicians, including Prime Minister David Lloyd George, expected Haig to fail, but did not stop him.
The War Diaries of Albert I King of the Belgians by Albert I, pp. 178 and 179, copyright © 1954, publisher: William Kimber
(5) Excerpt from the memoir of Willy Coppens, Belgium's greatest ace of the war, writing of the evacuation of Ostend by the Germans and their retreat eastward. The events described took place on October 17, 1918, three days after Coppens was seriously wounded by an incendiary bullet in his left shin. He heard the news in his hospital bed. Coppens, the war's greatest observation balloon buster, downed two balloons on the 14th in support of the offensive by the Belgian Army Group, under the command of Albert, King of the Belgians.
Flying in Flanders by Willy Coppens, page 234, publisher: Ace Books, publication date: 1971
