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
German postcard map of the Western Front in Flanders, looking south and including Lille, Arras, Calais, and Ostend. In the Battle of the Yser in October, 1914, the Belgian Army held the territory south of the Yser Canal, visible between Nieuport, Dixmude, and Ypres (Ypern). Further north is Passchendaele, which British forces took at great cost in 1917.
Image text: Der KanalStraße von CalaisThe English Channel and the Strait of CalaisReverse:Panorama des westlichen Kriegsschauplatzes 1914/15 Von Arras bis Ostende.Die Panorama-Postkartenreihe umfaßt mit ihren 9 Abschnitten Nr. 400 bis 408 den gesamten westlichen Kriegsschauplatz von der Schweizer Grenze bis zur Nordseeküste.Panorama of the western theater of operations 1914/15 from Arras to Ostend. The panoramic postcard series includes nine sections, with their No. 400-408 the entire western battlefield from the Swiss border to the North Sea coast.Nr. 408Wenau-Postkarte Patentamtl. gesch.
Memorial statue to Edith Cavell, executed for helping British soldiers in Belgium reach neutral Netherlands. She was executed by firing squad in Brussels, Belgium on October 12, 1915.Sited in St. Martin's Place, London, the pedestal on which her statue stands is placed before a column, square at the base and rounded above her head. On the four sides of the lower column are the words 'Humanity,' 'Sacrifice,' 'Devotion,' 'Fortitude.' The inscription on the front of the pedestal reads:'Edith CavellBrussels Dawn October 12th 1915Patriotism is not enough. I must have no hatred or bitterness for anyone.'The quotation is from her conversation with the English chaplain, Mr. Gahan, who was with her before her execution.At the top of the column a mother and child replace the top of a cross. Below them is a shield reading 'For King and Country.'The memorial was designed by Sir George Frampton. © 2014 John M. Shea
Image text: HumanityEdith CavellBrussels Dawn October 12th 1915Patriotism is not enough. I must have no hatred or bitterness for anyone.The quotation is from her conversation with the English chaplain, Mr. Gahan, who was with her before her execution.At the top of the column a mother and child replace the top of a cross. Below them is a shield reading 'For King and Country.'The memorial was designed by Sir George Frampton.
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
The conditions British Troops faced in Flanders and Passchendaele.
Image text: British Troops in FlandersThe British Troops in Flanders have had to contend with almost incredible difficulties, owing to the autumn and winter rains, which have converted the ground into a morass of bogs and swamps. The photograph shows a domestic scene behind the lines. Some of the men are washing in the floods, while others are shaving and dressing before the day's work begins.S1Reverse:CS 684. Wt. 7685 - 74m. - 12/17/C. & S. E2202
Postcard celebrating the 1908 military rebellion by the Young Turks that restored the constitution of 1876. Among the revolutionary leaders were Enver Bey, later Enver Pasha, and Nyazi Bey. Sultan Abdul Hamid II was deposed in 1909, replaced by his brother Mohammed V.
Image text: Vive S.M.I. le Sultan Abdoul Hamid Khan IIVive la Constitution! 11,/24 Juillet 1908.Nyazi Bey; Enver BeyLong live S.M.I. Sultan Abdul Hamid II KhanLong live the Constitution! 11/24 July 1908.Reverse:Carte PostalUnion Postale UniverselleCorrespondance : Adresse
"By the evening of the 12th [September], Gough, with the Second Cavalry Division, had attacked and captured the Mont des Cats position, which was a strategic point of great importance lying six miles northeast of Hazebrouck. There was great opposition by the enemy cavalry, which was supported by jäger and strong infantry detachments; but Gough carried all before him in fine style." ((1), more)
"It was agreed that the two British cavalry divisions and the British III Corps would deploy between Béthune and St. Omer immediately upon arrival on 12 October. 'I think we are going to hit the extreme right of the Germans & hit it hard,' wrote Wilson optimistically, reflecting Foch's tonic effect on the British Command." ((2), more)
"If to-morrow, the 11th, and the day after, the 12th, the left of the French Tenth Army is supported by the British Army (II Corps and Cavalry Corps) operating on the front Béthune-Merville, it is anticipated that the road to Lille will be cleared. On the other hand, the area north of the line Merville-Hazebrouck-Cassel (which we hold) appears to be occupied only by weak forces." ((3), more)
". . . soldiers had come to her and asked to be helped to the frontier; that knowing the risks she had helped them. She said she had nothing to regret, no complaint to make, and that is she had to do it all over again, she would change nothing. And most pathetic of all was her statement that she thanked God for the six weeks she had passed in prison—the nearest approach to rest she had known for years.They partook together of the Holy Communion, and she who had so little need for preparation was prepared for death. She was free from resentment and said: 'I realise that patriotism is not enough. I must have no hatred or bitterness toward any one.'She was taken out and shot before daybreak.She was denied the support of her own clergyman at the end, but a German military chaplain stayed with her and gave her burial within the precincts of the prison. He did not conceal his admiration and said: 'She was courageous to the end. She professed her Christian faith and said that she was glad to die for her country. She died like a heroine.'" ((4), more)
"The Romanian army ought not to count on Russian troops in defending its extended frontier, chief of staff Mikhail Alekseev had warned General Berthelot on 12 October when the latter stopped at STAVKA en route to Romania. On a map of Romania Alekseev drew 'a large blue line' along the Siret river from Galaţi to the Carpathians. This he termed 'the only line of defense.' Alekseev repeated the same theme directly to the Romanians, urging them to prepare the evacuation of Wallachia and to build fortifications on the Siret. It became clear that additional Russian troops would be sent only to defend Moldavia at the left wing of the Russian Front. Elsewhere the Romanians would be essentially on their own." ((5), more)
"That evening Gough phoned Plumer and asked him to postpone the attack. Sir Herbert declined. It took place at dawn along a six-mile front and gained an average of four hundred yards. For lack of a better name it was called 'The First Battle of Passchendaele,' though in that direction the crater front was pushed forward only a hundred yards. The New Zealanders were badly mauled. The 2nd Brigade, especially, had been trapped astride the Gravenstafel road as they pressed on to the entanglements under a torrent of small arms and machine-gun fire. This wire was totally unbreached except for a single land along the sunken road. Through it the men poured . . .. . . After the war an official historian coldly asked whether 'any of the higher commanders [were] aware that in these operations the infantry attacked virtually without protection.' The episode had, in fact, almost crossed the line which divides war from murder. Thirteen thousand men were lost in a few hours . . ." ((6), more)
"The fact was that the Allied breakthrough in Macedonia, and the German collapse coming in its wake, had undermined any possible negotiating leverage the Sublime Porte still had, whether on the Americans or anyone else. On October 12, 1918, Franchet d'Esperey's forces cut the Balkan rail link between Berlin and Constantinople, rendering a defense of the capital effectively impossible, even had the Young Turks wanted to fight to the bitter end. To be sure, there were still battle-hardened Ottoman divisions occupying the Transcaucasus, and in northern Syria, what remained of the Yildirim Army Group was waging a fighting retreat." ((7), more)
(1)
1914 by John French, pp. 208, 209, copyright © 1919, by Houghton Mifflin Company, publisher: Houghton Mifflin Company, publication date: 1919
(2)
Strategy and Command: The Anglo-French Coalition on the Western Front, 1914 by Roy Prete, page 153
(3) Excerpt from French General Ferdinand Foch's October 10, 1914 note to French commander Joseph Joffre outlining his plans for the coming days. The Allies were optimistic about holding Lille.
The Memoirs of Marshal Foch, translated by Col. T. Bentley Mott by Ferdinand Foch, page 128, copyright © 1931 by Doubleday, Doran & Company, Inc., publisher: Doubleday, Doran & Co., publication date: 1931
(4) Final paragraphs from 'The Case of Miss Edith Cavell' from A Journal from our Legation in Belgium by Hugh Gibson, Secretary to the American Legation in Brussels, Belgium. Englishwoman Edith Cavell was director of a large nursing home in Brussels, Belgium who helped French and British soldiers and Belgian men from occupied Belgium to neutral Netherlands. Cavell was arrested on August 5, 1915, and Gibson had been trying to assist her since learning of the case in late August or early September. During her October 7 and 8 trial, she admitted that some of the men had written her from England to thank her, evidence used to make the claim she had conducted soldiers to the enemy. Cavell was found guilty, and executed by firing squad on October 12, 1915. Gibson's published journal ends with the December 31, 1914 entry, with the case of Ms. Cavell, previously published in 'World's Work' as a final chapter.
A Journal from our Legation in Belgium by Hugh Gibson, page 362, copyright © Copyright, 1917, by Doubleday, Page & Company, publisher: Doubleday, Page & Company, publication date: 1917
(5) Romania entered the war on the side of the Entente Allies hoping for significant Russian support and an offensive on the Salonica Front that would prevent Bulgaria from attacking. Russian chief of staff Alekseev was prepared to support a Romanian army on the Russian left, but not to advance towards the Romanian capital of Bucharest in Walachia, a region that covered half of Romania's territory and a salient that was proving indefensible. French General Berthelot stopped at Stavka, Russian military command, on his way to Romania as a military advisor.
The Romanian Battlefront in World War I by Glenn E. Torrey, page 110, copyright © 2011 by the University Press of Kansas, publisher: University Press of Kansas, publication date: 2011
(6) British General Hubert Gough had commanded the opening attacks in the first three weeks of the Third Battle of Ypres, but Commander Douglas Haig, disappointed in Gough's results, transferred responsibility to General Herbert Plumer. Plumer was initially successful with actions in which the artillery were adequate to support the infantry, but became less so with each action, as he curtailed the time between attacks, leaving the artillery unable to move into position for adequate preliminary bombardments. He ignored the rain, the murderous mud it created on the battlefield, and Gough's advice, and went ahead on October 12 with the First Battle of Passchendaele.
In Flanders Fields, the 1917 Campaign by Leon Wolff, pp. 237 and 238, copyright © 1958 by Leon Wolff, publisher: The Viking Press, publication date: 1958
(7) French General Louis Franchet d'Esperey commanded Allied forces — French, British, Italian, Greek, and Serbian — on the Balkan Front, where for over two years the Bulgarians had kept the Allied forces bottled up. In the two weeks between the opening of d'Esperey's offensive into Serbia on September 15, 1918 and the end of the month, the defenders collapsed, the Bulgarian home front rose up, and a new Bulgarian government signed an armistice. The rail link that connected Berlin and Constantinople was the Balkan Zug, passed through Bulgaria, Serbia, and Vienna, capital of Austria-Hungary, and was broken by Franchet d'Esperey's advance in Serbia. In and beyond the Caucasus Mountains, Turkey had fought Russia before the latter left the war. Turkey continuing its adventure into Russian and Persia as the empire was being defeated in Syria and Mesopotamia. The 'Sublime Porte' is a reference to the gate leading to the government buildings in Constantinople and a metonym for the Turkish government. The Young Turks has seized power in 1908. In the ten years that followed, War Minister Enver Pasha's military incompetence had helped lead his country to ruin, and Interior Minister Mehmed Talaat had slaughtered a large part of the country's Armenian population as well as other ethnic groups.
The Ottoman Endgame: War, Revolution, and the Making of the Modern Middle East, 1908–1923 by Sean McMeekin, page 404, copyright © 2015 by Sean McMeekin, publisher: Penguin Books, publication date: 2015
