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
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
Postwar postcard map of the Balkans including Albania, newly-created Yugoslavia, expanded Romania, and diminished former Central Powers Bulgaria and Turkey. The first acquisitions of Greece in its war against Turkey are seen in Europe where it advanced almost to Constantinople, in the Aegean Islands from Samos to Rhodes, and on the Turkish mainland from its base in Smyrna. The Greco-Turkish war was fought from May 1919 to 1922. The positions shown held from the war's beginning to the summer of 1920 when Greece advanced eastward. Newly independent Hungary and Ukraine appear in the northwest and northeast.
Image text: Péninsule des BalkansÉchelle 1:12.000.000Petit Atlas de Poche Universel25 Édition Jeheber GenèveReverse:No. 20 Édition Jeheber, Genève (Suisse)BalkansRoumanie(Royaume.)Superficie . . . 290 000 sq. km.Population . . . 16 000 000 hab. (50 par sq. km.Capitale: Bucarest . . . 338 000 hab.Bulgarie(Royaume.)Superficie . . . 100 000 sq. km.Population . . . 4 000 000 hab. (40 par sq. km.)Capitale: Sofia . . . 103 000 hab.Grèce(Royaume. Capitale: Athènes.)En Europe (y compris la Crète et les iles) 200 000 sq. km. 6 000 000 hab. 30 p. sq. km.En Asie mineure . . . 30 000 sq. km 1 300 000 hab. 43 p. sq. km.Total 230 000 sq. km. 7 300 000 hab. 32 p. sq. km.Ville de plus de 50 000 habitants:Smyrne (Asie) . . . 350 000 hab.Athènes . . . 175 000 hab.Salonique . . . 150 000Andrinople . . . 70 000 hab.Pirée . . . 70 000 hab.Turquie d'Europe(Empire Ottoman.)Superficie . . . 2 000 sq. km.Population . . . 1 100 000 550 par sq. km.Capitale: Constantinople 1 000 000 hab.AlbanieSuperficie . . . 30 000 sq. km.Population . . . 800 000 hab. (27 par sq. km.)Villes: Scutari . . . 30 000 hab.Durazzo . . . 5 000 hab.YougoslavieVoir le tableau des statisques de ce pays, ainsi que la carte de la partie occidentale de la Yougoslavie, sur la carte d'Italie.Inst. Géog. Kummerly & Frey, Berne.Balkan PeninsulaScale 1: 12,000,000Little Univeral Pocket AtlasRoyaume - KingdomSuperficie - AreaEn Europe (y compris la Crète et les iles) - In Europe (including Crete and the islands)En Asie mineure - In Asia MinorYugoslaviaSee the table of statistics of this country, as well as the map of the western part of Yugoslavia, on the map of Italy.
Detail showing the plaque for 1918 from the monument to the Tank Corps, Pozières, France. The base bears plaques commemorating the Tank Corps and the years 1916, when tanks were first used in battle, 1917, when they were proven to be a weapon that could change the war, and 1918, when tanks were decisive in the Allied victory. The plaques for each year list the engagements in which the Corps fought. © 2013 by John M. Shea
Image text: 19182nd SommeRiver LysHamel — Marne — MoreuilAmiens — BapaumeArras — EpehyCambrai — St. QuentinSelle — Mormal Forest
"Yesterday morning we spent visiting soup kitchens, milk stations, and the distributing centres for supplying old clothes to the poor. The whole thing is under one organisation and most wonderfully handled. It is probably the biggest thing of the sort that has ever been undertaken and is being done magnificently.It is a curious thing to watch the Commission [for Relief in Belgium] grow. It started as nothing but a group of American mining engineers with the sympathetic aid of some of our diplomatic representatives and the good-will of the neutral world. It is rapidly growing into a powerful international entity, negotiating agreements with the Great Powers of Europe, enjoying rights that no Government enjoys, and as the warring governments come to understand its sincerity and honesty, gaining influence and authority day by day." ((1), more)
"The morale and the material state of our troops are desperate. Despite all the measures to prevent desertion, the number of troops is plummeting, and they are fleeing en masse. Deserters are fighting against our troops to clear their way to the villages of Istok and Mitrovica. They are selling weapons to the Albanians. Regiments number only a few hundred men. There is only enough food for the troops for another four or five days. All efforts to acquire food have proven useless." ((2), more)
"Admiral du Fournier made formal demand for the delivery of the first installment of war material; the reply was a definite refusal. Whereupon, Allied troops and marines were landed from the ships into the harbor.As the troops marched into Athens they were fired upon by a mob of Greeks, 47 allies being killed. Returning the fire, the Allies killed 29 Greeks. On the following day, the landing party returned to the ships, while the Greek soldiers began intrenching on the heights overlooking Athens. During the melee, the Allied warships fired 38 shells into the city, some of which seemed aimed at the Royal Palace." ((3), more)
"The morning of December [1, 1917] was cloudy again, after a clear, mild night. The worsening weather kept most of the aircraft of both sides on the ground, and from this point on, air activity played little part in the battle. From 6.30 a.m., an hour before sunrise, the British attacking force of tanks, cavalry and infantry gathered to the west of Gauche Wood. Thirty-one tanks had been collected, twenty-two of H Battalion, seven of B, and two of A; all the others that had arrived from Fins and Havrincourt Wood the previous day, apart from those hit by enemy fire, had mechanical trouble, and were unfit for action. Behind the tanks were two Cavalry Divisions, the 4th and 5th, and the 1st and 3rd Guards Brigades." ((4), more)
(1) Excerpt from the December 2, 1914 entry from the journal of Hugh Gibson, Secretary to the American Legation in Brussels, Belgium. By September, 1914, serious food shortages had developed in Belgium, and Gibson had been working with the Spanish ambassador and the German authorities to import food for the civilian population. On October 5, Gibson met in London with 'Herbert Hoover, an American mining engineer,' (and later American President) who took the lead of the American Relief Committee. Throughout October, Gibson met with the Committee for the Provisioning of Belgium, with the German authorities in Brussels, and with the British in London to negotiate agreement for the transport of food.
A Journal from our Legation in Belgium by Hugh Gibson, page 321, copyright © Copyright, 1917, by Doubleday, Page & Company, publisher: Doubleday, Page & Company, publication date: 1917
(2) Excerpt from a report by leading Serbian military commanders on December 1, 1915, a day on which they decided not to launch a counter-attack on the invading combined forces of Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Bulgaria, but to obey the November 25 order to retreat through the mountains of Montenegro and Albania to the Adriatic Sea for resupply and evacuation by the Allied fleets. Tens of thousands of Serbs, military and civilian, would die in the retreat, of exposure, starvation, and attacks by bandits and other killers, mostly Albanian.
Serbia's Great War 1914-1918 by Andrej Mitrovic, page 150, copyright © Andrej Mitrovic, 2007, publisher: Purdue University Press, publication date: 2007
(3) The Allied troops had gone to Athens, Greece on December 1, 1916 to seize arms, munitions, and artillery from the Greek Government claiming they might otherwise end up in the hands of German and Bulgarian forces. The pro-German King Constantine of Greece had been educated in Germany, and was married to a sister of Kaiser Wilhelm II. Eleftherios Venizelos had been Prime Minister of Greece, but resigned in March, 1915 over the King's refusal to support the Allied invasion of Gallipoli. Re-elected that August, he again parted ways with the King over supporting Serbia against Bulgaria which seemed to be preparing for war. Constantine dismissed his Prime Minister when the Allies landed 13,000 troops at the Greek port of Salonica on October 5, 1915, troops Venizelos had invited to support Serbia's defense. During 1916, the Allies expanded their forces in Greece with the addition of Serbian, Russian, and Italian troops. That October, Venizelos arrived in Salonica to head a new Revolutionary Government, one that had been recognized by the Allies.
King's Complete History of the World War by W.C. King, page 224, copyright © 1922, by W.C. King, publisher: The History Associates, publication date: 1922
(4) The British launched the largest tank offensive yet seen on November 20, 1917 with three tank brigades, 380 tanks in all, most of them Mark IVs, near Cambrai, France. The first day was a success, with an advance of as much as 4½ miles on a 6-mile front. With no fresh reinforcements, specifically none trained to coordinate with tanks, the advance bogged down, with the role of the tanks diminishing. German forces counterattacked on November 30, and were preparing to attack at 9:30 AM on December 1 when the British struck. British commander General Douglas Haig still hoped for a breakthrough his cavalry could exploit.
The Battle of Cambrai by Brian Cooper, page 208, copyright © Bryan Cooper 1967, publisher: Stein and Day, publication date: 1968
