Map of Alsace and the Franco-German border from Switzerland north along the Vosges Mountains to Strasbourg. The postcard celebrates the German victory at Mulhouse on August 11, 1914, retaking the city from the French.
Image text: Der Sieg bei Mülhausen 11.8.1914Der Große Generalstab veröffentlicht folgende Meldung: Von Belfort in das Oberelsass nach Mülhausen vor gedrungener Feind, anscheinend das VII, französische Armeekorps und eine Infanterie-Division der Besatzung von Belfort, sind heute von unseren Truppen aus einer verstärkten Stellung westlich Mülhausen in südlicher Richtung zurückgeworfen worden. Verluste unserer Truppen nicht erheblich, die der Franzosen groß.The victory at Mulhouse 08/11/1914The Great General Staff issued the following message: From Belfort in Upper Alsace to Mulhouse, our troops have thrown back strong enemy forces – apparently the VII French army corps and one infantry division of the garrison of Belfort – from their reinforced position west of Mulhouse to the south. Losses to our troops are not significant, and comparable to those of the French.W.I.B. (4)Reverse:B.Z. KriegskarteVerlag der B.Z. am Mittag, Berlin (Publishing the B.Z. at noon, Berlin)
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
Embossed postcard of the flag of the United Tribes of New Zealand, the first flag of New Zealand, used until the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi in 1840.
Image text: Neuseeland-Nouvelle-ZélandeNew Zealand (German and French)Reverse:Logo: HGZ & Co. No. 11658. Dép.
Postcard from a painting by W. Partke of a village in the Pripet Marshes in Russia dated February 14, 1916. An Hungarian officer wrote of the Marshes, 'almost half of the territory is covered by wet, impassable, and uncultivated forest, wooded territory, most of it useless, bushy, and impenetrable. The ground itself is divided into different kinds of marshy lands, impassable muddy districts, immense weedy and grassy territories, also regions covered by some kind of more solid grassy substance, and other thousands and thousands of acres of land perpetually under water.' The card is field postmarked on April 9, 1917 by Minenwerfer (trench mortar) Company 282.
Image text: Dorf in den PripetsümpfenW. Partke14.II.1916.Village in the Pripet MarshesW. PartkeFebruary 14, 1916
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
Headstones from the Laventie German Military Cemetery, Laventie, France of territorial guard Alfred Schirmer and Corporal Albert Levy. Schirmer died on August 8, 1918, Levy on August 10, both likely in the Battle of Amiens. © 2013 by John M. Shea
Image text: Alfred SchirmerLandsturmmann† 8.8.1918Albert LevyGefreiterGef. 10.8.1918
". . . II. — The intention of the General Commanding in Chief is to seek battle, with all his forces united, resting the right of his general line of battle on the Rhine.He will withdraw, if necessary the left of this line to the rear in order to avoid an engagement which might be decisive for one of the armies before the others are in a position to support it.But it is also possible that we shall have time to advance our left wing, in the event that the German right is delayed before Liège or turns away from it to the south. . . . XI. — The Army Commanders will begin at once with the preparation of their orders in view of the general offensive above contemplated, so that such orders can be issued upon receipt of telegraphic instructions. They will also immediately order preparatory movements calculated to facilitate the offensive and to render it overwhelming." ((1), more)
"In the stalemate of Quinn's we knew there was no way forward, that we had to break out of the trap in another direction, through fresh country. That was how the assault on Chunuk Bair, the most tragic event in the entire campaign, came about. It was planned of course, in conjunction with the landing of a division of British troops in Suvla Bay. The intention was to cut the Gallipoli peninsula in two, right across to the Narrows. But we knew perfectly well that Chunuk Bair was the key — the key, that is, to victory or defeat on the peninsula. That hill was vital. It dominated the middle of the peninsula and commanded ground right down to the Narrows. And in the August offensive Chunuk Bair was the objective of the New Zealand Infantry Brigade. Victory or defeat was in our hands." ((2), more)
"Tell him some scarecrows called Wellington Infantry have taken Chunuk Bair. No. Tell him, God damn it, that New Zealand has taken Chunuk Bair. Tell him New Zealand is holding Chunuk Bair." ((3), more)
"Offensives against Kowel were mounted on 8th August and at more or less fortnightly intervals for the next three months. The Russian superiority, overall, was two-to-one at least: north of the Pripyat, 852,000 to 371,000 and south of it, 863,000 to 480,000. On the Kowel front, a great local superiority was built up: III Army, the Guard Army and VIII Army had, together, twenty-nine infantry and twelve cavalry divisions to twelve Austro-German infantry divisions. This, rather than the Romanian front, constituted Stavka's main effort. It was a complete failure." ((4), more)
"Two days after the German 9th Army attacked at Mărăşeşti, the left wing of Group Gerok launched its Oituz offensive eastward toward the Trotuş valley. The immediate objective was to outflank and pinch off Averescu's intrusion into the Soveja basin. The Austro-Hungarian command also hoped Gerok's forces could continue across the Trotuş river. Then, under pressure from the 9th Army and the Austrian 7th Army attacking out of Bukovina, the Romanian army would be crushed and all Moldavia occupied. Otherwise, Archduke Josef argued, 'Romania will revive and cause us much trouble.'" ((5), more)
"The Picardy offensive, better known as the Third Battle of the Somme, opened just before daybreak on August 8th [1918]. A heavy mist prevailed, obscuring the preparations of the British and French armies and assisting in the surprise attack that had been planned.Hundreds of small whippet tanks, capable of great speed, were aligned on the battle front to blaze a path for the infantry. Close by were the cavalry and motorcycle brigades, prepared to make the dash down the divergent Roman roads and clean up the intervening terrain.Planned as a surprise assault, the customary long bombardment of the enemy's position was omitted. Instead, the Allied guns swept the German lines for exactly four minutes, wiping out their defences as though with a sponge. Then away sped the British and French tanks, the infantry following on the double quick.Everywhere along that 40-mile front the Germans were taken by surprise." ((6), more)
(1) French General Joseph Joffre's 'General Instructions No. 1' to the French Armies at the outset of the campaign, issued from General Headquarters at 7:00 A.M. on August 8, 1914. Joffre was executing Plan XVII, France's war plan, with an offensive across the Franco German border into the former French region of Alsace-Lorraine He began with a small offensive near the Swiss border on August 7 and 8, taking the village of Altkirch and the city of Mulhouse.
The Campaign of the Marne by Sewell Tyng, 362-364, copyright © 2007 Westholme Publishing, LLC, publisher: Westholme Publishing, LLC, publication date: 2007 (1935)
(2) Excerpt from Maurice Shadbolt's 1980's interview with Dan Curham, a soldier of New Zealand's Wellington Battalion, tasked with taking the hill of Chunuk Bair on August 8, 1915. Between August 4 and 6, men had been landed furtively each night so the Turks would have no advance notice of a new offensive. By the 6th 25,000 men had joined those already holding the position at Anzac Cove. Further north, the British would open a new front at Suvla Bay, advancing quickly to join the ANZACs and cut across the Gallipoli Peninsula, isolating the Turkish defenders and finally breaking the stalemate the Gallipoli campaign had become. As with so many other efforts at Gallipoli, and in the war itself, nothing but more death and ruin came of it. Expecting the worst at a virtually undefended Suvla Bay, the commanders and men did little for two days. By the time they were ordered to advance, the Turks had bolstered their defenses. At Anzac, the Turks held their positions against the strengthened attackers who had struck at Quinn's Post. On August 8, the New Zealanders were ordered to take the high point of Chunuk Bair. Some who made the summit saw the Narrows of the Dardanelles, the gateway to Constantinople. Most of the men never left the hill.
Voices of Gallipoli by Maurice Shadbolt, page 45, copyright © 1988 Maurice Shadbolt, publisher: Hodder and Stoughton, publication date: 1988
(3) Colonel Connolly to Bassett, his telephone operator, in response to Brigadier-General Johnston asking for Connolly's situation. Connolly was speaking from the summit of Chunuk Bair in Maurice Shadbolt's play Once on Chunuk Bair. On August 8, the New Zealanders were ordered to take Chunuk Bair, the high point of the Gallipoli peninsula. Some who made the summit saw the Narrows of the Dardanelles, the gateway to Constantinople. Most of the New Zealanders never left the hill.
Once on Chunuk Bair by Maurice Shadbolt, page 68, copyright © 1982 by Maurice Shadbolt, publisher: Hodder and Stoughton, publication date: 1982
(4) One of the most successful campaigns of the war, Russia's Brusilov Offensive was launched on June 4, 1916 and overwhelmed the Austro-Hungarian front, but ground to a standstill by August with the addition of German troops and German commanders. The attacks against Kowel showed none of the innovation and surprise Alexsei Brusilov had demonstrated. Romania, long flirting with joining the Entente Allies, finally did so on August 27, too late to support Brusilov's advance. Stavka was the Russian High Command.
The Eastern Front, 1914-1917 by Norman Stone, page 271, copyright © 1975 Norman Stone, publisher: Charles Scribner's Sons, publication date: 1975
(5) Romania's Mărăşti offensive, supported by Russian troops, began on July 24, 1917 with an attack in Moldavia, the only part of the country not occupied by Central Power forces. The Romanians suspended the battle on August 1. German commander August von Mackensen responded with a German-Austro-Hungarian campaign, the Battle of Mărăşeşti, began on August 6. The attack described above, the Battle of Oituz, began on August 8 north of the fighting at Mărăşeşti. General Alexandru Averescu commanded the Romanian 2nd Army in the battle, Archduke Josef the Austro-Hungarian troops.
The Romanian Battlefront in World War I by Glenn E. Torrey, page 237, copyright © 2011 by the University Press of Kansas, publisher: University Press of Kansas, publication date: 2011
(6) German commander Erich Ludendorff would later refer to August 8, 1918, the first day of the Battle of Amiens, as the 'black day for the German Army.' The British Fourth Army and the French First Army on its right advanced as much as eight miles on the first day, inflicting as many as 48,000 casualties, 13,000 of them taken prisoner or missing in action. Over 400 tanks participated in the battle, including the new faster Whippet Tanks and 300 heavy Mark V Tanks.
King's Complete History of the World War by W.C. King, page 451, copyright © 1922, by W.C. King, publisher: The History Associates, publication date: 1922
