In mid-January 1915, the Germans launched an offensive north of Soissons, France.
Image text: Westl. Kriegschauplatz, Angriffe bei Crouy und CuffiesWestern Front, assaults on Crouy and CuffiesSeries 38/3Reverse:Ausgabe des Kriegsfürsorgeamtes Wien IX.Zum Gloria-Viktoria AlbumSammel. u. Nachschlagewerk des VölkerkriegesWar Office Assistance Edition, Vienna IXFor Gloria Victoria albumCollection and reference book of international war
Embossed postcard of the flag and coins of Russia, with fixed exchange rates for major currencies including Germany, Austria-Hungary, England, the Latin Monetary Union, Netherlands, and the United States of America. The Russian Ruble equaled 100 Kopeks. Tsar Nicholas II is on the obverse of most of the gold and silver coins; Tsar Alexander III is on the 7 1/2 ruble gold piece.
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Memories of the war year 1916 including meatless days (a dog confronts a turnip), bank notes for loans, and rations cards for cooking fats, potatoes, dried vegetables and bread. The winter of 1916–1917 was Germany's Turnip Winter.
Image text: Erinnerung aus dem Kriegsjahre 1916Fleischloser Tag!Fettkarte, Kartoffelkarte, Darlehenskassenschein, TrockengemüseMeatless Day!Cooking Fat Card, Potato Card, Loan Bank Note, Dried VegetablesMemories of War Year 1916Reverse:Verlag Rudolf Johannes Leonhardt, Dresden-A.I. Militäramtlich genehmigt.Publisher Rudolf John Leonhardt, Dresden-A.I. Officially approved by Military.
Advertising postcard map of Austria-Hungary from the Amidon Starch Company with images of Vienna, Budapest, and a wheat field.
Image text: Text in French and Dutch: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.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.
". . . after some painful blows had been successfully inflicted upon the enemy in January by throwing in at several places swiftly concentrated front reserves — with the 5th Army under Lieut.-General the Crown Prince Wilhelm, Chief of Staff Major-General Schmidt von Knobelsdorf, in the Argonne, and with the 7th Army under General von Heeringen, Chief of staff Lieut.-General von Hänisch, north of Soissons, a welcome if only short pause set in." ((1), more)
"By its very principles and constitution, tsarism is obliged to be infallible, perfect and above reproach. There is no form of government which calls for more intelligence, honesty, cautious prudence, orderly reasoning, far-sightednesss and talent ; and outside it, I mean outside the rank of its administrative oligarchy, there is nothing—no machinery of supervision, no autonomous mechanism, no established parties, no social groups, no legal or traditional organization of the public will.So when a mistake is made, it is always discovered too late. And there is no one to repair it." ((2), more)
"At the same time, victualling left something to be desired. Potatoes seem to have become a thing of the past; day after day, when we lifted the lids of our dishes in the vast mess hall, we found nothing but watery swedes. Before long, we couldn't stand the sight of them. Even though they're better than they're cracked up to be — so long as they're roasted with a nice piece of pork, and plenty of black pepper. Which these weren't." ((3), more)
"In January of 1918, Vienna and other substantial Austrian cities experienced the most serious civilian convulsions of the war era. Accumulated resentments among industrial workers due to war-borne hardships and to the trend of diplomatic negotiations at Brest-Litovsk combined with bitterness because of a sudden cut in the slim bread rations in Austria and with faint undertones of Bolshevism to produce concerted mass action. . . . Socialist-organized mass meetings on January 13, 1918 protested furiously against the sabre-rattling tactics of German General Hoffmann at Brest-Litovsk. 'Without any warning or signal from the Socialists,' Viktor Adler explained, 'the idea had suddenly spring up among the masses that if this hope [a peace settlement with the Russians] vanishes, and there is nothing to eat, we have nothing to lose.' Starting spontaneously in a left-wing clique at the Daimler works at Wiener Neustadt, a strike movement spread to locomotive and munitions factories there and thence to other industrial centers." ((4), more)
(1) From December 20, 1915 to January 12, 1915, French commander Joseph Joffre launched offensives in Flanders, at La Boiselle, in the Argonne, on the Meuse, on the Aisne, and around Reims, to prevent the Germans from disengaging and redeploying their forces either to the Eastern Front or for an offensive against the Allies on the Western Front. As Joffre brought his winter attacks to an end, the Germans struck.
General Headquarters and its Critical Decisions, 1914-1916 by Erich von Falkenhayn, pp. 57, 58, copyright © 1920 by Dodd, Mead and Company, Inc., publisher: Dodd, Mead and Company, Inc., publication date: 1920
(2) Entry for January 13, 1916 from the memoirs of Maurice Paléologue, French Ambassador to Russia. Tsar Nicholas had taken command of the army in the summer of 1915, risking, as Paléologue observed at the time, having its failures placed on his shoulders. In the preceding days, the Ambassador had written about the failure of the Russian offensive in Galicia, a secret conference of Socialists, and Rasputin's increasing sway over the church. Among the pleasure of reading the Ambassador from republican France are his observations on Russia, the Russian people, their arts, and government.
An Ambassador's Memoirs Vol. II by Maurice Paléologue, pp. 149, 150, publisher: George H. Doran Company
(3) German Ensign Ernst Jünger was wounded in September and November, 1916, returning to his regiment in the village of Fresnoy-le-Grand on December 18. The regiment spent four weeks in Fresnoy, during which Jünger was awarded the Iron Cross First Class.Bad weather in the autumn of 1916 led to a poor potato crop in Germany, some of which was not harvested, and some of which was diverted to the troops. Turnips or swedes served as substitutes in Germany's Turnip Winter of 1916–1917. The swede (called a rutabaga in the United States) is similar to the turnip, but turnips are usually smaller, with a higher water content. Swedes are generally larger, with a darker, tougher outer skin, and a more yellow flesh.
Storm of Steel by Ernst Jünger, page 120, copyright © 1920, 1961, Translation © Michael Hoffman, 2003, publisher: Penguin Books, publication date: 2003
(4) Food shortages were acute in Austria-Hungary in January, 1918, and a strong impetus for the country to conclude peace with Russia in the negotiations at Brest-Litovsk. Austro-Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs Count Ottokar Czernin was prepared to make peace with no annexations,but the German negotiators, particularly the military representatives led by General Max Hoffman, were not. On January 12, Hoffman had given a particularly bellicose speech at the conference, in which he made it clear Germany would not evacuate occupied territory. Viktor Adler was a founder of the Austrian Social Democratic Workers' Party.
The Passing of the Hapsburg Monarchy, 1914-1918 2 Volumes by Arthur James May, Vol. 2, pp. 654, 655, copyright © 1966 by the Trustees of the University of Pennsylvania, publisher: University of Pennsylvania Press, publication date: 1966
