The exploding shell of a French 75 mm. field gun blasts the crown from the tree of the Central Powers as the axe of Justice strikes its trunk. A background map shows British towns on the English Channel and Belgian and French cities shelled by German forces burning. A 1915 French postcard.
Image text: 75, Turquie, Allemagne, Autriche, Turkey, Austria, Germany, Yarmouth, Hartlepool, Whitby, Scarborough, Ypres, Arras, Reims, LouvainMalheur aux ennemisTo the D...with the Enemy1914 1915Déposé. . . Tous Droits RéservésArtist LogoReverse:Edition Globe TrotterParisMarque Déposée Trade MarkCarte PostaleF. Bouchet, Éditeur-Imprimeur, 5bis, Rue Béranger, Paris (IIIe)Visé - Paris No. 1
Australians at Anzac Cove, December 17, 1915, from 'Gallipoli' by John Masefield. The Allied completed evacuating their positions at Suvla Bay and Anzac Cove on December 19.
Image text: Australians at Anzac two days before the evacuation took place.
General Joffre, Commander in Chief of the French Army, visits the Verdun front. The card is from the summer of 1916 when the Battle of Verdun was in its fifth month. The caption on the reverse says Joffre then knew the Allies had victory in their hands, a victory that would not come for more than two years.
Image text: General Joffre visits the Verdun front.Reverse:Official Photograph of La Section Photographique de l'Armée Française issued by Newspaper Illustrations Ltd., 161a, Strand, W.C.General Joffre visits the Verdun front.—'Papa Joffre,' as he is affectionately termed by every French soldier, its the idol of the Army. He knows and now says the Allies have victory in their hands. The five months' heroic defence of Verdun has definitely turned the scales in their favor.
Russo-German fraternization in a photograph January 21, 1918 on the Berezina River, a tributary of the Dnieper and east of Minsk. Part of the message on the reverse side reads: '1/21/18 . . . sending a view from a meeting on the Berezina.' (Translation courtesy of Thomas Faust, eBay's Urfaust.)
Image text: '1/21/18 . . . sending a view from a meeting on the Berezina.'(Translation courtesy of Thomas Faust, eBay's Urfaust.)
"Admiralty, December 16, 9:30 p.m.This morning a German cruiser force made a demonstration upon the Yorkshire coast, in the course of which they shelled Hartlepool, Whitby, and Scarborough. . . .The Admiralty take the opportunity of pointing out that demonstrations of this character against unfortified towns or commercial ports, though not difficult to accomplish provided that a certain amount of risk is accepted, are devoid of military significance.They may cause some loss of life among the civil population and some damage to private property, which is much to be regretted; but they must not in any circumstances be allowed to modify the general naval policy which is being pursued." ((1), more)
"Thursday, 16, December 1915: Our H.Q. signals orders cancelled. Only two men are to stay and man the phones, Sgt Calame and myself. All barges busy getting troops off. The last one's to go are Walker's Ridge, Quinn's and Courtney's and all are heavily mined. Very busy at Williams' Pier. Password Strawberry." ((2), more)
"— The 16th. The 'reduced' Ministry was published on the 13th. Albert Thomas, Minister of Munitions, is going to occupy vast premises, since he requires 250 rooms.— This is how Joffre learned of his removal from command. They had promised that he would retain all his power, but was simply being transferred to Paris. General Nivelle informed him that he, Nivelle, was henceforth under the direct orders of the Minister for War. Joffre no longer counted." ((3), more)
"Between the representatives of the higher command of Russia on the one hand and of Bulgaria, Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Turkey on the other hand, for the purpose of achieving a lasting and honorable peace between both parties, the following armistice is concluded:The armistice shall begin on December 17th at 2 o'clock in the afternoon and continue until January 14th. . . .The armistice embraces the land and aërial forces on the front from the Baltic to the Black Sea and also the Russo-Turkish front in Asia Minor. . . . With the purpose of facilitating the conduct of peace negotiations and the speedy healing of the wounds caused by the war, the contracting parties take measures for re-establishment of cultural and economic relations among the signatories. Within such limits as the armistice permits, postal commercial relations, the mailing of books and papers, will be permitted, the details to be worked out by a mixed commission, representing all the interested parties, at Petrograd." ((4), more)
(1) Excerpt from the British Admiralty communique that appeared in British newspapers the morning of December 17, 1914. First Lord of the Admiralty Winston Churchill heard of the bombardment of Hartlepool about 8:30 the morning of the 16th. British battleships pursued the German cruisers, but were instructed not to sail too far east as the Admiralty thought the German High Seas Fleet was moving into the North Sea. It was, in fact, returning to port. The British could not find the German cruisers as poor weather and visibility worsened through the day. A subsequent report stated 'They came out in one rainstorm and disappeared in another.'
The World Crisis 1911-1918 by Winston Churchill, page 263, copyright © by Charles Scribner's Sons 1931, renewed by Winston S. Churchill 1959, publisher: Penguin Books, publication date: 1931, 2007
(2) Excerpt from the diary of New Zealander C.J. Walsh during the evacuation of the Allied positions at Suvla Bay and Anzac Cove on the Gallipoli peninsula. Walsh was at Anzac, and learned that the order of the December 15 — that seven men would remain for the last twenty-four hours to man telephones — which he had thought 'rather nervy,' was to be reduced to two. As late as December 13 and 14 Walsh had been uncertain that an evacuation was underway. Australians and New Zealanders held Quinn's Post, Australians Courtney's Post and Walker's Ridge. The risk of being killed or captured only increased as the Anzac line thinned.
Men of Gallipoli: The Dardanelles and Gallipoli Experience August 1914 to January 1916 by Peter Liddle, page 263, copyright © Peter Liddle, 1976, publisher: David and Charles, publication date: 1976
(3) Entries for December 16, 1916 from the diary of Michel Corday, French senior civil servant. December, 1916 saw the conquest of Romania and the occupation of its capital Bucharest, the fall of the Asquith Government in Great Britain and the creation of a new government under David Lloyd George, peace proposals from Germany and U.S. President Woodrow Wilson, and the removal of French Commander in Chief Joseph Joffre, and his replacement by Robert Nivelle. The Government of Aristide Briand in France had survived only by making significant changes, including ousting Joffre. General Nivelle's success in recapturing territory lost during the Battle of Verdun with few losses, offered a promise that Joffre, with little to show for over two years of horrendous casualties, could not match.
The Paris Front: an Unpublished Diary: 1914-1918 by Michel Corday, page 219, copyright © 1934, by E.P. Dutton & Co., Inc., publisher: E.P. Dutton & Co., Inc., publication date: 1934
(4) Excerpts from the armistice between the warring parties on the Russian Front signed on December 16, 1917, following agreements suspending hostilities in the preceding days. The armistice provided for intercourse between the two sides from sunrise to sunset, in groups of not more than twenty-five people, during which they could exchange papers, magazines, and unsealed mail, as well as trade in 'articles of prime necessity.' Both sides used this opportunity to spread propaganda, the Bolsheviks finding many German soldiers who were tired of the war and open to their message. Petrograd was the capital of Russia.
The Great Events of the Great War in Seven Volumes by Charles F. Horne, Vol. V, 1917, pp. 391–392, copyright © 1920 by The National Alumnia, publisher: The National Alumni, publication date: 1920
