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
Postcard of a German soldier guarding French POWs, most of them colonial troops, the colorful uniforms of a Zouave, Spahi, Senegalese, and metropolitan French soldier contrasting with the field gray German uniform. A 1915 postcard by Emil Huber.
Image text: Emil Huber 1915Reverse:Unsere FeldgrauenSerie II? preussischer Infanterie-SoldatPrussian Infantry SoldierLogo: K.E.B.
The Russian Duma: priest deputies and officers. From White Nights and Other Russian Impressions by Arthur Ruhl. Ruhl reported from Russia in 1917 after the February Revolution.
Image text: Priest deputies to the Duma strolling beside the lake adjoining Taurida Palace.A group of 'Pristavs,' who acted as ushers, vote collectors, etc. in the national Duma.
View of Moscow, the Kremlin and St. Basil's Cathedral along the Moskva River. The message on the reverse was dated from Moscow May 29, 1914 (new style); multiple postmarks May 17 (old style; May 30 new style) and May 21 (old style; June 3 new style).
Image text: Москва-Кремль Moscou-KremlinVue généraleReverse:Message dated from Moscow May 29, 1914 (new style); multiple postmarks May 17 (old style; May 30 new style) and May 21 (old style; June 3 new style)
"In Poland the operations of the Russian army are developing successfully (1) between the Vistula and the Warta, in and around Leczyca; (2) in South-western Poland between Czestochova and Cracow.In Galicia, the Russians are still making progress across the Carpathians.In East Prussia they are approaching the Gumbinne-Angerburg front, where the German line is strongly fortified.. . . . [General de Laguiche concluded] 'The enemy's retreat is voluntary, without letting himself be held and without being touched in his vitals. This enemy may therefore appear again. What is the motive behind this retirement? It is a question we should put to ourselves, if we are to be prepared against surprise and not embarrassed in the execution of our own plans.'" ((1), more)
"To improve our routine in the trenches a little bit, they gave us hardly anything to eat, back in the rear. Try working or marching all night, and keeping your spirits up, on an empty stomach!And meanwhile, nice and warm, with full bellies, our officers drank, sang, enjoyed themselves in the village. It was revolting—and it ended up leading the men to revolt.. . .Refusing to work, now that was serious. Prison for sure; perhaps a court-martial. Only one, Private X, persisted in claiming to be ill, and went to bed. The rest left, but in a sign of protest they crossed the village singing the 'Internationale,' which will always be the hymn of the oppressed, the unfortunate ones for whom it is an expression of discontent and of hope." ((2), more)
"To gain a better understanding of the atmosphere of the final session of the Duma, which lasted from November 1, 1916 to February 26, 1917, it must be realized that the expectation of a palace revolution was uppermost in everyone's mind. Rank-and-file members of the political parties, of course, had no precise knowledge of the coming coup, but there were veiled allusions to it in the speeches of those who did know of it and who could see where the policy of the Tsar's cabinet, in which Protopopov played no mean part, was leading the country." ((3), more)
". . . the anti-Bolshevik forces had the demoralizing news that Kerensky's drive on Petrograd had failed, while the soviet side could count on a steady flow of reinforcements. The cadets were gradually pressing into a tighter circle, and finally on November 2 troops of the soviet stormed back into the Kremlin itself. Recognizing the hopelessness of further fighting, the Committee of Public Safety surrendered to the MRC. Moscow was won for the soviets, but at the cost of civil war in earnest; some five hundred men had been killed on the Bolshevik side alone." ((4), more)
(1) Entry from the memoirs of Maurice Paléologue, French Ambassador to Russia, for Sunday, November 15, 1914. The reports from Poland, Galicia, and East Prussia are Paléologue's summaries of Russia's successful counter-offensive against the German-Austro-Hungarian offensive of September and October. General de Laguiche, the French Military Attaché in Petrograd, had just returned from surveying the Russian front lines advancing in Poland. As he reported, the German retreat had been orderly, and German forces had already begun their counter-attack, something the Russian high command was just becoming aware of.
An Ambassador's Memoirs Vol. II by Maurice Paléologue, pp. 187, 188, publisher: George H. Doran Company
(2) Extract from the notebooks of French Corporal Louis Barthas, a socialist whose unit was stationed in Artois in November 1915. In Barthas writings, many of the officers are indifferent to their men, and some of the medical officers are among the worst. On the day, to protest their treatment, the men claim to be sick. Furious that his supper has been interrupted, the medical officer found all of the men fit for duty. Fearful of a court-martial and a punishment that could be death, the men return to their posts, singing in protest.
Poilu: The World War I Notebooks of Corporal Louis Barthas, Barrelmaker, 1914-1918 by Louis Barthas, pp. 134, 135, copyright © 2014 by Yale University, publisher: Yale University Press, publication date: 2014
(3) Alexander Kerensky on what would be the last session of the Russian Duma for decades. It began November 14, 1916 (November 1 Old Style). Alexander Protopopov had been appointed Russian Minister of the Interior in September. Kerensky reports that he was aware of the plot to replace Tsar Nicholas II with his son, under a regency headed by Grand Duke Michael.
Russia and History's Turning Point by Alexander Kerensky, page 151, copyright © 1965 by Alexander Kerensky, publisher: Duell, Sloan and Pearce, publication date: 1965
(4) Forces supporting the Bolshevik Revolution did not immediately secure Moscow, Russia's second city, but were opposed by a conservative Committee of Public Safety that included officer cadets who took the Kremlin and slayed some of its defenders on October 28 (November 11 New Style), 1917. The Military Revolutionary Committee that recaptured the Kremlin on November 2 (15 N.S.) was the counterpart of the one that had been victorious in Petrograd. Alexander Kerensky, head of the Provisional Government that fell to the Bolsheviks, unsuccessfully tried to rally troops to retake the capital. Bolsheviks dominated many of the soviets that represented military units, workers, factories, cities, and towns.
Red October: the Bolshevik Revolution of 1917 by Robert V. Daniels, page 207, copyright © 1967 Robert V. Daniels, publisher: Charles Scribner's Sons, publication date: 1967
