Postcard of the German battleship Emden, which fled the German colony of Tsingtao, China on August 7, 1914, and raided Allied Shipping in the Indian Ocean until being sunk by the Australian light cruiser Sydney on November 9.
Image text: Handkolorit (imit.)Kreuzer 'Emden' vernichtet englische Handelsschiffe in der Bai von BengalenHand coloring (imitated)Cruiser 'Emden' destroys English commercial ships in the Bay of BengalReverse (original German below):The World War 1914Operational success of the German cruiser 'Emden.' September 1914While the German fleet was watchful and ready for battle, their foreign ships made themselves felt by bold blows. 'Emden', a 1908 armed cruiser of 3,650 tons, cruised in the Bay of Bengal and, to the dismay of the English, seized and sank all vessels encountered sailing under the British flag. Thus the fate, in the period from September 10th to 14th, of the steamers 'Indus,' 'Loo,' 'Kabinga,' 'Killin,' 'Diplomat' and 'Tratbock,' whose crews were sent in another craft to Calcutta. In the last third of September in the Indian Ocean 'Emden' sank the steamers 'Tumerico,' 'Kinglud,' 'Ribeira' and 'Toyle' and seized a coal ship bearing its crew to Colombo. In between, 'Emden' shelled Madras with 9 shots, hitting the petroleum tanks, two of which caught fire with the loss of a half million gallons of oil. No wonder that the British, whose losses amounted to over 20 million marks in the loss of 11 steamers and their cargo, hunted the 'Emden'; they hung fire, as the saying goes, no, they would have him, then!Postmarked December 19, 1914.Der Weltkrieg 1914.Erfolgreiche Tätigkeit des deutschen Kreuzers 'Emden.' September 1914.Während die deutsche Flotte kampfbereit auf der Wacht lag, machten sich ihre Auslandschiffe durch kühne Handstreiche bemerkbar. 'Emden,' ein geschützer Kreuzer von 3650 Tonnen aus dem Jahre 1908, kreuzte zum Schrecken der Engländer in der Bai von Bengalen und kaperte und versenkte alle ihm unter britischer Flagge begegnenden Handelschiffe. So in der Zeit vom 10. bis 14. Sept.
With Bulgaria joining the Central Powers in October 1915 assuring the defeat of Serbia by the end of November, the Balkanzug — the Balkan Railway, shown in red — connected Berlin and Constantinople. By the second week of November, Turkey received ammunition and weapons from its allies.
Image text: Vierbund-TreubundQuadruple Alliance-True AllianceReverse:Message dated February 28, 1916, and postmarked the next day.Logo: ErikaNr. 5448
German ace Oswald Bölcke, second from left, marked with an X, was killed in a collision, October 28, 1916 with 40 victories.
Image text: Reverse:Bölcke
Intermission at a French theater, 1915. Women and a girl knit, socks perhaps, for soldiers at the front, as does a Red Cross nurse seated between two sleepy soldiers, one — from an Algerian regiment — visibly wounded. An older man reads the news. Illustrated by A. Guillaume, the postcard is captioned in the languages of the Entente Allies, French, English, and Russian.
Image text: 15 minutes d'entr'act.15 minutes intermission.Антрактъ въ 15 минутъ.Pinx. A. GuillaumeА. ГильомъVisé Paris.2260.I.M.L.Reverse:Guerre Européenne de 1914-1915Édition Patriotique.Imp. I. Lapina. - Paris, Rue Denfert-Rochebeau, 75European War 1914-1915Patriotic Edition.Printer I. Lapina. - Paris, Rue Denfert-Rochebeau 75
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
"As soon as the Sydney got our range a good deal of damage was done to the Emden, and this increased quickly, the Sydney having fire superiority over us, as well as superior speed. About twenty minutes after beginning the fight, our steering gear went wrong. I ordered the hand gear to be manned, but its shafting had been jammed by a direct hit. Meanwhile, the ship had swung about eight points before she was checked by the screws. As the fire from our starboard guns had already weakened considerably, I let the port battery come into action. But its fire soon weakened also, from serious casualties among the guns' crews. . . .By 1045 the Emden's upper bridge had been destroyed, the centre and aft funnels knocked over, and the foremast was over the side. . . . I was informed that the torpedo room must be abandoned on account of flooding from a hit under water. Since it was now impossible for me to do any further damage to my opponent, I decided to wreck my badly damaged ship on the weather side of North Keeling Island, rather than sacrifice needlessly the lives of those who still survived." ((1), more)
"9th November [1915]16.00 hrs. Our commander gives us sweet news. Three hundred railway wagons of ammunition have arrived, as well as 21 and 24 mm guns and 15 cm howitzers. We shall now be able to bombard the enemy for 70 hours instead of 22 and follow that with a new offensive!" ((2), more)
"— In France, leading light of civilisation, the communiqué never mentions the 'planes which fail to return from battles in the air. The British, on the contrary, do mention them. What is the result? That our communiqués give the impression that all our 'planes return. So when Boelke, the Flying officer, was killed, we were informed that he had just brought down his fortieth 'plane! It is stupefying! There you have a miniature reflection of the amazement people will feel after the war, when they know the truth." ((3), more)
"There has been a big uprising of the Bolsheviki in Petrograd. A telegram has come containing the news that some members of the Provisional Government have been arrested by the rioters and that their so-called 'Socialist Organisation' intends to overthrow the Government and take power into its own hands. It seems that the man Lenin, who, with his accomplice Trotsky, had been worsted in July by Kerensky's supporters, had reappeared and assumed complete control of the Organisation. Will Kerensky prove strong enough to withstand him? If not, a civil war will be inevitable." ((4), more)
"Le 31 de mois d'Août 1914Je partis de Deauville un peu avant minuitDans la petite auto de RouveyreAvec son chauffeur nous étions troisNous dîmes adieu à toute une époqueDes géants furieux se dressaient sur l'EuropeLes aigles quittaient leur aire attendant le soleilLes poissons voraces montaient des abîmesLes peuples accouraient pour se connaître à fondLes morts tremblaient de peur dans leurs sombres demeures" ((5), more)
(1) Excerpt from the report of Captain Karl von Müller of the German battleship Emden on the destruction of his ship by the Australian light cruiser Sydney on November 9, 1914. Emden had been part of the German East Asiatic Squadron based in Tsingtao, China, and had fled when war began. While most of the Squadron headed east across the Pacific, Emden raided Allied shipping in the Indian Ocean. Sydney had been completed in 1913 and had eight 6-inch guns, easily outmatching Emden's ten 4.1-inch guns.
Naval Battles of the First World War by Geoffrey Bennett, pp. 50, 51, copyright © Geoffrey Bennett 1968, 1974, publisher: Pan Books, publication date: 1983
(2) Turkish Second Lieutenant Mehmed Fasih writing on the Gallipoli Peninsula, November 9, 1915. With the imminent defeat of Serbia, the capture of its railway, and with Bulgaria joining the Central Powers, trains can run from Berlin, Germany, through Austria-Hungary, Serbia, and Bulgaria to Turkey and its capital Constantinople. The weapons and ammunition give the Turkish forces on Gallipoli renewed hope of their ultimate defeat of the Allied invasions of April and August, and of driving the invaders into the sea.
Intimate Voices from the First World War by Svetlana Palmer and Sarah Wallis, page 136, copyright © 2003 by Svetlana Palmer and Sarah Wallis, publisher: Harper Collins Publishers, publication date: 2003
(3) Extract from the entries for November 9, 1916 from the diary of Michel Corday, French senior civil servant. German ace Oswald Bölcke was killed on October 28, 1916, in a mid-air collision with fellow pilot Erwin Böhme during a dogfight. Bölcke and Böhme were both pursuing a British plane when another British plane, chased by Manfred von Richthofen, flew directly across their path. Böhme survived the mishap, but Bölcke could not control his damaged plane, and died when it struck the ground. In his diary, Corday had previously written about the secrecy of the French government and military, and imagined the surprise and dismay when, after the war, the French public learned the truth of the war and its casualties.
The Paris Front: an Unpublished Diary: 1914-1918 by Michel Corday, page 208, copyright © 1934, by E.P. Dutton & Co., Inc., publisher: E.P. Dutton & Co., Inc., publication date: 1934
(4) Beginning of the entry for November 9, (October 27, Old Style), 1917 from the diary of Florence Farmborough, an English nurse serving with the Russian Red Cross, and then in Romania. She greatly admired Alexander Kerensky, who had been Prime Minister and Minister of War for the Provisional Government. He was then attempting to rally troops to retake Petrograd. Vladimir Lenin and Leon Trotsky were the leaders of the Bolsheviks and the new government the Bolshevik Revolution brought to power. In July, the Bolsheviks and other leftists had failed to meet demonstrators' demands to act where the government would not, particularly in ending the war. In response, the Provisional Government imprisoned Bolsheviks including Trotsky. Lenin went into hiding.
Nurse at the Russian Front, a Diary 1914-18 by Florence Farmborough, pp. 327–328, copyright © 1974 by Florence Farmborough, publisher: Constable and Company Limited, publication date: 1974
(5) Beginning of 'La Petite Auto' by French poet, author, and critic Guillaume Apollinaire, an artilleryman, wounded in the head by shrapnel in March 1916. Never fully recovered, he died of influenza November 9, 1918 at the height of the pandemic. The first declaration of war of World War I was that of Austria-Hungary on Serbia on July 28, 1914, a month before Apollinaire and his friend Rouveyre set out for Paris. The poem beginsThe Little CarThe 31st of the month of August 1914I left Deauville a little before midnightIn Rouveyre's little carWith his chauffeur, we were threeWe said goodbye to an entire ageFurious giants stood upright over EuropeEagles abandoned their aeries waiting for the sunVoracious fish rose from the depthsPeoples flocked to understand each other to the coreThe dead trembled from fear in their dark dwellings
Calligrammes: Poems of Peace and War (1913–1916) by Guillaume Apollinaire, page 104, copyright © 1980 by the Regents of the University of California, publisher: University of California Press, publication date: 2004
