Conrad von Hötzendorf, Chief of the Austro-Hungarian General Staff, Vienna, 1914. By the end of that year he had lost as many as one million men, much of his country's rolling stock, and the northeastern region of Galicia. His forces had also been defeated by Serbia three times.
Image text: Generalstabschef Conrad von HötzendorfChief of the General Staff Conrad von HötzendorfCh. Skolik jun.Wien, 1914I. Wallfischg. 11Reverse:Postkartenverlad Brüder Kohn Wien I
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
The rulers of the Central Powers stumped by Verdun. Franz Joseph of Austria-Hungary, Mohammed V of Turkey, Kaiser Wilhelm of Germany, and Czar Ferdinand of Bulgaria puzzle over a map labeled "Verdun." The ink and watercolor drawing is dated March 4, 1916. By R. DLC?The German assault on Verdun began on February 21, 1916 and continued through August.
Image text: Illustrated map labeled "Verdun." Drawing dated March 4, 1916. By R. DLC?
Parted red curtains; in the center, in a trench, a German soldier, eyes closed, hands in overcoat pockets, leans against one side of a trench, smoking a pipe, his rifle resting on the other side of the trench. To the right, a Red soldier, red from red fur hat to red boots, holds two rifles. To the left, a Russian soldier casts away his his hat, backpack, and rifle. Across the bottom of the stage it reads, 1918. Operett: "Trockij", Operetta Trotsky. A watercolor postcard by Schima Martos.
Image text: 1918. Operett: "Trockij", Operetta Trotsky
Allied Commanders Henri Philippe Pétain, Douglas Haig, Ferdinand Foch, and John J. Pershing. Foch was Allied Commander in Chief, the other men commanders of the French Army, the British Expeditionary Force, and the American Expeditionary Force respectively. From The Memoirs of Marshall Foch by Marshall Foch.
Image text: Commanders of the Allies in 1918 and their autographs.Pétain Haig Foch Pershing
"In my capacity as Chief of the General Staff I am only concerned with the exact terms of the decision, whether directly aiming at the outbreak of a war with Serbia or only reckoning with the possibility of war. . . . Hence it would be wise to avoid everything that might prematurely alarm our adversary and lead him to take countermeasures; in all respects a peaceable appearance should be displayed." ((1), more)
"June 4: Allied attack in the centre. Gain 250—500 yards on a one-mile front. Allies' casualties 6,500, Turkish 9,000.June 21 and following days: French attack on the right. Gain of about 200 yards. French casualties 2,500, Turkish 6,000.June 28: British attack on the left. Gain of half of mile. British casualties 3,800, Turkish unknown.July 5: Turkish attack along the whole line. Nothing gained. Casualties, Turks 16,0000, Allies negligible.July 12/13: Allied attack on a one-mile front. Gain of 400 yards. Casualties, Allies 4,000, Turks 10,000." ((2), more)
"Another massive attempt to get the advance moving again on 11–12 July, when more diphosgene shells were ready, briefly reawakened hops. Souville was almost cut off from French support and the gas cloud behind it stretched down to the streets of Verdun, as it had in June. A few troops managed to get on the roof of the fort, like Mangin's men at Douaumont in May, but, like Mangin's men, they were brushed off." ((3), more)
"We heard that many soldiers of the 91st Regiment had refused to return to the trenches; some of them had left their regiment and were making their way eastwards towards Russia. Motors with maxim-guns were being sent after them, with orders to force them to return, or to fire at them on the road. It was said that certain regiments had refused to take runaways back into their ranks, and one regiment, in reserve and awaiting reinforcements, had refused point blank to accept any new recruits." ((4), more)
"Henceforth the armies should envisage the resumption of the offensive. Commanders at all echelons will prepare for this; they will focus resolutely on using simple, audacious, and rapid procedures of attack. The soldier will be trained in the same sense and his offensive spirit developed to the maximum." ((5), more)
(1) Austro-Hungarian Chief of the General Staff Conrad writing to Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs Berchtold on July 12, 1914 after a meeting earlier in the day.Hungarian Premier Count Tisza had not yet come around to support the decision for war against Serbia taken by the Austro-Hungarian Council of Ministers for Common Affairs on July 7. Berchtold had not finalized the delivery date for the non-negotiable ultimatum from Austria to Serbia which he wanted to delay until French President Poincaré had left Russia after a state visit. Berchtold also required time to carry out 'the diplomatic preliminaries.'
The Origins of the War of 1914, Volume Two: The Crisis of July 1914 from the Sarajevo outrage to the Austro-Hungarian general mobilization by Luigi Albertini, page 173, publisher: Oxford University Press, publication date: 1952
(2) A footnote from Alan Moorehead's classic account of the Dardanelles and Gallipoli campaign summarizing the engagements of June and July, 1915 at Cape Helles at the tip of the Gallipoli Peninsula. Totals of his casualty numbers for the two months are 16,800 Allied, 41,000 Turkish, and a net Allied gain of possibly one mile on a one mile front. The Turkish defenders continued to hold the high ground.
Gallipoli by Alan Moorehead, page 208, copyright © 1956 by Alan Moorehead, publisher: Perennial Classics 2002 (HarperCollins Publications 1956), publication date: 2002 (1956)
(3) The Battle of Verdun, begun on February 21, 1916, continued. The Germans had first used the suffocating poison gas diphosgene in a June 22 attack at Fleury, but did not have enough shells to resume the next day. On July 11 they did, and again mounted a major assault on Verdun. One of the greatest of the forts defending the city, Douaumont had fallen on February 25. French General Mangin had fruitlessly tried to retake it in May, when his men made it atop the massive structure, but were soon wiped out.
The Road to Verdun by Ian Ousby, page 296, copyright © 2002 by The Estate of Ian Ousby, publisher: Anchor Books, publication date: 2003
(4) Excerpt from the entry for Thursday, July 12, 1917 (June 29 Old Style) from the diary of Florence Farmborough, an English nurse serving with the Russian Red Cross. The initial success of the Kerensky Offensive launched on July 1, Russia's last offensive of World War I, was coming to a end as German troops strengthened the Austro-Hungarian line, and as Russian troops deserted or failed to advance.
Nurse at the Russian Front, a Diary 1914-18 by Florence Farmborough, page 280, copyright © 1974 by Florence Farmborough, publisher: Constable and Company Limited, publication date: 1974
(5) French Commander Henri Philippe Pétain's Directive Number 5, of July 12, 1918 echoed Allied Commander Ferdinand Foch's letter to Pétain on June 28. Although Pétain was much more cautious than Foch, he had claimed in June that, if the Allies survived the month, they could resume the offensive in July.
Pyrrhic Victory; French Strategy and Operations in the Great War by Robert A. Doughty, page 464, copyright © 2005 by the President and Fellows of Harvard College, publisher: Harvard University Press, publication date: 2005
