Postcard of Myslowitz and the Dreikaiserreichsecke — the three empire's corner — where the Russian, Austro-Hungarian, and German empires met. The left pane shows a Bismarck tower. The three emperors are Tsar Nicholas II of Russia, Kaiser Willhelm II of Germany, and Kaiser Franz-Joseph of Austria-Hungary.
Image text: Myslowitz O.S.DreikaiserreichseckeBismarckturm bei MyslowitzThree Empire CornerBismarck Tower at MyslowitzReverse:Postmarked January 12, 1911, ГРАНИЦА (border)Dreikaiserreichsecke, No. 65, Verlag M.
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
A squadron of the German Imperial Navy under the eye of a Zeppelin off the North Sea island and port of Helgoland.
Image text: Deutscher Geschwader vor HelgolandGerman squadron off HeligolandLogo, bottom left: M Dieterle, Kielbottom right: PH 125Handwritten: 1915Reverse:Verlag: M Dieterle, Kiel.
Neutral Sweden labeling barrels of grease and oil as neutral. The barrels form a line to ships on the Baltic Sea from which they could reach Germany and Russia. One of a series of postcards on neutral nations by Em. Dupuis.
Image text: On the barrels: Graisse Neutre; Huile Neutre - Neutral grease; Neutral OilSuèdeIl y a bien quelques fuites . . . SwedenThere are certainly some leakages.Signed: Em. Dupuis 1916Reverse:Visé Paris. No. 112Logo: Paris Color 152 Quai de JemmapesCarte Postale
Copy of 'Vieux Charles,' the 1916 Spad VII of French ace Georges Guynemer, landing at Olde Rhinebeck Aereodrome, Rhinebeck, New York, September 15, 2013. © 2013 John M. Shea
Image text: Vieux CharlesOld Charles
Amputees at a hospital in Budapest, Austria-Hungary in the summer of 1915. Some had lost their feet to freezing in the Carpathian Mountains in the winter. From 'Antwerp to Gallipoli' by Arthur Ruhl.
Image text: In a hospital garden, Budapest. All of these Austro-Hungarian soldiers have had one or both legs amputated.
"My interviews with the German Ambassador confirm my impression that Germany is, if anything, in favour of the uncompromising attitude adopted by Austria.The Berlin Cabinet, who could have prevented the whole of this crisis developing, appear to be exerting no influence on their ally.The Ambassador considers that the Servian reply is insufficient.The attitude of the German Government is most alarming.It seems to me that Great Britain is in a better position than any other Power to make another attempt at Berlin to induce the German Government to take the necessary action. There is no doubt that the key of the situation is to be found at Berlin." ((1), more)
"The Germans tempered the cruelty of war by shielding their troops with expensive technology; the Austro-Hungarians economized—before and during the war—and threw their infantry away like trash. 'The Germans expend metal, we expend life,' a Russian general confessed in 1915, and the same could be said of the Austrians. . . . Gorlice-Tarnów was more of a breakthrough for the Germans than the Austrians. Despite the fact that whole Russian artillery regiments were limited to just ten shells a day by this date, Austro-Hungarian battle reports spoke of yet more fruitless and costly attacks and limited gains." ((2), more)
"The Austrians counterattacked in the central Adriatic on 23 July. Cruisers, destroyers, and torpedo boats raided the Tremiti Islands and the Italian coast from Grottamare to Termoli. They repeated the attacks, joined by aircraft, somewhat farther to the north between Fano and Ancona on the 28th. The same day they made an unsuccessful attempt to recapture Pelagosa. The expedition consisted of two cruisers, six destroyers, and a number of torpedo boats, with the submarine UB.14 scouting in advance." ((3), more)
"A total of twenty-nine ships managed to escape from the Baltic by July 1916 before the Swedish government (under German pressure and as a result of friction with the British over the blockade) announced on 28 July that the Swedish navy had laid a new minefield in the Kogrund Channel at the entrance to the Sound and that only Swedish vessels would be taken by pilots through it. This had the effect of forcing vessels beyond the very shallowest draft out of Swedish waters into German minefields. The Allies protested hotly and the question became a matter of considerable discussion, but it was not until May 1917 that the Allies reached an agreement with the Swedes that permitted a total of 90,000 net tons of British and Allied shipping to leave the Baltic through the Kogrund passage in return for the release of a specific number of Swedish ships and cargoes detained by the British." ((4), more)
"Spad XII S382 arrived at N.3, then based at St. Pol-sur-Mer to support the British Passchendaele offensive, in July 1917. Guynemer used it to attack a DFW C.V on the 5th, but it was damaged by the enemy observer and was sent back for repairs until the 20th. On July 27, Guynemer used S382 to shoot down an Albatros scout with eight machine gun rounds and one cannon shell, killing Leutnant der Reserve Fritz Vossen of Jasta 33. He downed a DFW over Westroosebeke the next day using two shells and 30 bullets, but damage from its return fire forced him to send S382 back to the shop until August 15." ((5), more)
"A boy from Idaho, a big broad boy, had his head all bound up and the tag around his neck, put on at a dressing station, said: 'Eyes shot away and both feet gone.' I talked to him and patted him on the shoulder, assuring him that everything would be all right now. He moaned through the bandages that his head was splitting with pain. I gave him morphine. Suddenly aware of the other wounds, he asked: 'Sa-ay! what's the matter with my legs?' Reaching down to feel his legs before I could stop him, he uttered a heartbreaking scream. I held his hands firmly until the drug I had given him took effect." ((6), more)
(1) Telegraph from Sazonov, Russian Minister for Foreign Affairs, to Count Benckendorff, Russian Ambassador in London, July 15/28 (New Style), 1914.Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia at noon on July 28, 1914.France, Russia, and Italy continue to support British Foreign Secretary Edward Grey's proposal for a Great Power conference. Germany continues to oppose it, insisting the issue is between Austria-Hungary and Serbia. Ambassadors report that Austria-Hungary is unwilling to take part in a conference or talks with Russia.Reading the Serbian reply to Austria-Hungary's ultimatum, Kaiser Wilhelm wrote to German Foreign Secretary Jagow that 'every cause for war falls to the ground.'French President Raymond Poincaré has finally returned from St. Petersburg.Austria-Hungary has mobilized eight army corps against Serbia. Russia has mobilized 12 army corps in its southern districts facing Austria-Hungary.Writing to Tschirschky, the German Ambassador in Vienna, German Chancellor Theobald von Bethmann Hollweg summarized his concern that Germany would be blamed for bringing the world to war: Serbia had substantially agreed to Austria-Hungary's ultimatum. Austria-Hungary plans to go to war, but it will not be ready to begin military operations until August 12. During the intervening two weeks, Germany will be pressured to join a peace conference. Failing to do so, it will be blamed for war. 'It is imperative,' the Chancellor writes, 'that the responsibility for the eventual extension of the war among those nations not originally immediately concerned should, under all circumstances, fall on Russia.'
Collected Diplomatic Documents Relating to the Outbreak of the European War, 48, 49, publisher: His Majesty's Stationery Office by Harrison and Sons, publication date: 1915
(2) July 28, 1915: Austria-Hungary's war is one year old, as is Serbia's. The Gorlice-Tarnow Offensive, a joint German, Austro-Hungarian offensive begun on May 2, 1915, continued to drive Russia back, out of Austro-Hungarian territory, but also out of Polish-Russia with Warsaw itself threatened. But Austria-Hungary was no match for Russia, and its victories were Germany's. After a year of war, Austria-Hungary's casualty toll was approaching two million men, dead, missing, prisoner, wounded.
A Mad Catastrophe by Geoffrey Wawro, pp. 371, 372, copyright © 2014 by Geoffrey Wawro, publisher: Basic Books
(3) Italy had declared war on Austria-Hungary on May 23, 1915. One July 11, Italian troops occupied the Austro-Hungarian island Pelagosa in the Adriatic Sea.
A Naval History of World War I by Paul G. Halpern, page 149, copyright © 1994 by the United States Naval Institute, publisher: UCL Press, publication date: 1994
(4) Neutral Sweden was important to the Entente Allies as it allowed access to a Russia in need of arms and other supplies, and to Germany as an important source of iron ore and other raw materials. The Swedes implemented a convoy system that could guide ships safely through the dangerous waters — mined and patrolled by submarines on both sides — of the Baltic Sea. The Kalmar Sound lies between the east coast of Sweden and the island of Öland. The Kattegat and Skaggerak are the straits separating the Danish peninsula from Norway and Sweden. The British blockade very effectively denied Germany means of sailing out of the North Sea, and gave it a means to apply pressure to Sweden and other neutral nations.
A Naval History of World War I by Paul G. Halpern, page 211, copyright © 1994 by the United States Naval Institute, publisher: UCL Press, publication date: 1994
(5) On July 28 and 28, 1917, French ace Georges Guynemer flew the new Spad XII modified to implement an armament he had proposed: a cannon that fired a 37 mm shell through a hollow propeller shaft. The breech of the gun extended back between his legs, and he would have had to reload it for the second shell he fired on the 28th. The Albatros scouts were some of Germany's leading fighter planes. DFW manufactured over 2,000 of the two-seater reconnaissance C.V, with another 1,250 produced under license by other firms. British General Douglas Haig would launch the battle of Passchendaele on July 31.
SPAD XIII vs. Fokker D VII: Western Front 1916-18 by Gutman, page 169, publisher: Osprey
(6) Excerpt from I Saw Them Die by Shirley Millard, quoted in World War I and America. Millard served as a Red Cross nurse in a French military hospital. The heartbreaking boy from Idaho was likely a casualty of the Franco-American Aisne-Marne Offensive.
World War I and America by A. Scott Berg, page 513, copyright © 2017 by Literary Classics of the United States, publisher: The Library of America, publication date: 2017
