Kaisers Wilhelm of Germany and Franz Joseph of Austria-Hungary dance to the tune of King George V of Great Britain, President Poincaré of France, Tsar Nicholas of Russia, and King Albert of Belgium.
Image text: Concert Européen - European ConcertLe Dernier Tango . _! - The Last Tango ._!Modele Déposé - R. Dalvy, Editeur, 34, R. Chabrol, ParisReverse:Postmarked December 18, 1914
A French trench grenade launcher with a team of four — an observer, one to man the catapult, and two managing the grenades. Photograph from 'Ambulance No. 10; Personal Letters from the Front,' by Leslie Buswell. Most of Buswell's book consists of his letters in June, July, and August, 1915. A volunteer corps, the American Ambulance Field Service had over 200 ambulances in the field in 1916.
Image text: Text:Grenade catapult, first line trenches
Detail from the Memorial to the French Moroccan Division at Vimy Ridge. The theaters and battles in which the division played a role are recorded on the sides of the monument. © 2013, John M. Shea
Image text: 1918La LorraineJanuary 8 - Flireythe SommeApril 26 - Villers-Bretonneux, Bois de Hangardthe AisneMay 30 - Vauxbuin, ChazelleJune 12 - AmblenyJuly 18 to 20 - Dommiers ChaudumSeptember 2 to 8 - Terny-Sorny, Moulin de Laffaux, AllemantNovember 11 - VictoryNovember 17 - Entree a Chateau-Salins
Soldiers of the Great War Known Unto God, Cabaret Rouge Cemetery, Souchez, France. © 2013 by John M. Shea
Image text: A Soldier of the Great War Known Unto God
American troops parade in Paris, July 4, 1918.
Image text: American Troops in Parade — Paris — 4th of July 1918 A.P.ReverseAmerican Red CrossPost-Card
"Tschirschky is reported to have declared, with the evident intention that it should be reported to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, that Germany would support the Dual Monarchy through thick and thin, whatever should be decided against Serbia. . .. The sooner Austria attacked the better. Yesterday would have been better than today; today would be better than tomorrow. Even if the German press, which is wholly anti-Serbian today, should preach again in favor of peace, Vienna should not allow herself to be in doubt that the [German] Emperor and Empire would stick unconditionally to Austria-Hungary. One Great Power cannot speak more clearly to another than this." ((1), more)
"The feast was to start at seven o'clock, and nearly every soldier in all the regiments round here knew it was the American Fête Day. Suddenly at two o'clock commenced a tremendous artillery duel — the whole earth seemed to tremble and the noise of rifle fire almost drowned the explosions of shells — the Germans had attacked!. . . We all rushed to our cars to be ready for the call, and about six o'clock every car was ordered to X— — poor little village already badly enough damaged by the bombardment of a few hours before! We worked late and I got to bed at three-thirty, having carried some fifty wounded a distance of about ten kilometres — ten trips — two hundred kilometres! In all we carried away over three hundred and fifty crippled wrecks who three hours before were the pride of their nation and families!" ((2), more)
"Over the night of 3–4 July the defenders worked frantically on their third position, linking it through Barleux and Belloy-en-Santerre to the second position at Estrées. The French seized these last two villages on the afternoon of 4 July. Foreign legionnaires from the Moroccan Division assaulted Belloy after a three-hour bombardment. Their morale was excellent. Despite coming under withering close-range machine-gun fire from emplacements hidden until the moment of assault, the legionnaires pressed on into the village. As the bugler sounded the charge, the wounded men in no-man's land raised themselves up and cries of 'Vive la Légion! Vive la France!' could be heard above the gunfire. In the afternoon the legionnaires fought off the first of a series of counter-attacks from the woods to the north-east which 21 RIC had failed to take: the enemy could be seen dismounting from their lorries on the road a few hundred metres behind and immediately joining the attack. The fight went on throughout the night, often hand-to-hand; but the legionnaires kept the village." ((3), more)
"I am writing you this private letter with the greatest possible regret. I must inform you that it is my intention to refuse to perform any further military duties. I am doing this as a protest against the policy of the Government in prolonging the War by failing to state their conditions of peace.I have written a statement of my reasons, of which I enclose a copy. This statement is being circulated. I would have spared you this unpleasantness had it been possible.My only desire is to make things as easy as possible for you in dealing with my case. I will come to Litherland immediately I hear from you if that is your wish.I am fully aware of what I am letting myself in for." ((4), more)
"On July 4, [1918,] American Independence Day, as the culmination of a nation-wide shipbuilding 'crusade' to build transport ships for the needs of the Western Front, ninety-five ships were launched in American shipyards, seventeen of them in San Francisco. That day, President Wilson declared in a speech at Mount Vernon that the Allies had four main aims: the 'destruction of arbitrary power', national self-determination, national morality to be like individual morality, and the establishment of a peace organisation to prevent war.American troops were in action [on] the Somme on July 4, alongside the Australians, when more than a mile of ground was gained, the village of Hamel was captured, and 1,472 German soldiers were taken prisoner. It was during this attack that the first airborne supply to troops in battle took place, when British aircraft dropped 100,000 rounds of ammunition to the Australian machine gunners." ((5), more)
(1) A rumor gathered by one of the press agents in the Foreign Office that Austro-Hungarian Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs Berchtold sent to Austro-Hungarian Emperor Franz Joseph and President of the Hungarian Ministry Tisza on July 4, 1914. Tschirschky was the German Ambassador to Austria-Hungary.
The Origins of World War I, Second Edition, Revised, in Two Volumes by Sidney B. Fay, 226, 227, copyright © 1928 and 1930, The MacMillan Company; 1956 and 1958, Sidney B. Fay; 1966, The Free Press, publisher: The Free Press, a MacMillan Company, publication date: 1966, originally 1928 and
(2) Excerpt from a letter written July 6, 1915, by Leslie Buswell recounting the previous days. A driver with the American Ambulance Field Service, a volunteer organization attached to the French Armies, Buswell was stationed at Pont-à-Mousson, France, north of Nancy. His small book is a lively account of his experiences and grim work between June 17, and October 1915. Each unit of the Service consisted of 20 to 30 ambulances. In 1916 over 200 cars were in service.
Ambulance No. 10; Personal Letters from the Front by Leslie Buswell, pp. 44, 45, copyright © 1915, and 1915, by Houghton Mifflin Company, publisher: Houghton Mifflin Company, publication date: 1916
(3) In the first days of the Battle of the Somme, begun July 1, 1916, the French had breached the German first defensive line and at some points the second. The Moroccan Division that was so successful at Belloy-en-Santerre had been the first unit to break the German line in the war, having done so in the May, 1915 Second Battle of Artois. '21 RIC' was the 21st Régiment d'infanterie colonial.
Three Armies on the Somme by William Philpott, pp. 216, 217, copyright © 2009 by William Philpott, publisher: Alfred A. Knopf, publication date: 2009
(4) Letter dated July 4, 1917 from Siegfried Sassoon to the Commanding Officer of the Third Royal Welch Fusiliers. Sassoon was a British poet, author, Second Lieutenant in the Royal Welch Fusiliers, and recipient of the Military Cross for gallantry in action. Sassoon had been wounded, shot through the shoulder by a sniper, in an April 16 attack on the village of Fontaine-lès-Croisilles in the Battle of Arras, and was on convalescent leave in England in June. By June 15 Sassoon had concluded that the war begun 'as a war of defence and liberation, [had] become a war of aggression and conquest.'
Siegfried Sassoon Diaries 1915-1918 by Siegfried Sassoon, page 177, copyright © George Sassoon, 1983; Introduction and Notes Rupert Hart-Davis, 1983, publisher: Faber and Faber, publication date: 1983
(5) After four German offensives in 1918, the last ending on June 16, the Allies were anticipating a fifth. It would come on July 15. The Somme River sector had seen the Battle of the Somme in 1916 and Operation Michael, the first of the 1918 German offensives.
The First World War, a Complete History by Martin Gilbert, page 437, copyright © 1994 by Martin Gilbert, publisher: Henry Holt and Company, publication date: 1994
