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A French officer charging into battle in a watercolor by Fernand Rigouts. The original watercolor on deckle-edged watercolor paper is signed F. R. 1917, and addressed to Mademoiselle Henriette Dangon.

A French officer charging into battle in a watercolor by Fernand Rigouts. The original watercolor on deckle-edged watercolor paper is signed F. R. 1917, and addressed to Mademoiselle Henriette Dangon.

The soldier's life in the Hindenburg Trenches, postcard from a drawing by Kurzweg
Text:
Hindenburg-Graben
zum Friseur
Speise Fett
Bitte klingeln
Soldiers' Life in the Hindenburg trench
to the barber
cooking fat
please ring the bell

The soldier's life in the Hindenburg Trenches, postcard from a drawing by Kurzweg

Uncle Sam weighs the lives lost in the German sinking of the Lusitania (and other ships, as seen on the horizon) to his cash flow from selling weapons and other supplies to the combatants, particularly the allies. The moneybags have tipped the scales. A 1916 postcard by Em. Dupuis.

Uncle Sam weighs the lives lost in the German sinking of the Lusitania (and other ships, as seen on the horizon) to his cash flow from selling weapons and other supplies to the combatants, particularly the allies. The moneybags have tipped the scales. A 1916 postcard by Em. Dupuis.

Italy's armed forces at the ready in a 1915 postcard. In the foreground the artillery, infantry, an Alpine soldier (in feathered hat), and a Bersaglieri (in plumed headgear). Behind them are a bugler and lancer; in the distance marines and colonial troops. The Italian navy is off shore, an airship and planes overhead. On the reverse are the lyrics of a patriotic Italian March by Angelo Balladori, lyrics by Enrico Mercatali. It ends with a call to the brothers of Trento and Trieste, Austro-Hungarian territory with large ethnic Italian populations.
Reverse:
Marcia Italica
D'Italia flammeggin le sante bandiere
Baciate dal sole, baciate dal vento,
Su l'aspro sentier di Bezzecca e di Trento
De l'alma Trieste, sul cerulo mar.
. . . 
Fratelli di Trento, Triestini fratelli,
La patria s'è desta alla grande riscossa!
Dell'aquila ingorda la barbara possa
Dai liberi petti domata sarà!


Parole di Enrico Mercatali
Musica di Angelo Balladori.
Casa Editrice Sonzogno - Milano. 1915.

Italy's armed forces at the ready in a 1915 postcard. In the foreground the artillery, infantry, an Alpine soldier (in feathered hat), and a Bersaglieri (in plumed headgear). Behind them are a bugler and lancer; in the distance marines and colonial troops. The Italian navy is off shore, an airship and planes overhead. On the reverse are the lyrics of a patriotic Italian March by Angelo Balladori, lyrics by Enrico Mercatali. It ends with a call to the brothers of Trento and Trieste, Austro-Hungarian territory with large ethnic Italian populations.

Imperial Russian field artillery in combat training in the snow at Camp B.K.
Text, reverse:
Russian artillery on combat training at camp B.K. (Translation courtesy Thomas Faust, eBay's Urfaust.

Imperial Russian field artillery in combat training in the snow at Camp B.K.

Quotations found: 7

Friday, March 16, 1917

"We are tired; we all look forward to some leave after the huge amount of exertion since October [1916]. My men are waiting for relief, for the moment when they will leave the firing line, when they'll be able to sleep through the night without having to get up to do chores and wash and change their clothers, which they can only do every twenty-four days here. They no longer have the strength to resist an attack, they haven't even the muscles to throw grenades." ((1), more)

Saturday, March 17, 1917

"At the appointed time, the patrols, some of them already involved in hand-grenade battles with the enemy, withdrew towards the Somme. We were the last to cross the River, before the bridges were blown up by a sapper detachment. Our position was still coming in for drumfire. It wasn't for another few hours that the first enemy outposts reached the Somme. We withdrew behind the Siegfried Line, then still in the process of construction; the battalion took up quarters in the village of Lehaucourt, on the St-Quentin Canal. With my batman, I moved into a cosy little house, whose cupboards and chests were still well supplied. My faithful Knigge would not be persuaded by anything to set up his bed in the warm living room, insisting, as ever, on the chilly kitchen — typical of the restraint of our Lower Saxons." ((2), more)

Sunday, March 18, 1917

"In the meantime, on 18 March [1917] came news that three American ships had been sunk in the war zone with the loss of fifteen American lives. Lansing declared that such acts amounted to 'an announcement that a state of war exists,' and House concluded that 'we are already in the war' and might as well 'throw all our resources against Germany.' Across the country newspapers clamored for war, but Wilson still hesitated." ((3), more)

Monday, March 19, 1917

"'Can I count on [your company] if I give them orders to act against the mutineers?'

This conversation between the colonel and me took place in front of everyone. We were almost in the middle of the company, which was drawn up in two ranks, in such a way that I could see half the men from in front. These men were fixedly watching my face, and my face only.

'I don't think so, sir.'

'Answer yes or no.'

'No, sir.'

The colonel went out. In the street the noise continued."
((4), more)

Tuesday, March 20, 1917

"This Oath of Allegiance has been sent to the armies along the Galician Front. We were told that the soldiers were assembled into groups and, after hearing the text, the men repeated it word for word, holding up their arm the while. Russians, Jews, Moslems, all pledged their loyalty to the Provisional Government; then they cried a loud 'Ura'. A new era has begun for them. In the background, there is still a WAR to be waged, and a formidable foe is still lurking in the vanquished territory of their own land." ((5), more)


Quotation contexts and source information

Friday, March 16, 1917

(1) French Captain Paul Tuffrau writing on March 16, 1917. Tuffrau had fought since the Battle of the Marne in 1914, and had been wounded twice. He was deployed to Verdun in September, 1916. He had two weeks leave in January, 1917.

Intimate Voices from the First World War by Svetlana Palmer and Sarah Wallis, page 208, copyright © 2003 by Svetlana Palmer and Sarah Wallis, publisher: Harper Collins Publishers, publication date: 2003

Saturday, March 17, 1917

(2) German Lieutenant Ernst Jünger and his men had covered the withdrawal of German troops during Operation Alberich, the German strategic retreat of 1917 to a shorter, well-entrenched defensive system. The Allies advanced cautiously, into a mined and booby-trapped zone of destruction. Jünger could rest on March 17, 1917. The Siegfried, or Hindenburg, Line was actually a Siegfried Zone of four trench lines.

Storm of Steel by Ernst Jünger, page 130, copyright © 1920, 1961, Translation © Michael Hoffman, 2003, publisher: Penguin Books, publication date: 2003

Sunday, March 18, 1917

(3) 'In the meantime' above refers to ten days, March 12 to 22, that saw the Russian Revolution, the abdication of Tsar Nicholas II, and United States recognition of the new government. Russian autocracy had been one barrier to United States entry into the war, and it had been swept away. Germany's policy of unrestricted submarine warfare, renewed on February 1, 1917 and far more extensively than that of 1915, provided the greater argument for war in sinkings of American ships and loss of American lives on those and other ships. Robert Lansing was President Woodrow Wilson's Secretary of State, Edward House his friend and advisor.

Woodrow Wilson: World Statesman by Kendrick A. Clements, page 168, copyright © 1987 by G. K. Hall & Co.; 1999 by Kendrick A. Clements, publisher: Ivan R. Dee, Publisher, publication date: 1987

Monday, March 19, 1917

(4) Captain Emilio Lussu of Italy's Sardinian Brigade writing of a mutiny in his regiment in early 1917. Lussu orders his men to get their rifles and calls the roll. None have mutinied, and they do not turn on their captain, as happened in mutinous companies. The mutineers called for an end to the war, for going on leave, and for an end to lies about the war. The mutiny ends peacefully, with seven men eventually punished.

Sardinian Brigade by Emilio Lussu, pp. 224–225, copyright © 1939 by Alfred A. Knopf, Inc., publisher: Knopf, publication date: 1939

Tuesday, March 20, 1917

(5) Florence Farmborough, an English nurse serving with the Russian Red Cross, writing about the Oath of Allegiance to the Provisional Government of Russia, ratified by its Council of Ministers on March 20 (March 7 Old Style), 1917. What Farmborough refers to as 'another interesting document [that] has been sent to me' was entitled, 'Text of Oath for Orthodox and Catholics.' The oath was signed by Prince Lvov, head of the Provisional Government formed in the first days of the Russian Revolution. Galicia was the northeastern region of Austria-Hungary, and a major battleground between Russia and Austria-Hungary.

Nurse at the Russian Front, a Diary 1914-18 by Florence Farmborough, page 261, copyright © 1974 by Florence Farmborough, publisher: Constable and Company Limited, publication date: 1974


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