Search by or
Search: Quotation Context Tags
A Liebig bullion card from the series "Colonies of the European Powers" — The German colonies of Togo, Cameroon, and German East Africa, c1910.
Russian troops fleeing a solitary German soldier. The Russian First Army invaded Germany in August 1914, and defeated the Germans in the Battle of Gumbinnen on the 20th. In September the Germans drove them out of Russia in the First Battle of the Masurian Lakes. In September and October, a joint German, Austro-Hungarian offensive drove the Russians back almost to Warsaw. Illustration by E. H. Nunes.
Chosen Boy, a 1918 watercolor by Paul Klee. From Paul Klee: Early and Late Years: 1894-1940. © 2013 Moeller Fine Art
Lithograph postcard of the uniforms of the Belgian military including infantry, cavalry, and bicycle corps beneath a portrait of King Albert I.
An Italian soldier lying in the snow waving a handkerchief to a plane overhead. The logo is for Societa Italiana Aviazione, founded in 1916, which became part of Fiat Aviation in 1918.
"The Germans and rebel Boers were still holding out in various sections of the Kameruns during 1915, and it was the business of the French, Belgian, and British forces to subdue them. Many small engagements took place, but with the capture of the forts at Garna on June 11th, and that of Ngaundere on July 29th, the Germans were practically dispossessed of their colony, although in the fall of 1915, a considerable force still occupied Yaunds and did not surrender until New Year's Day, 1916." ((1), more)
"Demoralization, surrender, and desertion are assuming huge proportions." ((2), more)
"Half an hour before dawn the trench garrison stood to arms and there was still complete quiet. Then at 3.15 A.M., with dramatic suddenness came the carefully planned German stroke. The site of the stables of the chateau was blown up, whilst a sudden hissing sound was heard by the two companies of the 8/Rifle Brigade on either side of the crater, and a bright crimson glare over the crater turned the whole scene red. Jets of flame as if from a line of powerful fire-hoses, spraying fire instead of water, shot across the front trenches of the Rifle Brigade and a thick black cloud formed. It was the first attack on the British with liquid fire." ((3), more)
"The country is resplendent with green. In the distance, through the mist on the horizon, lie outlined the houses and ruins of Dixmude, Caeskerke, the Troost Farm, the houses of Burg and Tanks. We could hear the gunfire; two aeroplanes were having a dog fight and using their machine-guns.. . .We left the line at Milestone 19 of the Yser, where the 2nd Division starts. Following a communication trench to begin with, we crossed the fields and reached Milestone 2, on the Dixmude-Alveringem road. It was a quiet day—an exchange of rifle shots and the drone of a few 210-cm. shells, which we heard pass overhead, destined for Caeskerke halt." ((4), more)
". . . Finally, on the morning of the 1st we make our way down. We have to walk slowly in single file along a dangerous ridge under enemy fire. I'll never forget this for as long as I live. It's about 10 p.m. when it gets to my turn to go. The path takes almost an hour. I'm on top of the ridge and I go on step by step ducking the shrapnel fire. Nothing. I continue. After two paces I'm still unscathed. At the third, Zani from Vicenza, ten metres in front of me, is hit in the head. He screams and falls down the precipice. The poor wretch's head smashed on the mountainside. I see his body tumbling down. He was a good lad. I keep going, constantly asking myself when my turn will come. Someone behind me is hurt, screams, but keeps going. At one point the bullets are coming thicker and faster. The ridge is interrupted by a crevasse. I throw myself in. Fandella, the corporal of the 15th is already down there. We're lying on the corpse of a poor Alpine soldier. The firing is constant. A rock above our heads is hit and covers us in rubble. Fandella's lip is cut. I'm still unscathed. We get to Spleca at about 5 p.m.I'm shattered." ((5), more)
(1) Germany lost most of its colonies in 1914, but war continued in Africa even after the armistice in 1918. Rebel Boers from the Union of South Africa had also alongside the Germans in German Southwest Africa. In German Kamerun (Cameroons), they faced French and British armies that did not always coordinate their activities.
King's Complete History of the World War by W.C. King, page 167, copyright © 1922, by W.C. King, publisher: The History Associates, publication date: 1922
(2) Russian Minister of War, General Poplivanov, to his ministerial colleagues. The Russian front has collapsed before the German-Austro-Hungarian Gorlice-Tarnow Offensive.Quoted in Gilbert, p. 176.
The First World War, a Complete History by Martin Gilbert, page 176, copyright © 1994 by Martin Gilbert, publisher: Henry Holt and Company, publication date: 1994
(3) In July 1915, British and German forces fought three engagements in Hooge, a village near Ypres, with a destroyed chateau held by the Germans, and its stables held by the British. On July 19, the British initiated an attack by setting off a mine that opened a crater 120 feet across, gaining a small amount of ground. A second attack on the 22nd had no mine, no element of surprise, and failed. On the morning of July 30, the Germans attacked with 'liquid-fire', a weapon the French had already faced.
Military Operations France and Belgium, 1915, Vol. II, Battles of Aubers Ridge, Festubert, and Loos by J. E. Edmonds, page 104, copyright © asserted, publisher: Macmillan and Co., Limited, publication date: 1928
(4) Two paragraphs from Belgian King Albert's diary entry for July 31, 1915, a day on which he visited the sector held by the 5th Belgian Division, setting out about 4:30 in the morning. In a visit lasting 'exactly 1 hour and 25 minutes,' he met with the 2nd and 3rd Chausseurs, and the 1st Regiment of the Line, recording the names of officers he met. He was satisfied with the condition of the trenches and dugouts.
The War Diaries of Albert I King of the Belgians by Albert I, pp. 51-53, copyright © 1954, publisher: William Kimber
(5) Italian infantryman Virgilio Bonamore wrote of fighting the Austro-Hungarians in the Julian Alps. Most of his battalion suffered frostbite in the last days of July, 1915, a period during which it rained constantly. On the morning of August 1, his unit was relieved, and made its way along the ridge, vulnerable, in single file.
Intimate Voices from the First World War by Svetlana Palmer and Sarah Wallis, page 159, copyright © 2003 by Svetlana Palmer and Sarah Wallis, publisher: Harper Collins Publishers, publication date: 2003
1 2 Next
