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Postcard of a drawing dated April 2, 1915 by V. Lange of a German soldier at his observation post behind sniper plates.
Postcard for travel to Brno for the Slet, a Sokol gymnastics festival on June 27, 28, and 29, 1914. By E. Kouby.
French commander Joffre opens an Easter egg to reveal Alsace. The sender sent kisses to Jeanne Charbonnel on April 10, 1915. April 4 was Easter.
French folding postcard map of Verdun and the Meuse River, number 9 from the series Les Cartes du Front. Montfaucon is in the upper left and St. Mihiel at the bottom.
A hold-to-light postcard of the German and Austro-Hungarian victory (shortlived) over the Russians in the Uzroker Pass in the Carpathians on January 28, 1915. Franz Conrad von Hötzendorf, Chief of the Austro-Hungarian General Staff, launched an offensive with three armies on January 23, including the new Austro-Hungarian Seventh Army under General Karl von Pflanzer-Baltin.
"By April 1915 the villagers of Nanteuil-de-Bourzac, and, indeed, the women of France in general, had plenty that might make them susceptible to depression. Victory was nowhere in sight, and casualties were already in excess of half a million men killed or wounded. It was evident that the short and victorious war to which their sons and husbands had so resolutely set off was not within reach. . . . 'There are so many dying now that it makes you tremble,' Marie [Pireaud] confessed, and she begged her husband, 'Oh do all that you can to avoid all danger because your death would be mine.'" ((1), more)
"After that Švejk began to talk of the famous orders which had been read out to them before they got into the train. One was the army order, signed by Franz Joseph, and another came from Archduke Joseph Ferdinand, the Supreme Commander of the Eastern Army and Group. Both concerned the events on the Dukla Pass on 3 April 1915, when two battalions of the 28th regiment including their officers went over to the Russians to the strains of their regimental band." ((2), more)
"In Memorium [Easter 1915]The flowers left thick at nightfall in the woodThis Eastertide call into mind the men,Now far from home, who, with their sweethearts, shouldHave gathered them and will do never again." ((3), more)
"The ill-fated attack against the St. Mihiel salient began on March 30 [1915] with 73rd Division attacking along the Moselle River. On April 3, XII Corp attacked on its left, then on April 5, VIII and XXXI corps attacked on the left of XII Corps, resulting in pressure along the entire southern face of the salient. Support came from 376 artillery pieces, 107 of which were heavy. The French hoped these sequenced attacks would draw the Germans to the south, making them vulnerable to attacks further north . . .The French intended to assault one hill in the heights, Les Éparges . . . The attack on the western face of the salient began on April 5, but heavy rain and poor visibility delayed the operation. As visibility improved, scheduled artillery fire began destroying enemy positions and cutting wire at 1100 hours, and the infantry assault began at 1415." ((4), more)
"Russian attacks [in the Carpathian mountains] came in a series of short jabs through the valleys, broken off for lack of force after they had won initial successes. This, in mountain-conditions, was an excellent way of proceeding, for the Russians completely confused Austrian reserves without, themselves, running into insuperable supply-difficulties. Yet the Austrian commanders could not afford the general retreat that might have saved things: once they lost the mountains, they thought, they would be pushed back on Budapest. Their armies stayed in the mountains, losing thousands of prisoners. An attack on III Army produced crisis; appeals went from Conrad to Ludendorff and Falkenhayn; by 6th April a new German force — Beskidenkorps, under Marwitz — was made up of troops from Ludendorff's front and Südarmee (two and a half divisions). Its intervention, together with the problems of supply brought by the Russians' advance, brought the Carpathian offensive to a halt." ((5), more)
(1) The letters of a young French couple from the Dordogne, Paul and Marie Pereaud, are in the French military archives in Vincennes. Paul fought at Verdun, the Somme, in the Nivelle Offensive, and in northern Italy. Marie tended the family's farm with her parents and in-laws. The couple corresponded through the five years the war kept them apart.
Your Death Would Be Mine; Paul and Marie Pireaud in the Great War by Martha Hanna, page 72, copyright © 2006 by Martha Hanna, publisher: Harvard University Press, publication date: 2006
(2) The Good Soldier Švejk (or Schweik) is the hero of Jaroslav Hašek's novel of the same name. Both Švejk and Hašek are Czech, as are the two battalions that deserted to the Russians in the battles of the Carpathian Mountain passes. Švejk and his Czech regiment were on a train in Galicia heading off to fight the Russians. The Army Order of April 17, 1915 from Austro-Hungarian Emperor Franz Joseph that Švejk extemporizes upon read, 'With a heart overflowing with grief it is my command that the Imperial and Royal Infantry Regiment no. 28 be struck off the roll of my army for cowardice and treason. The regimental standard is to be withdrawn from the dishonoured regiment and handed over to the War Museum. This day marks the end of the existence of a regiment which was morally poisoned by the atmosphere at home and went into the field to commit treason.'
The Good Soldier Švejk by Jaroslav Hašek, page 450, copyright © Cecil Parrott, 1973 (translation), publisher: Penguin
(3) "In Memorium [Easter 1915]' by Edward Thomas. An English writer, Thomas began writing poetry in 1914, after being encouraged to do so by the American poet Robert Frost. He enlisted in the Artists' Rifles in July 1915, and was promoted to Lance-Corporal by November. Thomas's June 1916 application for a commission in the Royal Artillery was accepted in September. By the end of the year he was a 2nd Lieutenant and volunteered to serve overseas. In February 1917, he was serving in the Arras sector, where the British were preparing a major offensive. On April 9, 1917, in the first hour of the Battle of Arras, Edward Thomas was killed by a shell.
The Collected Poems of Edward Thomas by Edward Thomas, page 58, copyright © R. George Thomas 1978, 1981, publisher: Oxford University Press, publication date: 1981
(4) The French troops attacking at Les Éparges found the preparatory artillery bombardment had created only one break in the German wire defenses. Elsewhere soldiers had to cut their way through the wire, suffering heavy losses.
Pyrrhic Victory; French Strategy and Operations in the Great War by Robert A. Doughty, pp. 144, 145, copyright © 2005 by the President and Fellows of Harvard College, publisher: Harvard University Press, publication date: 2005
(5) Both Russia and Austria-Hungary launched offensives in the Carpathian Mountains in the first months of 1915, the Russians in an attempt to break through the mountain passes to the Hungarian plain and capital of Budapest, the Austro-Hungarians in an attempt drive the Russians from the mountains and from Galicia and Bukovina, Austria-Hungary's northeastern provinces. Unable to entrench in frozen ground, under-supplied, repeatedly launching attacks with no hope of advancing, both sides suffered heavy casualties. Erich von Falkenhayn was Commander in Chief of the German Army, Conrad von Hötzendorf his Austro-Hungarian counterpart. With General Paul von Hindenburg, Erich Ludendorff commanded German forces on the Eastern Front. The Südarmee was a German-led, primarily Austro-Hungarian army.
The Eastern Front, 1914-1917 by Norman Stone, pp. 120, 121, copyright © 1975 Norman Stone, publisher: Charles Scribner's Sons, publication date: 1975
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