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Greetings from Russia! A hand-painted postcard of a village scene with a message dated July 9, 1917, and field postmarked two days later.
"Budapest, 1918: protesters break windows at the Imperial German Consulate General for Hungary." Hand-painted watercolor postcard by Schima Martos, showing the shield of the Imperial German Consulate General for Hungary bearing the imperial eagle between two broken windows, glass still falling to the ground.
Chosen Boy, a 1918 watercolor by Paul Klee. From Paul Klee: Early and Late Years: 1894-1940. © 2013 Moeller Fine Art
German soldiers in winter overcoats. The message on the reverse is dated December 11, 1917.
I've killed many Germans, but never women or children. Original French watercolor by John on blank field postcard. In the background are indolent Russian soldiers and Vladimir Lenin, in the foreground stands what may be a Romanian soldier who is telling the Russians, 'You call me savage. I killed a lot of Boches [Germans], but never women or children!'
"The war resumed, with fifty-two German divisions crossing the November ceasefire line, occupying Dvinsk in the north and Lutsk in the south, and moving eastward along the Russian main-line railways. Lenin realised that the Bolsheviks must give in to whatever was asked of them. 'It's not a question of Dvinsk,' he told Trotsky, 'but of revolution. Delay is impossible. We must sign at once. This beast springs quickly.' On January 19, Hoffman received a telegram, signed by Lenin and Trotsky, accepting the conditions of peace that had been offered at Brest-Litovsk. But Hoffmann was in no hurry now to accept it." ((1), more)
"The rejoicings [in Austria-Hungary] lasted throughout the following days until stilled by the fateful tidings of the decision taken at Homburg. The whole Empire revolted in horror against resuming hostilities with Russia, and the anti-German sentiment, never deeply hidden in these days, flared up with dangerous rancour. Austria-Hungary had suffered much from her overbearing ally in the four years of war, and the realization of her own military inferiority to Germany did nothing to soften the antagonism, which was rapidly increasing. Particularly resented was Germany's assumption that Austria-Hungary would have to collaborate in her annexationist adventures, and the entire Dual Monarchy cried out against further sacrifice." ((2), more)
"2.21. Yesterday the golden wedding anniversary of Their Majesties, we were on duty, with the usual crash. Tonight the entire camp is without light. Went to bed with the chickens. Nothing more consoling in sight.2.21. This week we had three fatal casualties; one man smashed by the propeller, the other two crashed from the air! Yesterday, a fourth came ploughing with a loud bang into the roof of the workshop. Had been flying too low, caught on a telephone pole, bounced on the roof of the factory, turned a somersault, and collapsed upside down in a heap of wreckage. People came running from all sides; in a second the roof was black with mechanics in working clothes. Stretchers, ladders. The photographer. A human being pulled out of the debris and carried away unconscious. Loud cursing at the by-standers. First-rate movie effect. This is how a royal regiment celebrated a royal wedding. In addition, three smashed airplanes are lying about in the vicinity today. It was another fine show." ((3), more)
"On 6 February [1918], we returned to Lécluse, and on the 22nd, we were accommodated for four days in the cratered field left of the Dury-Hendecourt road, to do digging work in the front line. Viewing the position, which faced the ruined village of Bullecourt, I realized that part of the huge push which was expected up and down the whole Western Front would take place here.Everywhere there was feverish building, dugouts were constructed, and new roads laid. The cratered field was plastered with little signs stuck in the middle of nowhere, with ciphered letters and numbers, presumably for the disposition of artillery and command posts. Our aeroplanes were up all the time, to keep the enemy from getting a look. To keep everyone synchronized, on the dot of noon every day a black ball was lowered from the observation balloons, which disappeared at ten past twelve." ((4), more)
"Let us beware of becoming the slaves of our own phrases. In our day wars are won not by mere enthusiasm, but by technical superiority. Give me an army of 100,000 men, an army which will not tremble before the enemy, and I will not sign this peace. Can you raise an army? Can you give me anything but prattle and the drawing up of pasteboard figures? . . . If we retire to the Urals we can resist the pressure of the Germans for two or three weeks, then after a month's delay we shall sign conditions which are a hundred times worse. You must sign this shameful peace in order to save the world Revolution, in order to hold fast to its most important, and at present, its only foothold—the Soviet Republic. . . ." ((5), more)
(1) Leon Trotsky, head of the Russian delegation to the Brest-Litovsk peace conference with the Central Powers, left the negotiations on February 10, 1918 saying Russia would not sign a peace treaty, but would withdraw from the war. In the following days Trotsky and Vladimir Lenin debated whether the Germans would accept this situation or resume hostilities. On the 16th General Hoffmann, military head of the German delegation, delivered his response: the armistice was ended. Two days later the Germans resumed the war, violating the terms of the armistice which called for a seven-day notice of termination, and advancing against little to no resistance.
King's Complete History of the World War by W.C. King, page 398, copyright © 1922, by W.C. King, publisher: The History Associates, publication date: 1922
(2) Leon Trotsky, head of the Russian delegation to the Brest-Litovsk peace conference with the Central Powers, left the negotiations on February 10, 1918 saying Russia would not sign Germany's proposed peace treaty, but would withdraw from the war. Three days later the German High Command met at Homburg in western Germany to determine the response. The conference included Kaiser Wilhelm, Germany's Supreme War Lord, the duumvirate of Generals Paul von Hindenburg and Erich Ludendorff, Major General Max Hoffmann, commander of the German Eighth Army on the Russian Front, and Baron Richard von Kühlmann, Germany's Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs from August 6, 1917 to July 9, 1918. At the beginning of 1918 Austria-Hungary was desperate for peace and the food a treaty promised.
Brest-Litovsk: The Forgotten Peace; March 1918 by John W. Wheeler-Bennett by John W. Wheeler-Bennett, page 233, publisher: The Norton Library, publication date: 1971, first published 193
(3) Entries from the diaries of Swiss-German painter Paul Klee for February 21, 1918. The artist served with the air corps, varnishing the wings and fuselages of airplanes, transporting airplanes to the front, and, at the beginning of 1918, working as assistant paymaster, a position that meant he no longer needed to fear being transferred to the front, and that left him time to read and work. His 1918 watercolor 'Chosen Boy' is one of several works that shows a bird, feet splayed, plunging headfirst to earth.
The Diaries of Paul Klee 1898-1918, Edited, with an Introduction by Felix Klee by Paul Klee, pp. 387–388, copyright © 1964 by the Regents of the University of California, publisher: University of California Press, publication date: 1968
(4) German Lieutenant Ernst Jünger on some of the preparations for what he referred to as German commander Erich Ludendorff's, and Germany's, 'mighty do-or-die offensive'. It would be Operation Michael, launched on March 21. Bullecourt, France, had been the site of battles on April 11 and from May 3 to 16, 1917 between the Germans and Australians.
Storm of Steel by Ernst Jünger, pp. 221–222, copyright © 1920, 1961, Translation © Michael Hoffman, 2003, publisher: Penguin Books, publication date: 2003
(5) Vladimir Lenin speaking to the Petrograd Soviet and the Central Executive Committee of the Congress of Soviets on the night of February 23–24, 1918, attempting to persuade the members to sign peace terms demanded by Germany. Leon Trotsky, head of the Russian delegation to the Brest-Litovsk peace conference with the Central Powers, left the negotiations on February 10, 1918 saying Russia would not sign peace terms laid down by Germany, but would withdraw from the war. In the following days Trotsky and Lenin debated whether the Germans would accept this situation or resume hostilities. On the 16th General Hoffmann, military head of the German delegation, delivered his response, ending the armistice. Two days later the Germans resumed the war, violating the terms of the armistice which called for a seven-day notice of termination, and advancing against little to no resistance.
Brest-Litovsk: The Forgotten Peace; March 1918 by John W. Wheeler-Bennett by John W. Wheeler-Bennett, page 260, publisher: The Norton Library, publication date: 1971, first published 193
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