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The Entente Allies, France, England, and Russia, dangling the bait of Trento and Trieste before Italy. The fishing line will reel the fish into war. The city of Trent is in the Trentino, the south Tyrol. Both Trentino and Trieste were part of Austria-Hungary despite having large Italian populations. An illustration by R. Ferro that asks whether Italy could obtain the without getting into war. Germany pressured Austria-Hungary to cede the territory to Italy in exchange for not joining the Entente Allies.
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.
England's Distress: Postcard map of England and Ireland with the restricted zone Germany proclaimed around the islands, showing the ships destroyed by submarine in the 12 months beginning February 1, 1917.
A folding postcard from a pencil sketch of an unsuccessful Allied gas attack in Flanders.
The rulers of the Central Powers — Kaisers Wilhelm and Franz Joseph, Tsar Ferdinand, and Mohammed V — surrounded by the Allies: Belgium, Britain, France, Italy to the west, the Balkan states of Montenegro, Serbia, and Greece, where Britain and France ensure Greek participation in the war, and Russia its strength bolstered by Japan's munitions supplies. Out to sea, the British, French, and Italian navies stand guard, with that of Russia in the distance. Portugal likely stands at the lower left. By 1916, Serbia was already occupied by the Central Powers.
"The discussions in London, meanwhile, were bogged down over a question of sequence. Italy wanted territorial assurances prior to involvement; Britain wished the commitment first. During the fall and winter months, the resolution of this issue was not an urgent concern. On 21 December, Cadorna completed his plan for an attack on Austria-Hungary. It would, on paper at least, bring Italian troops into the heart of Slovenia within forty-five days, this in preparation for 'a drive on Vienna.' At a cabinet meeting in late January 1915, Zupelli declared that the army could not move before mid-April." ((1), more)
"It is difficult to imagine terrain less suited to a massive winter campaign than the Eastern Carpathians. The mountains, though not in themselves particularly high, are steep-sided, intersected by very few passes and even fewer passable roads, blocked by snow during the colder days, and by mud during the occasional daily thaws. Many thousands of the troops on both sides died of exposure during the winter, and the entire campaign in the end proved inconclusive.The first offensive was an Austrian attack with twenty divisions on the Dukla, Lubka and Uzhok passes, and a simultaneous assault on the easterly Verecke and Wyszkow passes . . ." ((2), more)
"It would be easy enough to conceal the news from the British Cabinet until the last moment, but as regards the French Government similar precautions could not be guaranteed. . . .[Winston Churchill] asked [French Ambassador] Paul Cambon to use his good offices to convince the [French] Minister of Marine to withhold all information from the coming naval attack from the French Cabinet. To this end the Ambassador addressed a personal letter to [Minister of Marine] Augagneur on January 29th [1915] in which he indicated that secrecy was vital if the fleet was to attain its objective, and suggested that only those Ministers apt to be directly involved — Prime Minister, Minister of War and Minister of Foreign Affairs — should be told." ((3), more)
"On January 22, 1915, the steamship Durward was stopped by a U-boat about thirteen miles from the lightship Maas. The crew was ordered to take to the boats, no time being allowed for the removal of their private belongings. The submarine then towed the boats to a safe distance, ordered them to wait there while it sank the ship, and them towed them onwards in the direction of the lightship. A week later (January 30) two ships, the Ben Cruachan and the Linda Blanche, were sunk, in both cases with reasonable consideration for the safety of the crews. . . . the Kölnische Zeitung, about the middle of the month, had published an article declaring that 'in future German submarines and aircraft would wage war against British mercantile vessels without troubling themselves in any way about the fate of the crews.'" ((4), more)
"On the last day of January, the German Ninth Army undertook a feint in the direction of Warsaw, designed to distract Russian attention from the main efforts elsewhere. The Battle of Bolimow was not a success. Sub-zero weather negated the first use of poison gas (xylyl bromide) by the Germans — which the Russians failed to report to their western allies. The Russians committed 11 divisions to defend the 6-mile-wide front, losing 40 000 men in just 3 days." ((5), more)
(1) Italy, Germany, and Austria-Hungary comprised the Triple Alliance. During the July 1914 Crisis, Italy concluded that Austria-Hungary's attack on Serbia did not meet the terms of the Alliance, as the war was not defensive, and did not require Italy's support. Italy declared neutrality on August 3, 1914. With a standing army of over a million men, both sides tried to entice Italy into war. In discussions in London, the Entente Allies offered Austro-Hungarian territory including Trentino (South Tyrolia) and Trieste as spoils of war. Germany pressured Austria-Hungary to cede these same territories to prevent Italy joining France, Britain, and Russia in their war. General Luigi Cadorna was Chief of Staff of the Italian Army; General Vittorio Zupelli the country's War Minister.
The Origins of World War I by Richard F. Hamilton and Holger H. Herwig, page 381, copyright © Cambridge University Press 2003, publisher: Cambridge University Press, publication date: 2003
(2) Chief of the Austro-Hungarian General Staff Franz Conrad von Hötzendorf had lost Galicia and Bukovina, Austria-Hungary's northeastern provinces in 1914, and hoped to regain them in a winter offensive. He also hoped to end the threat of the Russians advancing through the passes of the Carpathian Mountains, which would put them in a position to strike Budapest, the Hungarian capital.
Carpathian Disaster: Death of an Army by Geoffrey Jukes, page 45, copyright © Geoffrey Jukes 1971, publisher: Ballantine, publication date: 1971
(3) On January 28, 1915, the British War Council — Prime Minister Asquith, Foreign Secretary Grey, Secretary of State for War Kitchener, First Lord of the Admiralty Churchill, First Sea Lord Fisher — revisited and ratified its decision of January 13 in favor of an Anglo-French naval assault on the Dardanelles in hopes of breaking through to the Turkish capital of Constantinople, and driving Turkey out of the war. The north, European shore of the Dardanelles is the Gallipoli Peninsula which would, in April, be the site of an Allied invasion.
The French and the Dardanelles: A Study of Failure in the Conduct of War by George H. Cassar, page 61, copyright © George Allen & Unwin Ltd, 1971, publisher: George Allen & Unwin Ltd, publication date: 1971
(4) Capturing enemy mercantile ships was legitimate according to international war. The captured vessel was then to be taken to a neutral port for adjudication by a Prize Court. If that was dangerous or not practical, the prize ship could be sunk after 'due provision for the safety of passengers and crew, and for the preservation of the ship's papers.'
The Great Events of the Great War in Seven Volumes by Charles F. Horne, Vol. III, 1915, p. 54, copyright © 1920 by The National Alumnia, publisher: The National Alumni, publication date: 1920
(5)
The First World War: Germany and Austria Hungary 1914-1918 by Holger H. Herwig, page 135, copyright © 1997 Holger H. Herwig, publisher: Arnold, publication date: 1997
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