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Photograph of the Russian monk Grigory Rasputin from The War of the Nations Portfolio in Rotogravure Etchings Compiled from the Mid-Week Pictorial. Tsar Nicholas of Russia and his wife were introduced to Rasputin in 1907. According to Maurice Paléologue, French Ambassador to Russia, Rasputin, 'wheedled them, dazzled them, dominated them.'
Chosen Boy, a 1918 watercolor by Paul Klee. From Paul Klee: Early and Late Years: 1894-1940. © 2013 Moeller Fine Art
General Karl Freiherr von Pflanzer-Baltin in the snowy field.
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.
An English battle cruiser under fire in the Battle of Dogger Bank, January 24, 1915. From a painting by Willy Stöwer.
"Yesterday Rasputin was run over on the Nevsky Prospekt by a troika going at full speed. He was picked up with a slight wound on the head.After the incident to Madame Vyrubova five days ago, this fresh warning from Heaven is only too eloquent! The war is displeasing God more than ever!" ((1), more)
"'The most puzzling thing about this war,' a Russian officer wrote to his mother on January 21 [1915], 'is that we don't come to hate the enemy . . . I think it's because we're united by a common bond; we've all been forced to do the thing most alien to human nature: kill our fellow man." ((2), more)
"Gen. Pflanzer's Austrian Army moving eastward, retook the Kirlibaba Pass on January 22nd [1915], sweeping on through Bukowina to Czernowitz, the capital, which he occupied on February 18th. Only a single Russian column, 30,000 men at most, opposed the advance of his great army." ((3), more)
"To throw the Russian army out of the Carpathians and reestablish a solid foothold in Galicia, Conrad counterattacked, sending three armies forward on January 23[, 1915]. One Austro-Hungarian army, Boroevic's Third, would take the passes of the western Carpathians; Linsingen's Südarmee would seize the central passes, and further east General Karl von Pflanzer-Baltin's Army Group (which would shortly be renamed the Seventh Army) would attack through the Bukovina to strike the Russian flank. As Falkenhayn had predicted, nothing substantial could be expected in this ice-bound wilderness, even the usually exculpatory Austrian general staff history judging the counteroffensive toward Przemysl — directed by Conrad from his comfortable headquarters in Teschen — 'a cruel folly.'" ((4), more)
". . . a tremendous picture, although we could hear almost nothing of the thunder of the guns, because of the noise of our engines. The Blücher was left behind as our forces steamed off and she was unable to follow. The four English battlecruisers fired at her together. She replied for as long as she could, until she was completely shrouded in smoke and apparently on fire. At 1207 she heeled over and capsized. We then observed the enemy's withdrawal, and followed our forces as rearguard. You can imagine how distressing it was for me to watch the Blücher capsize, and be helpless to do anything but observe and report. We didn't drop bombs on the English ships. We had no chance because the clouds were at 1,300 feet. If we had dared to fly over them at this altitude, we would have been shot down." ((5), more)
(1) Entry from the memoirs of Maurice Paléologue, French Ambassador to Russia, for Wednesday, January 20, 1915.Tsar Nicholas and his German-born wife Tsaritsa Alexandra were introduced to the monk Rasputin in 1907, and Paléologue earlier (September 28, 1914) reported that 'Rasputin obtained an extraordinary ascendancy over the Tsar and Tsaritsa,' in part because the empress believed the monk could heal her son of the hemophilia he shared with many on his mother's side. Anna Viroubova, lady-in-waiting, friend, and confidant to Alexandra, spent many evenings alone with the royal family, which isolated itself. Viroubova was seriously injured in a railway accident on January 2, 1915. Many in Petrograd blamed her, Rasputin, and the Tsaritsa for the Tsar's isolation. Viroubova was imprisoned during the first Russian Revolution in 1917.
An Ambassador's Memoirs Vol. I by Maurice Paléologue, page 260, publisher: George H. Doran Company, publication date: 1925
(2)
A Mad Catastrophe by Geoffrey Wawro, page 351, copyright © 2014 by Geoffrey Wawro, publisher: Basic Books
(3) Although the Russian drive on Cracow and into Silesia had been driven back by the Germans and Austro-Hungarians, the Russians had besieged the great Austro-Hungarian fortress city of Przemyśl on the San River, and still threatened to break through the passes of the Carpathian Mountains, putting them in a position to attack Budapest, the Hungarian capital. The Austro-Hungarians were particularly concerned about the loss of Bukovina out of concern that Russia would offer it to neutral Romania in exchange for their entry into the war on the side of the Entente Allies. General Pflanzer-Baltin was brought out of retirement after the defeat and dismissal of a number of Austro-Hungarian generals in 1914.
King's Complete History of the World War by W.C. King, pp. 144, 145, copyright © 1922, by W.C. King, publisher: The History Associates, publication date: 1922
(4) Conrad, Franz Conrad von Hötzendorf, was Chief of the Austro-Hungarian General Staff until his dismissal in 1917. He had lost Galicia and Bukovina, Austria-Hungary's northeastern provinces, on the Russian side of the Carpathian Mountains, in 1914, and hoped to regain them in his offensive. He also hoped to end the threat of the Russians advancing through the Carpathian passes into Hungary. Erich von Falkenhayn, commander of the German Army, did not believe that war would be won on the eastern front, but rather in the west against France and England. Przemyśl was Austria-Hungary's greatest fortress city in Galicia.
A Mad Catastrophe by Geoffrey Wawro, pp. 349, 350, copyright © 2014 by Geoffrey Wawro, publisher: Basic Books
(5) Extract from an account of the January 24, 1915 Battle of Dogger Bank by Lieutenant-Commander Heinrich Mathy who was overhead in Zeppelin L5 when the German battleship Blücher sank. The previous day, the British had decoded a German wireless message that a battle squadron of the German Fleet would cruise into the North Sea. Royal Navy squadrons under Admiral David Beatty and Commodore Tyrwhitt sailed to join and intercept them. The German fleet included four battle-cruisers, six light cruisers, and twenty-two destroyers. The English had five battle-cruisers, four light cruisers, and thirty-five destroyers. Shortly after dawn on January 24, the three forces converged. Outnumbered, the German fleet turned to flee to port. On both sides, the ships were the among the fastest in their fleets, but the English ships were faster, and slowly closed a gap that had been as much as 14 miles.About 9:00 AM, the British began firing on the Blücher and the other German battleships. The British had the advantage, but over the course of nearly two hours the wireless and signalling lights of Admiral Beatty's ship were destroyed, and he could communicate only by signal flags. When the British thought they had seen a submarine periscope, Beatty feared they were sailing into a trap, and turned his ships to avoid the danger, intending to continue the fight. In the smoke and confusion, officers on Beatty's other ships understood the signal flags to be orders to turn away from the main fleet and focus on Blücher. By the time Beatty clarified his commands, the German fleet had escaped.
Naval Battles of the First World War by Geoffrey Bennett, pp. 144, 145, copyright © Geoffrey Bennett 1968, 1974, publisher: Pan Books, publication date: 1983
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