German and Austro-Hungarian forces under the command of generals von Hindenburg and Archduke Friedrich besieged Warsaw, and took it during the Gorlice-Tarnow Offensive. Austrians von Hötzendorf, Friedrich, and Pflanzer-Baltin form the bottom of the ring; the others are German. The flag and shield of Germany are on the bottom left; those of Austria and Hungary the bottom right.
Der Ring um Warschau, The Ring Encircling Warsaw.Bottom right: 5258; illegible logo bottom leftReverse: registration lines only.
"February 5, 1918.—Sitting all day. I had several violent passages of arms with Ludendorff. Matters seemed to be clearing up, though this is not yet altogether done. Apart from deciding on our tactics for Brest, we have at last to set down in writing that we are only obliged to fight for the pre-war possessions of Germany. Ludendorff was violently opposed to this, and said, 'If Germany makes peace without profit, then Germany has lost the war.'"
First paragraph of the entry for February 5, 1918 by Count Ottokar Czernin in his In the World War. As Minister of Foreign Affairs, Czernin headed the Austro-Hungarian delegation to the Brest-Litovsk peace conference between Russia and the Central Powers. He wrote in Berlin where he was meeting with his German counterparts and the German High Command, including Erich Ludendorff, which insisted on annexing territory Germany had taken in the war. The negotiations were at a stalemate. Austria was desperately short of food and other supplies, and had suffered strikes and riots in January.
In the World War by Count Ottokar Czernin, page 275, copyright © 1920, by Harper & Brothers, publisher: Harper and Brothers, publication date: 1920
1918-02-05, 1918, February, Ludendorff