Zweibund — the Dual Alliance — Germany and Austria-Hungary united, were the core of the Central Powers, and here join hands. The bars of Germany's flag border the top left, and those of the Habsburg Austrian Empire and ruling house the bottom right.
Schulter an SchulterUntrennbar vereintin Freud und in Leid!'Shoulder to shoulderInseparably united in joy and in sorrow!
"On June 7, 1915, at the end of my convalescent leave, I rejoined the depot of the 72nd and 272nd infantry regiments at Morlaix. I stayed only a few days. I was not at all comfortable there. At the time I wrote a friend, 'I am leaving the depot for fear of losing my morale, which I value above all.' In these depots, one meets a group of soldiers and even officers who cling desperately to the dreary but safe existence characteristic of a small garrison town in the rear. In order to remain there as long as possible, they are capable, if not of evil actions, at least of a host of mean little maneuvers."
Excerpt from the memoirs of French historian Marc Bloch, a sergeant, later adjutant, with the 272nd and 72nd infantry regiment in the Argonne. He was on convalescent leave from January 5 to July 13, 1915, during which he wrote the first, and most substantial part, of his Great War memoir. He began writing again while in Algeria after having fought on the Somme.
Memoirs of War 1914-15 by Marc Bloch, pp. 167, 168, copyright © Cambridge University Press 1988, publisher: Cambridge University Press, publication date: 1988
1915-06-10, 1915, June, Marc Bloch, Bloch, morale
