Austro-Hungarian soldiers marching through a city, their officers bawling orders. Women and a child watch and talk, possibly shouting to be heard over the marching feet. An original watercolor on blue paper, signed W. Rittermann or Pittermann, December 26, 1915.
signed W. Rittermann or Pittermann, December 26, 1915.
"Unless people are absolutely blinded, it must be recognized here that a violent blow has every chance of being fatal both to the Austro-Hungarian army and to the cohesion of the nationalities governed by the Emperor, which has already been so much compromised."
Excerpt from a communication of M. Dumaine, French Ambassador at Vienna, to M. Bienvenu-Martin, Acting Minister of Foreign Affairs, from Vienna, Austria-Hungary July 22, 1914. In London, Paris, St. Petersburg, Rome, and Belgrade, Foreign Ministers are expecting Austria-Hungary to deliver an ultimatum to Serbia very soon, and are exchanging reports and telegrams with their ambassadors. The French do not believe that Germany does not know what Austria-Hungary is about to do, and point to the decline in the German stock exchange as evidence. Reports are circulating that Germany is in the initial stages of mobilization, and that Austria-Hungary has eight army corps moving to the Serbian border.
Collected Diplomatic Documents Relating to the Outbreak of the European War, 150, 151, publisher: His Majesty's Stationery Office by Harrison and Sons, publication date: 1915
Austro-Hungarian Army, Austria-Hungary
