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!
"I told Alexeiev how interested you were in military affairs and of those details you asked for in your last letter,' Nicholas wrote on June 7, 1916 (O.S.). 'He [Alexeiev] smiled and listened silently.' Alexeiev's silence concealed his worry over the possible leakage of his plans. After the abdication he explained, 'When the Empress's papers were examined, she was found to be in possession of a map indicating in detail the disposition of the troops along the entire front. Only two copies were prepared of this map, one for the Emperor and one for myself. I was very painfully impressed. God knows who may have had use of this map.'"
Excerpt from Robert Massie's Nicholas and Alexandra that begins with part of a June 20, 1916 (June 7 Old Style) letter from Tsar Nicholas II to his wife Tsaritsa Alexandra. General Mikhail Vasiliyevich Alekseyev was Chief of Staff of Stavka, the Russian High Command, from 1915 to 1917, from the time when Nicholas designated himself Commander in Chief of the Russian armed forces. Nicholas requested that his wife not share military information with anyone, but she did so with the monk Rasputin so that he might give his advice and blessing to the Tsar's plans. Nicholas abdicated on March 15, 1917 after the February Revolution. His wife, the Empress, though raised for much of her life in England, was German-born, and was widely believed to be sympathetic to Germany if not actively working in its interest.
Nicholas and Alexandra by Robert K. Massie by Robert K. Massie, page 357, copyright © 1967, renewed 1995 by Robert K. Massie, publisher: Random House, publication date: 2011
1916-06-20, 1916, June, Nicholas, Alexandra, Alexeiev
