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Kaisers Wilhelm II and Franz Joseph with Sultan Mohammed and their generals over some of their conquests: Lüttich — Liege, Belgium, Warschau — Warsaw, Russia, and Przemysl, Austria-Hungary, recaptured from the Russians. In the top left, Otto von Bismarck, Chancellor of Germany from 1871 to 1890, points to the dawn of the German Empire. In the top right, Helmut Moltke (the Elder), who led Germany to victory in the Austro-Prussian and Franco-Prussian Wars, discusses his plans with the future Emperor Wilhelm I. Text: Die Helden des Ostens, des Südens, des Westens, ein festes Band, schlugen mit eiserner Faust die Feinde in den Sand. The heroes of the East, the South, the West, a solid band, beat the enemy into the sand with an iron fist. At the top, Bismarck? von Moltke 1? At the bottom, German and Austrian victories at Liege, Warsaw and Przemysl. The Kaisers and Sultan surrounded first by the royal commanders Crown Princes Karl of Austria-Hungary and Wilhelm of Germany, archdukes Eugen, Friedrich, and Joseph Ferdinand, Duke Albrecht, Crown Prince Rupprecht of Bavaria, German generals von Falkenhayn, von Kluck, von Beseler, von Woyrsch, von Ludendorff, von Hindenburg, von Emmich, von Linsingen, von Mackensen, von der Goltz, Austro-Hungarian generals von Böhm-Ermolli, von Pflanzer, Count von Bothmer, von Hötzendorf, Ex. von Höfer, and Turkish Minister of War Enver Pascha.

Kaisers Wilhelm II and Franz Joseph with Sultan Mohammed and their generals over some of their conquests: Lüttich — Liege, Belgium, Warschau — Warsaw, Russia, and Przemysl, Austria-Hungary, recaptured from the Russians.
In the top left, Otto von Bismarck, Chancellor of Germany from 1871 to 1890, points to the dawn of the German Empire. In the top right, Helmut Moltke (the Elder), who led Germany to victory in the Austro-Prussian and Franco-Prussian Wars, discusses his plans with the future Emperor Wilhelm I.

Image text

Die Helden des Ostens, des Südens, des Westens, ein festes Band, schlugen mit eiserner Faust die Feinde in den Sand.



The heroes of the East, the South, the West, a solid band, beat the enemy into the sand with an iron fist.



Cities: Lüttich (Liege, [Belgium]), Warschau (Warsaw), Przemysl.

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Thursday, August 6, 1914

"We marched away that very evening and tried to reach our section. When darkness fell the Belgians had concentrated still farther to the rear; they were already quite near the fortress of Liege. Many of the villages we passed were in flames; the inhabitants who had been driven away passed us in crowds . . . There were nothing but ruins now, burnt, destroyed houses and farm buildings, dead soldiers, German and Belgian, and among them several civilians who had been shot by sentence of the court-martial."

Quotation Context

From an account by a German deserter who took part in the initial German advance into Belgium. The numbers of refugees and executed civilians would rapidly mount.

The great fortress city of Liège was protected by 12 forts connected by entrenchments in a ring with a circumference of 33 miles. On August 4, the Germans suffered heavy losses in frontal attacks on the forts. On August 5, German and Belgian artillery dueled before an attack that extended into the night. German field guns were ineffective against the forts, but heavier guns were in place the morning of August 6. After being shelled for seven hours, the city of Liège surrendered. The forts still held.

Source

The Great Events of the Great War in Seven Volumes by Charles F. Horne, Vol. II, 1914, pp. 83, 84, copyright © 1920 by The National Alumnia, publisher: The National Alumni, publication date: 1920

Tags

Liege, 1914, August, 1914-08-06