Examples of the uniform and kit of 'the modern Turkish soldier' from 'Ambassador Morgenthau's Story' by Henry Morgenthau, American Ambassador to Turkey from 1913 to 1916.
Image text: The Modern Turkish SoldierIn the uniform and equipment introduced by the Germans. The fez - the immemorial symbol of the Ottoman - is replaced by a modern helmet.
French trench clearers in the Battle of Verdun. French Corporal Louis Barthas recorded a commander's expectations of his men before a May 18, 1916 attack to take no prisoners, neither captured nor wounded, an order 'unworthy of a Frenchman.' The soldier kneeling on the left has likely just killed the German soldier on the ground, either combat or murder. Illustration by Léon Taa. . . ., 1916
Image text: La Bataille sous Verdun, 1916Nettoyeur de TranchéesThe Battle around Verdun, 1916Trench ClearersLogo: ELDVisé ParisReverse:Imp. E Le Deley, Paris
A woman tramway worker operating a manual switch, changing the direction of her trolley. As men entered or were conscripted into the military, women took on unaccustomed roles.
Image text: Au TramwayReverse:Les Petites MobiliséesSérie 21, visé Paris No. 777Editions Trajane 12 Rue CoquillièreMa chere ElaineTu vois ... les femmes travailleurs pendant la Guerre. Rien de nouveau Je vais bien et t'embrasse biêntot aussi que ta MammaOn the TramwayLittle Women MobilizedSeries 21, No. 777 registered ParisTrajane Publishers 12 Rue CoquillièreMy dear ElaineYou see ... women workers during the War. Nothing new. I'm fine and embrace you as well as your Mamma
Irish and German brotherhood. Standing in France, an Irish rebel soldier clasps the hands of a German soldier. The German sun shines upon the scene. In Germany, Irish rebel Roger Casement tried to raise an Irish unit to fight the British from Irish prisoners of war. Field postmarked October 5, 1915.
Image text: Verbrüderung Deutschland und IrlandUnsere deutsche Sonne glänz groß und schon.German-Irish BrotherhoodOur German sun shines great and beautiful.Reverse:Field postmarked October 5, 1915, the message dated the same day.Druck u. Verlag v. Knackstedt & Co., Hamburg 22.Genehmigt K.B. Kriegsministerium Presse-Referat.Printed and Published by Knackstedt & Co., Hamburg 22.Approved by K.B. War Ministry Press Department.
"Thus it was that on the two tragic days of 18 and 19 May 1915, young Turkish soldiers charged forward, to be mowed down by enemy artillery and machine guns before they could attempt to rush enemy trenches. Those who died on the spot were the lucky ones.Those who were maimed, crippled or so heavily wounded they could not move, lay on the battlefield, expecting the next shell, grenade or bullet to finish them off. The few who were eventually picked up by stretcher bearers were carried away for treatment, with the certainty that if they survived, they would soon be sent back to the front. And for what? Simply put, the greater glory of Enver Pasha and his cocky Divisional Commanders." ((1), more)
"It seems that the commander of the Moroccan Zouaves, leading the attack, gave his men an odious order: 'My friends, I have no orders to give, but you already know what I expect you to do in an attack . . .' He meant taking no prisoners. This was reported to me by eyewitnesses. The language was unworthy of a Frenchman. And the Germans, when they would advance and see the fate reserved for those who fell into our hands, would resist to the last when they saw themselves surrounded. Or they would massacre those of us who fell into their hands. That's the way they killed those who were at one of our first-aid stations: the medical officer, the orderlies, the wounded, some of them finished off with blows from rifle butts." ((2), more)
". . . the introduction of meat and sugar rationing had failed to stem the rise in the cost of living. In Paris the purchasing power of the franc had fallen by about 10 per cent since the beginning of the war. Elsewhere in the country the rising cost of food was far outstripping any wage increases; for example, in the Loire-Inférieure, around Nantes and Saint-Nazaire, the cost of food had risen by 169 per cent since the start of the war, wages by only 119 per cent.In January 1917 some 400 women staged an anti-war protest in Limoges, while in May strikes in Paris reportedly involved about 100,000 workers." ((3), more)
"The 'German Plot' arrests, involving the round-up of seventy-three prominent Sinn Féin members in May 1918 on the pretext that a German agent had been arrested off the coast of Clare and that there was a necessity to stamp out pro-German 'intrigues' in Ireland, backfired for Sinn Féin's enemies. Regarding these arrests, a letter to the Chief Secretary's Office insisted, 'You have got to prove your accusation or else your action in arresting these men will be worse than useless . . . if you merely imprison these men, deport them to England and hush the whole thing up — the course of action adopted with the arrested suspects after the 1916 rebellion — you will make things worse.'" ((4), more)
(1) Excerpt from the account by Şefik Bey, commander of the 27th Infantry Regiment. of the Turkish offensive at Ari Burnu, Anzac Cove, on May 18 and 19, 1915. The Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (Anzacs) had entrenched (as best they could) on the hills above the beach at Ari Burnu. The Turkish attack of May 18 and 19 was the most concerted effort of the Gallipoli campaign to drive them into the sea. The 'cocky Divisional Commanders' led two newly trained divisions from Constantinople. When Turkish War Minister Enver Pasha asked them if they were prepared to launch an immediate offensive, they had both replied they were. In his memoir, Liman von Sanders, German commander of Turkish forces on the Peninsula, admitted the offensive was a mistake.
Gallipoli 1915; Day One Plus . . . 27th Ottoman Inf. Reft. vs. ANZACS; Based on Account of Lt. Col. Sefik Aker, Commander of 27th Infantry Regiment by H.B. Danisman, page 62, publisher: Denizler Kitabevi, publication date: 2007
(2) French Infantry Corporal (then Private) Louis Barthas on preparations for an attack on May 18, 1916 during the Battle of Verdun. The Zouaves attacked at 2:00 a.m. to seize a fortified outcropping. At first successful, the French were forced to pull back suffering heavy losses.
Poilu: The World War I Notebooks of Corporal Louis Barthas, Barrelmaker, 1914-1918 by Louis Barthas, page 202, copyright © 2014 by Yale University, publisher: Yale University Press, publication date: 2014
(3) With the failure of French commander in chief Robert Nivelle's 1917 spring offensive, the Second Battle of the Aisne, and as mutinies broke out in the French army, strikes spread among the civilian population. Among the strikers in Paris were the 'midinettes', Parisian shop girls or seamstresses.
They Shall Not Pass: The French Army on the Western Front 1914-1918 by Ian Sumner, page 166, copyright © Ian Sumner 2012, publisher: Pen and Sword, publication date: 2012
(4) Letter from James O'Mahony to Edward O'Farrell, May 18, 1918 from the United Kingdom National Archives in Kew quoted in Diarmaid Ferriter's A Nation and Not a Rabble. The arrests followed Britain's April extension of conscription to Ireland, itself coming on the heels of Germany's Operations Michael, begun on March 21, and Georgette, launched April 9, which pushed British forces back and left them desperate for men. Sinn Féin, which called for Irish independence, was preparing for the December general election. After executing leaders of the immediate aftermath of the 1916 Easter Rising, British authorities jailed in England many of those involved. Sir Edward O'Farrell was Assistant to Sir Wm. Byrne, Under-Secretary for Ireland. On-line research shows a James O'Mahony who was an officer (Lieutenant, 1918–1919; Captain 1919–1920) in the Irish Republican Army (IRA).
A Nation and Not a Rabble: The Irish Revolution 1913–1923 by Diarmaid Ferriter, page 177, copyright © Diarmaid Ferriter, 2015, publisher: The Overlook Press
