French postcard celebrating the Allied victory at the Battle of the Marne with the Kaiser tumbling in the river, Germans (in green) fleeing. The French in blue and red advance and tend to German wounded. The British, France's ally, advance in the distance.
Image text: Caption:Dans un élan magnifique, les armées allemandes on passé deux fois la Marne. Tout va bien. Les troupes sont fraîches. (Agence Wolff)With magnificent élan, the German armies have crossed the Marne twice. All is well. The troops are fresh. (Wolff Agency)Signs and text:On demande couturière pour recoudre les bochesVoulez vous que j’écrive a vos parents?Poudres sèches pour la guerre future 1873Sucre pastilles caramelleBaton provisoire de maréchalWe need a seamstress to mend the BocheYou want me to write to your parents?Dry powder for future war 1873Caramel sugar lozengesMarshal’s provisional batonReverse:"Artistic Caricatures" (1re Série de 6 cartes)
A Swiss postcard of 'The European War' in 1914. The Central Powers of Germany and Austria-Hungary face enemies to the east, west, and south. Germany is fighting the war it tried to avoid, battling Russia to the east and France to the west. Germany had also hoped to avoid fighting England which came to the aid of neutral (and prostrate) Belgium, and straddles the Channel. Austria-Hungary also fights on two fronts, against Russia to the east and Serbia and Montenegro to the south. Italy, the third member of the Triple Alliance with Germany and Austria-Hungary, declared neutrality, and looks on. Other neutral nations include Spain, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Switzerland, Romania, Bulgaria, and Albania. Japan enters from the east to battle Germany. The German Fleet stays close to port in the North and Baltic Seas while a German Zeppelin targets England. The Austro-Hungarian Fleet keeps watch in the Adriatic. Turkey is not represented, and entered the war at the end of October, 1914; Italy in late May, 1915.
Image text: Der Europäische KriegThe European WarReverse:Kriegskarte No. 61. Verlag K. Essig, BaselKunstanstalt (Art Institute) Frobenius A.G. Basel
French General Maurice Sarrail decorating officers near the frame of German Zeppelin shot down on May 5, 1916 by naval gunners in view of the citizens of Salonica, Greece. General Sarrail commanded the Allied troops at the front that included French, British, Serbian, Russian, and Italian troops, as well as a battalion of Montenegrin soldiers. The Zeppelin's frame is in the background, and civilians are among the observers of the ceremony.
Image text: Reverse:Salonicco — Il Gen. Sarrail distribuisce decorazioni nei pressi della carcassa dello ZeppelinSalonique — Remise de décorations à des officiers devant la carcasse du Zeppelin par le Gen. SarrailSalonica — Gen. Sarrail decorating officers before the Carcass of a ZeppelinEditeur Hananel Naar — SaloniqueProprieté réservéeHandwritten:Orient — Vive la (?) VictorEast — Long live the Victor!
Portrait card of the French Ace Georges Guynemer in French and Arabic. In his hand, and by his side, are machine guns, presumably from the plane he shot down, number 43.
Image text: Le Capitaine Guynemer qui a abattu 43 avions.Captain Guynemer who shot down 43 aircraft.Reverse:Post Card. Carte Postale. Postkarte. Briefkarrt. Cartolina Postal. Tarjeta Postal.
Relief map postcard of the battle front between the Meuse and Moselle Rivers, including Verdun, Nancy, and the Woevre plain. Forts Douaumont and Vaux can be made out east of Verdun, target of the 1916 German siege. St. Mihiel is to the west, south of Verdun. The Argonne is in the upper left, west of Verdun.
Image text: Reverse:Reliefkarte des Kampfgebietes zwischen Maas & MoselRelief map of the combat area between Maas & Mosel
"The battle which we have been fighting for the last five days has ended in an undoubted victory. The retreat of the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd German Armies before our left and center becomes more and more marked. The enemy's 4th Army in its turn has begun to withdraw to the north of Vitry and Sermaise.Everywhere the enemy has left on the field numerous wounded and a quantity of munitions. Everywhere we have made prisoners while gaining ground. Our troops bear witness to the intensity of the fight, and the means employed by the Germans in their endeavors to resist our élan. The vigorous resumption of the offensive has determined our success." ((1), more)
"La bataille de la Marne s'achève en victoire incontestable." ((2), more)
"11th September [1915]General Joffre has just told me of the new big offensive which the French and the English are going to attempt, involving more than a million. They have plenty of ammunition and new big guns. The General is very hopeful. The main attack will take place in Champagne, with a subsidiary attack at Arras, next to that of the English.'Whether it succeeds or not,' said Joffre, 'we can do no more. The Italians will make a great effort towards the end of September; the Russians lack guns, but they have plenty of man power.'General Foch, who had come before the Generalissimo to announce the visit and tell me the latter's plans, was not very optimistic." ((3), more)
"The Franco-Serbian counter-offensive started on September 11th and met with very satisfactory success. The Serbs had in line the whole of their Third and First Armies under General Vassitch and Voivode Misitch respectively. Their Second Army remained where it had been since before the Ostrovo battle, further round on the right, facing the Bulgars among the steep, scrub-covered mountains of the Moglena. And in coöperation with the Serbs, at the northern end of Lake Ostrovo, was practically the whole French force in the Balkans, with a contingent of Russians. The Serbs were also supported by French heavy artillery, having no guns of their own bigger than 120 mm." ((4), more)
"When his motor was in order and tested, Guynemer flew off, straight to St. Pol. None of us ever saw him again.Next morning, 11 September, 1917, at 8:25, he went again to fight, followed by one of his usual companions, Lieutenant Bozon-Verderuz. But he had, that day, a single ticket without return, and he did not come back." ((5), more)
"The [St. Mihiel] salient had been held by the Germans since September, 1914. It covered the most sensitive section of the enemy's position on the Western Front; namely, the Mézières-Sedan-Metz Railroad and the Briey Iron Basin; it threatened the entire region between Verdun and Nancy, and interrupted the main rail line from Paris to the east. Its primary strength lay in the natural defensive features of the terrain itself. The western face of the salient extended along the rugged, heavily wooded eastern heights of the Meuse; the southern face followed the heights of the Meuse for 8 kilometers to the east and then crossed the Plain of the Woevre, including within the German lines the detached heights of Loupmont and Montsec which dominated the plain and afforded the enemy unusual facilitites for observation. The enemy had reënforced the positions by every artificial means during a period of four years.On the night of September 11th, the troops of the First Army were deployed in position." ((6), more)
(1) Excerpt from the Order of the Day by General Joseph Joffre, Commander of the French Army, on September 11, 1914, reporting victory in the Battle of the Marne. Joffre's opponent, German Commander in Chief Helmuth von Moltke, did not visit the front until September 11. With his First, Second, and Third Armies already retreating, Moltke ordered a general retreat across his line of advance, a line running from Noyon to Verdun.
The Great Events of the Great War in Seven Volumes by Charles F. Horne, Vol. II, 1914, p. 270, copyright © 1920 by The National Alumnia, publisher: The National Alumni, publication date: 1920
(2) 'The Battle of the Marne ended in indisputable victory' — Joseph Joffre, Commander-in-Chief of the French Army, to French War Minister Alexandre Millerand, 2:00 PM, September 11, 1914.
The Marne, 1914: The Opening of World War I and the Battle That Changed the World by Holger H. Herwig, page 298, copyright © 2009 by Holger Herwig, publisher: Random House, publication date: 2011
(3) Excerpt from the September 11, 1915 entry from the diary of Albert, King of the Belgians. With the industrial north of their country occupied, Italy's failures in its initial battles, and Russia's continuing retreat before the month's-long German-Austro-Hungarian advance, French Commander-in-Chief Joffre and other French leaders believed they had no alternative. General Foch, who would command the French 10th Army in Artois, was not alone in his skepticism, which was shared by General Castelnau, commander of the French attack in Champagne, British General Haig, and other senior officers.
The War Diaries of Albert I King of the Belgians by Albert I, page 61, copyright © 1954, publisher: William Kimber
(4) Excerpt from an account of the Battle of Monastir by G. Ward Price, official correspondent with the Allied forces in the Balkans. Anticipating an offensive against Bulgaria by the Allied forces in Greece, and aware Romania was about to join the Allies in the war against Austria-Hungary, the Bulgarians had struck first, on August 17, 1916. Under the command of French General Maurice Sarrail, the Allied line included French, British, Russian, and Serbian troops. The Bulgarians had struck along the Serbian sector of the Allied line on the Greco/Serbian frontier in the Salonica Front. On September 11, Sarrail struck back. Voivode is a Serbian Field Marshal.
The Great Events of the Great War in Seven Volumes by Charles F. Horne, Vol. IV, 1916, pp. 379–380, copyright © 1920 by The National Alumnia, publisher: The National Alumni, publication date: 1920
(5) Georges Guynemer was killed on September 11, 1917, credited with 53 victories, second of French aces in the war after René Fonck (75 victories). Our author, Willy Coppens, was Belgium's leading ace with 37 victories, all but two of his victims being observation balloons Although these balloons were tethered, they were well protected by anti-aircraft guns and fighter planes, making 'balloon busting' a hazardous specialty. Floating over the flat landscape of Flanders they were particularly menacing to those under their watchful eye. The day before his death, Guynemer had set down at the field of Coppens' squadron with engine trouble. The Belgians recognized him immediately, and crowded about. Coppens felt their attention made the famous ace nervous.
Flying in Flanders by Willy Coppens, page 111, publisher: Ace Books, publication date: 1971
(6) Excerpt from American Commander-in-Chief General John J. Pershing's 'final report' of November, 1919 describing the threat posed by the St. Mihiel salient. He launched the St. Mihiel Offensive on September 12, 1918, the first independent offensive of the new American First Army. The line Charleville-Mézières-Sedan-Metz roughly parallels the French border with southeastern Belgium and Luxembourg.
The Great Events of the Great War in Seven Volumes by Charles F. Horne, Vol. VI, 1918, pp. 308–309, copyright © 1920 by The National Alumnia, publisher: The National Alumni, publication date: 1920
