German postcard map of the Western Front in Flanders, looking south and including Lille, Arras, Calais, and Ostend. In the Battle of the Yser in October, 1914, the Belgian Army held the territory south of the Yser Canal, visible between Nieuport, Dixmude, and Ypres (Ypern). Further north is Passchendaele, which British forces took at great cost in 1917.
Image text: Der KanalStraße von CalaisThe English Channel and the Strait of CalaisReverse:Panorama des westlichen Kriegsschauplatzes 1914/15 Von Arras bis Ostende.Die Panorama-Postkartenreihe umfaßt mit ihren 9 Abschnitten Nr. 400 bis 408 den gesamten westlichen Kriegsschauplatz von der Schweizer Grenze bis zur Nordseeküste.Panorama of the western theater of operations 1914/15 from Arras to Ostend. The panoramic postcard series includes nine sections, with their No. 400-408 the entire western battlefield from the Swiss border to the North Sea coast.Nr. 408Wenau-Postkarte Patentamtl. gesch.
As an injured Russian bear and plucked French cock stumble off, Britain's John Bull protects his fleet with the flags of neutral nations, while making his throne on his colonies and allies: Egypt, India, Belgium, Ireland, Transvaal (part of the Union on South Africa), and, at the center, Italy, an ally since May, 1915. A postcard from 1915, labeled in French and German.
Image text: John Bull le Protecteur des OpprimésJohn Bull der Freund und Beschützer der Kleinen.John Bull, Protector of the OppressedJohn Bull, friend and protector of the little ones.Egypte, Indes, Belgique, Transvaal, IrlandeEgypt, India, Belgium, Transvaal, Ireland1915
Postcard from a series on the Armies of the European War of 1914. The French Army included units from its African colonies including Morocco and Senegal, and the Départment of Algeria.
Image text: Guerre Européenne 1914Armée Française[Mounted]Dragon, Cuirassier, Spahi (petite tenue), Chasseur d'Afrique, Chasseur a cheval, Hussard, Gendarme[Foot]Artilleur morté, Train des Equipages, Garde Républicaine (grande tenue), Tirailleur Senégalais, Tirailleur Algerien, Zouave, Infanterie de ligne, Chasseur à pied, Matelot, Génie, Infanterie de marine, Chasseur AlpinDéposé J.C 8-9European War 1914 French Army[Mounted] Dragoon, Cuirassier , Spahi (field dress), African Chasseur, Mounted Chasseur, Hussar, Policeman[Foot] Gunner, Train Crew, Republican Guard (full dress), Senegalese infantryman, Algerian infantryman, Zouave, Line Infantry, Chasseur, Sailor, Engineer, Marine, Alpine ChasseurFiled J.C 8-9Reverse, handwritten:Un bon gros baiser pour le cher bijou de 11 mois.A great big kiss for the dear jewel of 11 months.
Verdun Ossuary and Cemetery, France. © 2015 John M. Shea
Image text:
Russian Bolshevik soldiers demonstrating in Petrograd.
Image text: Първиятъ реводюционенъ отрядъ въ начадото на реводюцията.
Austro-Hungarian soldiers, one with goggles around his hat, posing at their dugout in a January, 1917 photograph. The card is dated January 27, 1917, and field postmarked January 31.
Image text: The message is dated January 27, 1917, and field postmarked January 31.
"The only intelligence of importance collected during the day was to the effect that the enemy seemed to be retiring from before Dixmude and Nieuport; and that aviators had seen an unusual amount of rolling stock at Roulers and Lichtervelde stations, and had noticed troops, apparently from the north, engaged in what seemed to be entraining at Thourout and Lichtervelde.Sir John French telegraphed to Lord Kitchener late at night that both he and General Foch agreed in thinking that the Germans were transporting troops to the Eastern theatre and could not now succeed in the Ypres or Calais direction. Even if violent enemy attacks took place, they would, he added, be made only for the purpose of covering a retirement." ((1), more)
"3rd November[, 1915] Countries like France and Belgium, which have been dragged into the conflict in spite of themselves and against their wishes, have everything to lose in being chained to an indestructible power like the British Empire. They take all the blows which are not intended for them. The struggle between England and Germany will last for centuries and will have the universe for theatre." ((2), more)
"What the French do with their weaklings is a mystery. Their gunners may be picked, but here are infantry and supply all as big as our average; they have no such little men in this part of their line as a great many of ours. Their A.S.C. and ours differ also in age; their men are in early middle age, ours are lusty youths." ((3), more)
"The Germans held [Fort Vaux] until November 2d, then suddenly evacuating the position and retiring to the Woevre Plain. With the restauration of Vaux, the circle of Verdun defences was once more complete.Eight months before the French had said: 'They shall not pass.' And the Germans did not pass Verdun. Instead they had retired a defeated army, leaving half a million of their dead on the slopes round about Verdun." ((4), more)
"Saluting the creation of the Military Revolutionary Committee, the Petrograd garrison promises it complete support in all its actions, to unite more closely the front and the rear in the interests of the Revolution.The garrison moreover declares that with the revolutionary proletariat it assures the maintenance of revolutionary order in Petrograd. Every attempt at provocation on the part of the Kornilovtsi or the bourgeoisie will be met with merciless resistance." ((5), more)
"At this point, early on 3 November, the high command was unaware of an Italian stipulation that the ceasefire should come into effect with a 24-hour delay, so their forward units could be informed. General Weber realised the discrepancy would be disastrous for Austrian troops, but the high command refused to amend the order. In desperation, Weber asked Badoglio to suspend hostilities immediately. His request was brushed aside, and the Italians signed the armistice at 15:20. It would come into force at 15:00 on 4 November.As if bent on confirming, with its last breath, every accusation of haughty negligence towards the common people, the Habsburg élite had bungled the armistice. The Italians had 24 hours to round up unresisting Austrian soldiers who believed the war was over. Some 350,000 prisoners were taken in the last day of the war." ((6), more)
(1) In the Battle of Flanders, the Germans had first tried to break through the line held by the Belgian army that ran between Nieuport on the North Sea coast and Dixmude further inland. On October 27, 1914, the Belgians opened the locks that held back the sea, and inundated the flat farmland of Flanders, stopping the German advance. As the waters spread, the Germans turned inland to Ypres where the British Expeditionary Force stood between the Belgians and the French left. The German army conducted repeated and violent attacks, but they slowed on November 3. Despite the activity reported by aviators and others, British commander Sir John French and French General Ferdinand Foch thought the Germans were moving troops to the Eastern Front after the failure of the German-Austro-Hungarian advance of September and October. The Germans had, however, not yet completed their efforts to break through at Ypres.
Military Operations France and Belgium, 1914, Vol. II, October-November by J. E. Edmonds, page 378, copyright © asserted, publisher: MacMillan and Co., Limited, publication date: 1925
(2) A somewhat ungrateful diary entry for November 3, 1915 by Albert, King of the Belgians, whose country, like France, was invaded by Germany in August, 1914. In response, Belgium ask the guarantors of its neutrality, including France and Great Britain, for support in its defense. Britain, which had hesitated coming to France's aid, declared war on Germany after it failed to respond to a demand to leave Belgium. German Commander-in-Chief Erich von Falkenhayn, shared King Albert's view that Great Britain was Germany's primary rival.
The War Diaries of Albert I King of the Belgians by Albert I, page 72, copyright © 1954, publisher: William Kimber
(3) Extract from the entry for November 3, 1916 from the writings — diaries, letters, and memoirs — of Captain J.C. Dunn, Medical Officer of the Second Battalion His Majesty's Twenty-Third Foot, the Royal Welch Fusiliers, and fellow soldiers who served with him. The Battalion was then serving in the Somme sector, on the British right, on the French left. Dunn and French Corporal Louis Barthas, author of the memoir Poilu, seem to have been in close proximity in late 1916. A.S.C.: Assistant (or Adjutant?) Staff Captain
The War the Infantry Knew 1914-1919 by Captain J.C. Dunn, page 272, copyright © The Royal Welch Fusiliers 1987, publisher: Abacus (Little, Brown and Company, UK), publication date: 1994
(4) German forces launched the Battle of Verdun with a massive bombardment the night of February 21–22, 1916, and continued assaults and bombardment of the Verdun salient through the spring and summer. The July 1 beginning of the Anglo-French assault on the Somme forced the Germans to wind down the Verdun offensive. One of the principal forts defending Verdun was Fort Douaumont, which had fallen to the Germans on February 25, in the first days of the battle. Fort Vaux fell on June 7. The reconquest of the forts was a major French objective in the autumn. Under intense bombardment since October 20, the German defenders of Fort Douaumont had evacuated on the night of the 23rd after a French shell had ignited a fire inside the Fort. A small group of German soldiers re-occupied the Fort the morning of the 24th, but were easily overwhelmed by the French. Fort Vaux was evacuated by the German defenders on November 2, and French troops reoccupied it that night.
King's Complete History of the World War by W.C. King, pp. 217–218, copyright © 1922, by W.C. King, publisher: The History Associates, publication date: 1922
(5) Resolution adopted on October 21 (November 3, New Style), 1917 in a meeting of soldiers of the Petrograd garrison. The Military Revolutionary Committee had been formed in the last days of October by the Petrograd Soviet. General Lavr Kornilov had attempted a coup in September.
Ten Days that Shook the World by John Reed, page 71, publisher: Signet Books, publication date: 1967
(6) Generals Viktor Weber von Weberau and Pietro Badoglio were the armistice negotiators for Austria-Hungary and Italy respectively. General Armando Diaz launched the battle of Battle of Vittorio Veneto on October 24, 1918. After resisting for two days, the Austro-Hungarian defense collapsed as the Empire itself broke apart.
The White War: Life and Death on the Italian Front, 1915-1919 by Mark Thompson, page 363, copyright © 2008 Mark Thompson, publisher: Basic Books, publication date: 2009
