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.
Map of the Gallipoli Peninsula from Suvla Bay to Anzac Cove from 'Gallipoli' by John Masefield. In landing at Suvla Bay on August 6, 1915, the Allies hoped to open a new sector on Gallipoli that, with a simultaneous advance from Anzac Cove, would break the stalemate that had held since the April 25 invasion. The plan failed. Locations shown include Suvla Bay, the Salt Lake, dry in summer, Ari Burnu or Anzac Cove, named for the Australia and New Zealand Army Corps that held it, Chunuk Bair, where the New Zealanders suffered devastating casualties, and Battleship Hill, deadly to the Australians.
Image text: Suvla BaySalt LakeAri Burnu or Anzac CoveChunuk BairBattleship Hill
Help our glorious troops by subscribing to a war loan paying 5 1/2%. Imperial Russian Soldiers in a snow-covered trench, rifles at the ready. War Bond Postcard dated October 15, 1916.
Image text: Всто должны помогать нашимъ славнымъ войскам и кто можетъ долженъ подписатьсяна 5 1/2%ВОЕННЫЙ ЗАЕМЬ.ESPO should help our glorious troops, and those who can should subscribe5 1/2%War Loan.Reverse:ОТКРЫТОЕ ПИСЬМОOpen Letter15-X-1916October 15, 1916
Map of Romania and the Allied and Central Power campaign plans for 1917. 'Romanian Territories under Foreign Rule' include Transylvania, Austria-Hungary, northwest of the Carpathian Mountains, and Bessarabia, Russia, to the east between the Prut and Nistru Rivers, regions with large ethnic Romanian populations. From Romania in World War I, a Synopsis of Military History by Colonel Dr. Vasile Alexandrescu.
Image text: The Romanian Army in the 1917 CampaignRomanian territories under foreign ruleThe Romanian territory invaded by troops of the Central Powers in the 1916 campaignThe Romanian-Russian campaign plan for the summer of 1917The German-Austro-Hungarian campaign plan for the summer of 1917Romanian troopsRussian troopsTroops of the Central Powers
Line on the Ourcq showing advance of the Allies in the Marne Salient from July 18 to July 27, 1918. From The History of The A.E.F. by Shipley Thomas.
Image text: Line on the Ourcq showing advance of the Allies in the Marne Salient from July 18 to July 27, 1918.
"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." ((1), more)
"The Corps Commander turned to me and said, Where will the enemy come from?' Pointing with my hand in the direction of Ari Burnu, and along the whole shore as far as Suvla, I said, 'From here.''Very well, supposing he does come from there, how will he advance?' Again pointing towards Ari Burnu, I moved my hand in a semi-circle towards Koja Chemen Tepe. 'He will advance from here,' I said. The Corps Commander smiled and patted my shoulder. 'Don't you worry, he can't do it,' he said. Seeing that it was impossible to convince him I felt it unnecessary to prolong the argument any further. I confined myself to saying, 'God willing, sir, things will turn out as you expect.'" ((2), more)
"The bombardment began early on 6 August, pounding the Austrian lines all the way from Tolmein to the sea, before drawing in to San Michele and Gorizia. Cadorna's gunners had never been so effective. The Austrian lines were shrouded in smoke, their command centres disabled, many observation posts destroyed, and communications wrecked. Boroević telegraphed the Army High Command for urgent reserves and heavy artillery. He had underestimated the enemy build-up, partly because it was well concealed (with Cadorna making highly visible visits to Trentino. The Austrians had assumed that the new government in Rome would want more time before launching its first offensive." ((3), more)
"The offensive of the German Ninth Army in the Focşani-Mărăşeşti-Adjud direction was triggered off on the morning of August 6, 1917, after an intense artillery preparation making extensive use of poisonous gas. The sector of the strike devolved on the I Army Corps, with the 12th, 76th and 89th Infantry Divisions employed in the first line, over a 15 km-wide front, and other two large units in the second line. The two Russian divisions in the area of contact (the 13th and the 34th) could not withold enemy pressures and started retreating northwards." ((4), more)
"The 28th Division, whose red 'Keystone' shoulder patch would soon be nicknamed the 'Bucket of Blood,' was teamed up with the 32d ('Gemutlichkeit') Division from Michigan and Wisconsin in attacking up the Château-Thierry—Fismes road. This road, though secondary to that running from Soissons to Château-Thierry, still constituted a substantial supply route for the German shock troops that Ludendorff was trying to maintain in the Aisne-Marne salient. The Americans of the 28th met only light resistance at first since the 32d Division had been carrying the bulk of the fighting. On August 6, however, the 28th Division arrived within sight of Fismes, most of which was already occupied by troops of the 32d Division." ((5), more)
(1) 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.
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
(2) Excerpt from the account by Mustafa Kemal, later Ataturk, of his experiences in the Gallipoli campaign, as retold by Alan Moorehead in his classic Gallipoli. Kemal reported this exchange took place two months before the Allied attack that began the night of August 6, 1915, at Ari Burnu, at the northern end of Anzac Cove, where Australian, New Zealand, and Turkish troops had battled under horrendous conditions since the invasion of April 25, and Hill 971, which the invaders hoped to reach from Suvla Bay, several miles north of Anzac, where a thin Turkish defense awaited the most recent invasion.
Gallipoli by Alan Moorehead, page 251, copyright © 1956 by Alan Moorehead, publisher: Perennial Classics 2002 (HarperCollins Publications 1956), publication date: 2002 (1956)
(3) After facing five Italian offensives in one year along the Isonzo River in northeastern Italy, Austro-Hungarian Commander in Chief Franz Conrad von Hötzendorf launched the Asiago Offensive on May 14, 1916 in Trentino, striking behind the Italian armies, hoping to cut them off with a successful drive to the Adriatic Sea. Surprised by the successful attack, General Luigi Cadorna shifted troops from the Isonzo to Trentino, while the government pleaded with the Russians for a relief offensive against Austria-Hungary. Russian General Alexsie Brusilov responded with one of the greatest and most successful offensives of the war, one that threatened to destroy the Austro-Hungarian Army. Cadorna opened the Sixth Battle of the Isonzo, his most successful, on August 6, 1916.
The White War: Life and Death on the Italian Front, 1915-1919 by Mark Thompson, page 170, copyright © 2008 Mark Thompson, publisher: Basic Books, publication date: 2009
(4) The Battle of Mărăşeşti, German commander August von Mackensen's response to Romanian victory in the Battle of Mărăşti, began on August 6, 1917. The Mărăşti offensive began on July 24, 1917 with an attack by the recovered and newly re-armed Romanian army in Moldavia, the only part of the country not occupied by Central Power forces. The Romanians suspended the battle on August 1. To avenge his loss, Mackensen hastened plans to destroy the Romanian army and seize Moldavia.
Romania in World War I, a Synopsis of Military History by Vasile Alexandrescu, page 52, copyright © 1985, publisher: Military Publishing House, publication date: 1985
(5) The 28th 'Keystone' Division was drawn from the Pennsylvania National Guard. The keystone is still visible in Pennsylvania highway signs. It would be two days before the Americans secured Fismes, on the south side of the Vesle River, and moved to take Fismette on the north side. 'Gemutlichkeit' is the German word for coziness or comfortableness. The 32d Division drew on the large German population of the American upper midwest.
Yanks: The Epic Story of the American Army in World War I by John S.D. Eisenhower, page 170, copyright © 2001 John S.E. Eisenhower and Joanne Thompson Eisenhower, publisher: The Free Press, publication date: 2001
