German Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs Gottlieb von Jagow held the position through the July Crisis in 1914 until November 21, 1916 when he was replaced by Zimmerman. He helped assure that British Foreign Secretary Grey's attempts to mediate between Austria-Hungary and Russia came to naught.
Image text: Gottlieb von JagowMinister of Foreign Affairs at the time war was declared until replaced by Zimmerman, Nov. 21, 1916.
The poet, novelist, and political activist Gabriele d'Annunzio speaking in favor of Italy's entry into the war on the side of the Entente Allies, and against 'Giolittismo' at the Costanzi Theater in Rome, May, 1915. Giovanni Giolitti was five-time Prime Minister of Italy, and opposed intervention in the Great War. Illustration by Achille Beltrame.
Image text: The great demonstrations against the 'Giolittism'; Gabriele d'Annunzio speaks to the people of Rome, in Theatro Costanzi.
Austrian Mountain Rangers 'resting in the shade of southern flora' on the Italian front. The card was postmarked from Berlin on January 5, 1916.
Image text: Reverse:Vom Italienischen KriegsschauplatzRast im Schallen der südlichen Flora.From the Italian frontRest in the shade of southern flora.
Russian soldiers resting in the field. Card postmarked November 28, 1916.
Image text: Reverse:Postmarked November 28, 1916.
Profile of the Spad XIII in the collection of the National Air and Space Museum, Washington, D.C. © John M. Shea
Image text:
"Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs says that conference you suggest would practically amount to a court of arbitration and could not, in his opinion, be called together except as the request of Austria and Russia. He could not therefore, desirous though he was to cooperate for the maintenance of peace, fall in with your suggestion." ((1), more)
"On July 27th, the Italians again stormed the Plava Heights and St. Michels with bombs and bayonets. Though they gained both summits, they could not retain the positions, so withering was the enemy's artillery fire. Gorizia itself seemed impregnable. Further assaults on the stronghold were postponed. The Italians and Austrians each were said to have lost 150,000 in this engagement." ((2), more)
"On 27 July the Field Marshal [Hindenburg] was given supreme command over the northern part of the Eastern Front: Army Group Leopold of Bavaria, the mixed Austro-German Army Group Linsingen, and the Habsburg Second Army (Böhm-Ermolli). That same day, the Russians crushed Puhallo's First Army; 24 hours later they caved in Tersztyánsky's Fourth Army. The arrival of German units alone prompted Brusilov to call off his attack." ((3), more)
"The night was very dark and the confusion great. Wheels creaked and scrunched; frightened horses slid forwards by leaps and bounds; cart grated against cart; whips twanged and swished; and agitated voices shouted and cursed in one and the same breath.. . . All around us were fires; even in front of us buildings were blazing. My driver said that some of the soldiers thought that they were already surrounded by the enemy. We reached the village of Gorodenka and orders were given to halt. On one side of the village the mansion of a large estate was in flames. Camp-beds and straw were brought and, by the side of a large lake, we wrapped ourselves in our plaids and tried to sleep. . . . In the half-light of dawn, we heard heavy gun carriages thunder by, followed by the tramping of foot soldiers. Behind them came bronirovanny [armoured motors]. . . . It was very cold and damp on the lake bank." ((4), more)
"On 27 July, we were relieved by a company of the 164th. We were utterly exhausted. The commander of the relieving company was badly wounded on the way out; a few days later, my bunker was hit, and his successor buried. We all sighed with relief when we finally turned our backs on Puisieux and the storm of steel of the finale.Their advances showed how much the enemy's strength was increasing, supplemented by drafts from every corner of the earth. We had fewer men to set against them, many were little more than boys, and we were short of equipment and training. It was all we could do to plug gaps with our bodies as the tide flooded in. There wasn't the wherewithal for great counter-attacks like Cambrai any more." ((5), more)
(1) Beginning of a telegram from British Ambassador to Berlin Goschen to Foreign Secretary Edward Grey on July 27, 1914. Grey has proposed a conference of the European powers to mediate the dangerous situation between Austria-Hungary, Serbia, and Russia, the danger being that an Austro-Hungarian invasion of Serbia will bring Russia to Serbia's defense, and turn a 'localized' into a European war. Grey's conference proposal was accepted the same day by the 'non-involved' powers France and Italy, but not by Germany.There are numerous diplomatic exchanges during the day concerning Grey's proposal. Other correspondence concerns mobilization, troop movements, and suspended military leave.
July, 1914; the Outbreak of the First World War; Selected Documents by Imanuel Geiss (Editor), page 253, copyright © 1967 Imanuel Geiss, publisher: Charles Scribner's Sons, publication date: 1967
(2) From Switzerland to the Adriatic Sea, Austria-Hungary held the high ground along its border with Italy. Along the narrow front northeast of Venice, Italy would attack repeatedly in Battles of the Isonzo. The Second Battle, July 18 to August 3, 1915, saw small Italian advances. The Austro-Hungarians, who fought poorly against Russia and Serbia, fared better against the Italians.
King's Complete History of the World War by W.C. King, page 164, copyright © 1922, by W.C. King, publisher: The History Associates, publication date: 1922
(3) Russia's Brusilov Offensive, begun June 4, 1916, overwhelmed the Austro-Hungarian armies attempting to stop it. Despite ending his Asiago Offensive against Italy and transferring troops from his Italian to his Russian front, Austro-Hungarian Commander in Chief Franz Conrad von Hötzendorf had to appeal, as he had before, to Germany for aid. Neither Vienna nor Berlin had faith in Conrad, 300 miles behind the front with his mistress. Field Marshal Paul von Hindenburg was not yet Commander in Chief of the German Armies, a position he would soon hold. Russian General Alexsei Brusilov would continue his offensive at great cost to his troops. On September 6, Kaiser Wilhelm 'assumed leadership of an overall "United Supreme Command" in the east,' (Herwig, p. 215) entirely subordinating the Austro-Hungarian forces to German command.
The First World War: Germany and Austria Hungary 1914-1918 by Holger H. Herwig, page 215, copyright © 1997 Holger H. Herwig, publisher: Arnold, publication date: 1997
(4) Florence Farmborough, an English nurse serving with the Russian Red Cross, describing some of the events of the night of July 26–27, 1917 in the aftermath of the collapse of the Kerensky Offensive and the piercing of the Russian line by German and Austro-Hungarian forces. Farmborough had served since March, 1915, and it was only in the last few days that she felt threatened as she and the other sisters were verbally attacked by the soldiers. She recognized, 'for the first time. . . that our soldiers might become our enemies and were capable of doing us harm.'
Nurse at the Russian Front, a Diary 1914-18 by Florence Farmborough, page 289, copyright © 1974 by Florence Farmborough, publisher: Constable and Company Limited, publication date: 1974
(5) Excerpt from German Lieutenant Ernst Jünger's memoir Storm of Steel. Jünger was wounded on the third day of Germany's Somme Offensive, Operation Michael, in March, 1918. He returned to his regiment on June 4. The last German offensive of the war, the Champagne-Marne Offensive, ended on July 17. The counter-offensive that would end with Allied victory, began the next day. In the summer of 1918, 250,000 American soldiers were arriving on the Western Front each month, and being put into French and British Armies. French and British production of weapons including tanks and aircraft supplied the Allied armies, and far outpaced German production. The Battle of Cambrai was the first significant tank victory, a British victory, the gains of which were lost to German counter-attacks.
Storm of Steel by Ernst Jünger, pp. 272–273, copyright © 1920, 1961, Translation © Michael Hoffman, 2003, publisher: Penguin Books, publication date: 2003
