1898 postcard of German Southwest Africa including scenes of the capital of Greater Windhoek, a square in the city, and Major Leutwein, Governor from 1894 to 1904.
Image text: Panorama von Gross-WindhoekPlatz in Gross-WindhoekGouverneur Major LeutweinDeutsch-Südwest-AfrikaVerl. u. Eigent d. Deutschen Kolonialhauses, Berlin, C 19. Ges. geschützl. Must. No. 15 Panorama of greater WindhoekSquare in greater WindhoekGovernor Major LeutweinGerman SouthWest AfricaPublisher and Property of the German Colonial House, Berlin, C 19 Registered Trademark of the Heavy Artillery Muster [?] No. 15Reverse:Deutsche SchutzgebieteNur für die AdresseGerman protected areasOnly for the address
The rulers of the Central Powers stumped by Verdun. Franz Joseph of Austria-Hungary, Mohammed V of Turkey, Kaiser Wilhelm of Germany, and Czar Ferdinand of Bulgaria puzzle over a map labeled "Verdun." The ink and watercolor drawing is dated March 4, 1916. By R. DLC?The German assault on Verdun began on February 21, 1916 and continued through August.
Image text: Illustrated map labeled "Verdun." Drawing dated March 4, 1916. By R. DLC?
An Italian postcard of the Industry of War. Kaiser Wilhelm of Germany squeezes gold from France and Belgium, filling sacks of money he provides to his ally Emperor Franz Josef of Austria-Hungary who feeds his guns to fire at Tsar Nicholas of Russia who vomits up troops. On the bottom right, Serbia, Montenegro, and Japan join the battle against Germany and Austria-Hungary. To the left, Great Britain flees to its ships. King Victor Emmanuel III of Italy surveys it all, serenely neutral until May 1915. Germany taxed Belgium and occupied France heavily during its occupation, in money, in food and other necessities, and in human life and labor. Austria-Hungary borrowed heavily from Germany to support its war effort. The enormous manpower of Russia was a source of consolation for its allies, and of trepidation to its enemies. Some suspected Great Britain would take its small army and return to its ships, home, and empire.
Image text: Le Industrie della GuerraThe Industry of War
A column of French Renault tanks moving to the front in a stereo card. The Renault tanks were used by both French and American forces. © By the Keystone View Company
Image text: How France aided her fighters—Renault tanks going to the front.
"Instead of making a stand to defend the colonial capital, the Schutztruppe retreated north to Omaruru, taking most of their prisoners with them. Windhoek, the territorial objective of the campaign, was occupied without a fight. The negotiations for the surrender of the town were carried on by telephone from Karibib — it was that kind of war.On 13 May 1915 Botha's valet wrote a note to Annie Botha: 'Dear Madame and all, me and the General took Windhoek yesterday. The General keeps well.'" ((1), more)
"Two other sections went up to reinforce other companies on the firing line. The 4th Section, to which I belonged, was sent to observe on the slope of Cote 304 facing the Mort Homme.Everything was sinister in these places, but this place was even worse, if that's possible. At the bottom of the ravine, where the ruisseau [stream] des Forges flowed, shells of every caliber, fired by both sides, fell without respite. This dark abyss seemed like a volcano in constant eruption, and there we were, hanging right on its rim.Our mission consisted of maintaining liaison, by patrols, with the troops who held the facing slopes. But these patrols took place only on paper, in fictional reports. In reality, the patrols had ceased after three days—there was no one to send out on patrol." ((2), more)
"— I have been reading in a financial paper the annual report of an iron and steel company. They express their satisfaction at the opening of branches at Gennevilliers, Milan, and Moscow. And I recall the features of one of its two directors—heavy-jowled, coarse, and common, a positive gastropod, a mere embodiment of greed. It is only natural that such creatures should give their blessing to a nice long war! Yes, yes, those are the people, above all, for whom fifteen hundred young Frenchmen are being killed every day. The only other cause is that conceit of patriotism, which our leaders know how to stimulate." ((3), more)
"— The 13th [May, 1918]. The strike in the Renault factory is being kept dark. The workers are not asking for any increase of pay. They are merely protesting against being put back into the army, against the use of foreigners to fill their places, against the refusal of the peace offers last year, and against a harsh war-policy. Finally, they insist on publication of our war-aims.— Since the evening of the 14th, the strike movement has calmed down. The newspapers are still silent about it. It is a silence truly symbolic of the ignorance imposed on public opinion. A hundred thousand men have left factories at the very gates of Paris, but Paris knows nothing about it." ((4), more)
(1) A hero and ultimately general in the Boer Wars against Great Britain, Louis Botha was a representative in the peace negotiations that led to an independent Transvaal, of which he became Prime Minister in 1907. When Trasvaal became part of the new British dominion of the Union of South Africa in 1910, Botha became its first Prime Minister. Four years later, despite the opposition of many Boers who supported Germany in the World War, Botha supported Great Britain, and acted on its request for South Africa to seize Germany's colony of Southwest Africa.
The Great War in Africa 1914-1918 by Byron Farwell, page 96, copyright © 1986 by Byron Farwell, publisher: W.W. Norton & Company, publication date: 1989
(2) Excerpt from the Notebooks of French Infantry Corporal Louis Barthas who had rotated into the Verdun sector on May 6, 1916, and moved to the front line on May 11. Our quotation is from May 13. Barthas' unit was on Hill 304, facing the hill of Mort-Homme. What trenches there are simply come to an end leaving gaps of up to 400 meters between sections and companies. 'No one knew whether we had Germans or Frenchmen in front of us,' he writes. His language gives some sense of the horror of the Battle of Verdun: 'debris,' 'shredded', 'pulverized,' 'torn to bits.' The chaos and shelling exceed anything Barthas has seen in 20 months in the front lines.
Poilu: The World War I Notebooks of Corporal Louis Barthas, Barrelmaker, 1914-1918 by Louis Barthas, page 194, copyright © 2014 by Yale University, publisher: Yale University Press, publication date: 2014
(3) Entry for May 13, 1917 from the diary of Michel Corday, French senior civil servant. Corday supported peace efforts to end the war, and rails against those who demand a fight to victory at any cost.
The Paris Front: an Unpublished Diary: 1914-1918 by Michel Corday, page 251, copyright © 1934, by E.P. Dutton & Co., Inc., publisher: E.P. Dutton & Co., Inc., publication date: 1934
(4) Entries for May 13 and (likely) 15, 1918, from the diary of Michel Corday, a senior civil servant in the French government writing in Paris. The Renault company manufactured the Renault tank, used by the French and American armies. The Bolshevik Revolution in November, 1917, the armistice and subsequent peace negotiations between Russia and the Central Powers at Brest-Litovsk, peace initiatives in December by Pope Benedict XV, American President Woodrow Wilson, and by Germany had raised hopes for peace across Europe.
The Paris Front: an Unpublished Diary: 1914-1918 by Michel Corday, page 344, copyright © 1934, by E.P. Dutton & Co., Inc., publisher: E.P. Dutton & Co., Inc., publication date: 1934
