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Soldier 1914; Grave 1916. A mounted lancer, possibly an Uhlan, at the snow-covered grave of a German soldier. Likely by an Austro-Hungarian soldier: the text is in Czech. A pencil sketch by I.H. (?), field postmarked January 26, 1916.
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.
Embossed postcard of the flag and coins of Mexico, with fixed exchange rates for major currencies including the German Mark, Austro-Hungarian Krone, British Shilling, Latin Monetary Union Franc, Dutch Guilder, Russia Ruble, Scandinavian Monetary Union Krone/Krona, and United States Dollar. Includes images for 1, 2, 5, 10, 20, 25 and 50 Centavo coins, and 1, 5, and 10 Peso coins.
England's Distress: Postcard map of England and Ireland with the restricted zone Germany proclaimed around the islands, showing the ships destroyed by submarine in the 12 months beginning February 1, 1917.
Map of the Eastern Front, mid-July, 1915 from The Capture of Novo Georgievsk, Volume 8 of the Reichsarchive history Battles of the World War.
"By the last week of April [1916] each of the four French divisions had passed out of the 'entrenched camp' and advanced to the frontier, and a couple of British brigades took up positions astride the railway south of Lake Doiran. This move enabled the British, for the first time in this theater of war, to make contact with specifically German units, a sharp cavalry skirmish taking place between two troops of Uhlans and the Sherwood Rangers on April 10. Morale was higher—partly because the hardship of winter was over, but also because the proximity of the Germans suggested a purpose for being in this odd corner of Europe." ((1), more)
"Tuesday, April 11, 1916.The day before yesterday the Battle of Verdun seems to have attained a paroxysm of horror and fury. Along the whole line the fierce waves of the German offensive have been victoriously repulsed.Never before in her history has the soul of France risen to such heights. Sazonov, whose moral conscience is quite unusually sensitive, was deeply moved as he used these words to me this morning." ((2), more)
". . . Troop K, Thirteenth Cavalry, and Troop M, Thirteenth Cavalry, entered Parral [Mexico] 11 a.m., 12th instant. Proceeding was cordially received by higher civil and military authorities. Military Commander General Lozano accompanied Major Frank Tompkins on way to camp.In the outskirts of the town groups of native troops and civilians, following, jeered, threw stones, and fired on column. Major Frank Tompkins took defensive position north of railroad, but was soon flanked by native troops and forced to further retire.About 300 Carranza troops joined in pursuit, and Major Frank Tompkins continued to withdraw to avoid further complications until he reached Santa Cruz, eight miles from Parral. Fighting ceased about fifteen miles from town. Major Frank Tompkins deserves great praise for his forbearance. General Lozano attempted to control his men when fight first began, but failed to." ((3), more)
"The Revolutionists meanwhile, following the lead of the Ulsterites, had been negotiating with Germany for a supply of arms. The vessel Aud was chartered for the purpose, and was loaded with 20,000 rifles, 1,000,000 rounds of ammunition and 15 machine guns. Flying a neutral flag and disguised as a merchant vessel, the Aud left Germany on April 12th, bound for Ireland. Accompanying the Aud was a German submarine, in which Sir Roger Casement, Cpt. Robert Monteith and Private Daniel Bailey had taken passage. The submarine, however, put in at Heligoland for repairs, which kept her there several days, while the Aud continued on her way through the British blockade." ((4), more)
"The Russian army lost 100,000 men in [the Battle of Lake Narotch]—as well as 12,000 men who died of frostbite. The Germans claimed to have lifted 5,000 corpses from their wire. They themselves lost 20,000 men.Lake Narotch was, despite appearances, one of the decisive battles of the First World War. It condemned most of the Russian army to passivity. Generals supposed that, if 350,000 men and a thousand guns, with 'mountains' of shell to use, had failed, then the task was impossible—unless there were extraordinary quantities of shell." ((5), more)
(1) On October 5, 1915, 13,000 Allied French and British troops landed at the Greek port of Salonica in Greece in a too-late attempt to aid Serbia. Thwarted by Bulgarian troops, and threatened by those of Greece, the Allied forces retreated to and fortified their position at Salonica, if not strengthening their dicey legal grounds for being in the neutral country at all. By early 1917, there were over half a million French, English, Russian, Serbian, and Italian troops on the Salonica Front. Lake Doiran was on the border of Greece and Bulgaria, and was part of the British sector at the eastern end of the front. Uhlans were mounted lancers distinguished by their distinctive headgear, the Polish czapska.
The Gardeners of Salonika by Alan Palmer, page 62, copyright © 1965 by A. W. Palmer, publisher: Simon and Schuster, publication date: 1965
(2) Germans forces struck mightily at the Verdun sector on April 9, 1916, attacking northwest of the city, at the high ground of Mort-Homme and Cote 304, with their heaviest bombardment since beginning the Battle on February 21. The French held, and on April 10, French General Pétain famously concluded his order of the day with 'Courage! On les aura!' — Courage! We'll get them! Entry for April 11, 1916 from the memoirs of Maurice Paléologue, French Ambassador to Russia. Sergei Sazonov was the Russian Foreign Minister.
An Ambassador's Memoirs Vol. II by Maurice Paléologue, page 229, publisher: George H. Doran Company
(3) Excerpt from the April 15, 1916 report by General Frederick Funston, commander of United States troops on the U.S./Mexican border, on the attack three days earlier by civilians and Mexican troops on American cavalry in Parral, Mexico. Pancho Villa, a former revolutionary Mexican general, was defeated by government forces in 1915, losing most of his army. In part blaming the United States, he attacked, seizing a train in Mexico on January 11, 1916, killing 19 US citizens, and raiding Columbus, New Mexico on March 9, killing 11 civilians. The United States sent a force under the command of General John Pershing into Mexico to capture Villa. Venustiano Carranza was president of Mexico. Funston's report further states: 'Reported privately forty Mexicans killed, all soldiers, including one major. One civilian wounded. Americans killed, two; wounded, six; missing, one.'
The Great Events of the Great War in Seven Volumes by Charles F. Horne, Vol. IV, 1916, p. 63, copyright © 1920 by The National Alumnia, publisher: The National Alumni, publication date: 1920
(4) Preparing for a violent, armed response to Irish Home Rule, Ulster Unionists formed the Ulster Volunteer Force and smuggled 20,000 magazine-fed rifles into Ulster on April 24, 1914. In response, in the south, those in favor of home rule formed the National Volunteers, while others favoring independence formed the Irish Republican Brotherhood, and smuggled approximately 900 single-shot rifles into Ireland in July. Two years later, with the war in progress, Sir Roger Casement had tried, and failed, to raise a Irish force from POWs held by Germany. Disheartened by this and the lack of German support, he was returning to Ireland to prevent a planned uprising. The island of Helgoland was a heavily fortified German port. The British blockade kept the German surface fleet bottled up in the North Sea.
King's Complete History of the World War by W.C. King, page 241, copyright © 1922, by W.C. King, publisher: The History Associates, publication date: 1922
(5) The Battle of Lake Narotch, which had begun on March 18, ended on April 14, 1916. Russia, which had suffered more than other major combatants from its shell shortage, was finally producing and importing weapons sufficient for its needs. This did not change the fact that its military leadership was not up to the command and control task it faced. Our author, Norman Stone, refers to the Lake Narotch offensive as 'the last real effort by the old Russian army' in which infantry and artillery failed to coordinate their efforts, different armies failed to work together, and those in command demonstrated no tactical ability. The new Russian army, exemplified by Alexsei Brusilov, would take the field in June.
The Eastern Front, 1914-1917 by Norman Stone, page 231, copyright © 1975 Norman Stone, publisher: Charles Scribner's Sons, publication date: 1975
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