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German Zeppelins and ships follow what seems to be an invasion force arriving on British shores. In November 1914, British military and naval authorities feared that Germany was preparing to invade. After a Zeppelin raid on January 19, 1915, they and citizens at large feared further attacks.
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.
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.
Postwar postcard map of the Balkans including Albania, newly-created Yugoslavia, expanded Romania, and diminished former Central Powers Bulgaria and Turkey. The first acquisitions of Greece in its war against Turkey are seen in Europe where it advanced almost to Constantinople, in the Aegean Islands from Samos to Rhodes, and on the Turkish mainland from its base in Smyrna. The Greco-Turkish war was fought from May 1919 to 1922. The positions shown held from the war's beginning to the summer of 1920 when Greece advanced eastward. Newly independent Hungary and Ukraine appear in the northwest and northeast.
A Russian Cossack riding among refugees fleeing before a Central Power advance. The Russians adopted a scorched-earth policy in the months-long retreat before the German-Austro-Hungarian Gorlice-Tarnow Offensive of the spring, summer, and fall 1915, with Cossacks accused of burning homes and crops to deny them to the advancing enemy, and to prevent civilians from remaining behind and providing intelligence to the invader.
"On February 26 [1915], LZ.8 commanded by Kapitänleutnant Helmut Beelitz, left her shed at Düsseldorf and headed for England, but strong headwinds forced her to land at an Army encampment field in occupied Belgium. On March 4 Beelitz tried again, but was trapped by a North Sea gale and blown out of control over Nieuport, and his brand new Zeppelin was shot down by Belgian gunners." ((1), more)
"The attitude of Italy is remarkable. If she can be induced to join us, the Austrian Fleet will be powerless and the Mediterranean as safe as an English lake. Surely some effort should be made to encourage Italy to come forward. From leaving an alliance to declaring war is only a step." ((2), more)
"On 1 March fog and heavy snow falls, we lose all sense of direction, entire regiments get lost, catastrophic losses are the result. On 6 March a complete change in weather: clear skies, thaw by day, and -20 degrees by night; with the result the slopes are iced over." ((3), more)
"'Tell the Russians that we will meet them in a generous and sympathetic spirit about Constantinople. But no impediment must be placed in the way of Greek co-operation. We must have Greece and Bulgaria, if they will come. I am so afraid of your losing Greece, and yet paying all the future into Russian hands. If Russia prevents Greece helping, I will do my utmost to oppose her having Constantinople. She is a broken power but for our aid, and has no resource open but to turn traitor — and this she cannot do.If you don't back up this Greece — the Greece of Venizelos — you will have another which will cleave to Germany.'I put this letter aside till the next morning, and in the morning there arrived the following laconic telegram from Athens:'The King, having refused to agree to M. Venizelos' proposals, the Cabinet have resigned.'" ((4), more)
"A terrifying number of people are suffering from malnutrition; the starving arrive in their dozens, frozen soldiers are brought in from the outposts, all of them like walking corpses. They lie silently on their cold hospital beds, make no complaints and drink muddy water they call tea. The next day they are carried away to the morgue. The sight of these pitiful figures, whose wives and children are probably also starving at home, wrings your heart. This is war." ((5), more)
(1) Zeppelins had been used in the sieges of the Belgian fortress cities of Liège and Antwerp in 1914, and against cities in France and Russia. The first raids on Great Britain took place the night of January 19-20, 1915, striking the cities of Sheringham, Snettisham, King's Lynn, and Yarmouth. The prevailing winds over the North Sea worked against the German airships which were vulnerable to bad weather. Two were wrecked over neutral Denmark on February 17.
The Zeppelin Fighters by Arch Whitehouse, page 72, copyright © 1966 by Arch Whitehouse, publisher: New English Library, publication date: 1978
(2) An excerpt from Winston Churchill's history of the war. During the July 1914 Crisis, Italy concluded that Austria-Hungary's attack on Serbia was not defensive and neither met the terms of the Triple Alliance, nor compelled Italy's support. Italy declared neutrality on August 3, 1914, 'leaving an alliance' in Churchill's term. Both sides tried to entice Italy and its standing army of over a million men into war, offering Italy territory for dropping its neutral stance, proposing Trentino and Trieste in Austria-Hungary, Piedmont in France, parts of Turkey, and other spoils.
The World Crisis 1911-1918 by Winston Churchill, page 379, copyright © by Charles Scribner's Sons 1931, renewed by Winston S. Churchill 1959, publisher: Penguin Books, publication date: 1931, 2007
(3) Excerpt from the writings of Colonel George Veith of the Austro-Hungarian Third Army on the fighting to relieve the Russian siege of Przemyśl, Austria-Hungary's great fortress in Galicia. Conditions both in and outside the besieged city were harrowing. Besides being killed in battle, soldiers and civilians starved, froze to death, and took their lives.
The First World War: Germany and Austria Hungary 1914-1918 by Holger H. Herwig, page 137, copyright © 1997 Holger H. Herwig, publisher: Arnold, publication date: 1997
(4) An excerpt from Winston Churchill's history of the war beginning with a letter he wrote, but, overtaken by events, did not send, to British Foreign Secretary Edward Grey. Anticipating success in the Franco-British attempt to force the Dardanelles and seize Constantinople, Britain and France had agreed that Russia could claim the Turkish capital. Churchill and others also anticipated some resistance by Turkish land forces, and were eager to bring the Balkan states into the war as Allies. Russia, Tsar Nicholas himself, refused to allow Greek participation in the assault, particularly preventing the Greek King Constantine from entering Constantinople. The King was pro-German, and needed little excuse to overrule his Prime Minister, the pro-Entente Eleftherios Venizelos.
The World Crisis 1911-1918 by Winston Churchill, page 382, copyright © by Charles Scribner's Sons 1931, renewed by Winston S. Churchill 1959, publisher: Penguin Books, publication date: 1931, 2007
(5) Excerpt from the writings of Austrian Josef Tomann, a junior doctor working in the garrison hospital, on conditions in Przemyśl, Austria-Hungary's great fortress in Galicia while besieged by the Russians. Conditions both in and outside the besieged city were harrowing. Besides being killed in battle, soldiers and civilians starved, froze to death, and took their lives.
Intimate Voices from the First World War by Svetlana Palmer and Sarah Wallis, page 80, copyright © 2003 by Svetlana Palmer and Sarah Wallis, publisher: Harper Collins Publishers, publication date: 2003
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