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Austro-Hungarian trench art pencil drawing on pink paper of a soldier in a ragged, many-times-patched uniform, labeled 'Bilder ohne Worte' (No Comment, or Picture without Words). Kaiser Karl who succeeded Emperor Franz Joseph is on reverse. The printed text on the reverse is in Hungarian and German.
British pilots and ground crew with three S.E.5-A fighters in front of their hangars. The plane in the foreground has its engine running.
Peoples of Austria-Hungary in 1914 from Historical Atlas by William R. Shepherd. The empire's population included Germans, Magyars, Romanians, Italians, and Slavs including Croats, Serbians, Ruthenians, Czechs, Slovaks, Poles, and Slovenes.
Fantasy map of Europe with the territory of Germany and Austria-Hungary incorporated into France, Russia, Italy, and Serbia. Children representing Belgium, Great Britain (pen in hand), Russia, and France admire the result as Germany and Austria-Hungary walk away bearing their dead or dying national symbols, the eagle or double-headed eagle. A postcard by Aurelio Bertiglia.
Two American soldiers march with an angel overhead. In the background, a woman with a Red Cross flag leads ships, tanks, planes, soldiers marching and hauling cannon. The postcard by Arthur Mayeur for the August, 1918 Pas-de-Calais Days was to raise funds for widows in the Département Pas-de-Calais in northwestern France. The first fundraisers were held on August 13 and 15, 1916, the second two years later on August 13, 18, and 23, 1918. Mayeur illustrated fundraising postcards on both occasions, with three in 1918. America entered the war in April, 1917, but did not join the battle till May of 1918. Thanks to fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Journée_du_Pas-de-Calais, August 7, 2018, for information.
"Reports reached Berlin that if the Central Powers did not bring off an armistice soon, Vienna would be obliged to make a separate settlement with the enemy.Such was the environment when Emperor Charles and his leading counsellors appeared at Spa on August 14 for another top-level parley on war and peace with the Germans. The Hapsburg armed services could not possibly carry on another winter, the men from Vienna flatly asserted, and an armistice must be sought forthwith. Burián presented his plan for an informal, confidential meeting of representatives of the warring states to examine the fundamental considerations on which a settlement might be negotiated. Although Ludendorff had described August 8 as 'the black day' for the German army, the Berlin policy makers recoiled in dismay at Burián's proposal, and insisted that no move for peace should be undertaken until the military situation in France had been stabilized. In the light of first-hand observations in Dresden and Munich, the Austrians were sure that ordinary Germans urgently desired an armistice, and the governments of Bulgaria and Turkey assented to a general conference of belligerents with alacrity." ((1), more)
"We had entered on a tremendously busy time. The impulse eastwards which the Western Front had been given was gathering mass and momentum. Since the line immediately south of Albert was being straightened preparations for a big advance on the Divisional front were being improved. Company Commanders had frequent summonses to H.Q. for conference, and to be given instructions about likely developments. . . . There was considerable aerial activity on both sides, day and night. . . . The Germans did nothing untoward beyond subjecting the whole area to periodic shelling. . . . Our night operations were interfered with a good deal by the dropping of brilliant parachute lights of greatly improved pattern, which were effective over a wide area and burned for a long time, compelling us to stand still . . ." ((2), more)
"Slovene politicians who desired a united Yugoslavia openly collaborated with Czech and Polish separatists, fraternization reaching a peak at a Pan-Slav congress convened on August 16 at Laibach (Ljubljana), attended by thousands. As features of the affairs, a monument to the memory of Dr. Johann Krek, courageous fighter for a united South Slavdom, was unveiled, and warmly Pan-Slav speeches were delivered; for instance, Count Skarbeck, a Pole, declared that Slav unity from Danzig (Gdánsk) to Trieste would thwart the menacing Berlin Bagdad proposition. Now Klofáč boldly asserted that the Czechs would not traffic with Vienna, but would 'struggle for complete independence,' reinforced by fellow Slavs and by the knowledge that the Entente was dedicated to a free Czechoslovakia. 'To-morrow is ours,' announced Korošec prophetically." ((3), more)
". . . the whole thing could collapse as soon as this year. Here I can see and hear more than you can, and I have also read various secret orders. The mood among the troops is quite extraordinarily bad. Many regiments that are supposed to attack are simply refusing to do so . . . Troops coming back there from the field simply refuse to cooperate, and officers can barely show themselves on the streets in the evenings. In my opinion, we will have the same conditions here as in Russia within one year at most. Not one person in the officer corps believes that we will gain a victory any more, and everyone believes that there will be a collapse." ((4), more)
"Next morning [August 18, 1918] the Germans attempted to reënter Frapelle but were repelled by the Americans who were holding on to the much-battered remnants of the village. The casualties suffered were heavy for the result achieved. A total of 571 casualties of whom 1 officer and 35 men were killed and 11 officers and 176 men were gassed, was a costly affair for taking so small a section of useless trench, except that it gave the division its first taste of actual war. Relieved on August 23, the 5th Division moved to the American Area and joined the First American Army Corps." ((5), more)
(1) The success of the Anglo-French Battle of Amiens, particularly the seven-mile advance on a broad front in the first day, stunned German commander Erich Ludendorff who referred to a 'black day for the German Army.' Military and civilian leaders met at Spa on August 13 to review the situation, joined by the Emperors Wilhelm II of Germany and Karl of Austria-Hungary the next day. Hungarian Stephan Burián served as Joint Foreign Minister of Austria-Hungary from January 1915 to December 1916 and again from April 16 to October 24, 1918. He also served as Joint Finance Minister from December 1916 to September 7, 1918.
The Passing of the Hapsburg Monarchy, 1914-1918 2 Volumes by Arthur James May, pp. 730–731, copyright © 1966 by the Trustees of the University of Pennsylvania, publisher: University of Pennsylvania Press, publication date: 1966
(2) Edited excerpt from an entry for August 15 to 18, 1918 from the writings — diaries, letters, and memoirs — of Captain J. C. Dunn, Medical Officer of the Second Battalion His Majesty's Twenty-Third Foot, the Royal Welch Fusiliers, and fellow soldiers who served with him. The 'impulse eastwards' had begun on August 8 with the Anglo-French Battle of Amiens.
The War the Infantry Knew 1914-1919 by Captain J.C. Dunn, page 507, copyright © The Royal Welch Fusiliers 1987, publisher: Abacus (Little, Brown and Company, UK), publication date: 1994
(3) President Woodrow Wilson's Fourteen Points included calls for the satisfaction of nationalist aspirations:9. Readjustment of the frontiers of Italy along clearly recognizable lines of nationality.10. Assuring the freest opportunity of autonomous development to the peoples of Austria-Hungary.11. Restoration of Roumania, Serbia and Montenegro; free access to the sea accorded to Serbia; international guarantees of the independence and integrity of the several Balkan states.13. Erection of an independent Polish state, which should include the indisputable Polish territories, having access to the sea, and guaranteed by international covenant.(Quoted in King's Complete History of the World War, page 371.)The Berlin to Baghdad axis and railway, crossing Austria-Hungary, occupied Serbia, and Bulgaria, would be crossed and thwarted by a Slavic axis from a Polish state on the Baltic Sea to Trieste on the Adriatic Sea. Yugoslavia would be the Union of South Slavs that Gavrilo Princip had killed and died for.
The Passing of the Hapsburg Monarchy, 1914-1918 2 Volumes by Arthur James May, pp. 736–737, copyright © 1966 by the Trustees of the University of Pennsylvania, publisher: University of Pennsylvania Press, publication date: 1966
(4) German Lieutenant Richard Schütt writing to his parents on August 17, 1918 and recommending they sell their war bonds as quickly as possible.
Hundred Days: The Campaign that Ended World War I by Nick Lloyd, page 91, copyright © 2014 by Nick Lloyd, publisher: Basic Books, publication date: 2014
(5) The 5th Division was in the Vosges mountains, and easily took the village of Frapelle on August 17. Holding it the next day was a far greater challenge. Until August 25, 1918, American troops had been fighting under French or British command. Although some continued to do so, the formation of the First American Army Corps began to bring most under direct American command under General John J. Pershing. Frapelle is about 70 km southeast of Strasbourg.
The History of The A.E.F. by Shipley Thomas, page 199, copyright © 1920, by George H. Doran Company, publisher: George H. Doran Company, publication date: 1920
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