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French infantry charge near Fort Vaux, one of the bastions of Verdun. In March 1916, the village of Vaux changed hands 13 times. The fort fell to German forces the morning of June 7.Illustration by Léon Taa. . . ., 1916.
Russian troops fleeing a solitary German soldier. The Russian First Army invaded Germany in August 1914, and defeated the Germans in the Battle of Gumbinnen on the 20th. In September the Germans drove them out of Russia in the First Battle of the Masurian Lakes. In September and October, a joint German, Austro-Hungarian offensive drove the Russians back almost to Warsaw. Illustration by E. H. Nunes.
Two Venetian fishing ships meet, brilliant sails spread. On one, beneath Venice's Lion of St. Mark, the words "Adriaticus mare nostrum — the Adriatic, our sea." On the further blue sail, the cross and words "Pax tibi Marce [Evangelista meus] — Peace to you, Mark, my Evangelist."Postcard promoting Italy's VI National Loan for the war, with a quotation from Gabriele D'Annunzio's "La canzone di Mario Bianco":"E' questo, Italia,é questo il tuo fermento e il tuo cemento"And this, Italy,This is your ferment and your foundation.G. d'Annunzio
A French officer charging into battle in a watercolor by Fernand Rigouts. The original watercolor on deckle-edged watercolor paper is signed F. R. 1917, and addressed to Mademoiselle Henriette Dangon.
Chosen Boy, a 1918 watercolor by Paul Klee. From Paul Klee: Early and Late Years: 1894-1940. © 2013 Moeller Fine Art
"'We do not hear your artillery. We are being attacked with gas and liquid fire. We are in desperate straits.'Then this one, at nightfall on June 5th:'I must be set free this evening, and must have supplies of water immediately. I am coming to the end of my strength. The troops, enlisted men and officers, have done their duty to the last, in every case.'On the 6th came only these few words"'. . . you will intervene before we are completely exhausted. Vive la France!'And finally, on June 7th, at half past three in the morning, these last words, whose meaning we could not make out:'. . . must go on.'" ((1), more)
"It has been another hard-working night. Some of the wounds have been dreadful to look at. Several men were dead on arrival; seven died during the night. . . .An adjutant from our divisional staff came in the evening. He affirmed that the Austrians were retreating fast before our advancing troops. . . .In the midst of our elation at the success of our fighting-men, there came a flash of bad news from England. Lord Kitchener, the great English General, had died: drowned off the northern coast of Scotland when the cruiser on which he was sailing was torpedoed." ((2), more)
"Now the Austrian offensive began to weaken, for the Russian successes had compelled the transfer of Austrian troops from the Italian front to the Galician theater of war. This withdrawal enabled the Italians on June 9th to launch a counter offensive. Artillery duels were maintained along the whole front, and the invaders were pushed back in the upper Arsa Valley and along the western slopes of Monte Cengio. On June 10th, an Austrian attack at Monte Lemerle was repulsed with heavy losses. The Italian offensive was livening from the Adige to the Brenta.On the next day Austrian aeroplanes dropped bombs on the military hospital at Vicenza, and also attacked Venice, Thiere and Mestre with slight damage." ((3), more)
"The march back from the front line goes remarkably quickly. It is as if their weariness has been washed away. Nobody wants to take a long rest break, preferring to get as far as possible from the firing before the sun rises. The route back passes Fort de Froidterre and they stop in its shelter long enough to meet a troop coming from the other direction and going up into battle. It is a mirror image of themselves ten days earlier: ' their coats are bright blue, their tanned leather equipment still yellow, their cooking pots still gleaming silver.' Arnaud is wearing a coat covered in mud, binoculars round his neck, crumpled puttees, ten days' stubble and a damaged helmet—the crest was shot away during fighting at close quarters on 8 June. Most of his soldiers have neither rucksacks nor belts. Some of them no longer even have a rifle. . . .The estimate Arnaud heard on their way to Verdun has proved right, almost exactly: of the hundred men he led to the front only thirty are returning." ((4), more)
"During the evening we saw to our surprise companies of cavalrymen returning to Buchach; their oboz followed them. Some of the wounded told us there had been a severe counter-attack and certain sectors of the Russian Front Line had been forced to withdraw. We listened in consternation. Withdraw! Does that mean retreat? We asked first one man, then another, but no one knew what had happened. Our doctors thought it wise to despatch all our wounded to Dzurin. After they had left we felt better; at least one great responsibility had been lifted from our shoulders. As far as we were concerned, we must remain at our posts. We finished cleaning the rooms and then, all very tired, we decided to retire. The divans were hard and pillowless, but they provided makeshift beds." ((5), more)
(1) Last messages from the Major Raynal and the garrison of Fort Vaux which fell on June 7, 1916 in the Battle of Verdun.
Verdun by Henri Philippe Pétain, page 168, copyright © 1930, publisher: The Dial Press, publication date: 1930
(2) Florence Farmborough, an English nurse serving with the Russian Red Cross, writing on June 8, 1916 (May 26 Old Style) as Russia's Brusilov Offensive continued to collapse the Austro-Hungarian front. Herbert Lord Kitchener, formerly the United Kingdom's Secretary of State for War, was on a mission to Russia when his ship struck a mine on June 5.
Nurse at the Russian Front, a Diary 1914-18 by Florence Farmborough, pp. 191-192, copyright © 1974 by Florence Farmborough, publisher: Constable and Company Limited, publication date: 1974
(3) Austro-Hungarian Commander-in-Chief Conrad von Hötzendorf's Asiago Offensive had shifted the primary Italo-Austro-Hungarian theater of war from the Isonzo River in northeastern Italy to the Trentino in northern Italy on May 15, 1916, surprising the Italians and threatening to drive them from the mountains to the Italian plain, potentially isolating the bulk of the Italian army. In part responding to increasingly urgent pleas from Italy, Russian General Alexsei Brusilov launched his planned offensive on June 4, one month earlier than he had planned. His careful preparations and imaginative tactics were successful, and the Austro-Hungarian defense in Galicia and Bukovina collapsed.
King's Complete History of the World War by W.C. King, page 232, copyright © 1922, by W.C. King, publisher: The History Associates, publication date: 1922
(4) René Arnaud and his men returned from their ten-day deployment on the killing fields of the Battle of Verdun on June 10, 1916, leaving before sunrise after burying those of their men who died during their time on Hill 321.
The Beauty and the Sorrow: An Intimate History of the First World War by Peter Englund, pp. 264, 265, copyright © 2009 by Peter England, publisher: Vintage Books, publication date: 2012
(5) Florence Farmborough, an English nurse serving with the Russian Red Cross, writing on June 11, 1916 (May 29 Old Style) as Russia's Brusilov Offensive continued. The next day, Farmborough hears reports that German troops had arrived to support the Austro-Hungarian front. Austro-Hungarian Commander-in-Chief Conrad von Hötzendorf had also begun to redeploy two divisions from his Asiago Offensive in northern Italy to face the Russians.
Nurse at the Russian Front, a Diary 1914-18 by Florence Farmborough, page 197, copyright © 1974 by Florence Farmborough, publisher: Constable and Company Limited, publication date: 1974
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