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Refugees in Van, Armenian Turkey, crowding around a public oven in hopes of getting bread. Photograph from 'Ambassador Morgenthau's Story' by Henry Morgenthau, Formerly American Ambassador to Turkey from 1913 to 1916. The Ambassador made repeated attempts during 1915 to convince the rulers of Turkey, particularly Interior Minister Talaat and War Minister Enver, to spare the Armenian population.
An Italian soldier lying in the snow waving a handkerchief to a plane overhead. The logo is for Societa Italiana Aviazione, founded in 1916, which became part of Fiat Aviation in 1918.
From The Great War magazine, Part 34: Map of the Turkish invasion of Russia in the Caucasus at the end of 1914, ending in defeat at the Battle of Sarikamish.
A woman munitions worker carrying a shell apparently drops another one on the foot of a frightened man who clearly does not realize, as she does, that they are not in danger. No doubt his foot hurt.
English schoolboys being trained for officers. From 'The Nations at War, a Current History' by Willis John Abbot, 1917 Edition.
"As we were passing by the last vegetable gardens on the edge of town, we saw an elderly hunchbacked Turkish woman with disheveled hair, dressed in rags. She stood like a statue, sometimes raising her hands to the sky and then striking her knees, and shouting:Cursed be they, it's a world of doers and finders; they're taking these innocent people away to murder them; the enemy to come, in turn, will treat us this way in the future . . . Look here, those who remain alive won't enjoy the spoils . . . may God be with you, my children." ((1), more)
"— A story by the artist C———. An Italian officer was trying to induce his men to advance out of the trenches by sheer eloquence. In fiery language he reminded them of their hereditary foe, of their king hovering over the battlefield in an aeroplane. Then he charged forward, but turned around again to observe that his men were still firmly planted in the trench, applauding his speech with cries of 'Bravo, bravo!'" ((2), more)
"On January 14 [1916] an unexpected Russian offensive began against the center of the Third [Turkish] Army. . . .The Turks withdrew at first to the nearby mountains to the east and northeast of Erzerum. The first Russian attack against the field fortifications of Erzerum failed; another from the northeast was successful. Erzerum fell February 15. To the west of Erzerum a Turkish division was surprised and destroyed." ((3), more)
"The London City and Midland Bank has put girls on the 'walk round'. That is to say, it is now employing girls in the highly responsible work of collecting money from other banks and City houses against cheques and bills. It is a position of great trust, as sometimes the walk-clerk has to carry thousands of pounds in a wallet, and must possess considerable ability. The L.C. and M. is the only bank that has yet adopted the innovation. More than 60 per cent of the staff have gone to the war, and the deficiency has been largely made up by girls. Other banks are expected to follow suit." ((4), more)
". . . Your remark about collecting royalties happens merely to be ironic; and so does not give me anything like the pleasure the other offer does — that offer to provide a responsible deputy for my position. My position is at present that of a private in the 2/5 battallion of the Gloucesters, who are about to move to huts on Salisbury plain. Any deputy, trustworthy or otherwise, would be most gratefully welcomed, and fulsomely flattered, receive all my military decorations, and a valuable insight into the best methods of mud-cleaning with vocal accompaniment:Yours trulyIvor Gurney" ((5), more)
(1) Excerpt from the memoir of Grigoris Balakian, a priest of the Armenian Church, and one of the Armenian intellectuals of Constantinople imprisoned on the night of April 24, 1915. Most of the others were dead the end of the summer of 1915, but Balakian survived, and was imprisoned in Chankiri. On February 13, 1916, he was taken from its jail to join the Armenians of Chankiri who were being deported to Der Zor and likely death in the Syrian desert.
Armenian Golgotha: A Memoir of the Armenian Genocide, 1915-1918 by Grigoris Balakian, page 127, copyright © Introduction and Translation 2009 by Peter Balakian, publisher: Vintage Books, publication date: 2009-00-00
(2) Undated mid-February, 1916 entry from the diary of Michel Corday, a senior civil servant in the French government. Italy's hereditary foe was Austria, with whom Italy fought three Wars of Independence from 1848 to 1866.
The Paris Front: an Unpublished Diary: 1914-1918 by Michel Corday, page 145, copyright © 1934, by E.P. Dutton & Co., Inc., publisher: E.P. Dutton & Co., Inc., publication date: 1934
(3) Excerpt from the memoirs of German General Otto Liman von Sanders who led a 1913 mission to Turkey to reorganize and train its army. In 1915, he was given command of Turkish forces on the Gallipoli peninsula after the Allied naval assault in the Dardanelles. According to other writers, some of the outer forts of the fortified city of Erzerum fell on the 15th, but the city fell a couple of days later, after the date Sanders recorded.
Five Years in Turkey by Liman von Sanders, page 124, publisher: The Battery Press with War and Peace Books, publication date: 1928 (originally)
(4) From the London Evening News of February 16, 1916. As men left civil positions, volunteering or being drafted for service, women workers filled many of the vacated positions.
The Virago Book of Women and the Great War by Joyce Marlow, Editor, page 161, copyright © Joyce Marlow 1998, publisher: Virago Press, publication date: 1999
(5) End of the response by Ivor Gurney, composer, poet, and soldier of the 2nd 5th Gloucesters, to a February 17, 1916 circular of the Royal College of Music Union soliciting the views of its membership on an RCMU proposal to assist members in maintaining their professional interests and duties while on active service. The Union thought these members 'may be glad to know where to apply in the event of their wanting a temporary teacher for their pupils, a reliable deputy to take over a position, or a responsible representative to gather any royalties from publishers which may accrue.'
War Letters, Ivor Gurney, a selection edited by R.K.R. Thornton by Ivor Gurney, page 55, copyright © J. R. Haines, the Trustee of the Ivor Gurney Estate 1983, publisher: The Hogarth Press, publication date: 1984
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