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Postcard celebrating the independence of Czechoslovakia from Austria-Hungary, proclaimed in its capital Prague on October 28, 1918. The lion, a symbol of Bohemia dating to the 12th or 13th century, became part of the coat of arms of, and a symbol for, Czechoslovakia. The lion holds in its mouth remnants of a Habsburg banner, while looking at part of the Prague skyline.
The Allied tortoise climbs the victory podium ahead of the German hare. A postcard by F. Sancha from between March 1916 when Portugal entered the war, and April 1917, when the United States (not included) did. The card was printed in England for a Portuguese audience. Sancha produced other war postcards based on Aesop's fables. The German officer bears containers including poison (veneno) and inflammables. The Allied tortoise bears carries conventional weapons for Japan, Belgium, England, France, Russia, Italy, Serbia, and Portugal. Allied productive capacity, including that of poison gas, would eventually far outpace that of the Central Powers. © London
Retouched and marked-up photograph of Austrian Warships, June 9, 1915. A penciled note on the back says, 'Photo by amateur'. The Austro-Hungarian Empire's primary port was Pola on the Adriatic Sea.
A British Mark IV tank advances across the red field, star and crescent moon of a Turkish flag under a chain of grey and yellow clouds. Entitled Entente-török fegyverszünet, Entente-Turkish Armistice, it refers to the British-Turkish Armistice signed on October 30, 1918, that took effect on October 31. Original watercolor postcard by Schima Martos.
A squadron of the German Imperial Navy under the eye of a Zeppelin off the North Sea island and port of Helgoland.
"At 9 a.m. on the morning of 28 October Field Marshal von Boroević demanded that the AOK conclude an armistice at any price to head off the 'anarchy' that would surely spell 'catastrophe for Monarchy and Army'. Arz followed this advice within 4 hours. At 4:45 p.m. the AOK dispatched a military delegation to Triente to discuss term with the Italians.That same day, 28 October, Prague politicians proclaimed a Czecho-Slovak state; Slovak leaders concurred within 3 days. Austrian Galicia also announced on 28 October that it would join a new Polish state. One day later Croatia, Slovenia, and Dalmatia seceded from the Dual Monarchy. . . .By 28 October, in a last-ditch attempt to save what could be saved by placating the Great Idealist in Washington, they had put the finishing touches on the first major revision of the Bismarckian constitution since 1871. Henceforth, the Chancellor would be responsible to the Reichstag. International treaties, the declaration of war as well as the conclusion of peace, and the appointment, promotion, and dismissal of officers would require the consent of both the Reichstag and the Federal Chamber. The Ministers of War likewise would have to answer to both federal houses. In short, the German parliament gained control over foreign and military affairs." ((1), more)
"— The 29th. Since last evening there has been a rumour that Austria is begging for a separate and unconditional peace. This time, people are displaying a certain lively satisfaction. No doubt the idea of Austria throwing herself on our mercy has carried people away. And likewise the reflection that Germany will be isolated. Officers in billets are drinking champagne. The troops wear a permanent grin ; the delight of waking up in the morning with the thought that they will not be killed within six months. . . . A headline of the Œuvre for the 29th : 'Ah ! If they had made only half the efforts to prevent war that they are now making to delay peace !'— The 29th. Some people refuse to recognize the prevalence of influenza. To hear them, you would think that they applied the term influenza to any disease which proves fatal. They also declare : 'It is not so severe as the influenza of 1889.' This attitude is regarded as heroic.— In Paris, during the present crisis, burials are conducted as late as midnight." ((2), more)
"Then the 30th of October dawns.By the order of His Majesty the Emperor and King, the navy is informed in sparse language: the entire navy, the vessels and floating fleet installations, and all construction on land passes into ownership of the new Yugoslavian state. The non-South Slavs are free to continue serving under the new flag. Everyone else is granted permanent leave.In the Bocche we are to continue normal duty until the final surrender order has been accomplished per instructions.Rumor has it that the Yugoslavs took over three war loans in exchange. No one knows whether or not the South Slavs will be a state in the framework of the monarchy.The surrender order is from the Emperor, and so the ships and boats are not sunk." ((3), more)
"— The 31st. Turkey has accepted the armistice conditions proposed by the Entente. Some joyful demonstrations in the streets. The news was brought by the British general, Townshend, lately prisoner of war in Turkey.— The 31st. On the 31st, Professor Vincent was telling me that the influenza epidemic is graver than is admitted by the authorities, who are concealing the truth to bolster up the public morale. He himself would set up a dictatorship of doctors. Close the theatres, cinemas, and large shops. 'Forbid people to spit, cough, or sneeze, except in their handkerchiefs.'— The Catholics are saying that God has sent this influenza to restore the balance, since twice as many women as men have been struck down. The apathy of the masses is indescribable. Last week 1,800 people died of influenza in Paris—that is, nearly 300 people every day ; in other words, as many as have been killed by aeroplanes and super-guns in four years of war." ((4), more)
"[Admiral Hipper's] tragic hesitation at the moment of greatest danger is apparent in his inept handling of the men and his total misjudgment of the situation. Although by November 1 it was obvious that the men were out of control, Hipper informed Scheer at the Seekriegsleitung that he saw no reason why the situation should be viewed pessimistically. Aghast at this calm amidst the disaster that was overtaking the fleet, the Seekriegsleitung curtly replied, 'We cannot concur with this view. It has been established that a military operation has been ruined by the illegal will of [certain] elements within the crews.' . . .Totally lacking in defensive measures, Kiel lay at the mercy of the rebellious sailors and stokers of the Third Squadron who, from the moment they landed in the city, were determined not to allow their recently arrested comrades to be martyred. . . . At a meeting on November 1 at the Trade Union Hall attended by 250 men from the Third Squadron, it was decided to form a committee to negotiate the prisoners' immediate release. At the same time it was agreed to convene another meeting for the following day in the event that those demands were not met." ((5), more)
(1) The 'Great Idealist in Washington' was President Woodrow Wilson. Number Ten of his Fourteen Points called for 'Assuring the freest opportunity of autonomous development to the peoples of Austria-Hungary.' (Quoted in King's Complete History of the World War, page 371.) The peoples of Austria-Hungary were taking his advice and breaking the Empire apart. Wilson had grown more implacable towards Germany where politicians in Berlin were hoping a new constitution and government would lead to peace. At the beginning of the war, Austro-Hungarian General Svetozar Boroević served on the Russian Front, where he lifted the first siege of Przemyśl, until Italy entered the war when he was transferred to the Italian Front. There he commanded Austro-Hungarian forces through the eleven Italian offensives on the Isonzo River and in the Austro-Hungarian-German offensive of Twelfth Isonzo, the Battle of Caporetto. AOK — Armee Oberkommando — the Army Higher Command — was the command center for all land and naval forces of Austria-Hungary. General Arthur Arz von Straussenburg was Chief of the General Staff of the Austro-Hungarian Army, appointed by Austro-Hungarian Emperor Karl had appointed in February, 1917, replacing Franz Conrad von Hötzendorf.
The First World War: Germany and Austria Hungary 1914-1918 by Holger H. Herwig, pp. 437, 442–443, copyright © 1997 Holger H. Herwig, publisher: Arnold, publication date: 1997
(2) Entry from the diary of Michel Corday, a senior civil servant in the French government writing in Paris on October 29, 1918. Austria-Hungary had requested an armistice on the 27th. Corday had long supported negotiating peace with Germany, and opposed carrying on the war to victory regardless of cost. Those who would 'delay peace,' such as French Prime Minister Georges Clemenceau, would not negotiate while the Allied advance of 1918 continued. Influenza struck during the spring and summer of 1918 as a three-day fever, but returned in the autumn in a more deadly form.
The Paris Front: an Unpublished Diary: 1914-1918 by Michel Corday, page 382, copyright © 1934, by E.P. Dutton & Co., Inc., publisher: E.P. Dutton & Co., Inc., publication date: 1934
(3) Excerpt from the memoir of Austro-Hungarian Captain Georg von Trapp, the Empire's most successful submariner. The Emperor, Karl, was also King of Hungary. The Bocche was the Bay of Cattaro, an Austro-Hungarian port and naval base. Yugoslavia, a union of South Slavs incorporating Serbia and Bosnia-Herzegovina, was the dream of Gavrilo Princip and his co-conspirators when he assassinated Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife Sophia on June 28, 1914.
To the Last Salute: Memories of an Austrian U-Boat Commander by Georg von Trapp, page 185, copyright © 2007, publisher: University of Nebraska Press, publication date: 2007
(4) The Cabinet of British Prime Minister David Lloyd George authorized Vice-Admiral Sir Somerset Gough-Calthorpe, Commander-in-Chief Mediterranean Fleet, to negotiate an armistice with Turkey rather than a surrender as a way to exclude France from the bargaining table. They held negotiations on HMS Agamemnon, thereby ensuring France representation could be excluded and as a reminder to the Turks of another defeat on their shores. Influenza struck during the spring and summer of 1918 as a three-day fever, but returned in the autumn in a more deadly form. During the war, Paris had been bombed by Zeppelins and Gotha and other bombers, and shelled by a German gun capable of reaching the capital from 80 miles away.
The Paris Front: an Unpublished Diary: 1914-1918 by Michel Corday, page 383, copyright © 1934, by E.P. Dutton & Co., Inc., publisher: E.P. Dutton & Co., Inc., publication date: 1934
(5) At the end of October 1918, with Germany clearly losing the war, German admirals and other naval officers planned a suicidal attack by the High Seas Fleet on the Royal Navy, the 'military operation' referred to in the first paragraph, itself an illegal mutiny by the naval officer corps. The men who 'ruined' the plan were sailors and coal stokers who refused to go ahead with the mission. Many of them were arrested and transported from the North Sea port of Cuxhaven to the Baltic port of Kiel. The Seekriegsleitung was the Maritime Warfare Command, formed in August 1918, and headed by Admiral Reinhard Scheer, the Chief of the German Admiralty Staff. He had commanded the German High Seas Fleet in the Battle of Jutland where Rear Admiral Franz Hipper had commanded a smaller battle squadron.
German Naval Mutinies of World War One by Daniel Horn, pp. 226, 236, copyright © 1969 by Rutgers University, The State University of New Jersey, publisher: Rutgers University Press, publication date: 1969
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