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1915 photograph of Austro-Hungarian troops piling rocks to roll down upon Italian troops.
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.
Map of the Trentino, part of "Italia Irredenta," unredeemed Italy: Venezia Tridentina (Trentino and Alto Adige)
England's Distress: Postcard map of England and Ireland with the restricted zone Germany proclaimed around the islands, showing the ships destroyed by submarine in the 12 months beginning February 1, 1917.
A German postcard claiming that dum-dum bullets were found in the pockets of French prisoners of war.
"At 02:00 on 19 August [1915], the Italians captured the enemy's front line on Mrzli, an unusually well-built trench that snaked below the summit ridge. This was the notorious 'trincerone' or Big Trench. Under it, the ground fell to the Italian positions. The Austrians had only to push rocks down the mountain at the right moment for an attack to fail." ((1), more)
"[Russian Foreign Minister Sazanov] read me a telegram from Savinsky telling him that, judging by a confidential report which could be relied on, the Bulgarian Government is henceforth determined to support the Teutonic powers and attack Serbia." ((2), more)
"The fortress of Novo-Georgievsk, the last Russian rampart in Poland, is in the hands of the Germans. The whole garrison, approximately 85,000 men, has been captured." ((3), more)
"August 21, 1915Yesterday was the most thrilling day of my life. I passed it right in the very midst of the war zone, having been fortunate enough to be allowed as the only woman correspondent to join the other representatives of the Italian and foreign papers who are up here in the Trentino. Being an Italian by birth, this experience is doubly wonderful to me as it enables me to see at close quarters the splendid work which my countrymen have done and are doing, and also to have had the privilege of being the first Italian woman to cross the new boundary line between Italy and Austria." ((4), more)
". . . UB14 left for the Dardanelles at 8 a.m. on 18 August. At 9 p.m. on 22 August, within 4 nautical miles from Gaba Tepe, the submarine got caught in a steel net at a depth of 18 metres. After trying to go through the net, the submarine reversed without success, with the net still remaining fastened to the stern. Von Heimburg took the submarine down to 35 metres and then to 45 metres, to ensure that any marker buoys would be dragged underwater and would not give away his position. Several explosions were then heard, indicating that the enemy was aware of his presence. Using full emergency power and risking burning out the motors, he succeeded in tearing the net and the submarine was able to proceed, although she remained at 50 metres depth till dark." ((5), more)
(1) From Switzerland to the Adriatic Sea, Austria-Hungary held the high high ground along its border with Italy. Along the narrow front northeast of Venice, Italy would attack repeatedly in Battles of the Isonzo River. By mid-August, 1915, Italy and Austria-Hungary had already fought the two Battles, the First costing Italy 15,000 casualties, the Second 42,000.
The White War: Life and Death on the Italian Front, 1915-1919 by Mark Thompson, page 111, copyright © 2008 Mark Thompson, publisher: Basic Books, publication date: 2009
(2) Entry for August 19, 1915 from the memoirs of Maurice Paléologue, French Ambassador to Russia. Alexander Savinsky was a Russian diplomat whose posts included Bulgaria.
An Ambassador's Memoirs Vol. II by Maurice Paléologue, page 53, publisher: George H. Doran Company
(3) Entry for August 20, 1915 from the memoirs of Maurice Paléologue, French Ambassador to Russia. German forces had taken the fortress of Novo-Georgievsk the prior day. The success of the German-Austro-Hungarian Gorlice-Tarnow Offensive — begun on May 2 — had broken the Russian line, driven Russian forces from the Carpathians, and nearly driven Russia from its Polish lands. Russian supplies of shells, rifles, and ammunition were inadequate, and their retreat was not yet over.
(4) Magdeleine ver Mehr, writing on August 21, 1915 from Trentino on the Italian Front for the American general interest magazine Littell's Living Age or simply Living Age.
Lines of Fire: Women Writers of World War I by Margaret R. Higonnet, page 140, copyright © Margaret Higonnet, 1999, publisher: Plume/Penguin Group, publication date: 1999
(5) UB14 was commanded by Oberleutnant zur See Heino von Heimburg. Nine days before getting entangled in the nets at Gaba Tepe — a point on the coast south of Anzac Cove — on the Gallipoli Peninsula, Heimburg had sunk the British transport ship Royal Edward with the loss of 900 men. On November 5, Heimburg sank the English submarine E20 in the Sea of Mamora.
Gallipoli — Attack from the Sea by Victor Rudenno, page 128, copyright © 2008 Victor Rudenno, publisher: Yale University Press, publication date: 2008
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