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Russia's 1917 Offensive — the Kerensky Offensive — a pencil sketch of a Russian soldier fleeing his trench as Central Power bayonets rise over it. The failed offensive was Russia's last of the war. By Ger. F. Kollar, addressed to Frau Hermine Kollar of Vienna.
Soldiers of the Great War Known Unto God, Cabaret Rouge Cemetery, Souchez, France. © 2013 by John M. Shea
Photograph of four First World War Italian soldiers. The one on the far right wears a monocle.
Colonel T.E. Lawrence, Lawrence of Arabia, from With Lawrence in Arabia by Lowell Thomas
A large German bomber, capable of bombing England. The plane is powered by two engines, and holds a crew of three with a pilot and front and rear gunners. The plane is likely a Gotha bomber, originally built by Gothaer Waggonfabrik, then built under license by Siemens-Schukert Werke and Luft-Verkehrs-Gesellschaft (LVG). Note the ground crew pushing on the lower wing and the men holding the tail up as the plane is moved backwards. Sanke postcard number 1040.
"During the first two day of this offensive we were extremely successful. We took several thousand prisoners and captured scores of field guns. On the third day our advance came to a halt. The report submitted by General Erdeli, commander of the Eleventh Army, gave a good idea of what had happened: '. . . despite our gains on June 18 and 19, which ought to have raised the spirits of the men and encouraged them to press on, no such spirit was noticeable in the majority of regiment, while in some there was a predominant feeling that they had done their stint and there was no point in going on with the advance.'" ((1), more)
"I am writing you this private letter with the greatest possible regret. I must inform you that it is my intention to refuse to perform any further military duties. I am doing this as a protest against the policy of the Government in prolonging the War by failing to state their conditions of peace.I have written a statement of my reasons, of which I enclose a copy. This statement is being circulated. I would have spared you this unpleasantness had it been possible.My only desire is to make things as easy as possible for you in dealing with my case. I will come to Litherland immediately I hear from you if that is your wish.I am fully aware of what I am letting myself in for." ((2), more)
". . . the regime did not crush all disobedience. Violent misbehavior by troops going to and from the front became so widespread in summer 1917 — firing on carabinieri in the railway stations, shooting out of the windows, hurling stones and bottles — that the men's rifles had to be taken away for the duration of the journeys. And this was at the apex of Cadorna's terror." ((3), more)
"National ambitions were proving a serious impediment to the warmaking abilities of the Central Powers. Germany's troubles with the Poles were mirrored by Turkey's troubles with the Arabs. In the southernmost extremity of the Ottoman Empire, Arab hostility to their Ottoman masters was having its effect. On July 6th, T.E. Lawrence was present when 2,500 Arabs overwhelmed the three hundred Turkish soldiers defending the port of Akaba, at the head of the Red Sea. This brought the Arab forces to within 130 miles of the British front line in Sinai, where General Allenby was under instructions from London to reach Jerusalem by the end of the year, despite his predecessor's repeated failure to capture Gaza." ((4), more)
"That night, a large throng assembled at London Fields. From there, they marched through the streets of Hackney, smashing store fronts. Several butchers' shops, bearing such names as Strumm and Wenninger, were looted. Breaking into one house, the mob heaped bedding, a piano, and other furniture in the middle of the street and set it ablaze. Harassed constables were rushed to five different places in Tottenham, where the homes and business places of naturalized aliens were attacked. In the Highgate district, two baker's shops were wrecked with stones. Violence flared anew two nights later. The property of foreigners, not always German, was heavily damaged in various districts. At one place, the crowd numbered five thousand." ((5), more)
(1) Russian Minister of War Alexander Kerensky's summary of the first three days of Russia's last offensive of World War I launched on July 1, 1917 (June 18, Old Style). The Russian Revolution of March had removed the Tsar and seized power for a provisional government and soviets, councils of workers, soldiers, cities, and towns. France and Britain implored the Russians to launch an offensive, and the United States conditioned financing on Russia actively pursuing the war. Many agreed with Kerensky that success would boost morale despite ample evidence large parts of the military and civilian population were sick of the war.
Russia and History's Turning Point by Alexander Kerensky, page 285, copyright © 1965 by Alexander Kerensky, publisher: Duell, Sloan and Pearce, publication date: 1965
(2) Letter dated July 4, 1917 from Siegfried Sassoon to the Commanding Officer of the Third Royal Welch Fusiliers. Sassoon was a British poet, author, Second Lieutenant in the Royal Welch Fusiliers, and recipient of the Military Cross for gallantry in action. Sassoon had been wounded, shot through the shoulder by a sniper, in an April 16 attack on the village of Fontaine-lès-Croisilles in the Battle of Arras, and was on convalescent leave in England in June. By June 15 Sassoon had concluded that the war begun 'as a war of defence and liberation, [had] become a war of aggression and conquest.'
Siegfried Sassoon Diaries 1915-1918 by Siegfried Sassoon, page 177, copyright © George Sassoon, 1983; Introduction and Notes Rupert Hart-Davis, 1983, publisher: Faber and Faber, publication date: 1983
(3) Mutinous behavior and incidents were not confined to the French and post-revolutionary Russian armies in the spring and summer of 1917, but affected the Italian army as well. The proportions of disciplined and executed soldiers was much higher in the Italian than the British and French armies, and summary execution after random selection of representatives of a rebellious unit was more common. Nor could Italian soldiers appeal to civilian authorities. It is hard not to conclude that Italian commander in chief Luigi Cadorna was both brutal and incompetent, as were many of his generals.
The White War: Life and Death on the Italian Front, 1915-1919 by Mark Thompson, page 275, copyright © 2008 Mark Thompson, publisher: Basic Books, publication date: 2009
(4) T. E. Lawrence — Lawrence of Arabia — set out on June 5, 1917 to raid Turkish infrastructure and outposts in Syria. Many of the Arabs with him were loyal to Auda abu Tayi of the Huwaytat tribe, an outlaw to the Turks. For months Auda had been pressing the British to seize the port of Aqaba, shelled from the sea by the British, but well-defended against attacks from that direction. The port was lightly defended on the inland side, the desert being its primary defence. The Central Power empires, the German, Austro-Hungarian, and Ottoman, all had restive national populations. The war would see the end of all three.
The First World War, a Complete History by Martin Gilbert, page 344, copyright © 1994 by Martin Gilbert, publisher: Henry Holt and Company, publication date: 1994
(5) The early afternoon of Saturday, July 7, 1917 saw the second Gotha raid on London, one of twenty-one Gotha bombers that dropped 81 bombs, many extending in a line from Shoreditch on the north to London Bridge Station to the south. In the raid, 57 were killed, and 193 wounded. There was virtually no defense against the planes which came in daylight, and delivered bombs with far greater accuracy than the Zeppelins that had troubled the city in the two previous years. Londoners felt helpless against the bombers, and saw little response to protect them. Ninety-five British aircraft attempted to stop the bombers or pursued them on their flight back to Belgium, but shot down only one bomber, though four more crashed on landing.
The Sky on Fire by Raymond H. Fredette by Raymond H. Fredette, pp. 80–81, copyright © 1966, 1976, 1991 by Raymond H. Fredette, publisher: Smithsonian Institution Press, publication date: 1991
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