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German photograph of Russian soldiers at Baranovitchi (Baranawitschy), 'slaughtered by stick grenade.' Baranovitchi was the site of Stavka, the Russian High Command, until August 8, 1915, when it was relocated to Mogilev in the face of the continued German-Austro-Hungarian Gorlice-Tarnow advance. Baranovitchi was also the site of Russia's July 1916 offensive, ostensibly coordinated with Brusilov's begun a month before, that lost 80,000 Russians between July 2 and 8, at a cost of 16,000 Germans. The stick grenade was introduced in 1915.
A German Fokker Eindecker flying over the front in the Meuse/Verdun sector.
Flags of the World War, 1914. The Central Powers — Germany (with its national and battle flags) and Austria-Hungary — are above the Entente Allies — Russia and England (both naval rather than national flags), France, Belgium, Japan, Serbia, and Montenegro. Neutral nations are at the bottom. Turkey entered the war on the side of the Central Powers in October 1914, and Bulgaria in October 1915. Rumania joined the Allies in August 1916. Greece had a more reluctant relationship with the Allies who occupied Salonika in 1915. Greece did not formally join the Allies until 1917.
Embossed postcard of the flag and coins of Persia, with both nominal exchange rates and approximate trade values for major currencies including those of Germany, France, Great Britain, Austria Hungary, the Scandinavian Monetary Union, Russia, the Netherlands, and the United States.
The rulers of the Central Powers stumped by Verdun. Franz Joseph of Austria-Hungary, Mohammed V of Turkey, Kaiser Wilhelm of Germany, and Czar Ferdinand of Bulgaria puzzle over a map labeled "Verdun." The ink and watercolor drawing is dated March 4, 1916. By R. DLC?The German assault on Verdun began on February 21, 1916 and continued through August.
". . . there was only marsh. There was no time to sap forward, no time for guns to register properly. A huge force of cavalry clogged the supply-lines. Twenty-one and a half infantry, five cavalry divisions were gathered. A thousand guns opened the bombardment, with a thousand rounds each. This was not effective. Two German divisions were brought in as reserves just before the attack began; the bombardment, though lasting for several days, achieved nothing in particular. A few initial tactical successes came—3,000 prisoners, a few guns. On 4th July one of the two Austrian divisions collapsed, and the line was held by reserve Germans. Then the attack stopped—resumed again with bombardment on the 7th July, and again stopped. By 8th July the Russians had lost 80,000 men, and the Germans 16,000. Yet this attack had used up more shell than the whole of Brusilov's front in the first week of his offensive." ((1), more)
"In spite of the growing numbers and quality of their Allied opposition, July 9 was one of the Eindeckerflieger's best days. Leutnant Gustav Leffers of Abwehrkommando Nord shot down an F.E.2b of No. 11 Squadron that had just bombed a target southwest of Bapaume. . . .Elsewhere, Parschau demonstrated that balloon busting did more than just provide a spectacle for pyromaniacs. The French gasbag he destroyed north of Grévillers, killing Adjutant M. Mallet of the 55e Compagnie d'Aérostiers, had been directing artillery on the German trenches for some time. As he returned over the lines, Parschau was greeted by cheers from the soldiers and, since this was his eighth victory, he got two more tangible rewards: the Orden Pour le Mérite and command of Abwehrkommando-Nord. Walz of Kasta 2 scored his fourth victory on the 9th, while Leutnant Hans-Karl Müller of KEK Avillers got another balloon. Two other British planes were claimed by the Germans that day, although one Fokker E.III was brought down near Mariakerke aerodrome by Roderic Dallas, back in a Nieuport, for his fifth victory." ((2), more)
"We have brought a most valuable cargo of dyestuffs to our American friends, dyestuffs which have been so much needed for months in America and which the ruler of the seas has not allowed the great American Republic to import. While England will not allow anybody the same right on the ocean because she rules the waves, we have, by means of the submarine, commenced to break this rule.Great Britain cannot hinder boats such as ours to go and come as we please. . . .Our boats will carry across the Atlantic the mails and save them from British interruption. We trust that the old friendly relationship with the United States, going back to the days of Washington, when it was Prussia who was the first to help America in its fight for freedom from British rule, will awake afresh in your beautiful and powerful country." ((3), more)
"Intelligent leadership seems to be lacking in the [Turkish] Sixth Army in Irak. Halil Pasha is anything but an army leader. After the success of Kut-el-Amara, instead of attacking the British at Fellalieh and compelling them to evacuate at least a part of Irak, Halil Pasha ordered the very influential and shrewd, but tricky and German hating Ichsan Pasha, to advance to Kannikin and Kermanshah to reap cheap and exaggerated laurels against a few Russian cavalry regiments (about five) with a few battalions (two or three). The whole movement to Persia is a mere blow in the air, for success there cannot be durable and in the second place the pressure intended to be brought to bear on Persia, with its unreliable and unmilitary population, has not the slightest effect on the decision of the World War." ((4), more)
"Another massive attempt to get the advance moving again on 11–12 July, when more diphosgene shells were ready, briefly reawakened hops. Souville was almost cut off from French support and the gas cloud behind it stretched down to the streets of Verdun, as it had in June. A few troops managed to get on the roof of the fort, like Mangin's men at Douaumont in May, but, like Mangin's men, they were brushed off." ((5), more)
(1) In his offensive launched on June 4, 1916, Russian General Alexsei Brusilov had demonstrated the results that could be achieved with careful preparation and adequate weapons. Generals Alexei Evert and Alexander Ragoza, like their fellow commanders, did not learn Brusilov's lessons, such as that of digging trenches (saps) toward the enemy front line to minimize the open ground over which soldiers needed to advance to reach the enemy trench. Brusilov preceded his infantry assault with a bombardment of hours, not days. He did not rely on cavalry to exploit a breakthrough, but on well-coordinated artillery and infantry. Brusilov also had the advantages of facing primarily Austro-Hungarian troops rather than German, and of having more time to prepare. The Russians were unable to exploit Brusilov's success.
The Eastern Front, 1914-1917 by Norman Stone, pp. 260-261, copyright © 1975 Norman Stone, publisher: Charles Scribner's Sons, publication date: 1975
(2) The introduction of the Fokker Eindekker (monoplane) — the first airplane to fire through the rotation of its propeller — allowed the Germans to dominate the battlefront sky. That dominance was broken by the French Nieuport and later the British D.H.2 pusher plane. Observation balloons observed ground troops and directed artillery, and were well-defended by anti-aircraft guns and fighter planes.
The Origin of the Fighter Aircraft by Jon Gutman, page 89, copyright © 2009 Jon Gutman, publisher: Westholme Publishing, publication date: 2009
(3) Evading the English blockade, the German merchant submarine Deutschland surfaced in Chesapeake Bay on July 9, 1916, docked at Norfolk, Virginia, and sailed to Baltimore, Maryland the next day. The large submarine was capable of transporting goods such as rubber, nickel, and materials for explosives that Germany desperately needed. The governments of the Entente Allies jointly protested that the Deutschland was a warship rather than a merchant, and should be interned until the end of the war. The United States disagreed, and the submarine returned to Germany, arriving in Bremen on August 23. Deutschland made a second journey, reaching Long Island Sound and New London, Connecticut on November 1. After returning to Germany a second time, she failed to sail again. Her younger sister ship Bremen left for the United States, but never arrived. By April, 1917 the United States and Germany were at war, leaving few destinations for a merchant submarine.
The Great Events of the Great War in Seven Volumes by Charles F. Horne, Vol. IV, 1916, pp. 273-274, copyright © 1920 by The National Alumnia, publisher: The National Alumni, publication date: 1920
(4) Official report of German General Liman von Sanders on the incursion of Turkish troops into Persia. The Turks had besieged a British army at Kut-el-Amara at end of November, 1915, compelling its surrender on April 9, 1916. Rather than consolidating their position, or following up their success with an attack as Sanders suggests, the Turks indulged their expansionist fantasies with an incursion into Persia. The Russians had done the same previously, in part to assist the British in relieving the siege at Kut. Leader of a German military mission to Turkey in 1913, Liman von Sanders subsequently commanded Turkish forces on the Gallipoli Peninsula, in Syria, and in Palestine.
Five Years in Turkey by Liman von Sanders, page 134, publisher: The Battery Press with War and Peace Books, publication date: 1928 (originally)
(5) The Battle of Verdun, begun on February 21, 1916, continued. The Germans had first used the suffocating poison gas diphosgene in a June 22 attack at Fleury, but did not have enough shells to resume the next day. On July 11 they did, and again mounted a major assault on Verdun. One of the greatest of the forts defending the city, Douaumont had fallen on February 25. French General Mangin had fruitlessly tried to retake it in May, when his men made it atop the massive structure, but were soon wiped out.
The Road to Verdun by Ian Ousby, page 296, copyright © 2002 by The Estate of Ian Ousby, publisher: Anchor Books, publication date: 2003
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