Highlights from "Perspectives on the Great War," World War One International Conference 1– 4 August 2014

From Correspondent Jane Mattison Ekstam

Download the full program here:  

(http://www.qmul.ac.uk/worldwarone/docs/136831.pdf)

Two hundred participants, including 140 speakers, gathered at Queen Mary’s College, University of London, to reflect on issues as diverse as the causes of the war, the situation in Europe at the beginning of the 20th century, different ways of representing the war, the consequences for Europe and the world at large of the events of 1914–18, and how the war is understood today. Some of the most important names in World War One scholarship were present: Professor Christopher Clark (Cambridge University), Professor Michael Epkenhans (Institut für Militärgeschichte), David Stevenson (London School of Economics and Political Science) and Professor Jay Winter (Yale University). 

An ongoing theme was the importance of a transnational approach to World War One. Jay Winter argued that today we belong to the Fourth Generation of World War One scholars who wish to widen the scope of scholarship from battles, social effects, and the story of the individual to the story of war that incorporates North America, Africa, and India more closely. Winter exemplifies this view in his latest study, The Cambridge History of the First World War (Listen to an interview with Jay Winter about his book on http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PFiGwzj8Uvw). The transnational perspective was also advocated by Christopher Clark, who claimed that by adopting such an approach we are better able to understand the similarities between our world today and that of 1914–18. Clark referred to his most recent publication, The Sleepwalkers: How Europe Went to War in 1914.

One of the New First World War Galleries at the Imperial War Museum

In addition to excellent keynote speeches a number of lesser known scholars presented their research on more obscure aspects of the war. One of the most outstanding presentations was that given by a South African scholar, Gerhard Genis, who has uncovered and analyzed a number of poems written by South African soldiers. Another fascinating presentation was James Wallis’s introduction to the Imperial War Museum’s new exhibition, which is lavishly cataloged in Paul Cornish’s "The First World War Galleries".The exhibition contains interesting exhibits on pacifism, much to this correspondent’s joy!

The 2014 conference is to be followed up in 2016 by a smaller event focussing on Belgium and World War One. This will also be hosted by Queen Mary’s College, London University.

Amiens at War

With August being the anniversary of 1918's  dramatic battle of Amiens, I thought it would be interesting to remember the beautiful city that gave that struggle its name.  The Somme Centenary committee sent me  a beautiful brochure that included this article.

Western Front Virtual Tour — Stop 30: Ulster Tower

A memorial to the men of the 36th (Ulster) Division who on 1 July 1916 advanced farther than any other  division in this sector but then found themselves isolated on Thiepval Ridge. The memorial was officially opened on 19 November 1921 and is a very close copy of Helen's Tower, which stands in the grounds of the Clandeboye estate, near Bangor, County Down, in Northern Ireland. Many of the men of the Ulster Division trained on the estate before moving to England and then France early in 1916. Near the Ulster Tower are the remnants of a German strongpoint,  the Schwaben Redoubt, that held the ridge for nearly the entire Battle of the Somme. There is an ongoing effort to restore the trenches from where the initial attack was launched. 

Remembering a Veteran: Edward Steichen, Photographic Section, U.S. Air Service

Edward Steichen (1879–1973) was a photographic innovator renowned for his painterly photography before the Great War. He is credited with being one the individuals most responsible for turning photography into an art form. He also became one of the greatest innovators of military, specifically aerial, photography. Below are some works from the war credited to Steichen personally during his service as chief of the photographic section of the U.S. Air Service.

During the Second World War Steichen returned to the colors, but with the U.S. Navy, when he directed the Navy's combat photographers.  

Bombs Falling on Montmedy Citadel and Nearby Rail Yard

Burned-out French Breuget-14 Bomber

Village of Vaux, Captured by U.S. 2nd Division

Allied Aircraft #732 Over France

Village of Cantigny, Captured by U.S. 1st Division

Forgotten Diplomat of the July Crisis: Prince Karl Max Lichnowsky

By Richard Hephner

When Prince Lichnowsky (1860–1928) left a comfortable retirement to become ambassador to the Court of St. James in the fall of 1912 he was given a difficult task but was not expected to accomplish it. It was his responsibility to repair damaged relations between Great Britain and Germany. He excelled at this job. Between the time of his appointment on 1912 and his departure in 1914 the prince negotiated an Anglo-German colonial treaty, updating the 1898 division of Portuguese colonies into spheres of economic influence between the two powers, played a constructive role in the 1912 Conference of Ambassadors that ended the First Balkan War and, in the main, brought about better feelings between Great Britain and Germany. 

Had Lichnowsky continued to be the trusted representative of his government, had they dealt frankly with him, and through him with us, after the murder of the Archduke, war might have been avoided.

British Foreign Minister Sir Edward Grey

His successes left his Foreign Office superiors in Berlin distrustful of him with his close relationship with the British Foreign Office. In July 1914, Lichnowsky pleaded with Chancellor Bethmann-Hollweg and Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs Gottlieb von Jagow to use discretion in their support of Austria. In his view, Britain would definitely support Russia and France in a war defending Serbia against Austrian aggression. Sadly the chancellor and the secretary did not trust Prince Lichnowsky's judgment because they believed him to be easily duped by the British.

Thus, his warnings that the Asquith government would honor its entente with France and use the German invasion of Belgium as a rationale for entering the conflict were ignored. After the war started, Lichnowsky returned to Germany and spent the rest of his life trying to justify his actions during the July Crisis.

In a privately circulated pamphlet (1916) he asserted that his efforts to prevent the outbreak of World War I had not been supported by his government. The pamphlet, published in January 1918, without his permission and widely distributed by the Allies, was the cause of his expulsion from the Prussian upper house.

Hundred Days: The Campaign That Ended World War I — Reviewed by Clark Shilling

Hundred Days: The Campaign That Ended World War I

by Nick Lloyd

Basic Books, 2014

The centennial of the start of the Great War has been marked with a number of excellent new histories of the origins of the war. Professor Nick Lloyd, senior lecturer in Defense Studies at Kings College London, has avoided convention by instead providing an outstanding account of the end of the war.

The Hundred Days is a term used by historians of the Great War, primarily British, to bookmark the 95-day period beginning with the Battle of Amiens on 8 August 1918 and ending with the signing of the Armistice on 11 November.

Order Now

The author contends that this very critical period of the war has been overlooked by historians and is overshadowed by interest in other events of the war such as its origins and its signature battles. Even studies devoted to battles taking place within the Hundred Days often focus on only one of the combatant nations, or only the battles that they fought. For example, there are many accounts of the Meuse-Argonne Offensive written by American authors, and likewise there are many British accounts of the breaking of the Hindenburg Line. There are few compelling studies that tell the complete story of those last campaigns that secured the Allied victory. In Hundred Days, The Campaign that Ended World War I, Professor Lloyd has provided just that study.

The book is brief, at less than 300 pages of text, but is packed with detail and is expertly balanced on several levels. It looks at the strategy and major figures on both the Allied and German side. It documents the contribution of each of the Allied armies, and it examines those final battles of the war not only through the eyes of the generals, but also through the eyes of the men fighting those battles through their diaries and memoirs. The author has a personal connection in this regard, as his great uncle, Private George Thomas Cotterill, a member of the B.E.F. was killed on 27 September 1918, during the Hundred Days. The book is dedicated to Private Cotterill.

In this account, on the Allied side, the central figure is Marshal Ferdinand Foch, who developed the strategy of continuous pressure using coordinated attacks by all of the Allied armies. Foch had the authority to coordinate and direct the Allied effort, but he had no operational control over any of the armies. Through the strength of his personality, he was able to push and prod his allies, but at times he had to compromise even with his fellow French generals.

There is no doubt that the B.E.F. did most of the heavy lifting, providing the "Black Day of the German Army" with the tank attack at Amiens on 8 August, and with the subsequent attacks that broke through the Hindenburg Line. But as Professor Lloyd points out, many of the shock troops of the B.E.F by 1918 consisted of Canadian and Australian units, led by Canadian and Australian generals. The French Army, still feeling the effects of the 1917 mutiny, is also credited with pushing the German forces back, not in the spectacular way of the B.E.F., but with cautious, steady pressure and close follow-up. The American effort is shown to have been enthusiastic but inexperienced, lacking the skill of either the B.E.F. or French armies. The A.E.F. contributed by keeping strong pressure on the German lines in the Meuse-Argonne, tying down German units that could have otherwise been used in other areas. Only in the last few weeks of the war were the Americans able to break through German defenses and advance significantly.

Canadian Troops on the Move, 8 August 1918

On the German side, the leading figure was Eric Ludendorff, the hyper-active first quartermaster-general who by 1918 was directing the strategy and operations of the German Army. In Hundred Days, we see Ludendorff go from overweening confidence in July to near panic in August to near physical breakdown in September as he and the rest of the German high command slowly came to the realization that they could no longer win the war and that both in terms of material and morale, their military forces were disintegrating as their support at home was collapsing.

Professor Lloyd explores the technical improvements to the tank, artillery, and gas that allowed the Allies to regain surprise and movement on the battlefield. He examines many of the factors that affected the fighting on both sides, including such things as the Spanish Influenza epidemic, which struck the German Army just as its morale was fading.

I found this to be an excellent book, providing an outstanding perspective on the last months on the Western Front. I only had one issue with it. The maps are grouped in the front of the book rather than in the chapters that deal with the battles the maps illustrate. I read the Kindle edition, which made going back and forth between the text and the maps very difficult. This was compounded by the added complication of having to resize the maps to see any kind of detail. If you like to follow maps, buy the print version of the book.

Clark Shilling

Why Did the Original BEF Deploy Two Fewer Divisions Than Had Been Promised?

I've always wondered about why the BEF at Mons had only four infantry divisions rather than six promised. I recently stumbled across the answer in Sir John French's otherwise poorly regarded memoir, 1914.

On Wednesday, August 5th, a Council of War was held at 10, Downing Street, under the Presidency of the Prime Minister. Nearly all the members of the Cabinet were present, whilst Lord Roberts, Lord Kitchener, Sir Charles Douglas, Sir Douglas Haig, the late Sir James Grierson, General (now Sir Henry) Wilson and myself were directed to attend. To the best of my recollection the two main subjects discussed were:

1. The composition of the Expeditionary Force.

2. The point of concentration for the British Forces on their arrival in France.

As regards 1:

It was generally felt that we were under some obligation to France to send as strong an army as we could, and there was an idea that one Cavalry Division and six Divisions of all arms had been promised. As to the exact number, it did not appear that we were under any definite obligation, but it was unanimously agreed that we should do all we could. The question to be decided was how many troops it was necessary to keep in this country adequately to guard our shores against attempted invasion and, if need be, to maintain internal order.

Mr. Churchill briefly described the actual situation of the Navy. He pointed out that the threat of war had come upon us at a most opportune moment as regards his own Department, because, only two or three weeks before, the Fleet had been partially mobilised, and large reserves called up for the great Naval Review by His Majesty at Spithead and the extensive naval manoeuvres which followed it. So far as the Navy was concerned, he considered Home Defence reasonably secure; but this consideration did not suffice to absolve us from the necessity of keeping a certain number of troops at home. After this discussion it was decided that two Divisions must for the moment remain behind, and that one Cavalry Division and four Divisions of all arms should be sent out as speedily as possible. This meant a force of approximately 100,000 men.

100 Years Ago: Germany Invades Belgium

The Diplomacy of Invasion

The language and tone of the diplomatic exchanges leading up to the invasion of neutral Belgium by Germany is fascinating. In the initial note the sheer thuggishness of the German threat shines through despite such diplomatic phraseology as "Germany has in view no act of hostility against Belgium." We have supplemented a selection of the diplomatic exchanges leading up to the invasion with some images of the actual subsequent events from the collection of Tony Langley.

The Initial Incursion Had an Almost Comical Look at the Border

• Note presented by Herr von Below Saleske, German Minister at Brussels, to M. Davignon, Belgian Minister for Foreign Affairs, Brussels, 2 August 1914

Reliable information has been received by the German Government to the effect that French forces intend to march on the line of the Meuse by Givet and Namur. This information leaves no doubt as to the intention of France to march through Belgian territory against Germany.

The German Government cannot but fear that Belgium, in spite of the utmost goodwill, will be unable, without assistance, to repel so considerable a French invasion with sufficient prospect of success to afford an adequate guarantee against danger to Germany. It is essential for the self-defence of Germany that she should anticipate any such hostile attack. The German Government would, however, feel the deepest regret if Belgium regarded as an act of hostility against herself the fact that the measures of Germany's opponents force Germany, for her own protection, to enter Belgian territory.

In order to exclude any possibility of misunderstanding, the German Government make the following declaration:

1. Germany has in view no act of hostility against Belgium. In the event of Belgium being prepared in the coming war to maintain an attitude of friendly neutrality towards Germany, the German Government bind themselves, at the conclusion of peace, to guarantee the possessions and independence of the Belgian Kingdom in full.

2. Germany undertakes, under the above-mentioned condition, to evacuate Belgian territory on the conclusion of peace.

3. If Belgium adopts a friendly attitude, Germany is prepared, in co-operation with the Belgian authorities, to purchase all necessaries for her troops against a cash payment, and to pay an indemnity for any damage that may have been caused by German troops.

4. Should Belgium oppose the German troops, and in particular should she throw difficulties in the way of their march by a resistance of the fortresses on the Meuse, or by destroying railways, roads, tunnels, or other similar works, Germany will, to her regret, be compelled to consider Belgium as an enemy.

In this event, Germany can undertake no obligations towards Belgium, but the eventual adjustment of the relations between the two States must be left to the decision of arms.

The German Government, however, entertain the distinct hope that this eventuality will not occur, and that the Belgian Government will know how to take the necessary measures to prevent the occurrence of incidents such as those mentioned. In this case the friendly ties which bind the two neighbouring States will grow stronger and more enduring.

• M. Davignon, Belgian Minister for Foreign Affairs, to the Belgian Minister at St. Petersburg, Berlin, London, Paris, Vienna, The Hague, Brussels, 3 August 1914. (Telegram)

At 7 P.M. last night Germany presented a note proposing friendly neutrality. This entailed free passage through Belgian territory, while guaranteeing the maintenance of the independence of Belgium and of her possessions on the conclusion of peace, and threatened, in the event of refusal, to treat Belgium as an enemy. A time limit of twelve hours was allowed within which to reply.

Our answer has been that this infringement of our neutrality would be a flagrant violation of international law. To accept the German proposal would be to sacrifice the honour of the nation. Conscious of her duty, Belgium is firmly resolved to repel any attack by all the means in her power.

• M. Davignon, Belgian Minister for Foreign Affairs, to the Belgian Ministers at Paris, Berlin, London, Vienna, St. Petersburg. Brussels, 3 August 1914 (12 noon)

Sir, 

As you are aware, Germany has delivered to Belgium an ultimatum which expires this morning, 3rd August, at 7 a.m. As no act of war has occurred up to the present, the Cabinet has decided that there is, for the moment, no need to appeal to the guaranteeing Powers.

The French Minister has made the following statement to me upon the subject—

"Although I have received no instructions to make a declaration from my Government, I feel justified, in view of their well-known intentions, in saying that if the Belgian Government were to appeal to the French Government as one of the Powers guaranteeing their neutrality, the French Government would at once respond to Belgium's appeal; if such an appeal were not made it is probable, that — unless of course exceptional measures were rendered necessary in self-defence —the French Government would not intervene until Belgium had taken some effective measure of resistance."

I thanked M. Klobukowski for the support which the French Government had been good enough to offer us in case of need, and I informed him that the Belgian Government were making no appeal at present to the guarantee of the Powers, and that they would decide later what ought to be done.

• His Majesty the King of the Belgians to His Majesty King George. Brussels, 3 August 1914. (Telegram)

Remembering the numerous proofs of your Majesty's friendship and that of your predecessor, and the friendly attitude of England in 1870 and the proof of friendship you have just given us again, I make a supreme appeal to the diplomatic intervention of your Majesty's Government to safeguard the integrity of Belgium.

• Count de Lalaing, Belgian Minister at London, to M. Davignon, Belgian Minister for Foreign Affairs, London, 3 August 1914. (Telegram)

I showed your telegram to the Minister for Foreign Affairs, who has laid it before the Cabinet. The Minister for Foreign Affairs has informed me that if our neutrality is violated it means war with Germany.

No Longer Comical

• Herr von Below Saleske, German Minister at Brussels, M. Davignon, Belgian Minister for Foreign Affairs. Brussels, 4 August 1914 (6 A.M.)

Sir, 

In accordance with my instructions, I have the honour to inform your Excellency that in consequence of the refusal of the Belgian Government to entertain the well-intentioned proposals made to them by the German Government, the latter, to their deep regret, find themselves compelled to take — if necessary by force of arms — those measures of defence already foreshadowed as indispensable, in view of the menace of France.

• Note communicated by Sir Francis H. Villiers, British Minister at Brussels, to M. Davignon, Belgian Minister for Foreign Affairs. Brussels, 4 August 1914.

I am instructed to inform the Belgian Government that if Germany brings pressure to bear upon Belgium with the object of forcing her to abandon her attitude of neutrality, His Britannic Majesty's Government expect Belgium to resist with all the means at her disposal.

In that event, His Britannic Majesty's Government are prepared to join Russia and France, should Belgium so desire, in tendering at once joint assistance to the Belgian Government with a view to resisting any forcible measures adopted by Germany against Belgium, and also offering a guarantee for the maintenance of the future independence and integrity of Belgium.

End Game: Occupation of Most of Belgium

Source:  Selected documents from The Belgian Grey Book at the World War I Document Archive

Who Was the Great War's Most Famous Prisoner of War?

Answer: Capt. Charles de Gaulle, French Army

Shortly after war was declared in August 1914, Lieutenant de Gaulle was in action with Charles Lanrezac's Fifth Army stationed in the northeast. De Gaulle was wounded on 15 August at Dinant, evacuated and hospitalized, and was not fit to return to the front until October. On 10 March 1915,he was wounded a second time in the fighting at Mesnil-les-Hurlus. 

Once recovered, he rejoined his regiment first as company commander then as aide to the colonel. He was wounded a third time during the battle of Verdun, at Douaumont, in 1916. Left for dead, he was given a "posthumous" mention in army dispatches. He was, in fact, captured and received hospital treatment in Mainz before being imprisoned in various locations, including the fortress of Ingolstadt in Bavaria.  

After five failed escape bids (between May and September he was interned successively in Osnabrück, Neisse, then Sczuczyn, before being transferred to Ingolstadt in October 1916, then to the Rosenberg camp in July 1917, to the military prison in Passau in October 1917, back to Ingolstadt in November 1917, to the Wülzburg camp in May 1918, and finally to the prisons of Tassau and Magdeburg in September 1918), he was not freed until the Armistice. 

His companions in captivity included Major Georges Catroux, who would become a general in the Free French Forces of World War II, journalist Rémy Roure and Mikhail Tukhachevsky, a future marshal of the Red Army and victim of the Stalinist purges. He made use of his time in captivity to extend his knowledge of Germany and to read German authors. He also gave lectures, mainly on strategic and geopolitical aspects of the course of the war.

He was released following the Armistice and returned to his family in December. From 1919 to 1921, de Gaulle was seconded to Poland where he took part in the formation of the new Polish army which fought surprisingly well and victoriously against the Red Army.

Western Front Virtual Tour — Stop 29: Flers

In mid-September 1916 in an operation known as the Battle of Flers-Courcelette, the 41st Division along with the New Zealand Division, stormed and captured the farm village of Flers supported by the first tanks ever committed to battle. There is little recognition of the tank action at Flers, the main Tank Memorial is located on the Albert-Bapaume Road where they were initially assembled. However, Flers does have the most photogenic of all division monuments on the Western Front, with the British Tommy statue in the village center.

The Virginia War Memorial

Photos by Steve Miller

Built originally to honor veterans of the Second World War, the Virginia War Memorial in Richmond now honors the Commonwealth's veterans of all conflicts including the Great War. Their display cases now hold a number of WWI items, including the unique love letter shown below.

30 July 1918: Joyce Kilmer Is Killed in Action

PRAYER OF A SOLDIER IN FRANCE

        by Joyce Kilmer, 165th Inf., 42nd Division, AEF


 My shoulders ache beneath my pack
          (Lie easier, Cross, upon His back).
        
        I march with feet that burn and smart
        (Tread, Holy Feet, upon my heart).
       
        Men shout at me who may not speak
        (They scourged Thy back and smote Thy cheek).
        
        I may not lift a hand to clear
        My eyes of salty drops that sear.
        
        (Then shall my fickle soul forget
        Thy agony of Bloody Sweat?)
        
        My rifle hand is stiff and numb
        (From Thy pierced palm red rivers come).
        
        Lord, Thou didst suffer more for me
        Than all the hosts of land and sea.
        
        So let me render back again
        This millionth of Thy gift. Amen.
     

King, Kaiser, Tsar: Three Royal Cousins Who Led the World to War — Reviewed by Dennis Linton

King, Kaiser, Tsar: 
Three Royal Cousins Who Led the World to War

by Catrine Clay

John Murray Publishers, 2006

Once Georgie came to the throne, things might have improved. But by then the friendship between Georgie and Nicky, nurtured through the years by their mothers, was well established, and they did not include Willy in "the Club". It was anyway too late.

King, Kaiser, Tsar is a compelling comparative biography of the formative lives of George V of Great Britain, Wilhelm II of Germany, and Nicholas II of Russia, who would lead their countries into World War I. The three future leaders grew up knowing each other since early childhood in a vast extended family overseen by Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. At times, it is hard to believe that the first cousins — who affectionately called each other Georgie, Willy, and Nicky throughout their lives — could not have found a way to avert the march to war. The book details the grandeur and dysfunction of each of the three royal courts that molded each of the men on both sides of the turn of the century. As the narrative unwinds, the reader learns not only to decipher the individual personalities but also how their roles as a constitutional monarch, a defacto autocrat, and an absolute monarch formed the way in which they dealt with each other and their respective governments. Each in their own way was unsuited to hold together a crumbling empire, let alone lead their countries into war. Regardless of their family connections, the three rulers were playing the game of international politics on a world stage, and power was the more motivating factor than family.

Catrine Clay weaves a tale not only of the three cousins as they grow up but also of the intertwined relationships of the children and grandchildren of Queen Victoria and their influence in the coming of age of the eventual King , Kaiser, and Tsar. The author is at her best revealing the role of Queen Victoria and the women in the rulers' lives in statesmanship through the letters and correspondence they shared across a continent in which Queen Victoria attempted to influence by matchmaking many of the monarchial households. Clay does a magnificent job of describing the extravagant state visits and weddings where the three cousins interact, each measuring the other and then backbiting in subsequent correspondence and diaries. It is through these diaries and correspondence that the reader begins to uncover the animosity, as well as the alliances, between the three cousin's relationships which will mirror their countries' parts in the impending war.

It becomes almost amusing that with every state visit each of the men bestow honorary military titles among each other in their respective armies and navies. At one point, Wilhelm, already the Kaiser during this particular visit to England, arrived on the royal yacht accompanied by a court of 67 men. Wilhelm always wore varying military uniforms and this time he is wearing the uniform of a British admiral. At dinner, he proceeds to address the weaknesses of the British Navy in the Mediterranean. George, in attendance as a lowly prince who was in the navy and had spent years at sea, humorously noted in his diary that Wilhelm must have forgotten that the title of admiral was purely honorary. While each of the leaders is amply covered in the book, the most attention is given to the lengthy, oft-times quixotic reign of Wilhelm II and his frequent mood swings. Wilhelm is clearly painted as the villain of the three in his responsibility for the war. Clay describes the Kaiser as a virulent anti-Semite who could not decide whether he loved or despised England. The biography becomes a bit tedious with Clay's obsession detailing the possibility that Wilhelm was a closet homosexual who was manipulated first by Bismarck and then by Count August zu Eulenberg, who knew Wilhelm's liking for "lange Kerls", long-limbed young men. While this all may be true, however never proved, Clay spends more time in the book on this titillating issue than the entire four years of the Great War.

Order Now

Throughout the book, it becomes evident that the relationship between George and Nicholas is stronger, and both begin to despise Wilhelm. Wilhelm's overbearing and patronizing attitude toward Nicholas culminates in the Willy-Nicky telegrams of July 1914. It is almost incredible that, although they were discussing war against each other, they still ended each telegram with "Willy" or "Nicky".

The book almost comes to an abrupt ending, leaving the reader looking for a missing chapter or two. Barely 30 pages cover the entire four years of the war, and most of those pages deal with July 1914 or the final fates of the royal cousins. Even though the subject of the individual rulers is covered in many formats, this book is ultimately a worthwhile read because it weaves the tale of three cousins who rise to power in a world they cannot change but forever changes them and the countries they lead.

Our Reviewer: Dennis Linton, COL, U.S. Army, retired. Assistant Professor, U.S. Army Command and General Staff College, Fort Leavenworth, KS. Museum Docent at the National World War One Museum at Liberty Memorial, Kansas City, Missouri.

Dennis Linton

100 Years Ago: Quotes from July 1914

AUSTRIA HAS CHOSEN WAR!

Headline, Washington Times, 28 July 1914


A mead 
Bordered about with warbling water brooks. 
A maid 
Laughing the love-laugh with me; proud of looks.''
Bees
Shaking the heavy dews from bloom and frond. 
Boys 
Bursting the surface of the ebony pond.
Wilfred Owen, diary entries, July 1914

Anarchist Bomb Intended to Kill John D. Rockefeller 
Explodes Prematurely Killing Four 

in Lexington Avenue Apartment in New York City

4 July 1914

We have the prospect of winning [or] we still certainly have the prospect of maneuvering the Entente apart.

Bethmann-Hollweg, 8 July 1914

The text of the note to be addressed to Belgrade, agreed today, is such that we must reckon with the probability of of a warlike confrontation.  Should Serbia nevertheless yield and conceed to our demands, then such a move by the kingdom [of Serbia] would not only mean its profound humiliation and . . . a diminution of Russian prestige in the Balkans, but would also imply certain guarantees for us in the direction of a restraining of pan-Serb infiltration on our soil.

Count Berchtold to Franz Josef, 14 July 1914

There are always clouds in the international sky. You never get a perfectly blue sky in foreign affairs. And there are clouds even now. But we feel confident that the common sense, the patience, the good-will, the forbearance which enabled us to solve greater and more difficult and more urgent problems last year will enable us to pull through these difficulties at the present moment.
David Lloyd George, speech, 17 July 1914

In one of the most memorable baseball games of all time, outfielder Red Murray of the New York Giants ended his team's 21-inning, 3-1 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates with a spectacular catch. He was immediately struck by lightening, knocked unconscious, but held on to the ball for the final out.

17 July 1914

A brilliant achievement at forty-eight hours notice. More than anyone could have expected.   A great moral victory for Vienna but it removes any reason  for war .  .  . the reservations on few points of detail can in my view be cleared up by negotiation.

Kaiser Wilhelm II, 25 July 1914

This will take attention away from Ulster, which is a good thing.
Herbert Asquith, letter, 25 July 1914

Everything tends towards catastrophe & collapse. I am interested, geared up and happy. Is it not horrible to be built like that? The preparations have a hideous fascination for me. I pray to God to forgive me for such fearful moods of levity. Yet I w[oul]d do my best for peace, and nothing w[oul]d induce me wrongfully to strike the blow.
Winston Churchill, 28 July 1914

Everything possible must be done to save the peace. I will not become responsible for a monstrous slaughter.

Tsar Nicholas II, 29 July 1914

This war will turn into a world war in which England will also intervene. Few can have an idea of the extent, the duration and the end of this war. Nobody today can have a notion of how it will all end.

General Helmuth von Moltke, 30 July 1914

The Stain, Early Film of Silent Star
Theda Bara Debuts, July 1914

I thank you heartily for your mediation which begins to give one hope that all may yet end peacefully. It is technically impossible to stop our military preparations which were obligatory owing to Austria's mobilisation. We are far from wishing war. As long as the negotiations with Austria on Servia's account are taking place my troops shall not make any provocative action. I give you my solemn word for this. I put all my trust in God's mercy and hope in your successful mediation in Vienna for the welfare of our countries and for the peace of Europe.

Tsar's Telegram to the Kaiser, 31 July 1914

Why "Horizon Blue" for the Poilu's Uniform

As all World War I students know, the traditional French uniforms of blue coats and rouge pantaloons made dandy targets for German machine gunners in the opening battles and just had to be replaced.  But why was the horizon blue color scheme selected?

Veterans Visiting the Tomb of France's Unknown Soldier

The evolution of the French uniform is one of the more fascinating aspects of French army history of the period. While several efforts to modernize French uniforms to appear less conspicuous had been undertaken in the decade preceding the outbreak of war, none succeeded in really getting off the ground. It was only in 1912 that progress was made toward developing a new cloth referred to as drap tricolore ("tricolor cloth") and composed of blue, white, and red threads. Approval for the new cloth was already won when it was discovered that the manufacturers of the red dye (the synthetic alarizin) used in the process were all German. Production of the cloth went ahead nonetheless with the red thread simply omitted. The final (heathered) cloth was to be officially composed of three threads — 35% unbleached white, 15% dark blue (indigo), and 50% light blue — with a twill weave.

The cloth itself began production in August 1914 and was officially referred to as bleu clair ("light blue"), per the official decision on 25 November 1914. History has recorded this as bleu horizon ("horizon blue") following a January 1915 issue of the highly popular periodical L'Illustration, which referred to "a new gray-blue greatcoat, called horizon color." Thus, while horizon blue is used as a blanket term for the new cloth, it was never an official term. Furthermore, light blue is technically more accurate when used to describe the cloth generally produced prior to spring 1915 (the captions for images below reflect this terminology). The term "light blue" 'is deceiving, though, as in actuality the range of colors varied from an ashen light blue to a medium blue-gray. While the new cloth did not achieve the true neutral tone original intended, due to the nature of the early dyes, the cloth often faded to a light blue-gray, which melded well with the chalky mud of Champagne and Artois.

Despite the administrative decision-making in the summer of 1914, distribution of the new uniforms had not yet begun when war broke out. . .

Read more at the Website of the 151st Infantry Reenactors. . . http://www.151ril.com/content/gear/uniforms/13

Remembering a Veteran — 26 July 1918: Major Mick Mannock, VC, Killed by Ground Fire

The air aces of World War I — like the Red Baron — left a rich mythology that persists to the present day. But the man who was, perhaps, Britain's best pilot, remains little known.

Major Mannock

Photographs of Mick Mannock, Britain's highest-scoring fighter pilot from World War I, are surprisingly rare. Before his death Mannock had just completed an extraordinary run of success, shooting down 20 German planes that May — four of them in one day — and winning the Distinguished Service Order (one below the Victoria Cross) not once but three times in little over a month.

But all was not right with this ace in his last days. The inspirational hero of both his squadron and the RAF was struggling to control his nerves, nerves which were tearing him apart. From his personal diary held at the RAF Museum in London it's clear that Mannock had been wrestling with his emotions from the moment he first went into action just over a year earlier.

"Feeling nervy and ill during the last week. Afraid I'm breaking up."

So bad were the terrors that in his early days of flying some of his fellow pilots on the Western Front believed that Mannock was "windy", in other words, a coward. A sympathetic commanding officer gave him a chance, and over the following months Mannock was able to suppress his fears and start shooting down enemy aircraft. With the "kills" came the awards for gallantry.

Flying aircraft in World War I was a shockingly dangerous profession. Of the 14,000 airmen killed in that war, well over half lost their lives in training. On an early patrol over France one of the bottom wings of Mannock's Nieuport bi-plane suddenly broke off in flight. Mannock managed to land the aircraft, extraordinarily lucky to have survived.

But what Mannock — and many other pilots — feared most, was going down in flames, without a parachute, and burning to death. For this reason he carried a revolver in his cockpit, vowing that if his plane did catch fire he would shoot himself, before the flames devoured him.

Mannock developed his own macabre way of conquering his nerves. Not dissimilar to the Captain Flashheart character played by Rik Mayall in Blackadder Goes Forth, Mannock too could be loud and brash.

"Flamerinoes boys! Sizzle sizzle wonk," he would announce as he burst into the mess regaling all of how he had sent some unfortunate "Hun" airman down in flames. And when in April 1918 various members of his squadron raised their glasses to the recently killed Manfred von Richthofen — the Red Baron — Mannock refused with the words "I hope the bastard burnt all the way down".

Mannock (Far Left) with the Pilots of 74 Squadron

And yet behind this brash exterior was a deeply sensitive man. Born into a working-class military family Mannock was not the typical young public school airman associated with World War I movies. He was a committed socialist and at 29 he was much older than his fellow pilots. But Mannock was also a man of contradictions. He hated Germans with a vengeance, possibly because he was so badly treated by the Turks when he was interned by them earlier in the war.

Yet despite this, when he rushed out to inspect the remains of a German plane he had just shot down and found one of the airmen dead inside, he recorded in his diary: "I felt exactly like a murderer." In little over 12 months Mannock amassed 73 victories, confirming him as Britain's highest scoring pilot of the First World War and yet today, outside aviation circles, virtually no one has heard of him.

Part of the explanation is that unlike Germany, which promoted their air heroes such as the Red Baron, Britain had a policy of keeping their pilots identities firmly under wraps, preferring the idea that it was a team effort and not all about the individual. The effect was that while photos and stories of the Red Baron were splashed over newspapers around the world, in Britain Mannock, or "Captain X" as the press referred to him, was virtually unknown.

By the early summer of 1918 the air war had reached its savage climax and Mick Mannock's nerves had returned. A friend witnessed Mannock on leave, sobbing and trembling violently, saliva and tears having soaked his collar and shirt. And despite all this, Mannock's sense of duty meant that he returned to France to face whatever came his way.  On the morning of 26 July while out on patrol he downed his last German aircraft, but made the fatal error of flying low to observe the kill and it was then that his aircraft was hit by German ground fire.

Mannock's aircraft was last seen going down in flames. His nightmare had been realised. It is not known if he was able to use the revolver he always carried with him.

Sources:  BBC and Spartacus Websites

Western Front Virtual Tour — Stop 28: High Wood

High Wood was the last of the major woods in the Somme offensive of 1916 to be captured by the British. Despite a whole series of attacks spanning two months, High Wood held out until 15 September 1916, when it was captured by the 47th (London) Division. Many other units of the British Army fought here, including the Gloucester Regiment, Cameron Highlanders, the Black Watch, Highland Light Infantry, and the Bengal Lancers, who charged the wood with some success. High Wood was never fully cleared after the war.

A World War I Polish-American Cemetery in Canada

By Walter Kudlick

In the small Ontario, Canada, town of Niagara-on-the-Lake (population 12,500 or so but with lots of tourists in the summer months) there is a cemetery with a small section bounded by a wrought iron fence and featuring three tall poles flying large Canadian, American, and Polish flags. A bronze plaque contains the following information (abridged and edited): This burial plot commemorates the Polish soldiers who trained in this community from 1917 to 1919 at Camp Kosciuszko and subsequently made the supreme sacrifice. They personified the Polish soldier's motto:"For your freedom and ours!" 

Typical Marker

As a result of the movement to regain the independence of Poland and policy differences with the United States, 22,174 volunteers of Polish descent crossed the Niagara River from Youngstown, NY, to this community and joined 221 Polish-Canadians for military training from 1917 to 1919. They were trained by Canadian officers and outfitted and financed by France. As a result, they wore French uniforms and hence were called the "Blue Army." In Europe the volunteers were assigned to the Fourth French Army in battalion and regimental groups and participated on the Western Front in the Champagne sector of France in 1918. In October 1918 the battalion and regimental groups were united to form a separate Polish army, which with additional volunteers totaled 80,000. At the end of World War I, the soldiers were transported across Germany to defend the new-found independence of Poland and repel the Bolshevik invasions. At this burial plot rest 25 of 41 soldiers who were stricken and died of influenza while in training.

Favorite Great War Animal Photos (Non-Equine)

We got such a great response over the horse images we posted last week that I thought our readers may enjoy some other animal images that have been sent to me over the years. Thanks to those of you who have sent these along.

Mascot of Italian Alpini

Whiskey & Soda of the Lafayette Escadrille

French Army Red Cross Dogs

British Officer and Kitten

Manfred von Richthofen's Moritz

Mobile Pigeon Coop

Bonneau and John McCrae

Also, check out this great video at Michigan's WWI Centennial Project:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=zMX3IOaylA8

Enduring Courage: Ace Pilot Eddie Rickenbacker and the Dawn of the Age of Speed — Reviewed by Jim Gallen

Enduring Courage:
Ace Pilot Eddie Rickenbacker and the Dawn of the Age of Speed

by John F. Ross

Andre Deutsch, 2014

Before reading Enduring Courage I had not known much about Eddie Rickenbacker. After losing his father in a brawl over a lunch at age 13, Eddie started his career as a mechanic and a race car driver. Rubbing elbows with Henry Ford and Fred Duesenberg, Rickenbacker rode the circuit and competed as a driver at the 1911 Indy 500. It was his familiarity with engines and his trip to England to discuss racing with Sunbeam Motors in 1916–1917 that introduced Eddie to the world of flight and the war that would make his name a household word.

Order Now

This new biography of Rickenbacker is divided into four "books": "Racing," "Flying," "Fighting," and "Immortality." Through them all run the threads of machinery, speed, and courage. The second and third books will be of greatest interest to readers of Roads to the Great War. These are the pages that focus on Rickenbacker's wartime heroics as "Ace of Aces." Eddie eased into the war gradually, as did his neutral nation. While visiting London he noticed that he stood out in civilian clothes, became aware of the emerging role of aircraft as weapons, and met some of the men who flew them. Author John F. Ross introduces the reader into the brotherhood of aviators, the Royal Flying Corps and the Red Baron's Flying Circus. He even injects the humor of Richthofen, who, upon hearing that a bounty had been placed on his head, cracked that he should get the prize if he shoots down the whole British squadron.

As America became involved in the war, Rickenbacker pitched the idea of an air squadron of race car drivers, who could get the most out of their machines, to a brass who thought that anyone so familiar with engines would be overly cautious. His break came when President Wilson suggested that a well-known car racer be employed as Gen. Pershing's driver. Tipped off, Eddie enlisted and headed off to Europe where he made the acquaintance not only of Pershing but also of Billy Mitchell and other officers in the air corps. Flying lessons, a commission, and the Wild Blue Yonder followed in rapid succession. As Eddie's skill and reputation grew he advanced in rank to command of the 94th Aero Squadron. The chapters dealing with the Air Corps take the reader over the land and into the barracks, the cockpit, and the dogfights with Rickenbacker. We meet the officers he met, Patton and MacArthur, and those with whom he shared headlines such as Quentin Roosevelt and Canada's Billy Bishop.

So just what was the role of air power in those early days? We read of the romance of the knights of the air who fought a war of chivalry beyond the reach of those trapped in the trenches below. We learn of reconnaissance of enemy ground formations and counter-reconnaissance by shooting down enemy planes and observation balloons.

The Armistice found Rickenbacker with 26 kills as America's Greatest Hero of the Great War and with a name recognition exceeding that of Gen. Pershing. He earned the Medal of Honor, although it would not be bestowed until 1931. Heroes do not live on yesterday's headlines, and Rickenbacker returned home to try a series of commercial ventures with varying success: the Rickenbacker automobile not so good, the Indianapolis Speedway better, Eastern Airlines the best. Peacetime aviation had its dangers as demonstrated by a 1941 crash while on a business trip.

Capt. Rickenbacker Receiving Oak Leaf Clusters to His
Distinguished Service Cross from First Army Commander Hunter Liggett

A figure as famous as Rickenbacker could not, and would not, stay clear of controversy. His opposition to the New Deal and dabbling with America First isolationism drew the enmity of the Roosevelt White House, but his conversion to support America's entrance into World War II made him an asset that could not remain unused. Called into service as a spokesman by the Air Force's Gen. Hap Arnold, Rickenbacker made goodwill tours of airbases. His status as a military hero made him the logical messenger to Gen. MacArthur, whose public comments had become intolerable to the White House. His trip across the Pacific ended in a crash at sea after which Rickenbacker's will triumphed over the dangers of the then longest float across the open sea by downed aviators.

The title Enduring Courage reminds us of the driving theme running through the book. The theme is shown in the life of a man courageous enough to face a world after losing his father at a young age, to lead the charge into the age of mechanically produced speed both on land and in the air, and the courage to participate in another war with its own dangers. Readers will learn much about aviation in the Great War and particularly America's contribution to it. Mostly though, they will remember the enduring courage that makes this life one to study as we look back on the Great War.

Jim Gallen