The Kaiser with 'Death' as a waiter
The Kaiser and 'Death' sharing a horse
During an enterprise directed to the northward our high sea fleet on May 31 encountered the main part of the English fighting fleet, which was considerably superior to our forces.
During the afternoon, between Skagerrak and Horn Reef, a heavy engagement developed, which was successful to us, and which continued during the whole night....
The High Sea Fleet returned today (Thursday) into our port.
German Admiralty Report.Berlin, June 1, 1916.
On the afternoon of Wednesday, the 31st of May, a naval engagement took place off the coast of Jutland.
The British ships on which the brunt of the fighting fell were the battle cruiser fleet and some cruisers and light cruisers, supported by four fast battleships. Among these the losses were heavy.
The German battle fleet, aided by low visibility, avoided a prolonged action with our main forces. As soon as these appeared on the scenethe enemy returned to port, though not before receiving severe damage from our battleships.
British Admiralty Report.London, June 2, 1916.
Bearded Sea Vulture
William Falstaff: "I know not what you call all, but if I fought not with the whole British fleet, then I am a bunch of radish."
Our High Sea Fleet on May 31 encounteredthe main part of the English fleet.
On our side the small cruiserWiesbaden, by hostile gunfire during the day engagement, and his Majesty's shipPommern, during the night, as the result of a torpedo, were sunk.
The fate of his Majesty's shipFrauenlob, which is missing, and of some torpedo boats, which have not returned yet, is unknown.
German Admiralty Report. June 1, 1916.
In order to prevent fabulous reports, it is again stated that in the battle off Skagerrak on May 31 the German high sea forces were in battle withthe entire modern English fleet.
We were obliged to blow up the small cruiserElbing, which, on the night of May 31-June 1, owing to a collision with other German war vessels, was heavily damaged.
German Admiralty Report. June 3, 1916.
We state that the total loss of the German high sea forces during the battle of May 31-June 1 and the following time are: One battle cruiser, one ship of the line of older construction, four small cruisers, and five torpedo boats. Of these losses, thePommern, launched in 1905; theWiesbaden,Elbing,Frauenlob, and five torpedo boats already have been reported in official statements. For military reasons, we refrained until now from making public the losses of the vesselsLützowandRostock.
German Admiralty Report. June 8, 1916.
The Kaiser as Falstaff
After visiting my fleet, which returned victoriously from a heavy battle, I feel I must again declare to you my imperial thanks for what you have performed in my service in the technical domain and the domain of organization. Our ships and weapons upheld themselves brilliantly in the battle in the North Sea. It is also for you a day of glory.
The German EmperortoGrand Admiral Von Tirpitz.June, 1916.
Before the Battle of Jutland Von Tirpitz retired from his post as Minister of the Navy on the ground of ill health. He is credited with being responsible for the submarine policy of ruthlessness which the German Government were forced to moderate on account of President Wilson's firm attitude in the Sussex episode.
The Kaiser kissing Grand Admiral Von Tirpitz.
The Germans were driven back into their ports without so much as making an effort to grapple with the main body of our Grand Fleet, and had the temerity to claim what really was a rout as a complete victory. A couple more such victories and there will be nothing left of the German Navy worth speaking about. The truth is slowly leaking out, and its full extent is not yet realized or appreciated. Our command of the seas, so far from being impaired, has been more firmly and unshakably established.
H. H. Asquith,British Prime Minister.
German sailors running from British sailors
Thank God, "the Day" is over
First—It was admitted that "the small cruiserWiesbadenwas sunk" and that thePommern—the character of that ship not being mentioned—had also been destroyed; the light cruiserFrauenlobwas "missing," with "some torpedo boats." The rest of the High Seas Fleet, it was declared, "had returned to our harbors."
Second—It had to be confessed that the light cruiserElbinghad been sunk.
Third—A statement was issued to the effect that "one battle cruiser, (theLützow,) one ship of the line of older construction, (thePommern,) four smaller cruisers," (theWiesbaden,Elbing,Frauenlob, andRostock,) and "five torpedo boats" (really destroyers) represented "the total loss."
Fourth—It is now known that the battle cruiserSeydlitzwas run ashore to save her from sinking. It is asserted by travelers who have returned to Amsterdam that the battle cruiserDerfflingersank "on being towed into Wilhelmshaven," and it is reported from Copenhagen that thePommernwas not the battleship which was torpedoed in the Baltic by a British submarine in July last, but a new battle cruiser which was named after the German State, thus perpetuating its association with the navy. The story of the sinking of the dreadnought battleshipOstfrieslandawaits confirmation.
Archibald Hurdin the London Daily Telegraph.
The Kaiser trapped with water flowing in
Two German admirals
Field Marshal Lord Horatio Herbert Kitchener, the British Secretary of State for War, perished with his staff off the West Orkney Islands on June 5 by the sinking of the British cruiserHampshire, which struck a mine and went down fifteen minutes later. "O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?" Formerly they had sounded in our ears as chords of solemn music, breathing consolation; now that we see them clearly to be triumphant verities, living and everlasting truths, they ring out like a trumpet call, summoning and inspiring the living to stronger action. The work continues though the hand that moulded it perishes; the body dies, but the soul lives on. There is no sting in the grave when on either side men press forward to one immortal goal and when living and dead battle together for incorruptible principles. Whether individually we live or die signifies nothing, if that high cause for which we fight wins. Lord Kitchener's death will not interfere with the work he had undertaken, nor shall his passing delay, but rather shall it hasten the victory to which he looked forward.
Land and Water, London, June 8, 1916.
Lord Kitchener in the arms of a grieving 'Britain',
The Crown Prince, after the gigantic effort of his armies, was confronted with problems more vast, with a resistance more confident and more efficient, than those which he had had to face in the opening days of the Verdun offensive. In three days the French had been driven off their first positions along a large portion of the Verdun front; over a month later they were still defending with increasing vigour their second line. Behind that line lay yet another, and the prospect of the fall of Verdun was but faint upon the German horizon. The French could already count upon victory, the price of Verdun having already been exacted in the enemy's blood, without the position having been captured. That price, it was said, had been fixed by the Imperial General Staff at 200,000 casualties.
The Times History of the War.
The Kaiser and Crown Prince on a mountain of corpses
Signor Baltisti, before the war, was Deputy for Trent in the Austrian Parliament, and in that position was a strong advocate of irredentist claims in the Trentino. When war broke out he joined a Trentino regiment under the Italian flag.
He was captured by the Austrians in June, 1916, and executed, although he wore an Italian uniform. His corpse was publicly hanged on a gibbet in the city of Trent.
The Austrian Emperor with a hanged man
The Summer of 1916 saw the Germans defeated at Verdun on the Somme and at Riga. The Austrians were defeated in the Trentino and the Bukovina. The Turks continued their retreat in Asia Minor and the Caucasus, while the Entente Allies advanced upon the Bulgarians from Saloniki.
The Central Powers' leaders on a park bench
The Government has carried on the war in accordance with methods which are even incompatible with everything which has been done hitherto—the violation of Belgium and Luxemburg; the use of poison gases, which were subsequently used by the other belligerents; there were Zeppelin bombs which killed both combatants and noncombatants, a submarine war on commerce, the torpedoing of theLusitania, etc.; pillage and extortion of tribute, beginning with Belgium; the internment and imprisonment of the population of the eastern provinces; various devices for forcing prisoners to work against their own country, by spying for the Central Powers, thereby committing an act of high treason; contracts arranged between Zimmermann and Sir Roger Casement in December, 1915, for the formation of armed units of English prisoners of war, for the purpose of forming the Irish brigade. Besides these, other attempts must be mentioned, which were made among the foreigners in concentration camps in Germany, threatening them with internment unless they betrayed their own countries and placed themselves at Germany's disposal.
Karl Liebknecht.June, 1916.
'Civilisation' holding a German
War and Hunger: "Now you must accompany us to the end."
The Kaiser: "Yes, to my end."
'War', 'Hunger' and the Kaiser
"Did they believe that peace story in the Reichstag, Bethmann?"
"Yes, but the Allies didn't."
Germany, using in turn force when she believes herself strongest and craft when she feels herself growing feebler, is today resorting to craft. She is spreading abroad the illusive word "peace." Where does this word come from? To whom has it been spoken? And on what conditions? And to what end? By her ambiguous manœuvres Germany reckons on dividing the allied countries. No one among us will fall into such a trap. I have said, and I repeat, that when blood flows in streams, when our troops with so much self-sacrifice are giving up their lives, the word "peace" is a sacrilege if it means that the aggressor will not be punished and if tomorrow Europe runs the risk of again being delivered up to the despotism, fantasy, and caprice of a military caste athirst for pride and domination. It would be the dishonor of the Allies! What should our reply be if tomorrow, after having concluded such a peace, our countries were dragged anew into the frenzy of armaments? What would future generations say if we committed such an act of folly and if we missed the opportunity which is offered us of establishing on solid foundations a lasting peace?
Aristide Briand,Premier of France.June, 1916.
Von Bethmann-Hollweg and the Kaiser
It is one of the greatest sources of pride for the Verdun Army to have earned the testimony of the great assembly which incarnates and immortalizes the genius of the French tongue and the French race. The Army of Verdun has had the good fortune to answer to the appeal addressed to it by the country. Thanks to its heroic tenacity the offensive of the Allies has already made brilliant progress ... and the Germans are not at Verdun.
General Nivelleto the French Armyat Verdun, June, 1916.
Deep in a bunker
"Wait a moment"
The blow which the Russians have delivered to the Teutons has been one of the hardest given to any belligerent during the entire war. Not even the great German drive of last year has had the effect of the Russian offense of the past six weeks. In this case it is much more than a loss of territory; it is almost the destruction of an army. Russia had vast reserves on which to fall back.
Austria apparently has none. Austria alone of all the belligerents is practically exhausted. Only a week ago the Austrian Department of War endeavored to get the consent of the Government to call into the military service all men between the ages of 56 and 60. Nothing could show more eloquently the very dire straits into which the Austrian Army has fallen.
J. B. W. Gardiner.Current History.
The Kaiser with a gun to his head
The Petrograd officialcommuniquéof June 27, 1916, stated that the prisoners and trophies captured by the armies of General Brusiloff between June 4-23 amounted to 4,031 officers, 194,041 men, 219 guns, besides 644 machine-guns, 196 bomb mortars, 146 artillery ammunition wagons and 38 searchlights.
The enormous importance of the Russian victories of June, 1916, as a step in the attrition of the enemy forces was patent; the losses suffered by the enemy on the Eastern front during those three weeks were about equal to those he had suffered at Verdun in 130 days of fighting.
Times History of the War.
Cassocks singing and marching
Captain Charles Fryatt, master of the Great Eastern Railway's steamerBrussels, which was captured by German warships on June 23, 1916, and taken to Zeebrugge, was tried by German courtmartial at Bruges, July 27, condemned to death by shooting, and executed immediately. The charge against him was that of attempting to ram the German submarine U-33.
His Majesty's Government find it difficult to believe that a master of a merchant vessel who, after German submarines adopted the practice of sinking merchant vessels without warning and without regard for the lives of passengers or crew, took a step which appeared to afford the only chance of saving not only his vessel, but the lives of all on board, can have been deliberately shot in cold blood for this action.
British Foreign Office.
The Kaiser as an Indian chief WI a sailor tied to a post
William: "Why are you so heavily bombarding the remains of that 'contemptible little British army'?"
Prince of Bavaria: "I am afraid the remains are bombarding us."
The German view of the situation at the end of June was well shown in a typical article by the military correspondent of the "Berliner Tageblatt," Major Moraht, actually published on July 1.
The writer began by declaring that "all the belligerent armies were now at a critical stage." The Allies had undoubtedly increased the energy and the uniformity of their conduct of war, and their great resources in money and men and their command of the sea would enable them to do everything possible "to hamper Germany's final victory."
The British offensive was about to begin, and "without a serious settlement of accounts with England on the battlefields in the west the Germans would not come a step nearer to peace." Major Moraht and the other German writers betrayed no sense of the immensity of the coming events, and it was clear that the Germans had not begun to dream of the defeats that were about to be inflicted upon them.
The Times History of the War.
The Kaiser conferring with two soldiers
"From East to West, and West to East, I dance with thee"
'Death' performing a Tango
During the early days of July, 1916, a general offensive on the part of the Allies began.
The French and British armies attacked on the Somme, taking many towns and villages and thousands of prisoners.
The Russians continued their victorious advance in the Bukowina and began a tremendous offensive far north on the Riga front.
The Italian troops attacked in the Trentino and captured important fortified Austrian positions.
The Kaiser as a wolf with Serbia, Belgium and Luxenburg as slaughtered sheep
"Never mind, Mr. Wilson; it is only a little Lusitania blood on the envelope"
On July 9th the German Merchant SubmarineDeutschlandarrived at Baltimore carrying a cargo of 1,000 tons of merchandise, principally dye stuffs. According to a statement by Captain Koenig, commander of theDeutschland, she was the first of a number of similar vessels which were being built for the purpose of breaking the British blockade of Germany.
It was stated at the time that the captain of the submarine brought a personal letter from the German Emperor to President Wilson.
German captain handing a bloody envelope to Wilson
What, German people, is your duty in this hour? The army wants no exhortations. It has fought superhumanly. It will fight until final victory. But the people at home—this is their duty: To suffer in silence, to bear their renunciations with dignity.
The Kaiser,July, 1916.
The Kaiser on a donkey
The great armies recruited and trained by Lord Kitchener, with the mountains of munitions piled up by Lloyd George, have become a tremendous weapon in the skilled hands of General Sir Douglas Haig; and they are supported on the right by a French army under General Foch that has shown itself more than able to keep pace with them. It must not be forgotten that the battle of the Somme is a joint enterprise of close teamwork under the supreme direction of General Joffre.
Thus far we have heard less of the French than of the English wing, but its achievement has been equally brilliant. The Germans caught between these Frenchmen and Peronne, like those caught between the British and Bapaume, have resisted to the limit of human endurance, but nothing human could survive the awful blasting of high explosives to which their first and second trench lines were subjected; and the Allies now have the shells and the men to keep up the pressure indefinitely.
Current History, New York, July, 1916.
British and French soldiers
The battle is raging, huge beyond all previous imagination. Rejuvenated, perfectly equipped with all they want, Russia's armies again have broken against our bulwarks in the east. France has experienced a regeneration in this war of which she hardly believed herself capable. She has dragged her dilatory English Ally into joining the offensive on the Somme, and whatever inward worth the British army has it now has an abundance of artillery.
The Kaiser,July, 1916.
The Kaiser with other Central Powers' leaders on crutches
(In 1915 a gigantic statue of wood was erected in Berlin to Hindenburg)
The problem implied in the second phase of the great Russian offensive of 1916 had been solved completely in favour of our Allies. The enemy had abandoned his entire front south of the Marshes, having lost in ten weeks' fighting (May, June, July) in prisoners alone well over 300,000 men. The total casualties suffered by him in that campaign almost equalled the original strength of his armies between the Pripet Marshes and the Carpathian Mountains.
The Times History of the War.
A bear pounding a nail into Hindenburg
The freedom of the sea means to Germany that the German Navy is to behave at sea as the German Army behaves on land. It means that neither enemy civilians nor neutrals may possess rights against militant Germany; that those who do not resist will be drowned, and those who do will be shot.
Already 244 neutral merchantmen have been sunk in defiance of law and humanity, and the number daily grows. Mankind, with the experience of two years of war behind it, has made up its mind about German culture. It is not, I think, without material for forming a judgment about German freedom.
A. J. Balfour,First Lord of the Admiralty.July, 1916.
Jesus in a boat approaching a German submarine
As the second year of the war drew to its close important gains were made by the Allied Armies on all fronts. On the Somme the British occupied Mameton Wood, Trones Wood, and the villages of Ovillers-la-Boiselle, Longueval, Podières. The French advanced on a front of 10½ miles and captured the German positions from Estrées to Vermando-Villers. On the Eastern Front, the Russians crossed the Carpathians in the south and pierced Hindenburg's Riga line at several points.
On the Isonzo the Italians began a great drive towards Gorizia.
The Kaiser as a tree being chopped down
"France is dying."—Hindenburg
This year has been so full of a glory so pure that it will forever illumine the human race. It has been a year in which France, the France of Joan of Arc and Valmy, has risen, if possible, to even greater heights.
Be the war of short or long duration, France accepts it. The country is summoning its genius and changing its methods. Each French soldier before the enemy repeats the words of Joan of Arc, "You can enchain me, but you cannot enchain the fortunes of France."
Paul Deschanel,President of FrenchChamber of Deputies.
Joan of Arc in front of the German lines
The Kaiser falling on a cliff
Direct Losses of Human Life During Two Years of War
DeadWoundedDead and WoundedInvalidsTotal4,631,50011,245,30015,876,8003,373,700Austria-H'gry718,0001,777,0002,495,000533,000Belgium50,000110,000160,00033,000Bulgaria25,00060,00085,00018,000England205,000512,000717,000154,300France885,0002,115,0003,000,000634,000Germany885,5002,116,3003,001,800634,900Italy105,000245,000350,00073,500Russia1,498,0003,820,0005,318,0001,146,000Serbia110,000140,000250,00042,000Turkey150,000350,000500,000105,000
From a Danish Estimatepublished by the War Study Societyof Copenhagen.
'Europe' tied to the wheel of a cannon