Egon Harings

Germany and two World Wars

From the German Reich to the end of the Nazi regime

Das Werk, einschließlich seiner Teile, ist urheberrechtlich geschützt. Jede Verwertung ist ohne Zustimmung des Verlages und des Autors unzulässig. Dies gilt insbesondere für die elektronische oder sonstige Vervielfältigung, Übersetzung, Verbreitung und öffentliche Zugänglichmachung.

Prologue

This book addresses two world wars, two wars of horror and terror.

On 28 June 1914 were the two shots that killed the Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife. The double murder, which was committed by the young Bosnian assassin Gavrilo Princip, had been prepared by nationalist Serbian conspirators from the secret society “Black Hand” and should compel the Serbian Prime Minister to extreme steps.

Europe held its breath. Vienna didn’t want to start a war without German backing. Emperor Franz Joseph received the required backing from Berlin. Wilhelm II even urged Austria to a settlement with Serbia. On 5 June 1914 he even made out a blank check to Vienna. However, Vienna was slow with the settlement. But on 23 July 1914 Vienna delivered an ultimatum to Belgrade. The note with the ultimatum contained a demand that would undermine the sovereignty of Serbia, if it had been met. Belgrade rejected the note after it had underinsured Russian help. On 25 July Serbia ordered the mobilization. Austria followed with a partial mobilization and declared war on Serbia on 28 July. On 30 July Russia ordered the general mobilization and Austria responded one day later. On 1 August France announced the mobilization and Germany followed. England put its navy on the alert. Then, on 16 August, Japan ranked in the front of the German opponents and demanded the Chinese area around Jiaozhou Bay, which was in German hands. The First World War had broken out, the first war of material battles and mass extermination. Then, 1918, the world looked different. Tens of millions of people had lost their lives, lost in a senseless war. New states emerged, which were reason for future conflicts.

Many monarchies no longer existed after the war. It was November 9, 1918, when Philipp Scheidemann proclaimed the Republic in Germany. It began a new era of German history, starting with the Weimar Republic.

The Weimar Republic existed only fifteen years. With it also perished the “Second German Reich”. There were the turbulent years in which the one sought to build and to consolidate the new state, while others tried to destroy it again. The terms of the Versailles Treaty had to be met. This led to the battle in the Ruhr area (Ruhr-Pott), which was occupied by Allied troops. The Versailles Treaty was also the cause of the horror inflation and the high unemployment. In addition to this, there was still the general economic crisis. For the Nazis these were reasons enough to blame others for the misery.

In 1933 Hitler comes to power. Hindenburg, the German Reich President, had dropped out for personal reasons Chancellor Heinrich Brüning and General von Schleicher presented Franz von Papen as Chancellor. Franz von Papen repealed the SA ban that was a tribute to the NSDAP. But for this step the Nazi Party did not thank. Von Papen did also not reach a significant improvement of the miserable situation in Germany. Hindenburg was looking for a way out of this situation and believed to have found this way with the appointment of Hitler as Chancellor. Thus, on 30 January 1933, Hitler has seized power. He ousted von Papen and formed a cabinet of “national collection.” Paralyzed in an almost hopeless struggle against the enemies of the Republic and at odds with each other, the democratic parties resigned, leaving Hitler to power.

In 1934 President von Hindenburg died and Hitler also assumed the role of President. There were also no parties in the meantime, with one exception, the NSDAP, which determined everything. – With the “Law for the Reconstruction of the Reich” were wiped out the countries’ sovereignty. The full power over the press, radio, film, and public opinion was backed by Hitler’s chief propagandist Goebbels, who also forced into line the whole German culture by laws, threats and persecutions. It followed the burning of books and boycott of Jewish businesses. But the worst was yet to come, the arbitrary persecutions, arrests and killings of dissidents and the establishment of concentration camps by the SA. But the holocaust was to surpass all this.

Austria became a part of the German Empire (Reich) again. The country of the Sudeten was annexed and Hitler demanded more. The world is facing a war. The Nazi rulers are getting ready, they want it, they want to lead the nation in the cruel war that the world had never experienced before, a war that was to be more cruel than the First World War.

We write 1 September 1939 and a new cruel wartime has begun. The war started with the attack on Poland. A British-French ultimatum with the request to cease hostilities remained unanswered. Thereupon the UK and France declared war on Germany on 3 September.

Poland was defeated in a five-week campaign. Eastern Poland was occupied by Soviet troops. A German-Soviet border and friendship treaty sealed the partition of Poland. Eastern Poland received the Soviet Union, Gdansk (Danzig) and parts of western and northern Poland received Germany. The remainder of the country was declared a “German General Government” (administrative zone), where established a brutal occupation regime.

In order to forestall an Allied landing operation, Germany attacked Denmark and Norway on 9 April, 1940. Denmark was occupied without fight; Norway ceased the fighting in July. Then, on 10 May, the western campaign began. Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg were overrun. Little later, German troops occupied Paris.

The Second World War was planned by Germany as a raceideological war of extermination with the aim of acquiring habitat in the east and was also implemented accordingly. But Germany lost this insane war. The disaster began with the lost battle for Stalingrad. Instead of winning habitat, after the war Germany was forced to cede large areas in the east. There were areas that were colonized by Germans for centuries.

In the last months of the cruel war also the great escape of the Germans began, the escape of horror, as it was the sinking of the “Wilhelm Gustloff”. – “Wilhelm Gustloff” was the name of the German refugee steamship, which took off from Gdynia (Gotenhafen) on 30 January 1945. On board of the steamship were 10,000 refugees, mainly women and children, who hoped to escape the hell by this ship, the hell that broke over East Prussia. Taken by Soviet torpedoes, the ship sank. Not even 1,000 refugees were saved; the others were torn with the ship in the depth or died on the troubled sea, because they were not saved, could not be saved because there were not enough ships, which departed in search of shipwrecked. It was the greatest disaster in the history of seafaring. But, who knows the “Wilhelm Gustloff” and the sinking of this ship? About the sinking of the Titanic was much written. But the world knows nothing about the sinking of the “Wilhelm Gustloff, although this sinking was much worse than the sinking of the Titanic. – This book chronicles the sinking of the “Wilhelm Gustloff”.

The war of horror

The First World War

We write the year 1914

The Austrian successor to the throne, Archduke Franz Ferdinand (a nephew of the Austrian emperor), and his wife, Duchess Sophie of Hohenberg, visited the new province Bosnia. But on 28 June they were not met with a friendly reception in Sarajevo, the capital of Bosnia. In this town mainly lived Serbians, who were not pro-Austrian. So it was bound to happen what many people feared. A Serbian student, Gavrilo Princip, murdered the Austrian married couple short time after they were sitting in their car again. Gavrilo Princip was 19 years old. After his arrest he declared that he had acted in revenge for the suppression of the Serbian nation. The result of the investigation was: the Bosnian nationalism was in narrow contact with the Serbian Prime Minister Nikola Pašić, who aimed at a Great Serbian Empire.

The picture on the next page

The reason to a terrible war, the First World War

The Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife Sophie on the way to their car. Shortly afterwards they are assassinated.

On the next page

A Berlin newspaper informed

that the Austrian successor

to the throne and his wife

were murdered

Gavrilo Princip had now murdered the man, who just supported the peaceful balance of power amongst all nations of the Austrian-Hungarian Empire, so he also supported a peaceful life with the South Slavs. Gavrilo Princip had the radical secret organization of Serbia, “Black Hand”, behind himself. This terrorist group was managed by the head of the press department of the Serbian General Staff, Colonel Dragutin Dimitrijević; but that became known first many years later. Now the government in Vienna had to make a decision. Was the murder of Franz Ferdinand and his wife only an act of one individual or was it the Serbian attack against the Austrian-Hungarian superpower?

The political circles of Europe officially abhorred the assassination and expected a swift retaliation. But they did not accept a degradation of Serbia to a satellite state of Austria-Hungary, what the Austrian government intended. In Austria, the opinion prevailed that Serbia would be responsible for the assassination and only a campaign against Serbia would again establish the peace on the Balkan Peninsula.

The head of the Austrian General Staff, Franz Conrad von Hötzendorf, demanded the immediate war against Serbia, but Foreign Minister Leopold Count Berchtold and the Hungarian Prime Minister, Stefan Count Tisza, hesitated. They recommended first to consult the German government. The Hungarian magnates (= members of the high nobility) then demanded to wait till the time after harvest, because the fields would be adversely affected by the marching up of troops. Now they wanted to wait for the departure of the French president, Raymond Poincarė, who was at the moment in St. Petersburg/Russia. After that an ultimatum should be delivered to the Serbians.

The hawks of Austria-Hungary will get the upper hand according to the opinion of the German ambassador on 30 June; he informed the government in Berlin as follows: “Hier höre ich … vielfach den Wunsch, es müsse einmal gründlich mit den Serben abgerechnet werden. Ich benutze jeden solchen Anlaß, um ruhig, aber sehr nachdrücklich und ernst vor übereilten Schritten zu warnen“ (Here I hear ... in many cases the wish, it must be thoroughly settled up with the Serbians: I take every occasion to warn calmly, but emphatically and seriously, against overhasty steps.) Emperor Wilhelm II was annoyed about that and the hesitation of the Austrians. Often he anxiously, but sabre-rattling outwardly, brought a war psychosis about. On 4 July he made the following note: “Jetzt oder nie” (Now or never) it must be settled up with the Serbians. The crisis of July of this year began to ride.

Wilhelm II had put his foot down, but it produced no effect: all his orders required the countersigning of the chancellor according to the German constitution; since the “Daily-Telegraph affair” was especially paid attention to it. Now the chancellor, Theobald von Bethmann Hollweg, had to decide on war or peace. The war was inevitable in von Bethmann Hollweg’s opinion. His alternative wish: to weaken Russia’s power for ever and to break up the triple entente (alliance) between Russia, France and England.

In the time between 3 and 6 July Alexander Count Hoyos, the head of the Austrian-Hungarian cabinet and so also of the foreign minister Berchtold, explored in Berlin the German attitude and opinion about the general situation in Europe. The permanent sub-secretary Zimmermann – he substituted for the permanent secretary Gottlieb von Jagow, who was on holiday – warned against the war against Serbia, because it would involve the whole of Europe in the Austrian-Serbian conflict.

On 5 July, at noon, Emperor Wilhelm II received the Austrian-Hungarian ambassador, Ladislaus Count of Szögyėny-Marich, at the “Neues Palais” (New Palace) in Potsdam. The ambassador asked the emperor the question, whether the government in Berlin would approve an attack against Serbia. Emperor Wilhelm II assured without hesitation that Austria might count on the “vollen Unterstützung Deutschlands” (full support of Germany).

At the same day Wilhelm II received von Bethmann Hollweg. The German chancellor made the following note: “Diese Ansichten des Kaisers deckten sich mit meinen Anschauungen” (This opinion of the emperor tallied with my view of the affair) – On 6 July Szögyėny could informed the government in Vienna as follows: “Wir können … mit Sicherheit darauf rechnen, daß auch der Reichskanzler, ebenso wie sein kaiserlicher Herr, ein sofortiges Einschreiten unsererseits gegen Serbien als radikalste und beste Lösung unserer Schwierigkeiten am Balkan ansieht“ (It is safe to say, … , that also the German chancellor, as his sovereign, the German emperor, consider an immediate action against Serbia as the most radical and best solution of our trouble on the Balkan Peninsula).

On 5 July, about five o’clock in the afternoon, Wilhelm II conferred with the military leadership. He put the question to the German war minister, General Erich von Falkenhayn, whether the German army would be prepared in case of a war. Falkenhayn said a short “yes” without any reservation. At the same time von Bethmann Hollweg informed the German ambassador to Vienna as follows: “Kaiser Franz Joseph könne sich aber darauf verlassen, daß S.M. im Einklang mit seinen Bündnispflichten und seiner alten Freundschaft treu an der Seite Österreich-Ungarns stehen würde“ (Emperor Franz Joseph may rely on His Majesty – Wilhelm II -, that His Majesty remains loyal to Austria-Hungary, what he also does as ally and old friend of Austria).

Wilhelm II started off on his traditional northland journey, regardless of the crisis. Before he went aboard of his ship, he still announced, if Russia mobilizes he’ll immediately declare war on Russia.

On 7 July, Count Hoyos reported on his talks in Berlin to his government in Vienna. Now the Austrian cabinet decided to come to a “tunlichst rasche Entscheidung des Streitfalles mit Serbien im kriegerischen oder friedlichen Sinne” (swift decision of the conflict with Serbia in the sense of war or peace). On 8 July the German ambassador to Vienna, Tschirschky, urged the Austrian-Hungarian foreign minister, Leopold Count Berchtold, to take action against Serbia immediately. But Count Berchtold was dependent in his decisions on the Hungarian minister president (Prime Minister) Tisza, who refused to take instructions from Tschirschky.

The military leadership of the German Empire worked out operational detail plans in the meantime. The real cause of the war, Austria-Hungary’s wish for a victory over Serbia, was overlapped more and more by military considerations of Germany. So the General Staff drew up the draft for the ultimatum to Belgium; that even happened before the answer of Serbia to the Austrian ultimatum of 23 July. This draft referred the General Staff to the “Auswärtige Amt” (Foreign Ministry of Germany) on 26 July then.

The draft of the Austrian ultimatum – Serbia received this ultimatum on 23 July – was already completed on 19 July. Now on 23 July, Serbia should answer within 48 hours. The demands of Austria-Hungary were so formulated that Serbia must reject. But the answer of Serbia was a great surprise; Serbia accepted all points of the ultimatum with the exception of one point: it refused an Austrian delegation the investigation of the background of the assassination in Serbia.

In London the anxiety increased in the meantime. On 27 July, the English permanent secretary, Sir Edward Grey, proposed the governments in London, Berlin, Paris and Rome may intervene between the government in Vienna/Austria and St. Petersburg/Russia, but not between Vienna and the government in Belgrade/Serbia. – The German government in Berlin refused the proposal of a conference in London: It would be impossible to Germany, to drag an ally off to a European tribunal because of a conflict with Serbia. At the same time Berchtold asked the emperor Franz Joseph I for the declaration of war on Serbia with the information that there would be already combats close to Temes-Kubin, what was not true.

On 28 July, Austria declared war on Serbia. Sir Edward Grey once more tried to avoid the worst; 29 July he intervened in Berlin and also tried to work on Austria-Hungary to stop the Austrian advance towards Belgrade; Austria-Hungary should also entrust other superpowers, the mediation of its disagreements with Russia. It was in vain. Also Tsar Nicholas II was in the meantime not willing to finish the conflict peacefully. On 30 July followed the general mobilization of the Russian army and one day later the German army mobilized too.

Now it came in rapid succession: on 1 August mobilized France; also on 1 August Germany declared war on Russia; then on 2 August Germany directed the demand to Belgium to let German troops marching through. On 3 August Germany declared war on France. Romania and Turkey remained neutral at the beginning of the war.

Then, also on 3 August, the German troops marched into Belgium, what produced the declaration of war of England on the German Empire on 4 August.

“Serbien muß sterben” (Serbia must die), “Jeder Stoß ein Franzos” (Each thrust a Frenchman), “Jeder Schuss ein Russ” (Each shot a Russian), “Hier werden noch Kriegserklärungen angenommen“ (Here we still take declaration of war) – these were epigrams, which decorated the railroad cars, which the German soldiers took to the fronts in the west and east. These epigrams reflected also the spirits of wide sections of the German population; it was not only the spirits of conservative-minded or national-minded people, but also the spirits of social democrats.

Many people, not only in Germany, welcomed the war enthusiastically and came closer together to “defend their threatened native country”. Nobody could foresee that there were following material battles and barrages, attacks with poisonous gas and flame throwers, submarine war and attacks of tanks, hunger and revolution. Many people still remembered the beginning of the war in 1870: “Bis Weihnachten sind wir wieder zu Hause” (Till Christmas we are at home again), that were the words of farewell of the German soldiers in those days.

Now the German troops should act according to the so-called “Schlieffenplan” (Plan of General Chief of Staff Count von Schlieffen, 1833 – 1913), i.e., to seek the decision in the west. Mighty German armed forces should, from Belgium coming, by their right wing push the French troops beyond Paris against the Swiss frontier and the Vosges Mountains by a comprising movement. Then, in a gigantic battle, the French troops should suffer a crushing defeat by the German troops there. Then the mass of the German army should only march against Russia, because the Russian deployment was considered to be slow and clumsy, so that it would be possible to put the Russian army off by slight armed forces till the final defeat of France would be clear.

Germany had declared war on Russia and France without to wait for the initiative of them, so that it looked like the real peace breaker. Germany had also broken the neutrality of Belgium by the disregard of effective treaties. Now von Bethmann Hollweg, who had arranged that all, declared in front of the members of the “Reichstag” (Imperial Parliament): “Das Unrecht, das wir damit tun, werden wir wieder gutzumachen versuchen, sobald unser militärisches Ziel erreicht ist“ (The wrong that we do by it, we try to put right again as soon as we have reached our military mark). These were foolish words. Also he should not have spoken the foolish words to the English ambassador: “Der Neutralitätsvertrag mit Belgien ist nur ein Fetzen Papier” (The treaty of neutrality with Belgium is only a scrap of paper). England was challenged anyhow by the breach of the neutrality and threatened in its interests. In 1912 England had already assured France that it would come to its aid in case of a German attack. From 4 August on also England was at war with Germany and from 6 August on Austria-Hungary with Russia. Other declarations of war were following in the next weeks. Italy and Romania didn’t feel obliged to keep the alliance with Germany and Austria, because they were of the opinion that Austria had broken the peace by the attack on Serbia. So the two blocs, the so-called “Mittelmächte/Central Powers” (Germany and Austria) and the powers of the “Entente” (France, England and Russia), were facing each other. The “Entente” formed so a common front together with Serbia and Montenegro against the “Mittelmächte”, a front that was in the offing since a long time before the outbreak of war. The “Mittelmächte” were less successful in diplomatically struggling for other allies than their adversaries. Whilst Germany and Austria-Hungary could only win Turkey and Bulgaria over, the adversaries could win the most of the states of the world over to their side in the course of the war, amongst them were Japan, the former German allies Italy and Romania and above all the USA and all colonies of England and France and also the British Dominions (Canada, Australia, New Zealand, India and so on).

During the first days of the war the German troops were successful in the west. The Belgian and then the French army was thrown back, amongst both armies were also British contingents. The German troops got into North France like a storm and soon they crossed the Marne (river). In August they were already before Paris. The “Schlieffenplan” seemed to lead to a success.

On 11 August, France declared war on Austria-Hungary; since today was Germany also at war with Montenegro. The German warships, the cruisers “Goeben” and “Breslau”, broke through the naval blockade of the enemy on this day. Some days later they reached the large Turkish city Istanbul, where both ships were sold to Turkey. From October both ships formed the core of the Turkish navy against the Russian “Black Sea Navy”.

On 12 August, England declared war on Austria-Hungary. Also on this day the present “suffrage bishop” of Posen, Likowski; was appointed Archbishop of Posen and Gniezno. Now he used his first pastoral position to admonish the “Poles of the Prussian provinces to devote themselves to emperor and empire”.

On 14 August, Japan demanded from Germany by an ultimatum to withdraw its ships from East Asia and from the Jiaozhou Bay in China, which was taken on lease by Germany, till 23 August.

On 19 August, the battle of Gumbinnen began in East Prussia. Von Puttwitz, who was commander-in-chief of the German troops in Prussia, feared the encirclement by Russian troops; therefore he broke off the battle. The German troops now withdrew and Russian troops occupied a big part of the German province East Prussia.

Whilst it wasn’t going well in the east, contrary to all expectations, the German troops had more success in the west. On 20 August they had already occupied Brussels, the capital of Belgium. In the East Germany was still waiting for such a success, which wasn’t standing in view. On 22 August was conferred therefore the supreme command of the German troops in East Prussia, the “Eight Army”, on General Paul von Hindenburg, who was already pensioner. Also on 22 August the French offensive was stopped in the southwest of Germany, in Elsass (Alsace).

On 23 August, it happened what was to be expected: Japan declared war on Germany. Now began the war in Asia too.

There were also combats in Africa. Here the adversary of Germany made a quick success. On 26 August the German troops capitulated in Togo. British and French troops occupied this country. Later the German colony “Togo” was divided amongst England and France. Also on 26 August began the battle of Tannenberg/East Prussia under the supreme command of General von Hindenburg. The Russian “Narew Army” was encircled and had to surrender on 30 August; 93,000 Russian soldiers were taken prisoners. Von Hindenburg was promoted “Generaloberst” (Colonel General/Supreme General) the day before. On 26 August also the first Russian-Austrian battle began by Lemberg in Galicia (today Lviv in the Ukraine). There the Russian troops were successful and could occupied this Austrian town on 3 September. Then on 8 September began the second battle close to Lemberg (Lviv), which came to an end by the Austrian defeat on 12 September. But the Austrian troops could prevent the invasion of Hungary by Russian troops.

On 28 August the first naval battle took place. The British navy penetrated into the North Sea and sank three German cruisers off the island of Heligoland. – On 29 August troops from New Zealand occupied the German island “Samoa”. There the German soldiers had surrendered without fight.

On 2 September mobilized Turkey whilst the German chancellor, Theobald von Bethmann Hollweg, gave his first press conference to American correspondents in Berlin. At this conference he warned against the aftermath to the “Kulturgemeinschaft der weißen Rasse” (Civilization of the white race), if Great Britain includes Asians and negros/blacks in the combat against the German Empire and made an appeal to the “sense of justice of the American nation” too.

Germans to the front; it should be a happy journey

By the “Pact of London” Great Britain (England), France and Russia bound themselves on 5 September to make no separate peace with the German Empire or Austria-Hungary.

On 6 September began the battle of the Masurian Lakes/East Prussia. “Generaloberst von Hindenburg “ encircled the Russian “Niemen Army” and defeated it on 15 September. By it East Prussia was finally liberated from the Russians.

On 9 September, it was a Wednesday, chancellor von Bethmann Wollweg sent during the height of the battle on the Marne (river in France, before Paris) a “war platform” (Septemberprogramm) from the German headquarter in Coblence to Berlin with the claim of the German Empire to the middle of Europe. On 9 September also Helmuth von Moltke, head general of staff of the German army, made a momentous mistake. From his headquarter in Luxembourg he gave the order to the German troops in France to withdraw towards Aisne line. That happened, because he was unaware of the real front line. So the advance of the German troops became a positional war by this withdrawal now. On 14 September, Moltke was relieved of his duties because of his wrong views of the situation. His successor became “lieutenant general” Erich von Falkenhayn. – During the withdrawal of the German troops in France the “Eight German Army” under the supreme command of “colonel general” von Hindenburg defeated the Second Russian army (Army of Wilna/Vilnius) on 15 September and pushed the remainder of the Russian soldiers back to Russia. During these combats the Germans captured 30,000 Russians. Whilst the Russian army was defeated by the Germans Russian troops could encircle the Austrian fortress Przemsyl on 16 September and besieged it till 11 October.

On 18 September began Japan with the siege of Tsingtau (Qingdao/China), the capital of the German colony Kiautschou (Jiaozhou). One day later British troops landed in the “Lüderitzbucht” (Lüderitz/ German-Southwest Africa), whilst German troops besieged the French town Reims and the battle on the Marne (river) was still lasting. On 22 September also began hard combats by Verdun/France and the German submarine “U 9” sank three British cruisers off the coast of Holland. This success of the German navy made clear the importance of the new “submarine weapon”.

On 23 September, German soldiers conquered the French town Varennes.

On 28 September began the great offensive of the German and Austrian troops against Russia. On 4 October they reached the “Weichsel” (the Vistula/river in Poland), where the advance was stopped for the time being whilst in Serbia the Austrian troops continued to push ahead. On 5 October fled the Serbian government from Belgrade to Skopje (today capital of the Republic Macedonia).

On 7 October, the American president Wilson replied to a letter from Emperor Wilhelm II dated 7 September (Wilhelm II had asked the American president to oppose the use of so-called “dumdum projectiles” and oppose the guerrilla activity of the civilians in the occupied regions). He did it with the note that “he will remain himself really neutral”.

On 9 October, the Belgian defenders of the seaport Antwerp surrendered after a siege of 12 days and the members of the Belgian government fled into the North-French seaport Le Havre.

On 10 October, German troops began with the offensive against the French ports at the seaside of the Channel. But they didn’t have success, they met with stiff resistance. Short time later both sides had many casualties in the “Battle of Ypern” and the front line came to a standstill. – On 11 October was a German submarine successful again; it sank the Russian cruiser “Pallada” off the Baltic coast.

In Belgium the German troops continued conquering, the towns Gent and Lille were conquered on 12 October, Brugge/Bruges on 14 October and Ostend on 15 October. The British cruiser “Hawk” was also sunk by a German submarine on 15 October.

On 27 October, Russian troops tried a new offensive against German and Austrian troops in Poland. They had partial success, because the German and Austrian troops had to withdraw for the time being.

On 28 October, the assassin Gavrilo Princip was finally sentenced in Sarajevo/Bosnia. He was sentenced to an imprisonment of twenty years. The death penalty could not be imposed on him, because he was not older than twenty years at the moment of the assassination. But five accessories were sentenced to death and ten others to imprisonment of many years. The organizer of the assassination, the head of the Serbian secret service (Colonel Dragutin Dimitrijević), was however not extradited by his government. On 28 October the Turkish navy also attacked the Russian “Black-Sea Navy” by its former German cruisers “Goeben” and “Breslau” without declaration of war; but there was no declaration of war after this occurrence, not yet.

On 1 November, the German government published the first time a prisoner-of-war list, according to this list were in German captivity: 190,000 French soldiers – 190,000 Russian soldiers – 35,000 Belgian soldiers and 16,000 English soldiers. Also on 1 November, von Hindenburg was officially appointed commander-in-chief of all German troops in the east and German war ships under the command of Count Spee sank two British cruisers off the coast of Chile, as a result the British government declared the whole of the North Sea as war region.

Also in the German colonies the English and French continued fighting against Germany. On 5 November defeated the German general Lettow-Vorbeck a British-Indian expedition corps in “German East Africa”. During this day also followed the declaration of war on Turkey by Great Britain and France. Russia had already declared war on Turkey on 2 November. Now British troops immediately occupied the Turkish island Cyprus.

On 6 November happened that in Germany, what already happened to Germans and Austrians in England: all British civilians, who were living within the German Empire and were between 17 and 55 years old, were arrested and considered prisoner of war, but women, children and old people were at liberty to leave Germany.

On 7 November the war came to an end for Germany in China. Tsingtau (Qingdao) fell into Japan’s hands. The German soldiers had to capitulate since they had shot off their last ammunition.

On 9 November, the German cruiser “Emden” was sunk by the Australian cruiser “Sydney”. The cruiser “Emden” was a successful ship of the German navy till this day, it had sunk 1 Russian cruiser, 1 French destroyer and 23 British trading vessels. 56 German marines of the cruiser “Emden” did not experience the naval battle of their ship; they had landed on the Coco Island to occupy it. Now they succeeded in capturing the “three-mastschooner” Ayesta; after this success they fought their way through to Germany; that happened via Arabia and Turkey. In May of the following year they were at home again.

On 15 November, Russia began with the offensive against the Prussian provinces Posen and Silesia. But it was an offensive without great success.

On 5 December, Italy declared its neutrality and on 6 December came the French government back to Paris after the stabilization of the front line. Till this day Bordeaux was the seat of the government.

On 8 December, a naval battle took place off the Falkland Islands. Vice-admiral Count Spee went down with his flagship “Scharnhorst” during this battle; he was just 53 years old. By this battle Germany lost the cruisers “Gneisenau”, “Leipzig” and “Nürnberg”.

On 17 December, the Russian offensive in the Prussian provinces Posen and Silesia finally broke down. Now it followed a positional war in the east too. One day later England (Great Britain) annexed Egypt; the reason was the securing of the passage through the Suez Canal for its own ships. Egypt was still a part of the Turkish Empire till the day of annexation by England.

On 24 December, Emperor Wilhelm II declared during his Christmas address: “Wir sind überfallen, wir wehren uns. Das gebe Gott, daß aus diesem Friedensfest mit unserem Gott für uns und unser Land aus dem schweren Kampf reicher Sieg erstehe. Wir stehen auf feindlichem Boden. Dem Feind die Spitze unseres Schwertes und das Herz unserem Gott zugewandt. Wir sprechen es aus, wie einst der Große Kurfürst (Friedrich Wilhelm of Prussia, 1640 – 1688) getan hat: In Staub mit allen Feinden Deutschlands! Amen“. (We was attacked, we defend us. God may give that by this festival of peace with him, our God, rises rich victory for us and our land from the hard fight. We are standing on hostile ground. We turn the point of our sword to the enemy and the heart to our God. We express, like once the Great “Kurfürst” – Friedrich Wilhelm of Prussia – it had done: into the dust with all enemies of Germany! Amen)

Now the German government instructed all diplomatic representation abroad to crack down on the dissemination of French assertion of the German guilt of the outbreak of war.

Cardinal Dėsirė Mercier, bishop of Brussels, called upon the Belgians on 29 December to offer resistance against the German occupying power.

On 31 December, the results of the war were so far not goodlooking for the enemy of Germany: 310,000 Russians – 220,000 French – 37,000 Belgians and 19,000 English in German captivity, but also 137,000 German soldiers in Russian captivity. Only the British navy could achieve better successes than the navy of the German Empire, the English also confiscated 445 German trade vessels, other 505 German ships were grounded in neutral states. The Germans could only confiscate 124 British ships. – That was a first balance without the dead persons, caused by the combats of this terrible war.

We write the year 1915

On 1 January, Philipp Scheidemann, who was member of the “Reichstag” (German parliament) and there also at the head of the parliamentary party of the SPD, made the following call to labourers and soldiers: “Haltet aus! Von Euch hängt es ab, was aus unserem Land und aus der Arbeiterschaft wird” (Hold out! It’s for you to decide, what will happen with our country and the working class).

On 8 January, the fights began by Soissons and La Bassėe, both are towns in the north of France close to the frontier of Belgium; but these fights did not get the positional war moving. Two days later 16 German aeroplanes bombed the English town Dover and the French town Dunkirk and on 19 and 20 January, three German airships (Zeppelins) Yarmouth and Kings Lynn in England. The German press described this line of action as a step towards destruction of the British trade and the British supply.

Philipp Scheidemann; he was a politican and was born July 26, 1865 in Kassel. He died on 29 September 1939 in Copenhagen/Denmark. 1903-1918 and 1920-1933 he was a deuputy in the Reichstag (parliament). 1911-1920 he was in the SPD executive committee. In 1916, during the First World War, he campaigned for a negotiated peace. In 1918 he became Secretary of State in the Cabinet of Prince Max of Baden. During the November Revolution of 1918, he proclaimed the German Republic. Novemer 1918 to February 1919 he was member of the Council of People’s Representatives and from Ferbruary to June 1919 “Minister President” (Prime Minister) of Germany. He resigned in protest against the adoption of the Treaty of Versailles. 1920-1923 he was mayor of the City of Kassel/Hessen. In 1933 he emigrated. He wrote the following books: Der Zusammenbruch/The Collapse (1921); Memoiren eines Sozialdemokraten/Memoirs of a Socialist, 2 volumes (1928)

On 13 January, Turkish troops had invaded Azerbaijan and short time later they occupied Tabriz in Persia (Iran).

On 14 January, South-African troops under the command of General Louis Botha conquered the town Swakopmund in German-Southwest (Africa/Namibia). The German troops of “Southwest” were too weak to offer great resistance. In Europe we had another situation, here they were successful. By Soissons they could gain ground so that a large terrain in the north of France was under German control now.

On 24 January, big cruisers of England and Germany for the first time met off the island of Heligoland. During the following battle was sunk the old German cruiser “Blücher”, other ships, like the English cruiser “Lion” and the German cruiser “Seydlitz”, were heavily damaged. Also two German torpedo boats perished during this naval battle. Now, after the battle, the German government declared the island Helgoland “Festung der Marine” (Fortress of the Navy); the civilians of Helgoland (2,300 persons) had to leave this island, they found their new home for the time being in Hamburg and Altona (today a municipal district of Hamburg). During this month was still set up a distribution place for foodstuffs, which had to share out the grain stocks. Because the grain stocks were not enough, the so-called “war bread” was made longer by an admixture of potato flour from now. Tinned meat and sausage helped for better rations at the front. New companies of the tinning industry were founded in the Braunschweig/Brunswick area mainly. At the end of January were introduced stamps to bread and flour. The daily ration of an adult, which could be bought by a “flour stamp”, was 225g flour now.

On 8 February, the decisive battle began in the east. During this “Winterschlacht in Masuren” (Winter battle in Masuria/a part of East Prussia) was fought all along the line Johannesburg-Darkehmen-Tilsit. The “Eight German Army” under the command of Paul von Hindenburg could completely encircle the “Tenth Russian Army” in the Augustow Suwalki area. On 21 February came the battle to an end and the Germans could capture 100,000 Russian soldiers.

On 10 February, the USA protested against the German “naval war declaration”. Each attack on American ships would be considered an attack on the American neutrality.

On 16 February also began the winter battle in the west. In the French province Champagne the French army attempted a breakthrough, but this attempt was beaten back by German troops till 30 March. During the last weeks France and Germany had developed the first “battle aeroplanes” with two motors, the “Rumpler” (Germany) and the “Candron” (France). The “allmetal aeroplane”, which was developed by the company Junkers some months later, was not yet able to break the superiority of the French and British air force at the front.

On 22 February, the leaders of the German navy declared the unrestricted submarine war. Each trade and war ship was immediately attacked within the war areas.

On 4 March, Russia named its demands in case of victory: The Turkish region around Istanbul, the Bosporus and the Strait of Dardanelles shall become a part of Russia. France and England accepted these demands. Five days later the Russian troops were again defeated, the German troops achieved a great success by Grodno. Another day later the English troops tried to break through in the west, by Neuve-Chapelle. But the English failed in their attempt on 14 March whilst the English/British navy was successful, British ships could sink the German cruiser “Dresden” in the southeast of the Pacific Ocean.

On 22 March, a German zeppelin (air ship) attacked Paris in the night. The German succeeded in making out their marks in spite of the darkness by signal flares, which were fastened to little balloons and hovering over the French capital. The bombs damaged the railway at Gare St.-Lazare and Gare du Nord and also some industrial plants. The next attack by zeppelins followed in May, but now the mark was the English capital London. On 22 March were also successful the Russian troops, that for a long time again. They conquered Przemyśl. By this success they were near to the Silesian frontier and the Hungarian lowlands. Now Germany had to withdraw troops from the west front and to form up a new army, the “Eleventh Army”, to avoid a continuation of the Russian advance.

On 5 April, the French army in vain tried to make an offensive on Maas (river) and Moselle (river).

On 6 April Italy demanded, because of its neutrality, from Austria the cession of the southern part of Tyrol (South Tyrol, there were living only German speaking people. Today a part of Italy with two official languages: Italian and German). But Austria rejected this Italian demand; after that Italy prepared for the war against Austria-Hungary.

On 22 April, the German troops began with a second battle by Ypern, this time with the first gas attack. The poisonous chloric gas had a crushing effect. All French soldiers were killed within a front line of 6 km in length. Nobody of the highest leaders of the German army did not believe in this effect before, therefore also no German troops were available for a breakthrough there, even though they had the best possibility now.

On 25 April, British and French ships landed at the seaside of the Strait of Dardanelles (Turkey), where the soldiers of both countries tried to form a new front line now. But they were unsuccessful. As a result of that the “First Lord of the English Admiralty”, Sir Churchill, had to give up his job. Only one day later France and England made a security pact with Italy. They promised Italy in case of entering the war against Austria the Austrian-Hungarian countries Dalmatia, Istria, South Tyrol and the town Trieste. Italy now left the “Dreibund” (Triple Alliance/alliance between Germany, Austria-Hungary and Italy) on 3 May.

On 30 April, German aeroplanes bombed the English towns Harwich, Ipswich and Wilton. Also on 30 April, the dynasty Hohenzollern commemorated its five-hundred-year ruling anniversary in the Mark Brandenburg. On 30 April 1415, the “Burggraf” (castle count) of Nürnberg/Nuremberg, Friedrich VI, had received the “Markgrafschaft Brandenburg” (Margravate Brandenburg) by Emperor Sigismund (See German History, Volume 2)

From May 1 to 3 the new “Eleventh Army” of Germany succeeded in breaking through the Russian west front in West Galicia, close to Tarnow and Gorlice. Now the complete front began to falter and the Russians had to withdraw.

On 7 May, the German submarine “U 20” torpedoed the British passenger ship “Lusitania” off the Irish coast, by “Cape Old Head of Kinsale”. By the explosion of ammunition on board this ship sank rapidly, so that only 761 out of 1951 passengers could be saved. Amongst the dead persons were 128 Americans. The sinking of the “Lusitania” caused a political crisis between the USA and Germany, in spite of a joint guilt of Great Britain.

On 17 May, the British combat troops had a power of 600,000 men. But also this power did not help to break through the German front between Lille and Arras (French towns close to the Belgian frontier). Then, on 23 May, the English troops, together with the French army, had to stop their attempt to break through the German lines.

On 20 May, the Italian parliament decided to declare war on Austria-Hungary, what also happened on 23 May then.

On 25 May, the German submarine “U 21” sank the British liner “Triumph” and on 27 May the liner “Majestic” in the Strait of Dardanelles (Turkey). Some days later German women the first time protested against the war and for peace. There were more than 15,000 women who moved with their banners towards the “Reichstagsgebäude” (building of the German parliament) in Berlin.

On 6 June, German troops crossed the Russian river Dniester the first time. The same day Emperor Wilhelm II stopped the submarine war against all passenger ships. – The German government feared an end of the American neutrality. Therefore the American president Wilson was by the German government also informed about the stop of the submarine war against passenger ships; but he was only informed alone, apart from that the stop was kept strictly secret.

On 11 June, Serbian troops occupied the capital of Albania, Tirana (Albania was a neutral state!)

On 1 July, the big German-Austrian summer offensive began from the Baltic Sea to the rivers Bug and San in Russia.

On 5 July, the Austrian army succeeded in stopping the Italian offensive by Gradisca and Görz/Gorizia. Only four days later the German troops in the German colony “Southwest Africa” surrendered near Otawi.

On 18 July, the second Italian offensive began on Isonzo (river in the northeast of Italy) with the aim, to break through from the province Venetia towards Istria. But this offensive was again stopped on 27 July. The Austrian troops were too strong to make a success from this offensive.