Thursday, August 4, 1914. Augusterlebnis

Germans, unaware that their nation would be bled white, and unalterably changed, celebrated the arrival of war.

All Germany's political parties supported the entry into the bloodbath.

And they were fighting for . . .what?

Germany replaced gold marks with paper marks for the duration of the war.

German Communists Karl Liebknecht, Rosa Luxemburg and Clara Zetkin co-founded with others the Spartacus League.

Germany invaded Belgium, once again bringing up its war guilt.  Belgium had done nothing to offend Germany.  It was invaded for tactical reasons as the Von Schlieffen Plan required it as part of a wide swinging German right flank invasion of France.

The German army shelled Kaisz, Poland to suppress a civil uprising there.

Imperial German Navy cruisers Goeben and Breslau shelled Algerian ports of Bône and Philippeville, defying orders to proceed straight to Constantinople.

The United Kingdom declared war on Germany, taking Canada, Australia and New Zealand into war with it, as legally, the UK declared war for its dominions at the time.  The Canadian government passed the War Measures Act, suspending some civil liberties.  

The British government took control of British railways.

Retired British Admiral Charles Cooper Penrose-Fitzgerald formed the Order of the White Feather to persuade women to offer white feathers to men not in uniform to shame them into enlisting.

The UK did not have a tradition of land army conscription at the time so it was anticipated that the war would be fought with volunteers.

The United States declared neutrality.

Andrew Carnegie continued with an international peace conference he had organized of religious leaders in Belgium.

The organization it created became the Church Peace Union and is now the Carnegie Council for Ethics in International Affairs.

Zayanes in Morocco launched a siege on Khenifra, Morocco, taking advantage of with French troops being withdrawn for service on the continent.

Last edition:

Monday, August 3, 1914. "The lamps are going out all over Europe; we shall not see them lit again in our lifetime."

Labels: 1910s, 1914, Belgium, boats and ships, China, France, German Empire, German Kriegsmarine, Germany, Ottoman Empire, Poland, Russia, Turkish Navy, United Kingdom, Von Schlieffen Plan, Winston Churchill, World War One

Monday, August 3, 1914. "The lamps are going out all over Europe; we shall not see them lit again in our lifetime."

Germany declared war on Belgium and France following King Albert of Belgium refusing to allow Germany to violate Belgian neutrality.

Again, the more you look at it, war guilt?  Germany had it.  

British Foreign Secretary Sir Edward Grey made his famous statement; "The lamps are going out all over Europe; we shall not see them lit again in our lifetime."

He'd be proven correct.

Earlier that day, he had urged the House of Commons to declare war on Germany if Belgian neutrality was violated.

German troops arrived in Kalisz, Poland, part of the Russian Empire.  Gun battles would break out later that day involving civilians.

The First Cadre Company of the Austro Hungarian Army was formed by Józef Piłsudski as part of his goal of achieving Polish independence.  The inevitable war within a war had begun.

Winston Churchill ordered the seizure of two Ottoman battleship under construction in the UK.

The German Navy captured the Russian steamer Ryazan in the Pacific and sent it to Tsingtao, their colony, for conversion into an auxiliary cruiser.

Last edition:

Sunday, August 2, 1914. First French and German casualties of the Great War.

Labels: 1910s, 1914, Catholic, Christianity, Economics, France, French Army, German Army, Germany, Luxembourg, Ottoman Empire, religion, Scandinavia, the spoken word, Von Schlieffen Plan, World War One

Sunday, August 2, 1914. First French and German casualties of the Great War.

Germany invaded Luxembourg and demanded passage through Belgium.

German cavalry crossed into France in a local action resulting in at least two deaths in a clash with French militia, those being  Jules-André Peugeot, the first French military casualty of the war, and Albert Mayer, the first German casualty.

The countries were not yet at war.

Mayer was in command of the cavalry patrol and opened hostilities by first charging a sentry and then firing at Corporal Peugeot, who ordered him to stop and indicated the illegally present patrol was under arrest.

Mayer fire upon and killed Peugeot and the died when the French troops opened up on him. The illegal border crossers then retreated.

The patrol should not have been in France.

Germany signed a secret alliance with the Ottoman Empire.  It stated:

Constantinople, August 2, 1914

1. The two contracting parties agree to observe strict neutrality in regard to the present conflict between Austria-Hungary and Serbia.

2. In case Russia should intervene with active military measures, and should thus bring about a casus foederis for Germany with relation to Austria-Hungary, this casus foederis would also come into existence for Turkey.

3. In case of war, Germany will leave her military mission at the disposal of Turkey. The latter, for her part, assures the said military mission an effective influence on the general conduct of the army, in accordance with the understanding arrived at directly between His Excellency the Minister of War and His Excellency the Chief of the Military Mission.

4. Germany obligates herself, if necessary by force of arms ... [ cipher group lacking] Ottoman territory in case it should be threatened.

5. This agreement which has been concluded for the purpose of protecting both Empires from international complications which may result from the present conflict goes into force as soon as it is signed by the above-mentioned plenipotentiaries, and shall remain valid, together with any similar mutual agreements, until December 31, 1918.

6. In case it shall not be denounced by one of the high contracting parties six months before the expiration of the term named above, this treaty shall remain in force for a further period of five years.

7. This present document shall be ratified by His Majesty the German Emperor, King of Prussia, and by His Majesty the Emperor of the Ottomans, and the ratifications shall be exchanged within a period of one month from the date of its signing.

8. The present treaty shall remain secret and can only be made public as a result of an agreement arrived at between the two high contracting parties. In testimony whereof, etc.

BARON v. WANGENHEIM

SAID HALIM

WANGENHEIM 

The German Navy bombarded Liepaja, Lativa, part of the Russian Empire.

St. Pope Pius X issued what would be his last public pronouncement, which stated:

EXHORTATION

DUM EUROPA

OF POPE PIUS X

TO CATHOLICS IN THE ENTIRE WORLD

While nearly all Europe is being dragged into the storm of an extremely gruesome war, of which no one can foresee the dangers, the massacres, and the consequences without feeling oppressed by the sorrow and by the horror, also We could not but be concerned and could not but feel Our soul torn by the most poignant pain for the safety and for the lives of so many individuals and peoples for whose welfare We are supremely solicitous.

Amidst these upheavals and dangers, We absolutely feel and realize that Our fatherly charity and Our apostolic ministry demand of Us to direct the minds of all the Christian faithful to Him from Whom alone help can come, towards Christ, we say, the Prince of Peace and the all-powerful Mediator between God and men.

Therefore, We exhort the Catholics of the entire world to turn to His throne of grace and mercy, first of all the clergy; that they, under their Bishops, institute special public supplications in their respective parishes so that God, touched by piety of these prayers, may take away as soon as possible the disastrous scourge of war and inspire those who preside over the commonwealths to think thoughts of peace, and not of affliction.

From the Vatican, August 2, 1914

The Scandinavian Monetary Union between Sweden, Norway, and Denmark ended due to the outbreak of war.

Last edition:

Saturday, August 1, 1914. Germany declares war on Russia.

Labels: 1910s, 1914, Austro Hungaria, Economics, France, German Kriegsmarine, Germany, Italy, Poland, Royal Navy, Russia, Switzerland, Triple Alliance, World War One