[eiscef]

German troops in Liége, Belgium

August 1914

Today begins the hundredth anniversary of the first battle on the Western Front during the First World War. After France and Britain's declaration of War against Germany a week before Germany invaded France through neutral Belgium.

The first point of resistance was the Fortresses of Liége where the undermanned Belgian Army resisted the Deutsches Heer for 12 days under their horrific 100-gun bombardment of the city. This resistance delayed the German 'Schlieffen Plan' which aimed to circle around the French Army and take Paris from behind. 

[eiscef]

[eiscef]

100 Years!

Today marks the centennial of the assassination of the Archduke Franz Ferdinand of the Hapsburg Dynasty, heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne as well as his wife the Duchess Sophie of house Hohenberg, aged 50 and 46 respectively.

Their death in the newly-annexed city of Sarajevo, the capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina is regarded as the spark in the powder keg that encompassed Europe in the first decades of the 20th Century. 

Their deaths, these hundred years ago in a small corner of Europe, swiftly lead to the July Crisis and then the largest war that the world had ever seen.

[eiscef]

Belgians burying dead horses during the German invasion of Belgium.

1914

Horses played a major role in the First World War; they were used in cavalry divisions, used to pull heavy artillery and machinery and in many other roles. In extreme cases, even as food.

[eiscef]

I have been trying to live my life so that in the hour of my death I would rather feel joy, than fear"

Witold Pilecki. Willing inmate of Auschwitz, Polish soldier and hero of the Allied Forces. We know his name.

[eiscef]

Renault FT crossing a ditch during the Rif War.

Early 1920s

[eiscef]

*GRAPHIC IMAGERY*

German photograph of a knocked-out female MkIV and its former occupants.

1917

For my 200th submission I thought I'd throw in something more graphic, more realistic in its portrayal of WWI. Thanks for following everyone. Mwah.

[eiscef]

Taking submissions

[eiscef]

French crew and unit commander of a Renault FT small tank.

[eiscef]

Town of Verdun at the end of the Battle of the same name.

December 1916

[eiscef]

[eiscef]

[eiscef]

German soldiers inspecting a captured MkIV British heavy tank.

December 1917

[eiscef]

Australian and New Zealand soldiers bathing in Anzac Cove in the Dardanelles during the Gallipoli Campaign.

1915-1916

[eiscef]

Picture of Canadian infantry from no-mans-land on Vimy Ridge.

April 1917.

[eiscef]

A circle of German soldiers resting behind the lines.

1915

[eiscef]

Sabaton's new album, Heroes. Released May 15th 2014.

1) Night Witches (Female soviet bombers in WWII)

2) No Bullets Fly (Charlie Brown and Franz Stigler Incident in 1943)

3) Smoking Snakes (Brazilian Expeditionary Forces in Italy in WWII)

4) Inmate 4859 (Witold Pilecki's experiences in Auschwitz fighting the Wehrmacht)

5) To Hell and Back (About the most highly decorated US soldier)

6) The Ballad of the Bull (About Australian corporal Leslie Allen who rescued 12 soldiers while under Japanese fire)

7) Resist and Bite (About the Belgian resistance in early WWII)

8) Soldier of Three Armies (About Lauri Törni, Finnish soldier who later joined both the Waffen SS and the US Army)

9) Far From The Fame (About Karel Janoušek, Czech national hero)

10) Hearts of Iron (About German soldiers who created a channel across the Elbe corridor to surrender to the Allies instead of the Soviets, saving thousands of civilians)