The Parting With Virginity: 2014

Tuesday, July 15, 2014

Down on the farm

Wiesel70

"Fields Road," by Fedya Ili

Marcio Wille, by Sergeo Baia

Photo by Claudio Sanchez

Wiesel70

The tensions in Europe continue to build. By July 14, 1914, the hope for a pacific resolution of the crisis was diminishing. Austria-Hungary began taking a hostile tone toward its smaller neighbor, Serbia.

The Austrians now believe that it has established the "political-moral proofs" that Serbia was complicit in the assassination of their Archduke, Franz Ferdinand, by a Serbian nationalist, according to London's Daily Telegraph.

Officials in Vienna, Austria's capital, denounced the "unscrupulous methods" of the Serbs. "Conspiracy and assassination are considered the principal weapons of the Serv State and the Servian Press," a "highly connected" unnamed Austrian source told the newspaper.

(Many publications of the day used a "v" rather than a "b" for the name "Serbia." The "v" was taken from the Greek but sometime after the war the "b" took its place. Remember, it wasn't all that long ago that Westerners called China's capital city "Peking," rather than the modern transliteration, "Beijing.")

The Serbian government denied any involvement in the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand. In a statement advising its ambassadors abroad, Serbian Prime Minister Nikola Pašić called the killing "an outrage" that "has been most severely condemned in all circles of society."

Austro-Hungarian Empire in July 1914

"At a moment when Serbia is doing everything in her power to improve her relations with the neighbouring Monarchy, it is absurd to think that Serbia could have directly or indirectly been inspired acts of this kind," Pašić said in the dispatch.

But in the Balkans, rumor begets rumor.

On July 14, the Austro-Hungarian ambassador fled Belgrade, the Serbian capital, after hearing rumors that a mob was planning to attack his legation. He asked for police protection, but apparently that was not enough to comfort him, his family and his staff. The ambassador reached safety in Budapest, the capital of the dual monarchy of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

The rumor of imminent mob assault on the legation was grounded in another rumor, namely that ethnic Serbs in Sarajevo, where the assassination took place, were about to be attacked by pro-Austrian residents of the city. Sarajevo was within the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

Whether any of these rumors proved true, The Daily Telegraph does not say. The newspaper had a correspondent in Vienna, where most of its reporting originated, but apparently it had no one stationed in either Belgrade or Sarajevo. Moreover, communication between nations was neither immediate nor wholly effective. Back then, rumors were easy to start but hard to knock down, especially with language barriers and long-standing ethnic distrust.

French Senator Charles Humbert

Elsewhere in Europe, the French Senate began poring through the government's new budgets for the Army and Navy. The vice president of the Army Commission, Senator Charles Humbert, created a sensation by revealing that France was not well prepared in the event of war.

Humbert said that with the passage of time, French field artillery had become inferior to the Germans'. The supply of weapons and ammunition was insufficient to meet the Army's needs. The fortifications at Toul and Verdun hadn't been improved in nearly 40 years. Soldiers even lacked enough boots for a protracted campaign.

The French Army was counting on taking the offensive immediately if war with the Germans broke out, but Humbert disclosed that it didn't have enough equipment to breach the Moselle and Rhine rivers for the long-planned drive toward Berlin.

The Minister of War, Adolphe Messimy, had no response to Humbert's report, saying he was receiving the information for the first time.

Former Premier Georges Clemenceau, whose party was now in opposition to the government, said "he had not attended such a heart-rending sitting since 1870," when the Prussians invaded, marched through Paris and annexed Alsace-Lorraine.

Retaking those provinces from Germany was the prime goal of France in the event of war.

Ads from today's Daily Telegraph

Some things never change.

Vanity, for instance.

The Daily Telegraph of London, on the same page it was reporting about the growing tensions in Europe, advertised a wonderful new compound, "Astrol, which prevented the graying of hair.

"One grey hair every minute—and each grey hair adding another day—to your age," the ad said. "This means that in a matter of weeks—at the end of a few months at most—your hair will be totally grey or even white, and a load of many years will be added to your appearance. This is the grave warning to those with the first sign of greyness approaching, and who neglect their hair. Think of the significance of this—of its urgent importance—of the insupportable handicap of many years suddenly thrust upon one's apparent age. Everywhere to-day is the same feeling that condemns age as dull, lacking in energy, lacking in charm."

You'd think the Huns were about to invade your follicles.

Astrol was touted as "the veritable elixir of a new life and new colour for the hair." All you have to do is send for a free sample of the concoction. The ad helpfully notes that Astrol is available for sale at chemists [pharmacies] everywhere.

Meanwhile, Harrod's was having an inventory-reduction sale on everything from ladies umbrellas to chairs and rugs. A competitor, Waring & Gillow, was advertising "an exceptional opportunity" for you to buy fine china and glass. The merchandise was offered at cost through July 31, which, at it would turn out, was to be the day that Germany delivered an ultimatum to Russia to back off on its support for Serbia or face war.

Rasputin: Not so dead after all

Grigori Rasputin, the "mad monk" who exercised enormous influence in the Court of Tsar Nicholas II of Russia, was stabbed on July 12, 1914, and "is now lying at death's door."

The Petersburg Kurier said Rasputin was attacked by a woman wielding a military-style dagger. She plunged it into in his abdomen and then tried to kill herself by slashing her wrist with a piece of glass.

The woman, a 28-year-old peasant named Gusesva, failed her attempt at suicide. She later told police that Rasputin was a false prophet who was leading the country astray.

An unconfirmed report in one wire service claimed that Rasputin had died.

Gregori Rasputin

Not so fast. He recovered and went on to live another two and a half years until meeting his final fate in a murder that remains legendary to this day.

The attempted assassination in July 1914 was widely reported throughout Europe.

You probably know the rest of the tale: Rasputin, a mystic and wandering pilgrim, had caught the eye of Czarina Alexandra in 1905. Two years later, the Czarina's sole son and heir to the throne was injured and lay bleeding. The boy had hemophilia. When doctors couldn't provide a cure, Alexandra turned to Rasputin, who was believed to have healing powers through prayer. For whatever reason, the boy recovered.

The mystic soon became involved in Russian politics, advising the Czar not to go to war with Germany in the days leading up to the World War. "If Russia goes to war, it will be the end of the monarchy, of the Romanovs and of Russian institutions," he purportedly wrote on the eve of the conflict.

The prognosis proved correct, but the Russian aristocracy didn't take kindly to his meddling, especially after he began advising the Czar on war tactics. In December 1916, Rasputin was murdered. Legend has it that he was poisoned, to no apparent effect, then shot and clubbed. His corpse was dumped into a river. Debate continues over whether the murder story was true or embellished.