The First World War, Cecile Rhodes and Conspiracy Facts

More than 9 million soldiers died as a result of the First World War, a deadly conflict that paved the way for revolutions and major political upheaval in the 20th century.  Images of victory and pride have been circulated widely since the fighting ended in 1918, but lesser known are the pictures which show how troops and civilians lived their everyday lives while the bloodshed unfolded.  On the 100th anniversary of the outbreak of the Great War , the Moscow House of Photography has prepared a large-scale international project called 'The War That Ended Peace' that brings together a collaboration of images from the world’s leading museums, alongside public and private archives. The stunning photographs depict the war through the eyes of those who fought on all sides of the conflict. It includes prisoners of wars staring through the barbed wire fences of German camps, wounded soldiers with limbs amputated walking through Poland, and families attending private funerals of the fallen in France. The grainy pictures also capture soldiers, wearing their gasmasks, waiting patiently in the trenches, while others are seen running through a cloud of smoke.   Unity: A picture titled 'Prisoners of the British Army', taken in 1918, was taken from a private collection in France. It forms part of 'The War That Ended Peace' project   Care: A picture provided by Multimedia Art Museum, Moscow (MAMM) shows an old photograph showing a nurse of the French Red Cross helping an indigent   Walking wounded: This picture shows troops involved in an exchange of German and Austrian prisoners of war in Sweden    Trapped: This grainy photo shows a prisoner looking through the barbed fire fence at the St Felix German Prisoners camp in Aisne, northern France    Infantry: A group of soldiers wearing H.P gas marks having taken a trench, fire at the retreating enemy    Behind the screen: Troops wearing gas masks and helmets emerge from the smoke created by a gas attack   A Senegalese soldier cleans his rifle in France. At the outbreak of war in 1914, many of the soldiers moved from active duty in Northern Africa to be stationed in Europe   Trail of destruction: This image, taken in 1917, shows debris inside a 'ruined church'. It is believed to have been located in France    March: The Infantry of the 1st Brigade Polish Legions enters Kowel in 1915.The image was donated by the Polish Army Museum in Warsaw   Inside the camp: A guard stands in the shadows at Holzminden prisoner of war camp in Lower Saxony, Germany    Guard: Soldiers stand outside the entrance of the Citadelle de Verdun in Meuse, France.The doorway leads to nearly three miles of tunnels    Armoury: This picture shows shells neatly lined up in a French workshop in 1916. Tanks were developed during the Great War to combat the stalemate of trench warfare   Convenience store: Russian soldiers stand outhside a shop which sells 'spiritueux et liqueurs' (spirits and liquor) on the Place des Marches in Reims, France    The last emperor: Tsar Nicholas II (pictured on the left in the papakha ) inspects Belgian volunteers before sending them onto the Gallicia front line   Nourishment: A soldier on leaves sits down to enjoy a well-deserved meal at the Gare de l'Est military canteen in Paris in 1917    The fallen: An image entitled 'Narwa military burial' shows a group of mourners surrounding a cross in a cemetery    Sitting together: A group of British and Russian officers of the RNAS Armoured Car Squadron in Galicia relax in a field prior to the Russian offensive of July 1917   On the ground: A female worker carefully paints the wing of an SE5A aircraft at the Austin Motor Company factory in Birmingham in 1918  When the war began, Europe's armies had an understanding of warfare that put the use of cavalry in high regard. Soon, however, the deadly terrain that evolved around trench warfare rendered cavalry attacks nearly useless on the Western Front. But the need for constant resupply, movement of new heavy weaponry, and the transport of troops demanded horse power on a massive scale -- automobiles, tractors, and trucks were relatively new inventions and somewhat rare. British and French forces imported horses from colonies and allies around the world, a near-constant flow of hundreds of thousands of animals across the oceans, headed for war. One estimate places the number of horses killed during the four years of warfare at nearly 8 million. Other animals proved their usefulness as well: Dogs became messengers, sentries, rescuers, and small beasts of burden. Pigeons acted as messenger carriers, and even (experimentally) as aerial reconnaissance platforms. Mules and camels were drafted into use in various war theatres, and many soldiers brought along mascots to help boost morale. Only a couple of decades later, at the onset of World War II, most military tasks assigned to animals were done by machines, and warfare would never again rely so heavily on animal power.

The authors of The Hidden History, The Secret Origins of the First World War claim that it was Great Britain that started World War One, and not Germany.  It is a convincing story.  The authors George Docherty and James MacGregor call their book a conspiracy fact. The story begins in the late 1800s.  The British Empire ruled the seas.  In 1870 a young Cecil John Rhodes migrated to a British colony in southern Africa.  After failing at farming he set out in pursuit of diamonds, which had been discovered in a region of Southern Africa.  With the financial backing of Nathan Mayer Rothschild, the young Rhodes monopolized the diamond trade.  He became fantastically wealthy and founded the De Beers diamond company.  In 1889 Rhodes was granted a royal charter for the British South Africa Company to colonize an area later named Rhodesia. In 1895 gold was discovered in the Transvaal Republic controlled by Dutch settlers, known as Boers.  Rhodes teamed up with Sir Alfred Milner, who was the British commissioner for Southern Africa.  Together with a small group of wealthy British elites they instigate the Boer War in order to grab the gold for themselves. Rhodes and Milner went on to form a secret society.  As Rhodes had written earlier: ”Why should we not form a secret society with but one object the furtherance of the British Empire, and the bringing of the whole uncivilised world under British rule, for the recovery of the United States, for the making of the Anglo-Saxon race but one Empire.” Rhodes’ ambition was to control all of the world’s wealth, for the benefit of the British Empire.  He believed in the supremacy of the Anglo-Saxon race, and he believed that the British Empire should rule the world.  After Rhode’s early death in 1902, Alfred Milner became the leader of the secret society.  Milner was so admired by Rhodes that he is quoted as having said: “If Milner says peace, I say peace.  If Milner says war, I say war.  Whatever Milner says, I say ditto.”    Conspiracy Facts The authors of the “Hidden History” uncovered many World War 1 documents, which lay the blame for WW1 on Rhodes’s secret society.  Authors George Docherty and James MacGregor built on the work of Georgetown University Professor Carroll Quigley’s book The Anglo-American Establishment.  Quigley wrote: “One wintery afternoon in February 1891, three men were engaged in an earnest conversation in London.  From that conversation were to flow consequences of the greatest import to the British Empire and the world as a whole.  For these men were organizing a secret society that was, for more than fifty years, to be one of the most important forces in the formulation of British imperialism and foreign policy.” “The three men thus engaged were already well known in England.  The leader was Cecil Rhodes, fabulously wealth empire builder and the most important person in South Africa.  The second was William T. Stead, the most famous, and probably the most sensational , journalist of the day.  The third was Reginald Baliol Brett, later known as Lord Esher, friend and confidant to Queen Victoria, and later to be the most influential advisor to King Edward Vll, and King George V.” The Boer War was a long and costly war for Britain.  It marked the beginning of the decline of the British Empire.  Rhodes established his secret society of elites to reverse the decline.  He named it The Society of the Elect. By the turn of the 20th century, Germany was a rising power.  It was outpacing Great Britain in industry, finance, science, technology, commerce and culture.  Germany was acquiring colonies and expanding its navy.  The Society of the Elect characterized every German advancement as an act of aggression.  They conspired to start a war that would crush Germany, so that the British Empire would remain supreme. Circles Within Circles The Society of the Elect was organized as circles within circles.  The inner circle was Cecil Rhodes, Alfred Milner, W. T. Stead, The Viscount Esher, the Marquess Salsbury, Lord Rosebery, and Nathaniel Rothschild.  King Edward VII was a central member, and after his death in 1910, King George V was too.  According to “Hidden History”: “Stead was there to influence public opinion, and Esher acted as the voice of the King.  Salisbury and Rosebery provided the political networks, while Rothschild represented the international money power.  Milner was the master manipulator, the iron-willed, assertive intellectual who offered that one essential factor:  strong leadership.” The Society of the Elect had an outer circle, which they named the “Association of Helpers”.  The Helpers were like-minded elites.  They were royalty, imperialists, financiers, greedy profiteers, war mongers, and egotistical and corrupt politicians.  The Helpers were willingly manipulated, often unknowingly, by the inner circle. Some recruits to the Helpers were Jan Christian Smuts, Arthur Balfour, Edward Grey, Richard Haldane, H. H. Asquith, Lord Roberts, David Lloyd George, Sir Edward Carson, Frederick Sleigh Roberts, Alfred Harmsworth, and Winston Churchill. During WW1 Churchill was among the most ruthless imperialists and warmongers.  He is quoted as having said: “I think a curse should rest on me, because I love this war. I know it’s smashing and shattering the lives of thousands every moment— and yet I can’t help it— I enjoy every second of it.” The Propaganda Machine The Boer War was an important prelude to World War 1.  It started off badly in 1899.  It was unpopular at home, and a drain on the British Empire.  In 1902 it ended badly too, with the ethnic cleansing and genocide of Boers. Tens-of-thousands of men, women and children died of disease and starvation in British concentration camps.  This would prove to be an important event in the early development of propaganda. It was the British who began perfecting propaganda to promote the Boer War and to cover up its ugly aftermath.  Newspapers had become an affordable mass medium of influence.  The Society of the Elect had Helpers who owned the newspapers and published war propaganda eagerly.  Rhodes had written of his planned secret society that it “should inspire and even own portions of the press for the press rules the mind of the people”. Winston Churchill was a self-promoting war correspondent who went to South Africa during the Boer War.  He returned home as a self-aggrandizing hero.  His wild story of being captured by the Boers, and his harrowing escape made him a national celebrity.  In 1900 he was elected to Parliament, and remained there until his death in 1964. Even as a declining empire, the British navy was supreme in the early 20th century.  The British naval policy was to keep its navy as large as the next two naval powers combined.  When Kaiser Wilhelm II started expanding Germany’s navy the British propaganda called it “German aggression” and interfering with “freedom of the seas”.  Yet, Kaiser Wilhelm’s policy was to keep his navy at less than two-thirds the size of the British navy. The German threat to the British Empire was invented propaganda, and the hype of a German invasion was ludicrous Germanophobia to frighten the public. The Triple Entente        The Society of the Elect made ententes with France and Russia for a war on Germany.  The alliances were secret, unknown to the public, Parliament and most of the Cabinet. The British had secret military “non-binding military staff conversations” with Belgium going back to 1906.  In 1911 Belgium collaborated with France and Great Britain on how to defend Belgium’s “neutrality” from a German invasion.  Both offensive and defensive alliances are a violation of neutrality. Belgium had instituted military conscription in 1913, and began making plans for a war with Germany.  As “Hidden History” reports: “Documents found in the Department of Foreign Affairs in Brussels shortly after the war began proved Anglo-Belgian collusion at the highest levels, including the direct involvement of the Belgian foreign secretary, had been going on for years.”  The Society of the Elect needed ententes with France and Russia because of their large land armies and strategic locations.  The Society secretly promised Russia the prize of Constantinople and the Dardanelles, after the planned breakup of the Ottoman Empire.  Russia had long-coveted a warm-water port.  The Society promised France the return of Alsace-Lorraine, which the French had lost to Germany in 1871.  The secret triple entente planned to divvy up German overseas colonies among themselves. Germany knew that it had two hostile empires on its borders.  The German army was confident that it could defend against either one.  But a simultaneous invasion by both Russia and France could be fatal.  A large and speedy German army was maintained for defense.  Military thinking at the time was that the best defense is a speedy offense. In 1905 General Count van Schlieffen presented a defensive plan.  It became known as the Schlieffen Plan.  If both Russia and France attacked, then the German army would go through Belgium to attack the French from behind their lines.  After the German army quickly defeated France, the plan was to rush to the eastern front to defend against the slower moving Russians.  Time was of the essence.  One day’s delay could result in disaster. From military intelligence and leaked information, the Society of the Elect learned of the Schlieffen plan.  A spy in the German army known only as Le vengeur (The Avenger) sold the entire Schlieffen plan to the French.  Also a general on the German staff was the brother-in-law of the King of Belgium, and he could have revealed Germany’s military secrets. The Society of the Elect used the Schlieffen Plan to set a trap.  They had to make it appear that Germany was the aggressor.  Otherwise, the British Parliament and the public would not support a war in Europe. Again, according to “Hidden History”, Belgian neutrality was a sham: “Belgium was involved in secret military plans for a possible war of aggression against an unsuspecting Germany but almost a decade later would be presented as the innocent victim of German aggression.”  The Kaiser knew that the Schlieffen plan would likely fail if the British declared war too.  The British could send its army across the English Channel to slow the German army in France, while Russia invaded from the east.  The British navy could attack and blockade Germany from the North Sea, and it could protect France’s coast.  The French navy could then be dispersed to the Mediterranean to deal with the German navy based in Pula, Austria on the Adriatic Sea. Mobilization is an Act of War It was understood in 1914 that the mobilization of an army was a de facto declaration of war.  If Russia and France mobilized their armies, then Germany was confronted with a fatal disaster, unless they moved quickly.  When Germany invaded Belgium, the trap was sprung.  The Society of the Elect got their planned excuse to go to war. Here is what the “Hidden History” says about mobilization: “The Franco-Russian Military Convention [of 1892] was very specific in declaring that the first to mobilise must be held the aggressor, and that general mobilization ‘is war’”. The “Hidden History” documents the sequence of events that occurred after the assassination of the Archduke Ferdinand. The Balkans had been a hotbed of conflict for years.  Serbia was aggressively seeking a “Greater Serbia” of Slavic people.  Nationalism was running high, and there was deep hostility towards Austria, for one because of its 1908 annexation of Bosnia and Herzegovina from the Ottoman Empire. Serbia reacted with jubilation at the assassination of the Archduke in Sarajevo.  Austria was outraged at the assassination of their future king.  According to “Hidden History”, Austria had solid evidence that Serbia was behind the assassination.  Austria then spent three weeks contemplating a response.  On July 23rd Austria sent Serbia a list of 10 demands, and gave them 48 hours to reply. On July 25th Serbia’s answer was to mobilize its army, which was an act of war.  Later the same day Austria began mobilizing.  On July 28th Austria declared war on Serbia, and on July 29th Austria bombarded Belgrade.  On July 30th Kaiser Wilhelm still hoped to placate Austria and Serbia. According to “Hidden History”, the Kaiser did not give Austria a “blank cheque” of military support, as stated in so many history books: “It is claimed that, in a deliberate attempt to force a war on Europe, the Kaiser gave an unconditional assurance to Austria by a so-called blank cheque.  In fact, Austria-Hungary’s need to respond to Serbian aggression was endorsed by others including [publicly] Britain and the British press.  The Kaiser and his advisors supported a local solution to a local problem and made absolutely no special preparation for war.” As “Hidden History” says, Germany showed no intention of attacking Russia.  Nor did Russia have any obligation to defend Serbia militarily.  So, the fable that the assassination of the Archduke triggered a chain reaction of opposing alliances is just that, a fable. The only “blank cheque” to go to war was the secret entente between Britain, France and Russia.  On July 24th the Russians and the French secretly agreed to mobilize their armies.  The British soon followed. Winston Churchill was the First Lord of the Admiralty, and on July 29th he ordered the British navy to its war station in the North Sea.  This put the British navy in position to attack and blockade Germany.  Society of the Elect member Richard Haldane gave the order to mobilize the British army.  The Society of the Elect took Great Britain to war even before the parliament authorized it. On July 26th Russia began mobilizing.  Russia was mobilized by July 30th.  The Kaiser sent a telegram to his cousin Czar Nicholas asking him to halt mobilization.  The Kaiser waited in vain for 24 hours for an answer.  Then Kaiser Wilhelm had his ambassador in St. Petersburg ask Russia’s minister of foreign affairs to halt Russia’s mobilization.  On August 1st the Russian minister said that the Russian mobilization would continue.  Later that day Germany declared war on Russia. Kaiser Wilhelm II Tried to Avoid War According to “Hidden History”, Kaiser Wilhelm II did everything he could to avoid war.  The Kaiser did not threaten to attack or declare war on France.  He repeatedly asked his British cousin King George V if he could guarantee French neutrality.  He pledged that if France would remain neutral, then Germany would not attack it. King George V never gave a straight answer.  Instead he deceived his cousin, telling him that Britain would stay out of a “ruinous” war.  It was a stall for time that Germany did not have.  Belgium began mobilizing on July 31st.  When the Kaiser could wait no longer he mobilized the German army on August 1, 1914.  Germany was the last country to mobilize. On August 1st the German ambassador to London, Prince Karl Max Lichnowsky, met with Sir Edward Grey.  While speaking with Lichnowsky, Grey allegedly offered that if Germany pledged not to attack France, then England would remain neutral and guarantee France’s “passivity”.  Kaiser Wilhelm II accepted immediately; only to be told later by King George that “there must be some misunderstanding”.  Lichnowsky then advised that if Great Britain would remain neutral, Germany would respect Belgium neutrality.  Sir Edward Grey replied that he could not give this assurance since “England must have its hands free”.  It had all been a stall for time, which Germany did not have. Babies On Bayonets On August 2nd the Kaiser asked Belgium for “permission“ to pass his army through.  On August 3rd Belgium declined, and Germany declared war on France.  On August 4th Germany invaded Belgium.  The Germans were met with stiff resistance from Belgium’s 234,000-man army. The British propaganda machine went to work.  They feigned outrage at the violation of Belgium neutrality.  There were horrifying stories in the press about German atrocities, executions, rapes, and “babies on bayonets”.  The British propaganda machine called it “The Rape of Belgium”. The British dredged up the 1839 Treaty of London.  It supposedly obligated the British to defend Belgium’s neutrality.  To “protect” Belgium, the British sent an expeditionary force to France on August 9th, as was secretly planned since 1906 and 1911 with French and Belgium military planners. The public was told that defending Belgium was a matter of honor for the British.  The propaganda was that there would be a domino effect if the British Empire failed to act.  Supposedly, Germany planned to conquer all of Europe; even the world.  None of it was true, and Belgium neutrality was a sham. On August 4th King George declared war on Germany.  The British parliament did not vote on the war until August 6th, and then it was to fund the war.  The Society of the Elect got their war.  Instead of reversing the decline of the British Empire though, the Great War accelerated it.  The British came out of the war exhausted and deeply in debt to the U.S.  They would have to cut spending, and reduce the size of their navy.  The British Empire would never rule the seas again. The two-wheeled Blitzkrieg: Fascinating photographs show how Nazi motorcyclists saddled up to ride to war (and some of the other weird motorbikes which have made it to the battlefield) s The Spitfires of the Battle of Britain and Russian T-34 tanks which fought in Kursk are often seen as the most influential machines of the Second World War. But pictures unearthed for a new book show just how central motorbikes were to the Nazi war effort as Hitler unleashed Blitzkrieg on the continent. The Nazis used motorbikes as a key part of their fast-moving attacks which tore through Holland, Poland and Czechoslovakia at the start of the war. The newly-discovered pictures show the iconic German motorbike and sidecars which have since appeared in scores of war films, as well as the stunts pulled by riders as they attempted to show off their skills. +19 A new book studying motorbikes during the Second World War features a number of stunning photos of Nazi soldiers performing stunts, including these National Socialist Motor Corps (NSKK) riders showing off before the Hitler Youth +19 The book documents some of the kit which has since appeared in scores of war films, including these leather trenchcoats +19 The allure of the motorbike in occupied lands is shown in this photo of a French woman sitting in a German sidecar +19 Hundreds of riders from Hitler's NSKK corp (pictured in Bavaria) used the BMWs being rolled off production lines in Germany +19 The importance of bikes to the war and the enthusiasm they fostered among the public is shown here in a photo of Hitler with German motorcycle racer and former land speed record holder Ernst Jakob Henne +19 +19 The motorbikes were put to use for propaganda on the home front, with displays before large crowds used to boost morale +19 A German motorcyclist jumps through a sheet of newspaper before crowds in a display before the war started in June 1938 +19 The book also shows other attempts at creating a military bike, such as the French bid to combine the motorbike and the tank in this LeHaitre prototype from 1939 As well as forming part of the attack, motorbikes were widely used by Hitler's forces to carry out patrols in occupied countries and carry messages to and from Berlin. Paul Garson, author of the book Two-Wheeled Blitzkrieg, said: 'Motorcycles have been going to war as long as there have been motorcycles around to go to war. Share 'They were recruited for the battlefield thanks to their merits of speed, manoeuvrability and adaptability as a weapons platform – not to mention their cost effectiveness when compared to other mechanized implements of modern warfare.' Mr Garson uncovered the story of one rider who loved his motorbike so much he offered to buy it from the army at the end of the war. +19 Motorcycle corp riders in infamous Nazi helmets joke around with a pram during a manoeuver by the group during the war +19 Motorbikes and sidecars were popular among Nazi high command as they were quick to fix and agile in the battlefield +19 The book sets out how the German army developed motorbikes for warfare starting from the First World War +19 The BMW bikes used by the Wehrmacht suited the 'Blitzkrieg' style of rapid-advance attack favoured by Nazi high command +19 +19 The lifestyle of the motorbike rider was used to attract youngsters to the Nazi cause at home and in occupied countries +19 This photo of troops moving through France in 1940 shows the advantages of bikes over other forms of transport +19 A Luftwaffe corporal stands by an army trooper and a young boy aboard a civilian DKV Luxus 200 before the war in the 1930s The bikes were so successful in the German attack on the Soviet Union that Stalin himself ordered his factories to start producing bikes copying the BMW design used by the Germans. In the later stages of the war, the US also significantly increased motorbike production, with over 90,000 being produced during the war. The pictures unearthed by Mr Garson's research also show pre-war motorbikes used by the military. He added: 'Motorcycles were first introduced into the German military arsenal in 1904 when fourteen NSU machines appeared during the Imperial Manoeuvres,' Paul said. 'By 1911, with the addition of sidecars that could carry additional men, weapons and material, some five-thousand-four-hundred machines joined the German army during the First World War of 1914–18.' Two-Wheeled Blitzkrieg is published by Amberley Publishing.  +19 The pictures show some of the bizarre attempts nations made to utilise bikes for war, including this British photo from 1889 +19 A French soldier in the 1920s uses a machine gun mounted on the back of a bike during a practice exercise rapid-fire guns, aerial bombardment, armored vehicle attacks, and chemical weapon deployments were commonplace. Any romantic notion of warfare was bluntly shoved aside by the advent of chlorine gas, massive explosive shells that could have been fired from more than 20 miles away, and machine guns that spat out bullets like firehoses. Each side did its best to build on existing technology, or invent new methods, hoping to gain any advantage over the enemy. Massive listening devices gave them ears in the sky, armored vehicles made them impervious to small arms fire, tanks could (most of the time) cruise right over barbed wire and trenches, telephones and heliographs let them speak across vast distances, and airplanes gave them new platforms to rain death on each other from above. New scientific work resulted in more lethal explosives, new tactics made old offensive methods obsolete, and mass-produced killing machines made soldiers both more powerful and more vulnerable.