Events early in World War I. Emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria gets out of the car and walks with military escorts in front of troop formation. French troops happily enter protected fortified area. Woven wooden supports for trench. French Colonial soldier smiles as he poses in trench with rifle. German Kaiser Wilhelm II leads procession in front of honor guard. Ladies are in attendance. German parade led by goose stepping military band. Russian cavalry and the mass of autos. German lancers. Sign posted in France, announcing general mobilization of Army and Navy. French street scene with notices being passed out among the population. French Legionnaires march in crowded street. British palace guards parade in London followed by British Horse Guards. Belgian refugees walking along a roadside and cattle pulling wagons loaded with refugee belongings.
Events that led to the beginning of World War I. Archduke of Austria, Franz Ferdinand and his wife descending steps in Sarajevo Austria. Dramatization of assassination of Franz Ferdinand. Newspaper headlines from The Sun: "Austrian Archduke Assassinated at Serajevo"; The Washington Post: "Austrian Ultimatum to Servia"; Pittsburgh Gazette Times "Kaiser Calls Up Army"; the Oakland Tribune: "War! Germans launch French Attack". Views of mobilization of German troops. German troops march as people cheer them on. A small boy dressed as a German soldier gives a salute. Troops march with a dachsund dog wearing a German Army helmet. A German woman buys a brooch with the face of Kaiser Wilhelm II, German Emperor, to put on her dress before a parade including Wilhelm II. German citizens waving at German military parade. Infantry and cavalry units march past a large crowd in streets on the way to war.
German soldiers riding bicycles, possibly in Belgium, in World War 1. A German officer blows horn, summoning troops to their places. A general inspects infantry at attention. Soldiers place their rifles at attention. German soldiers, wearing the Pickelhaube helmet, ride bicycles
German military officers inspecting a trench during World War 1. Officers climb a fire step to inspect field from the trench parapet. View of German officers from behind, facing the parapet of trench. German officer enters a narrow dugout. Battlefield with barbed wires as seen through parapet side of a trench.