BEAU GESTE UK NEWSLETTER
Issue 10
World War 1 SPECIAL
Dear Collector
As this Sunday is Remembrance Sunday I thought I would reproduce Anna’s latest News from Argentina. As you will see this is the first part of an intended series of features that looks at the fighting forces from WW1 with the next part from Anna due in approximately 10 days time
I hope that you find the information contained here of interest and if you collect figures from this particular period of history you might something to add to your collection or alternatively that missing figure to complete a set or two you may already have
As Anna says, enjoy it and please feel free to correct any mistakes or add any information that you think is relevant
Anna would also be interested to know what new sets collectors might want Beau Geste to make next, for example, Austro-Hungarian forces, a Romanian Medical Team, an Evzone Military Band or even perhaps figures to represent some of the other nations that were involved in the conflict. Just let her know and I am sure that she will do her best to accommodate any requests
For more information about WW1 sets that I might have in my current stock or enquiries about ordering figures then
or
Telephone – 01245 472468
The murder of the Archduke Franz Ferdinand, of the decaying Austro-Hungarian empire, triggered the start of WWI. He and his wife visited Bosnia on 28 June 1914, where Gavrilo Princip (a member of a Serbian nationalist secret society) shot the couple to death. The Archduke was the heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne. The political objective of the assassination was to break off Austria-Hungary's south-Slav provinces so they could be combined into a Greater Serbia
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| Europe during WW1 |
On July 26, 1914, the Austro-Hungarian officials issued an ultimatum to the Serbian government containing five major demands. Once the time limit on the ultimatum had expired, Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia
Russia, bound by treaty to Serbia, announced mobilization of its vast army in her defense, a slow process that would take around six weeks to complete
Germany, allied to Austria-Hungary by treaty, viewed the Russian mobilization as an act of war against Austria-Hungary, and after scant warning declared war on Russia on 1 August
France, bound by treaty to Russia, found itself at war against Germany and, by extension, on Austria-Hungary following a German declaration on 3 August. Germany was swift in invading neutral Belgium so as to reach Paris by the shortest possible route
Britain, allied to France by a more loosely worded treaty which placed a "moral obligation" upon her to defend France, declared war against Germany on 4 August. The reason for entering the
conflict lay in another direction: she was obligated to defend neutral Belgium by the terms of a 75-year old treaty. With Germany's invasion of Belgium on 4 August, and the Belgian King's appeal to Britain for assistance, Britain committed herself to Belgium's defense later that day. Like France, she was by extension also at war with Austria-Hungary
When Britain, France and Germany declared war they were also committing their empires, automatically involving most of Africa, India and Australasia, while the entry of the US in 1917 prompted much of central America to follow
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| Europe after WW1 |
Romania
The Romanian Campaign was part of the Balkan theatre of World War I, with Romania and Russia allied against the armies of the Central Powers. Fighting took place from August 1916 to December 1917, across most of present-day Romania, including Transylvania, which was part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire at the time, as well as southern Dobruja, which is currently part of Bulgaria
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| Romanian infantry with sacred bull |
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| An illustrated page form the book of WW1 uniforms by Liliane and Fred Funcken |
Romania entered the war in an attempt to seize Transylvania, an historical province with a majority-Romanian population. Despite initial successes, the combined Russo-Romanian forces suffered several setbacks and by the end of 1916 only Moldavia remained under Allied control. After several defensive victories in 1917, the Allied front collapsed when the Bolsheviks took Russia out of the war and Romania, left surrounded by the Central Powers, signed an armistice at Focşani
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| Romanian military band |
More tomorrow with information and pictures relating to the Bulgarian, Greek and Turkish armies in WW1 together with images of the figures produced by Beau Geste which represent them
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