Historical Calendar: August 7, 1914 – Germany storms Kalisz

magnapolonia.org 1 year ago

Anniversary of Kalisz's demolition by the Germans. The city's hell began with a... frightened horse.

Today in our calendar we will look at German actions at the dawn of planet War I. It turns out that they already had murderous instincts that full revealed themselves during the next war.

World War I was a full war very quickly. It has gained its character practically since the first days of clash. As early as 3 August, German troops joined Kalisz, which was then bordered on the Russian partition. The Russians practically did not defend a city that was besides far west. They shortened their front line, moving more towards the Vistula. This did not prevent the Germans from having a blood feud with the villagers.

On August 7, 1914, Landwehr's second-strike troops entered the Kaliski market. abruptly a panic broke out in the military column, which most likely began with a horse that was frightened of something. Soldiers convinced of the surprise attack opened fire on civilians. They then began shooting random passersby and then withdrew from the city. In the evening, they began bombing Kalisz with artillery.

Fire continued all night. The next morning, the Germans entered the center again and robbed what left any value. The remaining structures were set on fire. The deliberate demolition of the city's construction and repression against its inhabitants continued until 22 August.

The failure balance was terrible. The majority of downtown Kalisz, including the Medieval Main marketplace Square, was destroyed. Most of the calishan escaped. Of the 70,000 pre-war residents, only 5,000 remained in the city at the end of 1914.

The demolition of the city increased among the Polish society and the already large dislike of the Germans. They were widely feared and even began to solidarity with the Tsaric army that fought with Germany.

A akin destiny to Kalisz met many cities on the Western Front. Germany has brutally pacified Belgian and French cities since the first hours of implementation Schlieffen's plan. There was a rumor among the soldiers about a Belgian priest who was about to brutally slaughter an innocent infantryman. There have been a number of murders on clergy representatives and local intelligence. The demolition of Belgian Leuven grew to a rank akin to the Kalisz symbol. It burned down the 1425 library, which collected as many as 280 1000 valuable books and manuscripts.

Previous entry from our calendar is available Here.

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