The Balkans

Trechos de Russia, The Balkans And The Dardanelles (1915), de Granville Fortescue.

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The Balkan States are the weight that can change the war balance which now hangs with such preponderance on the side of the Central European Confederacy.

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Rumania is a constant military menace on the flank of Austria. More than this, from an economic point of view, it is of the utmost importance that the confederacy do not lose this essential fountain head of supplies. Thus this Latin nation bulks large as a potential factor in the world struggle.

Bulgaria stands like a sentinel at the door of Turkey. The weaker brother of the Germanic union is at the mercy of her ancient enemy. That Constantinople takes heed of this threatening presence is proved both by the conciliatory attitude of Turkey towards Bulgaria in conducting the Dedeagatch railroad pourparlers and by the precautionary measures taken in strengthening the Chataldja defences.

Greece is of lesser consequence in the problem. If the Entente wins the support of either of the other neutral Balkan States the preposterous assumptions of the Hellenic politicians will continue to be disregarded.

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Rumania to-day is a nation peaceful, prosperous and content. Despite the fact that it is hemmed in on all sides by fighting armies, life proceeds in fairly placid grooves. The work, and certainly the play, of the people has not as far as one can see met any insuperable dam. They have already adjusted themselves to the commercial inconveniences of their position, and have availed themselves of such business opportunities as the plight of their fighting neighbours offers. The commercial position of Rumania is analogous to that of the United States in this war with the advantage of free access to German markets. The result has been remarkable prosperity. This economic flood-tide is reflected in the appearance of Bukarest. It is a well-fed, well-dressed crowd that fills the Calle Victoria after the hours of work. Pretty women walk or drive down the narrow thoroughfare while the men stroll and admire, as has long been the custom. Here and there a red-coated hussar adds the needful picturesque touch to the scenes. But these warriors are hardly more warlike than the cast of the Merry Widow. There is much of the musical comedy in the atmosphere, a stratum of gaiety and lightness that is hardly the indication of a nation preparing for the trials of battle. During the spring months the Rumanians divided their time between the attractions of race meetings and battles of flowers, the latter being a pastime that appealed especially to the multitude.

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Railway journeys have taken me across Rumania on three occasions at monthly intervals. On each occasion I was impressed by the number of freight cars bearing German or Austrian markings that crowded the sidings. I saw cars that had travelled from East Prussia, Hungary, Brandenburg and even Bavaria to be loaded here in Rumania. The fact was significant. The whole surplusage of the Rumanian grain crop was being shipped into the heart of Germany and Austria. Food-stuffs of all kinds were following the same route. Wood, coal and even petrol were exported in large quantities. Time and again I saw interminable trains loaded with fuel pass in the direction of the northern frontier. The destination of these loads was obvious. And this meant a return flow of German gold to the coffers of Rumania. It is not extraordinary then that this nation failed to follow the lead of Italy.

Whatever influence Italy had in the affairs of Rumania was discounted by the presence of 60,000 German and Austrian business men domiciled in the Balkan country, and the material wealth promised by the continued activities of these business men was a far more potent factor in shaping Rumania's course than the tradition of Italian origin. This Teutonic mixture has more than a mere commercial impulsion. It has been a silent force working in the interests of Germany. I saw its effect during the winter and spring of the present year. In December the Rumanians were decidedly on the side of the Triple Entente. With the advance of the Russian armies into the Carpathians there were many who seriously considered that the moment had arrived for Rumania to throw in her lot with the Allies. The dream of adding Transylvania to her domain might be made a reality. This feeling continued and increased up till the month of May. Negotiations of a tentative nature were carried on between the Rumanian Foreign Office and the representatives of the Entente. But in these preliminary discussions the Balkan State asked not only Transylvania but Bukowina, a part of the province of Banat, and certain cities in Bessarabia, as the price of co-operation.

While these bargainings were going on, the situation changed. The Russians evacuated the Carpathians, and with the subsequent military reverses of the Tsar's troops, the Rumanian diplomats dropped the subject. But it was not alone the military phase that affected the negotiations, but the attitude of the Rumanian people. The German element has been at work among the population and by the simple reiteration of the arguments supporting the Teutonic side of the appeal to arms and with a certain stress on the horrors of war, they contrived to check the enthusiasm for the Allies' cause and turn the thoughts of the people strongly to the other side of the question. "What will happen to me if we go to war?" became the uppermost idea in the mind of the individual Rumanian. And this question interprets the position of Rumania to-day.

In the first week of July coincident with the Austro-German military successes in Galicia the Austrian Minister in Bukarest, Count Czernin, presented a note from his country to the Rumanian Government containing two sets of proposals contingent upon first the friendly neutrality of the Balkan nation and second upon early military aid. In passing it may be well to state the 'friendly neutrality' as interpreted by the Austrians means the right to ship munitions through Rumanian territory to Turkey.

In case Rumania maintained this type of neutrality she would be given the Bukowina with the River Seret as her northern boundary. This was the main proposal, although other concessions were promised the Rumanian inhabitants of the Dual Monarchy, such as various public appointments and the foundation of a university at Kronstadt.

If Rumania put her five army corps and two cavalry divisions at the disposal of the Austrians, she would receive the whole Rumanian portion of the Bukowina to the River Pruth, and territory on the north bank of the Danube as far as the Iron Gates. If through the aid of the Rumanian army Bessarabia were conquered, that province would be immediately transferred to the Balkan nation as a permanent possession.

Nothing was said about Transylvania. The main difference between these proposals and the tentative Russian one was the substitution of Bessarabia for the Austrian province. Germany guaranteed the fulfilment of the conditions.

The real value of Rumanian friendship lay in the free passage of war shipments to Turkey. Germany has had to resort to all sorts of schemes in order to forward supplies to her ally. When the suspiciously heavy "bags" of the German diplomatic courier travelling between Berlin and Constantinople were X-rayed they were found to contain bombs. A consignment of Munich beer, for which ice was carefully ordered at different stops, proved to be barrels of powder, shot and shell. But the most ingenious scheme was a travelling circus, a whole train bound direct for Constantinople with clowns, horses, hoops and great boxes of paraphernalia which turned out to be a clever disguise for German artillery officers (the clowns) and a consignment of ordnance. What the Germans have succeeded in passing through Rumania undetected will never be known, but it is obvious that the right of passage is vital.

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But in fact the peasant of Rumania to-day is little better off than the men of the same class in the eighteenth century in France. In consequence the rights of suffrage are purely imaginary and the politicians maintain themselves in power by practices more in vogue in South America than in Europe. The party in power has all the machinery of government at its command.

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The Rumanian Premier sees Europe through Balkan glasses. At present he holds firmly to the course of neutrality.

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In the matter of equipment I should class the Rumanian soldier as second rate.

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After many conversations with politicians, journalists, bankers and merchants from Predeal to Rouschouk I have come to the conclusion that these see little gain for Rumania along the paths of war. They count the cost and weigh present prosperity against possible future territorial expansion. Almost without exception the decision is on the side of continued peace.

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Any decision taken by Rumania would immediately affect her neighbour of the south. Bulgaria, some say, is the key of the Balkan situation. This from a glance at the map would seem to be the case. But since the disastrous second Balkan war and the circumstances which led up to it Bulgaria has played a minor role in this corner of Europe. Now because of her geographic position in regard to the belligerent nations the opportunity may arrive which will allow her to once more take the leading part in Balkan affairs. This is the Bulgar's ambition.

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In Sofia one gets a concrete idea of national industry. New streets are being laid, new buildings are being built, and the city shows all the signs of healthy business activity. As an example of efficiency the market is an indication of Bulgarian progressiveness.

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To regain the territory lost by the Treaty of Bukarest is at present the end and aim of all Bulgarian diplomacy. The nation has suffered severely for the sin of the Second Balkan War. In the European crisis of to-day Bulgaria sees her chance to regain some of the land that was hers by right of conquest in 1912.

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In the first place Tsar Ferdinand wants the land filched from him by Rumania. He no longer visits his palace at Varna because his sight is saddened by the view of the land that was once Bulgaria's now under another flag. This is a wedge-shaped section of territory extending from Turtukai on the Danube to Ekrene on the Black Sea and including the important city of Silistria. It is a beautiful valley with about 300,000 inhabitants.

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In passing to the Bulgarian demand against Serbia we come to a mass of irreconcilable differences. It is the Central Macedonian question over again.

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It can be said with reason that the borderland between Bulgaria and Serbia is in a constant state of eruption. The Serbian comitadjis raid the lands of Bulgarian farmers, while time and again in retaliation Bulgarian expeditions cut across the frontier and back leaving the path of havoc behind them.

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The great number of German officers constantly in Sofia indicates that city as the connecting station between Vienna and Constantinople. My own experience - for I spent some time in the Grand Hotel Bulgarie, which is the centre of German activity - convinces me that there was a working understanding by which the Germans keep a continuous supply of ammunition moving towards Turkey.

Austrian aeroplanes are in constant flight to and from Constantinople. Time and again these machines have been compelled to land on Bulgarian soil for petrol or to make minor repairs. The Bulgarian authorities would sometimes make great parade of interning the Austrian flyers and confiscating their machines, but I have the best authority for believing that many of the airmen compelled to alight in Bulgaria were allowed to re-supply, re-fit and continue their flight unhindered.

The Bulgarian Army in organization and morale is in my opinion the best in the Balkan States.

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I have seen German engineer officers in Turkish uniform with transit and sketch board selecting the ground that offered the best military advantages for defence. Trenches are dug and gun emplacements constructed.

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In passing to the position of Serbia it is not necessary to emphasize the sacrifices made by this Slav nation. The world knows how heroically it has maintained itself against a ruthless invader and how it has withstood the ravages of disease. The Austrian and Hungarian myriads have been harried from Serbian soil, and as the military enemy has been conquered so have the Serbians triumphed over the inroads of typhus. These are splendid achievements and stand ever as a record of the heroic qualities of the Serbs.

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There are extremists among the politicians who would rather, in spite of the bitter hatred that has led to the present war, that Serbia make a separate peace with Austria than part with an inch of Macedonian territory.

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Such is far from being the present case. Outside of the narrow fighting zone the country is flourishing. Every acre behind the firing line in old Serbia shows promise of an abundant harvest of maize or wheat. I saw the beginning of this harvest when the men that could be spared from military service were sent back to ply their flails. The women had done the greater part of the planting and cultivating and they still continue to perform the larger share of farm work.

Not only was the economic situation satisfactory but sanitary conditions were daily showing improvement. At the time of which I write, the summer of 1915, typhus which had been a terrible scourge was rapidly dying out.

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As is the case in Rumania and Bulgaria, they see in the present crisis the possible opportunity for self-aggrandizement.

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The Serbian dream of an outlet to the Adriatic is becoming a reality. I have seen Austrian prisoners of war at work on the railroad which is to find its terminus at the Adriatic Sea.

[...] Serbia is the most dangerous reef on the Balkan chart.

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Greece boasts one of the most astute politicians of Europe [Eleftherios Venizelos]. During the period of the Grecian elections the European outlook altered, also an insidious German propaganda had been active among all classes in Greece. The great issue became a political shibboleth. The question of conceding Grecian territory met with popular disfavour.

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The influence of the Court in Grecian affairs is an unknown quantity. The Kaiser's sister as Queen of Greece complicates an exceedingly mixed political situation. She is a strong personality, and may be relied upon to forward her brother's cause by any methods.

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The barrier that prevents any solution of the Balkan Imbroglio is the intolerant assertion by each state of its own claims with an absolute disregard of the rights of others. It would take a diplomatic genius to reconcile the differences of the nations.

Railways

Trechos de Engines Of War: How Wars Were Won & Lost On The Railways (2010), de Christian Wolmar.

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The first [German] trains to be despatched carried infantry brigades destined for the capture of Liège, the vital Belgian railway junction in the Meuse Valley, and over the following two weeks 3 million soldiers were carried by the railways in more than 11,000 trains.

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The Belgians set about disabling their railway system with ruthless efficiency, concentrating on blowing up the tunnels to prevent any hope of rapid repair. After the invasion, the Germans deployed large numbers of men, a force of 26,000 workers, to try to sort out the broken railways but to little avail. Even a month after the German occupation of Belgium at the onset of the crucial battle of the Marne in early September, only a sixth of the 2,400-mile Belgian rail network was functioning. Moreover, the surviving lines were in a poor state. Most of the rolling stock had been destroyed or taken to France by the Belgians, and even where the track had been left intact, signalling equipment was sabotaged. The Belgians also indulged in the kinds of tricks deployed the world over by reluctant railway workers, such as routing trains onto the wrong lines at junctions or "mistakenly" sending them into sidings.

The destruction of the Belgian railways delayed the progress of the German troops but did not entirely put paid to the Schlieffen Plan.

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The early German invasion swept all before it, with the result that the forward troops were soon much further ahead of their rail supply line than had been originally envisaged. At times parts of the German army were seventy or eighty miles from the railhead, which made it impossible to furnish them with food and ammunition from the rear. Consequently, it was back to the old Napoleonic practices of the troops having to live off the land.

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The rapid arrival of the British in France had surprised the Germans, who had not expected them to intervene in their march through France and it had been made possible by the efficient use of the railways. Southampton had been chosen as the port of embarkation and a detailed timetable had been devised by railway and military planners that entailed special trains arriving at the port every twelve minutes, sixteen hours a day. The operation had been conducted remarkably well and by the end of August 670 trains had carried just under 120,000 men to the port for embarkation to France. The smoothness of the movement of troops had even attracted compliments from Lord Kitchener, a man not known to be generous with praise but who fancied himself as something of a logistics expert.

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Indeed, the ability of the French to move troops by rail was not happenstance, but rather the result of Joffre's understanding of how to make the best use of the railways. The lines emanated like the spokes of a bicycle wheel from Paris and there were few efficient cross-country routes (something which still pertains today, as anyone who has tried to take a train from, say, Bordeaux to Strasbourg can testify). The Schlieffen Plan had envisaged a flanking movement at a considerable distance from Paris, on routes that were ill-served by railways because they went round Paris and therefore were only served, at best, by minor lines. Nearer Paris there were better circular routes - including La Grande Ceinture, a kind of railway Périphérique which connected all the radial routes - and therefore Joffre recognized that it was essential to resist the German attacks at the right distance from the capital to allow the French to move easily along the front by rail on the radial lines while denying the Germans access to the Ceinture.

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Fortunately for the French, on the Nord railway, the network most affected by the invasion, they got it right: while the company lost more than half its 2,400-mile network to the Germans it managed to retain the bulk of its stock.

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The Marne could have been even more decisive, resulting in an early end to the war, had not the victorious Allies' pursuit of the fleeing enemy been so slow, hampered ironically by the damage to the railway carried out a couple of weeks previously by the retreating French. By 11 September, the British Expeditionary Force was forty miles ahead of its railhead, and had to pause to await resupply. The consequent delay allowed the Germans to regroup and dig themselves in along the Aisne river, where they were to remain until 1918.

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The route taken by each army during these clashes [Race to the Sea] was determined by the location of two north-south railways: the French and British controlled the line through Amiens, while the Germans were able to use the railways through Lille.

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The fact that the railway systems were highly developed but motor transport was still in its infancy gave defensive forces a key advantage and they were further helped by their ability to make use of local undamaged and familiar lines while the enemy, in hostile territory, only had unknown and frequently sabotaged railways at their disposal.

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An entrenched army well served by a railhead was therefore at a huge advantage in repelling an invader because "reinforcements could always arrive by rail to a threatened position before the attacking side could break through on foot. Railway trains go faster than men walking." [A. J. P.] Taylor stressed that it was the railways, together with the machine gun, that gave defenders the advantage: "This is the strategic reason why the defence was stronger than the attack throughout the First World War. Defence was mechanised, attack was not."

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During the brief mobile war, the French railways had performed heroically and they now settled into a routine. As in Germany and Britain, the military had taken over their operation as soon as war broke out. Vast numbers of freight wagons were prepared for troop transport with the installation of benches and were marked "8 chevaux, 40 hommes", which fortunately for the soldiers were alternatives, not totals.

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After the battle of the Marne, Amiens was safely back behind Allied lines and remained the key junction for the despatch of British troops for the duration of the war.

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As the entrenched armies grew bigger, the demands from both the relief and replacement of tired troops and the equipment requirements meant the railway was over-extended.

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[...] were essential for the logistics of any attack but that very dependence on the railways ensured that none of these attacks ever took the enemy by surprise. The activity on the railways necessary to prepare the attacks could not fail to be seen by scouts from the air or balloons or even from nearby vantage points on hilltops.

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[...] storage tracks were laid for artillery and hospital trains, and to accommodate the large rail-mounted guns that would launch the offensive [in Champagne, 1915].

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These field railways used a tiny 60cm gauge and were designed to supply the front line from railheads without the need for road or animal transport. As a result of this diligence, the Germans had stockpiled vast quantities of equipment for the construction of a network of these light railways.

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The failure of the Somme offensive resulted in a U-turn by the army generals, when it became apparent that not only were light railways crucial during static periods but they were also vital during attacks when troops were moving forward into enemy territory.

Since the light railways ran at slow speeds, and required frequent repair, they were of necessity short, mostly between five and fifteen miles long.

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Breakdowns and derailments were quickly dealt with: teams of men "trained in the gentle art of lifting a loco out of a shell-hole in thirty minutes with not even a sky-hook to pull them, were sent out at a moment's notice wherever needed".

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The more efficient delivery of men and matériel to the front occasioned by these light railways did nothing to relieve the strain on standard-gauge French railways, which, towards the end of 1915, were showing signs of being unable to cope with the workload. The huge increase in passenger numbers and freight being carried compared to peacetime had to be handled by a greatly reduced workforce since many men had left to serve in the forces. The rolling stock of wagons and, especially, locomotives, over half of which dated back to the nineteenth century, was deteriorating, too. Trains were being cancelled and the civilian traffic was hit particularly hard since military trains took precedence. Yet many of the non-military services were equally important, carrying food and basic supplies to the population, as well as soldiers on leave to and from their home towns, and consequently the cancellation of all civilian services was not an option. By the beginning of 1916 the situation on the railways had reached crisis point, with even the military traffic beginning to suffer from shortage of wagons and delays caused by overcrowding, and it began to cause severe anxiety to the military leaders.

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The strategy of attacking Verdun, therefore, was based on the notion that the German attackers, well served by railways, would be able to take over the French positions because their defenders would soon run out of supplies, particularly artillery shells.

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The commemorative monument to La Voie Sacrée recognizes the role of the railways by depicting a steam locomotive as well as three trucks.

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Of course, many of those returning were wounded and both railway lines proved particularly useful for transporting them away from the front as they offered a far more comfortable ride than the bumpy road. [...] In an effort to keep the soldiers separate from the general public, special exchange stations, furnished with canteens and even cinemas, were established, but the problem persisted throughout the war.

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The lack of links between the light rail systems of the 1st and 3rd armies during the Passchendaele attack had meant weapons and other material had to be transferred between the two by a roundabout route on the standard-gauge railways, an utterly inefficient manoeuvre.

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[...] This service required more than a hundred locomotives to provide six trains per day to supply the theatres of Macedonia, Palestine and Mesopotamia, and was designed to replace the vast amount of shipping on this route, which was in constant danger of attack. The service, however, was interrupted by the Italian defeat at Caporetto in October 1917 and the German offensive on Amiens the following year, and never reached its full potential, mustering at best two to three trains daily.

There were other demands stretching the resources of the French railway system. The most significant was the transport of the American troops who started arriving during the summer of 1917. [...] The Americans brought a lot of equipment with them, including a huge number of "Pershing" locomotives, and operations on these lines were carried out in great measure by the 50,000-strong US Transportation Corps, most of whom were former railwaymen, but nevertheless their arrival placed further strain on an already overloaded rail network. The level of service was not helped by tensions between the American and French railway workers, which occasionally flared up into full-scale fights.

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In the East it was the absence of railways which resulted in a more mobile war.

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The [Russian] railways were split, as in France, between those near the front, which were under military control, and the lines in the interior, which remained the responsibility of the ministry of transport.

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The Germans were able to nimbly move troops around by rail to focus their attack on the Russians' weak points. The crucial manoeuvre undertaken by the Germans was, after a couple of smaller battles, to re-engage their troops so quickly by rail that a single German army was able to hold off the rather disjointed attacks of two Russian ones.

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The battles between the Austrians and Italians largely took place in the mountains separating the two countries and consequently the Austrians built several long and heavily engineered narrow-gauge lines, together with many lighter lines and cableways, to supply their armies in the South Tyrol.

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The collapse was stimulated partly by the arrival of Lenin from his exile in Switzerland in April 1917, in a special train which the Germans allowed through the front because they were keen to sow chaos and disorder in Russia.

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The Communists established control over much of the west of the country in the immediate aftermath of the October Revolution thanks to the use of the railways.

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[T. E.] Lawrence led his first raid on the railway at Abu Na'am in March [1916] and there were some thirty more attacks in the following months, most carried out by Arab forces led by Prince Abdullah and supported by forces of the Egyptian Army and a small French contingent. They were supplemented by a few bombing raids by aeroplanes on the railway, which was at the limit of their range from their base in Egypt. Lawrence's attacks took a disproportionate toll on the Turkish forces. Very few of the attackers were killed in these engagements, while the Turks usually lost dozens, if not more, each time. [...] the number of trains was reduced from the peacetime level of two daily to two every week, which created food and fuel shortages in Madinah, stimulating internal dissent.

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With no appetite back home to prolong the war, peace eventually became inevitable, stimulated by the inadequacy of the transport system. This [was a] hasty end to the war, strangely, left Germans still on French soil and no foreign troops on theirs. [...] According to the official report on transportation: "The growing impossibility of railway and road reconstruction keeping pace with the rapid advance of the allies was undoubtedly an important factor in influencing the mind of General Foch when he agreed to accord an armistice." The war on the Western Front had, quite literally, run out of steam, but its rather unsatisfactory end contributed to the next one.

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Mais:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Railway_gun#World_War_I
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ciurea_rail_disaster
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WYxHRDGtlrY

Schönberg

BR-KLASSIK
6 November 2014

Franz Lehár & Arnold Schönberg

Von Patriotismus durchdrungen stimmten auch viele Komponisten 1914 in die Kriegeshymnen ein. Was von ihren frohen Tönen im Stahlgewitter übrigblieb? BR-KLASSIK stellt "Komponisten im Krieg" vor.

(Bernhard Neuhoff)

Auf den ersten Blick gibt es keinen größeren Gegensatz. Franz Lehár ist der erfolgreichste Komponist seiner Zeit, Arnold Schönberg der umstrittenste. Und doch: Sie schätzen einander - aus der Distanz. Und ein paar Dinge haben sie durchaus gemeinsam, der Spross einer österreichisch-ungarischen Soldatenfamilie, und der Enkel einer jüdischen Kantors.

KEIN MILTÄRDIENST FÜR LEHAR, ABER SCHÖNBERG MUSS IN DEN KRIEG

Beide sind glühende Patrioten. Beide lieben den uralten Kaiser Franz Josef. Und beide haben in ihrer Jugend die klassische Musik durch die Spielkultur der k.u.k. Militär-Orchester kennengelernt. Lehár ist Sohn eines Militärkapellmeisters. Der kleine Arnold hört Beethoven und Schubert zum ersten Mal in den kostenlosen Konzerten der Militärkapellen im Wiener Prater. Als der Krieg ausbricht, wird der weltberühmte Komponist Franz Lehár sofort vom Militärdienst freigestellt. Schönberg muss im Februar 1915 einrücken.

"Dass ich beim Militär nicht besonders geschickt war, können Sie sich denken. Dass die Charge, zu der ich es gebracht habe - Gefreiter - nicht einmal meinen militärischen Ehrgeiz befriedigte, ebenfalls. Ich Narr meinte, wenn ich schon beim Militär bin, müßte ich doch wenigstens General sein." (Arnold Schönberg)

SCHÖNBERG FLÜCHTET SICH IN ERZWUNGENE FRÖHLICHKEIT

Karriere beim Militär macht dafür Lehárs Bruder Anton, der es bis zum Generalmajor bringt. Schönberg wird kein General - herrschen kann er allein im Reich seiner Phantasie. In seinem Oratorium "Die Jakobsleiter" flieht er während der Kriegsjahre in mystische Traumwelten. Hier finden sich die ersten Vorboten der 12-Tontechnik.

"Beim Militär wurde ich oft gefragt, ob ich dieser umstrittene Komponist Arnold Schönberg sei. Meine Antwort war: Keiner hats sein wollen, einer hats sein müssen, da hab ich mich halt dazu hergegeben." (Arnold Schönberg)

SKURRILE MARSCHPARODIE

Doch dieser umstrittene Komponist kann auch anders. 1916 komponiert er für einen Kameradschaftsabend seines Regiments eines seiner skurrilsten Werke, eine Marsch-Parodie namens "Die eiserne Brigade". Wer diese Musik hört, ohne zu wissen, wer sie geschrieben hat, käme niemals auf die Idee, dass sie vom Erfinder der 12-Ton-Technik stammt. Die Partitur schenkt der Gefreite Schönberg seinem Oberleutnant.

LEHAR SCHREIBT LIEDER ÜBER DIE TODESANGST

Auch Franz Lehár wird durch den Krieg zu einem Werk angeregt, bei dem man kaum auf seinen Namen tippen würde. Er komponiert einen Liederzyklus mit dem nibelungentreuen Titel: "Aus eiserner Zeit. Seiner Majestät dem Deutschen Kaiser Wilhelm II. gewidmet." Lehár hat dieses Lied sicher nicht in pazifistischer Absicht geschrieben. Und doch ist es erstaunlich: Der Avantgardist Schönberg flüchtet vor den Schrecken des Krieges in gezwungene Fröhlichkeit. Der Operettenkomponist Lehár dagegen schreibt Lieder über die Todesangst. Lehars Bruder, der spätere Generalmajor, wird schon 1914 schwer verletzt.

"Meine Besuche bei ihm gehören zu den traurigsten Erinnerungen.Er litt damals so unerträgliche Schmerzen, dass man ihn ins Wasserbett bringen musste." (Franz Lehar)

Unter dem Eindruck dieser Erlebnisse komponiert Lehár eine Tondichtung. Ihr Titel: "Fieber". Geschildert werden die letzten Minuten eines sterbenden Soldaten. Auch das eine erstaunlich offene Darstellung der traurigen Wahrheit über den Krieg. Schönberg hat eines seiner besten Stücke zum Thema schon 1907 geschrieben, ein Werk für achtstimmigen Chor. Es heißt: "Friede auf Erden". Leider ist es anders gekommen.

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Fonte:
http://www.br.de/radio/br-klassik/komponisten-erster-weltkrieg-lehar-schoenberg-100.html

Mais:
http://docs.google.com/file/d/0BxwrrqPyqsnIUHRWREg0Zm1RNjA
Arnold Schoenberg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tDiyVJVeNXg

A ponte sobre o Drina

Trechos de A Ponte Sobre O Drina (1945), de Ivo Andrić.

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Naquele Verão de 1914, quando os senhores dos destinos humanos levaram os homens da Europa do tablado do sufrágio universal para a arena, já pronta a funcionar, do serviço militar não menos universal, a cidadezinha de Visegrad forneceu um pequeno mas eloquente exemplo dos primeiros sintomas de um contágio que depois iria estender-se a toda a Europa, para logo a seguir se espalhar por todo o mundo. Estava-se num período que estabelecia a separação entre duas épocas da história humana mas em que uma pessoa podia distinguir mais facilmente o fim da época que se encerrava do que o princípio dessoutra que estava a nascer. Então procurava-se ainda uma justificação para a violência e ia-se pedir ao tesouro espiritual do século passado qualquer nome pomposo para mascarar os actos de selvajaria e a sede de sangue.

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Aquela hora da noite as ruas principais estavam iluminadas, porque a iluminação elétrica tinha sido inaugurada na Primavera desse ano.

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Na altura em que a festa ainda estava a começar, apareceu na orla do prado um grupo de gendarmes, com os uniformes negros e as armas a brilhar ao sol da tarde. Eram em maior número do que era vulgar nas patrulhas que regularmente apareciam nas feiras e arraiais e dirigiram-se logo para o sítio onde estavam os músicos a tocar. Um após outro, desordenadamente, os músicos foram-se calando. O kolo oscilou e parou. [...]

Desiludido e perplexo, o povo ia regressando de Mezalin pela estrada larga e branca; quanto mais se aproximava da cidade, mais frequentemente se ouviam vagos e assustados murmúrios acerca do assassínio, nessa manhã, em Sarajevo, do arquiduque Francisco Ferdinando e de sua esposa e da perseguição que por esse motivo se admitia geralmente que os sérvios viessem a sofrer.

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Na cidade quase só se viam soldados. Às 9 da noite, quando as cornetas tocavam, nos acantonamentos de Bikovac e nos grandes barracões junto da ponte, as notas melancólicas do toque de recolher austríaco, as ruas ficavam quase completamente desertas. Os tempos estavam maus para os jovens amantes, que tinham dificuldade em encontrar-se e ter conversas sem dar nas vistas.

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Nos últimos dias de Julho, a tempestade desabou sobre a fronteira, essa mesma tempestade que, com o tempo, havia de alastrar pelo mundo inteiro e decidir do destino de muitos países e cidades como decidiu do da ponte sobre o Drina.

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É certo que sempre tinha havido secretas inimizades e despeitos, intolerância religiosa, baixeza e crueldade, mas também sempre houvera coragem e camaradagem, além de um sentimento de equilíbrio e ordem, que mantinham todos os instintos vis dentro dos limites do suportável, e que, ao fim e ao cabo, os acalmavam e os submetiam ao interesse geral da vida em comum.

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Desde o dia a seguir àquele em que foi declarada guerra à Sérvia, uma seção de schutzkorps começou a patrulhar a cidade. Esse contingente, armado à pressa com o fim de ajudar as autoridades na caça aos sérvios, era constituído por ciganos, bêbados e outros indivíduos de reputação duvidosa, principalmente aqueles que há muito tempo andavam de candeias às avessas com a sociedade e com a lei. Um tal Huso Kokosar, um cigano sem escrúpulos nem ocupação definida, que na sua mocidade perdera o nariz em consequência de uma doença vergonhosa, era quem comandava aqueles maltrapilhos, que não iam além de uma dúzia, armados de carabinas Werndl, antiquadas, com umas baionetas muito compridas, e armava em senhor absoluto no bairro do mercado.

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Os três homens tinham sido condenados à pena capital, após julgamento sumário, porque houve quem testemunhasse, sob juramento, que tinham sido vistos a fazer, de noite, sinais luminosos para a fronteira sérvia. Para exemplo, a execução ia fazer-se em público, no largo fronteiro à ponte.

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Estavam sempre a chegar mais tropas à cidade e, atrás delas, munições, víveres e equipamentos, que vinham não só por caminho de ferro, através da linha de Sarajevo, cujo movimento era extraordinário, mas também pela velha estrada que passava por Rogatica. Cavalos e carros atravessavam constantemente a ponte, de dia e de noite, e a primeira coisa que se lhes deparava eram os três homens enforcados na praça. E como, normalmente, a frente da coluna ficava entalada nas ruas apinhadas, acontecia que a retaguarda tinha de fazer alto no meio da ponte ou na praça ao lado da forca, à espera de que o caminho ficasse desimpedido. Cobertos de poeira, afogueados e roucos de tanto gritar, os sargentos passavam a cavalo entre os carros e os cavalos ajoujados, fazendo sinais desesperados com as mãos e jurando em todas as línguas da monarquia austro-húngara por todas as coisas sagradas de todos os credos conhecidos.

No quarto ou quinto dia de manhãzinha cedo, quando a ponte estava ainda uma vez mais a abarrotar de veículos militares que se iam escoando lentamente para o bairro do mercado, que estava também apinhado, ouviu-se por cima da cidade um assobio estridente e invulgar, e mesmo a meio da ponte, não longe da própria kapia, veio rebentar uma granada, em cima do parapeito de pedra. Estilhaços e fragmentos de pedra foram atingir homens e cavalos. Os homens precipitaram-se em confusão, os cavalos espantaram-se, e a debandada foi geral.

Uns corriam para a frente, em direção ao mercado, outros recuavam para a estrada donde tinham vindo. Logo a seguir caíram mais três granadas, duas na água e a terceira na ponte, no meio do aglomerado de homens e cavalos. Num abrir e fechar de olhos a ponte ficou deserta; no espaço vazio que se criou podiam ver-se, como manchas negras, espalhados por toda a parte, homens e cavalos mortos. Dos rochedos de Butkovo, a artilharia de campanha austríaca fez fogo para tentar calar e destruir aquela bateria sérvia de montanha que estava a martelar com o seu fogo as colunas de reabastecimento em debandada de ambos os lados da ponte.

A partir desse dia, a bateria de montanha instalada em Panos alvejou continuamente a ponte e os aquartelamentos vizinhos. Passados poucos dias, também de manhã cedo, novo assobio se fez ouvir, vindo, desta vez, de leste, dos lados de Goles. Este som vinha de mais longe, mas era mais forte, e começou a cair sobre a cidade uma chuva de bombas incendiárias com frequência ainda maior. Estas eram lançadas por dois morteiros. Os primeiros tiros caíram no Drina, mas os outros a seguir foram explodir no espaço aberto em frente da ponte, danificando o hotel de Lotte e a messe dos oficiais. Por fim, as salvas começaram a visar com regularidade a ponte e os barracões do aquartelamento. Estes últimos, uma hora depois, estavam em chamas. Os soldados tentaram ainda apagar o fogo mas, sob a ação de novo bombardeamento efetuado pela bateria de Panos, tiveram de desistir e abandonar os barracões à sua sorte. Ao calor do dia, o aquartelamento ardia como se fosse de madeira e as granadas que caíam de tempos a tempos nos escombros em chamas mais depressa destruíam ainda o interior dos edifícios. E assim, pela segunda vez, a han de pedra foi arrasada e reduzida, uma vez mais, a um montão de escombros.

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Durante os intermináveis dez dias que durou o bombardeamento não sofreu a ponte nenhum dano de monta.

Assim, em toda aquela tempestade que desabara sobre a cidade, revolvendo e arrancando pela raiz os velhos hábitos, ceifando seres vivos e coisas inanimadas, a ponte permanecera branca, sólida e invulnerável como sempre tinha sido.

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Por causa do contínuo bombardeamento, cessou quase por completo o movimento na ponte durante o dia; os civis podiam atravessá-la à vontade, e até os soldados, um a um, faziam a sua travessia a correr, mas logo que aparecia um grupo já de certa importância em cima dela os obuses disparados do monte Panos começavam a chover. Decorridos alguns dias já se tinha estabelecido uma certa regularidade. As pessoas começaram a notar quando é que o fogo era mais forte, quando se tornava mais raro e quando se interrompia de todo, e, de acordo com essas observações, iam às suas ocupações mais importantes, na medida em que as patrulhas austríacas lho permitissem.

A bateria do monte Panos fazia fogo apenas de dia, mas os morteiros de Goles atiravam também de noite e procuravam impedir os movimentos de tropas e a passagem de abastecimentos de um lado da ponte para o outro.

Os habitantes cujas casas ficavam no centro da cidade, perto da ponte e da estrada, retiraram-se com as suas famílias para Mejdan ou para outros bairros mais resguardados e afastados, procurando refúgio contra os bombardeamentos em casa de parentes ou amigos. Esta fuga, com crianças e os objetos caseiros mais necessários, fazia lembrar aquelas noites terríveis na altura em que a "grande inundação" flagelou a cidade. Simplesmente, desta vez, os homens de diversas crenças não estavam misturados nem unidos pelo sentimento da desgraça comum e da solidariedade, nem se reuniam, como nos tempos antigos, para procurar alívio e consolação na conversa. Os turcos iam para as casas turcas e os sérvios, como se fossem pestiferados, apenas se juntavam em casas sérvias. Mas mesmo separados e divididos desta maneira, viviam mais ou menos de modo semelhante.

À noite, recolhiam, para dormir, aos quartos superlotados, mas, na verdade, ninguém era capaz de pregar olho. [...] O medo era tal que ninguém se atrevia sequer a riscar um fósforo. Quando os homens queriam fumar, fechavam-se em pequenos quartos interiores, cujo ambiente era sufocante, ou cobriam a cabeça com um cobertor, e assim iam puxando as suas fumaças. O ar quente e pesado sufocava-os. Estavam todos alagados em suor, mas todas as portas e janelas se conservavam completamente fechadas e trancadas. A cidade assemelhava-se a um infeliz que cobre os olhos com as mãos e fica à espera das pancadas de que se não pode defender. Todas as casas pareciam de luto, já que quem quisesse continuar vivo tinha de se comportar como se estivesse morto. E mesmo isso nem sempre era suficiente.

Nas casas dos muçulmanos havia um pouco mais de vida. Muitos dos velhos instintos guerreiros subsistiam ainda, mas tinham sido acordados em má hora e sentiam-se embaraçados e inconsistentes perante aquele duelo travado por cima das suas cabeças, em que entrava a artilharia de duas facções diferentes, que se opunham mas que eram ambas cristãs.

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Com um olhar melancólico [Mujaga] fitava a erva na sua frente e, embebido nos seus próprios pensamentos, estava atento ao que acontecia dentro da si próprio e que era mais forte e estrondoso que todas as palavras de consolação ou que o mais vivo bombardeamento.

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Os netos e bisnetos daqueles que, daquela mesma colina, fechados em casa, ansiosos e aterrorizados, mas vibrando no mais íntimo do seu ser, tinham escutado atentamente a procurar distinguir o eco muito sumido dos canhões de Karageorge nas colinas por cima de Veletovo, ouviam agora, na escuridão quente, o troar das pesadas granadas de morteiros que lhes passavam por cima, procurando distinguir pelo som quais eram as sérvias e quais as austríacas, chamando-lhes nomes ternos ou amaldiçoando-as. Claro está que isto acontecia apenas quando os projéteis passavam alto e iam cair nos arredores da cidade, porque, quando vinham baixo, por forma a alvejar a ponte e a própria cidade, toda a gente se calava de repente, porque todos tinham a impressão, e iam mesmo jurar, que no meio do completo silêncio, e com tanto espaço à volta, ambos os contendores os estavam a alvejar só a eles e à casa em que se encontravam. Só depois de ter passado o estrondo de uma explosão próxima é que voltavam a falar.

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Cá em baixo, no centro da cidade, poucos habitantes tinham ficado. Desde o primeiro dia de guerra que tinha saído uma ordem determinando que todos os estabelecimentos deviam permanecer abertos, aparentemente para os soldados de passagem poderem fazer as compras miúdas de que necessitassem, mas, no fundo, para mostrar aos habitantes que a guerra estava longe e não fazia perigar a cidade.

[...] o hotel de Lotte encontrava-se fechado e completamente abandonado, com estragos no telhado causados por um obus e as paredes crivadas de estilhaços.

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Passou-se assim um mês inteiro em bombardeamentos preliminares da ponte, com projéteis disparados dos montes circundantes, em violências e sofrimentos de toda a espécie e na expectativa de desgraças ainda maiores. Logo nos primeiros dias, a cidade, situada entre dois fogos, foi abandonada pela maior parte dos habitantes. Mas a evacuação total só começou a fazer-se em fins de Setembro. Os últimos funcionários a abandonar Visegrad tiveram de utilizar a estrada que desemboca na ponte, porque as comunicações por caminho de ferro tinham já sido cortadas. Por último, até as tropas foram sendo retiradas a pouco e pouco da margem direita do Drina. Só ficaram uns pequenos contingentes de defesa, umas quantas tropas de engenharia e algumas patrulhas de gendarmes, à espera de receberem ordens para se retirarem também.

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Foi nesse momento que o hodja sentiu que o seu banco voava e o arrastava como se fosse um brinquedo; o seu doce silêncio transformou-se, num ápice, num bramido surdo e, logo a seguir, num estrondo enorme que encheu o ar, lhe rebentou os tímpanos e se tornou geral e insuportável. Na parede oposta as prateleiras estalaram e as coisas que continham voaram para ele, ao mesmo tempo que era projectado na direcção delas. - Ah! - gemeu o hodja. Ou, antes, apenas pensou que tinha gemido, porque nessa altura já não tinha voz nem ouvidos, como também já não tinha a certeza de se encontrar neste mundo. Num barulho ensurdecedor, tudo em volta dele se despedaçava, era arrancado pela raiz e rodopiava. Embora parecesse impossível, a sensação que teve foi a de que a pequena língua de terra situada entre os dois rios, na qual a cidade fora construída, tinha sido arrancada do chão com um estrondo horrível e projetada no espaço, onde ainda estava a voar; ou então que os dois rios tinham sido tirados dos seus leitos e levados para os céus, donde voltavam a cair no abismo com toda a sua massa de água, como duas cataratas monstruosas que ainda se não tinham quebrado nem parado. Acaso seria este o kiyamet, o tal Dia do Juízo de que falavam os livros e os homens entendidos, no qual este mundo de enganos se havia de consumir num abrir e fechar de olhos? Mas que precisão tinha Alá de um caos assim, se o Seu olhar era suficiente para, só por si, criar e extinguir mundos? Não, isto não era obra divina. Mas se o não era, como podiam as mãos dos homens ter tal força? Como podia ele, tão surpreendido, confundido e afligido com aquele choque terrível que parecia destruir, quebrar e sufocar tudo, incluindo o próprio pensamento humano, dar uma resposta a tais perguntas? Não sabia que força o arrastava, não sabia para onde voava nem onde ia parar; só sabia que ele, Alihodja, tinha sempre, e em todas as coisas, tido razão. - Ah! - gemeu o hodja uma vez mais, mas desta vez de dor, porque aquela mesma força que o tinha levantado ao ar o impelia agora de novo para baixo, brutal e cruelmente, fazendo-o cair no chão, entre a parede de madeira e o banco virado de pernas para o ar. Sentiu uma violenta pancada na cabeça e uma forte dor nos joelhos e nas costas. Só muito vagamente pôde distinguir, como um som separado e distinto do estrondo geral, que qualquer coisa pesada tinha batido no telhado da loja e que do lado de lá do tabique as madeiras e os objectos de metal começavam a estalar e a partir-se como se as coisas que estavam na loja se tivessem tornado vivas, andassem a voar e colidissem no ar.

Mas já então Alihodja tinha perdido a consciência e jazia imóvel no seu refúgio como se este já lhe servisse de esquife.

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No caos [da explosão] e na desordem das mercadorias espalhadas pela casa e dos objetos partidos via-se uma enorme pedra, pouco mais ou menos do tamanho da cabeça de um homem. O hodja olhou para cima. Era evidente que a pedra tinha vindo pelo ar, atravessando o frágil telhado de ripas de madeira. O hodja olhou de novo para a pedra, branca, porosa, lisa e polida em dois lados, mas aguçada e cruelmente partida nos outros dois. "Ah! A ponte!", pensou.

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Mais:
http://vimeo.com/232188594 (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0172776)