Wilhelm II (1859–1941) was Emperor of Germany from 1888 to 1918.

Röhl, John C. G. “Wilhelm II, German Emperor.” In 1914-1918-online. International Encyclopedia of the First World War, edited by Ute Daniel, Peter Gatrell, Oliver Janz, Heather Jones, Jennifer Keene, Alan Kramer, and Bill Nasson. Freie Universität Berlin, 2014–. Article published March 10, 2016. https://encyclopedia.1914-1918-online.net/article/wilhelm_ii_german_emperor.

The Austrian royal dynasty that ruled the Holy Roman Empire from 1438 to 1806. The Austro-Hungarian Empire, Germany’s ally in World War I, existed from 1867 to 1918.

“Habsburg.” In World Encyclopedia. Philip's, 2014. https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780199546091.001.0001/acref-9780199546091-e-5002.

East Prussia, the northeastern part of the former kingdom of Prussia, on the Baltic Sea, belonged to the German Empire. With the largest standing army in Europe, Russia hoped for a quick victory against German forces in East Prussia. Fighting at Stallupönen on August 17, the opening battle on the Eastern Front, left the Germans in retreat; the battle at Gumbinnen on August 20 had the same result. The Battle of Tannenberg (August 26–30), however, was a major victory for the Germans: the Russian Second Army had not been forced to retreat, “it had been annihilated.”¹ During the first Russian invasions of East Prussia, 1,491 East Prussians died: some were executed, victims of plunder-related killings, or died in massacres. The scale of violence was “no different than that of the more famous contemporaneous atrocities in Belgium and France.”²

¹Stone, David R. The Russian Army in the Great War: The Eastern Front, 1914–1917. Lawrence, KS: University Press of Kansas, 2015, 75.

²Watson, Alexander. Ring of Steel: Germany and Austria–Hungary in World War I: The People’s War. United Kingdom: Basic Books, 2014, 171.

The bear is a symbol of the Russian Empire.

Heraldic eagle used by German emperors during the Holy Roman Empire and and in the coat of arms of Imperial Germany (1871–1918).

Flanders is the Dutch-speaking region of northern Belgium. Germany invaded Flanders on August 4, 1914. By October, they had killed 6,000 Belgian troops. The First Battle of Ypres (October–November 1914), part of the First Battle of Flanders, stopped the German “Race to the Sea,” but both sides sustained heavy losses.

Spencer, Jones: “Ypres, Battles of.” In 1914-1918-online. International Encyclopedia of the First World War, edited by Ute Daniel, Peter Gatrell, Oliver Janz, Heather Jones, Jennifer Keene, Alan Kramer, and Bill Nasson. Freie Universität Berlin, 2014–. Article published February 13, 2015. https://encyclopedia.1914-1918-online.net/article/ypres_battles_of.

Simoens, Tom: “Warfare 1914-1918 (Belgium).” In 1914-1918-online. International Encyclopedia of the First World War, edited by Ute Daniel, Peter Gatrell, Oliver Janz, Heather Jones, Jennifer Keene, Alan Kramer, and Bill Nasson. Freie Universität Berlin, 2014–. Article published October 8, 2014. https://encyclopedia.1914-1918-online.net/article/warfare_1914-1918_belgium.

The lion is the national animal of England.

Italy was a member of the Triple Alliance but did not join Germany and Austria–Hungary when the war started. Italy declared war on Austria–Hungary in May 1915 and on Germany in August 1915.