August 8, 1914

[jonnymacbrown]

Montenegro declares war on Germany!

Belgium: Main army falls back towards the Dyle.

Alsace: French occupy Altkirch and Mulhausen.

Antivari (Montenegro) bombarded by Austrian fleet.

Togoland entered by combined French and British force.

German Army begins the complete destruction of the Medieval Polish city of Kalisz, taking 800 men prisoner and executing 80 of them on a nearby hill. The following day Germans started to systematically burn down the city and destroy it. It is mentioned that in cases civilians tried to stop the fire, they were murdered by German soldiers. Shootings, murderer, plunder of shops and homes as well as burning down of the whole city lasted until 22 August, when the last home was burned on Nowoogrodowska street.

The Polish press in all territories of Partitions reported heavily on the event, some calling it "monstrous madness, that is unbelievable." The damages in Kalisz constituted 29,5% of the losses in the entire Congress Poland during World War I. The destruction has been compared to the massacre of Louvain, where a city was destroyed in similar manner by the Germans. Before the war Kalisz had 65,000 citizens; after the war, only 5,000.