The New York Times/1916/11/22/Notable Fatalities Incident to the War
NOTABLE FATALITIES INCIDENT TO THE WAR
Longest Series the World Has Ever Seen in a Similar Given Period.
The murder of the Archduke Francis Ferdinand at Sarajevo on June 28, 1914, was the indirect cause of the greatest series of fatalities that the world has ever seen in a similar given period, for, aside from those actually killed in the war, such as numerous German Princes, Lord Kitchener, who lost his life with the Hampshire on June 5; Rear Admiral Sir Christopher Cradock, who died in the battle off Chile on Nov. 1, 1914, and the German Admiral von Spee, who met his death in the engagement off the Falkland Islands, Dec. 8, 1914, there have been others who owed their death indirectly to the conflict, and among them, in spite of his advanced years, may reasonably be mentioned the Emperor Francis Joseph.
His death closes a long list of notable names, including that of Pope Pius X. and King Carol of Rumania. The cause of the Pope's death has been officially attributed to worry over the great combat, while that of King Carol, who until his last breath tried to assure Germany and Austria that Rumania would preserve her friendly relations with the Central Powers, has been officially assigned to the same cause.
In Germany nine members of the sixty-four princely families who are taking part in the war, including a nephew of the Kaiser, have been slain. They include Prince Wilhelm zu Schvaich-Carolath, Prince Friedrich Wilhelm and Prince Ernst of Lippe, Prince Wolrad Friedrich zu Waldeck und Pyrmont, Prince Otto of Schonburg-Waldenburg, Prince Friedrich of Saxe-Meiningen, Prince Henry XLVI. of Reuss, and Prince Ernst of Saxe-Meiningen.
Titled Britons have also figured largely in the war deaths. Among the peers to be killed have been Earls Annesley and Roberts, Viscount Hawarden, and Lords Brabourne, Congleton, and De Freyne. To be sure Lord Roberts did not die in action, but his death with the British Army in France was, nevertheless, directly due to the war, as he contracted his brief fatal disease there.
Beginning, therefore, with the death of the Austrian Archduke, personages whose passing has been more or less due to the war and sacrifices and worries, although not directly so, may be named as follows:
Francis Ferdinand, Archduke, Crown Prince of Austria-Hungary, 51 years of age, and his wife, the Duchess of Hohenburg, were assassinated at Serajevo, Bosnia, June 28, 1914, which act led to Austria's ultimatum to Serbia on July 23 and ultimately to the European war.
Pope Pius X., 79 years old, died at Rome on Aug. 20, 1914.
Carol I., King of Rumania, died at the age of 75 at Sinaia, Wallachia, Oct. 10, 1914.
George II., reigning Duke of Saxe-Meiningen, died at the age of 89 on June 25, 1914.
General Marie George Picquart, chief defender of Dreyfus and Minister of War, died at the age of 59 at Amiens, July 2, 1914.
Earl Roberts, Field Marshal of the British Army, died in France on Nov. 14, 1914, at the age of 82.
Adolph Frederick, Grand Duke of Mecklenberg-Strelitz, died in Berlin on June 11, 1914, aged 66.
Francis Kossuth, Hungarian Statesman, died at Budapest, May 25, 1914, aged 73.
Count Sergius Julovich Witte, Russian statesman and delegate to Portsmouth Congress, died in Petrograd in March, 1915, aged 65.