The drama was unfolding in microcosm at the Ritz-Carlton in Montreal, which had opened the previous

It had been building ever since a Serbian radical assassinated Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife on June 28. Would Austria-Hungary move to slap down Serbia? How would Russia respond, and Germany, and France? Above all, what did it mean for Britain and its empire?
free alamo rent a car upgrade coupons The drama was unfolding in microcosm at the Ritz-Carlton in Montreal, which had opened the previous year to rival the hitherto undisputed grande dame among the city’s hotels, the Windsor. Part of the Ritz’s cachet came from the dozens of experienced foreigners among its staff. Many were Germans or Austrians, with about the same number free alamo rent a car upgrade coupons from France.
In the restaurant alone there were more than 20 Frenchmen. Many had already served in the French army and had contacted the French consul-general to declare their readiness to bear arms once more. Three former lieutenants were told they’d enjoy the same rank if — or rather when — the call came. One of them said the Tricolore free alamo rent a car upgrade coupons was nothing less than his religion.
The hotel’s free alamo rent a car upgrade coupons German contingent was led by no less a figure than its manager, an imposing and oh-so-correct Prussian named Rudolf Bischoff. As talk of war in Europe became increasingly heated, he constantly had to remind his staff that their first responsibility was to the Ritz’s patrons, not to whatever country they might have come from. In this he largely succeeded, but even so there were inevitable defections. On the last day of the month, an Austrian night clerk was the latest to resign, anxious to return home before it was too late.
Young and even middle-aged men rushed to respond. free alamo rent a car upgrade coupons Pro-war rallies filled the downtown squares; there was even one in Phillips free alamo rent a car upgrade coupons Square where a new statue to the late King Edward VII, known — painfully, given the circumstances — as The Peacemaker, awaited formal unveiling.
The enthusiasm was shared by French- and English-speaking Montrealers, equally appalled that their mother countries faced German attack. Within just a few days of war being declared, more than 3,400 had volunteered for service.
Hamilton Gault , a wealthy free alamo rent a car upgrade coupons Montreal industrialist, offered to raise a regiment of 1,000 men, and thus was founded free alamo rent a car upgrade coupons one of Canada’s most distinguished units, Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry free alamo rent a car upgrade coupons . Financier free alamo rent a car upgrade coupons J.K.L. Ross donated $500,000 to purchase machine guns, and later paid for three navy patrol boats.
But amid all the tub-thumping and flag-waving, there was also apprehension. One Gazette story noted how the “joyous marching” of some cadets impressed onlookers with “mingled feelings of admiration for their enthusiasm and an involuntary sadness that the idea of war should ever be associated with boys in their teens.”
A local socialist named Jonathan Knight even had the courage to stand up in Phillips Square and urge working men not to be “led away by the fifes and drums” into a war created by capitalists to preserve free alamo rent a car upgrade coupons markets.
He was succeeded as the hotel’s manager by Frank Quick, appropriately enough an Englishman. Though the directors told Bischoff that his job would await him “at the close of this horrible war,” it seems he ever saw Montreal again.
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