WWI, King George Knighting General Monash, 1918
"Caption: "King George Knighting General John Monash, the Commander of the Australian forces. An incident of his Majesty's visit to the front in 1918." George V (June 3, 1865 - January 20, 1936) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India. He was a grandson of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert and the first cousin of Tsar Nicholas II of Russia and Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany. From 1877 to 1891, he served in the Royal Navy. On his father's death in 1910, he succeeded as King-Emperor of the British Empire. As a result of WWI, most other European empires fell while the British Empire expanded to its greatest effective extent. Public respect for the king increased during WWI, when he made many visits to the front line, hospitals, factories and dockyards. In 1917 anti-German feeling led him to adopt the family name of Windsor, replacing the Germanic Saxe-Coburg-Gotha. His reign saw the rise of socialism, communism, fascism, Irish republicanism, and the Indian independence movement, all of which radically changed the political landscape. He was plagued by illness throughout much of his later reign and died in 1936 at the age of 70. General John Monash (June 27, 1865 - October 8, 1931) was a civil engineer who became the Australian military commander in WWI. He commanded the 4th Brigade in Egypt, and took part in the Gallipoli campaign. In July 1916, he took charge of the new Australian 3rd Division in northwestern France and in May 1918 he was made commander of the Australian Corps. The successful Allied attack at the Battle of Amiens was planned by Monash and spearheaded by British forces including the Australian and Canadian Corps under Monash and Arthur Currie. After the war he worked in prominent civilian positions, and was vice-chancellor of the University of Melbourne from 1923 until his death eight years later at the age of 66."
