To Arms

by Hew Strachan

  75 Cork, A bitter truth, 13–14.

  76 Klaus Vondung, ‘Visions de mort et de fin de monde: attente et désir de la guerre dans la litterature allemande avant 1914’, in Vandenrath et al. (eds.), 1914, 221–8.

  77 Stromberg, Redemption by war, 78–9.

  78 Aschheim, Nietzsche legacy, 143; see also Joll, ‘1914: the unspoken assumptions’, in Koch (ed.), Origins, 1972 edn., 323.

  79 Stromberg, Redemption by war, 38.

  80 Jay Luvaas, ‘A unique army’, in Kann et al. (eds.), Habsburg empire, 100–1.

  81 Eva Balogh, ‘The turning of the world’ in Kann et al. (eds.), Habsburg empire, 188.

  82 Bloem, Advance from Mons, 21.

  83 Vondung, ‘Visions de mort’, in Vandenrath (ed.), 1914, 231–2.

  84 Freud, ‘Thoughts for the times’, 283; see also Falzeder and Brabant (eds.), Correspondence of Freud and Ferenczi, 13.

  85 Balogh, in Kann et al. (eds.), Habsburg empire, 187.

  86 Quoted in Ecksteins, Rites of spring, 94; see also Hynes, A war imagined, 3–4,19.

  87 Scheler, Genius des Krieges, 12.

  88 Wohl, The generation of 1914, 5–10; also Cruickshank, Variations on catastrophe, 18–23.

  89 W. N. P. Barbellion [B.F. Cummings], journal of a disappointed man, 129.

  90 Northern Arts and Scottish Arts Council, Futurismo 1909–1919: exhibition of Italian Futurism, 256, 33.

  91 Quoted by Hynes, A war imagined, 9–10.

  92 Bernhard Boschert, ‘“Eine Utopie des Unglückes stieg auf”. Zum literarischen und publizistichen Engagement deutscher Schriftsteller für den Ersten Weltkrieg’, in Berliner Geschichtswerkstatt, August 1914, 130–1.

  93 Cork, A bitter truth, 46.

  94 Mann, ‘Gedanken im Kriege’, 9–11; see also Wysling (ed.), Letters of Heinrich and Thomas Mann, 120–3.

  95 Hynes, A war imagined, 10–19.

  96 Scheler, Genius des Krieges, 11.

  97 Michael Reiter, ‘Deutschlands innere Wandlung: Georg Simmel zum Krieg’, in Berliner Geschichtswerkstatt, August 1914, 215–16; see also 132–3.

  98 Raithel, Das “Wunder’ der inneren Einheit, 478–9.

  99 Beckmann, Briefe im Kriege, 10; see also Cork, A bitter truth, 37.

  100 Zweig, World of yesterday, 178.

  101 Sackett, Popular entertainment, 70.

  102 Plaut, ‘Psychographie des Kriegers’, 2–3, 8.

  103 Schubert-Weller, Kein schönrer Tod, 54–5.

  104 Hanna, Mobilization of the intellect, 5–6, 28–35; Raithel, Das ‘Wunder’ der inneren Einheit, 19; Mitchell Victors and vanquished, 143–57; Becker, France en guerre, 19–20; Vogel, Nationen im Gleichschritt, 39, 98–9, 125–6, 178–88, 196–9, 208–9, 228.

  105 Suchomlinow, Erinnerungen, 349.

  106 Pick, War machine, 90–2; Vogel, Nationen im Gleichschritt, 144–5,170–8.

  107 McEwen, Journal of Contemporary History, XVII (1982), 466.

  108 Morris, The scaremongers, 346.

  109 Kriegel and Becker, 1914, 22; Raithel, Das ‘Wunder’ der inneren Einheit, 11, 35–7; Verhey, ‘The spirit of 1914’, 55–7. Rosenberger, Zeitungen als Kriegstreiber?, 71, is the source for German newspaper totals; Verhey says there were 3,600 and Raithel over 2,000.

  110 Lieven, Russia and the origins, 119,130–2.

  111 Petrovich, Modern Serbia, 585–7.

  112 Rosenberger, Zeitungen als Kriegstreiber?, esp. 163–4, 200–5, 263–72, 283–300, 325–6.

  113 Shevin-Coetzee, German Army League, esp. 4–12,17, 59–60,78–97,122; Thomas Rohkrämer, ‘Der Gesinnungs-militarismus der “kleinen Leute” im Deutschen Kaiserreich’, in Wette (ed.), Krieg des kleinen Mannes, 95–6; Rohkrämer, ‘August 1914—Kriegsmentalität und ihre Voraussetzungen’, in Michalka (ed.), Erste Weltkrieg, 762.

  114 Kennedy, Anglo-German antagonism, 370–3. Membership figures given for the British National Service League fluctuate; these are from Adams and Poirier, Conscription controversy, 17.

  115 Becker, 1914, 24–7.

  116 De Groot, Blighty, 38.

  117 Anne Summers, History Workshop, 2 (1976), 104–23.

  118 Stryker, ‘Languages of sacrifice’, 149; Reith, Wearing spurs, 13.

  119 Farrar, Principled pragmatist, 147. Farrar says there were 8,500 clubs; the figure of 5,500 is from Storz, Kriegsbild und Rüstung, 314. See also Jules Maurin and Jean-Charles Jauffret, ‘L’Appel aux armes 1872–1914’, in Pedroncini (ed.), Histoire militaire de la France, iii. 93.

  120 Schubert-Weller, Kein schönrer Tod, is full; see also Stargardt, German idea of militarism, 98–103, 130; Storz, Kriegsbild und Rüstung, 314; Shevin-Coetzee, German Army League, 53–4; Thomas Rohkrämer, ‘August 1914—Kriegsmentalität und ihre Voraussetzungen’, in Michalka (ed.), Erste Weltkrieg, 769–70.

  121 Vogel, Nationen im Gleichschritt, 222–3.

  122 Rohkrämer, Militarismus der kleinen Leute, esp. 27, 34–41, 49–50, 56, 72–3,148–9,182–3, 258, 270.

  123 The fullest comparison of the July 1914 crowds is that for France and Germany in Raithel, Das ‘Wunder’ der inneren Einheit, esp. 222–64. For Germany alone, see Verhey, ‘The spirit of 1914’, 85–157, and more briefly Fritsche, Germans into Nazis, 13–36.

  124 Geinitz, Kriegsfurcht und Kampfbereitschaft, 70–8,132.

  125 Dittmar Dahlmann, ‘Russia at the outbreak of the First World War’, in Becker and Audoin Rouzeau (eds.), Les Sociétés européennes, 59;Röhl, ‘Germany’, in Wilson (ed.), Decisions for war, 32— but see Wolff, Tagebücher, i. 65–6.

  126 Michel, Guerres mondiales et conflicts contemporains, 179 (1995), 7.

  127 Vogel, Nationen im Gleichschritt, 240.

  128 Berliner Geschichtswerkstatt, August 1914, 16.

  129 Kruse, ‘Kriegsbegeisterung’, 174.

  130 Quoted by Verhey, ‘The spirit of 1914’, 153; also by Kruse, Krieg und nationale integration, 59.

  131 Verhey, ‘The spirit of 1914’, 162; see also Ullrich, Kriegsalltag, 13; Gerd Krumeich, ‘L’Entréeen guerre en Allemagne’, in Becker and Audoin-Rouzeau (eds), Les Sociétés européennes, 67–71.

  132 Hanssen, Diary of a dying empire, 11–14.

  133 Kruse, Krieg und nationale Integration, 160–1; Raithel, Das ‘Wunder’ der inneren Einheit, 420–1.

  134 Geinitz, Kriegsfurcht und Kampfbereitschaft, 104, 135, 314–29,330–4; Ziemann, Front und Heimat, 44–6.

  135 Bernd Ulrich, ‘Des Desillusionierung der Kriegsfreiwilligen von 1914’, in Wette (ed.), Krieg des kleinen Mannes, 114; Ulrich, ‘Kriegsfreiwillige. Motivationen-Erfahrungen-Wirkungen’ in Berliner Geschichtswerkstatt, August 1914, 233–7; Verhey, ‘The spirit of 1914’, 206–10.

  136 Ingeborg Rürup, “‘Es entspricht nicht den Ernste der Zeit, dass die Jugend müssig gehe”. Kriegsbegeisterung, Schulalltag und Bürokratie in den höheren Lehranstalten Preussens 1914, in Berliner Geschichtswerkstatt, August 1914, 181–2; Schubert-Weller, Kein schönrer Tod, 214, 229.

  137 Plaut, ‘Psychographie des Kriegers’, 4–16.

  138 Rürup, ‘Der “Geist von 1914”’, 17; Mann, ‘Gedanken im Kriege’, 9.

  139 Kruse, Krieg und nationale Integration, 101.

  140 Raithel, Das ‘Wunder’ der inneren Einheit, 460–6; also 428–34, 440; Berliner Geschichtswerkstatt, Aug. 1914, 69,124.

  141 Materna and Schreckenbach, Dokumente aus geheimen Archiven, 22 Aug. 1914.

  142 Halévy, L’Europe brisée, 25–7, 39.

  143 Raithel, Das ‘Wunder’ der inneren Einheit, 268–74.

  144 Halévy, L’Europe brisée, 31.

  145 Carnets du Cardinal Baudrillart, 26–7.

  146 Maurin, Armée-guerre-société, 566–7, 572.

  147 Flood, France 1914–18, 7–15.

  148 Becker, 1914, 294, also generally 270–357; for a briefer survey see Becker, in Fridenson (ed.), 1914–1918.

  149 Jules Maurin and Jean-Charles Jauffret, ‘Sous les drapeaux’, 113–15, and ‘Les Combattants face à l’épreuve de 1914 à 1918’, 272–5, in Pe
droncini (ed.), L’Histoire militaire de la France, iii; Maurin, Armée-guerre-société, 383–5.

  150 Flood, France 1914–18, 7–15.

  151 Maurin, Armée-guerre-société, 573, 679.

  152 Becker, 1914, 319.

  153 Guéno and Laplume (eds), Paroles de poilus, 13, 37.

  154 Baudrillart, Carnets du Cardinal Baudrillart, 27–8, 31, 80, 85; also Flood, France 1914–18, 17–23; Robert Vandenbussche, ‘Psychose de guerre dans le nord? 1910–14’, in Vandenrath et al. (eds.), 1914, 1289, 138, 160–4; Jean-Jacques Becker, ‘La Genèse de l’union sacrée’, in ibid. 208–9,214–15; Becker, La France en guerre, 13–15, 30–8.

  155 Glaise von Horstenau, Ein General im Zwielicht,!. 285.

  156 Herwig, First World War, 79, 127.

  157 Taslauanu, With the Austrian army, 6,11.

  158 Michel, Guerres mondiales et conflicts contemporains, 179 (1995), 7.

  159 Falzeder and Brabant (eds.), Correspondence of Freud and Ferenczi, 13.

  160 Deak, Beyond nationalism, 197; Zeman, Break-up of the Habsburg empire, 50–2, 55–7.

  161 Rauchensteiner, Tod des Doppeladlers, 178–80.

  162 Lieven, Nicholas II, 197, 204.

  163 McKean, St Petersburg, 357–8; Lobanov-Rostovsky, Grinding mill, 20; Cork, A bitter truth, 40–1.

  164 Dittmar Dahlmann, ‘Russia at the outbreak of the First World War’, in Becker and Audoin Rouzeau (eds.), Les Sociétés européennes, 53–61; Wildman, End of the Russian imperial army, 77–9; Rogger, Journal of Contemporary History, I (1966) 105–6; Sanborn, Slavic Review, LIX (2000), 267–89. See also Andolenko, Histoire de l’armée russe, 306, and Danilov, Le Russie dans la grande guerre, 155–6.

  165 Jahn, Patriotic culture in Russia, esp. 8–9, and n. 13.

  166 Jean Stengers, ‘Belgium’, in Wilson (ed), Decisions for war, 152, 157, 161–4; Stengers, Guerres mondiales et conflicts contemporains, 179 (1995), 17–20; Stengers, ‘La Belgique’, in Becker and Audoin Rouzeau (eds.), Les Sociétés européennes, 79–85.

  167 Simkins, Kitchener’s army, 17–19.

  168 Simkins, Kitchener’s army, xiii-xv, 39–40, 49–75.

  169 Grieves, Rural History, IV (1993), 55–75.

  170 Ewen Cameron and Iain Robertson, ‘Fighting and bleeding for the land: the Scottish Highlands and the Great War’, in C. M. M. Macdonald and E. Macfarland (eds.), Scotland and the Great War.

  171 Parry, Welsh History Review, XIV (1988), 78–92; on voluntary recruiting in general, see Simkins, Kitchener’s army ; Beckett and Simpson, Nation in arms, 7–12; Winter, The Great War and the British people, 25–35; Douglas, Journal of Modern History, XLII (1970), 570–4; Dewey, Historical Journal, XXVII (1984t), 199–223.

  172 Paskauskas (ed.), Correspondence of Freud and Jones, 298.

  173 Geinitz, Kriegsfurcht und Kampfbereitschaft, 178–9.

  174 Boschert, ‘Eine Utopie des Unglücks stieg auf’, in Berliner Geschichtswerkstatt, August 1914, 134.

  175 Geinitz, Kriegsfurcht und Kampfbereitschaft, 285–6.

  176 Meinertzhagen, Army diary, 78; Gordon-Duff, With the Gordon Highlanders, 343; Terraine (ed.), General Jack’s diary, 22; Dunn, The war the infantry knew, 1, Wildman, End of the Russian imperial army, 82.

  1 Groener, Der Feldherr wider Willen, p. vii; on the general issue of Germany’s publicization of the Marne, see Lange, Marneschlacht und deutsche Offentlichkeit.

  2 Liddell Hart, World war, 68, and Through the fog, 19.

  3 Zuber, War in History, VI (1999), passim, but esp. 270–1, 284–5.

  4 Ritter, The Schlieffen plan, presents the text of the 1905 memorandum, with some additional documents and commentary; it provides the basis of Turner, ‘The significance of the Schlieffen plan’, in Kennedy (ed.), War plans. Zuber, War in History, VI (1999), 262–305, challenges the memorandum’s status, and shows how Schlieffen still entertained a number of options in 1905. This is a point confirmed by Schlieffen’s last war game, for which see Foley, War Studies Journal, III (1998), 117–33, and IV (1999), 97–115. All the older literature now needs to be revised in the light of Zuber, although Wallach, Dogma, identifies the key historiographical issues. T. Holmes, War in history, VIII (2001) (forthcoming) presents an effective critique of Zuber. Bucholz, Moltke, Schlieffen, is particularly helpful on the institutional background. The inter-war German literature includes Kuhl, Grand état-major allemand ; Foerster, Schlieffen ; Elze, Tannenberg. Groener, Lebenserinnerungen, provides an insider’s view.

  5 Holger Afflerbach, ‘Die militärische Planung des Deutschen Reiches im Ersten Weltkrieg’, in Michalka (ed.), Erste Weltkrieg, 282–3; Showalter, Tannenberg, 32.

  6 Foley, War Studies Journal, III (1998), 119.

  7 Zuber, War in History, VI (1999), 275–96; Bucholz, Moltke, Schlieffen, 103, 107, 125, 145, 196–200; Stig Förster, Militärgeschichtliche Mitteilungen, 54, (1995), 74–8.

  8 Foley, War Studies Journal, IV (1999), 103; see also III (1998), 117–33; Zuber, War in History, VI (1999), 117–33.

  9 Foley, War Studies Journal, IV (1999), 113.

  10 Foley, War Studies Journal, IV (1999), 99 (n. 4).

  11 General Marx, quoted in Samuels, Command or control?, 23; see also Bucholz, Moltke, Schlieffen, 189–91.

  12 Hull, The Kaiser and his entourage, 232–5, 239–42.

  13 Quoted in Barnett, The swordbearers, 33–4.

  14 Bucholz, Moltke, Schlieffen, 93–5.

  15 Storz, Kriegsbild und Rüstung, 295–7, 323–7.

  16 Herrmann, Arming of Europe, 66–7.

  17 Ibid. 162–71; Stevenson, Armaments and the coming of war, 97, 179, 210–11, 292–6; Kroboth, Finanzpolitik des Deutschen Reiches, 136.

  18 Kroboth, Finanzpolitik des Deutschen Reiches, 192, 210–11; Geyer, Deutsche Rüstungspolitik, 84–5; for the argument that domestic politics did set the size of the army, see Ferguson, Historical Journal, XXXV (1992), 725–52.

  19 Schulte, Die deutsche Armee, pp. xxxv-xxxviii; Bucholz, Moltke, Schlieffen, 133–4.

  20 Stevenson, Armaments and the coming of war, 361;Afflerbach, Falkenhayn, 133–5; Herrmann, Arming of Europe, 184–91.

  21 Zuber, War in History, VI (1999), 297–304.

  22 Cited in Wallach, Dogma, 78; see also Borgert, ‘Grundzüge’, 474–6; Hughes, Journal of Military History, LIX (1995), 272–3.

  23 Mitchell, Victors and vanquished, 49–70, 111–15; J.–C. Jauffret, ‘Le Bouclier’, in Pedroncini (ed.), Histoire militaire de la France, iii. 30–6; P. Rocolle, 2000 ans de fortification française,!. 265–94.

  24 Much of the above is informed by discussions with Matthew Buck. See also Gat, Development of military thought, 128–30, 138, 169–72; Akavia, Decisive victory and correct doctrine, 25–6; of older literature, Gascouin, Le Triomphe de l’idée, 20–2,126.

  25 Contamine, La Révanche, 96–7, argues that the documents were planted by the 2ème bureau, themselves convinced of German intentions and anxious to persuade the rest of the general staff. On French war plans generally, see also Williamson, Politics of grand strategy ; J. K. Tannenbaum, ‘French estimates of Germany’s operational war plans’, in E. R. May (ed.), Knowing one’s enemies, 150–71.

  26 Ministère de la Guerre, Les Armées françaises, Tome 1,1er volume, 13–15, and annexes, 7–17.

  27 Michel, Gallieni, 258; see also Messimy, Mes souvenirs, 74–5.

  28 This is the argument of Snyder, Ideology of the offensive, chs. 2 and 3.

  29 Jauffret, Revue historique des armées, (1989), 35.

  30 Watt, Dare call it treason, 31; on the French army generally in this period, Porch, March to the Marne ; on Michel’s proposal, Rocolle, L’Hécatombe des generaux, 173–6.

  31 J.–C. Jauffret, ‘L’Appel aux armes 1872–1914’, in Pedroncini (ed.), Histoire militaire de la France, iii. 75–9; Gat, Development of military doctrine, 154–9. I have followed Gat’s figures for reserve battalions, which are significantly higher than—although proportionately similar to—Jauffret’s.

  32 Steve
nson, Armaments and the coming of war, 217–18.

  33 Gascouin, Le Triomphe de l’idée, 20–2,126; Brécard, En Belgique, 14–15, on Lanrezac; Cailleteau, Guerres mondiales et conflicts contemporains, 155, (juillet 1989), 17–18; 156, (octobre 1989), 14.

  34 On the French ‘spirit of the offensive’, see Porch, March to the Marne, ch. 11; Snyder, Ideology of the offensive, ch. 3; House, Military affairs, XL (1976), 164–9; Arnold, Military Affairs, XLII (1978), 61–7; Contamine, Révanche, ch. 14; Victoire de la Marne, 122–36; Michael Howard, ‘Men against fire’, in Paret (ed.), Makers of modern strategy.