by Hew Strachan
35 Rocolle, L’Hécatombe, 25–9; Snyder, Ideology, 91–3; Laloy, Military Historian and Economist,!! (1917), 282–3; Akavia, Decisive victory and correct doctrine, 44–62.
36 Jauffret, Revue historique des armées, 174, (1989), 27–37.
37 J.–C. Jauffret, ‘Les Forces de la révanche’, in Pedroncini (ed.), Histoire militaire de la France, iii. 1718; Dieter Storz, ‘Die Schlacht der Zukunft: die Vorbereitungen der Armeen Deutschlands und Frankreich auf dem Landkrieg des 20. Jahrhunderts’, in Michalka (ed.), Erste Weltkrieg, 267–8; Storz, Kriegsbild und Rüstung, 299.
38 Pedroncini, Revue d’histoire diplomatique, XCI (1977), 143–58.
39 Stevenson, Armaments and the coming of war, 220, 296; Stevenson, Past and Present, 162, (1999), 175–6.
40 Gamelin, Manoeuvre et victoire de la Marne, 34–5, 42–4.
41 Douglas Porch, Journal of Military History, LIII (1989), 372–5.
42 Williams, Defending the empire, 196–7; Neilson, Britain and the last Tsar, 136,141.
43 Keith Wilson, War in History, I (1994)’ 87; see also Offer, First World War, 242–3,291–309; Johnson, Defence by committee, 97–100.
44 Paul Hayes, ‘Britain, Germany, and the Admiralty’s plans for attacking German territory 1906–1915’, in Freedman, Hayes, and O’Neill (eds.), War, strategy and international politics, 96–9.
45 Herrmann, Arming of Europe, 156–7.
46 Keith Wilson, ‘Britain’, in Wilson (ed.), Decisions for war, 176.
47 Spiers, Haldane, 81–3. On British plans in general, see Williamson, Politics of grand strategy ; Gooch, Plans of war ; Gooch, Prospect of war ; J. McDermott, ‘The revolution in British military thinking from the Boer War to the Moroccan crisis’, in Kennedy (ed.), War plans ; Howard, Continental commitment, chs. 1 and 2.
48 Williams, Defending the empire, 9,102–3, 215–19.
49 Quoted in K. M. Wilson, Policy of the Entente, 63.
50 On the inadequacies of British intelligence, see Hiley, Historical Journal, XXVI (1983), 867–89, and XXVIII (1985), 835–62.
51 Recent biographies of French are Holmes, The little field marshal, and Cassar, The tragedy of Sir John French.
52 K. M. Wilson, Policy of the Entente, 121–34; d’Ombrain, War machinery and high policy, 145–7; W. J. Philpott, Journal of Strategic Studies, XII (1989), 458–78; Philpott, Anglo-French relations and strategy, 3–6.
53 Cassar, Kitchener, is the most obvious reinstatement of its subject’s reputation; but see also Simkins, Kitchener’s armies, and Neilson, Strategy and supply. Cassar provides an account of the events of early August; see also Terraine, Mons, chs. 1 and 2; Hankey, Supreme Command, 169–73,187–8.
54 Philpott, Anglo-French relations and strategy, 9–14; Prete, Canadian Journal of History, XXIV (1989), 55–60; Huguet, Britain and the war, 40–1.
55 Halpern, Naval history, 29;Hörich, Deutsche Seekriegführung, 27.
56 Duroselle, La France et les français, 82–5.
57 Camena d’Almeida, L’Armée allemande, 85–124.
58 Groener, Lebenserinnerungen, 131–4,143–4,154; Westwood, Railways at war, 133.
59 Contamine, Révanche, 200; Victoire de la Marne, ch. 3; see also Tyng, The Campaign of the Marne, 355, for somewhat different calculations, and Koeltz, La Guerre de 1914–1918, 557–60.
60 The best synthesis of the extensive literature of the 1920s and 1930s, and still probably the best account of all, is Tyng, Campaign of the Marne. Helpful later perspectives are provided by Contamine, Victoire de la Marne ; Jaschke, Historische Zeitschrift, CXC (1960), 311–48; Rocolle, L’Hécatombe. Good popular accounts—Isselin, The battle of the Marne ; Terraine, Mons; Tuchman, August 1914 ; Barnett, The swordbearers, pt. I. Spears, Liaison 1914, is a graphic mixture of personal observation and historical commentary, and Gamelin, Manoeuvre et victoire de la Marne, does the same for France.
61 Bitsch, La Belgique, 423–39.
62 Ibid. 452–4, 472.
63 Jean Stengers, ‘Belgium’, in Wilson (ed.), Decisons for war, 151–5.
64 Bitsch, La Belgique, 492, 496.
65 Galet, Albert King of the Belgians, is fundamental to the discussion that follows.
66 Bitsch, La Belgique, 474.
67 Ibid. 481.
68 Galet, Albert, 73.
69 Deauville, Jusqu’ à l’Yser, 20.
70 Dubail, Quatre années,!. 12–28.
71 For this phase of the battle, see Gras, Castelnau, 149–74; also Dubail, Quatre années,!. 40–64.
72 Galet, Albert, 106; for a French account, Brécard, En Belgique, esp. 16–21.
73 Grasset’s two studies, Ethe and Virton, provide operational narratives; see also the account of 87th brigade’s commander, Cordonnier, Une brigade au feu, 237–303.
74 Goldrick, King’s ships, 71–2.
75 Edmonds, France and Belgium 1914, i. 68–70; Bloem, Advance from Mons, 53; Poseck, Deutsche Kavallerie, 209; Anglesey, History of British cavalry, vii. 143–4.
76 Bloem, Advance from Mons, 59–64.
77 Quoted in Spears, Liaison 1914, 195.
78 Cited by Rocolle, L’Hécatombe, 98–9.
79 Pourcher, Les Jours de guerre, 91; also 87.
80 Pedroncini, Les Mutineries de 1917, 13–14, 21–3.
81 David (ed.), Inside Asquith’s cabinet, 199.
82 Terraine (ed.), General Jack’s diary, 43, 48.
83 L. V. Smith, ‘Command authority in the French army’, 159–60.
84 Huguet, Britain and the war, 75–6; see also Gamelin, Manoeuvre et victoire de la Marne, 63–6,91–4.
85 Contamine, Victoire, 187.
86 Rocolle, L’Hécatombe, passim, but esp. 40–74, 158–91, 212–18, 262–362; Cailletau, Guerres mondiales et conflicts contemporains, 156, (octobre 1989), 4–9, 20. The precise totals of those dismissed varies according to the nature of the calculation: the three army commanders were Ruffey, Lanrezac, and Pau.
87 Spears, Liaison 1914, app. VII; Contamine, Révanche, 237–47; id., Victoire, 122–36; Foch, Memoirs, 15–20; L. V. Smith, ‘Command authority in the French army’, 66–81; Stevenson, Armaments and the coming of war, 303; Herrmann, Arming of Europe, 202–3.
88 Benary, Ehrenbuch des deutschen Feldartillerie, 38;Müller, Militärgeschichtliche Mitteilungen, 57, (1998), 398, 423.
89 Contamine, Victoire, 187; Gascouin, L’Évolution de l’artillerie, 22–5,39, 58–9; Storz, Kriegsbild und Rüstung, 207–13, 260–4; Ripperger, Journal of Military History, LIX (1995), 599–618; Linnenkohl, Vom Einzelschuss, 65–80. I have also learnt much from Matthew Buck on these points.
90 Dubail, Quatres années,!. 22–4; also Gascouin, Le Triomphe de l’idée, 195–6, 234–5.
91 Gascouin, Le Triomphe de l’idée, 176–8, 211–12.
92 Ibid. 63.
93 Moser, Feldzugsaufzeichnungen, 20;Rühm, quoted in Storz, ‘Die Schlacht der Zukunft’, in Michalka (ed.), Erste Weltkrieg, 252; Rommel, Attacks, 17–18, 37–46; Schulte, Europäische Krise, 182; Wild von Hohenborn, Briefe und Tagebuchaufzeichnungen, 16, 22–3.
94 Contamine, Révanche, 234, 246–7, 276; Contamine, Victoire, 120, 285–7.
95 Richard Holmes, ‘The last hurrah: cavalry on the western front, August-September 1914’, in Cecil and Liddle (eds.), Facing Armageddon ; also Holmes, Riding the retreat.
96 Poseck, Deutsche Kavallerie, esp. 210–18; Marwitz, Weltkriegsbriefe, 12–13, 20, 22; Storz, Kriegsbild und Rüstung, 276–8; Rittmeister von Ammon, ‘Kavallerie’, in Schwarte (ed.), Militärischen Lehren, 1st edn., 74–9.
97 von Matuschka, ‘Organisationsgeschichte des Heeres’, 294–5, 301–2.
98 Hughes, Journal of Military History, LIX (1995), 274; Storz, Kriegsbild und Rüstung, 321.
99 Bucholz, Moltke, Schlieffen, 183–4, 240–1.
100 Marwitz, Weltkriegsbriefe, 22, 31.
101 Afflerbach, Falkenhayn, 82.
102 Storz, Kriegsbild und Rüstung, 321.
103 Bucholz, Moltke, Schlieffen, 281.
104 von Matuschka, ‘Organisationsgeschichte des Heeres’, 183–4; Groener, Lebenserinnerungen, 75; Barnett, Swordbearers, 76; Gamelin, Manoeuvre et victoire de la Marne, 139.
105 Schulte, Europäische Krise, 175–9; Wrisberg, Heer und Heimat, 11.
106 Naveh, In pursuit of military excellence, 76.
107 Samuels, War in History, II (1995), 28–9.
108 Hughes, Journal of Military History, LIX (1995), 263–4, 272–3.
109 Bucholz, Moltke, Schlieffen, 302.
110 von Matuschka, ‘Organisationsgeschichte des Heeres’, 226–7.
111 Schulte, Die deutsche Armee, passim ; Schulte, Europäische Krise, 299–322. An important corrective to Schulte is Storz, Kriegsbild und Rüstung, esp. 175–9; also his essay, ‘Der Schlacht der Zukunft’, in Michalka (ed.), Erste Weltkrieg.
112 Quoted in Luvaas, The education of an army, 315; earlier in the same year Repington formed a much more favourable assessment, see his Essays and criticism, 202–38. On German tactics generally, see von Matuschka, ‘Organisationsgeschichte des Heeres’, 152, 159, 162; Borgert, ‘Grundzüge’, 427–32, 474–89; Elze, Tannenberg, 45–51;Müller, Militärgeschichtliche Mitteilungen, 57, (1998), 385–442.
113 Wallach, Dogma of the battle of annihilation, 89–90.
114 Groener, Lebenserinnerungen, 154–6; see also Addington, Blitzkrieg era and the German general staff, 15–21; van Creveld, Supplying war, ch. 4; Herwig, Journal of Strategic Studies, IX (1986), 53–63.
115 von Matuschka, ‘Organisationsgeschichte des Heeres’, 262; also 195, 231, 264; Laux, Journal of Transport History, 3rd series, VI (1965), 64–70; Storz, Kriegsbild und Rüstung, 352–3;Afflerbach, Falkenhayn, 62–3.
116 Marwitz, Weltkriegsbriefe, 34.
117 Contamine, Victoire, 288; on regimental losses, see Schulte, Europäische Krise, 181–2; Camena d’Almeida, L’Armée allemande, 160.
118 Pedroncini, Revue d’histoire diplomatique, XCI (1977), 145–58; Prete, Canadian Journal of History, XXIV (1989), 51, 53–4.
119 Gamelin, Manoeuvre et victoire, 105–6.
120 Miquel, Grand guerre, 151; Contamine, Victoire, 393–4.
121 Tyng, Marne, 189.
122 Förster, Militärgeschichtliche Mitteilungen, 54, (1995), 85–6.
123 Schulte, Europäische Krise, 183–90, 217, 224, 226–7, 231–2, 235–7.
124 Brown, British logistics, 46–53.
125 Blake, Haig, 70, 72.
126 On the pre-war army, and its problems in 1914, see Bidwell and Graham, Fire-power, esp. ch. 3; also Miller, Military Affairs, XLIII (1979), 133–8; Bourne, Britain and the Great War, 27–8.
127 Philpott, Anglo-French relations, 23.
128 Philpott, Guerres mondiales et conflicts contemporains, 180, (1995), 48–52.
129 Gamelin, Manoeuvre et victoire, 144–6,159–60,175.
130 Bréguet and Bréguet, Revue historique des armées, 166, (mars 1987), 92–100.
131 Huguet, Britain and the war, 88–93; Philpott, Anglo-French relations, 27–8; Gamelin, Manoeuvre et victoire, 181–94.
132 The controversy over the relative contributions of Gallieni and Joffre continues. The interpretation given here is pro-Joffre, and follows Tyng and Contamine. For an account that is consistently hostile to Joffre, see Liddell Hart, World war and Reputations. A recent discussion of 4 September, and the crucial position of the BEF, is Seince, Revue historique des armées, 172, (septembre 1988), 9–15.
133 Spears, Liaison, 397.
134 Schulte, Europäische Krise, 253.
135 Tardieu, Avec Foch, 51; Gascouin, Le Triomphe de l’idée, 129.
136 Nobécourt, Fantassins, 44; the best overall treatment of this phase of the battle is Jaschke, Historische Zeitschrift, CXC (1960); Lange, Marneschlacht, discuss the subsequent apportionment of blame within Germany.
137 Kuhl, Grand état-major, 141–2; Bloem, Advance from Mons, 171.
138 Marwitz, Weltkriegsbriefe, 41.
139 Jaschke, Historische Zeitschrift, CXC (1960), 335, 342; Edmonds, France and Belgium 1914, i– 332–40; Terraine (ed.), General Jack’s diary, 49–51; Bourne, Britain and the Great War, 23.
140 Ratinaud, La Course à la mer, 27.
141 Wallach, Dogma, 160. On this phase of the fighting, see Nobécourt, Fantassins, ch. 2; Rocolle, L’Hécatombe, 206–8; Miquel, La Grand Guerre, 188–93.
142 Terraine, Mons, 211.
143 L. V. Smith, ‘Command authority’, 149.
144 Tardieu, Avec Foch, 62. The discussion that follows relies largely on Gazin, La Cavalerie française, esp. 70, 87–90, 102–3, 114, 308–19; see also Bogros, Guerres mondiales et conflicts contemporains, 185, (1997), 7–12.
145 Anglesey, History of British Cavalry, vii. 179–80.
146 Contamine, Victoire, 289–90.
147 Edmonds, France and Belgium 1914, i. 430–4; Fayolle, Cahiers secrets, 40–1; Reichsarchiv, Weltkrieg, vi. 394–400.
148 Herwig, First World War, 105.
149 Falkenhayn and Wenninger especially: see Schulte, Europäische Krise, 190–1, 279. Much of this paragraph reflects the themes of Lange, Marneschlacht.
150 On Falkenhayn, see Afflerbach, Falkenhayn, and Janssen, Der Kanzler und der General ; for contemporary comments, Riezler in Jarausch, Enigmatic Chancellor, 267, and Groener, Lebenserinnerungen, 187–8.
151 Reichsarchiv, Weltkrieg, v. 9.
152 The tone of Falkenhayn’s memoirs suggests that he saw his position as essentially defensive: Falkenhayn, General headquarters, 9–10, 12–15; the German official history is much more positive, saying that Falkenhayn expected a decision in the west within a month: Reichsarchiv, Weltkrieg, v. 3–4.
153 Rupprecht von Bayern, Mein Kriegstagebuch,!. 121;Afflerbach, Falkenhayn, 181.
154 Reichsarchiv, Weltkrieg, v.16–25; also Ratinaud, La course, 44–9.
155 Groener, Lebenserinnerungen, 179–81, 193–8.
156 Miquel, La Grande Guerre, 195–7; Fayolle, Cahiers secrets, 44; on supply problems at Ypres, see Unruh, Langemarck, 58–9,109–10.
157 Schulte, Europäische Krise, 182; Genevoix, ’Neath Verdun, 193–4.
158 Gras, Castelnau, 177; Ratinaud, La Course, is the best single source for this and for what follows, until the end of the year.
159 Rupprecht, Mein Kriegstagebuch,!. 127; Reichsarchiv, Weltkrieg, v. 58, 61–2.
160 Joffre, Mémoires,!. 438–9.
161 Most accounts are shaped by the memoirs of Joffre and Foch, both inimical to Castelnau. Gras, Castelnau, is an important corrective.
162 Ibid. 191–2; Tardieu, Avec Foch, 88.
163 Foch, Memoirs, 138.
164 Hörich, Deutsche Seekriegsführung, 36–7, 65–84. Falkenhayn, General headquarters, 13, 28–9, stresses his desire to secure the Channel ports as a base for operations against Britain. Farrar-Hockley, Death of an army, 28–9, follows him. But this seems to be hindsight; in late September 1914 Falkenhayn’s preoccupation was with a swift victory in France.
165 Galet, Albert, 166, 200–41; Deauville, Jusqu’a l’Yser, 32; Labbeke, Stand To!, 28, (1990), 22.
166 Philpott, Anglo-French relations, 32–48; Philpott, Guerres mondiales et conflicts contemporains, 180, (1995), 53–60.
167 Prior, Churchill’s ‘World Crisis’ as history, 30–5.
168 Galet, Albert, 216–17, 237–8.
169 T. Wilson, Myriad faces of war, 147; also Cassar, French, 154–5; Holmes, Little field marshal, 242–4.
170 Edmonds, France and Belgium 1914, ii. 136–7. General accounts of the Flanders fighting are Foch, Memoirs ; Ratinaud, La Course ; Farrar-Hockley, Death of an army.
171 Unruh, Langemarck, chs. 2–6.
172 Deauville, Jusqu’à l’Yser, 86; Galet, Albert, 265.
173 Brécard, En Belgique, esp. 55–87.
174 Farrar-Hockley, Death of an army, 169.
175 Unruh, Langemarck, 182–5; Edmonds, France and Belgium 1914, ii. 466–7; Contamine, Révanche, 276–7.
176 Foerster and Greiner (eds.),
Wir kämpfer in Weltkrieg, 95–7.