France. In order to avoid the line of fortifications on the Franco-German border, the German army would have to advance through neutral Belgium in a huge sweeping movement: ‘let the last man on the right brush the Channel with his sleeve’. Having knocked out Belgium, it would swing south, covering twenty kilometres a day, and encircle Paris. Having dealt with the French, it would then have time to move east to confront the vast armies of Russia. Schlieffen died in 1913. One year later, his grand plan was put into action.
Speed was of the essence. On 2 August, Germany stormed through Luxembourg and demanded immediate access through Belgium. But ‘Poor little Belgium’, as the British press called her, refused and turned to a 1839 treaty, guaranteeing its neutrality. One of the signatories was Germany. The other was Great Britain. Britain asked Germany for an assurance that they would respect Belgium’s neutrality. Germany ignored it and on 4 August began bombing the city of Liège. Germany could not believe that Britain would go to war with a ‘kindred nation’ over a ‘scrap of paper’ – a treaty signed seventy-five years before. Britain declared war on Germany on 4 August. Sir Edward Grey, gazing out from the Foreign Office, remarked, ‘the lamps are going out all over Europe. We shall not see them lit again in our lifetime’.
The German army goes off to war, August 1914
Deutsches Bundesarchiv Bild 183-25684-0004
Grey, in his gloominess, was in a minority – the rest of Europe rejoiced at the prospect of war. Everywhere, civilians gathered in town squares to celebrate, young men anticipated adventures of derring-do and chivalry. ‘It’ll all be over by Christmas’, the British army was told; ‘You’ll be home before the leaves fall’, declared the Kaiser to his troops. For the Russian Tsar, Nicholas II, a victorious war would stifle the murmurings of revolution that was infecting his kingdom. For France, still chafing over its defeat in the Franco–Prussian War in 1871, war offered a chance to re-establish its reputation.
Unlike her European counterparts, Britain had no standing army, only a small professional force, the British Expeditionary Force (BEF), numbering a mere 100,000 men (compared, for example, to Germany’s 1.1 million). It was this tiny army that arrived in northern France to bolster the French effort. The Kaiser dismissed the BEF as a ‘contemptible little army’, hence British soldiers took pride in calling themselves the ‘Old Contemptibles’.
The first major confrontation between the Great Powers took place in the Belgium town of Mons on 23 August; Britain’s first battle on mainland Europe since Waterloo almost a century before. The ‘contemptible’ BEF, despite being outnumbered three to one, inflicted huge casualties on the Germans, delayed their advance, and then retreated in good order. The Retreat from Mons was, as legend would have it, guided by the ‘Angels of Mons’, ghostly apparitions who safely led the British soldiers away from the battlefield.
The Germans advanced through France but were rapidly running out of steam, too exhausted to maintain the momentum. By early September they had reached the River Marne, only thirty miles north of Paris. The military commander of Paris, General Joseph Gallieni, was old enough to remember 1871 when the Prussians, Germany’s predecessors, had besieged the capital to the point of starvation. He had no intention of allowing the Germans anywhere near Paris again.
After three days of fighting at the Marne, the Germans looked poised to break through the French and British forces, and onto Paris. Gallieni was to send reinforcements but while he had the troops he had no means to transport them north. In a flash of ingenuity, he seized every available Parisian taxi – 600 of them – crammed each one full of soldiers and sent them on their way to meet the army of the French commander-in-chief, General Joseph
Speed was of the essence. On 2 August, Germany stormed through Luxembourg and demanded immediate access through Belgium. But ‘Poor little Belgium’, as the British press called her, refused and turned to a 1839 treaty, guaranteeing its neutrality. One of the signatories was Germany. The other was Great Britain. Britain asked Germany for an assurance that they would respect Belgium’s neutrality. Germany ignored it and on 4 August began bombing the city of Liège. Germany could not believe that Britain would go to war with a ‘kindred nation’ over a ‘scrap of paper’ – a treaty signed seventy-five years before. Britain declared war on Germany on 4 August. Sir Edward Grey, gazing out from the Foreign Office, remarked, ‘the lamps are going out all over Europe. We shall not see them lit again in our lifetime’.
The German army goes off to war, August 1914
Deutsches Bundesarchiv Bild 183-25684-0004
Grey, in his gloominess, was in a minority – the rest of Europe rejoiced at the prospect of war. Everywhere, civilians gathered in town squares to celebrate, young men anticipated adventures of derring-do and chivalry. ‘It’ll all be over by Christmas’, the British army was told; ‘You’ll be home before the leaves fall’, declared the Kaiser to his troops. For the Russian Tsar, Nicholas II, a victorious war would stifle the murmurings of revolution that was infecting his kingdom. For France, still chafing over its defeat in the Franco–Prussian War in 1871, war offered a chance to re-establish its reputation.
Unlike her European counterparts, Britain had no standing army, only a small professional force, the British Expeditionary Force (BEF), numbering a mere 100,000 men (compared, for example, to Germany’s 1.1 million). It was this tiny army that arrived in northern France to bolster the French effort. The Kaiser dismissed the BEF as a ‘contemptible little army’, hence British soldiers took pride in calling themselves the ‘Old Contemptibles’.
The first major confrontation between the Great Powers took place in the Belgium town of Mons on 23 August; Britain’s first battle on mainland Europe since Waterloo almost a century before. The ‘contemptible’ BEF, despite being outnumbered three to one, inflicted huge casualties on the Germans, delayed their advance, and then retreated in good order. The Retreat from Mons was, as legend would have it, guided by the ‘Angels of Mons’, ghostly apparitions who safely led the British soldiers away from the battlefield.
The Germans advanced through France but were rapidly running out of steam, too exhausted to maintain the momentum. By early September they had reached the River Marne, only thirty miles north of Paris. The military commander of Paris, General Joseph Gallieni, was old enough to remember 1871 when the Prussians, Germany’s predecessors, had besieged the capital to the point of starvation. He had no intention of allowing the Germans anywhere near Paris again.
After three days of fighting at the Marne, the Germans looked poised to break through the French and British forces, and onto Paris. Gallieni was to send reinforcements but while he had the troops he had no means to transport them north. In a flash of ingenuity, he seized every available Parisian taxi – 600 of them – crammed each one full of soldiers and sent them on their way to meet the army of the French commander-in-chief, General Joseph
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