August 30th, 1914

- The German 2nd Army counterattacks this morning, but is unable to prevent the French 5th Army from disengaging and retreating south.  General Bülow of 2nd Army believes he has won a tremendous victory, that the French 5th Army is shattered.  He orders his army to rest for thirty-six hours, while he remains concerned with his flanks - the German 3rd Army to the east had been too far away to assist yesterday.  He thus requests 1st Army to the west to turn southeastward to close the gap between the two.

This is one of the crucial moments of the campaign.  Turning southeastward, or the 'inward turn' as it comes to be known, will result in 1st Army passing east, not west, of Paris, abandoning a crucial component of the Schlieffen Plan.  General Kluck, however, has already been thinking of such a redirection of his army.  His army has been growing smaller during the advance, not only due to battle losses but the reassignment of some of his units to other duties - a corps to mask Antwerp and other units to occupation duties and cover his lines of communication.  He thus has a greater and greater amount of front to cover with fewer and fewer forces.  By passing east of Paris, he will be able to concentrate his army again.  He knows that this move will expose his western flank to a French counterattack originating from Paris, but he does not feel this is a significant threat - skirmishes with the French 6th Army convince him it contains only rag-tag forces.  One of his corps - IV Reserve - should be sufficient to cover his flank while the rest of his army heads southeast.  Moreover, he feels the BEF has been completely knocked out of the fight.  Kluck thus agrees to Bülow's request, and orders his 1st Army to shift direction starting tomorrow.

Moltke receives a report of Kluck's decision at Luxembourg City, where OHL has relocated today from Coblenz.  Despite the glowing reports from his commanders on the Western Front, he remains gloomy.  Unlike Joffre, he does not visit his commanders in the field, relying only on their oft-contradictory reports to inform him of developments, giving him a sense of disconnect which gives free reign to his fears.  For example, if the French armies are shattered, why are there so few prisoners being taken?  While beaten and retreating, the French are still in the field.  Moreover, he is also concerned about the distances between the armies of the right wing - there simply are not enough units at the front to cover all of the line.  Finally, Kluck's inward turn promises to catch 5th Army in its western flank, at last allowing it to be enveloped and destroyed.  This is the type of decisive victory, Moltke believes, that can win the war in the West.  Further deviating from the Schlieffen Plan, he signals his acquiescence to Kluck.

- As the results of the Battle of Guise become known, Joffre informs the government that he is no longer certain he can keep the German army out of Paris, and advises them to leave the capital, rather than risk capture.  He also orders 6th Army to withdraw toward Paris, in line with his agreement with War Minister Millerand of the 27th, and instructs 4th Army to fall back on Rheims.

- One of the casualties today of Joffre's ruthless efforts to root out commanders he feels has failed the test of combat is General Pierre Ruffey, commander of 3rd Army.  He is replaced by General Maurice Sarrail, one of 3rd Army's corps commanders.

- Sir John French sends Joffre a note today informing him that the BEF would not be in condition to take its place in the fighting line for another ten days.  The British Field Marshal prefers to decline participating in the struggle for survival of his French allies.

The situation on the Western Front, Aug. 30th, 1914.  Note the change of direction of Kluck's 1st Army.

- An area around Paris within a radius of twenty miles is placed under the command of General Gallieni as Military Governor, and he prepares the region for battle - entrances to the capital are barricaded, bridges prepared to be dynamited, etc.  Also, for the first time a German airplane drops bombs on Paris - two are killed by three bombs on the Quai de Valmy.  The aircraft also drops leaflets, reminding them of the Prussian investment of the city in 1870, and stating: 'There is nothing you can do but surrender.'

- In East Prussia, the Russian 2nd Army falls apart.  Stumbling around in unfamiliar terrain, Russians are slaughtered in the thousands, while others surrender to the first Germans they find.  Among those inside the pocket is General Samsonov and his staff.  They have no idea where they are, and walk hand-in-hand trying to walk south.  Samsonov keeps repeating to his Chief of Staff: 'The Tsar trusted me.  How can I face him after such a disaster?'  When the group stopped at 1am to try to get its bearings, Samsonov wanders off into a group of pines, where he shoots himself.

- On the Galician frontier, the Russian 5th Army is in increasing trouble.  On its western flank, the advance of the Austro-Hungarian 4th Army has separated it from the Russian 4th Army to the west, while the Austro-Hungarian XIV Corps has turned its eastern flank.  The three centre corps of Russian 5th Army are now in danger of encirclement, similar to the fate of 2nd Army in Eastern Prussia.  General P. A, Plehve of the Russian 5th Army, however, does not repeat the mistake of Samsonov - he orders today his corps in the centre to fall back on Krasnostav.

To the south, though units of 2nd Army are finally arriving in Galicia from the Serbian front to reinforce 3rd Army, the attack of the two armies in second phase of the Battle of Gnipa Lipa is an even worse catastrophe for the Austro-Hungarians than the first.  They advance without adequate artillery support against an enemy that outnumbers them almost two to one, and suffer twenty thousand casualties while being thrown back in disarray.

Conrad finally comes to understand the desperate situation on the southern portion of the Galician frontier, but still believes he is on the cusp of a crushing victory to the north.  As such, he orders the northern armies to continue to advance, while allowing the Russians to move westward towards Lemberg, in the belief that after crushing the Russians in the north, 4th Army can turn back south and drive into the flank of the advancing Russians.

- A force of 1383 New Zealanders, escorted by the Australia Squadron, land on the German colony of Samoa and occupy it without a fight.

August 29th, 1914

- Today Sir John French orders the main British supply base to relocate from Le Havre to St. Nazaire in Normandy, and also instructs his Inspector of Communications to plan for a prolonged retreat taking the BEF south past Paris.  It reflects the one urgent desire at the forefront of his mind - escape from France.  French does not intend the BEF to make any further contribution to a campaign he already feels has been lost.

As such, when the BEF commander hears of Haig's offer to aid the French 5th Army at 2am, he immediately countermands Haig, stating that I Corps needs a day's rest.  Lanrezac is understandably furious - one listener describes him as saying 'terrible, unpardonable things about Sir John French and the British Army.'

- The Battle of Guise begins at 6am this morning when Lanrezac's 5th Army, in compliance with Joffre's orders, attacks the German 6th Army which has been pursuing them.  Advancing in a morning mist, the French catch the Germans off-guard.  The fortunes of the battle vary.  The advance of III and XVIII Corps on 5th Army's left advance four miles before being halted by a rain of artillery fire at noon.  On the right, X Corps had been halted by 11am.  By the afternoon Lanrezac orders forward his reserve, I Corps under General Louis Franchet d'Esperey, to rally the line.  At 530pm,, Franchet d'Esperey leads I Corps, accompanied by III Corps on his left and X Corps on his right, launches a strong counterattack that forces the German Guards Corps to retreat.  This gives 5th Army a tactical victory, but its position is increasingly exposed by the continued retreat of the BEF on its left.  To avoid isolation, at 10pm Joffre agrees to Lanrezac's request for his army to retire.

The Battle of Guise, Aug. 29th to 30th, 1914.

- To the east the retreat of 4th and 3rd Armies continue, the former falling behind the Meuse River below Verdun.

- The first reports of the sack of Louvain appear in the foreign press today.  Global reaction to the news is almost universal outrage, convincing some neutrals that Germany was a force of destruction, and in the Entente countries is seen as demonstrating that there can be no compromise with German barbarians, or 'Huns' as they came to be referred to.  Efforts by the German army and government to assign blame for the episode on the Belgians themselves are entirely unconvincing.

- This morning, the 151st Ermland Infantry, belonging to I Corps, and the 5th Blücher Hussars of XVII Corps, meet at the village of Willenberg, closing the noose around the Russian 2nd Army.  Three Russian corps thrash around in the pocket, but without any central co-ordination their efforts accomplish nothing.  The Russians are already exhausted after several days of fighting, and some have not ate in four days.  They also lacked reliable maps, and thus had no concrete idea of either where they were or how they could break out.  Finally, the terrain in this part of East Prussia is forested and marshy, making any kind of movement difficult at best, while on each of the causeways that criss-cross the swamps the Germans place machine-guns detachments.  The Russian 2nd Army begins to disintegrate.

- In Galicia, General Brudermann of the Austro-Hungarian 3rd Army has reported to Conrad that he is facing at least 400 000 Russians before him.  Due to the slow pace of the Russian advance, however, Conrad does not believe him, and orders Brudermann to attack again.  3rd Army thus attacks the Russians to the east again, in the second phase of the Battle of Gnipa Lipa.

August 26th, 1914

- In line with his General Instruction No. 2, Joffre establishes the new 6th Army, to be formed at Amiens and commanded by General Michel-Joseph Maunoury.  It will initially consist of VII Corps, drawn from Alsace, and two reserve divisions currently fighting in Lorraine.  As lead elements of these units detrain at Amiens, the Army of Lorraine, briefly established to cover the offensive into the Ardennes, and the Army of Alsace, are stood down, their remaining units assigned to neighbouring armies.

The situation on the Western Front, Aug. 26th, 1914

- Joffre travels to BEF headquarters today, summoning Generals Lanrezac and d'Amade to meet them as well.  Joffre needs the BEF to remain in the Entente line, retreating on level with 5th Army, but Joffre is hamstrung by the fact that he cannot give orders to Sir John French - indeed, as a Field Marshal the latter technically outranks the former.  Thus Joffre must try to use persuasion.

The meeting, however, is a complete disaster.  French begins by listing all of the ways in which the armies of France have let himself and the British down, ending with Lanrezac's retreat of 5th Army on the 23rd.  Lanrezac, for his part, has had enough of British equivocations, and contributes little beyond shrugs of contempt and icy stares; the commanders of the two adjacent armies refuse to directly speak to one another.  Joffre discovers that the British commander has not even read his General Instruction No. 2 yet - though his staff had received it, they had not yet translated it to him.  Joffre attempts to patiently outline his requirements of the BEF, but is unable to extract any promise from Sir John French.  The meeting breaks up without result.

- The gloom at BEF headquarters is matched by the events on the battlefield today.  Early this morning, elements of Haig's I Corps skirmishes with parts of the German 1st Army, both attempting to bed down in the same small French village.  The fighting breaks off quickly, but the normally cool Haig temporarily loses his nerve, informing Sir John French that I Corps is under major attack..  The news rattles BEF headquarters - French's chief of staff faints, and he himself orders I Corps to undertake a precipitate retreat.  Crucially, the direction of I Corps' retreat will cause it to be separated from II Corps by the Oise River.

More serious is the plight of II Corps to the left at Le Cateau.  Reconnaissance by the BEF's lone cavalry division under General Edmund Allenby discovers just after midnight that units of the German 1st Army are close enough to attack II Corps first thing in the morning.  When informed at 2am, General Smith-Dorrien consults his divisional commanders, who declare that their forces are too tired and disorganized to undertake a nighttime retreat.  Smith-Dorrien thus decides that II Corps will remain and fight the Germans until they can withdraw.

Opposite II Corps are two corps of the German 1st Army.  Two further German corps attempted to turn II Corps left flank, but were blocked by the actions of General d'Amade's forces and the redeployed French cavalry under General Sordet.  The battle thus consists largely of frontal German assaults on the British positions, coupled with heavy artillery fire.  Though the Germans suffer significant casualties, superior numbers and artillery take their toll - II Corps loses eight thousand men and thirty-eight guns.  However, from 5pm onwards II Corps is able to successfully disengage from the battle and resume the retreat.  The Battle of Le Cateau is a tactical German victory, but once again the British have managed to retire before being enveloped.  The Entente forces are being defeated and pushed back, but not destroyed.

The top part of the map gives the Battle of Le Cateau, Aug. 26th, 1914, and the bottom half gives the Battle of Guise
(also known as the Battle of St. Quentin), Aug. 29th, 1914.

- For several weeks discussion has occurred among Government ministers in France regarding bringing in leading figures from opposition parties to sit on the Council of Ministers, in order to give the Government a broader base of support and make real Poincarè's commitment to a Sacred Union.  A reconstruction also gives an opportunity to assign blame for the initial defeats on a retiring minister.  In this case, War Minister Adolphe Messimy is the natural culprit, seen as responsible for the conduct of the war, and criticized for excessively optimistic communiques.  When asked to Messimy, though, Messimy refuses, resulting in Premier Viviani having to tender the resignation of the entire Council of Ministers, to allow for the creation of a new Council without Messimy.  Infuriated at his treatment, Messimy leaves for the front as a Major of Reserves, and is replaced as War Minister by Alexandre Millerand.

- In East Prussia Ludendorff has a momentarily attack of nerves when reports reach him that elements of the Russian 1st Army are moving southwest.  He fears being attacked in the flank by the Russian 1st Army while the operation against 2nd Army is still underway, and wonders if it should be cancelled.  It is in this type of situation that Hindenburg shines.  Nothing can shake his confidence and self-belief - he had agreed to Ludendorff's plan, so it would be seen through, and that was that.  He reassures Ludendorff that the reported movement is merely a few cavalry units, and the latter's equilibrium is restored.

XVII and I Reserve Corps arrive on the battlefield today, to the east of XX Corps.  Before them is the Russian VI Corps, guarding the right flank of the Russian 2nd Army.  When the two German corps attack, the Russians are caught completely by surprise - earlier reconnaissance reports of troop movements to the north had been explained as Russian, not German, units.  The Russian corps commander suffers a nervous breakdown, five thousand casualties were suffered, and by nightfall VI Corps was retreating in utter disarray.  2nd Army's right flank was no longer protected.

On the other side of the battlefield, General François again delays attacking the Russian I Corps before him.  Ludendorff personally visits the headquarters of I Corps, insisting that General François carry out his orders.  As his artillery arrives this evening, François agrees to attack tomorrow morning.

- Ludendorff is informed by a staff officer at OHL that two corps are being transferred from the Western to the Eastern Front.  Ludendorff is astonished - he is well aware of the intricate and detailing planning that has gone into the German invasion of France through Belgium, and can barely comprehend how these plans could be disrupted by a subtraction of forces before France has been decisively defeated.  He informs OHL that the reinforcements are not needed and in any case would not arrive before the decisive battle already underway.  Ludendorff's objections are brushed aside, and the redeployment continues.

- In the Baltic Sea, the German light cruiser Magdeburg runs aground just off the entrance to the Gulf of Finland.  Though the ship was destroyed by the Germans, the Russians manage to recover a copy of the German naval codebook, a vital seizure that will in time allow the British to begin to break German codes regarding naval operations.

- The Russian 5th Army, marching southwest towards Austro-Hungarian Galicia in aid of the Russian 4th Army, begins to collide with elements of the Austro-Hungarian 4th Army, advancing northwards, opening the Battle of Zamość-Komarów.  One corps on the Russian right brushes past an enemy corps, suffers heavy artillery fire, and retreats northwards in disarray, Austro-Hungarians in pursuit.

To the south, however, the campaign is going against Austria-Hungary.  General Rudolf von Brudermann, commanding 3rd Army east of Lemberg, believes there is only a small Russian force before him, and advances.  He collides into the Russian 3rd and 8th Armies on the Zlota Lipa River and, significantly outnumbered, suffers a sharp defeat, some of the Austro-Hungarian divisions suffering up to two-thirds casualties.  Brudermann's army is able to withdraw to the Gnipa Lipa River.

- A congress of the Nationalist Party, the chief opposition party in South Africa, is held in Pretoria.  The Nationalists reflect the position of the more anti-British portion of the Boer population, and some of its leaders have considered rebellion.  However, the congress endorses a position of neutrality, being pro-South African instead of either pro-British or pro-German - its leader J. B. M. Hertzog believes that remaining out of the war will allow South Africa to benefit from whomever wins in Europe, while choosing sides runs the risk of defeat.

- The German foreign office has assembled a mission of fifteen people to send to Afghanistan, to encourage the Emir to invade British India.  The mission includes Wilhelm Wassmuss, a Persian-speaker experienced with the tribes of the region.  The mission arrives at Constantinople disguised as a travelling circus - the Ottomans are not impressed.