August 20th, 1914

- The German 1st Army occupies Brussels today, while the Belgian army completes its retirement into the fortified camp of Antwerp.

Belgian soldiers during the retreat to Antwerp, Aug. 20th, 1914.
And yes, those are dogs pulling machine guns.

- The concentration of the British Expeditionary Force at Maubeuge is completed today, and the two British corps begin to advance northeast.  Meanwhile, in London, the British Cabinet has authorized the deployment of the fifth British infantry division to the Continent.

- The French 5th Army completes its advance to the Sambre and Meuse Rivers.  Its defensive position resembles an inverted 'V', with the Belgian forts at Namur at the point.  Just to the north, cavalry units belonging to 5th Army engage in small skirmishes with German cavalry.

- At 830pm Joffre issues orders for 3rd and 4th Army to attack tomorrow.  The latter will advance northeast towards Neufchâteau while the former will move against Arlon.  To protect the advance against a German counterattack from Metz, Joffre has formed a portion of 3rd Army into a separate Army of Lorraine to cover the southern flank of the attack.  This is to be the main assault of Plan XVII - a strike north of Metz-Thionville which will crush the centre of the German line.  While Joffre is aware that the Germans are advancing through Belgium, he still does not see it as the focal point of the German campaign.  Indeed, he believes that the Germans have reduced their forces opposite 3rd and 4th Armies to strengthen the German right, which will increase the odds of French success tomorrow.  He has also instructed the commanders of 3rd and 4th Armies to make no preparatory movements, so as to not tip off the Germans to the advance and cause them to stop moving forces into Belgium.

- Even as Joffre is ordering the main French attack, the offensive in Lorraine is disintegrating.  There is a renewed attack today by the French 1st and 2nd Armies, the former in particular attempting to seize Morhange.  Advancing into prepared German defences, the French suffer horrendous losses.  Simultaneously, Prince Rupprecht's 6th Army launches the counterattack 'authorized' by OHL on the 18th.  This attack falls primarily against the two corps of 2nd Army to the south of XX Corps, whose successful advance had uncovered their flank.  Unlike the French attack, the German advance is successful - both French corps retire in disarray, and by nightfall 2nd Army is retreating back across the French border to the Meurhe River and the fortifications of Nancy.  2nd Army has also lost contact with 1st Army to the south, and in order to re-establish the line 1st Army, which has also suffered heavily, and the Army of Alsace are ordered to fall back.

- In the early morning hours, the German I Corps under General François attacks the northern flank of the Russian 1st Army, and is a shattering success - one Russian division suffers 60% casualties.  The rest of the attack by 8th Army, however, has a very different outcome.  XVII Corps, under General August von Mackensen, and I Reserve Corps, under General Otto von Below, arrive on the battlefield only in the late morning, and the Russians facing them have been forewarned by I Corps' attack.  Devastating artillery fire is poured onto XVII Corps, which suffers eight thousand casualties in two hours.  An entire division breaks and retreats in disarray.  I Reserve Corps, attacking to the south of XVII Corps, is similarly repulsed, and with XVII Corps in retreat, has no choice but to retreat as well.  At 6pm 8th Army commander General Prittwitz calls François and informs him that despite his local success, I Corps must retreat.  Though it is not an overwhelming one, the Russians have won the Battle of Gumbinnen.

The defeat provokes a crisis of confidence in Prittwitz.  He sees his strategy - attacking each Russian army separately - in tatters.  8th Army is already in retreat, and the Russian 2nd Army will be able to advance northwards unmolested.  Indeed, the Russian 2nd Army is already to the west of the German 8th Army, and Prittwitz concludes that a hasty withdrawal behind the Vistula River is required.  This would abandon the entirety of East Prussia to the Russians, and his subordinates, François included, are appalled.  When Prittwitz informs Moltke this evening of his decision, the latter is aghast - such a precipitate retreat might allow the Russians to threaten Berlin.  Moltke instructs his staff to contact 8th Army's corps commanders directly, to learn their impressions of the situation.

There is one saving grave to come out of the Battle of Gumbinnen for the Germans - General Rennenkampf does not order his 1st Army to pursue.  Though victorious, his army is exhausted and supplies are dangerously low.  Instead, 1st Army is to rest and recover from the battle.  In this are the seeds of the German revival.

- Conrad orders IV Corps to abandon the Sabac bridgehead as a preliminary to its transfer to Galicia.  The order is countermanded by Potiorek, who believes the bridgehead is necessary to the preservation of 5th Army.  Meanwhile, other elements of 2nd Army only today begin the transfer by rail to the Russian front, while 6th Army is finally in position to begin its offensive across the Drina River.

- Lord Kitchener persuades the British Cabinet to reject an alliance offer from Greek Prime Minister Eleutherios Venizelos, fearing that such a move would increase the probability of the Ottoman Empire joining the war on the side of Germany.  Kitchener views this issue primarily through the lens of the Empire - his concern is avoiding an Ottoman offensive against Egypt.

August 19th, 1914

- The German 1st Army crosses the Gette River in Belgium today, and find that the Belgian army has retreated in the night.  The Germans are furious that the Belgians have escaped destruction.  Perhaps not coincidentally, the village of Aerschot, between Brussels and the Gette River, suffers the first mass execution - 150 civilians are rounded up and shot.

- The French Army of Alsace, operating between 1st Army and the Swiss border, recaptures Mulhouse today.  However, its commander, General Paul-Marie Pau, is suspicious of the combat effectiveness of the reserve divisions, and otherwise restricts his activity to securing the Vosges, despite the fact that he is directly opposed by only four German Landwehr divisions.  Pau's inactivity allows the German 7th Army to threaten the right flank of the French 1st Army, which pulls the latter southward to cover the threat.  This in turn further draws the French 1st Army away from the French 2nd Army.

- Still ten miles east of Gumbinnen, François argues to Prittwitz that the Russian 1st Army should be attacked again - the Russians were disorganized by their advance and prior fighting, insisted François.  Prittwitz knew that initiating battle east of the Angerapp would mean abandoning the defensive positions the Germans had established there.  On the other hand, the Germans had intercepted a message from General Paul von Rennenkampf, commander of the Russian 1st Army, to one of his corps commanders, ordering that the army will rest on the 20th to bring up supplies and restore cohesion.  Prittwitz worries that if the Russian 1st Army delays its advance to the Angerapp, there will not be enough time to defeat them and redeploy southwestwards against the Russian 2nd Army.  Prittwitz decides instead to attack along the lines suggested by François - his corps will attack tomorrow morning, while the two and a half corps along the Angerapp will march east to join.

- The main Austro-Hungarian offensive against Russia begins today, with 1st and 4th Armies advancing north from Galicia into Russian Poland, in the direction of Lublin and Cholm.  Conrad's plan, to the extent that he has one, is to cut off the western portion of Russian Poland, isolating and destroying the Russian armies there.  In this maneouver he had hoped to be joined by a German force advancing south from East Prussia as the other half of the pincer.  Moltke has since disabused Conrad of this notion, yet Conrad persists with this operation.  Moreover, the position of 1st and 4th Armies will worsen the further north they go.  The Galician frontier resembles a half moon, and its length expands as the front moves into Russia.  Thus the flanks of 1st and 4th Armies, and in particular the right flank of 4th Army, arrayed to the east of 1st Army, will be exposed.  To the south, 3rd Army and whatever elements of 2nd Army that arrive are undertake an 'active defense' of the eastern portion of Galicia.  In practice, the commander of 3rd Army interprets this as a full advance into Russia.  This leaves 3rd Army even more exposed than 1st and 4th Armies, with the added complication that its lesser size makes it much less capable of meeting whatever Russian resistance it encounters.

- In response to the defeat suffered on the night of the 16th, the commander of the Austro-Hungarian 5th Army orders VIII Corps to retreat behind the Drina River.  While a necessary decision in light of the losses of VIII Corps - one division alone had lost a third of its strength on the 16th - it leaves the other corps of 5th Army - XIII Corps - unsupported in Serbian territory.

With the growing realization of the failure of 5th Army's offensive, Potiorek's constant demands of Conrad to allow more substantial use to be made of 2nd Army bears limited fruit - Conrad agrees to temporarily transfer IV Corps to 5th Army, and the unit launches an attack from the Sabac bridgehead against the Serbian 2nd Army.  The offensive makes some headway, but just as the Serbs appear about to give way, Conrad orders the effort called off, to allow for transfer of the corps to Galicia.