August 5th, 1915

- In Russian Poland, the primary axes of the German advance have been from the northwest across the Narew River, and from the south between the Vistula and Bug Rivers.  The line to the east, at the 'apex' of the Russian salient, has been covered by the German 9th Army and a German force under the command of General Woyrsch.  As the German focus has been elsewhere, 9th Army in particular has been reduced over the past few months, and now consists of only three infantry and one cavalry divisions.  The Russian evacuation of the west bank of the Vistula River, however, necessitates a vigorous pursuit by 9th Army and Woyrsch's command to pin the Russians while their flanks to the northwest and south are pushed in.  To ensure their movements are coordinated, the two forces are formed into a single army group under the command of Prince Leopold of Bavaria, with instructions to drive to the east.

There is, however, another purpose behind Falkenhayn's formation of this army group, as the German chief of staff has placed Prince Leopold's command directly subordinate to OHL, as opposed to placing it under OberOst.  While ostensibly this is to ensure that its advance is in line with the flank attacks, it also reduces the role of Hindenburg and Ludendorff in deciding strategy on the Eastern Front; now there is a formation in the east that reports only to Falkenhayn.  It is another episode in the ongoing rivalry between the German chief of staff and the command duo at OberOst.

- After the failed Austro-Hungarian landing on the tiny island of Pelagosa in the central Adriatic on July 28th, the Italians had assigned the submarine Nereide to the island to deter the enemy from making a second attempt.  The crew is lackadaisical as it slowly patrols the waters off Pelagosa, making no attempt to obscure themselves, assuming that they are the hunters, not the hunted.  It is a fatal mistake -  when they fly the Italian flag from their signal mast this morning, it is spotted by the Austro-Hungarian submarine U5, allowing the latter to torpedo and sink Nereide.  U5 is commanded by First Lieutenant Georg von Trapp (yes, that von Trapp), who has already made a name for himself in the war after sinking the French armoured cruiser Léon Gambetta on April 27th.

- Since his dismissal as commander of the French 3rd Army on July 22nd, the question of General Maurice Sarrail's further employment has been a delicate one, given his position as the most prominent republican general in an army whose enthusiasm for the Third Republic has always been something less than wholesale.  An alternative command on the Western Front is out of the question, given that it would greatly offend Joffre and undermine his authority.  Instead, the government has looked further afield, and has decided to appoint Sarrail commander of the Expeditionary Corps of the Near East, currently stalemated on Cape Helles on Gallipoli.  Sarrail initially refused the offer, asserting that a corps command would in effect be a demotion, and so the French government today renames the formation to the Army of the Near East and assures Sarrail that he will not be subordinate to British generals.  Sarrail accepts with the further promise from the government of reinforcements, which makes a clash between Joffre's focus on the Western Front inevitable.

January 21st, 1915

- Sir John French visits Ferdinand Foch and Joseph Joffre at the latter's headquarters today to discuss strategy on the Western Front.  The commander of the BEF pushes his plan for a British advance along the Channel coast, which would benefit from naval support and would clear potential German naval bases at Zeebrugge and Ostend.  Joffre, however, continues to insist that he needs the BEF to take over more of the line at Ypres to facilitate further offensives, and French relents, promising to relieve first the French IX Corps and subsequently XX Corps as reinforcements arrive from Britain.

- In Germany the impasse between Falkenhayn and his critics is resolved today in conference with the Kaiser.  Though Bethmann-Hollweg and others are unable to force the Chief of Staff's resignation, Falkenhayn is convinced to give up the position of War Minister, which he has held since before the outbreak of the war.  Further, in the face of Hindenburg's threatened resignation Falkenhayn has no choice but to acquiesce in Ludendorff's return to OberOst as Chief of Staff.  Finally, the arguments of Hindenburg and Ludendorff regarding the deployment of the new reserve corps are accepted, and it is agreed that they will be deployed to the Eastern Front.  Falkenhayn accepts the decisions with 'a heavy heart', as he later writes, believing that the commitment of the reserves to the East will be insufficient to win a decisive victory while major offensive operations on the Western Front would not be possible for the time being.

January 12th, 1915

- Admiral Carden submits his plan for the attack on the Dardanelles this morning.  He suggests a slow and methodical approach, knocking out the Ottoman forts one-by-one while minesweepers clears the Straits, in order to minimize losses.  He estimates the operation will take one month, and should be undertaken by a force of twelve pre-dreadnoughts, three battlecruisers (to deal with Goeben), three light cruisers, sixteen destroyers, six submarines and twelve minesweepers.

Carden's plan is discussed at the Admiralty by Churchill and his senior admirals, including the First Sea Lord.  No one objects to Churchill's strong endorsement of the proposal, and crucially Fisher suggests adding to the force the newly-commissioned dreadnought Queen Elizabeth.  It was scheduled to undertake gunnery training off Gibraltar in February, but if it is going to be lobbing 15-inch shells in practice, they might as well be aimed at Ottoman forts instead of the open sea.

- Falkenhayn travels to the headquarters of OberOst at Posen today, where he discusses the general situation on the Eastern Front with Hindenburg and also receives a briefing from Colonel Max Hoffman regarding ongoing planning for an offensive from East Prussia.  Falkenhayn, however, refuses to commit to deploying the four new reserve corps to the Eastern Front before his departure back to Berlin.

- At 11am this morning, the German counterattack north of Soissons is launched on the heights east of Crouy, home to vital French artillery observation posts.  The attack catches the French completely by surprise and the Germans capture the heights, resulting in a noticeable slackening of French artillery fire.  At noon, two regiments of 9th Infantry Brigade takes the trenches north and northwest of Crouy which, in combination with an attack of 7th Reserve Division to the west, undoes the French success achieved over the past few days.  This convinces General Lochow of III Corps to launch the previously-planned offensive tomorrow.

The Battle of Soissons, January 12th to 14th, 1915.

January 9th, 1915

- A further attack by the French 4th Army near Perthes, launched at 4pm after a heavy artillery bombardment, are broken up by the German defenders.  Further to the east, French infantry are able to reach and enter a narrow strip of the first German trench line, and are able to hold on despite repeated enemy counterattacks.

- News of Ludendorff's appointment as Chief of Staff to Südarmee does not sit well with Hindenburg.  In a letter sent directly to the Kaiser today, the commander of German forces in the East urges the return of the 'irreplaceable' Ludendorff to his old post as his Chief of Staff.  Hindenburg knows full well that his victories in the East have been accomplished in large part through the planning of Ludendorff, and that their partnership is essential to the success of both.  He also insists that the four new reserve corps forming in Germany need to be sent to the Eastern Front, and in particular to East Prussia for an offensive (planned by Ludendorff) in the neighbourhood of the Masurian Lakes.  He concludes his letter with an assurance that he would be more than happy to retire, a none-too-subtle hint to Wilhelm II of the stakes involved in breaking up the partnership that has achieved Germany's most notable victory to date.

- At the start of the war, Count Berchtold, the Austro-Hungarian Foreign Minister, had opposed ceding territory to Italy in exchange for it fulfilling its responsibilities as a member of the Triple Alliance.  The steady tide of Austro-Hungarian defeats since August, however, has led Berchtold to change his mind.  He fears that both Italy and Romania may take advantage of the Empire's apparent weakness by attacking it, a catastrophe that might spell the end of Austria-Hungary itself.  To avoid this, Berchtold is now willing to cede territory to Italy and Romania in exchange for their continued neutrality in the war, and today he advises Franz Joseph to surrender Trentino to Italy.

The alternative course of action - namely, to ensure Italian and Romanian neutrality by demonstrating Austro-Hungarian military strength through victory on the battlefield - is supported not only by Conrad, but others within the government, including Count Tisza, the Hungarian Prime Minister, who wishes to avoid seeing Hungarian lands used to bribe Romania.  Most vitally, Emperor Franz Joseph himself is loath to yield an inch of territory to the Italians, whom he sees as the Empire's natural enemy.

- Overnight, as Choising approached Hodeida, its German crew sighted a row of lights in the distance, and assuming them to be the lights of a dock, they direct the steamer towards them.  To their dismay, however, as they approached they realized that the lights were moving, and they were instead bearing down on a French armoured cruiser.  First Officer von Mücke orders its men to the ship's four boats, and they proceed to land on the Arabian coast by dawn.  Once ashore they can see Hodeida in the distance, but they have no idea if they are in friendly or enemy territory.  As they bring their weaponry and remaining supplies ashore, several Arabs observe them from a distance before disappearing.  In case Hodeida was occupied by the enemy, Mücke intends to march inland and hide in the desert by day, and return to Choising at night.  No sooner do they leave the beach then they find themselves confronted by over a hundred Arabs.  There is a linguistic impasse, neither side being able to understand the other.  Amidst the gesticulating and mangling of phrases, a breakthrough is finally achieved when Mücke points to the portrait of the Kaiser on a gold piece, which the Arabs recognize and begin shouting 'Aleman!'  It is finally deduced that Hodeida remains in Ottoman hands, and the Arab force escorts Emden's landing party into the town.

Mücke considers the next step of the journey home in consultation with the local Ottoman officials.  There is no railway, and he is assured that continuing by sea is impossible, given the prevalence of British and French ships in the south Red Sea, some of which are visible from Hodeida itself.  Instead, Mücke decides that his party will travel inland through the mountains to Sanaa and northwards from there.  It will take a fortnight to gather supplies and prepare for the journey; meanwhile, after dark Mücke uses a signal lamp to instruct Choising to make for Massowa in the neutral Italian colony of Eritrea.

November 18th, 1914

- The decision of Duke Albrecht yesterday to suspend offensive operations at Ypres is approved today by Falkenhayn.  For several weeks he has been increasingly aware of the growing fatigue within the German army, and clearly even the more limited objectives set in early November, such as Mount Kemmel, could not be seized under present circumstances.  Instead, the German army on the Western Front is to go over on to the defensive - the hope for a rapid and decisive victory over the French is finally abandoned.

As the pre-war strategy has failed to deliver the promised victory in wartime, Falkenhayn and the German General Staff is left searching for alternatives.  Given the results in the west, a shift to the east appears logical, especially as by standing on the defensive reduces the amount of units needed on the Western Front.  Falkenhayn thus informs Hindenburg today that several corps will be shifted from the west to the east, including III Reserve Corps, XIII Corps, II Corps, and XXIV Reserve Corps, the former three coming from Flanders.

There is, however, a crucial difference between Falkenhayn and Hindenburg over what these reinforcements are to accomplish.  Hindenburg and Ludendorff believe that a decisive victory over the Russians is possible, one that will allow Germany to impose its peace terms on Russia.  Falkenhayn is less optimistic - taking his cue from the campaigns of Napoleon, he feels that the most that can be accomplished in the east are local victories.  This, however, is not problematic for Falkenhayn, as he has come to believe that Germany can no longer win a total victory over all of its enemies.  Instead, enough damage should be done to Russia to convince it to agree to a compromise peace based on no annexations, which will allow Germany to focus all of its military might against France and Britain.  If Russia cannot be convinced to sign a separate peace, Germany will inevitably be ground down by a war of attrition against enemies it can not hope to match in numbers.

Falkenhayn's views on a compromise peace, expressed today in a letter to Chancellor Bethmann-Hollweg, falls on deaf ears.   The Chancellor still believes that an absolute victory can be achieved in the east, and in this he has the agreement of Hindenburg and Ludendorff.  The prestige of the latter two grows as victories on the Eastern Front (however embellished by Ludendorff) are contrasted with failures, for which Falkenhayn is blamed, on the Western Front.  Falkenhayn's advice regarding the future direction of the war are rejected, though because of the personal support of the Kaiser there is no question at this time of replacing Falkenhayn.  Instead, the German Chief of the General Staff is left to continue to develop plans to achieve a total victory he no longer feels is within Germany's grasp.

- The German 9th Army arrives today just north of Lodz, but discover the city well-defended.  In something of a miracle, considering the Russian army's well-earned reputation for sluggishness, both 2nd and 5th Army have managed to retreat to the city before the Germans could arrive to seize it.  For 5th Army in particular it is a significant achievement, accomplished by non-stop marching over the past three days.  The result is that the four corps of the German 9th Army at Lodz find themselves facing seven Russian corps, and, as the latter is the supply centre for 2nd and 5th Army, for once it is the Russians who are better-supplied.  Ludendorff, however, orders Mackensen to continue the offensive - he has misinterpreted the Russian move back to Lodz as yet another panicked retreat, not an orderly redeployment.  It is a case of Ludendorff seeing what he wants to sees in the information arriving from the front.  Thus the Germans, despite being outnumbered, attack into the Russian lines.

- Yesterday a Russian squadron of five pre-dreadnoughts, three cruisers, and thirteen destroyers bombarded the Turkish Black Sea port of Trebizond.  On hearing of the attack Admiral Souchon decided to sortie with his 'Turkish' warships Goeben and Breslau in an effort to catch a portion of the Russian Black Sea Fleet.  In thick fog the two squadrons stumble into each other twenty miles off Cape Sarych on the Crimean coast just after midday.  Because of the poor visibility, Goeben does not sight the Russian squadron until it is already within range of the main guns of the latter's pre-dreadnoughts.  This nullifies the advantage Goeben would normally have over pre-dreadnoughts - i.e. that its main armament can fire longer distances.

The Battle of Cape Sarych, November 18th, 1914.  This map gives the Turkish names for Goeben (Yavuz) and Breslau (Midilli).

The Russian flagship Evstafiy hits Goeben with its first salvo, killing twelve Germans and one Turk.  Though Goeben in turn is able to land five hits on Evstafiy, killing thirty-four, Admiral Souchon quickly realizes that the short range - about seven thousand yards - means his ships are heavily outgunned, and he decides to use his superior speed to break off the engagement.  The battle lasts only fourteen minutes, and most of the warships present never fire a shot.  From this battle the Russians draw the conclusion that all of its large warships must operate together to avoid defeat in detail at the hands of Goeben, while for Souchon the engagement reinforces the isolation of his battlecruiser - as a light cruiser, Breslau is of little aid in a large naval battle, and the other warships of the Ottoman navy are of no value whatsoever (had they been present at Cape Sarych they would have lacked the speed to escape).

The Russian pre-dreadnought Estafiy.

- In Russia five Bolshevik Duma representatives are arrested for distributing Vladimir Lenin's Theses on the War calling for the transformation of the 'imperialist war' into a 'civil war' to bring about revolution.  At this point, however, most on the left still support the war effort.

November 1st, 1914

- Despite the ground gained yesterday east of Ypres, Army Group Fabeck failed to achieve the desired breakthrough.  General Fabeck decides that while the offensive will continue, its focus will shift slightly.  After failing to exploit the temporary breach in the British line at Gheluvelt yesterday, today's attacks will be launched between Messines and Wytschaete.

On the Entente side, the French plan three attacks, to be undertaken in large part to relieve the pressure on the British - the first from north of Wytschaete, the second from Zonnebeke, and the third a diversionary attack by the rest of IX Corps.  Each of these attacks fail to accomplish anything today, but they also speak to the growing importance of French forces in the Ypres salient.  The past two week have severely reduced the BEF's strength - of its eighty-four infantry battalions, nine have fewer than a hundred men, while another thirty-one have between one and two hundred.  In comparison, a full battalion would have just over a thousand men.  There are also very few reinforcements in Britain that can be sent immediately to the front - the only regular army units not yet in the fight are the battalions of 8th Division, assembling in Britain after being located around the Empire on the outbreak of war.

The main German attack begins at 1am by nine battalions of the 6th Bavarian Reserve Division.  At Wytschaete the British are outnumbered twelve to one, and by 245am the village is in German hands.  More importantly, as the battle continues German units begin to infiltrate between British positions on the ridge between Wytschaete and Messines, as the defenders here are too few to man an entire trench line at once.  Those British soldiers who remain on the ridge at dawn realize they are in danger of encirclement, and pull back.  By 735am the Germans are in possession of the middle part of the high ground.  This outflanks the British defenders still clinging to the village of Messines itself, and they are ordered to retreat at 9am.  The British fall back to the next line of high ground to the west,  while shelling their former trenches at Messines to impede the German occupation of them.  A British counterattack manages to re-enter Wytschaete later in the day, but otherwise the Entente line here has been pushed back.  On the other hand, the German victory is merely a tactical one, as though the British retreat they are not routed, and a new defensive line stands in the Germans' way.

- The Kaiser arrives near the front today, visiting several cavalry divisions near Courtrai and Lille.  The British intercept several messages regarding his journey, but misinterpret his itinerary to suggest that he will be much closer to the front.  British artillery prepare an appropriate welcome at the villages where they think the Kaiser will be during the day.

The fighting around Ypres, November 1st to 4th, 1914.

- Behind the front, Lord Kitchener is meeting President Poincarè, Joffre, and Foch at Dunkirk to discuss the course of the war.  Kitchener informs them that there are no substantial British reinforcements available until the spring of 1915, as he will not send untrained men into battle.  However, subsequently the size of the BEF will expand rapidly as the 'New Armies' of wartime volunteers come into the field.  Also, know of the sometimes-testy relationship between Joffre and Sir John French, Kitchener offers to replace the latter with General Sir Ian Hamilton.  Joffre declines, believing (ironically, given his own record) that changing the BEF's commander in the middle of a battle would not work out.  Unfortunately for Kitchener, this offer very quickly reaches the ears of Field Marshal French, which earns Kitchener the enduring emnity of the latter.

- By today the German 9th Army has fallen back to the line from which it had started its advance into Poland just over a month ago.  Despite Ludendorff's claims of success, and the generally confused nature of the fighting, the Battle of the Vistula River is a Russian victory - it can hardly be otherwise when the Germans were the attackers and they end the battle where they started.  Nevertheless, the past month have shown the continuing logistical and command problems plaguing the Russian army - the attempt to pursue the retreating Germans has completely broken down, and today it is formally called off.

As for Falkenhayn, his attention remains firmly fixed on the Western Front, and is willing to leave matters on the Eastern Front in the hands of Hindenburg and Ludendorff.  As such, Hindenburg is today appointed commander-in-chief of all German forces in the east, with Ludendorff as his chief of staff and the command to be known as Ober Ost.  General Mackensen is also promoted to take command of 9th Army.

- With the entry of the Ottoman Empire into the war almost inevitable after the events in the Black Sea, the Shah of Persia, its eastern neighbour, declares the neutrality of his state.  The statement, however, is more theoretical than practical.  Though Persia is nominally independent, both Britain and Russia have significant interests and influence within it.  The newest dreadnoughts burn oil, not coal, and with the oilfields of southern Persia being a key source for the Admiralty, the British government controls them through owning a majority share of the Anglo-Persian Oil Company.  To the north, Russia already has five thousand soldiers garrisoning Persian Azerbaijan, seeing the endemic instability of the region as necessitating Russian control.  The Shah himself is only 17 years old, and lacks an effective army to maintain internal order.  Persian neutrality means little when major combatants sees their interests as necessitating intervention within its borders.

- At Coronel the British light cruiser Glasgow slips out of port at 915am, and meets the rest of Craddock's squadron just after 1pm.  The four ships then spread out in a line, sailing north in search of the supposedly-isolated Leipzig.  The German East Asiatic Squadron is doing much the same thing in pursuit of Glasgow, except moving south.  At 420pm Leipzig and Glasgow sight each other, drawing both squadrons together.

The approach of the German East Asiatic Squadron to Chile and the Battle of Coronel, November 1st, 1914.

Upon confirming the presence of the entire German East Asiatic Squadron, Craddock knows that his force is markedly inferior to the Germans.  He decides, however, to fight - first, his armed merchant liner Otranto was not fast enough to escape; and second, he felt bound by the Admiralty's orders to engage the enemy.  Craddock turns his squadron around so that both forces are sailing southwards, roughly parallel to each other.  With the sun setting to the west, Craddock hopes to force an action when the sun is blinding the eyes of the German gunners, giving the British a window of opportunity.  At 618pm Craddock aboard Good Hope signals the rest of his ships to follow him in closing with the Germans.

Spee, however, knows just as well as Craddock the impact the setting sun can have, and when the British ships turn to close the gap, he orders his ships to simply turn as well, maintaining the distance between the two squadrons.  Thus the sun sets without a single ship being fired, and now all of the advantages are with the Germans - the British are now silhouetted against the twilight sky.  At 650pm the Germans turn towards the British, and open fire at 704pm.

Craddock never had a chance.  Despite the rough seas, the excellent marksmanship of Scharnhorst and Gneisenau, honed to near-perfection in peacetime gunnery exercises, is immediately obvious.  The third salvo of Scharnhorst strikes Good Hope, destroying one of its 9.2-inch guns, and henceforth the German armoured cruisers pour accurate and rapid fire on Good Hope and Monmouth.  The British attempt to fire back, but most of their 6-inch shells fall short and the single 9.2-inch gun remaining operational on Good Hope can hardly hope to win the battle by itself.  In less than an hour Good Hope is reduced to a flaming wreck, and having absorbed thirty-five hits from Scharnhorst, explodes and sinks at 750pm.  Monmouth survives only an hour more, sinking at 858pm.  As Spee's focus is naturally on the two largest opponents, both Glasgow and Otranto are able to make their escape in the night.

All aboard Good Hope and Monmouth, including Craddock, are lost.  On the German side, only Gneisenau was hit even once by shells that exploded, and it suffered no serious damage and only three sailors were slightly wounded.  Glasgow manages to warn Canopus sailing north with the squadron's colliers of the disaster, and the survivors escape southwards.  The German East Asiatic Squadron has won a notable and completely-lopsided victory at the Battle of Coronel, the first significant defeat of British warships at the hands of the enemy for a century.

The Battle of Coronel, November 1st, 1914.

- As in Canada, the outbreak of war saw thousands of volunteers come forward in Australia and New Zealand.  However, the continued presence of German cruisers in the Pacific and Indian Oceans required that the convoy carrying the volunteers be delayed until sufficient escorts could be assembled.  Today, protected by British, Australian, and Japanese warships, thirty-eight transports carrying almost 21 000 Australian and just under 8500 New Zealand soldiers departs Australia today.  Their destination is Egypt, where they will undergo training.

September 18th, 1914

- The advance of the French IV and XIII Corps along the Oise River is halted today by the German IX Reserve Corps, aided by the arrival of II Corps, which was pulled from the Aisne front expressly for the purpose of extending the German flank northwards.  An entrenched army needs fewer soldiers per mile to hold the line, which allows both sides to send forces into the open spaces north of Compiègne without fatally weakening their existing defensive positions.  Indeed, this points to one of the paradoxes of trench warfare - it was adopted in September 1914  to facilitate, not hinder, further mobile operations by making more forces available to outflank the enemy.  The problem, of course, is that this is equally true for both sides, so the 'mobile' formations created by both inevitably run into each other, and trench warfare replicates itself in order to provide further 'mobile' operations.  Thus trench warfare spreads like a virus along the Western Front, ironically from a desire of both sides to continue a war of movement.  It also feeds the perception of the generals that trench warfare is a temporary phenomenon (i.e. present only to facilitate future mobile operations, at which point trenches will no longer be needed) as opposed to becoming a permanent fixture.

- Further east, German attacks near Rheims continue to push back the French defenders.  Today the Germans seize high ground east of the city, including the forts at Berru and Nogent-l'Abbesse.  The French X Corps, which had begun to march west to join the effort to envelop the German flank past 6th Army, is ordered to return to Rheims to contain the German push.

- Joffre today scales back offensive operations along the Aisne River, it becoming clearer by the day that traditional frontal assaults by infantry on entrenched and prepared German positions are not achieving significant results.  Meanwhile, General Castlenau's new 2nd Army begins to assemble near Amiens.

- The redeployment of the German 6th Army is planned today at a conference at OHL in Luxembourg between Falkenhayn and Rupprecht.  The first corps will arrive on September 21st and bewill be tasked with sweeping away any French infantry between Roye and Montdidier.  A second corps will arrive on September 23rd, and with further units trickling in subsequent days 6th Army as a whole is to turn the enemy flank.  Rupprecht, however, is concerned that the French will be undertaking similar redeployments from east to west, and will benefit from having an intact railway system to move their units faster.  Thus both Falkenhayn and Rupprecht agree that German attacks must be undertaken along the existing front line to tie down French forces and prevent them from redeploying in time to stymie 6th Army.  In addition to further assaults between Compeigne and Rheims, two operations are planned in the Verdun sector.  The first, to be undertaken by the Crown Prince's 5th army, is to attack into the Argonne Forest to the west of Verdun.  The second is an offensive aiming to drive between Verdun to the north and Toul and Nancy to the south by capturing St. Mihiel and reaching the Meuse River.  To facilitate the second operation, the left wing of the 5th Army, comprising those forces southeast of Verdun, is formed into Army Detachment Strantz, named for General Hermann von Strantz, commander of V Corps.  By forming this detachment, there will be a separate command staff for each attack.  In addition to forcing the French to keep significant forces in the east, the operations aim to isolate the fortifications around Verdun, which are the strongest in France and form a key 'hinge' of the French line.

- General Ludendorff meets today with General Conrad at Neu Sandec in Austrian Galicia today.  The relationship between the two allies is frosty at best - Conrad blames the failures of his armies in Galicia on a perceived lack of support from Germany, and spends much of the meeting lecturing Ludendorff.  The German army, conversely, believes that Tannenberg demonstrates that it has done more than its share - if nothing else, Ludendorff is convinced of his own genius - and that Conrad and the Austro-Hungarian army have demonstrated particularly impressive ineptitude.  Indeed, so dismissive are the Germans of their putative allies that they have not even bothered to inform Conrad that Moltke has been replaced by Falkenhayn.

Despite the atmosphere of recrimination, agreement is reached for the next stage of operations.  The defeat of the Austro-Hungarian armies in Galicia potentially exposes German Silesia to Russian invasion, which necessitates a German response.  Ludendorff convinces Falkenhayn that a major German force is needed immediately, so 8th Army in East Prussia is reduced to two corps and the remainder redeployed near Cracow to form a new 9th Army of four corps, a reserve division, and a cavalry division.  At Ludendorff's insistence Hindenburg is to directly command 9th Army with himself as Chief of Staff, and while command of 8th Army is transferred to General Richard von Schubert, Hindenburg and Ludendorff are to remain in a supervisory role over their old command.  Conrad, meanwhile, agrees to assign the Austro-Hungarian 1st Army to co-operate with the German 9th Army, while the rest of his armies, after completing their retreat, will, it is hoped, go back over on the offensive.

Falkenhayn's conception of the role of 9th Army is simply to occupy the Russians and help their Austro-Hungarian allies survive - his attention is still primarily on the Western Front, seeking a decisive decision there.  Hindenburg and Ludendorff, however, believe that the most effective route to victory is on Eastern Front.  Their plan for 9th Army is to undertake a major offensive to seize the Russian fortress at Ivangorod and advance on Warsaw, seeking to crush the Russian armies just as they had done at Tannenberg.  They believe that they should have priority for reinforcements, and they begin bombarding not only Falkenhayn but also the Kaiser for additional units for the East.  Falkenhayn thus finds the duo of Hindenburg and Ludendorff to be rivals, not subordinates, and the latter are able to leverage the prestige gained from Tannenberg to raise their profile.  German high command is thus fundamentally divided on grand strategy, divided between West and East.

- In London, the British Admiralty has fallen for Admiral Spee's deception at Samoa four days earlier, and believes that the German East Asiatic Squadron is returning to the West Pacific.  Today they signal Rear Admiral Craddock in the South Atlantic with revised instructions: 'Situation changed  . . . Gneisenau appeared off Samoa on 14th and left steering NW.  German trade on west coast of America is to be attacked at once.  Cruisers need not be concentrated.  Two cruisers and an armed liner appear sufficient for Magellan Straits and west coast.  Report what you propose about Canopus.'  Crucially, the signal says nothing about the modern armoured cruiser Defence - the Admiralty has decided that with the German East Asiatic Squadron sailing westward, it is not needed in the South Atlantic, and can be retained on its present station in the Mediterranean.  Craddock, however, assumes that Defence is still on its way, believing quite reasonably that if the Admiralty had changed its mind, it would have let him know.

- In China, the main portion of the Japanese expeditionary force sent to capture the German enclave at Tsingtao lands at Laoshan Bay, thirty miles from their objective.  The Japanese aim is to assemble overwhelming force, especially in terms of artillery, before advancing on the German positions.

August 31st, 1914

- French cavalry this morning observe German infantry and cavalry of 1st Army advancing towards Compiègne, which is not in the direct line towards Paris.  It is the first indication of the 'inward turn' of Kluck's 1st Army.  Of greater concern to Joffre in the moment are reports this evening that German cavalry have crossed the Oise River south of Noyon, moving into the precise gap in the French line between 5th and 6th armies opened by the retreat of the BEF.  At Joffre's headquarters, he and his staff weigh their options.  Vanished are the grand offensive undertakings of Plan XVII - instead, the emphasis is on mere survival.  The question now is how much territory must be given up before the French armies are able to stand and fight the Germans.

- In London Lord Kitchener, British Secretary of State for War, receives an alarming report from Field Marshal French today.  In it the commander of the BEF states his intention to take his force out of the front line, retiring behind the Seine River and maintaining a considerable distance from German forces.  He states bluntly that he no longer believes the French army can triumph, and the preservation of the BEF as Britain's only field army is behind his decision to retreat out of harm's way.

Kitchener reads the report with astonishment and dismay.  French's proposed course of action would amount to desertion of their ally, and render null the entire basis for Britain's entry into the war in the first place.  Moreover, it would leave an immense gap between the French 5th and 6th armies, giving the Germans the chance to envelop and crush them.  A Cabinet meeting is summoned at which Kitchener bluntly states that the retirement of the BEF will lose the war.  He is authorized to inform Sir John French that he should conform to the plans of Joffre, and raised questions regarding the impact of the retreat of the BEF on the French line.

Late tonight, Kitchener is at the War Office, awaiting French's reply.  So anxious is the Secretary of State for War that he has the decoders pass the message word by word as it comes through.  French's telegram reiterates his previously-stated plans, and makes clear his disdain for his allies.  He understood that the retreat of the BEF would open a gap in the French line, but 'if the French go on with their present tactics which are practically to fall back right and left of me, usually without notice, and to abandon all idea of offensive operations . . . the consequences should be borne by them , , , I do not see why I should be called upon to run the risk of absolute disaster in order a second time to save them.'  Beyond the bald-faced lie regarding offensive operations, given that French had forbidden Haig from aiding Lanrezac's 5th Army at the Battle of Guise, it is clear that the BEF commander remains determined to retire from the battlefield.

- The last Russian units of 2nd Army surrender today, bringing the battle to a close.  Hindenburg decides to call the victory the Battle of Tannenberg, after a nearby village where Teutonic Knights had been defeated by Slavs in 1410.  Tannenberg is not only seen as redemption, but deliverance.  The spectre of Russian hordes sweeping over East Prussia has hung over Germany for a month, and now the threat has been annihilated.  It is the most lopsided victory either side will achieve in the war - the Germans capture 92 000 prisoners and 400 artillery pieces, while approximately 30 000 Russians are killed.  Two entire Russian corps, and most of a third, simply cease to exist.  The triumph make Hindenburg and Ludendorff overnight heroes in Germany, and the decisive victory on the Eastern Front stands in contrast to the continuing campaign in the West.

After its crushing victory at Tannenberg, OHL issues new orders for 8th Army - it is to concentrate on clearing East Prussia of the enemy; operations in Russian Poland will wait until this is completed.  As such, the new priority of 8th Army is to attack the Russian 1st Army, still in East Prussia.

- Along the Galician frontier the Russian 5th Army is able to escape its potential encirclement today.  The Austro-Hungarians do not prove as resolute as the German 8th Army in Poland - false reports of Russian reinforcements paralyze the two arms of the pincers, leaving a 32-kilometre gap through which the 5th Army retreats.  The Battle of Zamość-Komarów is undoubtedly an Austro-Hungarian victory, as the Russian 5th Army has suffered 40% losses and been forced back.  However, it is not a decisive victory in the style of Tannenberg - 5th Army remains in the field.

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.

August 23rd, 1914

- The French 5th Army fights a desperate battle for survival, as crises mount by the hour.  The roads were choked with Belgian refugees, making rapid redeployment of units impossible.  At noon news arrived that the Belgians were evacuating Namur, which was to fall to the Germans later in the day.  The German 2nd Army launches a series of ferocious attacks which push elements of 5th Army southwards, while during the day the full force of the German 3rd Army is felt, as it seizes river crossings on the Meuse and directly threatens 5th Army's right flank.  Bits of news arriving by telegram of action elsewhere on the frontiers suggest the Germans are gaining all along the line, leaving him without any support.  He sees his worst nightmares coming true before his eyes - 5th Army trapped and annihilated between the two German armies, leaving France completely exposed to the German invasion of the north.  Lanrezac feels that the survival of 5th Army is essential to the survival of France itself.  At 930pm, Lanrezac informs Joffre that he has given the order to retreat.

As bad as the days events have been for 5th Army, they could have gone much worse.  General Bülow of the German 2nd Army had instructed General Hausen of 3rd Army to attack directly westwards across the Meuse, in support of his own push from the north.  Hausen complied with Bülow's order, instead of with a directive from OHL to move southwest towards Givet.  Had 3rd Army attempted OHL's manoeuvre instead, they would have been able to advance into the French 5th Army's rear, cutting its line of retreat and forcing its destruction.  By attacking frontally, Lanrezac's army is able to escape.

- When the commanders of the 3rd and 4th Armies report this morning on the devastating results of the prior day's fighting, Joffre at first cannot believe it.  So much has been invested in Plan XVII, in the notion that French infantry with sufficient elan can sweep all before them, that he can hardly comprehend that the attacks have failed.  Joffre orders both armies to resume the offensive.  As both armies struggle to resume the attack, German counter-attacks worsen the situation.  Just after noon, V Corps of 3rd Army is driven back eight miles, and to avoid envelopment the rest of 3rd Army retires the same distance.  To the north, the battered Colonial Corps of 4th Army withdraws from Neufchâteau at 5am, uncovering the flank of XII Corps which is also forced to retreat.  By the end of the day, all but two corps of 3rd and 4th armies have been driven back to the line from which they had started their offensive.

- The only decent news for the French comes from Lorraine where, despite its mauling, the French 2nd Army has managed to extricate itself and form a strong defensive line west of the Meurthe River, its northern flank anchored at Nancy and its southern linked to 1st Army.

- This evening, as the terrible news from along the front accumulates, Joffre struggles to understand the magnitude of what has transpired.  In a telegram to the War Minister, he suggests that he has been only 'momentarily checked' and that the offensive will be resumed.  The reality is that the French army has been defeated.  All of its pre-war planning and training, its emphasis on morale and infantry assaults, its unyielding faith in elan and the offensive, has been for nought.  In four days fighting, from Rupprecht's counterattack on the 20th to Lanrezac's order to retreat this evening, Plan XVII has disastrously miscarried.  Over those four days, the French army has suffered more than 140 000 casualties, and is now in retreat.

- As the French army endures a series of defeats, the British Expeditionary Force sees its first fighting of the campaign.  Acceding to Lanrezac's request, the BEF holds the line of the Mons Canal.  They are significantly outnumbered - the German 1st Army bearing down on them has four corps and three cavalry divisions, to the BEF's two corps.  Further, Smith-Dorrien's II Corps, on the left of the line, bears the brunt of the fighting, while Haig's I Corps on the right is not attacked at all.  Balancing the numbers are the quality of the British soldiers.  While the BEF is pitifully small compared to the armies of the Continental powers, it is also the only army composed of long-service regulars, instead of conscripts.  These are men who have made soldiering their profession - they train constantly, with a particular emphasis on rapid and accurate rifle fire.  Further, experience in the Boer War taught the British army the crucial importance of entrenchment and rifle accuracy.  Together this means the BEF is able to punch above its weight despite being heavily outnumbered.

The battle opens at 9am when German artillery begin firing on the British entrenchments south of the canal, followed shortly by infantry attacks.  Kluck's orders to maintain contact with 2nd Army to the east means he is unable to stretch his army westward to find and turn the BEF's flank.  As a result, 1st Army spends the day throwing itself at the British in frontal attacks.  Further, the attacks come in piecemail - 1st Army is still in marching formation, strung out along the Belgian road network, and is unable to concentrate when they stumble across the British.  Two corps of 1st Army never even engage the enemy today.  The German infantry who do enter the battle find themselves under intense rifle fire of such accuracy and frequency that some regiments report being halted by machine-gun fire instead.  By afternoon sections of the British line are being painfully forced back from the canal line, but the BEF is able to execute an orderly withdrawal to a second line of prepared entrenchments.  The Germans, for their part, are too exhausted to give chase.

German infantry advance towards Mons in the dense formations that made
them such easy targets for the British regulars, Aug. 23rd, 1914.

As evening falls, the soldiers of the BEF take satisfaction in having blunted a major German attack.  Though the British have suffered 1600 casualties, German casualties have been approximately 5000.  Further, a day has been lost for 1st Army, which has the furthest to travel.  Sir John French and his staff plan for a second day of fighting at Mons, continuing to cover the left flank of the French army.

- At 4am, the train carrying Ludendorff stops at Hanover station, where Hindenburg boards.  It is the first time the two men have met.  On the train Ludendorff explains the orders he has already issued, and Hindenburg approves, setting the pattern of the relationship between the two men.  Later today they arrive at 8th Army headquarters in East Prussia.  Meanwhile, I Corps completes its entrainment, an operation that has required precise coordination between five different railway stations.  The corps now begins its movement to the south to face the Russian 2nd Army.

- Russian operations in East Prussia reflect a fundamental misunderstanding of the strategic situation.  Zhilinskii at North-West Front, as well as both Rennenkampf (1st Army) and Samsonov (2nd Army) believe that the Germans have been beaten, and are withdrawing behind the Vistula River.  Thus Zhilinskii's top priority is to hurry the advance of 2nd Army, so it can cut off the German 8th Army before it can extract itself from East Prussia.  To achieve this, one corps of 2nd Army is left in Poland to cover the western flank, and a second corps is detailed to the Masurian Lakes to cover the eastern flank.  This reduces the strength of 2nd Army to three corps as its advance continues.

Meanwhile, Rennenkampf is in no hurry to advance westwards.  Indeed, he fears that a rapid advance to allow 1st Army to catch up to the Germans would result in another German defeat that hastens their withdrawal from East Prussia before 2nd Army can close the trap.  Thus, though 1st Army begins to move today, its progress is extremely slow, and its cavalry is completely unable to discern that the German 8th Army is no longer in front of them - indeed, there is only a single German cavalry division left.  Moreover, Rennenkampf directs 1st Army northwestward towards the major German fortress of Königsberg in order to lay siege and potentially trap a portion of the German 8th Army he believes may have retreated there.  This movement draws 1st Army even further away from 2nd Army, leaving the latter increasingly exposed.

- The first major encounter on the Galician frontier begins today when the Russian 4th Army, advancing south, runs into the Austro-Hungarian 1st Army, moving north, in the Battle of Kraśnik.  In the pitched battle near the San River just inside Russian territory, it is the Austro-Hungarians who draw first blood.  Russian cavalry had completely failed to find the approaching enemy, and the corps of 4th Army were strung out and unable to provide mutual assistance.  One Russian corps is badly mauled, one of its divisions losing half its strength.  The Russians, however, do not view the Austro-Hungarian 1st Army as part of an invasion of Russian Poland, but rather the northern flank of the expected Austro-Hungarian concentration around Lemberg.  Pre-war expectations thus sow confusion among the Russian command structure.  In particular, there is no awareness that a second Austro-Hungarian army - 4th - is also advancing north on 1st Army's eastern flank.

- Their ultimatum having expired, Japan declares war on Germany. Japan feels no special attachment to the cause of the Entente - their war aims are limited to the Pacific, and indeed would have been equally pleased if Germany had acceded to Japanese demands peacefully.  As it is, Japan begins preparations for a campaign against Tsingtao.

August 22nd, 1914

- Almost since the start of the war, General Charles Lanrezac has been warning Joffre that the Germans are making a major push through Belgium.  Other than minor adjustments, Joffre has dismissed Lanrezac's fears.  Today, Lanrezac and his 5th Army discover just how right he was.

Belatedly recognizing the importance of the German bridgeheads over the Sambre River, Lanrezac orders a major counterattack by two of his corps.  The attack is a dismal failure.  Advancing against German infantry that spent the night digging in, the French soldiers are mowed down by machine-gun and rifle fire.  By the afternoon, German counterattacks were forcing the two corps back, and by nightfall 5th Army has been completely driven from the Sambre.  To make matters worse, 5th Army had lost contact with 4th Army on its right, while three French cavalry divisions on his left had broken and retreated.  Lanrezac was now faced with the possibility of both his flanks being turned.  Finally, losses had been terrible - some French regiments had lost almost 50% of their strength, while the Germans had seized the initiative.  Lanrezac now found himself fighting precisely the desperate defensive battle that he had long feared he would have to.

The Battles of Charleroi and Mons, Aug. 21st to 24th, 1914

-  To the west of the French 5th Army, the British Expeditionary Force has continued to march northwards.  During the day, British cavalry ahead of the main columns encounter for the first time German cavalry, and the realization of imminent battle dawns.  Late in the evening, a request arrives from a beleaguered Lanranzac requesting the BEF to attack the flank of the German force attacking him from the north.  This is not practical, but Field Marshal Sir John French agrees to hold the line of the Mons Canal for twenty-four hours.  By midnight the BEF is entrenching on the south side of the canal, expecting battle in the morning.  Despite aerial reconnaissance indicating otherwise, the British believe that there are only one or two German corps before them, giving the BEF superiority and a sense of confidence.

British soldiers of the 18th Hussars with Belgian civilians, Aug. 22nd, 1914

If they had known what was advancing towards them, the BEF might not have had such confidence.  The German 1st Army, the most powerful of the armies arrayed against France, and the one with the most vital role in the Schlieffen Plan, was bearing down upon them.  The one saving grace for the BEF was that the Germans had absolutely no idea where the British were.  German cavalry had utterly failed to find anything - one German regiment, when just three miles north of Mons and the BEF, was told by a cavalry commander there were no enemy forces within eighty miles.  OHL, for its part, was not even sure the BEF was on the Continent at all.  Rumours abounded of where the BEF might have landed, from Antwerp to Calais to ports further afield.  Thus the first encounters with British cavalry on the 22nd come as a complete surprise to General von Kluck of the German 1st Army.  His first instinct is to move southwestward, in an effort to move around the western flank of whatever force had appeared before him.  Bülow, who has been given a supervisory role over the two armies adjacent to his own, instead orders Kluck to cover his own westward flank as he continues the fight.  1st Army thus moves south on the 22nd, which will carry it directly to Mons.  The most important army in the Schlieffen Plan was about to fight its first major battle.

- After yesterday's scattered encounters, the French 3rd and 4th armies today find themselves in pitched battles with the German 4th and 5th armies in the Ardennes.  Along the entire front the French infantry throw themselves at the German defenders, with terrible results.  IV and V Corps of 3rd Army attack entrenched positions in a heavy fog that prevents artillery fire, and are repulsed, with one division in each corps fleeing under German artillery fire.  VI Corps, the last belonging to 3rd Army, does better, but by the end of the day is yielding ground to the enemy.  4th Army to the north is faring no better.  Its rightmost corps - II - encounters heavy German resistance and makes no forward progress.  On its left the Colonial Corps suffers the worst of any French unit involved in the day's battles.  Composed of long-service regulars who had served in colonial wars in Africa and Asia, the corps' experience proves its undoing.  Able to advance under heavy fire without breaking, as was frequently the case with conscripts, the Colonial Corps is able to advance farther than its adjacent units, and finds itself in a mass of Germans.  Battalion after battalion launch bayonet attacks, broken up by concentrated machine-gun fire.  By the end of the day, the Colonial Corps has lost 11 000 of its strength of 15 000, the highest casualties of any French unit fighting in the Battle of the Frontiers, and twelve kilometre gaps existed on either side.  To the north the remaining corps of 4th Army are suffering varying fates.  Of crucial importance was the plight of XVII Corps, whose 33rd Division had been attacked in its rear, lost all its artillery, and fled the battlefield, forcing the rest of the corps to pull back.

Though the Germans have suffered heavily as well, the fighting is disastrous for the French.  The main attack of Plan XVII had been launched, and failed to dislodge the German defenders.  Prospects for the next day's fighting were dim, but Joffre remained supremely confident.  He informs the War Minister this evening that the French armies are well-positioned to strike at the Germans, and all that remains is for the officers to execute their orders.  This foreshadows Joffre's future explanations for the failures of August 1914 - it was due to the weakness of subordinates, not any mistakes either on his part or in Plan XVII.

- The French disasters continue to the south in Lorraine.  After the crushing defeat inflicted on 2nd Army on the 20th, it again comes under devastating attack by the German 6th Army.  At midmorning, 2nd Army's right is crushed and forced into a precipitate retreat.  Again 2nd Army's link to 1st Army in the south is severed, and again 1st Army has to retire to reestablish the front line.  2nd Army is now pulling back to the fortifications around Nancy, hoping to use them to anchor a defensive line.

The attack by the German 6th Army of today is the product of another deviation from the Schlieffen Plan.  Under pressure from Prince Rupprecht, Moltke has agreed to expand 6th Army's counterattack into a full offensive.  After the relatively quick fall of Liège, it is hoped that the French forts around Nancy and Epinal will prove equally susceptible to attack.  Beyond that, the possibility of enveloping the entire French army via breakthroughs on the left as well as the right has proven too seductive to Moltke.  6th and 7th armies are thus committed to an invasion of France itself, instead of leaving their forces available for redeployment to the right.  One of the most important decisions Moltke would make, placing in a day of victories the seeds of defeat.

- The Russian 2nd Army under General Alexander Samsonov today completes its crossing of the Russo-German frontier, but it is already in trouble.  Its concentration zone during mobilization was fifty kilometres from the border, which means that the exhausted Russian columns have been marching ten to twelve hours each day for a week.  Further, the supply situation was collapsing - there were no railways reaching to the border along the route of 2nd Army, and it was already being forced to live off the land.  Finally, the communication situation is disastrous.  2nd Army's corps lacked sufficient telephone wire to connect themselves to their own divisions, while Samsonov was effectively disconnected from his superior, General I. G. Zhilinskii of North-West Front - telegrams from the latter could only reach the former by car from Warsaw, rendering null Zhilinskii's ability to co-ordinate the actions of the two armies invading East Prussia.

- The summons from OHL reaches Ludendorff at Namur at 9am, and within fifteen minutes he departs for Coblenz, where he arrives at 6pm.  He is briefed on the situation in East Prussia, and meets with Moltke and the Kaiser.  His first orders are to confirm Hoffman's plan of transferring I Corps by rail to face the Russian 2nd Army, while XVII and I Reserve Corps are to rest tomorrow, to allow them to be better capable of joining the rest of 8th Army in battle.  At 9pm, Ludendorff departs Colbenz on a special train for East Prussia.  Meanwhile, OHL has also decided on the new commander for 8th Army - General Paul von Hindenburg.  A veteran of the Austro-Prussian War of 1866, he had retired in 1911, but on August 3rd had informed Moltke of his willingness to take a field command if one was available.  OHL decides that Hindenburg is the ideal man for the job - from a long line of Prussian Junkers, Hindenburg's career had demonstrated a solidity and imperturbability that would match perfectly with Ludendorff's imagination and excitedness.  It was Ludendorff who could develop brilliant operations, while Hindenburg would ensure their execution through moments of crisis that might rattle Ludondorff.  Moltke and the Kaiser approve of Hindenburg's appointment, and he receives a telegram at his home in Hanover at 3pm informing him of his appointment.  He is instructed to board Ludendorff's train as it passes through Hanover the next morning as it travels east.

- As the Austro-Hungarian invasion of Russian Poland begins, the Russian army is preparing its own invasion of Galicia.  Four armies are deployed against Austria-Hungary - 4th, 5th, 3rd, and 8th (the latter commanded by General Alexei Brusilov) - stretching from the northwest to the southeast.  The pre-war plans, assuming that the Austro-Hungarians deploy their forces close to the border, calls for 3rd and 8th armies to advance westward and engage the enemy in a defensive battle near Lemberg (modern Lvov).  Once the Austro-Hungarian army is fixed by this attack, 4th and 5th armies are to attack south behind the enemy forces and rout them.  The pre-war plans are nullified almost the instant war is declared.  Grand Duke Nicholas, appointed commander of the Russian army, responds to pleas from France by ordering the advance of 4th Army prematurely.  Conversely, the advance of 3rd Army westward is painstakingly slow - its commander believes that the Austro-Hungarians have deployed near the border, when in fact they have deployed far to the rear.  It is only on the 21st that 3rd Army has crossed the border, and progress remains glacial.  Thus the pre-war plan is being in practice reversed - it is the attack south of 4th and 5th armies that will hit the enemy first, a situation complicated by the Austro-Hungarian deployment in the rear and Conrad's decision to invade Russian Poland.  Thus the first Russian invasion of Galicia is heading directly towards the Austro-Hungarian invasion heading in the opposite direction.

Initial plans of Austro-Hungarian and Russian armies in Galicia, Aug. 1914.

- The advance of the Gold Coast Regiment northwards from Lome to Kamina in German Togoland encounters German resistance along the Chra River.  Entrenched on the northern bank, the Germans pour fire on the advancing Imperial troops, who suffer 17% casualties.  Despite the victory, the outnumbered Germans withdraw northwards this evening.