May 12th, 1915

- In December 1914 the British government had appointed a committee to investigate allegations of German atrocities during their occupation of Belgium, the so-called 'Rape of Belgium'.  To head the investigation, the government appointed Lord Bryce, a highly respected former ambassador to the United States and prominent author on government and democracy.  Bryce's appointment is an inspired choice: he has a deserved reputation for fairness and impartiality, and none can say he succumbed to jingoism in August 1914 - indeed, he worked to keep Britain out of the war in the crucial last days of peace.  Bryce also has a sterling reputation in the United States, which is crucial considering the potential propaganda impact the investigation may have on neutral opinion there.

Today, after several months of testimony and discussion, the committee publishes its findings in what is known as the Bryce Report, which consists of commentary on the overall nature of the German occupation and then appendixes with eyewitness testimony.  The report as a whole is a damning indictment, and rightly so - by any reasonable definition the German army did commit what we would consider war crimes in Belgium in August 1914.  The devil, however, is in the details.  Most of the evidence used by the committee consisted of eyewitness testimony from Belgian refugees who had fled to Britain after the fall of Belgium.  Not only was there no way to verify the accuracy of their testimony, given the enemy occupation of their country, but the committee also was not keen to investigate too closely, lest the evidence they needed be undermined.  All on the committee, Bryce included, considering the German invasion of Belgium a crime, and thus they wished to avoid a report that in any way 'whitewashed' German occupation.  In doing so they have certainly produced a compelling and devastating report, but have also included a number of stories that later investigation will show to have been partial or complete fabrications - there were no bayoneted babies, contrary to popular belief.  In essence, the committee decided that they would not quibble about specifics, lest it might undermine the general case the report was to make.

The public perception of the Bryce Report, however, is that is has been a rigorous investigation of the evidence, and that details were only included if they were deemed reliable.  In this the reputation of Bryce for even-handedness contributes to the sense that the report is balanced and fair.  This makes the Report's impact all the more devastating precisely because it is largely not seen as propaganda.  The German report of the 10th disappears from the public mind, and the Bryce Report holds the field, not only in the Entente but in neutrals as well.

- This morning General d'Urbal of the French 10th Army meets with his corps commanders to refocus the ongoing offensive in Artois.  He decides to focus on seizing the ruined villages of Souchez and Neuville, and instructs XXXIII Corps to clear Carency before advancing on Souchez, with XX Corps to the south moving on Neuville and XXI Corps to the north clearing Notre-Dame de Lorette.  A series of French attacks this afternoon, however, fail to make noticeable progress, though a German counterattack in the early evening south of Souchez also fails.  As night falls, however, elements of XXXIII Corps occupy what remains of Carency as the Germans fall back towards Souchez.  Feeling the situation perilous, the commander of the German XIV Corps orders the construction of a new trench line running from the Lorette spur to the church at Ablain and south to Souchez as a fallback position.

The German line north of Arras, May 12th, 1915.  Note Carency to the west of Souchez,
captured today by Pétain's XXXIII Corps.

Meanwhile Joffre and Foch meet today with Sir John French, and the French generals complain about the decision to call off the British offensive at Aubers Ridge just a day after it had begun.  From Joffre's perspective the British decision has placed the French offensive in Artois in jeopardy, as since the 10th two German divisions have moved south to contest the French advance.  Joffre and Foch manage to extract from the BEF commander a promise to take measures to more actively support the French, either by relieving French divisions or by attacking German positions.

- With the Russian armies retreating to the San River in Galicia, the advancing German and Austro-Hungarian armies are able to reach today's objectives with minimal fighting.  The leadership of the two armies, meanwhile, meet today at Pless in Silesia, where the Kaiser has made his headquarters, to discuss the next phase of the operation.  It is agreed that once again the German 11th Army will undertake the primary offensive, attacking on both sides of the town of Jaroslau and securing a bridgehead over the San River north of Przemysl.  To the south the Austro-Hungarian 3rd Army will cover Przemysl itself, which, despite damage in the spring, may yet constitute a strongpoint in the Russian line.  Further south the Austro-Hungarian 2nd Army and Südarmee will pursue the Russians as they fall back from the Carpathians, while the Austro-Hungarian 4th Army will cover the northern flank of the Germany 11th Army up to the Vistula River.

Also today, south of Dukla a small group of officers from the former Russian 48th Division, including its commander General Kornilov, are captured today.

- This morning in east Galicia elements of the Russian XXXIII Corps occupy the town of Horodenka, which had just hours before been abandoned by Austro-Hungarian units that had been battered after three days of constant fighting and reduced to less than half strength.  The loss of Horodenka unhinges the Austro-Hungarian defence, and effectively turns the flank of the right wing of 7th still holding the Dniester River to the east.  Reluctantly General Pflanzer-Baltin orders these forces to retreat south to the next river line along the Pruth.

- Today the Italian cabinet meets in Rome for a decisive session.  As Prime Minister Salandra declares, the time has come to decide between peace and war, and he drops any pretence of 'choosing' between two offers and instead openly advocates for war against Austria-Hungary.  Not everyone in Cabinet is fully convinced, however, and there remains the issue of parliamentary support.  Salandra pledges to consult party leaders about intervention, though he believes the responses will tend towards neutrality.

November 22nd, 1914

- The readjustment of the position of the British Expeditionary Force on the line has been completed.  All British units are now together, and hold the front from Wytschaete, south of Ypres, to the La Bassée Canal at Givenchy, a stretch of 21 miles.  For their part the Belgians hold 15 miles of the front adjacent to the English Channel, and the French, responsible for everything else, covers 430 miles.  This graphically illustrates the extent to which the French army has shouldered the overwhelming burden of the fighting on the Western Front.  While the Belgians and the British have made vital contributions, and won deserved acclaim for their successful struggles along the Yser and around Ypres, in the end the great German attack in the west has been halted first and foremost by the French.  In saving themselves, they have preserved the hope of all in the Entente that ultimate victory may yet be achieved.

The Western Front on November 22nd, 1914, showing the position of
the BEF and the Belgian army; everything else is held by the French.

Though all three of the major combatants at Ypres consider the battle to have ended on different days, the British place its conclusion today with the end of their redeployment, which suffices as a moment to review the fighting in Flanders (incidentally, the French see the 13th and the Germans the 30th as the end).  Despite later claims by the Germans, the First Battle of Ypres has been a victory for the Entente.  The Germans had significant, sometimes near-overwhelming, numerical superiority in almost every phase of the fighting, but consistently failed to break through the British and French lines.  The failure to convert their numbers advantage into victory has been due not only to the strength of the defence in the context of the military technology of 1914, such as the machine gun, as they consistently repeated several tactical errors during the battle.  First, major German attacks were undertaken against long stretches of the Entente line in an effort to probe for weakness, as opposed to concentrating overwhelming force to break through at a place of their choosing.  Second, they consistently overestimated the size of the enemy confronting them, not realizing at several key moments how close they were to breaking through.  Third, they would use all available infantry in their attacks, leaving no reserves that could be sent to exploit the successes they achieved on several occasions.  Fourth, when they did break the British lines, in particular on October 31st and November 11th, the unit that did so did not advance further, being exhausted from their efforts and unaware of what they had accomplished, giving time for British reserves to arrive and counterattack.  Some of these mistakes could be rectified in future battles, but they pointed to one of the greatest difficulties attackers faced in the First World War - it would be consistently easier for the defender to send reserves to restore their lines than it was for the attacker to exploit any breakthrough they could achieve.

The conclusion of the First Battle of Ypres signals the end of the movement phase of the first months of the war.  Both sides are now committed to entrenching, and the rudimentary trenches dug hastily during the fighting are increasingly converted to more substantial trench systems.  The fighting at Ypres itself reflected the transition from mobile to static fighting.  Artillery did not yet dominate the battlefield as it would do so in future - foot soldiers played a vital role and the climactic moments were decided by infantry charges, not artillery bombardments.  First Ypres was also a battle still largely decided by junior officers responding to sudden circumstances, as with the British brigade commanders who ordered forward reserves at the critical moments, as opposed to the increasingly orchestrated and detailed assault plans of later set-piece battles.  Cavalry also had a role to play at Ypres, fighting in the front line and using their horses to rapidly redeploy on the battlefield.  On the other hand, First Ypres clearly indicated that small defensive forces could hold off attackers even when overwhelmingly outnumbered, and the Kindermord in particular demonstrated that no amount of spirit or elan among advancing infantry could allow them to carry a position in the face of sustained rifle and especially machine gun fire.

An exact accounting of the losses suffered by both sides is impossible, given the incompleteness of records, especially on the German side.  At minimum, the Germans suffered 134 000 casualties in the First Battle of Ypres, but possibly much more.  Of the four reserve corps thrown into the fighting in late October, each lost about half of their infantry.  French casualties were between 50 000 and 80 000, which comprised a majority of the 104 000 losses sustained by the entire French army in October and November 1914.  For the Belgians, approximately a third of those who escaped Antwerp before its fall on October 10th were lost by the end of October in the fighting along the Yser River.  British losses were calculated after the war to have been 58155, of whom 7960 were dead and 17 873 missing, most of the latter consisting of fallen soldiers whose bodies could not be recovered to verify their death.

Given that the First Battle of Ypres signals the end of the war of movement, an accounting can also be made of the losses suffered by the two sides since the outbreak of war itself.  The numbers are staggering - total French casualties are nearly one million, and include approximately 265 000 dead, while the comparable German numbers are over 700 000 losses, among which are about 241 000 dead.  The titanic and climactic battles that both sides expected have been fought, especially at the Marne, but the clashes have not brought the decisive outcome that all anticipated.  Instead, the casualty lists are merely the first installment of the ever-growing butcher's bill.

Total casualties for the British Expeditionary Force in the war to date have been 89 864.  Remarkably, the original strength of the first seven divisions to have been deployed in France had been only 84 000 - the BEF is only able to remain in the field due to replacements sent from home.  For all intents and purposes, the original British Expeditionary Force dispatched to France in early August had ceased to exist.  In most regiments an average of a single officer and thirty other ranks have survived since the first fighting at Mons on August 23rd.  The future of the BEF rests with soldiers recruited since the outbreak of the war, as the last of the BEF's original strength had been expended in the Ypres salient, fighting beyond the point of exhaustion to prevent a German breakthrough that might have had decisive results.  Ypres thus takes on an emotive significance to the British, the area becoming known as the 'Immortal Salient'.  The land is seen as consecrated by their dead, and no British commander can countenance yielding ground that had been so dearly bought.  It reflects another of the paradoxes of the First World War that will appear in future - sacrifices made on an earlier occasion become the justification for further losses to preserve what had been gained by the earlier casualties.

The lessons drawn from the battle by the British leadership, and General Haig in particular, will also have future reverberations.  Haig is well aware how close the Germans came to shattering his lines at Gheluvelt and Nonneboschen, and concludes that the Germans failed because they did not persevere in their attacks when just one more big push would have brought decisive victory.  Haig is determined that when the roles are reversed, no British attack he commands will ever fail because it was not pushed hard enough and long enough to achieve success.  It is, of course, the absolute wrong lesson to be drawn from First Ypres, and thousands of soldiers in the years to come will pay for this error with their lives.

Finally there is the contrast between the original BEF, the 'Old Contemptibles' as they referred to themselves, and the German volunteers of the reserve corps.  Both had made a conscious decision to join the army, as opposed to being forced to fight by conscription, and both were largely destroyed at Ypres.  Here, though, the similarity ends.  The German volunteers of August 1914 were motivated primarily by nationalist enthusiasm - they fought and died in the belief their service and sacrifice would benefit the German people for all time.  The soldiers of the old BEF were not driven by such high ideals - instead, each had made a deliberate and much more mundane choice to pursue, for whatever reason, a career in the army.  They had spent years, in some cases decades, honing their skills; the army was their livelihood, and when the day came for them to put their training to work they did not shirk their responsibilities and were equal to the task.  At Ypres the German volunteers died for their nation; the British soldiers because it was their job.

- Though the German effort to seize Ypres has been called off, the suffering of the town is only beginning.  It has been the target of enemy artillery fire before, but today the Germans deliberately target the magnificent Cloth Hall, symbol of the town's rich medieval heritage.  The bombardment begins at 6am, and by 9am shells are falling on the Cloth Hall, the first striking the tower and the third destroying the clock.  Within two hours the entire building is in flames and ruins.  The Germans claim that the British and French were using the Hall's tower to direct artillery fire, arguing later that 'German life is more precious than the finest Gothic architecture.'  The Germans are wrong - their lines are hidden from the tower's sights by various hills and valleys - and the destruction of the Cloth Hall is seen in much of the world as yet another example of German barbarity, that having been defeated in their efforts to take the town, they destroy it out of spite.  Its ruins become one of the iconic symbols of the destruction wrought by the First World War.

Ypres' Cloth Hall prior to the First World War.

The Cloth Hall burning under German artillery bombardment, November 22nd, 1914.

The ruins of the Cloth Hall later in the war.

- At Lodz the situation continues to deteriorate for the German 9th Army.  Its supply lines stretched to the breaking point, German units are running out of shells for their artillery.  To the east, General Rennenkampf of the Russian 1st Army has sent a force consisting of one and a half infantry and two cavalry divisions and named the Lovitch detachment southwestward towards the northern escape route for the German XXV Reserve Corps and Guards Division.  When an element of the Lovitch detachment occupies Brzeziny today, it appears the German corps and division are doomed - the Russian General Staff orders trains brought to Lodz to take the expected fifty thousand prisoners back to camps in Russia.

- The Yugoslav Committee is formed today in Florence by Ante Trumbic, a Croatian deputy in the Austrian Parliament.  The aim of the Committee is to unite all South Slavs, inside and outside Austria-Hungary, into a single independent state.

- In the Caucasus the Ottoman 3rd Army, suffering from ammunition shortages and command confusion, breaks off its operations against the Russian I Turkestan Corps and concentrates at Köprüköy.  Nevertheless, 3rd Army's attacks have stymied the Russian advance, giving the engagement the impression of being a notable Ottoman victory.  Enver Pasha in particular draws an out-sized belief in the fighting ability of 3rd Army, which will have fatal ramifications in the coming months.

- In Mesopotamia the main force of Indian Expeditionary Force D arrives at Basra shortly after midday.  They secure British control over the city and put an end to the looting of the past two days.  The trials of IEF D do not end, however - the bridges in Basra have to be reinforced before they can be used by any significant detachment of infantry, and the 'indescribably filthy condition of the town,' in the words of IEF D's commander, means the British have to set up camp outside Basra.

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 28th, 1914

- Joffre visits Lanrezac at the latter's headquarters at 8am, where they argue over the former's order to launch a counterattack.  When Lanrezac again insists that such a maneouvre is impossible under present circumstances, Joffre loses his temper for one of the few times in the campaign, informing the General that he must obey orders or be dismissed.  Lanrezac refuses to move without a written order, which Joffre then provides.  Later today 5th Army begins to realign itself for a westward counterattack, in preparation for the attack tomorrow morning.

- General Haig of I Corps, on his own initiative, offers to aid the French 5th Army in its coming counterattack.  Lanrezac is pleased at what he sees as an all-too-rare instance of British co-operation.

- Meanwhile the despondency of Sir John French continues to grow apace.  Fearing imminent destruction of the BEF, he orders transport wagons to discard all ammunition and carry men instead.  It is a tacit admission that French wants the BEF to flee as fast as possible, not fight.  Both Haig and Smith-Dorrien ignore the order, fearing its defeatism would crush morale, but the newly-arrived 4th Division implements it, much to the dismay of its soldiers.

- For three days the battle has raged between the French 1st and 2nd armies and the German 6th and 7th armies in Lorraine.  The French fought with a desperation born from the knowledge that defeat here would be catastrophic, and doom any effort to send additional forces to stop the German swing through Belgium.  Though the Germans are able to make minor gains, a breakthrough eludes them.  Today Rupprecht calls off the attack, in order to reconstitute his forces and rebuild his forces for a further attack.  The French victory here is a crucial moment in the Battle of the Frontiers, as it was the necessary prerequisite for Joffre to redeploy forces from Lorraine to oppose the Germans descending from the north.

- The murder, arson, and looting in Louvain comes to an end today, after three nightmarish days.  Of the population of 42 000, 209 have been executed and the rest deported.  Over a thousand buildings have been burnt to the ground, German soldiers often going door-to-door systematically to destroy entire neighbourhoods.  The university has also been destroyed, most notoriously the library, which contained 230 000 books, including priceless and irreplaceable medieval manuscripts, all lost, a tragedy to Western civilization.

Part of the ruins of Louvain.

- The first major naval battle occurs today in the Heligoland Bight, off the North Sea coast of Germany.  After patrolling for several weeks, British submarines, under the command of Commodore Roger Keyes, noticed that the Germans regularly patrolled the Bight with destroyers, supported by a couple of light cruisers.  Keyes, and Commodore Reginald Tyrwhitt, the latter commanding the Harwich Force of destroyers, were both aggressive commanders who wanted to take the naval war to the Germans.  They proposed a surprise attack on the German destroyers in the Bight, and retreating before the German High Seas Fleet could sortie in response.  The operation is scheduled for today, and will be supported by two forces - Commodore William Goodenough's 1st Light Cruiser Squadron and Vice-Admiral David Beatty, commanding the Battle Cruiser Squadron.  Goodenough and Beatty, who would be standing off the Bight prepared to enter the battle if requested, were part of Jellicoe's Grand Fleet, which was also at sea, though too far to support the operation.  Beatty was in many ways the opposite of Jellicoe - whereas the former was acutely aware of his burden of responsibility and was reluctant to fight the Germans unless necessary, the latter was aggressive and longed to come to grips with the foe.  Beatty's temperament matched his command - the battlecruisers were faster than Jellicoe's dreadnoughts, and seen as more glamourous by the British public.

The Battle of Heligoland Bight, Aug. 28th, 1914

The operation begins at daybreak, when three of Keyes' submarines surfaced to lure the German destroyers to Tyrwhitt's force.  There is a haze on the water today, which makes visibility inconsistent.  What follows is an often-confused running battle between British and German destroyers.  Several German light cruisers rush to the scene to save their destroyers, which leads Tyrwhitt to call in Goodenough's light cruisers.  When they appear, there is an almost disastrous miscommunication.  Keyes' submarines had never been informed that the 1st Light Cruiser Squadron would be part of the operation, so when one of his submarines sees two of Goodenough's light cruisers, they believe them to be German.  Keyes signals Beatty that his submarines are under attack by German light cruisers - Beatty's response is to signal Goodenough that Keyes is under attack.  Goodenough then orders the remaining four of his light cruisers into the Bight - in other words, Keyes has indirectly called in Goodenough's light cruisers to chase themselves.  When Keyes sights Goodenough's four remaining light cruisers, he now signals he is under attack by six German light cruisers.  The farcical episode ends at the last moment when Keyes' submarines realizes they are aiming at British light cruisers.

By 11am, British light forces have been in the Bight for several hours, and there are now more than a half dozen light cruisers milling about, appearing and disappearing in the haze.  Tyrwhitt, believing he is confronted by a superior force, calls Beatty for aid.  Beatty, for his part, knows that that the dreadnoughts of the German High Seas Fleet are not an immediate danger - remarkably, at the exit from the main German naval base is the Jade bar, which at low tide the German dreadnoughts cannot cross without getting grounded on the sand.  Low tide was at 933am, and it would be several hours before the dreadnoughts can get out into the Bight.  Beatty thus brings his battlecruisers into the Bight at full speed.  They emerge from the haze like stampeding elephants, and blow away two German light cruisers before covering the retreat of the British light forces.  By the time the Germans can get their own battlecruisers in the Bight, the British have long since disappeared.

The German light cruiser Mainz sinking during the Battle of Heligoland
Bight, Aug. 28th, 1914.

Though several British ships suffered heavy damage, they were the the clear victors - three German light cruisers and a destroyer had been sunk.  The battle made Beatty, Tyrwhitt, and Keyes into public heroes in Britain, and provided a much-needed counter to the depressing news from the Continent.  The most important consequence of the battle comes in Germany - the Kaiser, who loves the navy he has spent so much money and political capital upon, is terrified of them getting sunk.  Admiral Friedrich von Ingenohl, commander of the German High Seas Fleet, is informed that he cannot take his dreadnoughts to see without the prior permission of the Kaiser himself.  This completely hamstrings the High Seas Fleet, and effectively concedes to Britain control of the North Sea without a fight.

- This morning Ludendorff orders I Corps to advance to the northwest, to aid XX Corps, under heavy attack by three corps of the Russian 2nd Army.  General François, true to his manner, ignores the orders - Ludendorff is reduced to begging François to obey his order, to no effect.  General François can see the golden opportunity before 8th Army today, and drives straight east to cut behind the Russian 2nd Army.

To the east of the Russian 8th Army, XVII and I Reserve Corps advance, despite confusing orders.  I Reserve Corps captures Allenstein, and confronts the 8th Army units in the trap, while XVII Corps marches west towards I Corps.

By late today, Samsonov is becoming aware of the scope of the disaster his army is facing - he can hear I Corps' artillery fire from his headquarters.  His response is entirely in keeping with his background in the Russian cavalry - he telegraphs Zhilinskii at North-West Front and informs him that he is leaving his headquarters to go forward to the battlefront.  With seven staff officers, he gallops north into the battle.  The already-poor communications within 8th Army collapse completely - there is no contact between the corps of the army, and crucially there is no attempt to co-ordinate attacks between the corps inside the trap and the remnants outside to keep an avenue of retreat open.

- In Galicia, Conrad authorizes the temporary transfer of XIV Corps from 3rd Army to 4th Army in the north.  While he understands that 3rd Army, facing two Russian armies to the east, needs all the help it can get, he sees an opportunity to turn the left flank of the Russian 5th Army, whose western flank is already being pushed back by 4th Army.

August 25th, 1914

- Joffre issues General Instruction No. 2 today, which outlines the French strategy in light of the defeat in the Battle of the Frontiers.  The forces on the French left, including the BEF, are to retreat to the line Amiens-Rheims-Verdun, a retreat of over one hundred kilometres.  The massive fortress complex around Verdun is to serve as a hinge, anchoring the centre of the French line, while the left moves counterclockwise like a door.  This means the BEF and the French 5th Army, as the units furthest on the French left, will have the farthest to retreat.  During the retreat, French forces are to fight a delaying action, using quick counterattacks with artillery to keep the Germans off-balance.  As this retreat is underway, additional French forces will be concentrated at Amiens, drawn from the existing French armies between Verdun and the Swiss border.  Once this force is assembled, it would attack the exposed German flank as it passes south and, in conjunction with the BEF and other French armies on the left, envelop and destroy the invading German armies.

- The German 4th Army penetrates Sedan today, and is counterattacked by the French 4th Army to prevent the Germans from crossing the Meuse Rivier.  After bitter fighting and bayonet assaults, the French withdraw at nightfall, and blow the bridges over the river.

- The French launch a major counterattack in Lorraine today, directed towards the German forces advancing between Toul and Epinal.  From the north, 2nd Army's attack is led by Foch's XX Corps, which has already covered itself in glory in earlier fighting, and today retakes three towns and advances ten miles.  From the south, 1st Army achieves similar gains.  Despite earlier victories, the German 6th and 7th armies have sustained heavy losses, and they are thrown back across the Mortagne River and away from the gap at Charmes.  The Germans have no intention of giving up the fight - a breakthrough here might allow the envelopment and destruction of the entire French army - but the wooded and hilly terrain is ideal for the defensive, and the French also benefit from extensive pre-war fortifications.  In essence, the advantages that lay with the Germans when the French invaded Lorraine are reversed now that it is the Germans invading French Lorraine.

- General Joseph-Simon Gallieni is appointed today Military Governor of Paris.  The French government has become suddenly aware that the German advance may threaten the capital itself, and discover that its defenses have been woefully neglected.  Gallieni promises to bring energy and action to the fortification of Paris, and also insists that Joffre assigned several corps to ensure the city can be held.  Joffre demures; he needs all the corps he can to execute his retreat and counter-attack operation, and can hardly afford to have any tied down defending the capital.

- The Belgian army makes a sudden sortie today, fighting the German corps detached from the German 1st Army to cover the city.  Elements of the German corps are thrown back in confusion to Louvain before the sortie is contained and the Belgians retreat to Antwerp.  The sortie, however, would indirectly have an even larger impact on Louvain itself.  This small university town, known as the 'Oxford of Belgium,' had been occupied peacefully by the Germans for almost a week, but in the confusion tonight after the Belgian sortie German soldiers moving through the city believe they have been fired upon by Belgian civilians.  More plausible is that panicked Germans fired on each other in the darkness.  Regardless, German soldiers begin the destruction of Louvain, burning buildings and shooting civilians, which continue for several days.

- General Samsonov of the Russian 2nd Army is informed today that two corps of the German 8th Army have retreated to the fortress of Königsberg, far to the north, convincing him that the only substantial enemy forces before him is the German corps since yesterday.  Samsonov is thus encouraged to continue to advance with his centre, and when the German XX Corps comes under pressure on its flank, withdraws to the north.  Samsonov interprets this as part of an ongoing German general retreat, and continues to orders his forces to pursue.

Unintentionally, Samsonov's advance exposes the flanks of 2nd Army to the Germans.  Most of the German I Corps arrive today on the western flank of XX Corps, though General François ignores an order by Ludendorff to attack, arguing that his artillery has not arrived and an advance would be suicidal.  Meanwhile, XVII and I Reserve Corps continue to march towards their position on the eastern flank of XX Corps.

- Since the Battle of Gumbinnen on the 20th, Moltke has remained concerned about the Russian invasion of Prussia.  Despite the replacement of Prittwitz with Hindenburg and Ludendorrf, it is not yet clear if their plans for operations against the Russian 2nd Army will be successful.  Under pressure from Junkers whose East Prussian estates lay in the path of the Russians, Moltke decides that reinforcements must be sent.  His initial impulse is to take corps from 6th and 7th Armies, engaged in Lorraine.  However, the continued fighting between Toul and Epinal suggests that the armies cannot spare any corps, and moreover the Bavarian corps of 6th Army may not fight with sufficient ardour to save East Prussia.  Instead, Moltke looks to the right wing.  The fall of Namur has freed the two corps that had been beseiging the city.  Instead of rejoining the advance of the right wing, orders are issued for their redeployment to East Prussia.

- Fighting since the 23rd, the Austro-Hungarian 1st Army has turned both flanks of the Russian 4th Army, and the latter, having lost 6000 prisoners and twenty-eight guns, retreats northwards to the Kraśnik positions south of Lublin.  Victory in the Battle of Kraśnik encourages Conrad in his belief that a decisive victory can be won through his invasion of Russian Poland, and he urges the Austro-Hungarian 4th Army, to the east of 1st Army, onwards.  The Russian 4th Army, meanwhile, urges 5th Army on its east to attack southwest to disrupt the enemy 1st Army.

- In the early hours of this morning, the German commander at Kamina in Togoland destroys the nine masts and switchboard of the Kamina wireless station, and at daylight surrenders to the British and Imperial forces.  The Germans are hopelessly outnumbered, but nevertheless surrender before absolutely necessary - for example, they still have over 300 000 rifle rounds.  Moreover, German resistance has not been as stiff as it could have been - most of the colony had been abandoned without a fight, and much of the infrastructure had not been destroyed to impede the speed of the British advance.  The approach of the German commander, instead, had been to concentrate on Kamina, the only vital point in the colony, and otherwise preserve the rest of the colony.  There was only ever one possible outcome to the invasion of Togoland, and instead of destroying the colony in what would have been an obviously futile effort to hold it, a token resistance is instead offered, to preserve the 'benefits' (i.e. infrastructure, etc.) that have accrued to the African population of Togoland under German rule.

- Following its declaration of war on Germany, Japan today declares war on Austria-Hungary.

August 24th, 1914

- As reports come in overnight of yesterday's fighting, the scope of the crisis becomes apparent to Joffre.  He realizes that his armies have not suffered a temporary check, but rather a comprehensive defeat.  While the armies in Lorraine remain gripped in combat with the Germans, to the northwest the French are in retreat - indeed, this phase of the fighting comes to be known as the 'Great Retreat'.  Most precipitous has been the retreat of 5th Army after the Battle of Charleroi, and Joffre belatedly comes to the realization that Lanrezac was right and that the major German push is coming through Belgium.  Plan XVII having failed, it is discarded, and Joffre must adapt to the changing strategic situation.  He recognizes that his armies in the north will have to withdraw for a period before the Germans can be halted again.  As he states in a message sent to the War Minister at 935am:

One must face facts . . . Our army corps . . . have not shown on the battlefield those offensive qualities for which we had hoped . . . We are therefore compelled to resort to the defensive, using our fortresses and great topographical obstacles to enable us to yield as little ground as possible.  Our object must be to last out, trying to wear the enemy down, and to resume the offensive when the time comes.

In addition to adapting to the changed circumstances, the reasons for the defeat must be understood.  For Joffre, unable to find fault in himself, believes that the blame must fall on others, who have failed to do their duty.  He begins a process of purging the French army of any officer deemed to have failed in some way or another.

There is also a growing realization that the tactics of the Battle of the Frontiers must be revised.  Reports from officers on the fighting emphasize the importance of preliminary artillery bombardment, and that infantry should never be sent forward on their own, as elan cannot survive concentrated rifle, machine-gun, and artillery bombardment.

The retreat of the French armies is no mere matter of walking - there are a constant series of rearguard actions, small sharp clashes that spring up as the French try to keep the pursuing Germans from overrunning them.  In particular, river crossings become vital - even a delay of a few hours forced on the Germans can be vital for the French to stay one step ahead.

Finally, In the space between the BEF and the sea, an ad-hoc force under General Albert d'Amade is formed, consisting of General André Sordet's Cavalry Corps, exhausted from its operations in Belgium, three territorial divisions, and the garrison of Lille, which was evacuated today and declared an open city.  This was little more than a token force, to watch over the far western flank and keep German cavalry away from the redeploying French armies.

- At midnight this morning, news reaches BEF headquarters that General Lanrezac has ordered the retreat of the French 5th Army.  This retreat necessitates the retreat of the BEF as well - to remain at Mons would guarantee its envelopment and destruction.  Thus, despite successfully holding off the Germans yesterday, orders go out in the first hours after midnight for both corps to retreat.  I Corps, which had not fought, receives its orders quickly and begins the march south.  There is a delay in getting the orders to II Corps, however, with the result that its retreat has not yet begun at daybreak.  They thus have to retreat under fire, and in the ensuing confusion one battalion never gets its orders, is surrounded, and almost entirely wiped out before a few hundred can escape southwards.  As they move south, II Corps is joined by 4th Division and 19th Brigade, newly-arrived from Britain.

The news also shatters what little remains of his confidence in his French allies generally, and Lanrezac personally.  He feels that the BEF was fighting, at Lanrezac's request, to defend his flank, and then Lanrezac never informed him of his intention to retreat, leaving the BEF in a dangerous, isolated position.  The last instructions from Kitchener, which he had interpreted as emphasizing the preservation of the BEF first and foremost, rise in his mind.  Believing that the French are both defeated and abandoning his own army, Field Marshal French begins to consider ways out of the fighting.

- Since the fall of Dinant yesterday to elements of the 3rd German Army, it has been the scene of violence and bloodshed, not of soldiers, but of the civilian population.  General Hausen, commander of 3rd Army, is convinced he has seen Belgian civilians firing on his soldiers, and his soldiers are eager to teach the Belgian population a lesson.  Most of those buildings remaining after the fighting in the town are torched, and between 640 and 676 civilians are executed, the youngest only three weeks of age.

- Prince Rupprecht's 6th Army, in concert with 7th Army, and reinforced with additional artillery, launches a major attack in Lorraine, the one portion of the front where the French armies are not in retreat.  Their objective is the Trouée de Charmes, a key valley between the French fortifications at Toul and Epinal.  Seizure of this objective will allow the Germans to envelop Toul and Nancy to the north.  In the course of the day's fighting German units cross the Mortagne, the last river barrier before the gap at Charmes.  Elsewhere, General Foch's XX Corps stands its ground before Nancy.  The result is that the German success towards Charmes has exposed their flank to a counterattack from the north.  Aerial reconnaissance undertaken today reveals the deployment of the German forces, allowing General Castlenau of the French 6th Army to prepare a counterattack.

- XX Corps, for the past several days the only corps of the German 8th Army facing the Russian 2nd Army, has been executing a fighting withdrawal in the face of superior forces.  Today, Hindenburg and Ludendorff order it to stand and fight, with the intention of fixing 2nd Army in place until the other corps of 8th Army can arrive to defeat it.  Notably, the orders demonstrate that Hindenburg and Ludendorff were not yet thinking of fighting an envelopment battle - if they had, their orders would have been for XX Corps to continue to withdraw, enticing the Russians to advance into a trap.

As such, a fierce fight develops between the German XX Corps and the Russian XV Corps.  The German corps is fighting on home ground - its peacetime headquarters is only a few miles away in the village of Allenstein, and at one point in the day's fighting the corps' chief of staff finds himself directing artillery fire onto his own house.  The Russian attack, meanwhile, suffers from a lack of co-ordination.  Despite outnumbering the Germans, the corps to either side of XV Corps do not attempt to turn the flanks of the German XX Corps, allowing it to fight a frontal battle today.

Meanwhile, the glacial advance of the Russian 1st Army towards Königsberg, combined with radio intercepts of Samsonov's orders for 2nd Army, confirm Ludendorff's belief that 8th Army can be sent in its 
entirety to fight the Russian 2nd Army.  Having rested on the 23rd, XVII and I Reserve Corps are ordered south, taking their place on the eastern flank of XX Corps.

- Finally yielding to the obvious, Potiorek admits defeat and orders the remaining Austro-Hungarian forces in Serbian territory to retreat behind the Drina and Sava rivers.  5th Army has suffered the most - of 80 000 who crossed the Drina, 600 officers and 23 000 men have been lost.  Potioriek's invasion of Serbia has been a complete debacle - delays allowed the Serbs to defeat 5th and 6th Armies separately, while 2nd Army was unable to make an impact prior to its departure for Galicia.  Thus Conrad's order at the end of July for 2nd Army to be deployed against Serbia has been a complete waste of time.  Moreover, because of its use at the now-abandoned Sabac bridgehead, IV Corps of 2nd Army only today begins its transfer to Galicia.  The limited use of 2nd Army by Potiorek has accomplished nothing other than a further delay in its redeployment to face the Russians.

August 5th, 1914

- At dawn, Goeben and Breslau arrive at the Italian post of Messina on Sicily in order to replenish their stock of coal.  The Italian authorities, however, emphasizing the neutrality of Italy in the war, inform Admiral Souchon that his ships may remain in harbour for only 24 hours.  As the German sailors desperately shovel coal as quickly as possible, the British light cruiser Gloucester watches the southern exit of the Messina Strait, while the battlecruisers Inflexible and Indefatigable are to the northwest of Sicily, covering the French troop transports.

- General Radomir Putnik, Chief of Staff of the Serbian Army, arrives at his headquarters today.  He had actually been in Budapest when Austria-Hungary issued its declaration of war, but in an act of chivalry he was not detained and was permitted to return to Serbia.  In another remarkable episode, Putnik had with him the only set of keys to open a safe in his office which contained the only copy of Serbia's mobilization plan.  In his absence, his staff had to dynamite open the safe before they could begin to mobilize.

- Austria-Hungary today declares war on Russia.  The delay speaks to the extent to which the war had already bypassed one of its initiators.

- Representatives of twenty-one London commercial banks meet to discuss the economic fallout from the advent of war.  They calculate that they are owed £60 million by firms in Germany and Austria-Hungary, debts that they will be unable to collect.

- In Austria-Hungary, finance ministers and the central bank agree that the country's gold reserves will be allotted solely for state and military use, and that foreign payments will be halted to prevent a currency drain.

- In France, the central bank advances to the government 2.9 billion francs in new notes to finance the war efforts, raising the value of the notes in circulation by almost a third.  With convertability from notes to gold suspended, the central bank can increase the money supply almost at will.

- In Britain, a meeting of the War Council is held to discuss the deployment of the British Expeditionary Force, consisting of all six regular divisions of the British Army.  The members of the Council include civilian ministers and leading figures in the army - among the former is Asquith, Grey, and Churchill, and the latter includes Field Marshal Sir John French, commander of the BEF, and Kitchener in his new role as Secretary of State for War.  The meeting is a shambles.  The official mobilization plan for the BEF is that it is to be deployed to France as soon as possible, assembling at the French fortress of Maubeuge on the Belgian frontier.  As he had no part of developing the mobilization plan, Kitchener feels no responsibility to ensure its implementation.  He argues that Maubeuge is far too forward, risking their early destruction of the Germans move through Belgium in force.  Instead, the BEF should assemble at Amiens, far to the rear.  Other generals are appalled - General Sir Henry Wilson, author and driving force behind the pre-war mobilization plan, and who would become Deputy Chief of Staff of the BEF, felt Amiens would leave the BEF too far away from the fighting to make any difference.  Sir John French, meanwhile, suggests that instead of France the BEF should go to Antwerp in Belgium - if the war is about aiding Belgium, shouldn't the BEF land in Belgium to help directly?  Moreover, there are suggestions, particular from the civilian ministers, that some of the divisions of the BEF be held back, out of fear of German invasion.  Churchill and the Navy says this is preposterous, but the fear remains.

Kitchener also astonishes the Council when he declares that the war will last three years and require the mobilization of millions of soldiers into seventy divisions.  Everyone else, believing the war will be over in months, not years, is flabbergasted.  Here is Kitchener, on his first day in office, declaring that everyone else's perceptions of how the war will play out are completely out-of-touch.  Many, instead, believe Kitchener is the one out-of-touch.  Kitchener is doubtful of sending the BEF to France at all - better to use the trained regulars of the BEF, especially the non-commissioned officers, as a nucleus of a massively-expanded British Army.

The meeting breaks up without agreement.  It is often said that no plan survives contact with the enemy - in this case, the British plan does not survive contact with Kitchener.

- In Belgium General Emmich's brigades launch the first major attack on the four easternmost forts at Liège.  Repeated assaults are broken up, German soldiers mowed down by the fort's machine guns before they could reach the forts themselves.  The fighting is a preview of what the Western Front will become in the years ahead.  By nightfall the Germans have suffered heavy casualties without seizing any of the forts.  Morale among the Germans has been shaken as Emmich orders another assault for the next morning.

- Moltke writes this day that 'Our advance in Belgium is certainly brutal, but we are fighting for our lives and all who get in the way must take the consequences.'  These ominous words reflect how the German army will deal with civilians, especially in Belgium, who are suspected of resisting the German advance.  As German units move into Belgium, they are constantly on the lookout for francs-tireurs - the name given to civilians and partisans who sniped at Prussian soldiers in the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-1.  Furthermore, the Germans are outraged that the Belgians dare resist - they know they cannot win, so why not step aside and allow the Germans to move as they please?  The combination of these two attitudes is lethal during the German invasion of Belgium.  Official orders come down from the generals in charge of the advance that all resistance by civilians must be dealt with using the harshest means possible, and soldiers came to see such francs-tireurs around every corner.  There was a deliberate policy to 'frighten' the Belgian population into submission.  Any civilian caught with a firearm was liable for summary execution.  Further, if any village or town was suspected of harbouring civilian resisters, innocent civilians, including women and children, would be executed and the village burnt to the ground, in order to 'make an example' of those who resisted.  In reality, there is no evidence of any widespread resistance by the Belgian population - indeed, the Belgian government had told its people to hand in their guns to the nearest authorities before the Germans arrived.  Already, six hostages has been shot at Warsage and the village of Battice burnt to the ground.  These are merely the first steps of what will come to be known around the world as the 'Rape of Belgium'.