October 9th, 1914

- General Falkenhayn issues orders today for a major new deployment of German forces on the Western Front.  The corps of the existing 4th Army are reassigned to the adjacent 3rd or 5th armies, and 4th Army headquarters, including is commander Duke Albrecht, are brought north to Flanders.  General Beseler's XIII Reserve Corps is assigned to this army, but the main fighting strength of the new 4th Army are XXII, XXII, XXVI, and XXVII Reserve Corps, each of which consist of two Reserve Divisions.  These four corps were among six whose formation was authorized on August 16th.  They consisted in part of older men who had never been conscripted in their youth (in peacetime Germany had only needed to conscripted 50% of each age cohort to fill the army), in part of older men who had completed prior military service, and volunteers.  It is the latter group who would come to dominant the popular perception of these corps - they are among the hundreds of thousands of young men, many coming straight from the classroom, who, fully imbued with patriotism and romantic notions of a quick and glorious war, had volunteered in the first weeks of the war.  They had had no prior military training, and have had barely any time to learn over the past two month.  It is hoped that what they lacked in martial ability would be compensated by enthusiasm, perhaps the ultimate expression of the pre-war belief that any enemy position could be taken, any task completed, if only the soldiers are sufficiently willing.  The older men were added to give leadership and experience, but many of them are unfit for duty and had been trained in prior decades, before the rise of the machine gun and the other accouterments of twentieth-century warfare.  They are also under-equipped, with fewer artillery batteries as compared to regular corps and lacking field telephones to direct the fire of those artillery pieces they do have.

Given the poor quality of these corps, why are they to be employed in battle two months after their formation?  Indeed, Britain was also mobilizing hundreds of thousands of volunteers, but Kitchener has insisted that it would take a year's training before they were fit for combat.  Their use speaks to the extent that, despite the dismissal of Moltke and the failure of the Schlieffen Plan, Falkenhayn and the General Staff remain enthralled by the vision of rapid victory in the west.  Of these six reserve corps, only one is sent to the Eastern Front, at a time when Hindenburg and Ludendorff are screaming for thirty divisions.  One is sent to help hold the line at Metz, while the remaining four all go to Flanders.  Falkenhayn believes that the Western Front continues to be the place where a decisive, war-winning victory can be achieved, though instead of Schlieffen's sweep around Paris, he perceives that the opportunity exists to outflank the Entente line from the north, advancing to the Somme River and occupying the Channel ports.  Such a success, Falkenhayn believed, would cripple France and ensure ultimate victory.  Further, the only way to achieve the vital margin of superiority to ensure success is to use these four reserve corps - a force of equivalent size cannot be redeployed from the rest of the Western Front, and it would take too much time to send the reserve corps to relieve four more experienced corps and redeploy the latter to Flanders.

Thus 4th Army is to be the hammer behind Falkenhayn's major offensive on the Western Front - with the French line holding south of Arras, they are to punch through between Arras and the Channel coast, an area that for much of the war has been held only by a small number of French territorial and cavalry divisions.  But even as Falkenhayn's orders go out, Entente forces are gathering, and in particular the British Expeditionary Force is redeploying into precisely the same stretch of the front that the Germany 4th Army is to storm through.  Indeed, today also marks the first arrival of BEF units in Flanders: II Corps completes its detraining at Abbeville, while 2nd Cavalry Division arrives between St. Pol and Hesdin.  Thus by coincidence, just as in August at Mons, the BEF is moving into the path of the most important German advance.

- To cover the retreat of the British brigades at Antwerp, Rawlinson dispatches part of 7th Division to Ghent, while the remainder, plus 3rd Cavalry Division, concentrates at Bruges.  The two divisions are also brought under Sir John French's direct command, integrating them into the BEF as IV Corps under General Rawlinson's command.  This illustrates that in future the corps will join up and co-operate with the BEF, as opposed to remaining effectively an independent command along the Schelde.

- As the Royal Marine Brigade, the 2nd Naval Brigade, and the Drake Battalion march westwards, word reaches the British at 230am that the nearest trains are at Gilles Waes, six miles to the northwest.  After an arduous overland journey undertaken in unfamiliar terrain in darkness, the first troops reach Gilles Waes at daybreak, and by 9am the last train leaves the village, with omnibuses picking up stragglers.  Thus were the bulk of the British forces at Antwerp evacuated through the corridor north of the Schelde.  The Belgian 2nd Division also manages to escape, reaching the rest of the Belgian army this evening after a thirty-mile march.

The last military train to leave Gilles Waes, October 9th, 1914.

However, the three battalions of the 1st Naval Brigade who had not received the original orders to retreat would have a much more difficult time evacuating the city.  By the early morning hours, finding that adjacent units had disappeared, realized that a retreat was under way.  After marching through the nearly-abandoned city, they arrived at the Schelde to find that most of the bridges has been destroyed to prevent their usage by the Germans.  Through the requisition of barges and steamers, the battalions are able to get across the Schelde by 4am and arrive at Zwyndrecht, the supposed rendezvous for British forces, to find it abandoned.  Finally learning that the others had gone to Gilles Waes, the three battalions join the refugee columns streaming west, and arrive at the village between 1130 and 345.  A train then arrived to take them west, but at 415 it was learned that the advancing Germans had cut the rail line at Moerbeke.  At this point, the three battalions were exhausted, lacked both food and ammunition, and were in no condition to attempt to fight their way out.  In consequence they took the only other option available to them - they marched north and crossed the Dutch frontier, where they were disarmed and interned for the remainder of the war.  Thus of the three thousand men of the 1st Naval Brigade that arrived at Antwerp, only one thousand escaped.

At Antwerp itself, the Germans discover this morning that the inner forts have been abandoned.  General Beseler thus sends a representative into the city under a white flag to demand its surrender.  Simultaneously, the Military Governor of Antwerp had concluded that further resistance was pointless.  This evening, the Governor signs the surrender of the city and its remaining fortifications.

- The retreat of the German 8th Army ends today as they reach Gumbinnen and the fortified positions along the Angerapp River.  The pursing Russians close up to the German lines, which stabilize along present lines.  The German success at the Battle of the Masurian Lakes has been overturned, and though the Russians do not pose an immediate threat of invasion, they have regained a toehold in East Prussia and claim to have inflicted sixty thousand casualties.  Meanwhile, General Schubert is replaced as 8th Army commander today by General François.

- In Galicia the advancing Austro-Hungarian armies have reached the San River, and though further progress is inhibited by stiffening Russian resistance, they have reached the fortress at Przemysl, lifting the Russian siege.  The Russians had lost forty thousand soldiers attempting to storm Przemysl before it could be relieved, and the Austro-Hungarian units that reached the city today have as their first responsibility the clearing of tens of thousands of Russian corpses from the fortress perimeter.

Further north, as the German 9th Army continues its advance, a detailed Russian order of battle is found on the body of a dead Russian officer.  This reveals that the Russians are massing three entire armies east of the Vistula River around Warsaw.  This intelligence coup comes as a complete surprise to Ludendorff - to this point he believed that most of the Russian armies were still in Galicia.  Instead, he realizes that 9th Army is advancing directly into the main enemy concentration.  The straightforward response would have been to simply call off the offensive; indeed, the ostensible aim of the operation - saving the Austro-Hungarian army - had already been achieved, though more from the Russian redeployment from Galicia to Poland than anything the Germans themselves had done.  However, Ludendorff was hardly one for the straightforward, commonplace solution.  Instead of retreating, he decides that the Germans will attempt to defeat the Russians south of Warsaw before the three Russian armies are fully assembled.  To this end, Ludendorff requests Conrad to extend his line northwards to Ivangorod, to free 9th Army from having to cover southern Poland, and allow it to maneouvre freely.

- In South Africa S. G. Maritz goes into open rebellion today, declaring South Africa independent and announcing war with Britain (and coincidentally, promoting himself to general).  Force B is personally loyal to him, and he threatens to attack Upington unless he is allowed to contact other Boer leaders from the abortive coup attempt of September 15th, including Christian De Wet, C. F. Beyers, and J. C. G. Kemp.

October 4th, 1914

- The German advance at Arras continues today.  North of the city the Bavarians push through Lens and, at 10pm, occupy the heights of Vimy Ridge.  The French 70th Division, on the line north of the city, is pushed back almost to the Scarpe River northwest of Arras.  To the south, the Prussian Guards Division shatters the 81th Territorial Division, killing its commander, and a gap begins to open between the territorial divisions and X Corps.  The French at Arras are threatened with encirclement, and General Maud-huy declares that his detachment is facing another 'Sedan', referencing the disastrous envelopment and surrender of a French army in 1870 during the Franco-Prussian War.  The Kaiser, meanwhile, arrives at Rupprecht's headquarters at St. Quentin to observe the anticipated victory.

When Castlenau asks Joffre which direction Maud-huy should retreat in, the latter's response is swift.  He has become convinced that Castlenau is plagued by excessive pessimism, and decides on a reorganization.  First, Maud-huy's detachment is formed into a separate command as 10th Army.  Second, Ferdinand Foch is appointed Joffre's 'deputy' with responsibility to co-ordinate the 2nd and 10th armies and the territorial divisions in northern France.  Castlenau thus finds himself under the command of a former subordinate, but on balance is likely pleased to have retained his command at all.  With Foch moving to northern France, his 9th Army along the Aisne is suppressed, its corps being absorbed by the neighbouring 4th and 5th armies.  Joffre also informs Castlenau that under no circumstances is he to retreat, as the reinforcements en route to the north will allow the Entente line to hold.

The German advance at Arras, October 1914.

- The British Royal Marine Brigade arrives in Antwerp at 1am, having landed at Dunkirk yesterday and traveled to the city by train, and later this morning takes up position along the front line to the southeast of Antwerp.  At the same time, the British Cabinet approves the dispatch of the two naval brigades to augment the British contribution to the defense of Antwerp.  The Cabinet also receives a remarkable request from Churchill.  He has remained in Antwerp, and for the past twenty-four hours has taken to directing the defense of the city, touring the trenches, repositioning units, etc..  He has displayed an almost boyish enthusiasm for war - sitting in the open watching the action as artillery shells fall around him.  He feels to be in his element, and at this moment wants nothing more than to continue to have a direct hand in the ongoing struggle for Antwerp.  His request to the Cabinet is that he resign his position as First Lord of the Admiralty and instead be appointed commander of the forces at Antwerp, with the full authority of a general in the field.  The reaction of the Cabinet can be best described as nervous laughter - Churchill has already gained a reputation as a figure whose enthusiasm often outruns his judgement, and the idea that the head of the most important military office in the country should race off to command forces in the field is incomprehensible.  Churchill’s request is politely denied, and he is informed that General Henry Rawlinson will be arriving shortly to assume command of the British contingent.  For now, though, Churchill remains at Antwerp, play-acting the role of general.

Meanwhile, the continuing bombardment of Fort Kessel finally forces the evacuation of its Belgian garrison today.  The Germans also begin to bombard the north bank of the Nethe River, in preparation for an attempt to force a crossing and pierce the line of defense established along the river after the first forts had fallen.

- West of Verdun, General Mudra's XVI Corps launches another offensive against the French lines in the Argonne.  The German attackers make widespread use of Minenwerfers, or trench mortars, for the first time.  Such small mortars, firing a small projectile in a high arc, are well-suited for use against trenches, as the trajectory allows the shell to plunge into trenches before detonation.  The Germans have also prioritized Minenwerfers as they use less powder, an important consideration given the economic blockade of the country.  Despite the use of such weapons, the Germans make little progress, facing fierce French resistance.

- The past few days have seen desperate fighting near Augustow just east of the German-Russian frontier as the Russians attempt to push into the rear of the German 8th Army retreating from the Niemen River.  While the Germans opposing the Russian advance suffer grievous losses, they succeed in slowing the Russians sufficiently to allow the remainder of 8th Army to evacuate Suwalki and withdraw to the border.

- As the German 9th Army continues its movement northeastwards from Krakow, the Austro-Hungarian 1st Army takes up position on the southern flank of 9th Army and joins the advance, with the Austro-Hungarian 4th and 3rd armies to the south moving westward towards the San River.  Despite bad weather and roads being reduced to mud, the Germans are able to maintain a marching rate of thirty miles a day, making using of requisitioned Polish carts better able to cope with the deep mud.  With the withdrawal of three Russian armies from Galicia to Poland to participate in the proposed offensive against German Silesia, the remaining Russian armies in Galicia fall back to avoid being outflanked to the north by the advance of the German 9th Army.

- General Potiorek officially calls off the second invasion of Serbia today.  Though the effort has at least secured a small bridgehead in northwestern Serbia, it has overall been another dismal failure.  Desperate to deflect blame from himself, he argues that a lack of shells has been to blame.

- Under the guise of reinforcing Maritz, Smuts dispatches new units to Upington under the command of Coen Brits, whose loyalty is unquestionable - the latter is said to have told Botha, 'My men are ready; who do we fight - the English or the Germans?'  Brits' force is positioned to fight Maritz if the latter rebels.

- As the German East Asiatic Squadron crosses the Pacific, it hears the signals of the German light cruiser Dresden, which has passed through the Straits of Magellan from the Atlantic and is now off the Chilean coast.  Admiral Spee today signals Dresden to meet his squadron at Easter Island.  This message, however, is intercepted by a British wireless station at Suva in the Fiji Islands, and when relayed to London gives the Admiralty concrete evidence that the German squadron is bound for South America.

- An appeal 'To the Civilized World' is published today in Germany.  Written by Ulrich von Wilamowitz, it contains the signatures of a hundred of Germany's leading artists, scholars, and intellectuals, including such world-renowned figures as the scientists Max Planck and Wilhelm Röntgen.  The document justifies German conduct in the war and seeks to counter the growing international perception of German cruelty, especially with respect to the occupation of Belgium.  In line with the general tone of German propaganda, it seeks to blame the victim:

It is not true that the life and property of a single Belgian citizen have been infringed upon by our soldiers, unless the most desperate self-defense made it necessary . . . the Belgian population shot at our troops from ambush, mutilated the wounded, and murdered doctors while they were performing their healing work.  One can falsify matters no more basely than to remain silent about the crimes of these assassins, to turn the punishments that they have justly suffered into crimes committed by Germans.

It is not true that our troops have wreaked brutal havoc in Louvain.  They were compelled reluctantly to bring a sector of the city under fire, in order to retaliate against raging inhabitants who had treacherously attacked them here. . . .

They also appeal to the sense of European racial superiority to denigrate the enemies of Germany:

Those who have allied themselves with Russians and Serbs, and who present the world with [the] shameful spectacle of inciting Mongolians and Negroes against the white race, have the very least right to portray themselves as the defenders of European civilization.

Finally, they ground the 'Appeal' on self-defense - that the most heinous and cruel of acts are justified in the name of German victory:

Were it not for German militarism, German culture would long ago have been eradicated.  For the protection of German culture, militarism arose in a land that had for centuries been plagued like no other by predation.  The German army and the German people are one and the same.

As much as the 'Appeal' was published to counter Entente propaganda, it was also aimed at the German public, seeking to justify not only the war itself but German conduct of it.  It reflects the widespread and almost universal enthusiasm for the war among intellectuals, common to all of the major combatants.

October 1st, 1914

- Three German corps - from south to north the Guard, IV, and I Bavarian Reserve - arrive east of Arras today, and encounter Maud-huy's forces still preparing for their own offensive.  Rupprecht's objective is to fix Maud-huy's forces in front of Arras while outflanking them to the north.

- Though his artillery is progressing as expected in the destruction of the Belgian forts south of Antwerp, General Bessler believes that the fall of Antwerp needs to be hastened - he does not want the British or French to either reinforce the city or, of greater concern, push forces from the west against his eastern flank.  Thus at 4pm today assaults are ordered by German infantry on the southern forts, and by nightfall the ruins of Fort Wavre are in German hands, though resistance continues elsewhere.  At midnight the British military representative at Antwerp sends a telegram to his government emphasizing the seriousness of the situation and stating that the arrival of even a small detachment of British forces would raise Belgian morale.

- The German 8th Army is attacked heavily by the pursuing Russian armies as it pulls back to the German border.  Rennenkampf's strategy is to pin the Germans with his centre and right, while attempting to outflank with his left.  The latter, having advanced through difficult woods for several days, seizes the town of Augustow today, which threatens to turn the southern flank of the German 8th Army.  For a brief moment, victory beckons for the Russians.

- As Germany becomes increasingly isolated from the world market by the British naval blockade, perhaps the most important industrial shortage was fixed nitrogen, produced from saltpetre, vital not only for the production of explosives but also for agricultural fertilizers key to the maintenance of Germany's domestic food supply.  Pre-war, saltpetre had been imported from Chile, but this supply was interrupted by the war, and there was no available alternative.  Thus, if Germany wanted to be able to fight a war of any significant duration, it was essential to develop processes to produce artificial fixed nitrogen.  Today, Emil Fischer, Germany's leading chemist, discusses the issue at the War Ministry, where he explains two recently developed methods for producing nitrogen - lime nitrogen, a byproduct of gasworks and coking plants, and synthesized ammonia.  Both methods had evolved out of Germany's chemical industry, which was the most advanced in the world, and Fischer's meeting will jump-start the production of artifical nitrogen, illustrative of the vital links between the academic community, industry, and the military in the conduct of modern war.  As a result of this relationship, Germany will produce two and a half times as much nitrogen in wartime as it had produced in peacetime - the war will not be lost for a lack of explosives.

September 28th, 1914

- After initial setbacks, the French XXI and X corps have solidified a defensive line east of Albert along a line Maricourt-Fricourt-Thiepval.  Realizing that 6th Army has been checked before Amiens, Falkenhayn today orders Rupprecht to attack to the north towards Arras in another effort to get around the flank of the Entente line.

- The siege of Antwerp begins in earnest today with the first major bombardment of its forts by the Germans.  Falkenhayn has decided that Antwerp must be captured to ensure the security of the German right wing as it extends northwards into Flanders.  Commanding the besiegers is General Hans von Beseler, whose III Reserve Corps consists of second-rate divisions and brigades, and is deemed insufficient to cross the Scheldt River to the west of the city to invest it completely.  However, von Beseler also has at his disposal 173 heavy guns, and it is expected that the artillery will repeat its performances at Liège and Namur and crush the fortifications from long-range.  Specifically, the first to be targeted are the forts of Wavre and Waelham to the south of Antwerp, to breach the outer defense line and allow the infantry to advance.  The German bombardment is able to proceed entirely unmolested, as the Belgian artillery pieces lack the range to hit the German mortars.  The attack is thus little more than target practice.

- Having failed to cross the Niemen River, the German 8th Army begins a withdrawal back towards the German border, as maintaining their current position would leave them in an exposed salient while not diverting Russian forces from Poland and Galicia.  The Russian 1st and 10th armies begin a pursuit of the retreating Germans, and General Rennenkampf of the former shows energy that had been lacking in August.

- Having completed its assembly north of Krakow, the German 9th Army begins its advance northeast today in the direction of Ivangorod and Moscow.  As of yet Ludendorff has no idea that the Russians are redeploying four armies to precisely the same place.

The Eastern Front, September 28th to November 1st, 1914.

- In a speech today South African Prime Minister Louis Botha declares that if South African forces do not attack and occupy German South-West Africa, then the British will bring in other Imperial forces, such as the Australians or Indians, to undertake the operation.  The statement is aimed at Boers uneasy with the invasion, suggesting that since it is going to happen it might as well be done to the benefit of South Africa directly.

- As they approach Tsingtao, Japanese forces seize today the first defensive line.  They had been thinly held, however, and the Germans conduct an orderly retreat to the second defensive line in the Hai Po valley.

September 27th, 1914

- The German XIV Reserve Corps comes into the line north of II Bavarian Corps, and begins to advance on Albert.  Opposite them the French XXI and X Corps are arriving north of the Somme River.

- The Belgian army continues to hold the fortifications at Antwerp, the 'national redoubt', but there are growing concerns about the state of its defenses.  There are two rings of forts surrounding Antwerp on the southern bank of the Scheldt River - an outer line of eighteen forts between seven and nine miles from the city, and an inner line of older forts.  However, the forts have not been modernized, and are vulnerable to high-arcing plunging fire, precisely the type the Germans had used at Liège and Namur.  Thus the Belgians realize that to hold Antwerp for a prolonged period of time in the face of a German effort to capture the forts requires that the German siege mortars be kept out of range.  For the past two days, two divisions of the Belgian army have sortied south of the city to push the Germans back, but despite local successes the Belgians have been forced back to the first line of forts south of Antwerp.  Their sortie, at least, has helped convince the besieging Germans that the north bank of the Scheldt to the west of the city is too well-defended to attack, leaving an overland line of communication between Antwerp and Flanders.

The defenses of Antwerp, September 1914.

- After a day spent bombarding Russian positions, elements of the German 8th Army attempt to cross the Niemen River this morning.  However, the pontoon bridges are blasted by Russian artillery, and the crossings fail to secure bridgeheads at great cost.

- Realizing the enemy has abandoned Duala in German Kamerun, the British expedition offshore begin to land 2500 soldiers of the West African Frontier Force and seize the town.

This cover of the satirical magazine Kladderadatsch, published today, reflects the
continuing optimism on the home front.  The caption translates as 'The Traffic in
Foreigners is Picking Up!', and shows representative figures from all of Germany's
enemies touring Berlin as prisoners.  This reflects the suppression of knowledge about
the German defeat at the Marne earlier this month, the army stating publicly that it was
merely a redeployment of forces.  It is also worth noticing in the cartoon how each
figure utilizes stereotypes to represent its nation, including the usage of racial imagery.

September 21st, 1914

- After yesterday's failed attacks, General Heeringen of the German 7th Army orders another push by VII Reserve Corps against the British positions opposite.  The corps commander, however, refuses, replying that 'the daily repetition of attack orders could not obtain any success.'  Indeed, full-scale offensive actions by either side have petered out, and the front line becomes increasingly static.  This does not mean there is no fighting - skirmishes occur regularly, and artillery fire is near constant - but there is a growing recognition that neither side is able to break through the enemy lines, which have not shifted to a significant degree since September 14th.  Thus though fighting continues along the Aisne, the Battle of the Aisne, in terms of efforts to break through the enemy positions, has effectively come to a end.

- Today Joffre orders Foch to postpone further attacks by 9th Army, and that artillery fire should be limited.  The French army is starting to experience a shortage of artillery shells, a crisis that will in time afflict all of the major combatants.  In each case, peacetime estimates of the number of shells an artillery piece would use prove to be significantly wide of the mark.  For the French, each of their approximately three thousand 75mm guns began the war with 1244 shells each.  All of this starting ammunition has been fired off by today - the very effectiveness of the '75s' results in more and more requests from the infantry for additional fire support.  The current daily production of 75mm shells, however, is only twenty thousand, or between six or seven shells per gun.  Such a paltry amount could easily be shot off even when major operations were not underway, so the only way Joffre could stockpile shell reserves for major attacks was to reduce artillery fire at other times.

- The German 8th Army reaches the Niemen River today at three points - near Kovno, near Miroslav, and north of Grodno.  However, the Russian 1st Army has been able to cross to the east bank of the river, and has had time to prepare defenses.

- In Galicia, Conrad orders a further retreat, ordering his armies falling back to the Dunajec River, a tributary of the Vistula River.  Here the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th armies are to entrench, with 1st Army being detached to co-operate with the German 9th Army assembling to the north.  The pursuing Russian armies today isolate the Austro-Hungarian fortress of Przemysl, and the 150 000 defenders find themselves under siege.  Otherwise, however, the advance of the Russians is slowing to a halt - September rains have turned the roads into mud, making rapid movement impossible.  Further, the Russian armies are increasingly crippled by supply shortages - there are few railways connecting Galicia with Russia, meaning supplies have to be shipped by horse and cart.

Thus the retreating Austro-Hungarian armies are granted a brief reprieve from Russian pressure.  However, the damage has been done - out of 1.8 million soldiers mobilized at the beginning of August, over 400 000 have become casualties in the fighting in Galicia alone.  Moreover, casualties have been heaviest among the German regiments that constitute not only the elite but also the most loyal units of the Austro-Hungarian army.  These losses cannot be replaced, and increasingly the army has to rely on the non-German regiments whose loyalty is always in doubt.  Finally, many regiments have lost their pre-war junior officers, for whom the rank and file felt a sense of comradeship - replacement officers, unknown and often speaking only German, increase the sense of alienation among the masses of soldiers.  As a result, the Austro-Hungarian army can never completely recover the strength lost in the Galician battles over the first two months of the war.  Conversely, though the Russians have suffered heavy casualties - over a quarter of a million - their massive manpower reserves mean they can absorb far greater losses than the Austro-Hungarian armies could ever hope to.

- In the South Pacific the German East Asiatic Squadron approaches Bora Bora in the Society Islands, owned by France.  Admiral Spee hopes to reprovision from the island, and though Bora Bora is undefended, he would much prefer to acquire food and supplies without force - if attacked, the French islanders might prefer hiding or burning supplies rather than see them seized by Germans.  He thus attempts another ruse - his ships will simply act as if they are not Germans.  Flying no identifying flags, the squadron leisurely approaches Bora Bora, where they are met offshore by several French officers.  Spee ensures that the French officers interact only with German sailors who themselves speak French or British, and imply that they are a British squadron patrolling the Pacific.  The French officers are completely fooled - they gladly offer supplies to the German ships, who pay in cash.  Further, under subtle prodding, they discuss the port defences at Papeete, vital information for the Germans as it is their next target in their journey towards South America.  As they depart, the French fire a salute from one of the antiquated cannons on the island; the cheeky response of the squadron is to raise the German ensign before disappearing over the horizon.

- As the British begin to formalize their naval blockade of Germany, a crucial question is what to do with neutral-flagged ships in the North Sea, whose cargo may be destined for Germany either directly or indirectly (unloaded at a neutral port and shipped overland to Germany).  The desire to halt all trade with Germany needs to be balanced with the opinion of neutral countries, especially the United States, as Britain depends on foreign trade, especially of foodstuffs, for its economy.  Today the British government publishes an expansion of its contraband list of items that will be seized if found on a neutral ship.  Among the goods that will now be seized are rubber, magnetic iron ore, copper, and glycerine, all important components of munitions production.

- The finance minister of France today requests that the Banque de France, the country's national bank, advance a further 3.1 billion francs to support the war effort.  By effectively printing more money, without having to acquire equivalent gold reserves, it gives the French government flexibility to meet the monetary demands of war, but creates inflationary pressure.

September 20th, 1914

- Along the Aisne River the Germans undertake a series of major attacks against the positions of the BEF and the French 5th and 6th armies.  In particular, the German VII Reserve Corps of 7th Army, having just arrived at the front, throws its full strength against the British.  After initial gains, the British are able to recover the lost ground by nightfall, though at a cost of 1800 casualties.  On both sides, the French armies are also able to hold their ground.

- The second part of Falkenhayn's planned assaults on the flanks of Verdun begins today when Army Detachment Strantz launches its attack south of the French fortifications.  Advancing across the Woëvre, a flat plain between the Moselle River to the east and the Meuse River to the west, the detachment's objectives are to reach the Meuse River, secure a position on the nearby hills, and cut one of the two railways that connect to Verdun that remain under French control.  Despite the importance of this stretch of the front line, it is poorly-defended, with only the 75th Reserve Division present.  The region was at the border between two French armies - 3rd to the north and 1st to the south - who both had higher priorities and had their attention focused elsewhere.  Finally, the ongoing redeployment of forces from the east to the northwest by Joffre had left areas such as this with insufficient defenders.  Thus the German attacks this morning are overwhelmingly successful - the forward defensive lines are all captured and the 75th Reserve Division is shattered beyond repair.  The Germans thus advance southwestward into the gap they have blown in the French line.

The German attacks on the flanks of Verdun, September 1914.
The large salient created by the attack towards St. Mihiel is
clearly visible, and in the northwest is the attack begun
yesterday by XVI Corps.

- As the diminished German 8th Army advances into Russia towards the Niemen River, the right wing reaches the fortifications at Ossowietz today, and begin to besiege them.

The region between East Prussia and the Niemen River in Russia, location
of the advance of the German 8th Army after the Battle of the Masurian
Lakes.

- The funeral of J. H. De La Rey is held today in Lichtenburg, South Africa.  Among the speakers is C. F. Beyers, who was beside De La Rey when he was shot.  The latter's death having derailed their plans, Beyers urges his fellow Boers in the crowd to obey the decision of Parliament regarding the invasion of German South-West Africa.  J. C. G. Kemp feels likewise - he attempted unsuccessfully to rescind his resignation from the army.  With Lt.-Col. Martiz of Force B unready at present to revolt with his men, it appears that the prospects of a rebellion against the government have fizzled out.

- The German light cruiser Königsberg, after several weeks in the Indian Ocean, launches a surprise raid on Zanzibar off the west African coast.  She fortuitously catches the British light cruiser Pegasus in the harbour repairing her boilers.  Unable to sail, Pegasus is rapidly destroyed by Königsberg.