October 19th, 1914

- Today can be seen as marking an important watershed on the Western Front.  For the Entente, the arrival of I Corps in Flanders today means the entire BEF is now in the north, and a continual line, though thin in places, now exists from the Channel to Switzerland.  For the Germans, today sees the first serious fighting undertaken by the four reserve corps of 4th Army, sent by Falkenhayn to achieve the decisive victory that had eluded them to date.  Thus the Race to the Sea has come to an end, while the First Battle of Ypres begins.

For the past five weeks, both sides have thrown forces northward from the Aisne, trying to outflank the other.  Indeed, the popular name for this period of the war is something of a misnomer - they were not racing for the sea, but rather racing to outflank the other.  However, all such attempts failed, for a whole range of reasons - railways allowed for rapid redeployment of forces; trenches freed up units to move north, the machine gun allowed for even small forces to hold up larger enemy formations until reinforcements arrived, etc.  The result of the failure of either to outflank the other has been the extension of the front line roughly north from Noyon to the English Channel, a line which will become increasingly static as both sides dig in.

In a strategic sense as well, neither the Germans or the Entente can feel satisfied with the result of the Race to the Sea.  For the French, the northeastern portion of their country, which included almost 75% of prewar coal production and over 60% of prewar steel production, now lies in enemy hands, severely dislocating the French economy and only partially ameliorated by the aid of its allies.  The occupation of a significant portion of the country also propels Joffre and the French army to continue to emphasize the offensive, now deemed essential to liberating their countrymen.  The situation is even worse for Belgium - only a tiny western corner of the country remains free, and is about to become the scene of the first in a series of devastating battles.  For the Germans, despite the fact that they stand on enemy soil, the very continuation of the war itself reflects failure during the past five weeks.  The failure on the Marne has not been redeemed by success since, and the fear of having to fight a sustained war of attrition compels Falkenhayn to commit his reserves to the battle in Flanders, one last throw of the dice to end the war before Christmas.

The resulting front line after the Race to the Sea.

- As the First Battle of Ypres dawns, the Entente remain focused on the offensive.  Foch's plan is for an offensive between Ypres and Nieuport driving east, dividing the German III Reserve Corps on the coast from the German army to the south, and by advancing to Ghent turn the northern flank of the German army.  Though Foch was the commander of French forces in the north, he had no authority whatsoever over either the Belgians or the British - at best he could try to persuade.  Generally speaking, both King Albert of the Belgians and Sir John French of the BEF shared the strategic focus on the offensive, though the former knew his Belgians were in no shape to attack.  The British Field Marshal, for his part, issues orders to General Haig that I Corps, newly arrived at Hazebrouck, is to billet tonight near Ypres in preparation for an offensive via Thourout to capture Bruges in the days ahead.

Despite their intentions, however, it is the Germans who will determine the pace of the First Battle of Ypres - in light of the scale of the German forces advancing westward, Sir John French's orders to Haig today are little more than fantasy.  Over the course of the day, the four new reserve corps of 4th Army enter the fight.  South of III Reserve Corps arrives XXII Reserve Corps, and they co-ordinate a fierce attack on the French marines defending Dixmude, pushing the forward posts of the latter back into the town itself, which also comes under a sustained German bombardment.  Next in line comes XXIII Reserve Corps, which spends the day pushing westward advance elements of French territorial and cavalry units and closing up to Houthhulst Forest.  To its right XXVI Reserve Corps occupies Roulers at 5pm, after a day of desperate house-to-house fighting against the cavalry of General de Mitry.  Finally, southernmost is XXVII Reserve Corps, which encounters the British 3rd Cavalry Division.  The British are forced to retreat through Passchendaele to Poelcappelle and Zonnebeke (again names which had not yet earned their present reputation), which in turn pulls back the northern flank of the British 7th Division - though the latter had been ordered to capture Menin today, they find themselves at nightfall three miles behind where they started the day.

- Near La Bassée, a battalion of the Royal Irish Regiment secures the village of Le Pilly on Aubers Ridge, suffering two hundred casualties to do so.  The attack was launched in support of an unsuccessful French assault towards the town of Fournes.

- In Britain there has been a scramble to increase armaments production of all kinds, in response to Kitchener's plans for a massive expansion of the army.  As of today, the War Office has issued orders for 781 000 rifles, to be produced by July 1st, 1915.  The scale of the problem facing the British, however, can be seen in how the peacetime reserve of field guns was deemed sufficient to arm five divisions in addition to the BEF - in contrast, Kitchener's New Armies project to include at least fifty new divisions.  Such was the armaments shortage at home that some of the new volunteers begin their training with broomsticks instead of rifles.

October 18th, 1914

- Today the German III Reserve Corps launches an attack on the Belgian line between Dixmude and Nieuport.  The land here is low-lying pasture fields, much of which is below sea-level.  A railway connecting the two towns sits only six feet above sea level, and the roads of the region are even lower.  A series of locks at Nieuport drains the Yser River at low tide and keeps the sea out at high tide.

The German attack succeeds in capturing several advanced posts on the eastern side of the river, but fail to secure bridgeheads across the Yser itself.  The Belgian defense is aided by a British naval squadron just offshore, centered on two monitors that bombard the advancing Germans.

- In Flanders there are a number of scattered French units, haphazardly thrown into the fight to plug holes or exhausted after retreating, which include the French marines at Dixmude, several territorial divisions, and a number of cavalry divisions.  Today Joffre organizes these units into a single detachment under the command of General Victor d'Urbal, who will report to Foch.  Of these forces several cavalry divisions under General de Mitry advancing northeast of Ypres occupy Roulers.

Further south, Sir John French orders the British 7th Division of IV Corps to advance on Menin, in co-operation with de Mitry's move towards Roulers.  The division finds itself short of Menin at nightfall, General Rawlinson being concerned of marching beyond his flank support.  The British Cavalry Corps, in the front line between IV Corps to the north and III Corps to the south, is unable to make any progress against a determined German defense west of Comines, and III Corps itself, ordered to advance northeast down the valley of the Lys River, finds itself running to the main German line defending Lille and can make little headway.  Finally, II Corps seizes a bridge just under a mile east of Givenchy, but further progress is halted by German machine gun fire from brick-stacks to the north and a factory to the south that had so far avoided destruction from artillery fire.

- Overall, the deployment and advance of the BEF in Flanders has not achieved its objectives.  Though it has to date covered the northern flank of the French line reaching up from Arras, its attempt to turn the German flank has been painfully slow, and objectives such as La Bassée, to say nothing of Lille, remain out of reach.  Moreover, there is no awareness of the impending German offensive - though information from the Belgians suggests German reserves have been marching west from Brussels, it is generally believed that these are second-class troops who will simply take over portions of the German line.  Indeed, Sir John French's plan remains to continue the advance, and it is believed that the imminent arrival of I Corps, the last to leave the Aisne, will give the attack sufficient weight to push back the Germans, reach Lille, and outflank the enemy.  In reality, this evening the four new reserve corps belonging to 4th Army (XXII, XXIII, XXVI, and XXVII) reach the start line of the planned German attack, arranged north to south approximately ten to seventeen miles east of the Yser and Ypres Canal.  Falkenhayn's grand offensive to win the war in the west is about to begin, and the Entente forces opposite have no idea what is about to descend on them.

- Ludendorff, aware now that 9th Army will not be able to accomplish anything against the Russian numerical superiority in central Poland, issues orders today for 9th Army to retreat beginning on October 20th.  The Russian armies opposite along the Vistula are still not yet fully assembled, but to the south in Galicia the Russians go back onto the attack, recrossing the San River and threatening Przemysl with encirclement again.

- While British strategy regarding German Kamerun has focused on the coast and denying the Germans use of the port of Duala, French strategy has instead aimed at the interior.  The German colony is bordered by French Equatorial Africa to the east and south, and the French were particularly interested in recovering the territory ceded by them to the Germans in 1911 as part of the resolution of the Second Moroccan Crisis.  Thus the first French attacks sees one column advancing westward seize Carnot yesterday, and a second advancing north up the Sanga River takes Nola today.  The advances have been without opposition - in the prior three years the Germans had only begun to integrate the former French territories into their colony, and have left them largely undefended.  Further, though the two attacks were designed to be linked together as one offensive operation, the realities of communication in central Africa - where orders can take weeks to travel from one column to another - makes practical co-ordination impossible.

- At 5pm, the German East Asiatic Squadron, fully coaled and provisioned, departs Easter Island, sailing east to the Chilean coast.

- Yesterday the old pre-dreadnought Canopus left the River Plate, and today its captain signals Admiral Craddock at the Falklands that his ship can only do 12 knots and thus will be unlikely to arrive until the 22nd.  The news is of great concern to Craddock, as it means that adding Canopus to his squadron will slow its speed to 12 knots, which would be far too slow to catch the German East Asiatic Squadron.  Moreover, if they did fight the Germans would be able to use their superior speed to stay out of the range of Canopus' main guns.  The old battleship is thus for all intents and purposes useless to Craddock, he sends the following telegram to the Admiralty: 'I trust circumstances will enable me to force an action, but fear that strategically, owing to Canopus, the speed of my squadron cannot exceed twelve knots.'

In London the telegram is interpreted simply as Craddock informing them of his squadron's speed with Canopus attached, and thus send no reply.  Craddock, however, still feels himself bound by the orders of September 14th to attack the German East Asiatic Squadron.  He is thus faced with an impossible conundrum - keep Canopus and be unable to force battle with the Germans, or leave Canopus behind but be outgunned by the enemy.

October 17th, 1914

- In Flanders today the British III Corps advances to occupy the town of Armentières, while just to the south a brigade of II Corps seizes a portion of Aubers Ridge.  A further French cavalry corps also arrive at Ypres to reinforce the Entente line.  Though the advance is slow, both Ferdinand Foch and Sir John French see no reason to deviate from the overall objective of the operation - i.e. a sweep to and around Lille to outflank the German line.  Aerial reconnaissance today reveals only that elements of the German III Reserve Corps are moving northwards, concentrating along the Channel coast.  The British and French commanders have no idea that the reason for this redeployment of III Reserve Corps is to make way for the four new reserve corps that are about to descend on the Entente line.

- Ludendorff today orders Mackensen's XVII Corps to hold a line near Lovich west of Warsaw to cover the Russian 2nd Army advancing out of the city, in order to protect the northern flank of the rest of 9th Army.

- Admiral Jellicoe receives a report today that a German submarine has been sighted inside Scapa Flow, the main anchorage of the Grand Fleet.  Though the report is later deemed false, it comes on the heels of the sinking of the armoured cruiser Hawke on the 15th and the three armoured cruisers sunk on September 22nd, and his fear of the submarine threat reaches a breaking point.  He informs the Admiralty that he no longer considers Scapa Flow safe for use, and insists that he be allowed to take the fleet further west, away from the submarine threat.  The Admiralty assigns the harbours at Loch-na-Kael on the Scottish west coast and Lough Swilly on the northeast Irish coast for use by the Grand Fleet.  Both have narrow entrances that are easily defended, making it more difficult for submarines to penetrate them.  Still, it moves the Grand Fleet further away from the North Sea, and it is worth noting that this 'retreat' is forced by German submarines while its High Seas Fleet remains in port.

- Tonight the German submarine S90 attacks the Japanese cruiser-minelayer Takashio at Tsingtao.  Three torpedoes are launched, which strike the ship and detonate its cargo of mines.  The resulting explosion destroys the ship and kills all but three of its crew of 253.  However, the concussion wave from the blast cracks the hull of S90, which has to be abandoned.

October 16th, 1914

- In the early hours of this morning, the German VII Corps comes into the line north of La Bassée opposite the British II Corps, relieving I and II Cavalry Corps.  Though the British occupy Givenchy today, the advance has been painstakingly slow - the British II Corps is still short of La Bassée, let alone Lille.  To the north, the British III Corps crosses the Lys River, establishing positions several miles to the east.  Here, at least, the Germans appear to be offering little sustained resistance.  At Dixmude, however, the Germans deliver a sharp attack against the French marines defending the town, though the latter hold out.

The fighting here has not yet taken on the distinctive characteristics of later years - instead of a near-lunar landscape in No Man's Land, buildings still remained at least partially intact, and forests still contain most of their trees, giving plenty of opportunities to ambush advancing forces with machine gun fire, especially when firing from upper floors of houses and other structures.  Further, the villages the soldiers march through - both Gheluvelt and Ploegsteert are occupied by the British today - are mere places on a map; it is only in the months and years ahead that such locales take on their darker, more sinister meaning.

- In the face of the growing numerical superiority of the Russian forces at Warsaw, General Mackensen's XVII Corps pulls back from the city today.

- Antonio di San Giuliano, the Italian Foreign Minister, dies today.  Within the Italian government, he had been a voice of moderation, willing to keep open contacts with Germany and Austria-Hungary, and his death tilts the Italian cabinet towards the Entente.

October 15th, 1914

- The German III Reserve Corps occupies Ostend on the Channel coast today, but Falkenhayn orders a halt until the rest of 4th Army is ready to launch its offensive, in order not to tip off the Entente of the coming attack.

- The British cavalry corps reaches the Ypres-Comines canal, held by German forces from Hollebeke south, and chase the remaining Germans west of the canal to the far bank.  To the south, III Corps closes up to the Lys River southeast of Armentières and secures three bridges, while French cavalry seizes Estaires.  Finally, the final units of I Corps, the last part of the BEF still on the Aisne River, is pulled out of the line prior to entraining for Flanders.

- For over a month the 10th Cruiser Squadron, composed of six outdated armoured cruisers, has been patrolling between the Scottish coast just north of Aberdeen and the Norwegian coast to enforce the naval blockade of Germany, inspecting all ships they encounter for contraband.  Today one of the squadron's ships, the armoured cruiser Hawke, is torpedoed by a German submarine just after 1030am as it steamed slowly east of Aberdeen, and there is time only to lower two boats before the ship capsizes and sinks.  As the rest of the squadron was out of sight to the east, it was several hours before anyone noticed that Hawke had disappeared, and by the time a destroyer arrives to pick up survivors only seventy are found, nearly five hundred having drowned.  A further demonstration of the threat of submarines to surface warships, the immediate response is to withdraw northwards the 10th Cruiser Squadron to a patrol line from the Shetlands to Norway.  More generally, it begins a reconsideration of the methods of blockade.

October 14th, 1914

- Along the Channel coast, the retreating Belgians reach the Yser River, where they begin to entrench between Nieuport and Dixmude.  To the east, the pursuing German III Reserve Corps occupies Bruges.

- Early today the British 3rd Cavalry Division makes contact with the British Cavalry Corps at Kemmel, linking the British force retreating from Antwerp with the BEF deploying between Béthune and Ypres.  By this evening Rawlinson's 7th Division has taken position just east of Ypres, covering the arrival of the French 87th Territorial Division in the town.  To the south the Cavalry Corps has secured village of Messines, while III Corps takes Bailleul, abandoned early by the Germans.

- As the XXII, XXIII, XXVI, and XXVII Reserve Corps begin their march west from Brussels today, Falkenhayn orders Rupprecht's 6th Army to halt offensive operations, to give time for the reserve corps to reach the front and to avoid giving the Entente indications of the coming attack.  Instead, 6th Army will hold on a line from Menin southwards, and today the XIII and XIX Corps take up position between Menin and Armentières.

- At 7am this morning, the first ships of an important convoy arrive in Plymouth in southwest England.  The ships had departed Quebec City on October 3rd, and contained twenty-five thousand volunteers for military service, as well as a further five hundred from the separate Dominion of Newfoundland.  These soldiers comprised the Canadian Contingent, whose formation and organization had been agreed to in August.  As in most other combatants, the onset of war had seen a rush of volunteers, and it was decided that, in addition to the existing militia, they would be sent to Britain for service on the Western Front.  They will be a part of the British army, and initially Lord Kitchener wanted to scatter the Canadians throughout British divisions as replacements and individual battalions.  This course of action was fiercely opposed by Sam Hughes, the Canadian Minister of Militia and a figure of considerable energy as well as controversy, in a meeting with Kitchener.  After appeals to the British government the Canadians got their way - after several months training in England, the Canadian Contingent will be reformed as the 1st Canadian Division, and will operate as such in France.

- Despite the usefulness of its 75mm artillery pieces, the French army has been hindered in its operations over the first months of the war by an overall relative lack of artillery as compared to the German army.  Today Joffre outlines what will become known as the 'October 14th Programme', which establishes the requirements of the French army with respect to heavy artillery.  Joffre also stipulates that henceforth all artillery rounds use smokeless rather than black powder, as the smoke that results from the latter gives away the position of guns that fire it.  This illustrates that the 'shells crisis' that has and will afflict all of the major combatants in the first phases of the war is not simply about the number of shells available, but also their quality as well as the availability of the most effective types of artillery pieces.

- In Britain, it was the navy that had priority on munitions, given the widespread assumption that in a future war it would be the fleet that would experience the most combat.  Given the contrast between the continued commitment of the British Expeditionary Force to heavy fighting in France and the relative inactivity of the navy, the Admiralty reluctantly agrees to release a thousand tons of cordite from its reserves to the army for use in munitions production.

- In German Kamerun British forces undertake a second attempt to seize Jabassi.  This time, the advancing columns are directing along both sides of the river to divide the German defenders, and the British commander accompanies the advance by boat to supervise their coordination.  The result is the capture of Jabassi after a brief fight.

- A closer bombardment attempt at Tsingtao sees the British pre-dreadnought Triumph struck by a German shore battery.

- In the Pacific Japanese forces have landed on and captured the undefended German islands in the Marshall, Caroline, and Mariana island chains, formerly attached to the German New Guinea colony.  This leaves only Tsingtao as the sole German colony in the Pacific still under their control.  The British position is that the final disposition of these German colonies will be decided after the war; in practice, the Japanese have no intention of yielding them.  Indeed, the islands they secured without casualties or combat in 1914 will cost the Americans thousands of lives to take in the course of the Second World War.

- At Easter Island the German light cruiser Leipzig arrives today to join the German East Asiatic Squadron.  Having been off the west coast of North America upon the outbreak of war, it has brought three colliers with a thousand tons of coal each to the island, and the other German ships begin to top up their coal bunkers.  The squadron is now composed of two armoured cruisers and three light cruisers.

- The Admiralty finally responds today to Rear-Admiral Craddock's two telegrams of October 8th and 11th.  They signal their agreement with his suggestion of forming a separate squadron to cover the South Atlantic, and among the ships to be assigned to the new squadron is the armoured cruiser Defence.  Crucially, this new squadron is to be a separate command, not under the direction of Craddock.  By having the new squadron independent, and by assigning Defence to it rather than Craddock's command, the implication appears clear to the Rear-Admiral - the Admiralty believes that his squadron as presently constituted, and with only the old pre-dreadnought Canopus en route as reinforcement, is sufficient to engage the German East Asiatic Squadron.

October 13th, 1914

- As the Belgians continue their retreat to the Yser River, tonight the British 7th Division is at Roulers, with the British 3rd Cavalry Division to the south covering its movement towards Ypres.  Meanwhile, this morning the British III Corps completes its assembly at Hazebrouck, and begins its advance at 1030am.  Though its objective is a line running north from Armentières, the corps encounters serious German opposition by elements of two cavalry divisions at the village of Meteren.  It is not until nightfall that the village is captured, the Germans retreating in good order while inflicting 708 casualties on the British.  Just to the north, the British Cavalry Corps clears German defenders off of Mont Noir.

On the German side, XIX Corps marches through Lille today on its way to the front, while the four reserve corps of 4th Army are detraining at Brussels.

- The offensive by General Mudra's XVI Corps in the Argonne west of Verdun has made only painfully slow progress.  Despite the use of new weaponry such as Minenwerfers and hand grenades, it is only today that the first line of French trenches has been taken.  The inability of new technology to immediately transform the battlefield is a theme that will recur in the years to come.

- In an effort to prod General Ivanov to attack, Grand Duke Nicholas reassigns 2nd and 5th armies to General Ruzski of North-West Front.  All this accomplishes in practice is to divide command of the operation, and over the prior two months the Russians have shown themselves singularly incapable of co-ordinating the efforts of separate commanders.

- In South Africa, in response to Maritz's declaration of rebellion, Christian de Wet, C. F. Beyers, and J. C. G. Kemp renew contact with each other, and discuss joining Maritz's revolt.

- At the Admiralty, First Lord Churchill discusses the continued pursuit of the German East Asiatic Squadron with the First Sea Lord, Prince Louis of Battenberg.  Their understanding is that Craddock will concentrate his ships at the Falklands Islands, and approve the formation of a second squadron.  They also conclude that Craddock understands that if his squadron is not strong enough to engage the German East Asiatic Squadron by itself, he will endeavour to shadow them until reinforcements arrive.  This is a crucial misunderstanding by the First Lord and First Sea Lord.  Craddock had been given orders on September 14th to destroy the German cruisers, a directive that had never been countermanded and which Craddock felt bound to obey regardless of the strength of the warships under his command.

October 12th, 1914

- Finding the town abandoned by Entente forces, Ghent is occupied early this morning by General Beseler's III Reserve Corps.  To the west, the Belgian army continues its retreat to the Yser, while the French Marine Brigade's objective is Dixmude.  The British 3rd Cavalry Division continues to cover the movement of 7th Division, the latter arriving at Thielt this evening, the two having been ordered to link up with the rest of the British Expeditionary Force at Ypres.

- East of Béthune, General Smith-Dorrien's II Corps moves through a thick early morning fog, finding clustered in farmyards and along hedgerows the French cavalrymen they are to relieve.  As the fog lifts late morning the British soldiers continue a cautious advance in the direction of La Bassée and Lille.  They are opposed by the German 1st and 2nd Cavalry Corps, who harass the British with sniper fire and inflict significant casualties.  The pace of the advance is slower than planned, and II Corps is also being pulled southward - a German attack last night forced French defenders back south of the line Béthune-La Bassée, forcing Smith-Dorrien to deploy a brigade south of the canal connecting the two towns and adjusted the line of march to be eastward instead of northeast in order to maintain contact with the French XIX Corps.

- To the north, the British III Corps spends the day assembling at Hazebrouck, but the transportation problems that have plagued its redeployment continue - buses ordered to assist in bringing up the last forces from St. Omer do not arrive until midday.  As a result, the corps is not able to begin its advance, intended to sweep north of Lille, today as originally ordered.

- At Lille, the German artillery bombardment continues until 445am, at which point XIX Corps attacks.  The French territorials offer spirited resistance, and it is only in the evening that 181st Regiment forces its way into the city itself.  The situation now hopeless, the French garrison surrenders, and 4500 soldiers march into German captivity.  The capture of Lille is a significant achievement, not only in advancing the front, but in subtracting the substantial manufacturing capacity of the city from the French war effort.

- In Poland, General Mackensen's XVII Corps, on the left of 9th Army, marches towards Warsaw in an effort to aggressively secure the army's flank.  The Russians fall back before Mackensen's advance, with the 2nd Army retreating to Warsaw itself.  This sparks talk of the Germans occupying Warsaw, which ignores the distinct numerical superiority of the Russians throughout Poland.

- In the early hours of the morning, the German light cruiser Dresden arrives at Easter Island, completing its voyage from the Atlantic.  Later in the day, the German East Asiatic Squadron arrives as well.  The island is nominally a possession of Chile, but in practice is governed by the British subject Percy Edmonds, manager of the island's sheep and cattle ranch.  The island has no wireless and its only contact with the outside world is a Chilean supply vessel that arrives only twice a year.  As a result, Edmonds has no idea that the greatest war in human history is raging across the world, and thus is happy to supply the Germans with fresh meat and vegetables.  He also gladly accepts payment in checks payable by a German bank in Valparaíso.

- In London a Cabinet Committee on Munitions has been formed and meets for the first time today, and include amongst its members Lord Kitchener, David Lloyd George, and Winston Churchill.  The purpose of the committee is to examine the supply of munitions for the army, on the assumption that the war will be lengthy.

October 11th, 1914

- When General Pau reported to Joffre King Albert's thoughts on the Belgians retiring past Calais, the French Commander-in-Chief was appalled.  He desperately wants the Belgians to take up position along the Entente front line, in order to cover part of the gap that remains north of Arras.  Joffre's concerns, however, are for naught - the Belgian king has had a change of heart.  He feels it is essential both for the Belgian war effort and the morale of the Belgian army for them to hold on to at least a small portion of Belgian territory, to emphasize that they are still an active participant, not only helping their allies but defending their homeland.  Albert thus orders the Belgian army today to retire to the Yser River between Dixmude to the south and Nieuport and the Channel coast to the north.

- Aware now that the bulk of the Belgian army has escaped Antwerp, General Beseler's III Reserve Corps is ordered westward, advancing to Ostend via Ghent and Bruges.  By this afternoon, advance German units are approaching Ghent, prompting the Entente forces defending the town to fall back.  The British are the last to retire from Ghent at 10pm this evening.  The British 3rd Cavalry Division, meanwhile, is in the vicinity of Thourout clearing the route for the Entente forces.

The Entente retreat to the Yser, October 10th to 15th, 1914.

- Today the German 179th Infantry Division of XIX Corps approaches the city of Lille, one of the largest cities in France and a key industrial centre.  It is garrisoned by a territorial brigade, and it had been hoped by Joffre that the ongoing effort to outflank the Germans at and north of Arras would link up with the city.  However, the Germans have arrived in strength first.  XIX Corps has been marching for a week, departing from the vicinity of Rheims with Lille as its objective.  At 9pm, a note is sent to the garrison commander at Lille demanding the city's surrender.  When no response is received, an artillery bombardment begins at 930pm.

- The British II Corps has reached Béthune, its first objective, and have deployed north-to-south.  Tomorrow they are to relieve the French cavalry divisions screening them and advance northeast to a line running roughly between Estaires and la Bassée.  The two British cavalry divisions of the Cavalry Corps are both operating to the north of II Corps, and, having swept aside advance patrols of the German IV Cavalry Corps, entered Hazebrouck.  Further, since yesterday III Corps has been detraining at St. Omer, though delays on the railway result in part of 4th Division not having arrived today.  Nevertheless, 19th Brigade is ordered forward to Hazebrouck thirteen miles to the east to cover the arrival of the rest of III Corps.

- Along the Vistula River, though still opposed to a general advance, permits individual corps to secure bridgeheads across the Vistula River.  The efforts are generally a debacle - though two bridgeheads are gained, German and Austro-Hungarian artillery fire inflicts substantial casualties and the survivors are unable to exploit their crossings.  5th Army is particular inept - they had no bridging equipment immediately at hand, so soldiers attempted to cross in rafts and barges in the face of machine-gun fire.  When bridging equipment finally did arrive, the bridge they erected floated away.  Finally, they were unable to counter enemy artillery fire, as the army staff had forgotten where they had left their field mortars.  Overall, the crossings themselves posed no great threat to the German 9th Army and Austro-Hungarian 1st Army.

- In response to Martiz's declaration of rebellion, Defense Minister Smuts today declares martial law.  This forces the critical choice on the Boers of South Africa - do they rise with Maritz, or under the compulsion of martial law aid in his suppression.

- Though the Admiralty has yet to respond to his message of October 8th, Rear-Admiral Craddock sends another dispatch today, recommending the creation of a second squadron to cover the South Atlantic.  This would allow Craddock to take the full strength of his squadron in pursuit of the German East Asiatic Squadron, without fearing that the Germans could slip past him and wreck havoc in the Atlantic.

October 10th, 1914

- The orders for the British II Corps is to advance to cover Béthune, placing it on the left flank of the French 10th Army.  By today, II Corps is in the area Diéval-Pernes between St. Pol and Béthune, with 2nd Cavalry Division to its north and 1st Cavalry Division, having just arrived today, to its south.  To the east, two French cavalry corps have prevented the German I and II Cavalry Corps from advancing beyond a line Béthune-Armentières.

The advance of British units in Flanders to October 15th, 1914

- In Germany the four reserve corps destined to form the core of the new 4th Army begin to entrain for the front.

- This morning German forces begin to occupy Antwerp.  They are surprised by how few prisoners they take - all that remained of the Belgian defenders were the Military Governor, his staff officer, and a few stragglers in the surviving forts.  To the end of the siege the Germans had expected to capture the entire Belgian army at Antwerp, and so the realization that it has escaped mars the German victory.

In Britain the fall of Antwerp leads to sharp criticism being directed at Winston Churchill by the press.  Not only is he, by virtue of his 'trip' to Antwerp, the most prominent minister associated with the defeat at Antwerp, and in particular the loss of several thousand men from the Naval Brigades, but his judgement is questioned regarding his presence at Antwerp at all, seen as an amateur interfering with army operations in the field and that he had cast aside his responsibilities as First Lord of the Admiralty to do so.  There is an undertone of distrust regarding Churchill, whether he can sufficiently restrain his famous enthusiasm for whatever catches his fancy at the moment.

- A conference is held today at Ostend between King Albert, General Pau, the representative of Joffre, and General Rawlinson.  The conclusion is that the present position around Ghent cannot be held for long, considering that the nearest significant Entente force is the BEF beginning to arrive west of Lille, and that retreat is necessary.  Given the battered state of the Belgian army, King Albert wonders if they should not withdraw behind the front lines to southwest of Calais, to allow for rest and recovery.

By nightfall most of the Belgian army has pulled back towards Ostend while the British and French remain at Ghent to cover the withdrawal.  The Germans to the east, however, do not immediately move on Ghent, instead turning eastward in the belief that there is still a substantial Belgian force at Antwerp that needs to be contained.

- In Poland the initial plan regarding the Russian offensive was that the armies committed to the operation - the 2nd, 5th, 4th, and 9th, arrayed north to south from Warsaw to Sandomir - would be prepared to advance today.  Mud and supply shortages, however, have delayed their redeployment, and some units have yet to arrive along the east bank of the Vistula River.  General Ivanov, in command of the offensive, is concerned by the German and Austro-Hungarian advance, and does not wish to engage the enemy until his armies are at full strength.  Grand Duke Nicholas, however, is eager to attack, wanting the armies to cross the Vistula immediately.  However, he has no direct line of communication with Ivanov today, so cannot influence the latter's operations.

- King Carol I of Romania dies today, and is succeeded by his nephew Ferdinand I, who is more favourably inclined to the Entente, and who also is willing to give greater leeway to Prime Minister Ion Bratianu, whose primary foreign policy aim is the acquisition of Austro-Hungarian Transylvania.

- In Austria-Hungary a decree is published today authorizing the Austrian Board of Trade to direct the flow of raw materials and organize industrial production in support of the war effort.  While the decree is a step forward in mobilizing the economy for war, it also reflects a key hindrance to the Austro-Hungarian war effort - the decree applies only to the Austrian portion of the empire, as the Hungarian portion insists on controlling its own wartime economy.  The lack of co-ordination between the two halves of Austria-Hungary is demonstrative of the extent to which the divisions of peacetime persist into the war itself.

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 8th, 1914

- This morning the German I and II Cavalry Corps, under increasing pressure north of Lens, is rescued by the arrival of XIV Corps, which had entrained at Metz on October 4th and had marched from Mons.  As the German XIV Corps and French XXI Corps grapple to a standstill, the two cavalry corps are redeployed between La Bassée and Armentières.

- Further north, the German IV Cavalry Corps sweeps around Lille and passes through Ypres today, but as they advance down the roads towards Hazebrouck, they are pushed back by the newly-arrived French 4th and 5th Cavalry Divisions.

- Field Marshal Sir John French meets with General Ferdinand Foch at the latter's headquarters north of Amiens to discuss the deployment of the British Expeditionary Force.  It is agreed that the BEF will come into the Entente line to the north of General Maud'huy's 10th Army, with the road between Béthune and Lille dividing the two commands.  The British II Corps, the first scheduled to arrive in Flanders, will take its position immediately to the north of the French 10th Army, and next in the line will be III Corps to the north of II Corps, followed by I Corps further north.  In each case, the 1st and 2nd Cavalry Divisions will cover the left flank of the most recently-arrived corps until the next arrives.  They also discuss future operations - the conclusion is that the enemy only has a few cavalry divisions in Flanders, and thus the opportunity exists for a general advance through Lille and for the German flank to be enveloped.

- The German bridgehead secured yesterday by 37th Landwehr Brigade over the Schelde River at Schoonaerde is reinforced today by two further brigades, and in spite of Belgian resistance is able to advance nearly to Lokeren, approximately halfway between the Schelde and the Dutch frontier.  The escape corridor for the soldiers at Antwerp is slowly closely.

- At Antwerp, the German heavy artillery is brought over the Nethe River today, and the bombardment intensifies, both of the city itself and the inner forts.  Fires rage uncontrolled in Antwerp, as the destruction of the waterworks means they cannot be contained.  At 5pm reports arrive at the headquarters of the Belgian commander of the garrison that Forts No. 1 and 2 have been abandoned under intensive German fire.  With the inner line of forts breached, all that remained was to withdraw to the city itself.  In such circumstances, only a portion of the Belgian fortress troops would be required, and thus at 530pm orders were issued for the Belgian 2nd Division and the Royal Marine Division to retreat from Antwerp and move westward to the line of the Terneuzen Canal.  By 1130pm the Belgians were across the Schelde and marching west.

The conveyance of the orders for the retreat of the Royal Naval Division, however, were botched.  Officers were sent to the headquarters of the Royal Marine Brigade and the 1st and 2nd Naval Brigades, and in the case of the Royal Marine Brigade and the 2nd Naval Brigade the orders arrived between 630pm and 7pm.  However, the officer dispatched to 1st Naval Brigade headquarters delivered his order to the Drake Battalion, one of the battalions belonging to the Brigade.  Thus while the Drake Battalion marched out of the line as ordered, the remaining three battalions of the 1st Naval Brigade remained in absolute ignorance of the decision to retreat.  The Royal Marine Brigade (less a rearguard battalion), 1st Naval Brigade, and the Drake Battalion have crossed the Schelde by 10pm, and are marching to Beveren Waes where they are told to expect trains waiting to convey them to Ostend.

- The British 3rd Cavalry Division, commanded by Major-General Sir Julian Byng, disembarks at Ostend over the course of the day.  To cover the landing, the British 7th Division has marched from Bruges to form an arc around Ostend.  Further east, the bulk of the Belgian army has reached the line of the Terneuzen Canal between Ghent and the Dutch frontier, while the French marine brigade is at Ghent itself.  At 5pm General Rawlinson receives instructions from Lord Kitchener ordering his force to cover the anticipated retreat of the British brigades at Antwerp.

The fall of Antwerp, October 8th to 10th, 1914.

- Admiral Craddock is at Port Stanley in the Falklands today, pondering an Admiralty signal he had received yesterday.  It had informed him of the wireless intercept of the 4th indicated that the German East Asiatic Squadron is likely en route to the South American coast, and that he must prepare to 'meet' them with Glasgow, Canopus, Otranto, and either Good Hope or Monmouth, the other to remain in the South Atlantic to protect trade.  He sends a reply to the Admiralty today, questioning the assumption that Scharnhorst and Gneisenau are accompanied only by a single light cruiser, and inquiring about the deployment of the armoured cruiser Defence.  The Admiralty's message of the 7th had made no mention of Defence, implying (though not outright saying) that they feel the existing ships under Craddock's command are sufficient to engage the German squadron.

October 7th, 1914

- The advance of the German I and II Cavalry Corps between Lens and Lille is brought to a halt by the French XXI Corps, which has detrained at Béthune.

The German cavalry sweep north of Arras and Lens, October 1914.

- Early this morning, two German battalions of the 37th Landwehr Brigade succeed in crossing the Schelde River at Schoonaerde, nine miles west of Termonde.  Despite counterattacks by the Belgian 6th Division during the day, the bridgehead hold, and during the evening the rest of the brigade crosses the Schelde.  The distance between Schoonaerde and the Dutch border is a mere twelve miles, through which any forces that wish to escape Antwerp must pass.  The Belgian army decides that it must now pass through the corridor before it closes, and plans on taking up position along the Terneuzen Canal, running from Ghent to the Dutch border.  The Belgian 1st and 5th divisions are sent westwards first, while 3rd and 6th divisions act as a flank guard along the Schelde.  King Albert also moves his headquarters today from Antwerp to Selzaete along the Terneuzen Canal.

The focus of the German effort against Antwerp today is bringing heavy artillery across the Nethe River.  Though the movement is delayed by difficulties with bridging equipment, just before midnight 6-inch howitzers begin the bombardment of the city itself.

Men of the British Naval Brigades in trenches at Antwerp, October 7th, 1914.

- Within Antwerp itself, proclamations are posted throughout the city announcing that German bombardment of the city is imminent, and advised those who wish to leave Antwerp must do so at once.  Appropriate to the mood of the civilian population, Antwerp is covered by a dense cloud of black smoke, emanating from oil-tanks to the west of the city which had been set on fire to prevent their capture by the Germans.  Thousands flock to the docks, attempting to crowd aboard every available ship in the hope of departing the city. Others flee to the nearby Dutch border at Bergen-op-Zoom.  This town of 16 000 inhabitants finds itself in a matter of a few days hosting 200 000 refugees from Antwerp.

Belgian civilians hoping to escape Antwerp at the city docks, October 1914.

- This morning the disembarkation of the British 7th Division is completed at Zeebrugge, and by 5pm, after travelling by train, has arrived in Bruges.  Despite the pleadings of the Belgians, however, the division does not immediately march to Antwerp - prior to departing Britain, the divisional commander was given specific instructions by Kitchener not to allow his force to be shut in and captured at Antwerp.  Further, reports reach 7th Division of large German cavalry concentrations north of Lille, which could potentially threaten the corridor to Antwerp.  Meanwhile, a brigade of French marines is dispatched from Paris by rail towards Antwerp, the one significant French contribution to the defence of the city.

- III Corps of the British Expeditionary Force, having handed over its trenches to the French last night, today begins its march to Compiègne where it will entrain for Flanders.

- Today Lieutenant-Colonel Maritz makes contact with Germans along the border between South Africa and German South-West Africa.  Such contacts may be vital if Maritz goes into rebellion.

- In German Kamerun, the British advance on Jabassi to the northeast of Duala.  Taking advantage of the heavy rains, they mount a 6-inch gun on a boat that could be floated up the river to support the attack.  However, the West African units became disorganized as they moved through the bush adjacent to the river, and when they reached open ground at Jabassi they were cut down by German machine-gun fire.  The attack defeated, the British are forced to retreat back in the direction of Duala.

October 6th, 1914

- Realizing that the enemy line at Arras will hold, Rupprecht turns his attention northwards, hoping to accomplish the desired envelopment through Flanders.  The French have held Arras, though at great cost - the Alpine Division, for instance, has suffered 75% casualties over the past week fighting to hold the city.

- Early this morning Belgian units attack the German bridgehead over the Nethe River.  After initial progress, the Germans counterattack, and the Belgians are pushed back.  At the same time, Fort Broechem is put out of action and is evacuated by its Belgian defenders.  With the Nethe River line breached, the Belgians and the British Marine Brigade withdraw to a second defensive position half-way between the Nethe and the inner ring of forts around Antwerp.  The new line to the south and southeast is only five to six miles outside of the city, which means that once the Germans bring their heavy artillery across the Nethe, they will be able to bombard the city itself.

Meanwhile, the two British Naval Brigades take up defensive positions between several of the inner forts protecting Antwerp.  The trenches in these positions were shallow and rudimentary - their proximity to the Schelde River prevents digging any deeper due to the risk of flooding.

To the west of Antwerp, two German brigades attempt to force the crossing of the Schelde River.  Termonde itself has been captured, but the Germans have failed to secure bridgeheads have been beaten back by the Belgian 4th Infantry Division, which has been reinforced by 6th Infantry Division sent from Antwerp itself.  Despite the successes, it is clear that German pressure against the Schelde line will only increase.

At noon today General Rawlinson arrives at Antwerp, and with Churchill surveys the new defensive position taken between the Nethe and the inner forts.  They conclude that the position cannot be held - the trenches were only partially prepared, and its flanks were open - and that it would be better to simply pull back further and defend at the line of the inner forts.  They bring this conclusion to a meeting of the Belgian Council of Defense, held at 4pm and presided over by King Albert.  The Council concurs with the British advice, and further Albert concludes both that the three-day period agreed to on the 3rd has passed without sufficient reinforcement, and that the defensive line along the inner forts does not require the full Belgian army to hold.  As such, it is agreed that most of the Belgian field army will withdraw across the Schelde, where they can co-ordinate with any potential relieving force, while the inner forts and the lines between them will be held by the Belgian garrison and fortress troops, the Belgian 2nd Infantry Division, and the three British brigades.  Both Rawlinson and Churchill depart Antwerp this evening, the former to meet with his 7th Infantry and 3rd Cavalry Divisions landing on the Belgian coast, and the latter en route to London.

Belgian civilians leaving Antwerp, October 6th, 1914.

- Japanese and British warships attempt the first bombardment of Tsingtao today, but achieve little due to the range from ship to shore being too great.

- In German Kamerun, though the British have seized the principal port of Duala, the proximity of German forces nearby leaves their hold on the town insecure.  As a result, British forces push out from Duala towards Edea to the southwest, Jabassi to the northeast, and Dschang to the north.  Today, Senegalese soldiers seize the bridge at Japoma along the railway to Edea, overcoming German resistance.

October 5th, 1914

- General Maud-huy this morning plans to order the 31st Infantry Division to cover a withdrawal from Arras.  At 930am, however, General Foch arrives at Maud-huy's headquarters at Aubigny, and orders that Arras be held at all cost.  On both flanks French resistance is stiffening.  To the north, heavy French artillery bombardment prevents the Bavarians from exploiting their seizure of Vimy Ridge, while to the south the Prussian Guards are held up short of Arras.  Disappointed, the Kaiser departs Rupprecht's headquarters.

- North of the fighting of Arras General Marwitz issues orders for an offensive by I, II, and IV Cavalry Corps.  They are to sweep through the open space around the northern flank of the French line at Arras-Lens, forcing their retreat.

- Early this morning two German battalions secure a crossing of the Nethe River a mile southwest of the village of Lierre.  They are supported by heavy artillery fire, and are reinforced by two further battalions by nightfall.  German forces also occupy Lierre itself up to the river line and begin the bombardment of Fort Broechem, but elsewhere the Belgian defensive line remains intact.  Meanwhile, the two British Naval Brigades land at Dunkirk during the night, and entrain for the journey to Antwerp.

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 3rd, 1914

- The German pressure around Arras is beginning to tell.  North of the city the French are being pushed back as Rupprecht sends reinforcements to I Bavarian Corps as they attack towards Vimy, and IV Cavalry Corps is sent northwards in the direction of Lille.  French lines south of Arras, manned by territorial divisions, are also buckling.

- This afternoon Churchill arrives in Antwerp, meets with King Albert and the Belgian Prime Minister, and at 635pm telegrams London that the Belgians have agreed to continue resistance at Antwerp for at least ten days, provided that within three days definitive assurances had been received from the British that substantial reinforcements were en route to support the Belgians.  With the Royal Marine Brigade already en route, Churchill suggests the deployment of two naval brigades, which together with the Marines made up the Royal Naval Division.  These two naval brigades were composed of those sailors of the Royal Fleet Reserve who were surplus to requirements when the Royal Navy was mobilized on the outbreak of war.  The men of these two brigades had no practical experience as soldiers, and none had had more than two days of training with rifles.  Among the officers were the poet Rupert Brooke and Arthur Asquith, son of the Prime Minister.  To say the two naval brigades were unprepared for combat would be a colossal understatement, but in the moment of crisis were the only immediately-available units in Britain.

Meanwhile, south of the city the Germans have turned their guns on Fort Kessel, but the Belgian defenders continue to hold out through the day.

- Along the Aisne River, II Corps and 1st and 2nd Cavalry Divisions of the British Expeditionary Force have left the front line and begin their redeployment northwards to Flanders, the first units of the BEF to do so.  II Corps is marching to Compiègne where it will board trains heading north, while the two cavalry divisions will move by road.

- In South Africa, Defense Minister J. C. Smuts has requested Lieutenant-Colonel Maritz of Force B to come to Pretoria for consultations.  Smuts is increasingly concerned about the loyalty of Maritz, while the latter, expecting arrest, refuses the summons of Smuts.  Instead, Maritz moves Force B from Upington to Kakamas, which not coincidentally is closer to the border with German South East Africa.

October 2nd, 1914

- General Castlenau of 2nd Army informs Joffre today that, under growing German pressure north of Arras, XXI Corps will not be able to detrain as close to Lille as had been planned, implying that the city cannot be held.  Joffre's response is that retreat is not acceptable and Lille must not be yielded.

- At Antwerp the forts of Waelhelm and Boschbeck fall to the Germans this afternoon.  With a substantial gap now having opened in the outer line of fortifications, the Belgian army to the south of the city withdraws to the north bank of the Nethe River, running between the outer and inner forts.  A meeting of Belgian ministers and military leaders decides that given the German advance, the King and government should depart Antwerp tomorrow.  While King Albert agrees, he states he will only leave after the population of the city have been warned.

At 10pm a telegram from the British Minister in Antwerp arrives in London, reporting the decision of the Belgian government to leave the city tomorrow, and also erroneously reporting that the Belgian army was also to abandon Antwerp.  With Prime Minister Asquith in Cardiff at a recruiting rally, it is Sir Edward Grey who receives the telegram, and rushes to Lord Kitchener's house in Carlton Gardens to discuss the note.  They also recall Churchill, who had just boarded a train at London for Dover and Dunkirk, and he races from Victoria Station to Carlton Gardens.  There the three agree that Antwerp must hold out as long as possible - if it falls immediately, the German forces besieging it could sweep through northern France before the Entente line is extended to the Channel.  Thus, even a week's delay in its surrender could be of vital importance.  Churchill recommends the immediate dispatch of the Marine Brigade, two thousand strong, to reinforce the defenses of the city.  He also volunteers to go to Antwerp himself, to encourage the Belgians to hold out as long as possible.  Grey and Kitchener agree, and at midnight Churchill departs London en route to Antwerp.

- In neutral Romania, King Carol I is sympathetic to Germany and Austria-Hungary, and indeed had signed a secret treaty to support the latter if war broke out.  His ministers, however, insisted on remaining out of the war in August, citing the plight of the Romanian population of Austro-Hungarian Transylvania, a territory which many in government covet.  During the first weeks of the war, Romania acquiesced to the German desire to ship supplies by rail to the Ottoman Empire via Austria-Hungary and Romania, though the shipments were limited to eight freight cars per day.  Now, with the King ailing, the government is able to enforce a stricter interpretation of neutrality today by halting all German shipments through its territory.  With the naval blockade in the Mediterranean, the Ottomans are now completely isolated from Germany and Austria-Hungary, and while options such as Zeppelin flights will be considered, ultimately the only way to allow large-scale shipments to reach the Ottomans is through the conquest of Serbia.

- The German East Asiatic Squadron departs Nuku Hiva today, sailing southeast towards Easter Island.  As they leave the tropics behind them, the days are cooler and the seas rougher.

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 30th, 1914

- Elements of Maud-huy's detachment move through Arras today and push eastwards on the road to Douai.

- At Antwerp the forts of Waelhem and Lierre to the south of the city are the focus of German bombardment.  In addition, the main waterworks for Antwerp, located behind Fort Waelhem, are destroyed, inundating the Belgian trenches in the and greatly reducing water supply for those civilians remaining in the city.

Meanwhile, the Belgian Prime Minister issues a formal request for military assistance to the British and French.  While Joffre is willing to send a small force of territorials and marines, he is unwilling to part with any of his regular divisions, and views the Belgian request through the lens of the ongoing battle in France - his hope is that the Belgians will retreat to extend the Entente line north of Arras.  The British response is to offer to land the 7th Infantry Division and 3rd Cavalry Division on the Belgian coast to reinforce the western flank of the Belgian defenders along the Scheldt River.  These divisions are composed of Regular Army battalions that had been scattered around the Empire at the outbreak of war garrisoning points such as Gibraltar, Malta, and Egypt.  These units had been recalled in August and assembled in Britain in preparation for dispatch to the continent, and the two divisions together formed IV Corps, under the command of General Henry Rawlinson.

- Yesterday the ships under the command of Admiral Craddock descended on Orange Bay in the Magellan Straits after receiving word from the British consul at Punta Arenas that the German light cruiser Dresden had been coaling there.  Finding the bay empty, but with indications that Dresden had been there recently, Craddock orders his ships today to return to the Falklands Islands to coal.