You might think of World War I as years of static trench warfare, but it didn’t start that way. The opening week of the Great War in August 1914 was a period of rapid movement, shocking violence, and decisions that would shape the next four years of conflict. Alex Churchill and Nicolai Eberholst’s work dives into the forgotten stories of this crucial period, revealing a war that began with a clash of 19th-century tactics and 20th-century firepower.
📜 The Failure of the Schlieffen Plan
The war began with Germany’s ambitious Schlieffen Plan, which called for a massive, lightning-fast invasion of France through neutral Belgium. The goal was to knock France out of the war before Russia could fully mobilize its vast army. However, the plan immediately hit a snag. The Belgian army put up a surprisingly stiff resistance, particularly at the fortress city of Liège. This unexpected delay, though ultimately futile for Belgium, was crucial. It gave the French and the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) precious time to mobilize and move to counter the German advance.
⚔️ The Battle of the Frontiers
While Germany advanced through Belgium, the French launched their own offensive, Plan XVII, into the regions of Alsace and Lorraine. The result was the Battle of the Frontiers, a series of brutal clashes along the Franco-German and Franco-Belgian borders. It was a disaster for the French army. Dressed in conspicuous blue and red uniforms and launching bayonet charges against machine guns, they suffered horrific casualties. This catastrophic opening week shattered any illusions of a short, glorious war and set the stage for the desperate ‘Race to the Sea’ and the eventual stalemate of the trenches.
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Tuchman, Barbara W. *The Guns of August*. Presidio Press, 2004.
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