A bit outside my usual
area, but this military history seemed interesting, so I gave it a
look. It charts the course of the war from beginning to end,
including an introductory segment setting the scene.
Reminiscent of Dodge’s
Napoleon biography (first volume), I actually found the political and
military preamble to the war itself to be the most interesting part.
Setting the scene with the Schlieffen plan and the varying states of
readiness of the Great Powers was very nicely done.
The war was notable,
amongst other things, for the rapid invention and development of new
technology with battlefield implications. The radio, rail, aircraft,
gas shells, and tanks were all either created for the first time,
advanced swiftly or otherwise had great military significance.
Machine guns had existed for a little while by this stage but this
was the first war when they gave near total predominance to defence
over attack (until the tank rolled up).
It was fascinating to
read of how the Germans really could have won the war early on, but
for Moltke buggering up the plan Schlieffen had put together some
years earlier, denuding the powerful right of strength whilst
reinforcing the centre.
I’ve read enough
military history (admittedly, mostly classical) to know that some
wars are notable for their brilliant strategy, and some are
remarkable for surprising incompetence or plain bad luck. The latter
was not unique to the First World War (we need only look for how the
Romans repeatedly mishandled the Cimbri for evidence that
strategic/tactical idiocy and generals infighting can endanger a
national cause). World War One does have the slight mitigation that
new technologies were not fully understood (aircraft could have been
employed on a more aggressive basis, for example), and the
exacerbating factor that the same mistakes were made repeatedly, at
immense cost of human life.
The sheer numbers of
people involved is also worthy of remark. Tens of thousands (or more)
fell during the largest battles, millions of men lived in trenches.
I must admit I
sometimes found things a little hard to follow, although the gist was
never in doubt. (I maintain that military history is more interesting
before the use of gunpowder became widespread). There is a good
number of maps, with many chapters beginning with a map of the local
situation. A nice addition, which was not present, would have been
something along the lines of a trench cross-section or the odd
diagram of a plane, machine gun or tank, but it would’ve been an
extra rather than some necessary that is missing.
It should be firmly
stressed that this is a military history, and politics, excepting the
interesting preamble to war breaking out, is mentioned only in so far
as it directly relates to the war. Russia vanishes after the
revolution and peace is agreed between the Bolsheviks and Germany.
The author does comment
on both military and moral failings of generals when it comes to
mistakes made (some understandable, others perhaps less so), and also
those of the ordinary soldier. Whilst rarer, instances of soldiers
performing misdeeds (such as advancing well, then coming across
quantities of alcohol and getting lashed as a ferret on Christmas
Day) are mentioned. That said, the focus of the book is clearly on
the military aspects, with morale (and morality) considered alongside
ammunition, supply lines, and so forth as a military asset, or
deficiency.
Overall, I found the
book interesting, occasionally a bit tricky to follow. As I’ve said
before, its sole interest is the military side of things, so those
after something considering the political or social implications of
the war will find it lacking. Those seeking to understand the
strategic and tactical situation that unfolded from 1914 to 1918 will
find it of significant use.
Thaddeus
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