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THE STORY OF THE GREAT WAR
History of the European War from Official Sources
Complete Historical Records of Events to Date,
Illustrated with Drawings, Maps, and Photographs
Prefaced by
What the War Means to America
Major General Leonard Wood, U.S.A.
Naval Lessons of the War
Rear Admiral Austin M. Knight, U.S.N.
The World's War
Frederick Palmer
Theatres of the War's Campaigns
Frank H. Simonds
The War Correspondent
Arthur Ruhl
Edited by
Francis J. Reynolds
Former Reference Librarian of Congress
Allen L. Churchill
Associate Editor, The New International Encyclopedia
Francis Trevelyan Miller
Editor in Chieft, Photographic History of the Civil War
P. F. Collier & Son Company
New York
[Illustration: _A great French siege gun in action near the
much-contested battle field of Arras. During the terrific explosion the
gunners cover their ears._]
THE STORY OF THE GREAT WAR
THE WAR BEGINS
INVASION OF BELGIUM
BATTLE OF THE MARNE
CRACOW . WARSAW
POLISH CAMPAIGN
WAR IN EAST PRUSSIA
VOLUME II
P . F . Collier & Son . New York
Copyright 1916
By P. F. Collier & Son
CONTENTS
PART I.--GREAT BATTLES OF THE WESTERN ARMIES
CHAPTER Page
I. Attack on Belgium 9
II. Siege and Capture of Liege 12
III. Belgium's Defiance 23
IV. Capture of Louvain--Surrender of Brussels 27
V. Coming of the British 33
VI. Campaigns in Alsace and Lorraine 38
VII. Siege and Fall of Namur 45
VIII. Battle of Charleroi 54
IX. Battle of Mons 60
X. The Great Retreat Begins 68
XI. Fighting at Bay 79
XII. The Marne--General Plan of Battle Field 87
XIII. Allied and German Battle Plans 95
XIV. First Moves in the Battle 101
XV. German Retreat 111
XVI. Continuation of the Battle of the Marne 116
XVII. Continuation of the Battle of the Marne 119
XVIII. Other Aspects of the Battle of the Marne 126
XIX. "Crossing the Aisne" 130
XX. First Day's Battles 135
XXI. The British at the Aisne 140
XXII. Bombardment of Rheims and Soissons 146
XXIII. Second Phase of Battle of the Aisne 149
XXIV. End of the Battle 153
XXV. "The Race to the Sea" 158
XXVI. Siege and Fall of Antwerp 160
XXVII. Yser Battles--Attack on Ypres 168
XXVIII. Attacks of La Bassee and Arras 177
XXIX. General Movements on the French and Flanders Fronts 181
XXX. Operations Around La Bassee and Givenchy 187
XXXI. End of Six Months' Fighting in the West 193
PART II.--NAVAL OPERATIONS
XXXII. Strength of the Rival Navies 196
XXXIII. First Blood--Battle of the Bight 208
XXXIV. Battles on Three Seas 219
XXXV. The German Sea Raiders 225
XXXVI. Battle Off the Falklands 230
XXXVII. Sea Fights of the Ocean Patrol 237
XXXVIII. War on German Trade and Possessions 242
XXXIX. Raids on the English Coast 245
XL. Results of Six Months' Naval Operations 258
PART III.--THE WAR ON THE EASTERN FRONT
XLI. General Characteristics of the Theatre of Warfare 261
XLII. The Strategic Value of Russian Poland 268
XLIII. Austrian Poland, Galicia, and Bukowina 272
XLIV. The Balkans--Countries and Peoples 275
XLV. The Caucasus--The Barred Door 286
PART IV.--THE AUSTRO-SERBIAN CAMPAIGN
XLVI. Serbia's Situation and Resources 291
XLVII. Austria's Strength and Strategy 298
XLVIII. Austrian Successes 301
XLIX. The Great Battles Begin 305
L. First Victory of the Serbians 310
PART V.--THE AUSTRO-SERBIAN CAMPAIGN
LI. Results of First Battles 321
LII. Serbian Attempt to Invade Austrian Territory 323
LIII. Austria's Second Invasion 329
LIV. End of Second Invasion--Beginning of Third 331
LV. Preliminary Austrian Successes 335
LVI. Crisis of the Campaign--Austrian Defeat 339
LVII. The Fate of Belgrade 345
LVIII. Attempts to Retake Belgrade 348
LIX. Serbians Retake the City--End of Third Invasion 353
LX. Montenegro in the War 358
PART VI.--AUSTRO-RUSSIAN CAMPAIGN
LXI. Strength and Equipment of the Antagonists 362
LXII. General Strategy of the Campaign 371
LXIII. Austria Takes the Offensive 376
LXIV. A Cautious Russian Advance -- Russian Successes --
Capture of Lemberg 379
LXV. Dankl's Offensive and Retreat 390
LXVI. Battle of Rawa-Russka 395
LXVII. Russian Victories--Battles of the San 398
LXVIII. Summary of Operations of September, 1914 403
LXIX. Investiture of Przemysl 405
LXX. Austrian Retreat Begins 410
LXXI. Fighting at Cracow 416
LXXII. Austrians Again Assume the Offensive 423
PART VII.--RUSSO-GERMAN CAMPAIGN
LXXIII. First Clash on Prussian Frontier 430
LXXIV. Advance of Russians Against the Germans 435
LXXV. Battle of Tannenberg and Russian Retreat 438
LXXVI. Second Russian Invasion of East Prussia 446
LXXVII. First German Drive Against Warsaw 450
LXXVIII. German Retreat from Russian Poland 458
LXXIX. Winter Battles of the Polish Campaign 462
LXXX. Winter Battles in East Prussia 478
LXXXI. Results of First Six Months of Russo-German
Campaign 482
PART VIII.--TURKEY AND THE DARDANELLES
LXXXII. First Moves of Turkey 493
LXXXIII. The First Blow Against the Allies 501
LXXXIV. British Campaign in Mesopotamia 506
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
French Siege Gun at Arras _Frontispiece_
Opposite Page
Bridge Destroyed by the Belgians at Liege 14
General Joffre 78
Germans Refortifying Antwerp 158
Emden Aground After the Sydney's Victory 222
Wreck of the Bluecher in the North Sea Battle 254
Serbian Infantrymen on Their Way to the Front 302
General von Hindenburg 382
Gerdauen, East Prussia, Destroyed in Russian Invasion 478
LIST OF MAPS
Page
Peace Distribution of Army Corps and Naval Stations of Belligerent
Powers (_Colored Map_) _Front Insert_
France, Pictorial Map of 11
Belgium, Beginning of German Invasion of 17
Alsace-Lorraine, French Invasion of 51
Battle of Mons and Retreat of Allied Armies 71
Battle of the Marne--Beginning on September 5, 1914 89
Battle of the Marne--Situation on September 9, 1914 98
Battle of the Marne--End of German Retreat and the Intrenched
Line on the Aisne River 107
Liege Fort, German Attack of 162
Antwerp, Siege and Fall of 162
Flanders, Battle Front in 173
German and English Naval Positions 199
War in the East--Relation of the Eastern Countries to Germany 263
The Balkans, Pictorial Map of 293
Serbian and Austrian Invasions 296
Russia, Pictorial Map of 364
Galicia, Russian Invasion of 367
Battle of Tannenberg 440
[Illustration: Peace Distribution of Army Corps and Naval
Stations of Belligerent Powers.]
PART I--GREAT BATTLES OF THE WESTERN ARMIES
CHAPTER I
ATTACK ON BELGIUM
The first great campaign on the western battle grounds in the European
War began on August 4, 1914. On this epoch-making day the German army
began its invasion of Belgium--with the conquest of France as its
ultimate goal. Six mighty armies stood ready for the great invasion.
Their estimated total was 1,200,000 men. Supreme over all was the
Emperor as War Lord, but Lieutenant General Helmuth von Moltke, chief of
the General Staff, was the practical director of military operations.
General von Moltke was a nephew of the great strategist of 1870, and his
name possibly appealed as of happy augury for repeating the former
capture of Paris.
The First Army was assembled at Aix-la-Chapelle in the north of Belgium,
within a few miles of the Dutch frontier. It was under the command of
General von Kluck. He was a veteran of both the Austrian and
Franco-Prussian Wars, and was regarded as an able infantry leader. His
part was to enter Belgium at its northern triangle, which projects
between Holland and Germany, occupy Liege, deploy on the great central
plains of Belgium, then sweep toward the French northwestern frontier in
the German dash for Paris and the English Channel. His army thus formed
the right wing of the whole German offensive. It was composed of picked
corps, including cavalry of the Prussian Guard.
The Second Army had gathered in the neighborhood of Limbourg under the
command of General von Buelow. Its advance was planned down the valleys
of the Ourthe and Vesdre to a junction with Von Kluck at Liege, then a
march by the Meuse Valley upon Namur and Charleroi. In crossing the
Sambre it was to fall into place on the left of Von Kluck's army.
The German center was composed of the Third Army under Duke Albrecht of
Wuerttemberg, the Fourth Army led by the crown prince, and the Fifth Army
commanded by the Crown Prince of Bavaria. It was assembled on the line
Neufchateau-Treves-Metz. Its first offensive was the occupation of
Luxemburg. This was performed, after a somewhat dramatic protest by the
youthful Grand Duchess, who placed her motor car across the bridge by
which the Germans entered her internationally guaranteed independent
state. The German pretext was that since Luxemburg railways were German
controlled, they were required for the transport of troops. Preparations
were then made for a rapid advance through the Ardennes upon the Central
Meuse, to form in order upon the left of Von Buelow's army. A part of the
Fifth Army was to be detached for operations against the French fortress
of Verdun.
The Sixth Army was concentrated at Strassburg in Alsace, under General
von Heeringen. As inspector of the Prussian Guards he bore a very high
military reputation. For the time being General von Heeringen's part was
to remain in Alsace, to deal with a possibly looked for strong French
offensive by way of the Vosges or Belfort.
The main plan of the German General Staff, therefore was a wide
enveloping movement by the First and Second Armies to sweep the shore of
the English Channel in their march on Paris, a vigorous advance of the
center through the Ardennes for the same destination, and readiness for
battle by the Sixth Army for any French force which might be tempted
into Alsace. That this plan was not developed in its entirety, was due
to circumstances which fall into another place.
[Illustration: Pictorial Map of France.]
The long anticipated _Day_ dawned. Their vast military machine moved
with precision and unity. But there was a surprise awaiting them. The
Belgians were to offer a serious resistance to passage through their
territory--a firm refusal had been delivered at the eleventh hour. The
vanguard was thrown forward from Von Kluck's army at Aix, to break
through the defenses of Liege and seize the western railways. This force
of three divisions was commanded by General von Emmich, one of them
joining him at Verviers.
On the evening of August 3, 1914, Von Emmich's force had crossed into
Belgium. Early on the morning of August 4, 1914, Von Kluck's second
advance line reached Vise, situated on the Meuse north of Liege and
close to the Dutch frontier. Here an engagement took place with a
Belgian guard, which terminated with the Germans bombarding Vise. The
Belgians had destroyed the river bridge, but the Germans succeeded in
seizing the crossing.
This was the first actual hostility of the war on the western battle
grounds. With the capture of Vise, the way was clear for Von Kluck's
main army to concentrate on Belgian territory. By nightfall, Liege was
invested on three sides. Only the railway lines and roads running
westward remained open.