The Guns of August

"Europe, in her insanity, has started something almost unbelievable. In such times one realises to what a sad species of animal one belongs. I quietly pursue my peaceful studies and contemplations and feel only pity and disgust." Albert Einstein, August 19.

The French on the way to Berlin.

August 1914 was one of the bloodiest months of WWI, yet the battles are (unless you're British and know about the relatively small engagement at Mons), much less well known to our cultural memory than the Somme or Ypres. This is probably different in France where most of the fighting took place (anyone want to guest blog on it?).

As millions of Germans flooded through Belgium on their way to Paris, to the south millions of Frenchmen headed for Berlin. The titanic struggles that resulted throughout the month contributed the first several hundred thousand casualties to WWI's toll. On August 22 alone, at Charleroi and in the Ardennes, the French lost 27,000 dead, 8,000 more than the British dead on the first day of the Somme in 1916.

The Germans on the way to Paris.

Meanwhile, the relatively tiny British regular army packed its bags crossed the Channel and heading optimistically into Belgium, totally unaware that the French Armies were disintegrating around them. On August 7, Kitchener, realizing that it would be a long war, called for 100,000 volunteers.  Within days of the call, men were being sworn in at  a rate of 100 an hour in London alone. According to The Times, there was little obvious excitement, "but there was an undercurrent of enthusiasm, and the disappointment of those who failed to pass one or other of the test was obvious."