Historical sources on the outbreak of the First World War

Extract A

"On 28 June 1914 the Archduke Francis Ferdinand, heir-presumptive to the Hapsburg throne, was shot in the streets of Serajevo, the capital of the Austrian province of Bosnia. Redeemed by the Russo-Turkish war of 1876-7 from Ottoman rule, Bosnia had by the Congress of Berlin in 1878 been entrusted to Austrian administration; but in 1908, fearing lest a Turkey rejuvenated by the Young Turk revolution should seek to revive its claims on Bosnia, the Austrian Government annexed on its own authority a province confided to its care by a European mandate. This arbitrary act was only challenged on paper at the time; but the striking success of Serbia in the Balkan wars of 1912-13 brought out the dangers and defects of Austrian policy. For the Serbs were kin to the great majority of the Bosnian people and to millions of other South Slavs who were subject to the Austrian crown and discontented with its repressive government; and the growing prestige of Serbia bred hopes and feelings of Slav nationality on both sides of the Hapsburg frontier." 

Extract B

"But Russia was the object of Germany's diplomatic activity rather than of her military preparations. It was thought that Russia could not mobilize in less than six weeks or strike effectively in less than two or three months, and that that interval would suffice for the crushing of France, who was bound by treaty to intervene if Russia were attacked. The German mobilization was therefore directed first against France, defence against Russia being left to second-line German troops and to an Austrian offensive. The defeat of France was not, however, regarded by Germans as a mere incident in a war against Russia; for it was a cardinal point in the programme of the militarists, whose mind was indiscreetly revealed by Bernhardi, that France must be so completely crushed that she could never again cross Germany's path." 

Extract C

"The Kaiser went off on a yachting cruise to Norway, where, however, he was kept in constant touch with affairs, while Austria on 23 July presented her ultimatum to the Serbian Government. The terms amounted to a demand for the virtual surrender of Serbian independence, and were in fact intended to be rejected. Serbia, however, acting on Russian and other advice, accepted them all except two, which she asked should be referred to the Hague Tribunal. Austria refused on the ground that the dispute was not of a justiciable nature; and the meagre five days' grace having expired on the 28th, Austrian troops crossed the Save and occupied Belgrade, the Serbians withdrawing without resistance." 

Extract D

"At that moment Germany threw off the diplomatic disguise of being a pacific second to her Austrian friend, and cut the web of argument by an ultimatum to Russia on the 31st. Fear lest the diplomatists should baulk them of their war had already led the German militarists to publish in their press the unauthorized news of a complete German mobilization, and on 1-2 August German armies crossed the frontiers. It was not till some days later that war was declared between Austria and any of the Allies; the war from first to last was made in Germany." 

Extract E

"The invasion of Belgium and Luxemburg united the British Empire on the question of intervention. Three ministers alone out of more than forty — Lord Morley, Mr. John Burns, and Mr. C. P. Trevelyan — dissented from the Cabinet's decision, and the minority in the nation was of still more slender proportions. Parliament supported the Ministry without a division when on 4 August England declared war." 

Extract F

"By 11 a.m. on the 9th Von Kluck's army was ordered to retreat, thus exposing Von Buelow's right, and giving Foch his opportunity for the decisive stroke of the battle. It consisted of two blows, right and left, and both came off late on the 9th. Maunoury's counter-attack on the left had compelled the Germans to weaken their centre. Not only was Von Buelow's right exposed, but a gap had been left between his left and Von Hausen's right, possibly for troops which were detained at Maubeuge or had been diverted to East Prussia." 

Extract G

"The first battle of the Marne was important by reason of what it prevented the Germans from doing, rather than by reason of what the Allies achieved, and they had to wait nearly four years for that precipitate evacuation of France which it was hoped would follow upon the German repulse from the Marne in September 1914. Nevertheless it was one of the decisive battles and turning-points of the war. The German surprise, so long and so carefully prepared, had failed, and the knockout blow had been parried." 

Contextual information:

Albert Frederick Pollard was Professor of English History at the University of London and a Fellow of All Souls College, Oxford. He completed the manuscript of this book in May 1919, shortly after the armistice, producing one of the earliest scholarly histories of the entire war written by a recognised British academic. 

Bibliographical reference:

Pollard, A. F. (1920). A short history of the Great War. Methuen & Co. (Chapters I–II, pp. 1–4, 13–15, 17, 30–31). 

Copyright: Public domain. 

"We have great and vital interests in the independence — and integrity is the least part — of Belgium. If Belgium is compelled to submit to allow her neutrality to be violated, of course the situation is clear. Even if by agreement she admitted the violation of her neutrality, it is clear she could only do so under duress. The smaller States in that region of Europe ask but one thing. Their one desire is that they should be left alone and independent. The one thing they fear is, I think, not so much that their integrity but that their independence should be interfered with." 

Contextual information:

Sir Edward Grey served as British Foreign Secretary from 1905 to 1916. He delivered this speech to the House of Commons on 3 August 1914, the day before Britain declared war on Germany, to explain the government's position on the crisis created by Germany's ultimatum to Belgium. 

Bibliographical reference:

Grey, E. (1914, August 3). Statement by Sir Edward Grey. Parliamentary Debates, Commons, 5th series, vol. 65, cols. 1809–1832. Retrieved from Historic Hansard, https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1914/aug/03/statement-by-sir-edward-grey 

Copyright: Public domain. United Kingdom Parliamentary proceedings (Hansard) from 1914 are Crown Copyright with expired protection.

"This collapse was all the more dramatic since the nation had entered upon the war with universal enthusiasm because of its belief that it had been attacked. From the Socialists who voted the war credits, to the Pan-Germans who joyously shouted, 'Vae Victis', the entire nation had united about the person of the last emperor to conquer a place in the world which would be worthy of Germany's imperial destiny. Notwithstanding the superiority of Germany's war preparations over those of her enemies, innumerable mistakes were made at the outset. The one-sided adoption of the Schlieffen plan of crushing France while Russia was held off in the east proved a failure, not due to the fact that it was carried out by Epigoni, but to the lack of sufficient military strength and to the unparalleled resistance of the French..." 

Contextual information:

Ralph Haswell Lutz was an Associate Professor of History at Stanford University who had access to the Hoover War Library's collection of captured German documents. He wrote this academic study of the German Revolution in the immediate post-war period, drawing on official German records to examine how Germany's wartime failures led to the collapse of the Kaiser's government. 

Bibliographical reference:

Lutz, R. H. (1922). The German revolution, 1918–1919. Stanford University Press, p. 15. 

Copyright: Public domain.

"In winning Lublin the Russians had done a distinct service to the French in relieving pressure at the Marne and by their invasion of East Prussia they undertook a service of a similar kind. The advance of the Russian 'steam roller' into Prussia so much heralded at the time amounted to little more than an immense raid, as numbers go in the greatest struggle of all history. It won laurels for Von Hindenburg, a retired general, who became the hero of the war in Germany, again illustrating that in this, as in other wars, the fortune of circumstances and the character of your enemy have much to do with the creation of martial glory. For it is an open question if as a military feat Von Kluck's skillful extrication of his army from the position beyond Paris is not as worthy of praise as Von Hindenburg's clever victory of Tannenberg." 

Contextual information:

This multi-volume wartime history was compiled by the editors Francis J. Reynolds, Allen L. Churchill, and Francis Trevelyan Miller, with an introductory analysis by the American military correspondent Frank H. Simonds. It was published in 1916 while the war was still underway, drawing on official communiqués and contemporary press accounts to provide an American readership with a running account of the conflict. 

Bibliographical reference:

Reynolds, F. J., Churchill, A. L., & Miller, F. T. (Eds.). (1916). The story of the Great War (Vol. 1). P. F. Collier & Son, Introduction by F. H. Simonds. 

Copyright: Public domain.

"Indeed, after the threat to Danzig itself implied in General Rennenkampf's brilliant raid into Eastern Prussia, and his victory over the army of General von Hindenburg in the first decisive engagement of the war at Gumbinnen, the rushing back of masses of German troops from the western to the eastern theatre of operations had completely changed the situation. By admirable generalship, too, Von Hindenburg had turned the tables on his foe, and had inflicted a signal defeat on the invaders of East Prussia at Tannenberg." 

Contextual information:

Percy Cross Standing was a British journalist and author who wrote this account of the Eastern Front campaign during the opening months of the war. He published it in 1914–1915, making it one of the very earliest English-language accounts of the fighting in Russian Poland and East Prussia. 

Bibliographical reference:

Standing, P. C. (1914–1915). The campaign in Russian Poland. T. Werner Laurie. 

Copyright: Public domain.

Extract A

"The enemy, not expecting our withdrawal, only followed slowly, and on 13th September our troops brought him to a standstill along a line extending from the Swiss frontier to the Aisne, north-east of Compiègne. In the trench warfare which now began our pursuers soon discovered that our strength had been by no means broken, or even materially weakened, by the hard fighting. As early as 5th September, before the battle of the Marne, the Chief of the German General Staff had ordered the right wing should be reinforced by the newly-formed Seventh Army. It soon became clear to the opposing commanders that any attempt to break through the new German front was doomed to failure, and that a decisive success could only be obtained by making an outflanking movement on a large scale against the German right wing. Thus began what our opponents have called the 'Race to the Sea,' in which each party tried to gain a decision by outflanking the other's western wing." 

Extract B

"In consequence of this new situation, and of the reports of hostile concentrations in the area Calais-Dunkirk-Lille, the German General Staff decided to form a new Fourth Army under Duke Albert of Würtemburg. It was to be composed of the XXII, XXIII, XXVI, and XXVII Reserve Corps, and was joined later on by the III Reserve Corps with the 4th Ersatz Division. By 13th October the detainment of this new Army was in full progress west and south-west of Brussels. On the evening of 14th October the four Reserve Corps began their march to the line Eecloo (fifteen miles east of Bruges) — Deynze — point four miles west of Audenarde." 

Contextual information:

Otto Schwink was a German military officer who compiled this official account of the First Battle of Ypres from German General Staff documents. The book was translated into English and published in London in 1919, providing a German perspective on the Race to the Sea and the subsequent fighting in Flanders during October and November 1914. 

Bibliographical reference:

Schwink, O. (1919). Ypres, 1914: An official account published by order of the German General Staff (G.C.W., Trans.). Constable and Company, pp. 1–6. 

Copyright: Public domain.

"For weeks they were besieged, but day by day their entrenchments were strengthened until they resembled fortresses. All the courage and skill and patience of the attackers could not bolt them from these burrows by means of frontal attacks. Then an attempt was made to outflank them by a northward movement of the Allied left. As this movement proceeded, a similar manoeuvre was begun by the foe. Each side attempted to outflank the other, and a feverish race set in for the North Sea, where both flanking movements must perforce end. Three French armies were strung out northwards as far as the La Bassée canal; the British army was transferred from the Aisne to fill the gap beyond; and a new army was collected and hurried to the assistance of the Belgians, who extended the line to the sea. The Allies just won the race, and the Germans found themselves besieged once more, this time on a line of trenches some 450 miles in length." 

Contextual information:

Sir Edward Parrott was a Scottish educator and author who held the degrees of M.A. and LL.D. He wrote The Children's Story of the War as a multi-volume popular history, published during the war itself, to explain the conflict to a general British readership in accessible language. 

Bibliographical reference:

Parrott, E. (c. 1915). The children's story of the war (Vol. 3). Thomas Nelson and Sons. 

Copyright: Public domain.

Extract A:

"Shortly after the doings set forth in the previous chapter we left the trenches for our usual days in billets. It was now nearing Christmas Day, and we knew it would fall to our lot to be back in the trenches again on the 23rd of December, and that we would, in consequence, spend our Christmas there. I remember at the time being very down on my luck about this, as anything in the nature of Christmas Day festivities was obviously knocked on the head. Now, however, looking back on it all, I wouldn't have missed that unique and weird Christmas Day for anything." 

Extract B:

"I was billed to appear at a dug-out about a quarter of a mile to the left that evening to have rather a special thing in trench dinners — not quite so much bully and Maconochie about as usual. A bottle of red wine and a medley of tinned things from home deputized in their absence. The day had been entirely free from shelling, and somehow we all felt that the Boches, too, wanted to be quiet. There was a kind of an invisible, intangible feeling extending across the frozen swamp between the two lines, which said 'This is Christmas Eve for both of us — something in common.'" 

Extract C:

"Presently, the sergeant returned. He had with him a few German cigars and cigarettes which he had exchanged for a couple of Maconochie's and a tin of Capstan, which he had taken with him. The séance was over, but it had given just the requisite touch to our Christmas Eve — something a little human and out of the ordinary routine. After months of vindictive sniping and shelling, this little episode came as an invigorating tonic, and a welcome relief to the daily monotony of antagonism. It did not lessen our ardour or determination; but just put a little human punctuation mark in our lives of cold and humid hate." 

Extract D:

"Walking about the trench a little later, discussing the curious affair of the night before, we suddenly became aware of the fact that we were seeing a lot of evidences of Germans. Heads were bobbing about and showing over their parapet in a most reckless way, and, as we looked, this phenomenon became more and more pronounced. A complete Boche figure suddenly appeared on the parapet, and looked about itself. This complaint became infectious. It didn't take 'Our Bert' long to be up on the skyline (it is one long grind to ever keep him off it). This was the signal for more Boche anatomy to be disclosed, and this was replied to by all our Alf's and Bill's, until, in less time than it takes to tell, half a dozen or so of each of the belligerents were outside their trenches and were advancing towards each other in no-man's land." 

Extract E:

"There was not an atom of hate on either side that day; and yet, on our side, not for a moment was the will to war and the will to beat them relaxed. It was just like the interval between the rounds in a friendly boxing match." 

Contextual information:

Bruce Bairnsfather was a lieutenant (later captain) in the 1st Battalion, Royal Warwickshire Regiment, serving in the trenches near Ploegsteert Wood in Belgium during the winter of 1914–1915. He wrote Bullets & Billets in 1916 as a firsthand memoir of his first six months in France, and he personally participated in the unofficial Christmas Truce that he describes in this chapter. 

Bibliographical reference:

Bairnsfather, B. (1916). Bullets & billets. Grant Richards, Chapter VIII. 

Copyright: Public domain.