DOCSLIB.ORG

Hew Strachan Military Operations and National Policies, 1914–1918

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Hew Strachan Military Operations and National Policies, 1914–1918 Hew Strachan Military Operations and National Policies, 1914–1918 “There is a certain book, ‘Vom Kriege’, which never grows old”, Paul von Hin- denburg wrote in his war memoirs, published in 1920. “Its author is Clausewitz. He knew war, and he knew men. We had to listen to him, and whenever we fol- lowed him it was to victory. To do otherwise meant disaster. He gave a warning about the encroachment of politics on the conduct of military operations.” Hindenburg was venting the frustration which he had felt in early Septem- ber 1914, after his victory at the Masurian Lakes over Rennenkampf’s 1st Army. Oberste Heeresleitung (hereafter OHL) had told him not to exploit his success by pursuing the retreating Russians, but to switch the axis of his attack to the south, so as to give “direct support” to the Austrians “on political grounds”. In the pas- sage which followed, Hindenburg reflected as much his own experiences at OHL in the second half of the war, when he himself was chief of the Prussian general staff, as his frustrations in 1914. “The political tune is a ghastly tune! I myself during the war seldom heard in that tune those harmonies which would have struck an echo in a soldier’s heart.”1 Today “Vom Kriege” is not read as it was read by German officers of Hinden- burg’s generation. Clausewitz’s nostrum that war is the continuation of policy by other means has led theorists of civil-military relations to claim that, in the words of Samuel Huntington, “the ends for which the military body is employed […] are outside its competence to judge”. Huntington concluded his consideration of Clausewitz’s “Vom Kriege” with the assertion that, “In formulating the first theo- retical rationale for the military profession, Clausewitz also contributed the first theoretical justification for civilian control.”2 Thanks not least to Huntington, military subordination to civil control is the current norm and we interpret Hin- denburg’s frustration as a classic Prussian military misreading of Clausewitz. The First World War was, after all, waged by recognisably modern states. Most had constitutions which were sufficiently progressive to mean that there was some level of parliamentary accountability, even in those countries which were not de- 1 Paul von Hindenburg: Out of My Life. London 1920, pp. 111 f. 2 Samuel P. Huntington: The Soldier and the State. The Theory and Practice of Civil-Military Re- lations. Cambridge, MA 1957, pp. 57 f. On the differences in the reading of Clausewitz, see Hew Strachan: Clausewitz and the First World War. In: Journal of Military History 75 (2011), pp. 367– 391; Hew Strachan: Clausewitz en anglais. La césure de 1976. In: Laure Bardiès/Martin Motte (eds.): De la guerre? Clausewitz et la pensée stratégique contemporaine. Paris 2008, pp. 81–122. 8 Hew Strachan mocracies. It was also a war in which armies were not on the whole commanded by their monarchs, even if some of those monarchs aspired to be autocrats. There are of course significant exceptions to both those statements. Neither of the leading democracies among the original belligerents, Britain and France, held an election during the war, and as a result their populations were never given the opportunity to pass judgement on their governments’ conduct of it. There are also important caveats to be entered in the case of the autocracies. Kaiser Wilhelm may have spent much of the war railing at his marginalisation, but he still retained the crucial power to hire and fire both Germany’s chancellors and its service chiefs.3 Tsar Nicholas II took over the supreme command of the Russian Army in September 1915 and exercised it until his abdication in March 1917. By then the new and young Kaiser Karl was increasingly involved in the command decisions of the Austro-Hungarian Army. However, neither of these observations detracts from the general point, that civil authority was more divided from the exercise of military command than it had been in Clausewitz’s day. Hindenburg’s problem in making strategy was different from, and more complex than, that which confront- ed Frederick the Great or Napoleon. Hindenburg’s was one of the first of the post-war memoirs, forming part of a flood in which the Germans led the way: his predecessor as chief of the general staff, Erich von Falkenhayn, published his in 1920, and his first quartermaster general, Erich Ludendorff, was fast off the mark in 1919. The tensions of civ- il-military relations set the tone for many of these books, whether written by sol- diers or by civilians. According to the soldiers’ line of argument, they would have won the war sooner or – in the case of the German officers – they would simply have won the war, if they had been left unfettered by the politicians to fight it. According to the politicians, the generals were stupid and bloodthirsty, and should never have been given as much head as they were. As David Lloyd George, the British prime minister, put it in a concluding chapter of his memoirs entitled “Some reflections on the functions of governments and soldiers respectively in a war”: “There is a region where the soldier claims to be paramount and where the interference of the statesman seems to him to be an impertinence. One is the ques- tion of whether a great battle which may involve enormous losses ought to be fought – if so, where and at what time. The second question is whether a pro- longed attack on fortifications (practically a siege) which is causing huge loss of life without producing any apparent result, ought to be called off. Should Gov- ernments intervene or leave the decision entirely to the soldiers?”4 3 Walter Görlitz (ed.): Regierte der Kaiser? Kriegstagebücher, Aufzeichnungen und Briefe des Chefs des Marine-Kabinetts Admiral Georg Alexander von Müller, 1914–1918. Göttingen 1959, is full of examples of the Kaiser’s frustrations; Holger Afflerbach: Wilhelm II as Supreme War- lord in the First World War. In: War in History 5 (1998), pp. 427–449, shows how extensive his power remained. 4 David Lloyd George: War Memoirs. 2 vols. London 1938, here: vol. 2, p. 2035; on the War Mem- oirs, see Andrew Suttie: Rewriting the First World War. Lloyd George, Politics and Strategy. Bas- ingstoke 2005. Military Operations and National Policies 1914–1918 9 Lloyd George’s question was of course rhetorical, but its tone was also self-ex- culpating. He was anxious to defend himself from the charges that in 1917 he had not prevented the 3rd battle of Ypres and had not subsequently intervened after its commencement to forestall its continuation as Haig’s Army floundered towards Passchendaele. Most historians today have moved away from the tired and self-serving argu- ments of the memoirs. There were few, if any, pure “westerners” or “easterners” in Britain, but probably quite a number in Germany, especially in the winter of 1914–1915.5 Moreover, the person who espoused a particular line in strategy was not necessarily to be identified as either (to continue the British nomenclature for these categories) a “frock-coat” (i.e. a civilian) or a “brass-hat” (i.e. a soldier). One of the reasons for Lloyd George’s readiness both to support Robert Nivelle’s ap- pointment as the French commander-in-chief and then to back his request that the British Expeditionary Force be subordinated to French command was his own political need for a major victory on the western front. Hence too Lloyd George’s ambivalence about Haig’s plans for the second half of 1917. If Haig suc- ceeded, he would give what Lloyd George badly needed: a much more secure po- litical platform from which to pursue his own desire to defeat Germany. Real wartime ambiguities underlay the apparent post-war certainties of the memoirs. In Germany itself, Falkenhayn was a resolute “westerner” but achieved his great- est gains in the east, while Ludendorff – at least until he himself moved to OHL in 1916 – was an impassioned “easterner”. As the memoirs have been discredited by the opening of the archives, another narrative has suggested a different line of historiographical attack. In 1917–1918, the Entente powers won the war precisely because their civilian governments fought back against their generals and their accretion of political influence, so reasserting civilian authority over military. In Britain, Lloyd George, having an- gered the King, the Cabinet and Parliament by agreeing to place Haig under Nivelle without consulting any of them, a sin compounded by the failure of the Nivelle offensive in April 1917, amazingly recovered. He was helped by Haig’s dogged persistence at Ypres, which discredited the British Expeditionary Force’s commander in the eyes of his principal political supporters, the Conservative party and its press. In the winter of 1917–1918 Lloyd George managed to con- trive the removal of Haig’s principal staff officers, including his Director of Mili- tary Intelligence, John Charteris, and his Chief of Staff, Launcelot Kiggell. In February 1918 the prime minister manoeuvred Sir William Robertson out of his post as Chief of the Imperial General Staff and replaced him with Sir Henry Wil- son, whom Haig disliked. And at the end of March Haig was finally brought 5 For Britain, see the essays in Brian Bond (ed.): The First World War and British Military Histo- ry. Oxford 1991; on the debates in Germany, see Karl-Heinz Janßen: Der Kanzler und der Gene- ral. Die Führungskrise um Bethmann Hollweg und Falkenhayn 1914–1916. Göttingen 1967, which provides a lively if now somewhat dated introduction.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • The Knives Are out the Reception of Erich Ludendorff’S Memoirs in the Context of the Dolchstoß Myth, 1919–1925
    Portal Militärgeschichte, 2021 Fahrenwaldt ––– 1 Aufsatz Matthias A. Fahrenwaldt The Knives Are Out The Reception of Erich Ludendorff’s Memoirs in the Context of the Dolchstoß Myth, 1919–1925 DOI: 10.15500/akm.18.01.2021 Zusammenfassung: Erich Ludendorff was the dominant figure of the German war effort in the second half of the Great War. After the military collapse he was one of the main proponents of the Dolchstoßlegende, the main liability of the Weimar Republic. This article investigates what role his 1919 memoirs Meine Kriegserinnerungen played in advancing this myth. Erich Ludendorff was one of the main advocates of the Dolchstoß myth. Introduction1 The narrative about the German defeat in the Great War proved to be the Weimar Republic’s biggest burden. The nationalist right championed the version that while the army was undefeated in the field, it was ‘stabbed in the back’ by the revolutionary home 1 This article is a significantly shortened version of my MSt dissertation as submitted to Oxford University. The thesis was supervised by Myfanwy Lloyd whose feedback on a previous version of this article is also much appreciated. Portal Militärgeschichte, 2021 Fahrenwaldt ––– 2 front. This so-called Dolchstoß myth was promoted by the German supreme command when defeat was inevitable, and the myth – with slightly evolving meaning – endured throughout the Weimar Republic and beyond. The aim of this article is to understand the role that Erich Ludendorff’s published memoirs Meine Kriegserinnerungen played in the origin and evolution of the stab-in-the-back myth until 1925, the year of the Dolchstoßprozess.
    [Show full text]
  • INFORMATION to USERS the Most Advanced Technology Has Been Used to Photo­ Graph and Reproduce This Manuscript from the Microfilm Master
    . INFORMATION TO USERS The most advanced technology has been used to photo­ graph and reproduce this manuscript from the microfilm master. UMI films the original text directly from the copy submitted. Thus, some dissertation copies are in typewriter face, while others may be from a computer printer. In the unlikely event that the author did not send UMI a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if unauthorized copyrighted material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. Oversize materials (e.g., maps, drawings, charts) are re­ produced by sectioning the original, beginning at the upper left-hand comer and continuing from left to right in equal sections with small overlaps. Each oversize page is available as one exposure on a standard 35 mm slide or as a 17" x 23" black and white photographic print for an additional charge. Photographs included in the original manuscript have been reproduced xerographically in this copy. 35 mm slides or 6"X 9" black and white photographic prints are available for any photographs or illustrations appearing in this copy for an additional charge. Contact UMI directly to order. Accessing theUMI World’s Information since 1938 300 North Z eeb Road, Ann Arbor, Ml 48106-1346 USA Order Number 8820321 Operational art and the German command system in World War I Meyer, Bradley John, Ph.D. The Ohio State University, 1988 Copyright ©1088 by Meyer, Bradley John. All rights reserved. UMI 300 N. ZeebRd. Ann Arbor, Ml 48106 OPERATIONAL ART AND THE GERMAN COMMAND SYSTEM IN WORLD WAR I DISSERTATION Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of the Ohio State University By Bradley J.
    [Show full text]
  • The German Army, Vimy Ridge and the Elastic Defence in Depth in 1917
    Journal of Military and Strategic VOLUME 18, ISSUE 2 Studies “Lessons learned” in WWI: The German Army, Vimy Ridge and the Elastic Defence in Depth in 1917 Christian Stachelbeck The Battle of Arras in the spring of 1917 marked the beginning of the major allied offensives on the western front. The attack by the British 1st Army (Horne) and 3rd Army (Allenby) was intended to divert attention from the French main offensive under General Robert Nivelle at the Chemin des Dames (Nivelle Offensive). 1 The French commander-in-chief wanted to force the decisive breakthrough in the west. Between 9 and 12 April, the British had succeeded in penetrating the front across a width of 18 kilometres and advancing around six kilometres, while the Canadian corps (Byng), deployed for the first time in closed formation, seized the ridge near Vimy, which had been fiercely contested since late 1914.2 The success was paid for with the bloody loss of 1 On the German side, the battles at Arras between 2 April and 20 May 1917 were officially referred to as Schlacht bei Arras (Battle of Arras). In Canada, the term Battle of Vimy Ridge is commonly used for the initial phase of the battle. The seizure of Vimy ridge was a central objective of the offensive and was intended to secure the protection of the northern flank of the 3rd Army. 2 For detailed information on this, see: Jack Sheldon, The German Army on Vimy Ridge 1914-1917 (Barnsley: Pen&Sword Military, 2008), p. 8. Sheldon's book, however, is basically a largely indiscriminate succession of extensive quotes from regimental histories, diaries and force files from the Bavarian War Archive (Kriegsarchiv) in Munich.
    [Show full text]
  • Republic of Violence: the German Army and Politics, 1918-1923
    University of Calgary PRISM: University of Calgary's Digital Repository Graduate Studies The Vault: Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2015-09-11 Republic of Violence: The German Army and Politics, 1918-1923 Bucholtz, Matthew N Bucholtz, M. N. (2015). Republic of Violence: The German Army and Politics, 1918-1923 (Unpublished doctoral thesis). University of Calgary, Calgary, AB. doi:10.11575/PRISM/27638 http://hdl.handle.net/11023/2451 doctoral thesis University of Calgary graduate students retain copyright ownership and moral rights for their thesis. You may use this material in any way that is permitted by the Copyright Act or through licensing that has been assigned to the document. For uses that are not allowable under copyright legislation or licensing, you are required to seek permission. Downloaded from PRISM: https://prism.ucalgary.ca UNIVERSITY OF CALGARY Republic of Violence: The German Army and Politics, 1918-1923 By Matthew N. Bucholtz A THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF GRADUATE STUDIES IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY GRADUATE PROGRAM IN HISTORY CALGARY, ALBERTA SEPTEMBER, 2015 © Matthew Bucholtz 2015 Abstract November 1918 did not bring peace to Germany. Although the First World War was over, Germany began a new and violent chapter as an outbreak of civil war threatened to tear the country apart. The birth of the Weimar Republic, Germany’s first democratic government, did not begin smoothly as republican institutions failed to re-establish centralized political and military authority in the wake of the collapse of the imperial regime. Coupled with painful aftershocks from defeat in the Great War, the immediate postwar era had only one consistent force shaping and guiding political and cultural life: violence.
    [Show full text]
  • Germanyâ•Žs Western Front Translations from the German
    Canadian Military History Volume 19 Issue 2 Article 8 2010 Germany’s Western Front Translations from the German Official History of the Great War Mark Osborne Humphries John Maker Follow this and additional works at: https://scholars.wlu.ca/cmh Part of the Military History Commons Recommended Citation Mark Osborne Humphries and John Maker "Germany’s Western Front Translations from the German Official History of the Great War." Canadian Military History 19, 2 (2010) This Feature is brought to you for free and open access by Scholars Commons @ Laurier. It has been accepted for inclusion in Canadian Military History by an authorized editor of Scholars Commons @ Laurier. For more information, please contact [email protected]. and : Germany’s Western Front Translations from the German Official History of the Great War Germany’s Western Front Translations from the German Official History of the Great War Editor’s Note: Germany’s Western Front, edited by Mark Osborne Humphries and John Maker, is a multi-volume English-language translation of Der Weltkrieg, the German official history of the First World War. Originally produced between 1925 and 1944 using classified archival records that were destroyed in the aftermath of the Second World War,Der Weltkrieg is the untold story of German experience on the Western Front. What follows in the foreword, written by Hew Strachen, to the 1915 volume of the series. Foreword in the technologies they employed, then the pace of its authors was produced a conflict that was not as quickening: the events of 1914 had static as the immobility of the trenches taken six volumes, those of 1915 by Hew Strachan which dominated the character of the three (and these are the basis for fighting suggested.
    [Show full text]
  • The Blue Cap Journal of the Royal Dublin Fusiliers Association Vol
    THE BLUE CAP JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL DUBLIN FUSILIERS ASSOCIATION VOL. 23. DECEMBER 2018 Reflections on 1918 Tom Burke On 11 November 1917, at a meeting between Ludendorff and a select group of his advisers in Mons where the British and Germans had clashed back in August 1914, it was decided to knock Britain out of the war before any American entry into the war with decisive numbers of boots on the ground.1 As 1918 opened, the Western, Italian, Salonica and Turkish fronts were each the scene of no large-scale offensives but of sporadic fighting characterised by repeated raids and counter-raids.2 In terms of the eastern front, the German defeat of Russia and her consequential withdrawal from the war, presented Ludendorff and his commanders with a window of opportunity to end the war in the west. One result of Russia’s defeat was the accumulation of munition stocks and the release of large numbers of German troops for an offensive in the west.3 One estimate of the number of German troops available for transfer from east to west was put at 900,000 men.4 According to Gary Sheffield, ‘in the spring of 1918 the Germans could deploy 192 divisions, while the French and British could only muster 156.’ 5 However, according to John Keegan, the Allies had superior stocks of war material. For example, 4,500 Allied aircraft against 3,670 German; 18,500 Allied artillery weapons against 14,000 Germans and 800 Allied tanks against ten German.6 Yet despite this imbalance in material, the combination of a feeling of military superiority, and, acting before the Allies could grow in strength through an American entry along with rising economic and domestic challenges in Germany, all combined to prompt Ludendorff to use the opportunity of that open window and attack the British as they had planned to do back in Mons on 11 November 1917 at a suitable date in the spring of 1918.
    [Show full text]
  • Das Militär Und Seine Subjekte
    Jens Warburg Das Militär und seine Subjekte 2008-01-15 14-34-35 --- Projekt: transcript.titeleien / Dokument: FAX ID 031a168363534536|(S. 1 ) T00_01 schmutztitel - 852.p 168363534544 Jens Warburg (Dr. rer. soc.) promovierte an der Justus-Liebig-Univer- sität Gießen im Fachbereich Sozial- und Kulturwissenschaften. Be- reits erschienen: Kampf der Zivilisten, Bielefeld 2004, transcript (zu- sammen mit Volker Heins). 2008-01-15 14-34-35 --- Projekt: transcript.titeleien / Dokument: FAX ID 031a168363534536|(S. 2 ) T00_02 seite 2 - 852.p 168363534552 Jens Warburg Das Militär und seine Subjekte Zur Soziologie des Krieges 2008-01-15 14-34-35 --- Projekt: transcript.titeleien / Dokument: FAX ID 031a168363534536|(S. 3 ) T00_03 titel - 852.p 168363534560 Dieses Werk ist lizenziert unter der Creative Commons Attribution- NonCommercial-NoDerivs 4.0 Lizenz (BY-NC-ND). Diese Lizenz er- laubt die private Nutzung, gestattet aber keine Bearbeitung und keine kommerzielle Nutzung. Weitere Informationen finden Sie unter https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/deed.de/. Um Genehmigungen für Adaptionen, Übersetzungen, Derivate oder Wiederverwendung zu kommerziellen Zwecken einzuholen, wenden Sie sich bitte an [email protected] © 2008 transcript Verlag, Bielefeld zugl. Dissertation, Justus-Liebig-Universität Gießen, Fachbereich So- zial- und Kulturwissenschaften. Die Verwertung der Texte und Bilder ist ohne Zustimmung des Ver- lages urheberrechtswidrig und strafbar. Das gilt auch für Vervielfäl- tigungen, Übersetzungen, Mikroverfilmungen und für die Verarbei- tung mit elektronischen Systemen. Bibliografische Information der Deutschen Nationalbibliothek Die Deutsche Nationalbibliothek verzeichnet diese Publikation in der Deutschen Nationalbibliografie; detaillierte bibliografische Daten sind im Internet über http://dnb.d-nb.de abrufbar. Umschlaggestaltung: Kordula Röckenhaus, Bielefeld Druck: Majuskel Medienproduktion GmbH, Wetzlar Print-ISBN 978-3-89942-852-0 PDF-ISBN 978-3-8394-0852-0 Gedruckt auf alterungsbeständigem Papier mit chlorfrei gebleichtem Zellstoff.
    [Show full text]
  • Processes of Tactical Learning in a WWI German Infantry Division1
    Journal of Military and Strategic VOLUME 13, ISSUE 4, Summer 2011 Studies Strategy "in a microcosm": Processes of tactical learning in a WWI German Infantry Division1 Christian Stachelbeck Despite the defeat of 1918, the tactical warfare of German forces on the battlefields against a superior enemy coalition was often very effective. The heavy losses suffered by the allies until well into the last months of the war are evidence of this.2 The tactical level of military action comprises the field of direct battle with forces up to division size. Tactics – according to Clausewitz, the “theory of the use of military forces in combat” – is the art of commanding troops and their organized interaction in combined arms combat in the types of combat which characterized the world war era – attack, defense and delaying engagement.3 1 This paper is based on my book Militärische Effektivität im Ersten Weltkrieg. Die 11. Bayerische Infanteriedivision 1915-1918, Paderborn et al. 2010 (=Zeitalter der Weltkriege, 6). It is also a revised version of my paper: “Autrefois à la guerre, tout était simple“. La modernisation du combat interarmes à partir de l’exemple d’une division d’infanterie allemande sur le front de l’Ouest entre 1916 et 1918. In: Revue Historique des Armées, 256 (2009), pp. 14-31. 2 See Niall Ferguson, The Pity of War (New York: Basic Books, 1999). 3 See Gerhard P. Groß, Das Dogma der Beweglichkeit. Überlegungen zur Genese der deutschen Heerestaktik im Zeitalter der Weltkriege. In: Erster Weltkrieg - Zweiter Weltkrieg. Ein Vergleich. Krieg, Kriegserlebnis, Kriegserfahrung in Deutschland, on behalf of Militärgeschichtliches Forschungsamt (Military History Research Institute) edited by Bruno Thoß and Hans-Erich Volkmann, Paderborn et al.
    [Show full text]
  • D I P L O M a R B E I T
    View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by OTHES D i p l o m a r b e i t Titel der Diplomarbeit Der Offensivgeist des Conrad von Hötzendorf Verfasser Dieter Hackl angestrebter akademischer Grad Magister der Philosophie (Mag. Phil.) Wien, 2009 Studienkennzahl lt. Studienblatt: A 312 Studienrichtung lt. Studienblatt: Geschichte Betreuer: Doz. Dr. Hans Safrian Inhaltsverzeichnis 1. Einleitung - Forschungsfragen ..........................................................................3 2. Conrad von Hötzendorf – „Genie in der Sandkiste“.........................................9 2.1. Biografie.......................................................................................................................... 9 2.2. Militärische Erfahrung in Bosnien Herzegowina.......................................................... 10 2.3. Die Philosophie des Sozialdarwinismus ....................................................................... 11 2.4. Conrad und seine „Lebensfrauen“................................................................................. 13 3. Die Bündnispartner: C. v. Hötzendorf und H. v. Moltke................................17 3.1. Erste Kontaktaufnahme................................................................................................. 17 3.2. Österreichs Aufmarschplan im Falle einer serbischen Provokation ............................. 18 3.3. Das militärische Abkommen im Schatten des Schlieffenplanes................................... 19 3.4. Conrad und Moltke
    [Show full text]
  • Jagow, Gottlieb Von | International Encyclopedia of the First World War
    Version 1.0 | Last updated 17 November 2016 Jagow, Gottlieb von By Florian Altenhöner Jagow, Gottlieb von German diplomat and politician Born 22 June 1863 in Berlin, Germany Died 11 January 1935 in Potsdam, Germany Gottlieb von Jagow was a German diplomat. He served as the German Foreign Secretary from January 1913 to November 1916. Table of Contents 1 Early Life and Career 2 Foreign Secretary: The July Crisis and the First World War 3 Later Life Selected Bibliography Citation Early Life and Career Gottlieb von Jagow (1863-1935) was born into a distinguished noble family. His father, Carl von Jagow, was a feudal estate owner (Rittergutsbesitzer). He studied law at the Universities of Bonn and Berlin. After working some years with the Prussian administration he entered the diplomatic service in 1895 where he advanced swiftly. Due to his frail health Jagow spent most of his career in Italy. In 1907 he was appointed envoy extraordinary to Luxembourg, and ambassador to Rome in 1909. Foreign Secretary: The July Crisis and the First World War When the German Foreign Secretary Alfred von Kiderlen-Waechter (1852-1912) succumbed to a heart attack, Jagow considered himself inappropriate as successor. He accepted his appointment in January 1913 only reluctantly. He became a loyal follower of Chancellor Theobald von Bethmann Hollweg (1851-1921) who was inexperienced in foreign affairs. In July 1914 Jagow’s attempts to prevent Germany’s “encirclement” failed. In the early days of the “July crisis,” Jagow was away from Berlin on his honeymoon. Jagow failed to assert his foreign policy agenda against imperial Germany’s many centres of power: the emperor and his entourage, the chancellor, the Supreme Army Command (Oberste Heeresleitung, or OHL), and the Reichstag.
    [Show full text]
  • The American Army and the First World War David R
    Cambridge University Press 978-1-107-01144-1 - The American Army and the First World War David R. Woodward Frontmatter More information The American Army and the First World War This is a definitive history of the American Army’s role and perform- ance during the First World War. Drawing from a rich pool of archival sources, David Woodward sheds new light on key themes such as the mobilization of US forces, the interdependence of military diplomacy, coalition war-making, the combat effectiveness of the AEF and the leadership of its commander John J. Pershing. He shows us how, in spite of a flawed combat doctrine, logistical breakdowns and the American industry’s failure to provide modern weaponry, the doughboys were nonetheless able to wage a costly battle at Meuse-Argonne and play a decisive role in ending the war. The book gives voice to the common soldier through first-hand war diaries, letters and memoirs, allowing us to reimagine their first encounters with regimented military life, their transport across the sub-infested Atlantic to Europe, and their experi- ences both in and behind the trenches. david r. woodward is Emeritus Professor of History at Marshall University, Huntington, West Virginia © in this web service Cambridge University Press www.cambridge.org Cambridge University Press 978-1-107-01144-1 - The American Army and the First World War David R. Woodward Frontmatter More information Armies of the Great War This is a major new series of studies of the armies of the major combatants in the First World War for publication during the war’s centenary.
    [Show full text]
  • Digitalisierungen in Der Abteilung Militärarchiv, Stand
    Digitalisierte Einzelstücke und Bestände Digitalisiert werden Sachakten amtlicher Herkunft, dazu Karten und Technische Zeichnungen. Hinzu kommen herausgehobene Personalunterlagen. Darüber hinaus werden als Ergänzung auch Unterlagen privater Herkunft, insbesondere Nachlässe digitalisiert. Digitalisiert werden zum Teil die kompletten Bestände, zum Teil aber auch nur Bestandsportionen. Herausgehobene einzelne Archivalien werden teilweise vorab digitalisiert. (Stand: 31.7.2020) Flugblätter BArch MSg 235/3743 US-Flugblatt; ca. 1943/44 NEU Flugblätter aus den Weltkriegen Die Abt. Militärarchiv des Bundesarchivs verfügt über eine umfangreiche Sammlung deutscher und ausländischer Flugblätter aus beiden Weltkriegen. Die Sammlung wurde digitalisiert und steht zur Einsichtnahme im Internet zur Verfügung. MSg 235 Sammlung Flugblätter und Wandanschläge militärischer Einrichtungen https://invenio.bundesarchiv.de/invenio/direktlink/a28a4f88-b7ed-42b0-9ed4-6f12cc9f5386/ Herausgehobene Personalunterlagen Aktuell in der Digitalisierung und demnächst online Auswahl aus Pers 6 Personalunterlagen von Angehörigen der Reichswehr und Wehrmacht.- v.a. Personalakten der Generalfeldmarschalle, Generaloberste, Generale und Generalleutnante, dazu die Personaldossiers zweier Karteien des Heerespersonalamtes – der sog. Generalskartei und der Kartei der höheren Adjutanten und Offiziere des Heerespersonalamtes Das deutsche Engagement im Osmanischen Reich Digitalisierte Bestände und Einzelstücke zum deutschen Engagement im Osmanischen Reich folgen demnächst. Aktuell in
    [Show full text]