The Guns of August by Barbara W. Tuchman paints a vivid portrayal of the world Pre-World War I. It discussed the actions of individuals and world leaders and how it plunged the world into The Great War that laid the ground work for the world as we know it today. As most people understand, myself included, it is a common belief that World War I was only caused by the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir apparent to the throne of Austria-Hungary. While this is the trigger event that sent the world spiraling into war, it is not the only reason for war. Former president Theodore Roosevelt had returned from King Edwards's funeral completely convinced that war in Europe was imminent.
Until I had read this book and done some other research …show more content…
In my opinion no one mistake was more costly in the grand scheme of the War than that of the German response to the Russian invasion of Eastern Prussia. It was believed that Russia was a massive military powerhouse and she had an incredibly formidable military. This was not the case. They had fought poorly against the Japanese in Manchuria and came to a humiliating peace treaty known as the Treaty of Portsmouth, lost to the French and British in Crimea, were outfought by the Turks in the siege of Plevna and it was the Russian winter, not the Russian Army, which had defeated Napoleon. For some reason the nations of Europe viewed Russia with this stigma of invincibility when in all reality they were a poor fighting force with sub par equipment and more or less shear numbers on their side. Germany had sent 2 corps (which she dearly needed to fight the French and British) from the western front to support the campaign in Eastern Prussia and were essentially were unneeded and proved extremely costly to the Germans because of at the battle of Tannenberg, the Russian advance was decisively stopped. When Germany's military leaders stubbornly moved their armies through Belgium to gain a tactical advantage before invading France despite Belgium's neutrality to the hostilities, Britain was almost forced to declare war with Germany due to treaties with Belgium. There was a neglect to focus on logistics of a fast paced modern army. Often times the German advance was slowed due to a shortage of supplies moving to the front (which was a monumental problem during the outbreak of the Allied armies into France in WWII as well). Another massive mistake made by both side of the war was the assumption that this would be a quick, decisive war only to last a few weeks. Neither the Allied powers nor the Axis powers had predicted the possibility of this becoming locked in
Until I had read this book and done some other research …show more content…
In my opinion no one mistake was more costly in the grand scheme of the War than that of the German response to the Russian invasion of Eastern Prussia. It was believed that Russia was a massive military powerhouse and she had an incredibly formidable military. This was not the case. They had fought poorly against the Japanese in Manchuria and came to a humiliating peace treaty known as the Treaty of Portsmouth, lost to the French and British in Crimea, were outfought by the Turks in the siege of Plevna and it was the Russian winter, not the Russian Army, which had defeated Napoleon. For some reason the nations of Europe viewed Russia with this stigma of invincibility when in all reality they were a poor fighting force with sub par equipment and more or less shear numbers on their side. Germany had sent 2 corps (which she dearly needed to fight the French and British) from the western front to support the campaign in Eastern Prussia and were essentially were unneeded and proved extremely costly to the Germans because of at the battle of Tannenberg, the Russian advance was decisively stopped. When Germany's military leaders stubbornly moved their armies through Belgium to gain a tactical advantage before invading France despite Belgium's neutrality to the hostilities, Britain was almost forced to declare war with Germany due to treaties with Belgium. There was a neglect to focus on logistics of a fast paced modern army. Often times the German advance was slowed due to a shortage of supplies moving to the front (which was a monumental problem during the outbreak of the Allied armies into France in WWII as well). Another massive mistake made by both side of the war was the assumption that this would be a quick, decisive war only to last a few weeks. Neither the Allied powers nor the Axis powers had predicted the possibility of this becoming locked in