A world undone: the story of the Great War, 1914 to 1918 (114 page)

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Authors: G. J. Meyer

Tags: #Military History

“The first principle in position warfare”: Cowley, 350.

Since their government’s declaration: Casualties of the Romanian campaign are in Mosier, 260.

Over the next year and a half: Amounts of materials extracted from Romania in 1917 and 1918 are in Stone, 265.

Meaningless as it was: The story of the bleating French troops is in Horne,
Price
, 318.

PART FIVE

1917:
Things Fall Apart

T
hree books with suggestively divergent subtitles--
Ludendorff, Genius of World War I
by D. J. Goodspeed,
Ludendorff, The Tragedy of a Military Mind
by Karl Tschuppik, and
Tormented Warrior: Ludendorff and the Supreme Command
by Roger Parkinson--become increasingly valuable as the war enters 1917 and their subject emerges as something very like a military dictator of Germany. In dealing with the Western Front in 1917, the author found much of value in
The Defeat of Imperial Germany, 1917-1918
by Rod Paschall and
In Flanders Fields: The 1917 Campaign
by Leon Wolff.
Paths of Glory: The French Army 1914-1918
by Anthony Clayton is a helpful guide to its subject at this stage in the war,
The War to End All Wars
by Edward M. Coffman and
Illusion of Victory
by Thomas Fleming to America’s entry into the conflict.

“victory over the military powers”: Gleichen, 117.

“put our trust rather”: Gilbert,
First World War
, 303.

“economic, military and political”: Parkinson, 114.

“a likeness between the two”: Gleichen, 278.

“the reorganization of Europe”: Woodward, 237.

“Our position was extremely difficult”: Ludendorff’s words are in Tschuppik, 66.

Almost the only general inconvenience: Data on lost coal production are in Ferguson, 250.

Problems had arisen, inevitably: Heyman, 199.

The situation was worse in Britain:Ibid, 197.

A decline in nutrition manifested itself:Tuberculosis data are in Ferguson, 277.

Russia was increasingly unsuccessful: Refugee numbers are in Stevenson,
Cataclysm
, 234.

The infant mortality rate doubled: Hours spent by women working and standing in line, and the numbers that follow on strikes in January and February 1917, are in ibid, 249.

As early as October 1914 ten thousand horses:Herwig, 274.

Nine million animals perished:Ferguson, 276.

Before the war Germany had been importing:Herwig, 272.

As this input dwindled: The decline in German grain production is in Ferguson, 251.

Food prices rose 130 percent:The Berlin percentage increase is in Herwig, 286, the Vienna increase in Herwig, 276.

Even for industrial workers: German wage increase percentage is in Stevenson,
Cataclysm
, 305.

The chief physician at one of Berlin’s:The doctor’s estimate is in a report by an American journalist excerpted in Thoumin, 274.

The average daily adult intake:Asprey,
German High Command
, 314.

Deaths from lung disease increased:Ferguson, 277.

“One of the most terrible”:Wolff, 22.

A German who was a schoolboy:Arthur, 200.

Even the expected bounty:Percentage increase from Romanian exports is in Wolff, 251.

“I will give Your Majesty my word”:Gilbert,
First World War
, 306.

“the only means of carrying the war”:Parkinson, 123.

“I declared myself incompetent”:Tschuppik, 87.

Holtzendorff estimated that the submarines:Stevenson,
Cataclysm
, 213.

Even in January, while still allowing:Gilbert,
First World War
, 306.

The lifting of restrictions became effective:Tons of merchant shipping sunk February through June 1917 are in Stevenson,
Cataclysm
, 264.

Under prodding from Erich Ludendorff:Details of the Auxiliary Service Law are in Herwig, 263;the increases in gunpowder and weapons production are in the same work, 260.

“not fighting, but famine”:Ferguson, 9.

“socially and economically futile”:Angell, 72.

“As long as there are goods and labor”:Keynes’s words are in Strachan,
First World War
, 817.

By 1917 the German government’s expenditures: British, French, and German government spending as a percent of net national product is in Stevenson,
Cataclysm
, 179.The percentages of Britain’s and the German federal government’s budgets covered by tax revenues are in
Cataclysm
, 180.

Eventually it borrowed £568 million: Strachan,
First World War
, 956.

This accomplished nothing: The percentage of Russia’s prewar tax revenue provided by the vodka monopoly is in Stevenson,
Cataclysm
, 181.

Germany issued war bonds twice: Ibid., 182.

By April 1917 the British were spending: Strachan,
First World War
, 975.

It is estimated that the war ultimately cost: numbers are in Stevenson,
Cataclysm
, 183.

Though the extent of the withdrawal: The dimensions of the withdrawal are in Johnson, 96, and Parkinson, 126.

Three hundred and seventy thousand men: The numbers of men and trains used to construct the new line are in Herwig, 250.

“The decision to retreat”: Parkinson, 127.

The army itself was restructured: The number of newly created divisions is in Mosier, 269.

The Hindenburg Line would be twenty-five miles: The number of miles the front was shortened is in Johnson, 96; the number of divisions and batteries freed is in Herwig, 250.

At the start of 1917 the Germans had: The number of men is in Liddell Hart,
Real War
, 298; the number of divisions in Herwig, 247.

It was to be yet another massive offensive: The number of divisions planned for the Entente attack is in Paschall, 29.

This trench was almost ten feet deep: a physical description of the new defenses is in Herwig, 251.

They also agreed that they would wait until May: British generals (most importantly Haig and Robertson) would later claim that the plan approved at Chantilly called for the attack to begin in February 1917, which would have made the German withdrawal to the Hindenburg Line impossible and allowed the subsequent Flanders attack to take place before the onset of seasonal rains. This version of events has been accepted by historians ever since. Denis Winter, however, using documents not available until half a century after the war, offers persuasive evidence that the Chantilly conference ended in agreement to launch the joint offensives in May. The examination of this issue is in Winter,
Haig’s Command
, 70-84.

“legacy of inevitable disaster”: Lloyd George’s words are in Wolff, 37.

“cur”: Ibid., 40.

The death blow would be delivered: The number of divisions planned for Nivelle’s Mass of Maneuver is in Johnson, 92.

The only difficulty was the question of timing: The difficulties over when to start the Nivelle offensive, and the final compromise, are in Winter,
Haig’s Command
, 76.

“The French put forward a terrible scheme”: Ibid., 83. Haig’s letters are important as one part of Winter’s demonstration that Lloyd George did not propose the appointment of a French supreme commander as Haig would later claim.

“This is a plan for the army”: Clayton, 125.

“However the world pretends”: Haste, 81.

London alone had sixteen daily papers: Ibid., 29.

Germany had four thousand: Welch, 29.

“a war in which we risk everything”: Ferguson, 216.

“an anti-German frame of mind”: Haste, 5.

“of such a nature as is calculated”: Ibid., 83.

“the new philosophy of Germany”: Ibid.

The unprecedented sum of £240,000: Ibid., 40.

“Good propaganda must keep well ahead”: Welch, 195.

When Joffre fell and was succeeded: The number of Russian divisions to be involved in the 1917 joint offensive is in Rutherford, 235.

General Sir Henry Wilson, a senior member: Massie,
Nicholas and Alexandra
, 388.

“by terrorist methods if there is”: Taylor,
Dynasties
, 257.

“Lovy, be firm”: Radzinsky, 174.

“I order that the disorders”: Nicholas’s message is in Massie,
Nicholas and Alexandra
, 400.

He showed concern only for his wife: The size of the rebelling garrison is in Radzinsky, 180.

“whoever now dreams of peace”: Taylor,
Dynasties
, 290.

“God in heaven, it’s like”: Palmer and Wallis, 290.

He set a quota of two hundred thousand transfers: The size of the quota, and the number of Belgians deported, are in Asprey,
German High Command
, 317.

The originators of the plan: The numbers are in Goodspeed, 197.

“All this is really no business of mine”: Parkinson, 119.

WE INTEND TO BEGIN UNRESTRICTED
: Tuchman,
Zimmermann Telegram
, 146.

“I am finished with politics”: Ibid., 149.

The House approved a War Resolution: The vote totals are in Ferrell, 2.

“Age-old subduers and punishers”: Taylor,
Dynasties
, 262.

“love of freedom”: Tolstoy, 46.

The Germans meanwhile, aware: The number of German divisions is in Paschall, 46.

The offensive began on April 9: The number of attacking armies is in Clayton, 128.

Their dimensions are apparent in the details: The trainloads of rock are in Paschall, 33, and the number of guns and heavy mortars in Paschall, 38.

“We moved forward, but the conditions”: Arthur, 206.

Entente casualties had been fairly light: The average of four thousand per day is in Johnson, 119.

Haig had grounds for claiming success: Prisoner and captured gun numbers are in Wolff, 62.

By the time it all ended:Casualty figures are in Evans,
Battles
, 35.

“I had looked forward”:Parkinson, 129.

Nivelle had three armies that among them:Division and troop totals are in Herwig, 327.

But twenty-seven divisions were held back: The size of the Mass of Maneuver is in Paschall, 33, and the number of German line and reserve divisions in Paschall, 46.

One hundred and twenty-eight:Tank numbers are in Clayton, 129.

“A snow squall swept our position”:Lewis, 286.

“Peace!Down with war!”:Herwig, 329.

“What, you try to make me responsible”:Marshall, 211.

By the time the offensive: French and German casualty figures are in Herwig, 329.

Within six weeks of its start: The words of the unnamed officer are in Clayton, 130.

Approximately five hundred of them:Various writers give exact but widely differing numbers.For example, Clayton, 134, says 499 were condemned and twenty-seven were executed; the corresponding numbers in Herwig are “between 500 and 600” and “perhaps as many as 75”.