Extra Credit Opportunity Dear next year’s crop of incredible Floresville students that plan to take either my Advanced Placement or Dual Credit United.

Extra Credit Opportunity

• Dear next year’s crop of incredible Floresville students that plan to take either my Advanced Placement or Dual Credit United States History course

• Are you tired of being bored all summer long?• If so, here’s a challenge that is sure to keep you

busy this summer … say goodbye to boredom• Acquire a copy of Barbara Tuchman’s The Guns

of August written in 1962

• READ Barbara Tuchman’s The Guns of August

• READ, as in actually reading through the book, with the frame of mind that you want to read it

• That is to say, READ each chapter to enjoy it and learn at the same time

• Do not rush through the book with your mind wandering

• Read each letter, each word, each sentence, each paragraph, each page, each chapter because you want to do it

• Obtain a LARGE artists sketch book (or something of like fashion) similar to the one shown here

• After reading each chapter, make it come alive by creating a side-by-side key character(s) and main event map for each chapter (see below)

Chapter 1 – A Funeral Map Showing Location of Funeral

King Edward VII – Write a brief1-2 sentence biography andinclude a picture of each person

Kaiser Wilhelm II - The description should include position of power and associated nation

Ex-President T. Roosevelt - Include bios for 4 of the keypeople from each chapter

King George V - The picture can be hand drawn or printed out and pasted into the sketchbook

This map can be hand drawn or printed from the computer and pasted onto the page. The map should be “large” scale. That is, the map should be zoomed in enough to focus on the area of interest.

The key is to take your time and enjoy doing this activity over the summer. Turn in your outstanding quality product, during the first week back to school, to receive up to 25 bonus points on our first enrichment project of the school year in my Advanced Placement or Dual Credit U.S. History class. Twenty five bonus points is a big deal!

If you have any questions, feel free to drop by and see me in Room 218 between now and the end of this school year. Feel free to send me an email, if you have questions over the summer. My email address is: [email protected]

You’ll find an introduction, that I pieced together from various online sources, to Tuchman’s The Guns of August on the following slides. Enjoy!

Written in 1962 By Barbara Tuchman

General Overview of BookThe Guns of August by Barbara Tuchman is centered on the first month of World War 1. After setting the stage for World War I in her introductory chapters, Tuchman describes the opening conflict in great detail. Its focus then becomes a military history of the contestants, chiefly the great powers of the day.

The Guns of August thus provides a narrative of the earliest stages of World War I, from the decisions to go to war, up until the start of the Franco-British offensive that stopped Germany’s advancement into the heart of France.  The result was four years of trench warfare. In the course of her narrative Tuchman includes discussion of the plans, strategies, world events, and international sentiments before and during the war.

Chapter 1 – A Funeral

In May 1910 the funeral of King Edward VII of the United Kingdom drew the presence of ten kings, prominent among them being the Kaiser Wilhelm II of German. Wilhelm, also known as William, was King Edward VII’s nephew. Also, noteworthy, in attendance, was the Ex-President Theodore Roosevelt representing the United States.

This opening chapter begins and ends with a description of this royal funeral, and in between provides a discussion of the continent's political alliances and the diplomacy of royalty, all amidst the national rivalries, the imperialism, and social Darwinism, in the years leading up to the Great War (1914-1918).

Militarism – Planning for War

Chapters 2 Through 5

Ch 2 - Let the Last Man on His Right Brush the Channel with His SleeveCh 3 - The Shadow of SedanCh 4 – A Single British Soldier …Ch 5 – The Russian Steamroller

Chapters Two through Five address pre-war military planning, as done by the major powers in Europe. Included are the German General Schlieffen’s Plan for War with France. Frances’ offensive plan for attacking Germany, Frances’ Plan XVII (Seventeen), and joint British and French arrangements, and finally Russia's approach to a future European war.

Outbreak of War

Chapters 6 Through 9

Chapter 6 – August 1: BerlinChapter 7 – August 1: Paris & LondonChapter 8 – Ultimatum in BrusselsChapter 9 – Home Before the Leaves Fall

The section "Outbreak" starts with a short introduction which briefly mentions the spark that ignited the war. On June 28, 1914, in Sarajevo, Gavrilo Princip, Serbian nationalist and patriot assassinated the heir apparent to the throne of Austria-Hungary, the Archduke Franz Ferdinand, age 50, and his wife, Sophie Chotek, age 46, mother of three. European-wide diplomacy and military preparations during July are then discussed.

Chapters 6 to 9 commence with August 1914. Analyzed and probed are maneuvers by leading politicians, diplomatic affairs, and actions undertaken by various armies, during the opening days of the war, August 1st to August 4th. Covered are the Kaiser's hesitation, the struggle by Russia to ensure her ally France would join in the war, France's attempts to win a guarantee from Britain of her involvement, and then Germany's ultimatum to Belgium.

WAR

Chapters 10 Through 22

Chapter 10 – Goeben an Enemy Then Flying

This chapter chronicles the Allies search for the SMS Goeben. The Goeben was an Imperial German Navy battleship that was launched in 1911 and named after the German Franco-Prussian War veteran General August Karl von Goeben.

Chapter 11 – Liege and AlsaceChapter 12 – British BEF to the ContinentChapter 13 – Sambre at MeuseChapter 14 - Debacle: Lorraine, Ardennes, Charleroi, MonsChapters 11 to 14 cover the war along the Western Front in Europe. First discussed are the German invasion northeast of Belgium and the general western front, especially the situation in Alsace. Next, Tuchman describes the arrival in France of the British Expeditionary Force, BEF. As they crossed the Belgian frontier, the German armies were engaged by the Belgian army in front of Liege and, in the East of France, by 5 French armies and, in the south of Belgium, by 4 British divisions (known as the BEF). The French were said to be laboring under the delusion that Gallic élan would be crucial in countering German attacks while the British fought hard to Charleroi. During August each side deployed its armed forces in order to effect its own strategies developed in advance of the war.

The French High Command had made incomplete allowances for dealing with the large massed attack by the German army that now came quickly bearing down on them. It was perhaps through the decisions of one corps commander, Charles Lanrezac, who acted in a timely fashion before getting permission from Joffre, that the entire French line was eventually saved from envelopment and general collapse. Although his pleas were ignored, Lanrezac withdrew his forces at Charleroi from an untenable position (and probable destruction) and redeployed them more favorably. He was later relieved of command.

The Battle of the Frontiers was brutal. The Belgian army was rushed against the German army, but the Allies were forced to retreat slowly under the German onslaught until finally the Germans were within 40 miles of Paris. The city was saved through the courage of a semi-retired territorial general, Joseph Gallieni, who brilliantly marshalled his limited resources and saved the day. The city was preparing for siege and possible complete destruction and the government had fled south, when two divisions of reserves suddenly arrived and were rushed to the front by the city's fleet of 600 taxi cabs. Tuchman cynically notes that Joffre later took complete credit for saving Paris and the French army—after having the commander who ordered the tactical retreat, Charles Lanrezac, relieved of duty and the older commander and his former superior, Joseph Gallieni, pushed back into obscurity.

Tuchman is also careful to point out that, although many of Joffre's actions were shameful, when he was finally pushed into action he showed great skill in guiding the hastily improvised counter-blow that crashed into the invader's flank. The Germans greatly contributed to their own undoing by outrunning their supply lines, pushing their infantry to the point of physical collapse, and deviating from the original invasion plan, which called for the right flank to be protected from counterattack. At this stage of its offensive the German army lacked the troops used by the siege of the fortress of Antwerp held by the Belgian army. Both sides were plagued by poor communication and general staffs that were heavily invested with politics and sycophancy (trying to make themselves look good for personal gain). Dire warnings from commanders in the field were ignored when they did not fit preconceived notions of quick victory at low cost (a recurring problem that has beset armies up to this day).

Chapter 15 - The Cossacks Are Coming!Chapter 16 – Battle of Tannenberg

Chapters 15 and 16 are devoted to the Eastern Front along Germany & Russia. These two chapters center on the Russian invasion of East Prussia and the German reaction to it, culminating in the Battle of Tannenberg. Here the Russian advance was stopped, decisively.

In these chapters, Tuchman covers the series of errors, faulty plans, poor communications, and poor logistics which, among other things, decidedly helped the French in the west. For example, the Germans mistakenly transferred from the west two corps of infantry to defend against what the book refers to as the 'Russian Steam Roller'. The great misery which developed on the eastern front is told in vivid detail.

Chapter 17 – The Flames of Louvain

Chapter 17's main focus is the German army's atrocities in Belgium, in particular against the historic university city of Louvain.

Woven into the text about the battles in Belgium are threads of fact which allied governments would employ in the formation of the west's eventual opinion that Germany had been the aggressor nation against Belgium. Such facts and conclusions would be repeated for the duration of the war, and greatly affect the future involvement of the United States.

Tuchman includes a selection of German views from a variety of sources as to the aims and desires of the German Empire. She cites Thomas Mann saying the goal was "the establishment of the German idea in history, the enthronement of Kultur, the fulfillment of Germany's historical mission". She then conveys the American reporter, Irvin Cobb’s account of an interview with a German scientist. “German Kultur will enlighten the world and after this war there will never be another." Yet further, a 'German businessman' opines that the war will give Europe "a new map, and Germany will be at the center of it“. Yet such outspoken menace, Tuchman notes, worked to solidify opposition to Germany, caused George B. Shaw to become "fed up" at Prussian Militarism, and H.G. Wells to condemn the German "war god" and hope for an end to all armed conflict.

Chapter 18Blue Water, Blockade, and the Great Neutral

Chapter 18 describes the British fear that, their island nation being dependent on overseas imports, the German navy would manage to disrupt their international trade. Although Britain's navy was superior in ships and experience, perhaps the German navy's "best opportunity for a successful battle was in the first two or three weeks of the war". Yet then the German fleet remained in port, ordered not to challenge the British warships watching the North Sea. Consequently, a substantial control over the world's seaways was then exerted by Britain’s Royal Navy. Surrounding the neutral role of the United States of America, diplomatic politicking quickly intensified. On August 6th Washington formally requested the Europeans to agree to follow the 1908 Declaration of London, which "favored the neutrals' right to trade as against the belligerents' right to blockade". Germany agreed. Britain "said Yes and meant No", supplemented by an Order of Council on August 20th. Despite the equitable intent of international law, Britain sought to receive supplies from America while their naval blockade denied them to Germany. President Wilson had already advised Americans on August 18th to be "neutral in fact as well as in name, impartial in thought as well as in action" so that America might become the "impartial mediator" who could then bring "standards of righteousness and humanity" to the belligerents in order to negotiate "a peace without victory" in Europe. Yet war-time paper profits from a nearly fourfold increase in trade with Britain and France, and "German folly", eventually would work to undo America’s neutrality.

Chapter 19 – RetreatChapter 20 – The Front is ParisChapter 21 – Von Kluck’s TurnChapter 22 – Gentlemen, We Will Fight on the Marne

The book's last four chapters (19-22) describe the fighting in France up to the beginning of the First Battle of the Marne. The French and British forces, united at last, fell on von Kluck’s exposed right flank, in what would be the first successful offensive by the Allies. In the subsequent attack, the Germans were forced back north, with both sides suffering terrible losses. While Paris had been saved, the war took on a new cast, with both sides settling into a defensive trench warfare system that cut across France and Belgium from the English Channel to Switzerland. This became known as the Western Front, and over the next four years it would consume a generation of young men.

Afterword

In the brief summary, Tuchman offers reflections on the First Battle of the Marne, and on the world conflict in general. The war's opening "produced deadlock on the Western Front. Sucking up lives at the rate of 5,000 and sometimes 50,000 a day, absorbing munitions, energy, money, brains, and trained men... ," it ate up its contestants. "The nations were caught in a trap... ." With time such a war would become intolerable. "Men could not sustain a war of such magnitude and pain without hope--the hope that its very enormity would ensure that it could never happen again...