This Just Read: The Guns of August

This summer marks the 100th anniversary of the outbreak of the First World War. To honor that event, I've been doing some associated reading.

This week I finished Barbara Tuchman's classic, The Guns of August, one of her three volumes on the history of the First World War. This volume deals with the immediate run-up to the war and the critical first thirty days, when Germany's drive through Belgium into France was designed to rapidly overwhelm French defenses, bringing the country to its knees in time for Germany to turn its attention to Russia.

I've been reading this for over a month, on my lunch hours, etc... It's well written, but not a page turner. I ran into the same problem a few years ago with John Keegan's The First World War. I think Keegan is one of the best military historians and love his books The Second World War and Six Armies in Normandy. Both Keegan's and Tuchman's approach to the First World War, however, is a step-by-step account of every move and counter-move. It gets a bit tedious and pretty soon you stop even trying to remember which general is which.

Some things I got out of Tuchman's book about underlying causes were the deeply-held conviction in Germany that war was a Good Thing, something that builds national character. Often commented upon as a causative factor was the interlocking web of treaties between nations at the turn of the century, committing them to wars if allies are attacked. France had to play her cards just right to make sure Germany violated all the right treaties (e.g. smashing through neutral Belgium) in order to lock in the actions of Russian and Great Britain. France did, indeed, play all those cards just right, though with supreme effort.

It's often said that the Second World War had its roots in the First. Well, apparently the First World War had its roots in the Franco-Prussian War of 1870. So much of the high commands of France and Germany were influenced by the events of 1870 and their war plans were crafted accordingly.

It makes one wonder how the wars of today are already influencing the wars of tomorrow. In this day of fast-paced Instant History, what formerly took decades can now happen in months or weeks. The swift attacks by ISIS in Syria and Iraq sprang full-blown from the US-led wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. I'm sure more will follow.

I'm currently reading A Farewell to Arms, by Ernest Hemingway, and may then read All Quiet on the Western Front, by Erich Remarque.