Back For Christmas? - The Illusion Of A Short War I THE GREAT WAR - Week 11

The war of rapid victories was over and the continuous war in the filthy trenches had

begun, ending the rush of optimism with which the warring nations had begun the war and

bringing in a heavy mood of disillusionment that would crush the spirits of the millions

of men fighting and dying.

I’m Indy Neidell; welcome to the Great War.

Last week we saw the Germans laying siege to Antwerp, the last bastion of Belgian resistance,

while in the East the Russians were laying siege to the Austrians at Przemsyl- the Austrian

army now behind Russian lines. Another Russian army was on an endless march through Poland,

but at the Aisne, both sides were stuck in the mud, losing thousands of men every day

as the endless battle continued. And in Africa, the Germans were tying down the South African

troops, preventing them from joining the fight in Europe.

On the Western front, Kaiser Wilhelm himself had visited his German troops at Chauny, telling

them that they would indeed be home by Christmas, and in Paris, after the battle of the Marne

a few weeks ago, there had been matching hopes for a French victory.

However, in the French army, Commander in Chief Joseph Joffre abandoned his hopes of

outflanking the Germans and winning a spectacular victory. He saw that his best hope now was

just holding the line, preventing the Germans from achieving their own encircling maneuvers,

but the Germans under Prince Rupprecht were coming on strong this week.

Rupprecht was the crown prince of Bavaria, the last one actually, and though he got his

appointment as commander of the German 6th army because of his title, he proved to be

one of the best commanders in the entire German army, remaining on the Western Front for the

entire war and eventually reaching the rank of Field Marshall.

He nearly managed to surround the French at Lille and Arras on October 4th. General Ferdinand

Foch was in charge of dealing with this threat. Foch’s main contribution turned out to be

one of morale- his iron determination and his absolute insistence that there be no retreat,

soldiers must hold or die. Which they did, and a major German push on Arras was knocked

back. By the evening of the 6th, the French line was stable.

The Germans then turned their full attention to the siege of Antwerp, Belgium, where they

had been shelling the surrounding forts since September 26th.

Now, 8,000 British troops were sent to Antwerp on October 4th and 5th, which sounds great,

but many of these troops were raw recruits and had never even held, let alone fired,

a rifle.

These men were merely a stopgap measure though, for a further 22,000 British troops, a full

professional division, was now on the way. Once they got there, the Belgians, with 30,000

British troops to defend them, thought victory had suddenly arrived, and the Germans were

slowly pushed back. This was only an illusion, though, for the French government suddenly

decided not to send any French troops, as they had promised, and this lack of support

caused the British to hold back. This was probably a good thing, as the British and

Belgians had no realistic hope of defeating the Germans at Antwerp without French help.