Holger H. Herwig: The Marne, 1914: The Opening of World War I &The Battle That Changed The World

The British Tommy, the French Poilu, and the German Landser went to war in 1914, ready to show their courage and fulfill their sense of adventure. However, what they found on the Marne was the beginning of human suffering on a scale never before seen.

For the German command, a quick victory was the only possible victory. Knowing that any future war would see danger from both Russia to the east and France to the west, Germany developed the aggressive “Schlieffen Plan”, which called for a rapid advance through Belgium and defeat of France before the Russians were able to mobilize. It almost worked. Led by Gen. Helmuth von Moltke, the German offensive had Gen. Joseph Joffre’s French Army and Field Marshal John French’s British Expeditionary Force on their heels – and Paris nearly within reach.

In The Marne, 1914, Herwig describes the bloody stalemate that ended the German offensive and began World War I as we know it. With diaries and records from the archives of the Bavarian, Prussian, Saxon, Baden, and French armies – some only made available after the collapse of East Germany – Herwig details the actions, conditions, and turns of fate that formed what he calls the most decisive land battle since Waterloo. By Herwig’s recounting, there was nothing pre-ordained about the outcome. Countless factors could have taken the Battle of the Marne in a different direction – and with it not only World War I, but also the entire 20th century.

Holger H. Herwig holds a dual position at the University of Calgary as professor of history and as Canada Research Chair in the Centre for Military and Strategic Studies. He has published more than a dozen books, including the prize-winning The First World War: Germany and Austria-Hungary 1914-1918 and (with Richard F. Hamilton) The Origins of World War I.