Whenever you think of this war, one of the main images you picture is that of the trenches.
Filthy, dangerous, but necessary for survival. But the war began as a war of motion, of quick
advances and retreats before it settled down on the western front to the stalemate of trench
warfare, and it did so one year ago this week.
I’m Indy Neidell; welcome to the Great War
The German army, still advancing after four months, was now closing in on Vilna, Russia’s
greatest city in the west now that Warsaw was lost, though the Russians were having
some successes far to the south, particularly at Lutsk. On the Western Front the British
and French were gearing up for brand new offensives, hoping to finally break the stalemate and
relieve some of the pressure the Germans had put on Russia. Here’s what happened next on the battlefields of Europe.
I mentioned that the Germans were advancing on Vilna, and this week they reached it. Vilna
fell on September 18th and the Russians began to retreat toward Minsk. The Germans took 22,000 Russian prisoners.
Now, there was a lot going on in the Baltic States right now, other than the taking of
yet another city. In just a few short days, German High Command East would move to Kovno,
taken last month, where 103 years ago Napoleon had watched his troops march off toward Moscow.
This was not just a military move for General Erich von Ludendorff. See, pre-war, Germany
had a bit of a grievance for being excluded from the Baltic by the Russians, but now the balance could be restored.
Ludendorff later wrote, “I determined to resume in the occupied territory that work
of civilization at which the Germans had labored in those lands for many centuries.” His
idea was that after the war Lithuania and Kurland would be colonized by German farmers
and would have a German prince on the throne.
The Germanization of these lands was quickly begun. General Ernst von Eisenhart-Rothe became
the new Intendant General, and the conquered territory was organized into 6 administrative
regions that were independent of army control, and new financial, judicial, and even agricultural
systems were created, all with a total German nature. Poles, Letts, and Lithuanians lived
under martial law, and could not hold any public meetings. Newspapers were censored,
courts had German judges, schoolteachers were now all German and classes were taught only in German.
But what of Russia? Could Russia continue after the losses of the summer?
Well, Russia, for the war, had now lost 1,740,000 prisoners of war. Russia had also lost nearly
500 kilometers of territory and taken over 2 million casualties, but Russia had not given
up. This sort of vindicated German Army Chief of Staff Falkenhayn’s belief: that in spite
of all success, an ultimate victory of the Russians was impossible. And really, even
during these months of Austro-German triumphs, the Central Powers were taking casualties
at an unacceptable rate, haunted by Russia’s two great strengths: the immense distances
and the inexhaustible supply of men. Falkenhayn really wanted to curb the ambitions of both
Field Marshall von Hindenburg and General Ludendorff, who he saw as blinded by success
and in danger of making Napoleon’s mistake of advancing too far into Russia as the Russians
scorched everything usable. To dilute their power, he had created Mackensen’s army group,
which operated independently with the Austrians, and also created a central army group under
the independent command of Prince Leopold of Bavaria.
See, Falkenhayn wanted a separate peace with Russia, but since the Russians completely
rejected any feelers put out, he thought he would instead settle for weakening Russia
militarily to the point where Austria-Hungary was not threatened, which he figured he had
pretty much achieved by this point.
The new line, though, was actually pretty good for the Russians to defend. It was 700
kilometers shorter than the old one, which allowed Russia to create reserve units behind
the new defensive positions, and the defensive terrain was much better for them: rivers,
lakes, forests, and the enormous expanse of the Pripet Marshes helped buttress the lines,
now much less vulnerable to sudden breakthroughs, so the Russian forces were in a stronger position
than they’d been before the summer.
And with the arrival of rasputitsa, when the land turned to mud in the autumn rains that
plague September, the Germans advance finally stopped, and the territory of historic Russia
was intact, as was the substance of the Russian army. Shell output was increasing- 220,000
a month by this month, and the reserves of manpower were enormous. Actually, if you reckon
the real reserve, say 10 percent of the total population available for military service,
Russia had another 18 million men. The only thing that Russia really needed was a breather,
but would that come? Italy joining the war had not diverted enough Austrian troops from
Galicia to make a real difference. It didn’t seem like Serbia could help much more, perhaps
the British and French could finally win at Gallipoli. Perhaps the upcoming offensives
on the Western Front could pull off the Germans. Perhaps, Perhaps, Perhaps.
And speaking of Serbia, there was a little ominous foreboding on her borders this week.
The Bulgarian army mobilized on September 21st. Now, three days later, Bulgaria said
no no, our mobilization is not directed at Serbia, we’re just doing an armed neutrality
kind of thing, but think back to the two Balkan wars of 1912 and 1913 and both Serbia and
Bulgaria had been pretty shady in their dealings with each other so the boat might be rocking.
There was indeed plenty going on away from the front lines this week, especially in,
you guessed it, Russia.
On the 24th 500 Russian reservists attacked the Police in Petrograd to protest against
the Duma being suspended by the Tsar. There were also protests as far away as Rostov-on-Don
and Astrakhan. There was later rioting in Orsha by 2,500 convalescing soldiers- the
wounded were now making their voices heard. At the front, a British nurse who was with
the Russian army, Florence Farmborough, wrote this, “The news that reached us this week
from Russia was far from good; rumors of internal disturbances were wafted to us on an ill wind.
Bread, it was said, was growing scarce, in some parts famine already threatened to engulf
the masses. The thousands of refugees swarming into the cities and towns were followed by pestilence and crime.”
But what can you do? Refugees have to go somewhere, and once you settle them, if you can, they
can even help the war effort. They can be taxed.
We actually saw new taxation this week over in Britain. 50% on excess profits and certain
imports. Taxes were raised by 40% on income tax and postal charges, tobacco, gasoline,
and patent medicine. Income tax exemptions were lowered to 130 pounds. These changes
bring new revenue of around 33 million pounds.
And that was the week. Russia losing Vilna, but the German advance finally coming to a
stop, with the Russian defenses looking surprisingly good. Unrest at home, new taxes for Britain,
and stalemate grinding on and on at Gallipoli and the Western Front.
In the west, the stalemate in the trenches has now lasted a full year since the Battle
of the Aisne and the race to the sea. Infections, disease, rats, the trenches certainly created
enormous health problems, but they undeniably saved lives, and for all the horror of the
trenches, the war would have been a lot more horrific without them. See, the greatest danger
to men was when the war was not static, but rather mobile and men went over the top or
were actually advancing. German deaths were higher in the western front in 1914 and the
eastern front in 1915, where they were having their greatest successes. French monthly losses
had peaked in September 1914, the month of the Battle of the Marne and the Aisne, at
238,000, the last mobile month in the west, but were never again even close to that.
There were very few individual days of the First World War that were as relatively bloody
as the major battles of Napoleon or Fredrick the Great, but the battles were far bloodier
because they lasted weeks or months and the casualties mounted and mounted. What was now
called a battle would’ve been an entire season’s campaign in earlier wars, and whereas
winter or even nighttime stopped the action before, that was no longer the case. If you
look at it, the war on the western front was 24-7. There was no chance of envelopment,
and the key to any breakthrough would be the relentless pounding of artillery, day after
day, night after night, month after month, grinding the men in the trenches to bone,
blood, and dust, and yet without the trenches, with “successful” assaults, it would only
be worse. The bloody paradox of modern war.
We made a whole special episode to the Battle of the Marne and how the German Schlieffen
Plan failed 101 years ago. You can check that out right here.
And if you want to read up on that important battle of World War 1, check out our Amazon
store where you can find Ian Sumner’s book about the Battle of The Marne. Buying stuff
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