Ten Days in August
Ten Days in August

Author: Terence Zuber

Publisher: The History Press

Published: 2014-08-01

Total Pages: 412

ISBN-13: 0750957611

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In August 1914 the German main attack was conducted by the 2nd Army. It had the missions of taking the vital fortresses of Liège and Namur, and then defeating the Anglo-French-Belgian forces in the open plains of northern Belgium.The German attack on the Belgian fortress at Liège from 5 to 16 August 1914 had tremendous political and military importance. Nevertheless, there has never been a complete account of the siege of Liège. The German and Belgian sources are fragmentary and biased. The short descriptions in English are general, use a few Belgian sources, and are filled with inaccuracies. Making professional military use of both German and Belgian sources, this book for the first time describes and evaluates the construction of the fortress, its military purpose, the German plan, and the conduct of the German attack on the night of 5-6 August. Previous accounts emphasize the importance of the huge German “Big Bertha” cannon, to the virtual exclusion of everything else: the Siege of Liège shows that the effect of this gun was a myth, and shows how the Germans really took the fortress. This is how the whole bloody mess started.

Ludendorff's Own Story, August 1914-November 1918
Ludendorff's Own Story, August 1914-November 1918

Author: Erich Ludendorff

Publisher: Franklin Classics Trade Press

Published: 2018-10-20

Total Pages: 500

ISBN-13: 9780343836207

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This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. To ensure a quality reading experience, this work has been proofread and republished using a format that seamlessly blends the original graphical elements with text in an easy-to-read typeface. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.

42cm 'Big Bertha' and German Siege Artillery of World War I
42cm 'Big Bertha' and German Siege Artillery of World War I

Author: Marc Romanych

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing

Published: 2014-01-20

Total Pages: 50

ISBN-13: 1780960190

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In the early days of World War I, Germany unveiled a new weapon – the mobile 42cm (16.5 inch) M-Gerät howitzer. At the time, it was the largest artillery piece of its kind in the world and a closely guarded secret. When war broke out, two of the howitzers were rushed directly from the factory to Liege where they quickly destroyed two forts and compelled the fortress to surrender. After repeat performances at Namur, Maubeuge and Antwerp, German soldiers christened the howitzers 'Grosse' or 'Dicke Berta' (Fat or Big Bertha) after Bertha von Krupp, owner of the Krupp armament works that built the howitzers. The nickname was soon picked up by German press which triumphed the 42cm howitzers as Wunderwaffe (wonder weapons), and the legend of Big Bertha was born. This book details the design and development of German siege guns before and during World War I. Accompanying the text are many rare, never-before-published photographs of 'Big Bertha' and the other German siege guns. Colour illustrations depict the most important aspects of the German siege artillery.

The Forts of the Meuse in World War I
The Forts of the Meuse in World War I

Author: Clayton Donnell

Publisher: Osprey Publishing

Published: 2007-02-27

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9781846031144

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On October 29, 1891, the new forts built around the cities of Li_ge and Namur, known as the "Forts of the Meuse," were turned over to the Belgian Army. The huge project, which had begun in 1888 and cost 71.6 million Belgian Francs, required over 9,000 workers to complete. It produced 21 modern forts that could defend the strategic rail, river, and road arteries passing through narrow gaps to the flat, open plains of Flanders. The Forts of the Meuse were the creation of General Brialmont, one of the foremost military engineers of his time. The development of new and more powerful artillery meant that Brialmont's forts were made of concrete, featuring underground barracks, storerooms, and guns protected in revolving steel turrets. In August 1914, the German Army attempted a quick crossing of this area in order to reach France, but it took them 12 days to destroy the fortresses, with the 30,000 Belgian troops putting up a valiant fight. Containing maps, diagrams, and photographs taken from private collections, this book explores the design, development, and influence of the "Forts of the Meuse," and highlights the importance of their role during the opening battle of World War I.

The Fortifications of Verdun 1874–1917
The Fortifications of Verdun 1874–1917

Author: Clayton Donnell

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing

Published: 2012-08-20

Total Pages: 66

ISBN-13: 1849084130

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The ring of fortifications protecting the city of Verdun on the Meuse River would become critical in the infamous battle of World War I. This book examines these fortifications, including the famous forts of Douaumont and Vaux that saw some of the fiercest fighting during the battle.

Breaking the Fortress Line, 1914
Breaking the Fortress Line, 1914

Author: Clayton Donnell

Publisher: Pen and Sword

Published: 2013-10-17

Total Pages: 263

ISBN-13: 1473830125

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Breaking the Fortress Line 1914 offers a fascinating new perspective on the German offensive against France and Belgium in 1914. In graphic detail it describes the intense fighting that took place around the forts and fortified cities that stood in the path of the German invasion. The ordeal began with the German assault on the mighty fortress of Lige. They took twelve days to batter their way through the 'Gateway to Belgium', losing thousands of men in repeated frontal assaults, and they had to bring up the heaviest siege artillery ever used to destroy the defences.This is the epic struggle that Clayton Donnell depicts in this compelling account of a neglected aspect of the battles that followed the outbreak of the Great War. Not only does he reconstruct the German attack on the strongpoints they encountered along the entire invasion line, but he traces the history and design of these fixed defences and analyses the massive military building programmes undertaken by the French, the Germans and the Belgians between 1871 and 1914. Thousands of huge forts, infantry strongpoints, bunkers, casemates and shelters were dug out along the French and German borders. The German Moselstellung and Steinbruch-stellung were born. These massive concrete fortress systems with steel gun turrets and diesel motors to generate electricity were a completely new concept of fortress design.As war approached, France and Germany devised plans to overcome each other's powerful armies and these border defences. The French plan avoided contact with the German fortress system. But the Kaiser's army faced twelve forts at Lige, nine more at Namur, and then the strongpoints of the first and second Sr de Rivires lines. Clayton Donnell provides a gripping narrative of the violent confrontation that followed.

The Rape of Belgium
The Rape of Belgium

Author: Larry Zuckerman

Publisher: NYU Press

Published: 2004-02

Total Pages: 476

ISBN-13: 9780814797044

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The author presents a compelling and untold story of Germany's occupation of Belgium after WW1. It's a great, trade history book from a wonderful storyteller.

The Schlieffen Plan
The Schlieffen Plan

Author: Hans Ehlert

Publisher: University Press of Kentucky

Published: 2014-11-04

Total Pages: 597

ISBN-13: 0813147476

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With the creation of the Franco-Russian Alliance and the failure of the Reinsurance Treaty in the late nineteenth century, Germany needed a strategy for fighting a two-front war. In response, Field Marshal Count Alfred von Schlieffen produced a study that represented the apex of modern military planning. His Memorandum for a War against France, which incorporated a mechanized cavalry as well as new technologies in weaponry, advocated that Germany concentrate its field army to the west and annihilate the French army within a few weeks. For generations, historians have considered Schlieffen's writings to be the foundation of Germany's military strategy in World War I and have hotly debated the reasons why the plan, as executed, failed. In this important volume, international scholars reassess Schlieffen's work for the first time in decades, offering new insights into the renowned general's impact not only on World War I but also on nearly a century of military historiography. The contributors draw on newly available source materials from European and Russian archives to demonstrate both the significance of the Schlieffen Plan and its deficiencies. They examine the operational planning of relevant European states and provide a broad, comparative historical context that other studies lack. Featuring fold-out maps and abstracts of the original German deployment plans as they evolved from 1893 to 1914, this rigorous reassessment vividly illustrates how failures in statecraft as well as military planning led to the tragedy of the First World War.