Recaps

Britain initially hesitated to join the war, hoping France and Russia would weaken Germany, but Germany’s ultimatum to Belgium forced the British government to act. After Belgium rejected German passage and Germany invaded, Britain declared war on Germany.

• Germany gave Belgium twenty-four hours to allow its troops passage, prompting the British Cabinet to meet on August 2nd.
• Asquith, Richard Haldane, Sir Edward Grey, and Churchill discussed warning France and Belgium, but concluded Britain could not send its Expeditionary Force in time.
• Asquith ordered Britain to promise assistance to Belgium and warned Germany that an invasion would bring Britain into the war.
• On August 3rd, Belgium rejected Germany’s demand and prepared to defend the Fortress of Liège, while Britain formally warned Germany.
• Germany declared war on Belgium and crossed its border on August 4th, and Britain formally declared war on Germany that day.

The German Meuse Army Corps attacked the Belgian Fortress of Liège but struggled against its powerful forts, artillery, and machine guns. After repeated assaults failed, General Otto von Emmich reported the setback to General Staff Headquarters, leaving the German advance stalled.

• King Albert appointed General Leman commander of the 3rd Division and military governor of Liège, ordering him to defend the position to the death.
• On August 5th, German forces attacked the forts of Liège, but Belgian artillery and machine guns inflicted heavy casualties.
• Major General von Weichtel halted his brigade's attack, and General Otto von Emmich's subsequent assaults were also repelled.
• German Zeppelin airships and tanks provided little help against the Belgian fortifications.
• General Otto von Emmich reported the stalled attack to General Staff Headquarters and urged a rapid breakthrough.

After the German assault stalled at Liège, Moltke the Younger sent massive siege guns to General von Emmich, who used them to destroy the Belgian forts. Germany captured the fortress by August 16, clearing the way for more than a million troops to advance toward the Marne River despite losing over forty thousand men.

• Wilhelm II learned that the Meuse Army Corps had been stopped at Liège and suffered heavy losses.
• Moltke the Younger ordered secret 420mm Krupp guns and borrowed 305mm Škoda guns sent to General von Emmich, who was told to take the fortress within a week.
• On August 12, von Emmich began bombarding Fort de Fléron, and the heavy guns destroyed the fort and killed its defenders.
• German guns destroyed two more forts on August 13 and continued shelling the remaining defenses until only Fort de Loncin remained.
• Commander Leman refused to surrender Fort de Loncin, and a German salvo ignited its ammunition depot and destroyed the fort.
• The German Army captured Liège on August 16 after losing more than forty thousand men, opening the route toward the Marne River.

At Wilhelmshaven, Field Marshal Count Tirpitz and Admiral Reinhard Scheer prepared the German Navy to strike British shipping as war with Britain approached. Two battlecruiser squadrons and thirty submarines set out under orders to attack sea lanes while avoiding the British main fleet.

• Admiral Reinhard Scheer reported that the fleet from Kiel Harbor was sailing to Wilhelmshaven through the Kiel Canal, and Field Marshal Count Tirpitz ordered secrecy and caution.
• Field Marshal Count Tirpitz learned that thirty submarines and their supply ships were ready for the operation.
• After six battlecruisers arrived, Field Marshal Count Tirpitz told the High Seas Fleet commanders that war with Britain was imminent and Admiral Reinhard Scheer assigned their missions.
• Admiral Hipper and Vice Admiral Maximilian von Spee were ordered to lead two battlecruiser squadrons into Atlantic waters west of Britain, while General Fiers would lead thirty submarines against British sea lanes.
• Field Marshal Count Tirpitz cautioned the commanders to avoid the British main fleet and preserve their ships, and the German fleet sailed from the harbor at midnight.

Vice Admiral Spee and Vice Admiral Hipper led German battlecruiser squadrons into the Atlantic to hunt British merchant ships and transports after Britain and Germany declared war. Spee ordered the ships to begin free hunting, while the German submarine force was still en route.

• Germany abandoned Blue Island and brought Vice Admiral Spee’s Pacific Fleet back to the homeland, leaving Japan’s government in turmoil.
• Spee received word that Britain and Germany were expected to go to war and kept in contact with home for further orders.
• On August 4, Spee’s 2nd Battlecruiser Squadron entered the Atlantic under cover of fog.
• After Britain and Germany declared war, Spee ordered Goeben and Seydlitz to begin free hunting and sent light cruisers and destroyers to scout separately.
• Spee’s and Hipper’s battlecruiser squadrons spread out across the sea to search for British merchant ships and transport vessels.

The German battlecruiser Moltke intercepted the British merchant ship Black Pearl and sank it after forcing its crew into a lifeboat. Moltke then sailed off to find more British merchant ships.

• Captain Old Jack and the sailors aboard Black Pearl learned that Britain had gone to war with Germany.
• Vice Admiral Spee ordered Moltke to pursue Black Pearl, which could not outrun the battlecruiser.
• Moltke fired warning shots, and Old Jack ordered the merchant ship to stop.
• German Marines boarded Black Pearl and ordered Old Jack and the crew into a lifeboat because the ship carried strategic iron ore.
• German soldiers opened Black Pearl's seacocks and sank it while Old Jack watched from the lifeboat.
• Moltke departed to seek out more British merchant ships.

Germany’s commerce raiders sank twenty-seven British merchant ships on August 4, while Grand Admiral Count Tirpitz awaited the arrival of thirty submarines sent to the Atlantic. Captain Dönitz’s U-039 entered the Atlantic after slipping past the British blockade, as the submarine force began its commerce-raiding mission.

• German warships sank twenty-seven British merchant ships, leaving their crews adrift in the Atlantic.
• Grand Admiral Count Tirpitz received news of the losses and ordered the Commerce Raiding Fleet to continue sinking British ships.
• Tirpitz learned that thirty German submarines were approaching the Atlantic and hoped they would bring further success.
• Captain Dönitz commanded U-039 northwest through the North Sea toward the Atlantic, with twenty-nine other submarines following separate routes.
• After three hours, U-039 passed the British blockade and entered the Atlantic.

U-039, commanded by Dönitz, sank a British grain merchant ship as German submarines began devastating attacks on Atlantic shipping. After British losses soared, Churchill learned of the crisis and faced the Royal Navy’s first major challenge of the war.

• Dönitz ordered U-039 to submerge, circle a British merchant ship, and fire a torpedo at it.
• The torpedo struck the merchant ship, which flooded, capsized, and sank as its sailors fought for lifeboats.
• Dönitz ordered U-039 south to seek more targets while German submarines attacked British shipping across the Atlantic.
• On August 5, German attacks sank sixty-two British merchant ships, totaling more than five hundred thousand tons.
• Churchill received reports of the losses at the Admiralty and realized Britain faced a serious naval crisis.

Churchill learned that German battlecruisers and submarines were attacking British shipping in the Atlantic and ordered forces to hunt them down. He went to inform Prime Minister Asquith of the urgent threat.

• A British officer told Churchill that German ships had sunk nearly a hundred merchant vessels in two days and appeared to be operating in the Atlantic.
• Churchill ordered nine British battlecruisers and four George V-class Battleships to search for and destroy the German fleet.
• The officer reported that German submarines were also sinking merchant ships, so Churchill ordered destroyers and Light Cruisers to hunt them.
• Churchill grew doubtful that Britain could defeat Germany, then ordered a car to take him to Prime Minister Asquith's residence.
• Churchill arrived at Asquith's office and apologized for disturbing him, explaining that the situation could not wait until morning.

Churchill told Prime Minister Asquith that German warships and submarines had sunk more than a hundred British merchant ships, threatening the sea lanes Britain depended on. At an emergency Cabinet meeting, ministers urged the Royal Navy to stop the attacks and agreed to prepare the Expeditionary Force for deployment to Europe.

• Churchill reported that German Battlecruisers and submarines had attacked British shipping, and Asquith warned that losing the sea lanes could bring down the British Empire.
• Asquith summoned the Cabinet, where Churchill explained the threat to Britain's overseas trade.
• Lloyd George called for the Royal Navy to hunt down the German forces, and Churchill said he had already ordered it to act.
• Sir Edward Grey urged Britain to send the Expeditionary Force to Europe as Germany attacked Belgium.
• Richard Haldane told Asquith that the first Expeditionary Force could reach the continent within a week.

Churchill summoned Admiral John Jellicoe and Vice Admiral David Beatty after German battlecruisers and submarines sank nearly a hundred British merchant ships. He ordered a large naval force into the Atlantic to hunt the German raiders and protect Britain’s sea lanes.

• Churchill told Admiral John Jellicoe and Vice Admiral David Beatty that German battlecruisers and submarines had attacked British merchant shipping.
• Admiral John Jellicoe urged an immediate strike, and Churchill ordered the British battlecruisers deployed with four George V-class Battleships in support.
• Admiral John Jellicoe recommended sending Light Cruisers and destroyers to patrol routes and attack submarines.
• David Beatty led nine Battlecruisers and four George V-class Battleships out of Scapa Flow that afternoon.
• The four Battleships sailed south as the Battlecruisers split into groups to search the Atlantic, while Light Cruisers and destroyers patrolled and hunted submarines.

Vice Admiral Spee moved the Moltke toward British waters to find merchant ships, while Vice Admiral Beatty pursued the German raiders. The Moltke spotted a British warship to the north, but its type remained unknown.

• Vice Admiral Beatty ordered the Royal Princess and Queen Mary to search separately for German ships across the Atlantic.
• Vice Admiral Spee directed the Moltke toward British territorial waters and summoned Goeben and Seydlitz to close in as support.
• The Moltke sank a British merchant ship, whose Telegram alerted Vice Admiral Beatty, who ordered his three battlecruisers south at full speed.
• The Moltke sank another merchant ship, then sighted one British warship to the north and awaited confirmation of its type.

Vice Admiral Spee and Vice Admiral David Beatty brought their battlecruisers into a direct confrontation, each confident of victory until Beatty realized the German ships carried 343mm guns. Lion and Moltke exchanged their first salvos, but neither scored a hit, and the duel continued.

• Vice Admiral Spee ordered his ships to turn toward the British battlecruisers and called Goeben and Seydlitz to close in.
• Vice Admiral David Beatty ordered Lion to pursue, then learned the German fleet was heading straight for them.
• The British and German fleets formed parallel courses as they closed to about thirteen kilometers.
• Vice Admiral David Beatty recognized that Moltke's main guns were 343mm, not the 305mm British intelligence had predicted.
• Lion fired ranging shots at Moltke, and Moltke returned fire; both ships' shells landed in the sea without hitting their targets.

The Battlecruiser Moltke and the Battlecruiser Lion exchanged fire, with the German ship’s superior fire-control equipment helping it gain the advantage. The Battlecruiser Lion was left with only six main guns after a Moltke shell destroyed its No. 4 turret.

• Vice Admiral David Beatty ordered the Battlecruiser Lion to keep firing and called for HMS Royal Princess and HMS Queen Mary to hurry to its aid.
• Vice Admiral Spee ordered the Battlecruiser Moltke to concentrate fire and sink the Battlecruiser Lion within half an hour.
• The Battlecruiser Lion achieved a straddle, and Vice Admiral David Beatty ordered its guns to concentrate fire on the Moltke.
• A Lion shell struck the Moltke, destroying a secondary gun and starting a fire, but the German ship continued firing.
• A Moltke shell pierced the Battlecruiser Lion’s No. 4 turret armor and destroyed the turret, leaving the ship with six main guns.

Vice Admiral Beatty’s HMS Lion suffered heavy damage under Moltke’s accurate fire while awaiting reinforcements. HMS Royal Princess arrived, leaving Moltke to face two British battlecruisers as Goeben kept HMS Queen Mary occupied.

• Moltke destroyed one of HMS Lion’s turrets, and Vice Admiral Beatty ordered HMS Royal Princess and HMS Queen Mary to hurry as reinforcements.
• At 2:44 p.m., Moltke hit HMS Lion’s forward deck, starting a fire that British sailors risked their lives to extinguish.
• Vice Admiral Spee learned that two British battlecruisers were approaching and ordered Goeben to hold one back while Moltke pressed its attack on HMS Lion.
• HMS Royal Princess arrived, while Goeben tied down HMS Queen Mary, forcing Moltke to fight one against two.

The Battlecruiser Moltke fought the Battlecruiser Lion and the arriving Battlecruiser Royal Princess, and a German shell fatally damaged the Lion. Vice Admiral David Beatty escaped aboard the Royal Princess and ordered the British ships to retreat.

• Vice Admiral David Beatty ordered the Battlecruiser Royal Princess to join the fight against the German ships.
• Vice Admiral Spee ordered the Battlecruiser Moltke to focus its fire on the Battlecruiser Lion.
• A British shell hit Turret No. 1 on the Battlecruiser Moltke, killing its crew but failing to penetrate the armor, and Vice Admiral Spee sent in reserve gunners.
• At 3:04, a 343mm shell from the Battlecruiser Moltke pierced the Battlecruiser Lion's waterline armor, and the ship began sinking.
• Vice Admiral David Beatty escaped to the Battlecruiser Royal Princess and ordered a retreat, which the Battlecruiser HMS Queen Mary also followed.

Vice Admiral Spee ordered his fleet not to pursue the retreating British ships and resumed commerce raiding after the German battlecruiser Moltke sank Lion. In London, Churchill summoned Jellicoe and Beatty to explain the defeat, leaving Beatty defending his men as Churchill questioned whether the German ships had simply been too powerful.

• Spee refused to pursue the fleeing British ships and ordered Goeben to continue its commerce-raiding mission.
• Moltke left British waters to search for merchant ships after sinking Lion, and news of Lion’s loss shocked the British Navy.
• Churchill ordered British battlecruisers and battleships to return and summoned Jellicoe and Beatty to London.
• Jellicoe and Beatty arrived by seaplane, and Beatty entered Churchill’s office ashamed of his defeat.
• Churchill demanded an explanation for Lion’s sinking, and Beatty apologized while insisting his men had fought bravely.

Vice Admiral Beatty reported that German battlecruisers had outperformed and overwhelmed the Royal Navy in battle, leaving Churchill and Admiral Jellicoe to reconsider the threat. Beatty warned that defeating Germany would require the British to give everything, while Jellicoe remained confident the Royal Navy would prevail.

• Beatty told Churchill and Jellicoe that Lion had been suppressed from the start and sunk despite Royal Princess joining the fight.
• Jellicoe warned that Germany’s rapid shipbuilding and superior warship performance could make victory difficult, though he doubted Germany had truly surpassed Britain.
• Beatty reported that a 343mm shell from Lion had struck the German battlecruiser’s Number One main turret without damaging it.
• Churchill and Jellicoe considered the German ship’s strong protection, while Churchill attributed it to Germany’s focus on survivability.
• Jellicoe and Churchill remained confident that the Royal Navy would find a way to defeat Germany, but Beatty warned that the Germans were far more formidable than expected.

Churchill warned Jellicoe and Beatty that Britain had to preserve command of the seas and urged faster construction of new battleships. He then told Asquith’s Cabinet that Lion had been sunk and that the German commerce raiders remained a threat, leaving the government to approve extra funding for the Royal Navy.

• Churchill told Jellicoe and Beatty that Britain could not afford to lose the war or control of the seas.
• Jellicoe requested additional funding to accelerate construction of the Revenge-class Battleships, and Churchill agreed to seek Cabinet support.
• Churchill went to 10 Downing Street and confirmed to Asquith’s Cabinet that Lion had been sunk after a two-against-one engagement with German warships.
• McKenna and Lloyd George warned that Britain’s sea lanes had to remain open to prevent shortages and domestic unrest.
• Asquith’s Cabinet approved additional funding to bring the Queen Elizabeth-class and Revenge-class Battleships into service as soon as possible.

Oscar prepared the powerful 8th Army Corps for war against Russia while secretly supporting the Russian Bolshevik Party to destabilize the Tsarist government. He met the envoy Joseph and sent greetings to Leader Ulyanov, as both sides continued to regard the other with suspicion.

• The 8th Army Corps completed mobilization in Königsberg with more than 180,000 troops, including the world’s first Armored Division.
• Oscar received a Telegram from Count Tirpitz thanking him for supporting the Imperial Navy after the Moltke sank the British Battlecruiser Lion.
• Hindenburg and Ludendorff expressed confidence that the 8th Army Corps would defeat the Russians and win renown.
• Oscar told Hindenburg that he intended to keep supporting Russian revolutionaries to plunge Russia into turmoil, despite Hindenburg’s warning.
• Joseph arrived as an envoy from the Russian Bolshevik Party, thanked Oscar for his support, and conveyed greetings from Leader Ulyanov.
• Oscar asked Joseph to send his greetings to Ulyanov and said he looked forward to meeting him, while Joseph privately regarded Oscar as someone the Bolsheviks should overthrow.

Oscar arranged German support for the Bolshevik Party, hoping it would overthrow the Tsar and remove Russia as a threat on the Eastern Front. As the Russian Northwestern Front Army advanced into East Prussia, Oscar ordered Hindenburg and Ludendorff to prepare to destroy it.

• Joseph told Oscar that more than five hundred thousand Russian troops were concentrating in East Prussia, and Oscar said his forces were ready.
• Oscar asked whether the Bolsheviks would start a revolution if Russia suffered defeat, and Joseph said they were prepared to rise against the Tsar.
• Joseph requested money and arms, and Oscar promised him five million Marks and help obtaining weapons.
• Joseph thanked Oscar and said the Bolsheviks would repay him after overthrowing the Tsar.
• Hindenburg and Ludendorff criticized the Bolsheviks for accepting foreign support, while Oscar explained their situation and anticipated benefiting from his investment.
• Oscar ordered Hindenburg and Ludendorff to prepare to destroy the advancing Russian army.

Oscar and the 8th Army Corps’ commanders planned to lure the vastly larger Russian Northwestern Front Army into East Prussia and destroy it in two battles. After the generals agreed to the strategy, the corps began moving to its assigned positions and preparing for war.

• Oscar heard the intelligence report that the Russian Northwestern Front Army had more than five hundred thousand troops, nearly three times the strength of the 8th Army Corps.
• Ludendorff and Manstein presented Plan No. 2, which aimed to draw the Russian armies deep into East Prussia before striking them.
• Manstein assigned the 17th Corps to delay the Russian 1st Army Corps toward the Masurian Lakes while the 11th Corps and 8th Armored Division prepared defenses at Tannenberg.
• Manstein directed the 20th Corps to lure the Russian 2nd Army Corps to Tannenberg, where the German forces would seek to destroy it before turning against the 1st Army Corps.
• Oscar confirmed that civilians were being evacuated and ordered every unit to prepare for battle.
• After the conference, the 8th Army Corps moved toward its designated positions as supplies went to the front by rail and road.

General Ivan Gylinski rallied the Russian Northwestern Front Army’s commanders to invade East Prussia, promising them spoils and a chance to capture the German Crown Prince. The attack was set for August 17, with the Russian corps advancing toward Königsberg.

• Ivan Gylinski told his generals that Russian forces outnumbered the German troops in East Prussia and urged them to crush the enemy.
• Ivan Gylinski promised that capturing the German Crown Prince alive could bring the Russians a huge ransom.
• Ivan Gylinski announced that France and Britain would provide weapons and supplies after Russia took East Prussia.
• Ivan Gylinski ordered the 1st Army Corps and 2nd Army Corps to cross the border from the east and south on August 17 and advance on Königsberg.
• Samsonov asked whether his 2nd Army Corps would keep the entire ransom, and Ivan Gylinski promised an extra share for whichever corps captured the Crown Prince.

The German 11th Corps fortified Tannenberg while the 20th Corps prepared to lure Samsonov’s Russian 2nd Army into the trap. Oscar returned to Königsberg as Russian forces invaded East Prussia and advanced toward the German positions, unaware that their apparent success was planned.

• Lieutenant General François strengthened Tannenberg’s defenses until the town had become a fortress.
• Oscar inspected the defenses with Hindenburg and Ludendorff, considered staying to watch the battle, then returned to Königsberg after the generals warned him against it.
• General Ivan Gylinski ordered the Russian 1st and 2nd Army Corps to invade East Prussia on August 17.
• General Samsonov mistook the Germans’ retreat and lack of resistance for weakness as his 2nd Army Corps advanced toward Tannenberg.
• The German 20th Corps staged blocking actions, while the 17th Army Corps repeatedly withdrew to draw the Russian 1st Army toward prepared positions.
• General Ivan Gylinski noticed the Russian advance was unusually smooth but assumed the Germans were simply unable to resist.

General Samsonov’s Russian 2nd Army attacked German positions at Tannenberg, confident that a brief artillery barrage and a massive charge would secure victory. The German commanders held their fire and waited as the Russian assault began, leaving the battle’s outcome unresolved.

• General Ivan Gylinski received Samsonov’s report that the Russians had reached Tannenberg and expected to take it within two days, and he anticipated a later advance on Königsberg.
• Samsonov ordered his forces to rest and reorganize before attacking Tannenberg at dawn, while his commanders dismissed the Germans as weak.
• Samsonov deployed four infantry divisions and more than four hundred guns to bombard the German positions, but the weak Russian artillery caused little damage.
• Lieutenant General François refused to return fire because the Russian bombardment posed no threat, and the Russian guns soon fell silent.
• Samsonov ordered the attack, and tens of thousands of Russian soldiers charged the German positions with bayonets or without rifles.
• Lieutenant General Mackensen and François watched the charge begin as the German troops held their positions.