The First World War JOHN KEEGAN This eBook is copyright material and must not be copied, reproduced, transferred, distributed, leased, licensed or publicly performed or used in any way except as specifically permitted in writing by the publishers, as allowed under the terms and conditions under which it was purchased or as strictly permitted by applicable copyright law. Any unauthorised distribution or use of this text may be a direct infringement of the author’s and publisher’s rights and those responsible may be liable in law accordingly. Version 1.0 Epub ISBN 9781407064123 www.randomhouse.co.uk Published by Pimlico 1999 6 8 10 9 7 5 Copyright © John Keegan 1998 John Keegan has asserted his right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988 to be identified as the author of this work This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, resold, hired out, or otherwise circulated without the publisher’s prior consent in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser First published in Great Britain by Hutchinson 1998 Pimlico edition 1999 Pimlico Random House, 20 Vauxhall Bridge Road, London SW1V 2SA Random House Australia (Pty) Limited 20 Alfred Street, Milsons Point, Sydney, New South Wales 2061, Australia Random House New Zealand Limited 18 Poland Road, Glenfield, Auckland 10, New Zealand Random House South Africa (Pty) Ltd Endulini, 5A Jubilee Road, Parktown 2193, South Africa Random House UK Limited Reg. No. 954009 A CIP record for this book is available from the British Library ISBN 0-7126-6645-1 Papers used by Random House UK Limited are natural, recyclable products made from wood grown in sustainable forests. The manufacturing processes conform to the environmental regulations of the country of origin. Typeset in Bembo and Times New Roman by MATS, Southend-on-Sea, Essex Printed and bound in Great Britain by Mackays of Chatham PLC, Chatham, Kent Contents Cover Title Copyright Dedication About the Author By the Same Author Maps Illustrations Acknowledgements Chapter 1: A European Tragedy Chapter 2: War Plans Chapter 3: The Crisis of 1914 Chapter 4: The Battle of the Frontiers and the Marne Chapter 5: Victory and Defeat in the East Chapter 6: Stalemate Chapter 7: The War Beyond the Western Front Chapter 8: The Year of Battles Chapter 9: The Breaking of Armies Chapter 10: America and Armageddon Notes Bibliography Index Plates To the men of Kilmington who did not return from the Great War 1914–18 PIMLICO 373 THE FIRST WORLD WAR John Keegan, the 1998 Reith Lecturer and Defence Correspondent of the Daily Telegraph, is the author of several books on military history, including the following which are also available from Pimlico: The Face of Battle, Six Armies in Normandy, The Mask of Command, Battle at Sea, The Second World War, A History of Warfare (awarded the Duff Cooper Prize), Warpaths, The Battle for History and War and Our World: The Reith Lectures 1998. John Keegan was for many years the senior lecturer in Military History at the Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst, and he has been a Fellow of Princeton University and Delmas Distinguished Professor of History at Vassar. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and he received the OBE in the Gulf War honours list. BY THE SAME AUTHOR The Face of Battle The Nature of War (with Joseph Darracott) World Armies Who’s Who in Military History (with Andrew Wheatcroft) Six Armies in Normandy Soldiers (with Richard Holmes) The Mask of Command The Price of Admiralty The Second World War A History of Warfare Warpaths The Battle for History War and Our World: The Reith Lectures 1998 Maps The Schlieffen Plan The German advance, 1914 The Western Front, 1914–18 The Eastern Front, 1914–18 Germany’s African territories The war in the Middle East Gallipoli The campaign in Serbia, 1915 Jutland The battle of Verdun The battle of the Somme The Brusilov offensive The Eastern Front, 1917–18 The war in Italy, 1915–18 The German offensive, 1918