Most people’s knowledge of World War I centers around trench warfare – where waves of men climbed out of trenches and were mowed down by machine guns and massed artillery. This was certainly the case for a majority of the war on the Western Front – but, not in the beginning. In the beginning, the action was more fluid and territory was conquered quickly (especially for the Germans) – men were still slaughtered in the thousands.
Holger Herwig captures this action in his book entitled : The Marne, 1914: The Opening of World War I and the Battle That Changed the World. The title is a bit deceiving because it covers more than the epic battle between the French/British against the Germans in early Septemeber 1914. Herwig discusses the plans that the Germans and the French had if a war was to commence between the two countries. The German plan – Schlieffen – called for a large flanking movement around the French Army through Belgium. The French plan – Plan XVII – called for the French to assault the German-occupied Alsace and Lorraine regions and then invade Germany itself.
