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Thread: The Guns of August, 1914

  1. #31
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    Quote Originally Posted by Dreadnought View Post
    How the Schlieffen plan was supposed to work. You can easily see why invading Belgium is required for it to be practicable. Too bad for the Belgians.

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    Belgium was established as a buffer country anyway - they deserve it.

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    Default August 3rd, 1914

    Germany declares War on France. Germany demands that Belgium permit their Armies free passage, but the Belgians tell the Germans to get lost.
    “What fresh hell is this?”

    "A man who picks a cat up by the tail learns something which he can learn in no other way." - Mark Twain

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  4. #33
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    Lets not omit the taking of Luxembourg which allowed for real pressure to be applied to King Albert

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  6. #34
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    Default ‘All of These Men, Heroes’: 100 Years After World War I Began, a Digital World Remembers

    Figured you might like this dread.

    A century ago Sunday, Germany declared war on France, setting in motion the bloody series of events that would leave millions dead across Europe and would set the stage for an even larger, costlier global conflict — World War II — a few decades later.

    100 years later, a radically different world commemorated the beginning of World War I online.

    Some Twitter accounts, including @RealTimeWW1, are retroactively live-tweeting the events of the conflict.


    http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2014...rld-remembers/

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    Default Augustt 3rd, 1914

    The German Mediterranean Division, comprising the Battlecruiser Goeben and light Cruiser Breslau has moved towards the coast of French North Africa. First Sea Lord Winston Churchill, anticipating trouble, sent two Battlecruisers to the Med in order to assist with covering the transportation of French North African troops to Europe as needed. On word of the actual declaration of War on France by Germany Goeben and Breslau are ordered by Berlin to steam for Constantinople as fast as possible. The British ships are ordered to shadow the Germans, but not to open fire until they get the word.

    Here is some important backstory. In 1911 the Brazilians had ordered two very powerful battleships from British Shipyards, but by 1913 they were unable to pay for the still building battleships. These two ships were then sold to Turkey, which raised money via public subscription, and both were basically complete fitting out for service in the U.K. on August 1st, with Turkish crews on hand ready to take them back to Constantinople. The original contracts, however, authorized the British Navy to seize the ships in the event they were needed - and Churchill ordered this clause to be implemented, given the state of the World crisis. The Ottoman Turks were enraged, but the possibility of adding two modern battleships to the RN at such a critical time was practically a gift that Churchill had no intention of letting pass.
    “What fresh hell is this?”

    "A man who picks a cat up by the tail learns something which he can learn in no other way." - Mark Twain

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    Default August 4th 1916

    At 9:30 A.M. the British Battlecruisers Indefatigable and Indomitable spot the Goeben and Breslau...but as war has not been declared the British simply follow the two German ships. The British Admiral commits an error, though, when he neglects to inform the Admiralty that the Germans are steaming east, not towards French North Africa as everyone expects.

    The Germans begin to cross the Meuse river at the Belgian border, but the Belgians blow up some of the bridges and throw back German cavalry and bicycle scout troops with surprisingly stout resistance. In crossing the Meuse the Germans get just a first taste of what 20th Century firepower can do to 19th Century attack formations. Casualties and difficulties exceed expectations...not for the last time in this War. Even so, by the end of the day most German infantry has reached their assault positions for August 5th.

    The first German objective will be the Belgian fortress of Liege. This was a system of 12 concrete forts built in the 1890's, and is a nasty piece of work to assault. Most of the forts are underground, with steel machinegun and quick fire artillery turrets that can raise and lower, and all 12 forts are designed to provide interlocking fields of fire. The forts are proof against artillery fire up to and including 8" guns.

    The British demand that the Germans cease and desist with their invasion of Belgium. German Chancellor Theobald Von Bethmann-Hollweg contemptuously dismisses those demands with his (in)famous statement that he could not believe Britain would go to War over a 'mere scrap of paper."

    Britain declares War on Imperial Germany. This automatically triggers declarations of War from Canada, Australia, and New Zealand, not to mention the Empire itself.
    “What fresh hell is this?”

    "A man who picks a cat up by the tail learns something which he can learn in no other way." - Mark Twain

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  12. #37
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    I think out of all wars the Civil War has the most meaning to me. It was brother against brother and shaped the way we would eventually be as a nation.
    "Oh I’m sorry, did I break your concentration?”
    Jules Winnfield - Pulp Fiction

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    Did we get to Vimy Ridge yet?

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    Quote Originally Posted by PatriotsGuy View Post
    Did we get to Vimy Ridge yet?
    1918. The Canadians were friggin' brilliant there, same as at Amiens. I think you will have to wait 'til 2nd Ypres in Spring 1915 for the Canadians to do their thing though.
    “What fresh hell is this?”

    "A man who picks a cat up by the tail learns something which he can learn in no other way." - Mark Twain

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    Excellent Dread. Beers on me in Oct for this.

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    Quote Originally Posted by BeefStew25 View Post
    Excellent Dread. Beers on me in Oct for this.
    1) I will collect on that. I drink expensive beer, just be warned.

    2) As for the thread its kind of a labor of love. I've been a Military History geek since I was a kid, but WW1 is for me the Big One. Nothing compares. Writing this thread is making me reread a lot of my WW1 library or the internet to keep up, and things are about to start getting very lively.

    I'm trying to keep this thread lively, but without getting too flippant. The men of 1914 on both sides deserve our respect. I honestly believe that they were collectively the bravest men who ever lived, and what happened to them was appalling. I don't subscribe to popular tropes about the tragedy being caused solely by idiot Generals , and the War wasn't about war profiteers or any of that nonsense. Many of the Generals are really very good in fairness (with a couple of glaring exceptions - wait and see) - but the problems they are about to face are like nothing that could have been imagined. All of the Armies of 1914 are pretty tough - even the Austro-Hungarians - and all are well armed with up to date lethal weaponry. Nobody is going to roll over and play dead.

    Imagine, right now, 100 years ago all over Europe for the past week the trains are running nonstop, millions of reservists are reporting to their depots, assembling, getting their orders, and moving out to their assigned locations. The supply problems are unimaginable, yet the Armies move towards the borders with enough fodder for hundreds of thousands of horses (all armies are horse drawn in 1914; ammo, food, pulling artillery, plus of course cavalry) and ammo and food for millions of men. General Staffs in every one of the European powers have worked these things out in exacting detail for years, and it is all working amazingly well.
    “What fresh hell is this?”

    "A man who picks a cat up by the tail learns something which he can learn in no other way." - Mark Twain

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  21. #42
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    I smell an internal combustion engine on the way.

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    Default August 5th 1914

    The German assault on Liege kicks off. The Germans come under heavy fire at their start positions and throughout the assault. Even so, the plan is to infiltrate between the forts and capture the city using covered and concealed routes using villages and ravines to hide troop movements, and after a day of hard house to house fighting this is basically accomplished - that is, the city itself is captured. The forts remain intact. The Germans demand that Belgian General Leman surrender the forts, but he refuses. The Germans also attack Liege with a Zeppelin, which accomplishes nothing save the loss of the Zeppelin.

    The entire operation is on a strict timetable, as it is imperative to cross Belgium and get to Paris before the French can fully react. The Belgian Army is a tenth the size of Germany's, not especially well trained, short of modern artillery and machineguns, and the Germans assume they will sweep them aside with little trouble.

    Elsewhere, the Goeben give the British battlecruisers the slip overnight; she is a few knots faster, though both she and her British pursuers are not operating at full efficiency due to overworked boilers. Goeben and Breslau do not have enough coal to reach Constantinople, however, and head to Messina in neutral Italy to recoal. The Italians are uncooperative, and give German Admiral Souchon 24 hours to get out as per International Law...and they stall him on the coal. Souchon orders coal be taken from German merchant ships in port, and the German sailors rip up the decks of these ships to get at it - 1,500 tons, just enough to get to Turkey. The British position themselves in what they think will be a blocking position, but respect Italian territorial waters

    Montenegro (?!) declares War on Austria-Hungary. I have no idea why.
    Last edited by Dreadnought; 08-05-2014 at 08:00 AM.
    “What fresh hell is this?”

    "A man who picks a cat up by the tail learns something which he can learn in no other way." - Mark Twain

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    By the way, among the hardware the Germans are dragging with them are 8 420mm Mortars, called "Fat Bertha". These are stupendous weapons; they break down into multiple loads for transport, require 72 horses to move, and take a day to set up. Each shell from one of these beasts is @2,000 lbs, and requires a propellant charge of nearly 180 lbs. They also have 16 305mm Skoda Mortars, courtesy of the Austro-Hungarians, each firing a 1000 lb projectile.

    Remember how the Belgian forts at Liege are proof against 8" shells? Those weigh 250 lbs each...

    Name:  420mm mortar.jpg
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    Last edited by Dreadnought; 08-05-2014 at 08:15 AM.
    “What fresh hell is this?”

    "A man who picks a cat up by the tail learns something which he can learn in no other way." - Mark Twain

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  26. #45
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    Quote Originally Posted by Dreadnought View Post
    The German assault on Liege kicks off. The Germans come under heavy fire at their start positions and throughout the assault. Even so, the plan is to infiltrate between the forts and capture the city using covered and concealed routes using villages and ravines to hide troop movements, and after a day of hard house to house fighting this is basically accomplished - that is, the city itself is captured. The forts remain intact. The Germans demand that Belgian General Leman surrender the forts, but he refuses. The Germans also attack Liege with a Zeppelin, which accomplishes nothing save the loss of the Zeppelin.
    I never think of house to house fighting when I think of WWI. I'm sure their rifles were terribly bulky to use indoors, so I'd bet they'd use a lot of knives, bayonets, or some types of clubs, maybe like the 'trench club', although I don't know if that was being used yet.

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