About the Book
This multi-volume series in seven parts is the first English-language translation of Der Weltkrieg, the German official history of the First World War. Originally produced between 1925 and 1944 using classified archival records that were destroyed in the aftermath of the Second World War, Der Weltkrieg is the untold story of Germany's experience on the Western front, in the words of its official historians, making it vital to the study of the war and official memory in Weimar and Nazi Germany. Although exciting new sources have recently been uncovered in former Soviet archives, this work remains the basis of future scholarship. It is essential reading for any scholar, graduate student, or enthusiast of the Great War.
This volume, the first of the series to appear in print, focuses on 1915, the first year of trench warfare. For the first time in the history of warfare, poison gas was used against French and Canadian troops at Ypres. Meanwhile, conflict raged in the German High Command over the political and military direction of the war. The year 1915 also set the stage for the bloodbath at Verdun and sealed the fate of the German Supreme Commander, Erich von Falkenhayn. This is the official version of that story.
Foreword by Hew Strachan
Co-published with the Laurier Centre for Military, Strategic and Disarmament Studies
Table of Contents:
- Germany's Western Front: Translations from the German Official History of the Great War 1915, edited by Mark Osborne Humphries and John Maker
- Table of Maps
- Preface
- Introduction
- Acknowledgements
- A Note on the Translation and Sources
- PART I: WINTER AND SPRING
- 1. The Question of the War's Centre of Gravity in January
- 2. The Western Front to the Middle of April
- Decision-making at the OHL
- Operations on Western Front until the Middle of February 1915
- The Battle of Soissons
- Seventh Army
- The Winter Battle in the Champagne
- Fifth Army
- The French and British High Commands at the Beginning of the Year
- The Apex of the Winter Battle in the Champagne from the Middle of February until the Middle of March 1915
- Intentions of the French Commanders in the Champagne
- The German Defence
- Operations on the Remainder of the Western Front from the Middle of February to the Middle of March 1915
- The Battle at Neuve Chapelle
- Armee Abteilung Strantz
- The OHL's Return to the Western Front
- The Defensive Battles from the Middle of March until the Middle of April
- The Defensive Battle of Armee Abteilung Strantz
- Armee-Abteilung Strantz
- 3. The Change in Falkenhayn's Plans
- The Creation of the New GHQ Reserve
- The Plan to Mount a Decisive Breakthrough Operation in the West
- The Political Situation and its Influence on the Military Decision-Making
- To the Dardanelles Offensive
- To the Employment of the GHQ Reserve in the East
- PART II: SPRING AND SUMMER
- 4. The General Situation of the Central Powers in May
- The Intervention of Italy
- The Intensification of the Economic Situation and Economic Warfare by Submarine
- The Manpower and Ammunition Situation to the End of the Year
- 5. The Western Front from the Middle of April to the Beginning of August
- Operations to the Start of the Spring Battle at the Beginning of May
- The OHL and the Western Army in April
- Fourth Army's Gas Attack at Ypres
- The Offensive Battles of the Armee Abteilungs Strantz and Gaede
- The Actions of the French and British Commanders to the Beginning of May
- The Beginning of the Spring Offensive in the Artois
- Sixth Army's Battles from 9-14 May
- General Lochow's Assumption of Command on the Main Battle Front and the Fighting until the Middle of June
- Operations of the Remaining Armies on the Western Front from the Middle of May to the End of July
- The Renewal of the Major Offensive in the Artois: Operations from 16-18 June to the End of the Spring Offensive
- The Reorganization of the Western Army Part I: Until the Beginning of August
- 6. Overview of the Multi-Front War During the Summer
- The General Situation to the Beginning of August
- The OHL's Peace Efforts
- Shifting the War's Centre of Gravity
- PART III: SUMMER AND AUTUMN
- 7. Overview of the Military Situation to the Middle of September
- 8. The Western Front from Mid-August to the Beginning of the Autumn Offensive
- The Enemy's Situation and Plans in the Summer
- The OHL from August to 22 September
- The Events on the Western Front until 22 September
- In the Artois
- In the Champagne
- On the Remainder of the Western Front
- 9. The Autumn Offensive in the Artois and Champagne
- The Preparation for the Battle (22 to 24 September 1915)
- In the Artois
- In the Champagne
- The OHL until Noon on 25 September
- The 25th of September
- The Attack in the Artois
- The Attack in the Champagne
- Actions of the OHL during the afternoon of 25 September
- 26 September
- In the Artois
- In the Champagne
- The Situation at the OHL
- The Further Course of the Battle until the end of September
- In the Artois: Operations, 30 September-10 October
- In the Champagne: Operations, 11-13 October
- In the Artois: Operations, 30 September-10 October
- In the Artois: Operations, 11-13 October
- In the Champagne: Operations, 30 September-5 October
- In the Champagne: New Major Offensive Operations after 6 October
- The Enemy's Situation at the End of the Offensive
- Lessons Learned from the Fall Offensive
- 10. The Western Front to the End of the Year
- Operations of the Remaining Armies until mid-October
- The Reorganization of the Western Army Part II
- Operations from mid-October until the End of the Year
- Fourth Army
- Sixth, Second, and Seventh Armies
- Third Army
- Fifth Army
- Armee Abteilung Strantz
- Armee Abteilung Falkenhausen
- Armee Abteilung Gaede
- The Entente's Situation in the West at the End of the Year
- The Situation at the OHL in November and December
- 11. The Central Powers' Situation at the End of 1915
- APPENDICES
- Appendix 1: A Comparison of German, British, and French Artillery in the Spring Battles in the Artois
- Appendix 2: A Comparison of German, British, and French Artillery in the Autumn Battles
- Appendix 3: A Comparison of Forces at War's Beginning and the end of 1915
- Appendix 4: Overview of Powder and Munitions Production from War's Beginning to the End of 1915
- Appendix 5: Standing Orders for the Defence in the West
- Selected Bibliography
- Index
About the Author :
Mark Osborne Humphries is Associate Professor; Dunkley Chair in War and the Canadian Experience at Wilfrid Laurier University and Director, Laurier Centre for Military Strategic and Disarmament Studies (LCMSDS). He is the author of numerous publications, including The Last Plague: Spanish Influenza and the Politics of Public Health in Canada (2013).
John Maker received his PhD in history from the University of Ottawa in 2010. His work has been published in Canadian Military History and Histoire Sociale.
Review :
``Masterfully edited and translated by a team of scholars that only a university press ... could assemble. That dedicated effort includes reproduction or adaptation of very fine maps used in the German tomes.... By any measure, this volume is exceptionally well done and belongs on the bookshelf of scholars, serious students and dedicated World War I buffs. It is recommended highly.'' -- Peter Kilduff -- Over the Front, Spring 2011, 201104
``[This] English [translation of] the multivolume official German history of the war (Der Weltkrieg) is ... especially welcome.... The series features a laconic yet compelling operational narrative spliced with analytical chapters evaluating the options and decisions of the German High Command. Germany's Western Front: 1915 is, in fact, a compendium of three volumes dealing with perhaps the Western Front's bloodiest year: the year trench warfare began, the year poison gas was first used, the year a series of decisions set Germany on the road to Verdun. Generous explanatory footnotes from volume editors Humphries (Mount Royal College, Alberta, Canada) and Maker (ABD, University of Ottawa, Canada) clarify the material.... Indispensable.'' -- G.P. Cox, Gordon College -- Choice, November 2010, 201011
``For over ninety years, the German forces in the Great War have been obscured on the other side of a historical No Man's Land. But now, in this monumentally important work, expertly translated and edited, English-speaking military historians will better understand those forces against which the British, Canadian, and other allied armies fought and died in the trenches on the Western Front. Germany's Western Front, and the volumes that will follow, will be required reading for historians of the Great War.'' -- Tim Cook, Canadian War Museum, author of At the Sharp End and Shock Troops -- 201003
``In April 1945 ... when the Royal Air Force bombed Potsdam ... [the German] National Archive was destroyed.... Even allowing for the survival of other material in places such as Munich, and the return to Germany in the 1990s of documents siezed by the Soviets, historians working on the German army in the First World War are at a disadvantage compared to those studying the British, French, US, Australian, or Canadian armies. This means that Der Weltkrieg, the series of German official histories which drew upon now vanished material, assumes a far greater importance than, for example, the comparable British volumes edited by Sir James Edmonds, or Charles Bean's Australian offical account. As Hew Strachan points out in a perceptive foreword, Der Weltkrieg is not as well-known in English-speaking circles as it should be. One reason why people may have shied away from it is fear that its interpretations were contaminated by the authors' desire to stay in step with the Nazie regime. As both Strachan and the editors demonstrate, this is simply not the case. The second reason is the language barrier. Until now, the German official history has not been translated into English. The appearance of this volume, the first in a series, represents a very significant moment in the evolving Anglophone historiography of the Great War.... Although, like most official histories, it is rather dry in tone, the book reads well, something for which the editors and their translators, Wilhelm J. Kiesslebach, Peter Meinlschmidt, and Ralph Whitehead, deserve high praise.... The editors' helpful footnotes--which include references to modern research--enhance the value of the book.... By putting such a wealth of information from the German side at the disposal of English-speakers, Humphries and Maker have made an important contribution to achieving greater understanding of this critical year in the Great War.'' -- Gary Sheffield, University of Birmingham -- English Historical Review, June 2012, 201207
``Offers a rare insight into Germany's official history.... There are virtually no documents from World War I because World War II destroyed them. The German Official History is as close to those documents as anyone can get [and] until now it has never been available in English.... [I]t is the definitive presentation of the German view of 1915 on the Western Front.'' -- Bob Gordon -- Esprit de Corps, Volume 17 #9, 201010
``For far too long, English-language historians of the Great War have been without a solid understanding of the 'other side of the hill.' Germany's Western Front fills this gap admirably. Its clear and readable translations of the German official history illuminate Germany's struggle against the armies of the British and French Empires on the Western Front and provide English-language historians with a much-needed view of the German perspective of the war. However, Germany's Western Front is more than simply a translation, its lucid introduction and thoughtful annotations provide valuable context for and many important insights into German operations. This is a book that every serious student of the First World War will want to read and return to over and over.'' -- Robert T. Foley, author of German Strategy and the Path to Verdun -- 201003
``Invaluable only starts to underline the value of this book to those interested in Germany at War 1914-1918.'' -- David Filsell -- Stand To (Western Front Association), No. 94, July 2012, 201207
