A world undone: the story of the Great War, 1914 to 1918 (113 page)

“We should ruthlessly employ every weapon”: Neillands, 66.

“cannot intervene decisively”: Herwig, 181.

“France has arrived almost at the end”: Goodspeed, 176.

His thoughts were focused: An exceptionally illuminating explanation of Falkenhayn’s Verdun strategy and the thinking behind it is in Farrar,
Divide and Conquer
, 49-56.

“the forces of France will bleed”: Ousby, 52.

“Should our front line be overrun”: Ibid., 74.

“In the morning, Council of Ministers”: Mosier, 188.

“I consider that nothing justifies”: Ibid., 189.

“I cannot permit soldiers under”: Ousby, 75.

On the east bank of the Meuse: Manpower data are in ibid., 76.

Though he had more than nine hundred: Ibid. Horne,
Price
, 55, says the French had only 270 artillery pieces at Verdun at the start of the battle; this total differs greatly from other sources.

No fewer than five new railway lines: Marshall, 170.

In a seven-week period between late December: Stevenson,
Cataclysm
, 132.

In the sky above all this was: details of the German air umbrella are in Clayton, 100, and Mosier, 208.

“an offensive in the direction of Verdun”: Asprey,
German High Command
, 221.

When night fell, nothing was left: Driant’s surviving force on the night of February 21 is in ibid., 221.

By the outbreak of the war: Clayton, 99.

Ultimately 80 percent of its artillery: Neillands, 73.

The behavior of the Prussians seemed: Conflicts between German authorities and residents of Alsace-Lorraine are described in Alan Kramer, “
Wackes
at War: Alsace-Lorraine and the Failure of German Mobilization, 1914-18” in Horne,
State
, 110-20.

During the first day’s bombardment: Keegan,
Illustrated History
, 257.

Casualties on the German side were as light: Numbers are in Mosier, 213-14.

They advanced three and a half miles: Falls, 189.

“It wouldn’t take anything”: Ousby, 100.

Those men, however, numbered only sixty: Ibid., 108.

Four hundred and fifty thousand shells: Herwig, 190.

Pétain’s staff could find only seven hundred: Data about truck traffic are in Keegan,
Illustrated History
, 262; Clayton, 106; and Ousby, 146.

In time three-fourths of the entire French army: Ousby, 128.

Between February 24 and March 6: Asprey,
German High Command
, 190.

“not to defeat but to annihilate France”: Ibid., 184.

By December British doctors: Shephard, 21.

Their German counterparts would record: Ibid., 98.

But the number of men unable: Ibid., 38.

“a singularly ill-chosen term”: Ibid., 31.

Further confirmation came: Ibid., 75.

This is an area in which data: British and German totals are in Stevenson,
Cataclysm
, 170.

Sixteen thousand cases were reported: Shephard, 41.

Fifteen percent of all the British: Ibid., 144.

In 1922, four years after: Ibid., 158.

Pétain, anticipating a German advance: French west bank troop deployments are in Neillands, 175.

In the north, in the sector: German and Russian troop strength in the three main sectors of the Eastern Front is in Stone, 227.

They began Verdun-style: Information about shells expended, and the five-to-one troop margin, is in Rutherford, 188.

Twelve thousand unwounded Russians: Gilbert,
First World War
, 237.

“One must have lived through”:
[Story]
, 10:2881.

And the losses were mounting: Ibid.

“a vigorous and powerful offensive”: Mosier, 218.

“Verdun was the mill on the Meuse”: Neillands, 197.

“Tell me…when was the war over?” Gilbert,
First World War
, 257.

“I shall sleep in peace”: Rutherford, 193.

In the two fights at Lake Naroch: Stone, 231, says Russian casualties totaled one hundred thousand. Rutherford, 191, says the total was between one hundred ten and one hundred twenty thousand.

“a useless and expensive fad”: Neillands, 82.

“good for sport but not for war”: Ibid.

Though both France and Germany: Details about prewar aircraft development and numbers of planes acquired by the Great Powers up to 1914 are in Herrmann, 140-42 and 201-06.

“We literally thought of”: Marshall, 316.

Even so, the Eindeckers: Michael Spick, “The Fokker Menace,” in Cowley, 261.

“steam tractors with small”: Gilbert,
Churchill
, 3:535.

It was a mother indeed: The specifications of the first tank are in Cooper, 26.

“These were the happiest days of my life”: Jamie H. Cockfield, “Brusilov’s Immortal Days,” in Cowley, 227.

By the end of April: Mosier, 108.

To that purpose he assembled: Horne,
Price
, 170.

The Germans captured Côte 304: Neillands, 211.

Whatever the cause: Ousby, 275.

He and Falkenhayn were encouraged: Horne,
Price
, 229.

“if Main Headquarters order it”: Ibid.

“Dago dogs”: Herwig, 204.

Six of the divisions committed to the Trentino: Conrad’s removal of six prime divisions from Galicia is in Herwig, 205.

Their cumulative result: Austria-Hungary’s 1915 casualty figures are in ibid., 204.

When the Austrians finally attacked: Initial Austrian and Italian troop strength is in ibid., 206.

By the end of May: Numbers of soldiers and guns captured by the Austrians are in Stone, 246.

“Even the wounded refuse”: Austin, 4:224.

In the five days preceding: Bombardment details are in Horne,
Price
, 236.

The failure had been so complete: French casualty figures are in Ousby, 267.

“You did your duty”: Ibid.

He was reluctant in spite of: Cockfield, “Brusilov’s Immortal Days,” in Cowley, 225.

“the French Army could cease”: Horne,
Price
, 293.

The Austro-Hungarian Fourth Army:Casualty figures are in Herwig, 213.

It was the same almost everywhere:Prisoner-of-war totals are in ibid, 209.

Before the end of the first week:Stone, 254.

“the crisis would probably have developed”:in Rutherford, 204.

“This town today is a veritable maelstrom”:
[Story]
, 92668.

“not the monkey our caricaturists”:Horne,
Price
, 264.

The last of Falkenhayn’s reserves:Data on the force attacking Fort Souville are in ibid, 284.

“Our heads are buzzing”:Lewis, 209.

Joffre’s view of the situation:Horne,
Price
, 289.

From 1885 to 1914 not one Jew:This history, and the associated data, are in Christhard Hoffmann, “Between Integration and Rejection: The Jewish Community in Germany, 1914-1918,” in Horne,
State
, 96-104.

“the curse of my country”:MacDonogh, 439.

“A war after the war stands before us”:Horne,
State
, 100.

Seven thousand miles of telephone lines:Johnson, 60.

Ten squadrons of aircraft:Middlebrook, 66.

Haig had eighteen divisions on the Somme:Falls, 198. Different historians give divergent numbers of British, French, and German divisions at the start of the Battle of the Somme, perhaps because of the frequency with which divisions were being shifted from place to place during the multiple crises of mid-1916.

He had fteen hundred pieces of artillery:Middlebrook, 68.

Between them the British and French:Artillery totals are in Herwig, 199.

“You will be able to go over the top”:Middlebrook, 78.

The French had one corps:Johnson, 57.Here again different writers give different numbers in describing the French forces on the Somme.For example, Johnson says the French had two divisions in reserve in addition to those on the front line, while Herwig, 199, says they had six.

Below had only seven divisions:Mosier, 233, and Herwig, 199, give this number, while Falls, 198, says the total is six.

By the time the troops went over the top:Shell numbers are variously in Cowley, 321;Herwig, 199;and Johnson, 61.

“Shall I live till morning”:Macdonald,
Somme
, 49.

Nearly seven thousand of them died:Tim Travers, “July 1, 1916:The Reason Why,” in Cowley, 327.

“The ground where I stood”:Johnson, 67.

“The attack must be made in waves”:Travers, “July 1,” in Cowley, 329.

“Fancy advancing against heavy fire”:Ibid, 321.

“We were surprised to see them walking”:Mosier, 235.

“The infantry rushed forward”Lewis, 215.

the Thirty-fourth Division:Middlebrook, 248.

At Beaumont-Hamel: Casualty figures are in Travers, “July 1,” in Cowley, 326.

The number of casualties: Numbers are in Middlebrook, 244. The following casualty figures from Waterloo and Normandy are in Middlebrook, 246.

German losses for the first day: Travers, “July 1,” in Cowley, 327.

It had torn open the defenses: Ibid., 324.

“speed, dash and tactical brains”: Falls, 200.

“no serious advance is to be made”: Johnson, 63.

“Tsar of the land of Russia”: Massie,
Nicholas and Alexandra
, 374.

“Whatever pride I had”: Cowley, 354.

On July 2 Haig: Middlebrook, 225.

Evert had a thousand guns: Artillery numbers and the Russian and German casualties that follow are in Stone, 260-61.

In four days he took: Ibid., 261.

On July 10, in a final lunge: Horne,
Price
, 296.

“Those who went outside were killed”: Austin, 4:247.

His plan this time was to send: The size of Rawlinson’s attack force and the German defense is in Liddell Hart,
Real War
, 240.

“Although most Australian soldiers were optimists”: Ibid., 244.

He struck at the Turkish Third Army: Falls, 248.

Three months earlier the Germans: Numbers of German divisions in the East and West in May and August 1916 are in Mosier, 252.

The Austrians were on the defensive: Casualties for the Sixth Battle of the Isonzo are in Banks, 201.

To complete the picture, French General Sarrail: Mosier, 255.

On August 27 Romania issued a declaration: The size of the Romanian force invading Transylvania and of the Austrian forces defending is in Stone, 274, and Liddell Hart,
Real War
, 264.

The addition to the Entente of Romania: The size of Romania’s military forces is in Mosier, 254. Stone, 264, says Romania had six hundred and twenty thousand soldiers.

It was untrained and disorganized: The Romanian makeup order is in Stone, 265.

Whole armies were being hurried: Train numbers are in ibid.

The commander of this fortress: The Turtukai episode is in ibid., 276.

“this will be our Verdun”: Ibid., 277.

Only sixty of the new machines: Liddell Hart,
Real War
, 245.

“My poor ‘land battleships’ ”: Gilbert,
Churchill
, 3:810.

The Guards, a hundred and thirty-four thousand of the best: Details of the Kovel offensive are in Rutherford, 213-15, and Stone, 261-63.

It burned out of control: the Tavannes Tunnel disaster and its casualties are in Horne,
Price
, 305-7.

Again Haig used his tanks: Neillands, 285.

On October 19, satisfied: French artillery preparations are in Horne,
Price
, 308 and 314.

Nor was Haig quite finished: Isonzo casualties for 1917 are in Banks, 201.

On November 13 the British detonated: The number of British divisions is in Liddell Hart,
Real War
, 247; the number of German prisoners is in Falls, 206.

Casualties on the Somme totaled: The facts about British, French, and German casualties are explored at length in Mosier, 241.