Recommended reading on the First World War

[Geglov2]

02.08.1914-23.07.1917 KTB der Kurzen-Marine-Kanonen-Batterie 3. Журнал боевых действий 3 короткоствольной пушечной батареи ВМФ. Кайзеровская Германия.

Архив: ЦАМО. 500-12519-15., 244 стр., 109,00 Мб., PDF.

https://book-olds.ru/BookLibrary/00930- ... .-yaz.html

[Hans1906]

I would like to recommend:

Richard Holmes "Shots From The Front"

2008, I found the book again on a german flea market for just 2.- Euro, not long ago.

A very good buy, I am not aware, why people buy such a book for some money, and sell the book later for less than
the price of a pack of cigarettes, probably another bad (unwanted) christmas(?) gift..., sorry. :roll:

Excellent!


Hans1906

P.S. A predominantly illustrated book, many of the photos are very touching, and also disturbing, but still worth seeing, few of the images were previously known.

[Geglov2]

1929-31. Übersicht des Reichsarchivs der Behörden und Truppen in der Kriegsformation 1914-1918. Vorwort, Vorbemerkung und Teil I: Großes Hauptquartier, Oberkommandos, Armee-Abteilungen, Generalkommandos, Stellvertretende Generalkommandos, Gouvernements und Kommandanturen der Festungen im Inlande, mit einem Anhang über Führer, Generalstabschefs und Oberquartiermeister – Mai 1919.

Обзор Имперского архива, относительно учреждений и частей действующей армии 1914-1918 гг. Вступление, предисловие и часть I: Полевой Генеральный штаб, главное командование, армейские группы, корпусное командование, заместитель корпусного командования, управление коменданта укрепрайона внутри страны, с приложением информации о главнокомандующих и оберквартирмейстере – май 1919 г.

Архив: ЦАМО 500-12519-310., 199 стр., 114,00 Мб., PDF.

https://book-olds.ru/BookLibrary/00930- ... .-yaz.html

[Geglov2]

1915-17. Befehle, Meldungen, Anweisungen des Kriegsministeriums, Oberbefehlshabers Ost, der Armee Abteilung Scheffer, des A.O.K. 9, der Etappen-Inspektion 9 des Korps P und der 84. Infanterie-Division zum Einsatz des Staffel-Stabes Nr. 162, Namensverzeichnisse der Artillerie-Munitions- Kolonnen des Korps P u.a. Unterlagen.
Приказы, донесения, распоряжения военного министерства, главнокомандующего восточным фронтом, группы армии «Шеффер», 9 Армии , 9 этапной инспекцией корпуса «П» и 162 штаба обозно транспортных частей 84 пехотной дивизии; именные списки артиллерийской колонны корпуса «Р» и др. документы., 105 стр., 86,00 Мб., PDF. Кайзеровская Германия.
Архив: ЦАМО, 500-12519-40.

https://book-olds.ru/BookLibrary/00930- ... MO-40.html

[Geglov2]

1925. Übersicht des Reichsarchivs zu den Verbände und Einheiten des deutschen Heeres, Teil I: Stäbe (OHL. A.O.Ks usw.), Teil III: Kavallerie und Teil XII: Besondere Formationen, Kommando- und Verwaltungsbehörden.

1925. Перечень частей и соединений немецких сухопутных войск, часть II: штабы (Полевой Генеральный штаб и т.д.), часть III: кавалерийские части, часть VI: особые подразделения, административно – хозяйственное управление.

Архив: ЦАМО РФ., Шифр дел: 500-12519-88 (1), 538 стр., 92,00 Мб., PDF.

https://book-olds.ru/BookLibrary/00930- ... .-yaz.html

[Attrition]

Afflerbach, H. (2022) [2018]. On a Knife Edge: How Germany Lost the First World War [Auf Messers Schneide: Wie das Deutsche Reich den Ersten Weltkrieg verlor]. Translated by Buckley, Anne; Summers, Caroline Hbk. Cambridge University Press ed. ISBN 978-1-108-83288-5

Good stuff if you can cope with hideous literary solecisms like pre-preparation for "preparation", cannon for "gun", artillerists for "gunners" and grenades for "shells". I can't tell if this is an example of the poverty of ambition, the divergence of English and American or both.

[Sheldrake]

From the American perspective.

The American Army in France 1917-1919 by Major General James G. Harbord USA 1936. Written by Gen. Pershing’s chief of staff and later 2nd Division commander.
“No one is more qualified to write it than you are.” – Petain, Marechal de France. Borrow and read online here https://archive.org/details/americanarm ... 2/mode/2up

The Meuse Argonne: Our Greatest Battle by Major Frederick Palmer USA 1919. The first book about the battle written by a soldier who served under Gen. Pershing in public relations. FRee download here https://ia902606.us.archive.org/29/item ... 00palm.pdf

America’s Deadliest Battle: The Meuse Argonne by Robert H. Ferrell PhD 2007. The second book about the battle from a perspective almost 90 years later.

The Doughboys by Captain Laurence Stallings USMC 1963. History of the AEF by a veteran. Also author of “What Price Glory”.

Stallings is very readable and is my favorite.

Check out “American Armies and Battlefields in Europe: A History, Guide and Reference Book" ABMC 1927. Onew of the contributing authors was Dwight D Eisenhower. Download full book or sections and maps from this link https://www.abmc.gov/news-events/news/w ... le-abmcgov

[Sheldrake]

Lossberg's War: The World War I Memoirs of a German Chief of Staff (Foreign Military Studies) Hardcover, 2017
by Fritz von Lossberg (Author), Holger H. Herwig (Author), David T. Zabecki (Editor).

Outrageous price (£52) but worth it for the aficionado; I've only really read the Somme and 3rd Ypres [chapters] (surprisingly short but with a copy of his defensive policy directive of 27 June 1917, pp.289-299). The German command's perspective of the Battle of the Somme (albeit filtered through Lossberg's point of view) tends to support the post-revisionist view that the battle damaged the German army more than its opponents. Falkenhayn gets a lot of blame for the difficulties wished on the 2nd Army by his 1916 strategy. Lossberg doesn't seem too interested in the grand strategic resource dilemma facing Germany, once a third million-man army took the field against them. There's plenty of operational information from which OOB can be gleaned and the behind the scenes organisation of manpower, equipment and ammunition. The translation is in [North] American, which grates a bit on this Limey (Have terms like gun and howitzer gone out of fashion? "Previously reconnoitred"? When else can you reconnoitre?) but without the labours of Herwig and Zabecki, we Anglophone monoglots wouldn't have this valuable resource. Thanks, them blokes.

Thanks for the review. I paid £10.18 for the Kindle issue. The the translation is courtesy of US General Dr David T Zabecki. Nice man but deaf as a post - he lost his hearing in Vietnam in the Tet offensive, and later edited a Vietnam Veterans magazine.

[Sheldrake]

British Army OP Reflect Guides to the battlefields of the First World War. MOD editor General Mungo Melvin.
The British Army First World War Battlefield Guide Volume Volume 1 The Western Front http://www.staffrideservices.com/?p=400

I wrote three of the chapters.
The British Army First World War Battlefield Guide Volume 2 The Forgotten Fronts.https://drive.google.com/file/d/1b-bM_P ... ezolR/view

[jwsleser]

The Imperial Russian Army in Peace, War, and Revolution 1856–1917 by Dr. Roger Reese. University of Kansas Press, 2019.

51KjZG+z01L.jpg (39.89 KiB) Viewed 3942 times

From the flyleaf.

In December 1917, nine months after the disintegration of the Russian monarchy, the army officer corps, one of the dynasty’s prime pillars, finally fell—a collapse that, in light of World War I and the Bolshevik Revolution, historians often treat as inevitable. The Imperial Russian Army in Peace, War, and Revolution, 1856–1917 contests this assumption. By expanding our view of the Imperial Russian Army to include the experience of the enlisted ranks, Roger R. Reese reveals that the soldier’s revolt in 1917 was more social revolution than anti-war movement—and a revolution based on social distinctions within the officer corps as well as between the ranks.

Reese’s account begins in the aftermath of the Crimean War, when the emancipation of the serfs and consequent introduction of universal military service altered the composition of the officer corps as well as the relationship between officers and soldiers. More catalyst than cause, World War I exacerbated a pervasive discontent among soldiers at their ill treatment by officers, a condition that reached all the way back to the founding of the Russian army by Peter I. It was the officers’ refusal to change their behavior toward the soldiers and each other over a fifty-year period, Reese argues, capped by their attack on the Provisional Government in 1917, that fatally weakened the officer corps in advance of the Bolshevik seizure of power.

As he details the evolution of Russian Imperial Army over that period, Reese explains its concrete workings—from the conscription and discipline of soldiers to the recruitment and education of officers to the operation of unit economies, honor courts, and wartime reserves. Marshaling newly available materials, his book corrects distortions in both Soviet and Western views of the events of 1917 and adds welcome nuance and depth to our understanding of a critical turning point in Russian history.

This was a very enjoyable book to read. Reese provides details on the daily lives of both officers and soldiers and how the societal changes in Russia affected the Imperial Army. This book has definitely filled a gap in my readings on the Russian Imperial Army.

Pista! Jeff

[jbroshot]

Read all of the previous posts and recommendations. Here's my two cents

Germany's Aims in the First World War with an Introduction by Hajo Holborn. Translation copyright 1967 by W.W. Norton & Company, Inc. and Catto & Windus Ltd. No ISBN
Had to read this for a course in modern German history at the University of Missouri (Professor was Konrad Jarausch) long, long ago. Very dry but fascinating.

The Great War in Africa (1914-1918), by Bryron Farwell, 1986. ISBN 0-393-30564-3. IMHO a very good general history of the campaigns in Africa.

Steel Wind Colonel Georg Bruchmüller and the Birth of Modern Artillery, by David T. Zabecki, 1994. ISBN 0-275-94750-5 (pb). An account of the role of an obscure German artillery officer who "played a pivotal role in the revolution of offensive tactics that took place in 1917-18."

Imperial German Army 1914-1918 Organisation, Structure , Orders-of-Battle, by Herman Cron. Translation by C.F. Colton. 2002. ISBN 1-874622-70-1
Originally published in 1937 as Geschichte des Deutschen Heeres im Weltkriege 1914-1918.
Sort of a mini Tessin in one volume about the German Army in WWI

Tolkien and the Great War The Threshold of Middle-earth, by John Garth. 2003. ISBN 0-618-33129-8. For Lord of the Rings fans.

And lastly, the WWI equivalent of Joslen's Orders of Battle for the British Army in WWII

History of the Great War Order of Battle of Divisions, compiled by Major A. F. Becke
Part I - Regular British Divisions
(originally published in 1934, my copy is a reprint by The Sherwood Press (Nottm.) Ltd., ISBN 0-948983-01-9)

Part 2a - The Territorial Force Mounted Divisions and the 1st-Line Territorial Force Divisions (42-56) [originally published 1935]
Part 2b - The Second-Line Territorial Force Divisions (57th-69th), with The Home Service Divisions (71st-73rd) and the 74th and 75th Divisions [originally published 1937]
Combined and reproduced as Order of Battle of Divisions Part 2, by the Naval and Military Press Ltd., 2007. No ISBN

Part 3a - New Army Divisions (9-36) [originally published 1938]
Part 3b - New Army Divisions (30-41) and 63rd (R.N.) Division [originally published 1939
Combined and reproduced as Order of Battle of Divisions Part 3, by the Naval and Military Press Ltd., 2007. No ISBN

Part 4 - The Army Council, G.H.Q.s, Armies and Corps 1914-1918 [originally published 1944]
Reproduced as Order of Battle of Divisions Part 4, by the Naval and Military Press Ltd., 2007. No ISBN

[Geglov2]

1917-18. Еженедельные разведывательные сводки о дислокации, боевых действиях и силах германских войск на Северном фронте.
Архив: Российский Государственный архив Военно-морского флота #РГАВМФ #РИФ #ПМВ #Германия
Фонд: №716, Морской штаб верховного главнокомандующего (Ставка)
Опись: №2, Военно-морское управление при штабе Верховного Главнокомандующего (16 июля 1914 г. - 22 января 1916 г.). Морской штаб Верховного Главнокомандующего (Ставка) (23 января 1916 г. - 9 ноября 1917 г.)
Номер дела: 171., 479 стр., 916,00 Мб., PDF.
Скачать: http://book-olds.ru/BookLibrary/00923-D ... ronte.html

[waldopepper]

Google Translate on Geglov2's message above:

Weekly intelligence reports on the deployment, combat operations and strength of German troops on the Northern Front.
Archive: Russian State Archive of the Navy #RGAVMF #RIF #WWII #Germany
Fund: No. 716, Naval Headquarters of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief (Headquarters)
Inventory: No. 2, Naval Administration at the headquarters of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief (July 16, 1914 - January 22, 1916). Naval Headquarters of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief (Stavka) (January 23, 1916 - November 9, 1917)
Case number: 171., 479 pp., 916.00 MB., PDF.

[Attrition]

@ jbroshot The N&MP have isbns on the volume page

ORDER OF BATTLE OF DIVISIONS, Part 2a & 2b. Territorial & Yeomanry Divisions 978-1-84734-739-8. Regards.

[Attrition]

Holding Out: The German Army and Operational Command in 1917 (2023) Cambridge Military Histories by Tony Cowan

My heart sank a bit when I realised that it was thematic but it's turning out rather well. I have the censorious pencil at hand to strike out "In addition" and "Moreover" at the start of a sentence and "successfully [doing something] but his prose isn't marred all that much by inane syntax.

I wondered about him calling Max von Gallwitz a former army group commander, because Armeegruppe isn't an army group, Heeresgruppe is. Perhaps [h]e will explain this later in the book. He is quite enlightening on the importance given to personality in theories of leadership in the German army and quotes plenty of bitchy remarks even after Falkenhayn got the sack. He remarks that the German army in 1917 had to defeat the Nivelle Offensive and inflict more casualties, which it did but I thought that attrition wasn't the infliction of more casualties but what effect casualties had on the participants. Perhaps it will be revealed later.