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Haig’s Enemy: Crown Prince Rupprecht

and Germany’s War on the Western


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OUP CORRECTED PROOF – FINAL, 19/12/17, SPi

H A IG’S EN EMY
OUP CORRECTED PROOF – FINAL, 19/12/17, SPi

Crown Prince Rupprecht of Bavaria


OUP CORRECTED PROOF – FINAL, 19/12/17, SPi

1
OUP CORRECTED PROOF – FINAL, 19/12/17, SPi

3
Great Clarendon Street, Oxford, ox2 6dp,
United Kingdom
Oxford University Press is a department of the University of Oxford.
It furthers the University’s objective of excellence in research, scholarship,
and education by publishing worldwide. Oxford is a registered trade mark of
Oxford University Press in the UK and in certain other countries
© Jonathan Boff 2018
The moral rights of the author have been asserted
First Edition published in 2018
Impression: 1
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in
a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the
prior permission in writing of Oxford University Press, or as expressly permitted
by law, by licence or under terms agreed with the appropriate reprographics
rights organization. Enquiries concerning reproduction outside the scope of the
above should be sent to the Rights Department, Oxford University Press, at the
address above
You must not circulate this work in any other form
and you must impose this same condition on any acquirer
Published in the United States of America by Oxford University Press
198 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10016, United States of America
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
Data available
Library of Congress Control Number: 2017953093
ISBN 978–0–19–967046–8
Printed in Great Britain by
Clays Ltd, St Ives plc
Links to third party websites are provided by Oxford in good faith and
for information only. Oxford disclaims any responsibility for the materials
contained in any third party website referenced in this work.
OUP CORRECTED PROOF – FINAL, 19/12/17, SPi

Acknowledgements

I could not have completed this book without the help and support of too
many people to list here. I am immensely grateful, first, for the encourage-
ment and support, moral and practical, that I have received from friends and
colleagues both at the University of Birmingham and within the history
community more broadly. The generosity I have encountered has been
inspiring. Nick Crowson, Elaine Fulton, Sabine Lee, and Corey Ross helped
create the space for me to research this book, and my fellow foot-soldiers in
the War Studies trenches, past and present, kindly took up the teaching slack.
Pete Gray has been a good friend and a sage mentor to whose wisdom
I owe much. Members of the Centre for War Studies, most notably John
Bourne, have offered inspiration and education in equal measure at our
seminars. I am grateful to the participants at a range of seminars and confer-
ences to whom I have presented aspects of this work over the years, for their
comments and suggestions; and to those who took part in the 2014 and
2016 British Army staff rides to the Western Front, from whom I learnt
much. I am especially grateful to Holger Afflerbach, Tony Cowan, Robert
Foley, Markus Pöhlmann, Christian Stachelbeck, and Dave Zabecki, all of
whom shared their expertise in the history of the German military with a
generosity and patience which was humbling to this novice. My students,
inevitably, have taught me the most: I thank them for that and for turning a
job into a joy.
Special thanks to Professors David French, David Stevenson, and Sir
Hew Strachan, who have been especially supportive in multiple ways, most
of them beyond the call of duty.
Without the help of archivists, not much history would get written. I am
grateful to the staffs of the following archives and libraries: in Britain, the
British Library, Imperial War Museum, London Library, National Archives, and
National Army Museum; in Germany, the Bundesarchiv-Militärarchiv in
Freiburg im Breisgau, and, in Munich, the Bayerische Staatsbibliothek
and Bayerisches Hauptstaatsarchiv, both Abteilung IV (Kriegsarchiv) and
OUP CORRECTED PROOF – FINAL, 19/12/17, SPi

vi Ack now le dge m e n ts

Abteilung III (Geheimes Hausarchiv). Special thanks at the last of these to


Dr Gerhard Immler, a prince among archivists, and the very patient Herr
Leipnitz.
Thanks to Barbara Taylor once again for her excellent maps. Others who
helped me in specific ways are thanked at the appropriate place in the Notes.
Several friends were kind enough to read drafts: thank you to Holger
Afflerbach,Tony Cowan,Aimée Fox, Sabine Lee, Corey Ross, Gary Sheffield,
Andy Simpson, and to the anonymous readers for Oxford University Press.
Thank you for the keen attention to detail you brought to the task and for
saving me from howlers. This is a better book for your insights and sugges-
tions: the shortcomings that remain are my fault.
Luciana O’Flaherty first approached me about publishing with Oxford
University Press, and I am grateful to her, Matthew Cotton, Martha
Cunneen, Carrie Hickman, Kizzy Taylor-Richelieu, and the whole team
there for their encouragement, patience, tact, and efficiency. Thanks also to
Sally Evans-Darby for the speed and accuracy of her copy-editing.
When it briefly looked as though this project might be derailed, the pro-
fessionalism and skill of Andy Chukwuemuka, Diana Holdright, Susan
Horsewood-Lee, and the staff of the Cromwell Hospital kept it on track.
I owe them more than I can say.
Friends and family have tolerated the absences, both physical and mental,
of a distracted author with good humour and patience which I didn’t always
deserve. This applies especially to my wife,Yuko. This book is hers as much
as mine: I might never have started it, and certainly couldn’t have finished it,
without her love and encouragement. It is dedicated to her, and to my god-
children, Phoebe, Jack, Tom, James, and Luke, with love.
OUP CORRECTED PROOF – FINAL, 19/12/17, SPi

Contents

List of Illustrations ix
List of Maps xi
Maps xii

Introduction 1

PA RT I. TO WA R 1914
1. Rupprecht’s Road to War 11
2. The Battle of the Frontiers 17
3. The End of the Campaign in Lorraine 27
4. The First Battle of the Somme 35
5. To Ypres 41

PA RT II. T H E A N V I L 1915–16
6. A Difficult Winter 57
7. A Successful Spring 68
8. Further Victories 83
9. Verdun and the Road to the Somme 92
10. Early Days on the Somme 100
11. Rupprecht the General 108

PA RT III. HOLDI NG T H E LI N E 1916 –17


12. Rupprecht Takes Command 121
13. Autumn on the Somme 134
14. Scorched Earth 144
OUP CORRECTED PROOF – FINAL, 19/12/17, SPi

viii Con t e n ts

15. The Battle of Arras 156


16. The Battle for Flanders: Summer 1917 168
17. The Battle for Flanders: To Passchendaele 178
18. Cambrai 190

PA RT I V. Y E A R OF DE F E ATS 1918
19. Planning the Spring Offensives 201
20. Operation MICHAEL 210
21. Operation GEORGETTE and Summer 1918 220
22. The Hundred Days 233
23. Rupprecht on the Run 247

PA RT V. CONCLUSIONS
24. Rupprecht the Field Marshal 257
25. Rupprecht and Politics 269
26. Last Words 277

Appendix: Note on Military Terminology 285


Notes 289
Bibliography 329
Picture Acknowledgements 343
Index 345
OUP CORRECTED PROOF – FINAL, 19/12/17, SPi

List of Illustrations

2.1. Rupprecht with his two sons before the war 20


5.1. Rupprecht setting out for a morning ride 48
8.1. Kaiser Wilhelm II visiting Rupprecht’s headquarters 84
11.1. Rupprecht and his son Albrecht  112
12.1. Rupprecht and his staff 122
13.1. Hindenburg with Ludendorff 135
14.1. Rupprecht inspecting his troops 148
15.1. The front-line trenches of the Hindenburg Line (Siegfried Stellung)
near Bullecourt 159
20.1. German troops in the streets of Bapaume, March 1918 213
22.1. The demonstration of 7 November 1918 on the
Theresienwiese, Munich 245
23.1. Crown Prince Rupprecht and Princess Antonie with their
family between the wars 249
OUP CORRECTED PROOF – FINAL, 19/12/17, SPi
OUP CORRECTED PROOF – FINAL, 19/12/17, SPi

List of Maps

1. General Key for All Maps xii


2. Europe and the Contending Alliances, 1914 xiii
3. The Western Front, 1914–18 xiv
4. Lorraine 1914 xv
5. Somme 1914 xvi
6. Flanders 1914 xvii
7. Artois 1915 xviii
8. Somme 1916 xix
9. Arras 1917 xx
10. Flanders 1917 xxi
11. Cambrai 1917 xxii
12. MICHAEL 1918 xxiii
13. GEORGETTE 1918 xxiv
14. The Hundred Days xxv
OUP CORRECTED PROOF – FINAL, 19/12/17, SPi

Maps

XXXXX
BR British Army Group

XXXX
Bav Bavarian
Army

XXX
FR French
Corps
Australian and New Zealand
ANZAC Army Corps XX
Division

AUS Australian
German
CAN Canadian

Infantry
Gds Guards

Cavalry
NZ New Zealand

Res Reserve (-) Elements of unit

Ter Territorial

Railways

Canals

1. General Key for All Maps


Key
500 miles
500 km
Triple Alliance
N
Central Powers
NORWAY
Neutral
SWEDEN
Bavaria (within
Germany)

OUP CORRECTED PROOF – FINAL, 19/12/17, SPi


North (1915) Date of joining war
© BAT 2016

Sea DENMARK

GREAT
BRITAIN
RUSSIA
Atlantic NETH.
GERMANY
Ocean BEL.

FRANCE AUSTRIA–
SWITZ. HUNGARY

ROMANIA
(1916) Black Sea
AL

SERBIA
UG

ITALY BULGARIA
SPAIN
RT

(1915) MONT.
(1915)
PO

ALBANIA
OTTOMAN EMPIRE
Mediterranean Sea (1914)
GREECE
(1917)
MOROCCO ALGERIA

2. Europe and the Contending Alliances, 1914


Zeebrugge HOLLAND Key
Antwerp N
Ostend Bruges Limit of German advance
er BELGIUM in September 1914
Ghent
ov
Nieuport e
eld Approximate front line
D Sch Aachen
of
Dunkirk Diksmuide Louvain from end of 1914
r
s Yse
r ait Flanders Lys Courtrai
BRUSSELS Liège Allied gains during 1916
St Calais Ypres and 1917

OUP CORRECTED PROOF – FINAL, 19/12/17, SPi


Hazebrouck use
Me Spa German gains during 1918
Boulogne Lille Tournai
re Namur
Loos
Lens mb Charleroi Armistice line on 11
Mons Sa November 1918
Artois Douai Maubeuge
Arras
Cambrai 30 miles
Le Avesnes 30 km © BAT 2016
Cateau
So LUXEMBOURG e
mm Albert Oise sell
e Peronne Mo
St Quentin Trier
Amiens Mézières Sedan
Dieppe Chemin GERMANY
Picardy Laon des Dames Aisne

Me
use
Compiègne
Aisne
Rouen Soissons
Reims Verdun Metz Lorraine
Ves

ine
ise
le Champagne Morhange

Rh
Se O St
ine Château- Épernay M
Meaux ar Mihiel
Thierry ne Strasbourg
e Nancy
rn
Ma Petit Morin

Meu
Grand Mor
PARIS in Alsace

se

M
ne

os
Sei

ell
e
Epinal

ges
Troyes Freiburg

Vo s
F R A N C E
Mulhouse
Basel
Belfort

3. The Western Front, 1914–18


OUP CORRECTED PROOF – FINAL, 19/12/17, SPi

LUXEMBOURG 30 kms
30 miles N
e
ell
os
M

Sa
Thionville

rre
XXXX GERMANY
6
Rupprecht
LORRAINE
Metz
St Avold Sarreguemines
XXX
Seille

II
XXX Bav
III Morhange XXX
Bav
XXXX
XXI XXX
2 I
Castelnau Bav
Vic
BASSE
ALSACE
Dieuze Sarrebourg XXX

ine
Toul Lagarde

Rh
Nancy XXX
XV

er
Riv
(-)
XIX
Cirey Strasbourg
Lunéville
Manonviller Vezouze

Badonviller

Charmes
Mo

XXXX
sell

Me
s
e

ntain

urt

FRANCE Épinal
7
he

Heeringen
Mou

XXXX
ges

1
Vos

Dubail Colmar

Thann

Key Mulhouse
International boundary Belfort
Approximate limit of ine
HAUTE r Rh
French advance,
ALSACE Rive
evening 19 August 1914
Montbéliard Basle
Approximate line of
maximum German
advance, SWITZERLAND
s
ub

25 August 1914
Do

© BAT 2016

4. Lorraine 1914
Gommecourt brai

Arra
N Cam

s
Bapaume
Miraumont

Nord
Beaumont-
Hamel

al du
Thiepval

OUP CORRECTED PROOF – FINAL, 19/12/17, SPi


Can
Pozières
Longueval
la-Boiselle Morval
Fricourt
Albert Combles Moislains
Mametz
Maricourt
e
ncr Curlu
er A
Riv Bray-sur-
Somme
Péronne
River S
omme
Flaucourt
Corbie
Santerre Plateau
Warfusée-
Abancourt
Amiens
Villers-
Bretonneux
St Quentin
Lihons
Luce
River

Rive
r So

l
na
mm
Riv

Ca
er

e
ise

tin
Avr

rO

en
e

ve

Qu
Ham Ri

St
Nesle

Roye

10 miles
Montdidier 10 km © BAT 2016

5. Somme 1914
OUP CORRECTED PROOF – FINAL, 19/12/17, SPi

N XXX Forest of
Houthulst XXXX
XXIII Res
4
XX Württemberg
Ypre Canal XXX
89 Ter FR
s—C

XXVI Res ROULERS


om

XX Bixshcoote Poelcapelle
ines

87 Ter FR Langemarck
XX
Passchendaele
1
Boesinghe Pilckem St
XXX Julien XX Gravenstafel
XXX
Elverdinghe I 2
Zonnebeke Broodseinde
St
Jean
XXVII Res
Vlamertinghe XX XXX
XX
Poperinghe 17 FR
YPRES IV 7 Terhand
Zillebeke
Gheluvelt
XX
Dickebusch
3
Zandvoorde Gheluwe Lys
St Eloi River
MENIN
XX
XXX 2
Wytschaete
Kemmel
Cav Mount XX
Kemmel Wervicq XXX
Messines
1 Comines
V XXXX
XXX
Wulverghem
Neuve
Warneton
XXX IV 6
XX
Eglise Rupprecht
Bailleul 4 I
Ploegsteert
XXX XXX
TOURCOING
Frelinghien
III XIX
Nieppe
ROUBAIX
Armentières
Lys
er
Riv

Bois
Estaires Grenier

Laventie
LILLE

Fromelles

Aubers

Neuve
Chapelle

Festubert Seclin

Givenchy
LA Phalempin
BASSÉE
Key
3 miles British positions on 21 October 1914
3 km British positions on 23 October 1914
© BAT 2016

6. Flanders 1914
OUP CORRECTED PROOF – FINAL, 19/12/17, SPi

Béthune
La
Bas
sée LA BASSÉE
Can Givenchy-lès-
al
la-Bassée

nal
Cuinchy

eule Ca
Haisnes Douvrin
Annequin

Haute D
XXXX Sailly

1 BR
N Haig
Vermelles Hulluch

Noeux-
les-Mines

Mazingarbe
Loos
Hill 70
Grenay

Bully-
les-Mines
ez
Souch
River

Aix
LENS
Lor
ett
e Angres
Spu Notre-Dame
r XXXX de Lorette XXXX
165 m
10 FR 6
d’ Urbal Rupprecht
Ablain- Givenchy-
St Nazaire en-Gohelle
Souchez
V 140 m

Carency
im
y
Vimy
La
Folie
Neuville- Farm
Farbus
Mont- St-Vaast R
River St-Eloi id
Scarp g
e Thélus
e
The
Labyrinth
Bailleul

Écurie Roclincourt
Maroeuil

Anzin
St St
Nicolas Laurent
River
Scarp
e

ARRAS
Feuchy
Danville

Tilloy
Key
Allied front lines at start of
Beaurains
Second Battle of Artois
Allied front lines by 5 miles
13 October 1915 5 km © BAT 2016

7. Artois 1915
OUP CORRECTED PROOF – FINAL, 19/12/17, SPi

Gommecourt 5 miles
XXXX 5 km
Hébuterne
3
Allenby
3
Serre
N
XXXX XXX
Res XIV BAPAUME
Res XXX XXXX
Stein
Beaumont-Hamel Gd Res
Warlencourt 1
Butte de Marschall
St-Pierre-
Warlencourt Below
XXXX Divion
Le Sars
Courcelette Le Transloy
Res Gueudecourt XXX
Gough Thiepval
Martinpuich XXII
High Wood
Lesboeufs Res
Pozières Kirchbach
Res Bazentin
XXXX Wood
Delville Morval Sailly-
Ovillers Wood
Sallisel
4 Longueval Leuze
Wood St-Pierre-Vaast
La-Boisselle Trones
Wood Wood
Mametz Wood
ALBERT Montauban
Fricourt Combles
Bernafay
Mametz Wood Rancourt
Bouchavesnes XXX
Maricourt XXVII
XXXX Res
cre BEF X Fas-
An
XX bender
4 XX FR Curlu Cléry

le
To La
Rawlinson

rtil
Mt St
Quentin
Bray-sur- Frise
Feuilleres Halles
Somme
PÉRONNE

Cappy
Somme Flaucourt
XXXX Fontaine- Becquincourt
Lès-Cappy 6 FR Barleux
6 XXXX XXX
Fayolle 10 FR Belloy
Proyart XVII
Foucaucourt Estrées Fleck

Berny Villers-
XXXX Soyécourt Carbonnel
Deniécourt
10 Genermont
Micheler Vermandovillers
Som

Ablaincourt
me

Key XXXX
Pressoir
Front Line on:
1 July 1916 Lihons
Chaulnes 2
10 July 1916 Gallwitz
28 August 1916 XXX
30 September 1916 IX
Chilly Quast
31 October 1916
15 November 1916
XXXX Army boundary
XXXXX BEF/French army
boundary Nesle
© BAT 2016

8. Somme 1916
OUP CORRECTED PROOF – FINAL, 19/12/17, SPi

XXX XX
N Key
6 LENS Front line: 9 April 1917
I Liéven
XXX Front line: 27 May 1917
XX I Bav
Res XXXX Army boundary
Lor XX
ette 79 Res
Méricourt
Spu 24
r The Pimple
Souchez Hill 119
XXXX XX Givenchy Drocourt
4 CAN
Hill Vimy Acheville
1 XX
145 XX
DOUAI
Horne 3 CAN
Fresnoy
XX 1 Bav Res Quiéry
XXX Farbus Arleux
2 CAN
Vi
m

XX
CAN Oppy
yR
idg

1 CAN
Bailleul pe
e

1
car
XX
X rS
XXX 3
XX
e
Marœuil
51 XX Gavrelle Riv
14 Bav
XXX 34
XX
Vitry XXXX
XVII 9
XX Athies Fampoux 6
Rœux
15 Falkenhausen
XXX XX XXX
ARRAS XX
Sailly
12 Feuchy
VI IX Res sée
XX
11
Monchy-le- en
3
erS
XXXX XX Tilloy XX Preux Riv
14
17 Res
3 XX
Guémappe
Allenby 56
Wancourt Dury
Neuville Vis
Wailly Héninel
XX
St Martin CAM
Ficheux 30 XX Fontaine BRA
XX I
l

Hendecourt
jeu

18 Res
Co

XX
XXX 220 Cagnicourt
Boyelles
er

Riencourt
Riv

21
Croisilles
VII Bullecourt
XX
Adinfer 62 elle
XX
Quéant nd
3 X iro
rH
XX XXX Ecoust 4 e
AUS Riv
Ayette X 5 Noreuil
V
Ervillers
Mory Lagnicourt
Vaulx- Boursies
Ablainzeville Vrauqcourt XXX
Morchies
XXXX I ANZAC
Beugnâtre Doignies
5
Beaumetz
Gough BAPAUME
5 miles
5 km © BAT 2016

9. Arras 1917
OUP CORRECTED PROOF – FINAL, 19/12/17, SPi

Key
N St
Forest of Houthulst
Allied Lines:
ee
nb XX Morning 31 July 1917
ee
k Evening 31 July 1917
2 Gd Res
20 September 1917
7 December 1917
Yes-

Formations shown at time of initial assault.

ER DE
Ypre

E X MU
Koekuit

N
PP X X IX
XX
s Ca

Bro

D
YP
enb

E
Bixschoote eek

PP
50 Res
nal

RU
RU
G
G
XXXX Steenstraat
Lizerne XX Poelcappelle
1 FR 111 Langemarck
Anthoine Het Sas

1 FR XX Stroom

St
X beek
XXX Passchendaele

ee
Pilckem

nb
5 Gds Kerselaere XX
XX

ee
Boesinghe Kitchener’s

k
Wood Gravenstafel 221
3 Gd St
XXX XX Julien
XX Tyne Cot
XIV 38
Elverdinghe 23 XX
XX

51 XX 235
Broodseinde
XXX 39
Wieltje XXXX
XVII Zonnebeke
Frezenberg
Brielen
St
XX 4
Jean 55 von Arnim
XXXX XXX
XX
XX
Potijze
Vlamertinghe 15
5 XIX 38
Westhoek Polygon
Gough XX Wood
8 Becelaere
YPRES Hooge
Zillebeke XX Sanctuary
Lake Wood XX Veldhoek
30
GRU
Zillebeke GRPPE
52 Res UPP X X YPER
X
GheluveltEW X N
XXX YTS
53 18 CH
XX AET
II Klein Herenthage XX E
Zillebeke Woods Me
24 nin
119 Roa
d
Dickebusch Shrewsbury
XX Kruiseecke
Vormezeele Forest
Dickebusch
Lake XX 22 Res
5 XXX
XXXX Zandvoorde
2 St Eloi 41
X
XX
XX
Vierstraat 19 Hollebeke
XXX 12
XX
IX
Oosttaverne 10 Bav

XX Houthem
Wytschaete XX
37
Kemmel Yp
XX re 207
s-
Mount XXXX 18 Res Ca Com
Kemmel na in
l e s
2 Garde-Dieu
Messines Gapaard COMINES
Plumer
Wulverghem XX
ys
3 AUS er L
River Douve XXX Riv

I I ANZAC GRUPPE
XX
Warneton WYTSCHAETE
Neuve Eglise Hill 63 NZ XXX
GRUPPE LILLE

2500 yds
Ploegsteert Wood © BAT 2016
2500 m

10. Flanders 1917


OUP CORRECTED PROOF – FINAL, 19/12/17, SPi

Inchy

Bourlon Bourlon Wood


CAMBRAI

Mœuvres Fontaine-
Notre-Dame XXXX

XX Cantaing 2
XX
XXX
56 20 LW Graincourt
um e XIII
Bapa

XX
36 Flesquières Rumilly
Marcoing

Hermies Masniéres
Havrincourt Ribécourt
XX Crèvecœur
l
na

54
d
Ca

or

XX
N
du

l
62 Trescault na
XX Ca
tin
XX en
Havrincourt 9 Res Qu
St
Wood 51 XX
XXX 6 La
IV Vacquerie
Metz-en- III XX
IV
Couture 20
XX Banteux
Gonnelieu
29
Gouzeaucourt XX
12
XXXX
XXX III Villers-
3 Gauche VII Guislain
Wood
Byng III

Epéhy Vendhuille

Key
British front 20 November 1917
British gains 20 November 1917
Lines of Hindenburg/
Siegfriedstellung position
Limit of British advance 5 miles
5 km
XXX Corps boundary © BAT 2016

11. Cambrai 1917


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XXXX 6
XX N
6 XX17
Lens Quast R Scarpe
XXXX
Vimy Douai
1
Horne 1 XXXX
XXXX
3 17
Below

e
eld
ARRAS

ch
Sensee

RS
Canal

17 XXX
X 2 XXXX
Croisilles CAMBRAI
2
Marwitz
Doullens Flesquières
XXXX Masnières

3 Bapaume
Byng Gouzeaucourt
R Ancre

Miraumont Ytres

St Q
Villers-
du N al
ord
Can
St-Pierre Guislain

uent
Vaast
Albert Wood

in Ca
2
XX
Bray XX 18 XXXX

nal
Sailly-
Laurette PÉRONNE
AMIENS 18
3 Bellenglise Hutier
XXXX Hamel
4 Villers-
XXXX Bretonneux Tertry
4 Beauvois
Rawlinson Chaulnes ST QUENTIN
RS

BEF
om

XXXXX
Rouy-
me

Moreuil
FR le-Grand
St Simon
Nesle Cr
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na
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R No

Cantigny Montdidier
Chauny La Fère
XXXX

3 FR
Humbert Barisis XXXX
Noyon
7
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Key R
R Ois

Ai
let
Start line 21 March 1918 te
23 March 1918
27 March 1918
Final position 5 April 1918 25 miles
25 km
XXXX Army boundary © BAT 2016

12. MICHAEL 1918


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Key XXXX
Forest of Staden
German Lines: 4

Yse
Houthulst

r-Yp
9 April 1918 Sixt von Armin

res
10 April 1918 XXXX

Can
11 April 1918

al
12 April 1918 BE
25 April 1918 Albert Steenstraat
Poelcappelle
Formations shown at time of initial assault.
Langemarck
Passchendaele

3 miles N
3 kms GIA
BEL XXX
XX F
N BE

Vlamertinghe
YPRES
Poperinghe
Hooge Becelaere

Gheluvelt
Dickebusch

Steenvoorde
Scherpenberg
Godewaersvelde

Yp
res
La Clytte

–C
Mont des Mont
Wytschaete

om
Cats Rouge Kemmel

ine
XXXX Locre Mount COMINES

sC
Mont Kemmel

an
Noir Dranoutre
2 BR

al
Messines
Plumer Wulverghem
Caëstra

Neuve Eglise Ploegsteert Warneton


Meteren Wood
BAILLEUL

Strazeel

4
HAZEBROUCK XXXX
6
Steenwerck

ARMENTIERES
Forest of Vierhouck Bac-St-
Nieppe Maur
2
Neuf-Berquin
Lys

XXXX
er

1
Riv

Estaires
Fleurbaix Bois-
Merville Grenier

St Venant
Radinghem
Fromelles

Robecq Aubers
Vieille Chapelle
Neuve Chapelle XXXX
Fournes
Locon 6
XXXX Hinges
l
na

Quast
Ca

1 BR
le
Lil

Horne
Don
Festubert
aB
Aire-L assée Ca
BÉTHUNE nal
Givenchy La
Bassée
Cuinchy
© BAT 2016

13. GEORGETTE 1918


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XXXX Courtrai N
Ypres Menin
2
XXXX
Hazebrouck BELGIUM
4
XXXX Roubaix

He sitio
8 Aug

Po
Armentieres

rm n
XXXX

an
9 Sept Lille Tournai

n
5
XXXX
Béthune
6 Mons
XXXX e
a rp re
Lens
XX
XX Sc mb
Sa
1 Valenciennes
30 Aug Maubeuge
Douai
XXXX Forest of
9 Sept Mormal
Arras
17
XXXX Le
Cambrai
25 Cateau
3 Aug Havrincourt
Bapaume Avesnes
XXXX
XX XXXX
XX
4 Épehy
Albert 2 Guise Oise
Péronne
Amiens
F R A N C E
Som

9 XX
18 XX St
me

9 Sept Quentin La Serre


8 Aug Aug Aug
XXXX
Hu
Roye nd
18 XXXX ing
XXXX 10 Aug 9 Sept La Fere
-Brunhild
Positio
Noyon XX 9 n
1 FR XX
Laon XXXX
XX

Montdidier 22 Sissonne
XX

21 Aug
8 Aug Aug 9 Sept 7
XXXX

e
XXXX Aisne Aisn 1
Compiègne
XXXX
3 FR se
Oi Soissons Vesle
10 FR
Reims
Key
Wotan Line
e Épernay
Hindenburg/Siegfried Line Château- Marn
Thierry
Armistice Line 11 November
30 miles
XXXX Army boundary 30 km © BAT 2016

14. The Hundred Days


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Introduction

C rown Prince Rupprecht of Bavaria first came alive for me a few years
ago. I was working on a book about the last few months of the war on
the Western Front and had gone to Munich to explore the archives of the
Bavarian army. These somehow escaped the Second World War firebombs
which destroyed many of the Prussian records and as a result constitute one
of the best sources for information on the German army during the First
World War. On the last day of my trip, as I was idly flicking through a folder
of apparently random documents, one sheet of paper caught my eye. It was
a passport, issued by the Dutch embassy in German-occupied Brussels,
allowing the Marquis de Villalobar and his party to enter the Netherlands
on 12 November 1918. What was it doing in the personal files of Crown
Prince Rupprecht of Bavaria?
I already knew a little about Rupprecht. I knew, for instance, that he
served as one of Germany’s most senior generals between 1914 and 1918
and spent most of the war fighting against the ‘tommies’ of the British
Expeditionary Force (BEF), leading the German Sixth Army, and later an
army group of one and a half million men, in famous battles such as Ypres,
the Somme, and Passchendaele.1 It was Rupprecht’s men who launched
Germany’s last-gasp offensives in March 1918, and when they failed it was
his army group that felt much of the weight of Allied counter-attacks dur-
ing the so-called ‘Hundred Days’ campaign in August–November 1918.
Rupprecht’s closest British counterpart and most consistent enemy was
probably Sir Douglas Haig. Like Rupprecht, Haig rose to command an army
group: the BEF; and everywhere Haig and the BEF turned from October
1914 on, Rupprecht and his men were in the way. A good parallel from
the Second World War might be the mythical rivalry between Bernard
Montgomery and Erwin Rommel, although Haig and Rupprecht, who
never met and were in no sense personal rivals, would have despised any
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2 I n t roduct ion

propaganda of personality of that kind. What did the Marquis de Villalobar


have to do with Rupprecht, though, and why was he travelling to neutral
Holland the day after the Armistice had been signed?
In the early days of November 1918 Germany was in double crisis. At
home, Socialist agitators were whipping up revolution, pushing crowned
heads from their thrones and seizing power. Among those deposed were
Kaiser Wilhelm II and Rupprecht’s father, King Ludwig III of Bavaria. At
the front, the famed discipline of the German army was breaking down
after a series of heavy battlefield defeats. Some units were already setting up
Russian-style soldiers’ councils (‘soviets’). The people of Brussels, where
Rupprecht had his headquarters, cowered behind locked doors as gangs of
drunken German soldiers rampaged through the streets, looting and worse
wherever they could. Rupprecht’s life might be in danger. Less than four
months before, after all, Bolsheviks had pitilessly murdered the Russian Tsar
and his entire family. The Spanish ambassador to Belgium, Rodrigo Marqués
de Villalobar, came to Rupprecht’s rescue. He offered sanctuary in the
embassy and made arrangements to smuggle him, disguised as plain Mr
Landsberg, to safety in the Netherlands. That was what the passport was for
and that explained why it had found its way to the archive in Munich.2
Answering one question, however, raised others. How was the proud heir
to an ancient throne, a man of consequence in Germany and across Europe,
a field marshal who had led hundreds of thousands of men in battle, reduced
to skulking across borders under cover of darkness and a false name? This is
the first question this book seeks to answer. It offers the first biography of
Crown Prince Rupprecht in English, concentrating on his military career.
He has had several German biographers but they have tended not to be
specialists in the history of warfare. Only a couple of scholarly articles in
German have addressed this aspect of his career before now.3 As we will see,
the human story is a fascinating, moving, and possibly tragic one. It also,
however, raises important questions with broader ramifications than the
purely individual. Studying Rupprecht’s military career allows us to inter-
rogate and challenge several of the preconceptions we have about the First
World War and about modernity itself.4
We can, for instance, see the war from a new perspective if we look
through Rupprecht’s eyes. Too often we have been told the story of the
Western Front from the British point of view alone.5 The French, and even
the Germans, often fade into the background or even out of the picture
altogether. This book aims to help correct this distortion and to give the
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I n t roduct ion3

proper weight to all three armies, enabling us to understand the war in a


more balanced way.
We can also explore important questions about the war. One of the key
ones is: why did Germany lose the First World War? Inevitably, a range of
factors played a part. Germany did not lose the First World War only because
her army was defeated on the Western Front. Events on other fronts and at
home, some of which had little or nothing to do with Rupprecht, played a
part in determining the outcome. So there are limits to what studying him
can tell us. For instance, his contribution to grand strategy, the level of war
where politicians set overall aims and allocate resources, was, as we shall see,
limited. He did, however, know all the key decision-makers and was
extremely well informed. Consequently, he is a useful source of information
about the direction of the war. We will see that the German leadership
made strategic mistakes at every stage. Few historians would disagree with
that. The more interesting question is: why?
Rupprecht himself spent the war fighting on the Western Front, working
at the operational level of war. This is where generals construct and fight
campaigns, design and sequence battles, allocate resources and manage
reserves to achieve the mission they have been set by the strategists. Below
the level of operations lies that of tactics, where soldiers fight their battles.
Get the tactics right, and you win battles. Get the operational art right, and
you win campaigns. Get the strategy right, too, and you win wars. The
Western Front was one campaign of a larger war and for both sides winning
there was necessary, even if it was not sufficient, for victory. Control of
France and Belgium was precisely what many thought they were fighting
for in the first place and it was here that both sides deployed their most
powerful forces. The focus of this book, therefore, is on the operational level
of war on the Western Front, where seeing events through Rupprecht’s eyes
can be very helpful.
This is an aspect of Germany’s war which historians have tended to
neglect, concentrating instead either on the view of the supreme com-
mander or of the individual soldier in the trench.6 Germany has even less of
a tradition of operational military history than British academia.7 In neither
English nor German has any historian yet followed a single senior German
general, and the formations he commanded, through the whole war as this
book does. Doing so shows how the German military reacted to the stresses
of conflict and the need for rapid and sometimes radical change. Many mili-
tary historians tend to assume that the German army of the first half of the
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4 I n t roduct ion

twentieth century was highly skilled tactically, largely because it operated a


flexible system of command known as Auftragstaktik (‘mission command’)
which delegated authority and ensured that the man best placed to make
any decision was the one issuing the orders. Other strengths included high
levels of training and motivation. However misguided or downright evil the
purposes to which the army was put, they argue, it constituted a fine tech-
nical instrument. Here I challenge that interpretation and suggest that the
German army of 1914–18 had structural weaknesses and conceptual short-
comings which inhibited innovation, distorted decision-making, and
eventually helped destroy it. Some of those weaknesses were unique to the
military, but others carried over from broader German society.8 Studying
armies as institutions in their own right is interesting but when, as in the
two world wars, they are mass citizen forces, they open a window onto
society as a whole which allows analysis of the military to take on wider
significance.
If historians have sometimes overlooked the operational art of the German
army, the same cannot be said of the BEF, which has been studied under the
finest of microscopes. One of the most influential and persistent myths in
history, first sketched out by Winston Churchill and David Lloyd George and
enthusiastically developed and promulgated by Basil Liddell Hart and others,
is that which sees the Western Front primarily in terms of British failure.9
The traditional narrative assumes that what went wrong on the Western
Front did so because the generals were too stupid, or the army too hide-
bound, to adjust to the modern reality of barbed wire and the machine gun.
The commemorations of the war’s centenary have repeated the stereotypes
encapsulated in Oh! What a Lovely War and Blackadder more often than they
have challenged them, showing how deeply seared into the public con-
sciousness this myth is. The gulf between popular perceptions of the war and
recent academic research has never been wider, because since the 1980s a
generation of British and Commonwealth military historians have been
mining the archives to revise that traditional view.They have dissected almost
every aspect of the BEF in minute detail and argue that its leaders were not,
on the whole, fatheads and knaves who never learnt a thing. Instead, the
British army did remarkably well to overcome the immense challenges it
faced and adapt to radical change in the most trying conditions, by marrying
the best civilian expertise with military know-how to climb a metaphorical
‘learning curve’, until by 1918 it was capable of fighting the toughest army in
the world toe-to-toe—and beating it.10
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I n t roduct ion5

The ‘learning curve’ idea captures the central truth that the British army
of 1918 was certainly more effective than it had been even a year or two
previously. It is not without problems, however, largely stemming from
exploring the BEF in isolation without sufficient comparative research into
the French and German armies. This is understandable given the mass of
detail involved in the study of just one army, much less three, even before
taking into account the language barrier. Nonetheless, this risks making
British learning look exceptional. Also, it can exaggerate the British achieve-
ment by ascribing too much of the BEF’s success to its learning curve and
taking insufficient account of any deterioration in the German army. One
of my core contentions here is that it is a mistake to see the war as a one-
sided (British) struggle to learn a new way of fighting and break the stalemate.
Although the front was deadlocked for much of the war, it was so only
because there was a continuous dynamic of push and pull, measure and
counter-measure, between the two sides. This produced a deceptively stable
equilibrium. This book argues that the battlefield defeat of the German
army in 1918 was at least as much the result of the Germans getting worse
as it was of the British getting better. It therefore challenges us to revise our
views of the BEF, which was neither a collection of ‘butchers and bunglers’
nor an institution made up exclusively of forward-thinking quick learners,
but somewhere between the two.
So, Rupprecht’s war enables us to see the war and the armies which fought
it in a fresh way. It also prompts us to think again about the relationship
between the First World War, modernity, and the agency of the individual.
One of the things that first attracted me to Rupprecht was that he seemed to
stand for a generation which was destroyed by the events of 1914–18. By the
time the war finished, his eldest son and many of his friends were dead. He
had lost his throne and, instead of leading a triumphant homecoming parade,
he sneaked back into Bavaria incognito. The threat of trial for war crimes
hung over his head for years. Never again would he enjoy true power or
influence. Throughout the 1920s and 1930s he watched as political violence
convulsed his fatherland. Under Hitler, he lost his home, his family, and
nearly his life. Like the cosmopolitan aristocrats of central Europe so vividly
evoked in Patrick Leigh Fermor’s travel books, Rupprecht can be seen as one
of the many relics of a bygone age swept away by the tsunami of modernity.11
How far does such a romantic picture correspond to reality, though?
Seeing Rupprecht as a victim fits neatly into popular perceptions of both
the First World War and modernity itself. Most of us first encounter the war
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6 I n t roduct ion

at school, through poets such as Wilfred Owen and Siegfried Sassoon. The
worm’s-eye view they offer inevitably drains meaning from the existence of
the soldiers they depict. Unable to discern the larger patterns which make
sense of their lives—and deaths—of course the war seems bewildering and
futile. These poets were keen to reject what they saw as the twee conserva-
tive pastoralism of Edwardian Britain and so they eagerly highlighted the
impersonal, the mechanical, and the modern in ways which have further
influenced our view of the war. In Owen’s poem, the Western Front is
where, amid the monstrous clamour of modern industrial warfare, ‘doomed
youth’ are herded to their deaths with all the passivity of cattle. Similarly, it
is a mark of the insignificance of the individual in All Quiet on the Western
Front that the novel’s ironic title derives from the official bulletin issued on
the day its everyman hero dies. In other self-consciously modern depictions
of the war, such as C. R. W. Nevinson’s painting ‘La Mitrailleuse’, soldiers
have lost their humanity altogether. Flesh and steel fuse into war-fighting
machines. The fact that we concentrate our commemorations today on
memorials to those who were killed, not those who survived, only rein-
forces the victimhood motif. Also, to view the participants as victims rather
than agents has the advantage of being psychologically easier on us.12 The
victimhood we ascribe to the soldiers of the First World War is, therefore,
multi-faceted: it combines inevitable and pointless death with a sense of
alienation from a modern world increasingly dominated by the machine,
where humans have shrunk to insignificance and have no control over their
own destiny. For all the efforts of some historians to correct it, this percep-
tion of the ordinary soldier as victim remains firmly dug in.13
Even if it is correct that ‘the soldier in the trenches can be characterized
as the victim of modern warfare par excellence’, does that apply equally to all?
Were there active subjects, as well as passive objects, on the First World War
battlefield? To whom can we ascribe moral responsibility?14 Was Rupprecht
entirely caught up by forces he could neither understand nor control? Did
he conform to the romantic stereotype? Or was what happened to him the
consequence of his own decisions?15
The sources this book draws on are mostly new to an English-speaking
audience. I have worked through a range of archival collections, primarily
in Germany. First, Crown Prince Rupprecht kept a war diary, which is pre-
served in the Bavarian Household Privy Archive in Munich. It extends to
4,197 handwritten pages and was mainly put together as the war went on.
There are two exceptions: he reconstructed the first few months of 1914
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I n t roduct ion7

from notes over the following winter, and he also had to re-write the last
week of the war, having burned the original pages before going on the run.
This manuscript diary is full of detail, not only about what was going on in
his sector but also about the wider war. The entry for a typical day, 1 October
1917, for example, covers: his tactical and logistical situation (one page); an
intelligence report concerning a recent top-level Anglo-French meeting to
discuss offensive plans (another page); diplomatic developments (one page);
and the domestic situations in Britain, France, Russia, and the United States
of America (nearly six pages). During the 1920s Rupprecht’s generalship in
August and September 1914 attracted criticism in the early volumes of the
German official history. The retired staff officers at the Reichsarchiv in
Potsdam who were compiling it blamed errors he made for the failure of
the Schlieffen Plan. To put his side in the long-running controversy which
ensued, Rupprecht decided to publish a version of his diaries. He asked
some of his former staff officers to read and check the manuscript, which
was then edited down to a quarter of its original length and published in
three volumes in 1929. Much of the material cut out was repetitive or, like
the sometimes lengthy domestic and foreign press summaries Rupprecht
used to write up, not relevant. On the whole, the published diary maintains
the sense of the original closely, although on occasion Rupprecht was ­unable
to resist tweaking it to make himself look better, as we shall see. He also
toned down, or left out completely, some of his criticisms of individuals.
Some historians have drawn on the published diary, but few have bothered
with the manuscript version, or with other unpublished papers including
Rupprecht’s correspondence with his family, friends, and politicians.16
Another major source was the official records of the formations Rupprecht
led: Sixth Army and Army Group Crown Prince Rupprecht. These are held
in the Bavarian State War Archive, also in Munich, and cover most aspects
of both day-to-day operations and longer-range policy in considerable
detail.17 They relate not only to Bavarian formations but also to all those
under his command, so they give us a broad view across the German army.
The after-action reports compiled by units at all levels after battle, in an
effort to learn lessons for next time, proved particularly valuable. These
papers were supplemented by other official documents from the federal
military archives in Freiburg-im-Breisgau, where any surviving records
from Potsdam are stored, along with other private papers belonging to
Rupprecht’s associates and subordinates. Published primary sources include
the fourteen-volume German official history, Der Weltkrieg, the Bavarian
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8 I n t roduct ion

official history, Die Bayern im Großen Kriege 1914–1918, the series of battle
monographs compiled by the Reichsarchiv between the wars, German regi-
mental histories and officers’ memoirs, and, of course, the voluminous
French and British official histories.18
This book is divided into five Parts. The first four tell the story of
Rupprecht’s war from the beginning through to the end. Seeing the Western
Front through German eyes in this way invites us to review existing, largely
British, narratives of the battles fought there. We will discover, for instance,
that battles which loom large in British military history sometimes hardly
even feature as footnotes in the German equivalent. This also enables us to
explore some of the broader themes already mentioned. Prominent among
these is how the character of warfare evolved and the different armies adapted
to change. Many chapters conclude with a section on this strand. Another
recurring theme is the nature of command on the First World War battlefield.
Such themes help explain both the war’s outcome and the underlying
strengths and weaknesses of the forces fighting it. The fifth and final Part
assesses Rupprecht as military commander and political actor and offers
answers to some of the questions raised in this Introduction. An Appendix
on military terminology seeks to guide readers who want help telling the
difference between a corporal and a colonel or a company and a corps.
The war which emerges from this book is one of radical and dynamic
change where the ability to out-think your enemy was just as important as
being able to out-muscle him. It took both sides time and immense effort
to adapt to the new ways of war, not least because every time they came
close to an answer, the enemy changed the question. Eventually, however,
the German army was dragged down by its inherent weaknesses and fell
behind in the race to adapt.The results were disastrous. Sometimes Rupprecht
and his colleagues were constrained in the choices they could make, but the
decisions they took were nonetheless too often poor. The First World War
was not just a war of bodies and a war of machines: it was a war of brains,
too. The Germans lost all three.
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PaRt I
To war 1914
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1
Rupprecht’s Road to War

P rince Rupprecht Maria Luitpold Ferdinand was born in Munich shortly


before nine o’clock on the morning of 18 May 1869.1 He was the new-
est member of the Wittelsbachs, the dynasty which had ruled Bavaria for
nearly 700 years. Rupprecht was the first of thirteen children born to Prince
Ludwig and his wife, the Habsburg Princess Maria Therese. Rupprecht was
related to most of the crowned heads of Catholic Europe: not only the
Habsburgs but also the Braganzas, the house of Luxembourg, and even the
Stuarts. Indeed, some saw his mother as the rightful Stuart heir, tracing her
ancestry back to Charles I. When Rupprecht visited London for Queen
Victoria’s diamond jubilee in 1897, members of the Jacobite Order of the
White Rose tried to pay homage to him as the future King Robert I and IV.
Rupprecht never took this claim seriously, but his very name had a Stuart
link: King Charles I’s nephew and famous cavalry commander during the
English Civil War, Prince Rupert of the Rhine, was a Wittelsbach ancestor.
Rupprecht was not born to the throne. The King of Bavaria in 1869 was
his great-uncle, Ludwig II. Just twenty-three years old, he appeared per-
fectly vigorous and there seemed no reason why he should not live long and
build a family of his own. In fact, however, Ludwig’s enthusiasms lay else-
where. He was Richard Wagner’s patron and was more interested in building
fairy-tale castles than in continuing the royal line.The towers of his castle at
Neuschwanstein later inspired Walt Disney. Known as ‘Mad King Ludwig’,
he died in murky circumstances in 1886, childless and unmarried. His
brother Otto succeeded to the throne. Unfortunately, while there was room
for doubt about Ludwig’s mental health, there was none in Otto’s case. He
was indisputably insane. He had already been locked away for years and
remained so until he eventually died in 1916.The uncle of Otto and Ludwig,
and grandfather of Rupprecht, Prince Luitpold became the real ruler of
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12 To Wa r 1914

Bavaria as regent. When he died, in 1912, Rupprecht’s father took over,


finally setting Otto aside and declaring himself King Ludwig III the next
year. Thus, at the age of forty-four, Rupprecht became heir to the throne
and acquired the title by which he was known for the rest of his life: Crown
Prince of Bavaria.
The throne which Rupprecht should one day inherit was a constitutional,
rather than absolute, monarchy. The King was supposed to stand above
­politics and rule by consensus with his government and the two houses of
the Bavarian parliament, the Landtag. In reality, he wielded considerable
power. Although from 1906 the Lower House was elected by universal male
suffrage, the King dominated the Upper House, appointed and dismissed
the government at will, and dominated policy.2 The biggest constraint on
Bavarian royal power was external, rather than internal. In 1871 Bavaria
became part of the new imperial Germany. She was now just the second
state among many, lying far behind Prussia in importance. Of the total
German population, over 60 per cent were Prussian, while only a little over
10 per cent came from Bavaria. Prussia had the power to veto constitutional
change on her own whereas Bavaria could only do the same by building a
broad coalition of the smaller states. That said, the government in Munich
retained considerable powers and rights, including control over direct
­taxation. In peacetime it remained responsible for raising and running its
own army. Officers pledged allegiance to the Bavarian King, rather than
the German Kaiser. The army, however, was built on Prussian lines and in
the event of war the Kaiser would become Supreme War Lord of all the
German armies. Most crucially of all, the decision to declare war belonged
to the Kaiser alone.
The first half of Rupprecht’s life saw dramatic change for all Germany,
with rapid population growth, a rush to the cities, and huge industrial
expansion. Bavaria was affected too, but differences in the patterns of growth
and development across the new country exacerbated pre-existing regional
tensions. For example, although the population of Munich grew six-fold
between 1850 and 1910, towns such as Essen in the Ruhr expanded more
than thirty times over. Bavaria remained the least urban of the major
German states, and invested less in industry and scientific research. Overall,
Bavaria could not match the pace of growth in the north. In 1870, the
population of Bavaria had been 4.8 million. By 1910, it had increased by
40 per cent, to 6.9 million. This was huge growth in a short period, but
remained well below the German average of 60 per cent.
OUP CORRECTED PROOF – FINAL, 18/12/17, SPi

Ru ppr ech t’s Roa d to Wa r13

Bavaria retained deep cultural roots in its agrarian past. Seventy per cent
of the population was Catholic, with 28 per cent Protestant. In Prussia, the
religious proportions were almost exactly reversed. At the risk of generaliza-
tion, Bavaria remained relatively agricultural, Catholic, and conservative
even as Germany as a whole was becoming increasingly urban, Protestant,
and socially progressive. Even her conservatism, founded in the values of the
smallholder farmer, was very different from the Junker- and industrialist-
dominated conservatism of the imperial ruling class. All these differences,
new and old, created fault-lines which divided Bavaria and Prussia. Even in
peacetime, the relationship between the two was not always easy. Prussians
tended to treat Bavarians with condescension, while the latter were prickly
about anything which seemed to be eroding their rights and privileges. As
we shall see, wartime only made these tensions worse.3
Rupprecht later complained that his childhood was a strict one and to
modern eyes his upbringing seems indeed to have been harsh. It is not clear
that it was particularly so by the royal standards of the time, however. As a
young child he saw his parents only at mealtimes, had lessons daily from
eight a.m. until five p.m., and was frequently beaten, both by his short-
tempered father and by his tutor. In the finest tradition of German royalty,
his relationship with his father remained difficult throughout his life. It is
perhaps telling also that he reacted against the religious atmosphere of home
in later life: at least as a young man his Catholicism did not go much beyond
observing the proprieties. At thirteen he became the first member of the
Bavarian royal family to be educated at a public school. He graduated from
high school in 1886 and was commissioned into the Regiment of Foot
Guards. He later also spent time serving in artillery and cavalry regiments.
He seems to have enjoyed to the full the relative freedom of life in the sub-
alterns’ mess, as well as the perks of being a young royal prince. Alongside
his military duties he spent several terms studying at universities in Munich
and Berlin. He also began his public career. For instance, he attended Kaiser
Wilhelm I’s funeral in March 1888.
When fully grown, Rupprecht was rather taller than average, at five feet
ten inches. He took immaculate care over his appearance and carried him-
self with the upright bearing of the natural athlete. In his youth he had
enjoyed swimming and skating and throughout his life remained a devotee
of physical exercise and gymnastics. Well into middle age he could sit down
on the ground and get up again without using his hands or arms. He was a
keen sportsman, in the old, aristocratic sense: nothing so vulgar or English
OUP CORRECTED PROOF – FINAL, 18/12/17, SPi

14 To Wa r 1914

as team games for him. Instead he enjoyed game birds and hunting, both in
the Alps and abroad. In India he killed a tiger from the back of a moving
elephant with his second shot. Like most members of the upper classes of
the time, he rode often. Even during wartime, a daily ride remained part of
his exercise regime.4
In 1891, while serving in the 1st Heavy Cavalry Regiment, Rupprecht
began going to lectures at the Bavarian War College (Kriegsakademie),
where officers hoping to join the elite General Staff underwent three years
of intensive training. He attended some of the classes but was excused the
strenuous exams. The aim, after all, was not to produce a professional staff
officer, but to teach him command and leadership. In 1893 he was promoted
to command a squadron as Captain (Rittmeister). He rose rapidly through
the ranks until in 1900 he was promoted to Major-General (Generalmajor)
in charge of the 7th Infantry Brigade at Bamberg. In 1904, as a Lieutenant-
General (Generalleutnant) he became General Officer Commanding (GOC)
the 1st Division and soon thereafter took over the 1st Bavarian Corps. He
was ­promoted to full General (General der Infanterie) in 1906. He seems to
have taken his military duties seriously and to have been a respected and
able commander of men.
Away from his military career, Rupprecht was well travelled. Italy proved
a special and enduring love. He went there almost every year of his adult
life. He knew most of Europe well but had also journeyed extensively
around the Mediterranean and Middle East, Asia, and America. He even
wrote travel books. Some of his travel, of course, was for royal business.
For example, in 1911 he attended the coronation of King George V, writing
to an artist friend:
Time and again I admired the English race and its unique culture. The
­celebrations were great, but also absolutely exhausting. It is extraordinary how
England is on the one hand so modern yet on the other so exceedingly con-
servative. I wished you could see the coronation in Westminster Abbey with
me, the picture was so artistic, a real symphony of colours.5
He was a man of culture and taste. Although his reading was ‘intense and
critical’ and he enjoyed music (but not Wagner), his passion was for art. He
earned a reputation as a connoisseur and many of his friends were artists or
collectors. His first enthusiasm was for the Italian Renaissance, but he was a
keen patron also of modern artists.
His private life can only be described as tragic. After a playboy youth,
Rupprecht decided that, once he passed his thirtieth birthday, it was time to
OUP CORRECTED PROOF – FINAL, 18/12/17, SPi

Ru ppr ech t’s Roa d to Wa r15

settle down. In the course of 1899 he began to court his twenty-year-old


cousin, Marie-Gabriele. She was receptive enough but her parents were less
convinced.When they sent her off on a trip to Verona and Florence with an
aunt, Rupprecht pursued her. Travelling under a pseudonym, he somehow
managed to get past the chaperone, proposed, and was accepted. After a furi-
ous family row, Rupprecht finally secured the approval of his father and
grandfather and the couple were married on 10 July 1900 in the court
chapel of the Residenz, the old royal palace in Munich.
As far as we can tell, the marriage seems to have been a love match. Of
five babies, however, one was still-born and another two died in infancy.
Marie-Gabriele died in 1912, aged just thirty-four. Rupprecht was left alone
with their two boys and his career as a soldier. He threw himself into
his work with redoubled energy. In 1913 he became a Colonel-General
(Generaloberst) and commander designate of the largely Bavarian-manned
Sixth Army in the event of war.
On 28 June 1914 Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to the thrones of
Austria-Hungary, was assassinated in Sarajevo. Since he had close family ties
with members of the Bavarian royal family, and had visited them only two
months previously, the news came as a great shock in Munich. Over the
weeks that followed, crisis mounted as the powers of Europe jostled for
power and prestige.The Bavarian royal family and government played a pas-
sive role as onlookers. Although they had good contacts in both Berlin and
Vienna, and remained well informed throughout, they made no attempt to
rein in Germany’s reckless brinkmanship during the July crisis. The sympa-
thies of King Ludwig III and his Austrian queen lay, unsurprisingly, with
Vienna and Berlin and in early July Bavaria intervened to block an attempt
by the state of Württemberg to question the handling of the crisis in the
federal Upper House foreign affairs committee.
By the last week of July passions were starting to run high across Europe.
Outside the royal palace, crowds gathered to sing patriotic hymns and shout
slogans against the Serbs and Russians. The royal family had to go out onto
their balcony again and again to wave to the crowd.The atmosphere on the
streets grew feverish. Enemy agents were rumoured to be poisoning the
reservoirs; air raids were expected any minute; every woman in the street
might be a cross-dressing spy.The mob harassed anyone who looked foreign
or in any other way suspicious and threw stones through the windows of
the Serbian consulate.6 When Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia on
28 July, the Munich mob cheered. The next day all officers of the Bavarian
OUP CORRECTED PROOF – FINAL, 18/12/17, SPi

16 To Wa r 1914

army were ordered to return to their units. In this jittery environment,


Rupprecht later noted, ‘one was entirely aware of the seriousness of the
­situation but also fully confident and believed, that, given how things had
turned out, it was best to appear utterly determined’.7
At five o’clock in the afternoon of 1 August 1914, Kaiser Wilhelm II sat
down at his desk, carved, ironically, from the timbers of Nelson’s Victory.The
Chancellor, Theobald von Bethmann Hollweg, handed him the order that
would mobilize the German army and set the world at war. The Kaiser and
his advisers had discussed war time and again over the previous few days.
The time for thinking and talking was now past. He did not consult Bavaria
or other princely states. He did not need their agreement. The Kaiser was
Supreme War Lord of their armies, too. Wilhelm, with a flourish, signed the
mobilization order. As soon as the news reached Munich, Ludwig III issued
the proclamations which sent Bavarian soldiers scurrying to their depots to
report for duty. Reservists returned to the colours, drew their equipment,
and filled the ranks up to war establishment. Everything had been planned
for and prepared, and within hours the first trains began to roll, carrying the
army to the frontier.8
OUP CORRECTED PROOF – FINAL, 18/12/17, SPi

2
The Battle of the Frontiers

R upprecht set up Sixth Army headquarters in the luxurious surroundings


of the Hotel Bayerischer Hof in Munich. His staff began to organize
the myriad details involved in moving 220,000 men to war, working under
the chief of staff, Konrad Krafft von Dellmensingen.1 Ever since 1813, each
field commander had been assigned a chief of staff. In theory, the division
of labour between commander and chief of staff was clear. As one of the
leading historians of the German army, Robert M. Citino, has put it, ‘the
chief of staff was not a co-commander, a surrogate commander or even a
vice-commander. He was simply a highly trained officer . . . who could give
sound advice. . . . The army or corps commander still had a great deal of
leeway in deciding how to proceed. Although he was ultimately responsible
for making the decision, a wise commander also listened carefully to the
advice of his chief of staff.’ In practice, however, things were not always so
simple. Conflicting views existed of the responsibilities of chief of staff and
army commander. When the thirty-three-year-old Crown Prince Wilhelm
of Prussia was given command of Fifth Army, for instance, the Kaiser told
him to do whatever his chief of staff advised. The Chief of the General Staff,
Helmuth von Moltke the Younger, who was also present, hurried to correct
the Kaiser. He told the young prince:‘never forget that the Army Commander
is and remains the responsible head. The Chief of Staff has to advise, and
now—God be with you!’ The relationship between army commander and
chief of staff was ambiguous and fluid and much depended on the person-
alities involved.2
Major-General Konrad Krafft von Dellmensingen was fifty-two years old
and the Chief of the Bavarian General Staff when he was sent to work
alongside Rupprecht. This was a surprise appointment, the result of a mix-
ture of politics and luck. Originally, the Prussian Lieutenant-General
Konstantin Schmidt von Knobelsdorff was pencilled in as Sixth Army chief
OUP CORRECTED PROOF – FINAL, 18/12/17, SPi

18 To Wa r 1914

of staff, with Krafft down to work with the Prussian Colonel-General


Eichhorn at Fifth Army. Eichhorn, however, was not fit to take the field
after a riding accident. Crown Prince Wilhelm was promoted to take his
place, despite his youth and inexperience: he had never commanded any-
thing larger than a division. Clearly, he would need considerable support.
Schmidt von Knobelsdorf was the obvious man to step in. Not only was he
the most senior member of the General Staff after Moltke, but he had been
teaching Wilhelm tactics and operations at the Kriegsakademie and knew
him well. Teaming Schmidt with Wilhelm would also avoid the awkward-
ness of the heir to the empire taking instructions from a Bavarian. So Moltke
swapped Schmidt and Krafft over. Rupprecht was not only glad to have a
Bavarian colleague, but knew Krafft personally from their time together at
the Munich Kriegsakademie and respected him as a ‘smart and energetic
man’. The two forged and maintained a close bond from the start. The next
three most senior staff officers were also Bavarians Rupprecht knew, the rest
being a mix of Bavarians and Prussians.3
Indeed, four of the five army corps which comprised Sixth Army were
made up of Bavarian troops. The other was Prussian. Each corps fielded two
divisions of about 18,000 men each. In addition, there was a Bavarian cavalry
division, plus a brigade of older Landwehr troops to guard the lines of com-
munication. Rupprecht’s orders were to set up his headquarters in St Avold,
east of Metz in German Lorraine. He was to take overall command of the
whole German left wing, including Seventh Army to his south in Alsace.
Under the famous Schlieffen Plan, designed by Moltke’s predecessor, most of
the German army would swing through Belgium and across northern
France. Meanwhile, Rupprecht and the left flank were to tie down as many
French troops as possible until the German right had outflanked and defeated
them. In this way Schlieffen and Moltke planned to knock France out of the
war within weeks, freeing up troops to shift east against Russia. Specifically:
The mission of the overall commander [of the left wing] is to advance towards
the Moselle between Frouard and the Meurthe . . . to tie down the French
troops concentrated there and prevent them being transferred away to the
French left wing.
If the French for their part attack between Metz and the Vosges in superior
strength, this mission may become impossible. In the case that it becomes
necessary for the parts of our army in the Reichsland [Alsace-Lorraine] to
withdraw, they should so direct their movements as to prevent the left flank of
the main German forces being threatened. . . .
Another random document with
no related content on Scribd:
the objections which have been urged by other scholars against
Pauline authorship.”

+ − Bib World 54:649 N ’20 110w

PARSONS, JOHN. Tour through Indiana in


1840; ed. by Kate Milner Rabb. il *$3.55 McBride
917.72

20–19355

The book contains the diary of John Parsons of Petersburg,


Virginia, giving an account of a trip by railroad, by stage coach and
by steamboat, and an intimate picture of the life of the then near
west, in its political, geographical and social and family aspects
ending with a personal romance. The illustrations are from old prints
and drawings and from photographs.

“There is a quaint and charming flavor in this diary.”

+ Booklist 17:113 D ’20

“The book is of particular value to those interested in Indiana and


surrounding country and in the lives of the great and soon-to-be-
great men and women of the time. As such it holds rank as an
unusual historic document, and is a quaint picture of the politics and
life of the day.”

+ Bookm 52:173 O ’20 270w


+ Boston Transcript p8 O 23 ’20 420w

“This book breathes the very spirit of the young West. It is a


flowing and human story that takes one into the heart of the time it
describes.”

+ Outlook 126:202 S 29 ’20 60w

“The love story that is dragged in does not add to the credibility of
the tale. If the volume is not an authentic record of the journey it
pretends to chronicle, the deception is inexcusable. This does not
mean that the book is a waste of time. On the contrary, it is a
triumph of accuracy and readability. It lifts the curtain upon a most
interesting scene and shows us a fairly typical American
commonwealth at a definite stage of development.”

+ − Review 3:481 N 17 ’20 260w


R of Rs 62:446 O ’20 100w

“An altogether entertaining book.”

+ Springf’d Republican p9a O 31 ’20 760w

PARSONS, SAM JONES. Malleable cast iron. il


*$3.50 Van Nostrand 672

In this second edition the author has “considered it advisable to


revise the contents so as to include information concerning the more
modern and scientific methods of production, thus bringing the book
up to date and adding considerably to its practical value.” (Preface to
the second edition) Two chapters are added on Mining by analysis
and Measurement of temperature; there is also an addendum on
Malleable cast steel.

“It is somewhat surprising that in a book which is evidently


designed to assist the malleable-iron industry to more scientific
methods of production there is no mention of the light thrown by the
microscope on the structural changes which occur in the
malleablising process; nor is there any reference to the mechanical
properties of the various types of iron produced.”

+ − Nature 105:290 My 6 ’20 430w

PARSONS, WILLIAM BARCLAY. American


engineers in France. il *$4 Appleton 940.373
20–16507

The motif of the book is the work of the nine regiments of


American engineers, with one of which the author served. “In the
writing, it has been necessary to touch on all the fields of engineer
activity, because these regiments came in contact with every field,
even if they did not invade each one, from constructing ports to
digging and holding trenches, in all parts of France from the Atlantic
to the Vosges, from the Mediterranean to Flanders. Consequently
there results a brief outline of what all engineers did.” (Preface) The
contents are in part: The new military engineer; America’s problem;
Engineer organization; Ports; French railways; American railway
operations in France; Relations with the French; Forestry; Water
supply; Chemical engineers; Camouflage and other fields of
engineering; Maps; Flash and sound ranging and search light
detection; Artillery; Light railways; Roads; Trenches and trench
warfare. There are full page illustrations, figures, maps and an index.

+ Booklist 17:109 D ’20

“He has covered the field in outline sufficient for the lay reader,
and with an authority that will make this one of the lasting records of
the war.”

+ N Y Evening Post p13 O 30 ’20 140w


R of Rs 62:671 D ’20 170w
PARTRIDGE, GEORGE EVERETT.
Psychology of nations; a contribution to the
philosophy of history. *$2.50 Macmillan 901

19–19152

“This is a psychologist’s appeal for an understanding of what is


fundamental in our national life and a warning against radical and
superficial thinking; it was written during the closing months of the
war and in the days that followed. The first part of the book is a study
of the motives of war—an analysis of such motives in the light of the
general principles of the development of society. The second part of
the book is a study of the present situation as an educational
problem, in which we have for the first time a problem of educating
national consciousness as a whole, or the individuals of a nation with
reference to a world-consciousness.”—N Y Times

“Two chapters dealing with Internationalism and the School and


two others on the Teaching of patriotism are especially sane and
well-balanced and will be suggestive to teachers of American history
who wish to base their influence for Americanization upon
something less superficial than tradition and prejudice.” W: H.
Allison

+ Am Hist R 25:740 Jl ’20 450w

Reviewed by C. G. Fenwick

Am Pol Sci R 14:340 My ’20 130w


“Part two, on education, offers many suggestions that should
interest educators.”

+ Booklist 16:276 My ’20


Boston Transcript p7 Mr 13 ’20 420w
Brooklyn 12:95 Mr ’20 50w

“One’s total reaction to the book is emotional. It is impressive not


as an argument or a scientific inquiry, but as a sermon. It is edifying
rather than clarifying. One is swept along much as though one were
reading a book of psalms; each sentence is an exhortation, and as one
proceeds the exhortatory force accumulates until one ends in an
‘intoxication mood’ of edification. One can not emerge from the book
without a feeling of enthusiasm for something which is critically
important, but that something is intellectually elusive.” H. W.
Schneider

+ − J Philos 17:441 Jl 29 ’20 3400w

Reviewed by Joseph Jastrow

+ Nation 112:185 F 2 ’21 840w

“Mr Partridge has given to the public a book which doubtless will
be, as it deserves to be, widely read.”

+ N Y Times 25:144 Mr 28 ’20 650w


R of Rs 61:336 Mr ’20 30w
“The large value of his book—which really ought to be called ‘The
education of nations’—is that it presents, compiled and digested, the
theories of many men who have dealt with a broad complex of
problems.”

+ Springf’d Republican p10 Je 22 ’20


280w
The Times [London] Lit Sup p258 Ap
22 ’20 150w

PATCH, EDITH MARION. Little gateway to


science. il $1 Atlantic monthly press 595.7

20–9285

Nature stories for young children. The author calls them “hexapod
stories,” for they are all about six-footed insects, butterflies, bees,
grasshoppers and the like. The titles are: Van, the sleepy butterfly,
who was awakened by a January thaw; Old Bumble; The strange
house of Cecid Cido Domy; Poly, the Easter butterfly; Jumping Jack;
Nata, the nymph; Lampy’s Fourth o’ July; Carol; Ann Gusti’s circus;
Gryl, the little black minstrel; Luna’s Thanksgiving; Keti-Abbot, the
littlest Christmas guest. A word to the teacher follows and there are
notes, with references to other books. The pictures are by Robert J.
Sim.

“They are simply told without any sentimentality or ‘writing down.’


Good for school libraries as well as public.”

+ Booklist 17:78 N ’20


PATERSON, WILLIAM PATERSON, and
[2]
RUSSELL, DAVID, eds. Power of prayer. *$4
Macmillan 217

20–15946

“In May, 1916, the Walker trust of the University of St Andrews


offered certain prizes on ‘the meaning, the reality and the power of
prayer, its place and value to the individual, to the church, and to the
state, in the everyday affairs of life, in the healing of sickness and
disease, in times of distress and national danger, and in relation to
national ideals and to world-progress.’ In response to this offer one
thousand six hundred and sixty-seven essays were received, coming
from all quarters of the world and written in nineteen languages. The
first prize was awarded to Rev. Samuel McComb, of Baltimore,
Maryland, and is printed as the first paper following an interesting
essay by Dr Paterson entitled ‘Prayer and the contemporary mind.’
Twenty other papers of varying length of different aspects of the
subject are also printed.”—Bib World

“The quality of the essay by Dr McComb warrants the decision of


the readers in his favor. This book is the most voluminous and
satisfactory study of the subject that we know.”

+ Bib World 54:650 N ’20 320w

“Most appear to have read widely. They express themselves


lucidly. They can give reasons, not unworthy of consideration, for the
faith which is in them; though, with the exception of Canon
McComb, no writer can be classed as a trained theologian of
eminence. The volume has not, in consequence, the importance of
the series of essays entitled ‘Concerning prayer,’ which Messrs
Macmillan published a few years ago. The main value of the book
consists in the light which it throws on the religious tendencies of the
time.”

+ − The Times [London] Lit Sup p514 Ag 12


’20 1400w

PATON, STEWART. Education in war and


peace. *$1.50 Hoeber

20–3200

“In ‘Education in war and peace,’ the author makes an appeal for a
united effort by physicians, psychologists, and educators to search
out and develop appropriately the basic instincts and deep emotional
undercurrents which have so much to do in shaping personality,
determining character, and controlling conduct. The current
tendency to try to ‘compensate for personal inadequacy in facing the
real problems of life’ by various forms of ‘wishful thinking’ is
examined and illustrated.”—Survey

+ − Dial 69:213 Ag ’20 90w

“His treatment is stimulating, and any educator or social worker


may read the book with the hope of receiving immediate profit from
it.” F. G. Bonser

+ Survey 44:494 Jl 3 ’20 270w


PATRICK, DIANA. Wider way. *$2 Dutton

20–11891

“Veronica Quening, with a dour and brutal market gardener (who


is also a local preacher) for her father, but also with a devoted
stepmother, entirely free from traditional stepmotherliness, is quite
staggeringly fascinating, lovely, and magnetic. She has all our
sympathy in her career as school teacher, as wife for a time—after
another passionate love affair—of a German; and specially as friend
of Lord Swathe, for there is evidently a kinship between the beautiful
girl and the stately noble house. All ends well with Veronica.”—The
Times [London] Lit Sup

“Harmless and pretty and silly.”

+ − Ath p258 F 20 ’20 80w

“Veronica, with her complexities, her ambitions, her mental and


spiritual endowments, her surface froth and her profound depths, is
a creation that would do credit to an older and more practiced hand.
As a whole, the novel is an exceptionally good first book, which
reveals a real gift for story telling and a marked faculty for producing
the illusion of reality.”

+ − N Y Times 25:31 Jl 11 ’20 550w


+ The Times [London] Lit Sup p290 F 5
’20 110w
PATRICK, GEORGE THOMAS WHITE.
Psychology of social reconstruction. *$2 Houghton
301

20–19443

In considering the dangers that threaten our present civilization—


reversion to barbarism, decadence, ill-timed social reforms, et al.—
the author maintains that he is not taking the usual attitude of either
advocate or critic, but that of a student of ultimate values. He sees in
our present awareness of social evils a hopeful sign, but insists on the
inadequacy of all economic and political reforms that disregard the
psychological and historical factors. No reform can endure whose
psychological basis does not rest on human needs and does not
conform to human nature. The three first chapters are devoted to the
psychological factors in social reconstruction and the remaining four
to: The psychology of work; Our centrifugal society; Social discipline;
The next step in applied science. There is an index.

Boston Transcript p7 N 13 ’20 620w


N Y Evening Post p23 D 4 ’20 240w

“The book is eminently readable and deserves a wide response.”

+ Springf’d Republican p8 Ja 20 ’21 160w


PATTERSON, FRANCES TAYLOR. Cinema
craftsmanship. il *$2 Harcourt 808.2

20–17895

The author, who is instructor in photoplay composition in


Columbia university, recognizes that the moving picture art is still in
its infancy, but says that her motive for writing this book is faith in
its future and a desire to help awaken the public to its possibilities.
Contents: The art and the science; The plot; The characters; The
setting; Adaptation; Scenario technique; Writing a synopsis for the
photoplay market; Cinema comedy; The critical angle; The photoplay
market. The scenario for the photoplay “Witchcraft” by Margaret
Turnbull, awarded a prize offered by the Famous Players-Lasky
company, is appended, together with bibliography and index.

“A model scenario and an excellent bibliography make the book a


complete manual for all persons interested in photoplay writing.”

+ N Y Evening Post p16 N 13 ’20 160w


N Y Times p25 N 7 ’20 90w

PATTERSON, JOHN EDWARD. Passage of the


barque Sappho. *$2.50 Dutton

20–11150

“‘The passage of the barque Sappho’ portrays in minute detail the


voyage of a sailing vessel from San Francisco around Cape Horn,
homeward bound, to a British port. The author, J. E. Patterson, died
before the book was published, and it was prepared for the press by
his friend, C. E. Lawrence, who contributes a foreword. The narrative
purports to be the work of two individuals, and is told in the first
person. The joint contributions come from the two extremes of sea
society—the cabin and the fo’castle. One is an officer and the other an
ordinary seaman. When events are witnessed by both, it is from
different points of view. The officer and sailor write alternately, and
describe in detail all that went on above deck and in the forecastle
during the long voyage. The story ends with shipwreck in the
Sargasso sea.”—Springf’d Republican

Ath p930 S 19 ’19 80w

“The style of the story, in so far as it may be detached from its


substance, is (but for certain passages of description) homely
enough, lacking in the ordinary ‘literary’ graces; but this in the end
appears to be a part of virtue. Beside Conrad and Bullen my copy
shall take its place with confidence.” H. W. Boynton

+ Bookm 51:79 Mr ’20 700w

“The book has a historical as well as a literary value. Mr Patterson


proves by this posthumous novel his understanding of character as
well as his ability to write an impressive description. Each officer and
man of the Sappho is a distinct individual possessed of his own little
traits and peculiarities—traits and peculiarities which the author’s
leisurely method enables him fully to illustrate.”

+ N Y Times 24:767 D 21 ’19 650w


“Quite at variance with the usual nautical romance, the chronicle is
free from intrigues and brutality. The book is rather long (and
expensive) and is likely to prove a bit tiring to all save those
interested in the subject of seafaring.”

+ − Springf’d Republican p11a Mr 28 ’20


420w
+ − The Times [London] Lit Sup p498 S 18
’19 380w

PAUL, EDEN, and PAUL, CEDAR. Creative


revolution. *$2 (*8s 6d) (4c) Seltzer 335

The authors subtitle their book “A study of communist


ergatocracy,” using the newly coined word “ergatocracy” to signify
workers’ rule. In the opening chapter they say, “This little volume has
a twofold aim, theoretical and practical. In the theoretical field, we
wish to effect an analysis of socialist trends and to attempt a
synthesis of contemporary proletarian aims. In the sphere of practice
we hope to intensify and to liberate the impulse towards a fresh
creative effort.” Contents: Communist ergatocracy; Socialism
through social solidarity; Socialism through the class struggle; The
shop stewards’ movement; Historical significance of the great war;
The Russian revolution; The third international; The dictatorship of
the proletariat; The iron law of oligarchy; Socialism through
parliament or soviet? Creative revolution; Freedom; Bibliography.

“Do the gifted authors realize that the atmosphere of a Marxian


library varied by stimulating conversations with trade union leaders,
is not the same as the atmosphere of a bloody revolution? Do they
clearly realize the difference? Do they, in fact, know what they are
talking about?”

− Ath p145 Jl 30 ’20 290w

Reviewed by A. C. Freeman

N Y Call p11 Ja 16 ’21 1400w


The Times [London] Lit Sup p386 Je 17
’20 150w
− The Times [London] Lit Sup p413 Jl 1
’20 1350w

“After so much has been written, camouflaged and in equivocal


language, it is a pleasure to find a book so clear-cut, so incisive and
so direct in its wording and in its thought. I still believe as firmly as
ever that the principles of pacifism represent the most workable
social philosophy. I am therefore at total variance with the authors in
their interpretation of the lessons which the Russian revolution has
taught. At the same time, I am glad to welcome their contribution
because of the splendid effect which it will have in clarifying issues
that have puzzled and baffled so many earnest souls during the past
few months.” Scott Nearing

+ − World Tomorrow 4:60 F ’21 420w

PAYNE, FANNY URSULA. Plays and pageants


of citizenship. il *$1.50 Harper 792.6
20–18670

A new book of plays by the author of “Plays and pageants of


democracy,” and “Plays for anychild.” Contents: Dekanawida; The
triumph of democracy; The spirit of New England; The soap-box
orator; The victory of the good citizen; Old Tight-wad and the victory
dwarf; Rich citizens; Humane citizens.

Lit D p99 D 4 ’20 60w

PAYNE, GEORGE HENRY. History of


journalism in the United States. *$2.50 (2c) Appleton
071

20–10538

A short history of American journalism from the first newspaper to


the present day, written by a man of wide newspaper experience.
Among the early chapters are: Historic preparation for journalism;
The first newspaper in America; The first journals and their editors;
Philadelphia and the Bradfords; Printing in New York—the Zenger
trial; Rise of the fourth estate; The assumption of political power;
The “Boston Gazette” and Samuel Adams; Journalism and the
Revolution; Adams and the alien and sedition laws. Other chapters
cover the newspapers of the west, suffrage and slavery and the Civil
war. Special chapters are also devoted to such great dailies as the
Sun, the Herald and the Tribune. There are closing chapters on
Editors of the new school; After-war problems and reform and The
melodrama in the news. Interesting documents and statistics are
given in appendices. There is a valuable bibliography of twenty-nine
pages, followed by an index.

“The story is compact, but it moves to a lively tune, and is widely


allusive. The personal human interest is widely kept in the
foreground, and Mr Payne reveals a keen perception of the dramatic
values of his subject.” C: H. Levermore

+ − Am Hist R 26:107 O ’20 850w

“Will be useful to students of journalism, but it will have an


interest of its own to the general reader as it traces the growth of
journalism with the development of democracy.”

+ Booklist 17:47 N ’20

Reviewed by H: L. West

Bookm 52:116 O ’20 950w

“A swiftly written and vigorously phrased volume.” D. C. Seitz

+ Freeman 2:452 Ja 19 ’21 600w

“It is hard to tell which impresses one most in reading this book—
the author’s sincerity or his thoroughness. The book is very valuable
and intensely interesting.” C. W. T.

+ N Y Times 25:6 Jl 11 ’20 3150w


+ Outlook 125:507 Jl 14 ’20 80w

“He has done a creditable piece of work, amassed adequate


material, used it with discrimination and an excellent sense of
selection, has not forgotten that he had a ‘story’ to tell, and that one
of the prime requisites of a story is that it shall be interesting.” E. G.
L.

+ Review 3:232 S 15 ’20 750w

“Mr Payne’s history of American newspaper publication is well


written and well proportioned. He has made the story interesting
from beginning to end.”

+ R of Rs 62:222 Ag ’20 220w

“Mr Payne’s treatment of the press in the years before the Civil war
is much the more satisfactory because, while involving little original
research, it deals out information suggestively. The last part of the
book is intelligent in general outlines, but is a brief and inadequate
summary and seems less frank in comment. The appendices are
somewhat haphazard.”

+ − Springf’d Republican p11a S 5 ’20 1100w


Wis Lib Bul 16:232 D ’20 90w

PEABODY, ROBERT SWAIN, and


[2]
PEABODY, FRANCIS GREENWOOD. New
England romance; the story of Ephraim and Mary
Jane Peabody, 1807–1892. il *$2 Houghton

20–19929

“Aside from the interest it has of a faithful account by his sons of


one of America’s earliest and most distinguished preachers, it
possesses value as revealing the life and manner of a period. No
conscious attempt has been made to do this, however, and whatever
of history the reader may get comes to him as from between the lines
and is therefore the more subtly impressed. The early eighties, prior
to the Civil war, are revealed through the lives, ambitions, and
struggles of the minister and his wife.”—N Y Evening Post

“A quaint book for lovers of New England.”

+ Booklist 17:113 D ’20

“Because of its very evident qualities of naturalness and sincerity


this little volume should escape the limbo which awaits the major
part of commemorative literature and be preserved among those
works classed as human documents.”

+ N Y Evening Post p8 N 6 ’20 160w

“Told with a simple and natural beauty of language fitting for such
a theme. Incidentally it gives a graphic picture of revolutionary and
pre-revolutionary days.”

+ Outlook 126:690 D 15 ’20 50w


+ Survey 45:329 N 27 ’20 180w

PEAKE, C. M. A. Eli of the downs. *$2 (2c)


Doran

20–18768

The narrator of the story found Eli as an old man in his cottage,
Beulah, on the downs, where he spends his last days carving fiddles,
and surrounded by the few treasures he had garnered from his
wanderings over the earth. He had always been a rare character, this
shepherd, with a rich inner life. Early in life he had married a mate
worthy of him, but it was a short happiness, and then the young
widower took to wandering. For some eight years he followed the sea
and saw many lands. Then it was surveying and ranching in Canada
where an old Chinese cook instructed him in the wisdom of
Confucius and Lao Tsu, but with failing health he turned his steps
once more to England. At Beulah cottage, lonely to the last, but
emanating a silent influence for good over the neighborhood, he
ended his days in peace.

“The author cannot leave his characters to speak their mind, he


must speak it for them, and even reinforce their statements with a
kind of running commentary and explanatory notes which are very
tiring to keep up with.” K. M.

− Ath p211 F 13 ’20 280w


Cleveland p105 D ’20 60w

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