The Guns of August 1914 - The Outbreak of First World War

``William Bache will present Guns of August, Barbara Tuchman's great history of how a war between European royals and their empires started and morphed into a world war. Why mass mobilization, nationalism, military doctrine, political alliances and railroads facilitated the transition to military violence for four years in which millions of soldiers, civilians and horses were slaughtered. The Schlieffen Plan called for a massive German attack on France, with a priority to the  success of their right flank to steam roll over neutral Belgium and envelop and defeat the French Army. Then German armies would be rapidly transported, by rail, to engaged and defeat the Russians who were thought to be incapable of a rapid mobilization. The heroic Belgian Army and the arrival of the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) save the left flank of the French from being turned and helped stop the German offensive. But, there is much more to the story.