The provided excerpts offer an examination of the opening month of World War I, primarily focusing on military strategy, leadership, and early battles as described in Barbara W. Tuchman’s historical work, The Guns of August. The text details the inflexible war plans of both Germany (the Schlieffen Plan) and France (Plan 17), highlighting how initial offensives in Belgium, Lorraine, and the Ardennes were quickly marred by poor execution, exhausted troops, and unforeseen enemy actions. Furthermore, the sources explore the political and diplomatic maneuvering among the belligerents, including Britain’s hesitant entry into the conflict, Russia’s hurried and disastrous offensive to aid France, and the crucial naval pursuit of the German battlecruiser Goeben in the Mediterranean. Ultimately, the paragraphs underscore the initial high-stakes decisions of commanders like Moltke and Joffre, the brutal reality of modern warfare epitomized by the German actions in Belgium, and the eventual lead-up to the pivotal Battle of the Marne, which ensured the war would not be short.

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“What did the council decide on item 42?” — answered with the speaker and the moment.