The Guns of August

by Barbara W. Tuchman

The vain, the pompous, the greedy, the foolish, the cowardly—all were described in human terms and, where possible, given the benefit of the doubt.

“Eliminate the red trousers?” he cried. “Never! Le pantalon rouge c’est la France!”

“If we are to be crushed,” Bassompierre recorded their sentiment, “let us be crushed gloriously.” In 1914 “glory” was a word spoken without embarrassment, and honor a familiar concept that people believed in.

“The lamps are going out all over Europe; we shall not see them lit again in our lifetime.”

By that time, an Austrian ally would report, the Iron Cross, Second Class, could only be avoided by committing suicide.

If there has to be a choice between injustice and disorder, said Goethe, the German prefers injustice.

part of his forces has joined