3.8. 1914 Germany declared war on France

The streets of all German cities were lined with cheering and singing crowds. "Es braust ein Ruf wie Donnerhall" rang out from thousands of throats. In early August 1914, Germany declared war on France.

When Russia began to mobilize on July 29, 1914, Germany issued an ultimatum to the Czar to end the preparations. Nicholas II, however, did not respond. So on August 1, Germany declared war on Russia. At the same time, the Emperor ordered the mobilization of the army and navy. The next day, the Germans occupied Luxembourg and headed for Belgium. On 3 August, Germany declared war on France in accordance with its war strategy.

A day later, the Kaiser's army penetrated into neutral Belgium. The German invasion prompted England - as expected - to enter the war. Europe was in a state of war. "In the first days of August, Germany was experiencing a hitherto unknown war intoxication. Memories of the brief victorious wars that had led to the reunification of the country promised victory," writes Diedrich Torsten in Paulus - The Trauma of Stalingrad: a complete biography.

The streets of all German cities were lined with cheering and singing crowds. "Es braust ein Ruf wie Donnerhall", which translates as "Like thunder the roaring call", rang out from thousands of throats. The melody of the German nation became "Wacht am Rhein", i.e. Watch on the Rhine. Frenzied mobs stormed foreign shop windows and beat up foreigners. French terms like "Menue" disappeared from restaurant and pub menus.

In the streets of French cities, too, enthusiastic people sang "Marseillaise. They also smashed shop windows with German-sounding signs. The furniture of the "Pschorrbräu" restaurant was even smashed to pieces and thrown into the street by the fanatical people.

In Germany, volunteers and conscripts streamed into the barracks and from there onto the battlefield to the cheers of the population. The Reichstag, by a majority vote, and even with the support of the SPD, praised the war loans and the Kaiser declared peace. The General Staff believed it had devised an ingenious plan for a two-front war as well. When Schlieffen resigned as Chief of the General Staff in 1906, the war plan had to be implemented by his successor, Helmuth von Moltke the Younger, nephew of the victor from Sedan.

"The latter, however, feared that, because of the preoccupation with the division of forces and the weakness of the southern front, large numbers of French might penetrate into Alsace-Lorraine. He changed Schlieffen's plan by weakening the right attacking flank above the town of Metz in favour of the left defensive flank. This made it easier to repel French attacks in the south, but the basic idea of the plan was slightly altered. However, the new war, which for a while got out of hand for all the powers, was not fundamentally affected from today's point of view," Torsten adds.

Sources: Diedrich Torsten, Paulus - the trauma of Stalingrad: a complete biography, Hans-Dieter Otto, Shocking victories: the most surprising twists in the history of warfare, http://www.14-tagebuecher.de/