The German General Staff and its Decisions, 1914-1916

General von Falkenhayn, who served as Chief of the German General Staff during the First World War, discusses in detail the decisions he and his colleagues in the military command took between 1914 and 1916.

Writing with exacting detail and an appreciation for the conditions on the various fronts on which the German army fought, Falkenhayn is frank in his assessments of Germany's capacities, successes and failures. When the war commenced in 1914, he was all too aware that large swathes of German forces were unprepared, ill-equipped and ill-trained: adaptation to the realities of modern war had to be swift. The rapid descent of the Western Front into the stagnation of trench warfare, whereby both sides were locked in continual combat with little movement, is amply detailed.

Accompanying Falkenhayn's detailed accounts of the war are several maps, which detail the shifting conditions in the various battlefronts. Changes in conflict owing to new technologies, such as the aeroplane and the submarine, are likewise discussed, alongside attempts at achieving a breakthrough to decisively turn the tide of war in Germany's favour. In all, Falkenhayn's recounting is valuable for its attention to detail and the privileged position of the author at the apex of the military command structure.