[Gutenberg 44234] • Ypres 1914: An Official Account Published by Order of the German General Staff

The opening campaign of the Great War as seen by the German Army History, it is said, is written by the victors and that is generally true. It is therefore often difficult for the military historian of later times to achieve a complete understanding of the position on both sides of an engagement. Sources from the losing side tend to be in shorter supply than those on the winning side. There is now much interest in the opening campaign of the First World War, not least because the outstanding defensive performance of the hugely outnumbered 'Contemptible Little Army' is particularly appealing to the sentiments of English speaking people and has entered the annals of great military achievements. Also all students of the period know that the war shortly became a stalemate, a war of attrition with barbed-wire, trenches, mud and blood that abided until the last phase of the war.