A GENERAL SKETCH
OF THE
EUROPEAN WAR
THE FIRST PHASE
BY
HILAIRE BELLOC
THOMAS NELSON & COMPANY
LONDON, EDINBURGH, PARIS, AND NEW YORK
First published June 1, 1915
CONTENTS.
Introduction
PART I.
THE GENERAL CAUSES OF THE WAR.
(1) The German Object
(2) Conflict produced by the Contrast of this German Attitude or Will with the
Wills of Other Nations
(3) Prussia
(4) Austria
(5) The Particular Causes of the War
(6) The Immediate Occasion of the War
PART II.
THE FORCES OPPOSED.
(1) The Geographical Position of the Belligerents
The Geographical Advantages and Disadvantages of the Germanic Body
The Geographical Advantages and Disadvantages of the Allies
(2)[Pg 6] The Opposing Strengths
The Figures of the First Period, say to October 1-31, 1914
The Figures of the Second Period, say to April 15-June 1, 1915
(3) The Conflicting Theories of War
PART III.
THE FIRST OPERATIONS.
(1) The Battle of Metz
(2) Lemberg
(3) Tannenberg
(4) The Spirits in Conflict
Illustrated with numerous maps and diagrams
Joseph Hilaire Pierre René Belloc (July 27, 1870–July 16, 1953) was one of the
most prolific writers in England during the early twentieth century. His style
and personality during later life complemented the nickname he received in
childhood, "Old Thunder." Belloc Lowndes. His mother Bessie Rayner Parkes
(1829-1925) was also a writer, and a great-grand-daughter of the English
chemist Joseph Priestley. She married Louis Belloc in 1867. Five years after
they wed, Louis died in 1872.
Hilaire Belloc knew from an early age Henry Edward Cardinal Manning, who was
responsible for the conversion of his mother to Roman Catholicism. Manning's
involvement in the 1889 London Dock Strike made a major impression on Belloc
and his view of politics, according to biographer Robert Speaight. Belloc
described this retrospectively in The Cruise of the Nona (1925); he became a
trenchant critic both of unbridled capitalism, and of many aspects of
socialism.
After being educated at the Oratory School Belloc served his term of military
service, as a French citizen, with an artillery regiment near Toul in 1891. He
was powerfully built, with great stamina, and walked extensively in Britain
and Europe. While courting his future wife Elodie, whom he first met in 1890,
the impecunious Belloc walked a good part of the way from the midwest of the
United States to her home in northern California, paying for lodging at remote
farm houses and ranches by sketching the owners and reciting poetry. He was
later a well known yachtsman.
An 1895 graduate of Balliol College, Oxford, Belloc went into politics after
he became a naturalised British citizen. At the Oxford Union he held his own
in debates with F. E. Smith and John Buchan, the latter a friend. Sir John
Simon who was a contemporary at Oxford, described his "...resonant, deep
pitched voice..." as making an "...unforgettable impression". A great
disappointment in his life was his failure to gain a fellowship at All Souls
College in Oxford.
He was a Liberal Party Member of Parliament from 1906 to 1910, but swiftly
became disillusioned with party politics. He then wrote on myriad subjects,
from warfare to poetry and many topics current in his day. He was closely
associated with G. K. Chesterton; George Bernard Shaw coined the term
Chesterbelloc for their partnership.
His only period of steady employment was from 1914 to 1920 as editor of Land
and Water, a journal devoted to the progress of the war. Otherwise he lived by
his pen, and often felt short of money. He was brilliant, but a poor listener.
His larger-than-life personality, and strongly held views, were more
acceptable to some in small doses. His setbacks in the academic and political
worlds lent asperity to his writing.
Belloc suffered a stroke in 1941, and never recovered from its effects. He
lived quietly at home until his death in 1953.
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