Postcard of Kaiser Wilhelm II and Kaiser Franz Joseph, in the Secessionist style. Kaiser Wilhelm is wearing the uniform and shako of the Death's Head Hussars.
Völkerkrieg (people's war)1914; In Treue FestPeople's WarFirm in Loyalty
". . . there arrived from the Commander in Chief an important dispatch which definitely prescribed the attitude we were to assume from now on. He informed his subordinates that the shortage in artillery ammunition had brought about a situation which, from being critical, might 'even become tragic.' I learned that I would receive no more 75 mm. shell for two or three weeks, and I was directed to regulate my operations accordingly. Moreover, the Commander in Chief's plans now contemplated a manœuvre north of the Oise which aimed at turning the German right. As a consequence the Allied Armies from the Oise to the Swiss frontier would be obliged to stand on the defensive."
In 1914, no army was prepared for or had on hand the quantity of munitions being consumed in the war. French Commander in Chief Joffre had begun cautioning his commanders at least two weeks before September 27 of the shortage. (The 75 mm. field gun was one on best weapons in the French arsenal.) Joffre was also planning another outflanking attempt in the 'Race to the Sea.' In French General Foch's sector the Germans were also on the defensive, and for the next week, 'nothing of any importance' took place.
The Memoirs of Marshal Foch, translated by Col. T. Bentley Mott by Ferdinand Foch, page 111, copyright © 1931 by Doubleday, Doran & Company, Inc., publisher: Doubleday, Doran & Co., publication date: 1931
September, 1914, 1914-09-27, Foch, Joffre, Race to the Sea, shell shortage
