Military Review English Edition November-December 2015 | Page 31

MARNE

(Photo courtesy of the Library of Congress)

Imperial German Army Col. Gen. Alexander von Kluck (fifth from the left) and his First Army staff, autumn 1914

Six Weeks in 1914

Campaign Execution and the
Fog of War—Historical Lessons
for the Military Professional
John J. McGrath

W

orld War I in general and the so-called
First Battle of the Marne in particular
are still relevant to military operations
today. There are many lessons that the modern military
professional can draw from the first six weeks of the
war, which was fought mainly between German forces
and those of the allied French and British. Among
the most important of these is that even if an army
MILITARY REVIEW  November-December 2015

espouses mission command in its culture and doctrine, it can execute it poorly or in a manner that could
make the methodology not only ineffective, but also
counterproductive.
The first Marne campaign was unique and paradoxical since it was a strategic loss for Germany in a
situation where German forces won almost every tactical engagement. Analyzing how this happened offers
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