The Guns of August

“Together they represented seventy nations in the greatest assemblage of royalty and rank ever gathered in one place, and, of its kind, the last. The muffled tongue of Big Ben tolled nine by the clock as the cortege left the palace, but on history’s clock it was sunset, and the sun of the old world was setting in a dying blaze of splendor never to be seen again.”

Tuchman opens the book with what she considers the end of an era and the first smoke in the fire that will be war. Not only will the old alliances held together by intermarriages between the ruling houses of Europe fade and crumble, but the pomp and circumstance of such an assemblage—and the royal lifestyles it represents—will end as well.

“Edward, the object of this unprecedented gathering of nations, was often called the ‘Uncle of Europe,’ a title which, insofar as Europe’s ruling houses were meant, could be taken literally.”

King Edward VII of England is the uncle of Kaiser Wilhelm of Germany and, through his wife’s sister of Czar Nicholas II. He has numerous nieces and nephews among the ruling houses of Europe, including those of Norway, Spain, Denmark, and Rumania. The title “uncle” here is meant affectionately, as Edward is well-liked among the ruling houses and not just tolerated because of alliances and agreements. His death, and the end of his role as kindly uncle, symbolizes an end to the familial relationships among countries, which is why Tuchman starts the book with his funeral.

“‘We must,’ wrote Friedrich von Bernhardi, the spokesman of militarism, ‘secure to German nationality and German spirit throughout the globe that high esteem which is due them […] and has hitherto been withheld from them.’”

The first chapter sets up the causes of the war, some of which occur long before the war begins. This quote shows the militarism rising in Germany. The German people believe that they are disrespected by other countries and, perhaps more importantly, that this respect is due to them.