The Guns Of August

While Paris, under Joseph Gallieni, the Military Governor of Paris, prepares to defend itself, Joffre tries to fortify his lines to meet the continuing German attack. Sir John French, commander of British forces, afraid of losing his army and reputation, prepares to abandon the front altogether. Though General Lanrezac of the French Fifth Army checks the Germans near St. Quentin, he is left alone by the retreating British and must fall back. As the army retreats, the government argues over whether to leave Paris. In England, a newspaper report of the Battle of Mons, which the BEF ultimately loses, causes an outcry, the English so far having been under the impression that the war was going well. The BEF commander still wants to retreat, and his allies have lost all faith in him. The result of the newspaper report and the flagging faith in Sir John French is that Kitchener, French’s superior, sails to Paris to keep French, and the British Expeditionary Force under his command, in line with France’s armies. At this time, the Germans are engaging French and British troops thirty miles from Paris. They have already manufactured medals signifying their entry into Paris and the defeat of the French for their troops.