At the beginning of August 1914 the world was suddenly and unexpectedly at war. The establishment of alliances and mutual protection agreements in Europe in the preceding decades had been intended to ward off major conflicts by making the consequences of war in Europe too horrible to imagine. The last major European conflict had been the Franco-Prussian war, which ended with the defeat of France and the loss of two provinces, Alsace and Lorraine, to Germany in 1870. That was 44 years earlier. France had long since recovered economically and militarily, war reparations had been paid, and new alliances with Britain and Russia had been put in place as protection against any new German aggression. Germany had a close ally in the Austro-Hungarian empire, which included much of the Balkans, Slovenia, Croatia, and Bosnia. The disputes and military flare-ups in the previous two decades had focused primarily on far-flung locations, such as Morocco, Egypt, German East Africa (now Tanzania), South Africa and China. Russia had lost a war with Japan. The U.S. had won a war with Spain. There had been war in the Balkans. But all of these had been regional or bilateral conflicts, and the idea that the civilized peoples of Europe would throw themselves at each other in total warfare was not in people’s minds. But few European countries were able to escape the consequences of The Great War.

The unpaved road alongside the narrow-gauge of the “Meusien” became the main supply route for Verdun during the war, which the French called the voie sacrée, or the sacred way.

In June 1914 events began to spin out of control. Archduke Ferdinand, heir to the throne of Austria, was assassinated by an ethnic Serb in Sarajevo, Bosnia. Serbia had provided support and training to the terrorists who carried out the assassination, and Austria was intent on punishing Serbia. If Austria had sent an army to Belgrade immediately, some historians believe, the conflict might have been just another localized war. But Austria was timid, and wanted to be sure that Germany was on her side. After the June assassination there was over a month’s delay while alliances were lined up and the parties took their positions. Austria, convinced of Germany’s support, made extreme demands on Serbia, including Austrian oversight of a commission of inquiry into the assassination. Serbia was about to agree, and then got word of Russia’s firm support. Russia also had a pact with France. For Germany, which by now was firmly supporting Austria, this meant having Russia and France as enemies on both its eastern and western frontiers. When Serbia did not agree to all of Austria’s demands, all the parties began to mobilize their armies.

Germany, facing enemies on two fronts, began the implementation of the “Schlieffen Plan,” a course of action which had been developed over the preceding decade for just such an eventuality. Germany would attack France immediately in a preemptive strike, defeating her enemy to the west within two months, and would then concentrate forces against Russia to the east. The war, according to plan, would be over by the end of the year.

Railroads Were the Key

The Schlieffen Plan, and in fact much of the military planning in the early part of the century, was designed around the capabilities of the railroads. The railroad network was essentially complete in western Europe by the late 1800s, and between 1890 and 1913 the rail network in eastern Europe and Russia had grown from 31,000 to more than 75,000 kilometers. Before the advent of the railroads, war logistics depended on soldiers being supplied by accompanying fleets of ships, which meant staying close to shore, or by carefully choosing other routes that would allow access to supplies. The railroads changed everything, and mobilization now meant that thousands of soldiers could be moved in a matter of days from one front to another, supplies could easily follow. During the Franco-Prussian war, the rolling stock of the French army had been mismanaged, so that empty train cars in the yard blocked the arrival of full ones for miles. The lessons learned meant that coordinated timetables and the efficient operation of the railroads were critical to winning a war.

Trains filled the memories of all who went to war in 1914. The railway section of the German General Staff timetabled the movement of 11,000 trains during the mobilization period, and no fewer than 2,150 trains of 54 wagons each crossed the Rhine toward France in the first half of August 1914. The French railway companies concentrated some 7,000 trains for mobilization.

The German armies swept into France on timetables calculated years in advance. But the plan bogged down as they neared Paris, and the French, in the Battle of the Marne, kept the Germans from realizing their objective. At one point, in fact, when movement by train was not adequate, Paris taxis loaded up soldiers and drove them to the front, just over 50 kilometers from the outskirts of Paris. With the failure to overwhelm the French, and the approach of Russian troops to the east, the German army dug in to a defensive position and transferred many troops to the eastern front. Trenches were dug by both sides marking the front line, in some cases only a hundred or so meters from the enemy. This line eventually extended from the English Channel to Switzerland.

The trench lines of the western front were established short of the famous fortress city of Verdun, on the Meuse river, which stayed in French possession, but the double track rail lines which served the city had been captured with the fall of St. Mihiel, to the southwest of Verdun. There was another line, which headed east to Paris through St. Menehould, but it was under steady bombardment from German artillery. Finally, another small, narrow-gauge track ran from Bar-le-Duc to the south, on which operated the Meusien, a train not unlike the Durango-Silverton line in Colorado. The unpaved road alongside this route became the main supply route for Verdun during the war, which the French called the voie sacrée, or the sacred way.

It’s in the area around Verdun that most of the story of the 13th Engineers unfolds.