the race, the training was completed. At the beginning of the month of
September the reserve divisions fought with the same skill, the same
keenness, and the same swing as the active army corps.

Moreover, certain incompetencies had revealed themselves in the French
high command. These General Joffre attended to without the loss of an
instant. Every general that appeared to him incapable of fulfilling the
task allotted to him was weeded out on the spot, without considering
friendships or the bonds of comradeship, or intimacy that might be
between them.

As things were seen in Paris, all may be summed up in this formula: That
the German army was better prepared for war than the French army, for
the simple reason that Germany had long prepared for the war, because
she had it in view, a thing which could not be said of France. But the
French army revealed right from the beginning the most admirable and
marvelous qualities. The soldiers fought with a skill and heroism that
have never been equaled. Sometimes, indeed, their enthusiasm and courage
carried them too far. It mattered little. In spite of losses, in spite
even of retreat, the morale of the whole French army on the entire front
from Alsace to the Somme remained extraordinarily high.

The violation of Belgian neutrality and the passage of the German armies
through Belgium had been foreseen by the French General Staff, but
opinions differed in regard to the breadth of the turning movement
likely to be made by the German right wing in crossing Belgian
territory. Among French experts some were of opinion that the Germans
would confine themselves to the right bank of the Meuse, while others
thought that they would cross the Meuse, and make a much vaster turning
movement, thus descending on France in a direction due north and south.

If the violation of Belgian neutrality was no surprise to the French
Staff, it was nevertheless hardly expected that the Germans would be
able to put in line with such rapidity at the outset all their reserve
formations. Each army corps was supported by its reserve corps, which
showed itself as quick in mobilization and preparation as the active
corps.

Germany, while maintaining sufficient forces on the Russian front, was
still able to put in the field for its great offensive against France a
more numerous body of troops than would have been believed in France.
This permitted them to maintain in Alsace, in Lorraine, and in Belgian
Luxe