Dana Lombardy on “1914: Firepower and Maneuver in the West”

Could Germany have won the Great War in 1914 or was their strategic plan doomed to failure?

Dana Lombardy

The popular impressions of World War One on the Western Front are usually of the stalemate of trench warfare. But it did not start that way. There was open warfare for the first two months, with German armies nearly reaching Paris before they were stopped. Trench warfare also earned more than one general the sobriquet of “donkey” who led lions, but in 1914 about one-third of the French and German generals were replaced or fired for failing to meet expectations. Why did the German armies nearly win, and why did they ultimately lose in 1914? Dana Lombardy presented a new look at the critical first 45 days of the war in the West.

Dana Lombardy was an Associate Online Editor for Armchair General magazine and now does research, writing and design through Lombardy Studios. Dana is best known for his nearly twenty television appearances, including multiple episodes of The History Channel’s “Tales of the Gun” series. He has contributed as an editor, cartographer, graphic artist and designer on many books, games, and magazines, and was Publisher of Napoleon Journal from 1996 to 2000.