FROM THE SAMBRE TO THE MARNE CHAPTER XX THE RUSSIAN OFFENSIVE ALSO STEPS OUT TT was natural that the Belgian conflict and the development of the German offensive should command the attention of the observers of the Great War, as it was already named by the world, to the exclusion of all else in the first month. Primarily this was because the supreme military machine of the world was then subjected to its first trial in nearly half a century. From Sedan to the Battle of the Marne the German Army was held invincible, the greatest military weapon in the world, and armed with it the German Kaiser had dominated the coun- sels of Europe during his whole reign. Since Water- loo destroyed the Napoleonic Army no troops, save those of the German Empire, had enjoyed an equal fame. In the trial of August, too, the German Army showed itself not unworthy of its reputation. To measure the magnitude of the German offensive thrust must be the work of general staffs of the future, but at the present moment, close to the event, 104