France and Belgium at the beginning of World War I (1914)

Speakers delivering speeches at rallies and patriotic demonstrations in Belgium and France in the summer of 1914. Volunteers ascend the platform to a speaking officer.

Recruits in civilian clothes enter a barracks.

Recruits in formation inside a barracks.

An elderly recruit taking the oath; recruits at the table during mealtime.

Recruits receiving uniforms.

Troops loading onto a steamship.

A departing steamship with troops on board.

German and Austrian staff officers over a map during the planning of an offensive operation.

French troops marching down a city street in August 1914. Actresses portraying "France suffering from German aggression" and an actor dressed as a German soldier.

French and Belgian soldiers marching.