At that time in history, the French had heavily fortified their border with Germany; thus it would take months, if not longer, for the Germans to try to break through those defenses. Le Cateau apparently convinced Kluck that the British force could be wiped from the slate, and Guise led Gen. Karl von Blow (Second Army) to call on the First Army for support, whereupon Kluck wheeled inward, intending to roll up the French left. They were exhausted. Updated: September 1, 2018 | Original: September 5, 2014. A German offensive began by 21 October but the 4th and 6th Armies were only able to take small amounts of ground, at great cost to both sides at the Battle of the Yser (1631 October) and further south in the First Battle of Ypres (19 October22 November). [64][49] On 11 September Moltke himself visited the 3rd, 4th, and 5th German armies and ordered a retreat of those armies in addition to the ongoing retreat of the 1st and 2nd armies) to the Aisne River to regroup or another offensive. The first major battle of World War I delivered death on an industrial scale that had not been seen before in warfare. Second Battle of the Marne | World War I [1918] | Britannica The battle took place between Paris and Verdun, a west to east distance of 230km (140mi). The plan aimed to end a two-front war as quickly as possible. The French armies engaged in the Marne Battle were reinforced by reservists, recruits, and by transfers from other French and colonial armies. Both sides dug in to fortify their positions. A French captain named Charles de Gaulle said 'that all the courage in the world cannot prevail against gunfire."[17]. If Kluck refused, Blow would retreat north of the Marne. World War I Timeline: 1914, The War Begins, World War II: Field Marshal Sir Harold Alexander, World War II in Europe: Blitzkrieg and the "Phony War", the first of many that characterized the rest of World War I, assassination of Austro-Hungarian Archduke Franz Ferdinand. The French, with the aid of some British troops, successfully halted the German advance and both sides dug in. One further factor must be mentioned, the most significant of all: the Germans had advanced so rapidly, outrunning their timetable, that their supplies had failed to keep pace. Notions of a short war had been dashed. In other words, the Germans retreated without being defeated. The First Battle of the Marne was fought September 6-12, 1914, during World War I (1914-1918) and marked the limit of Germany's initial advance into France. The First Battle of the Marne was a battle fought in northeastern France from September 6-12, 1914, part of World War I. For the French, what began as a move of desperation ended up as a wild success, and the Germans began to be pushed back. Tuchman gave French casualties for August as 206,515 from Armes Franaises and Herwig gave French casualties for September as 213,445, also from Armes Franaises for a total of just under 420,000 in the first two months of the war. The First Battle of the Marne was a major World War I battle that took place from September 6-12, 1914 near the Marne River in France. The German 6th Army had also found that on arrival in the north, it was forced to oppose the French attack rather than advance around the flank and that the secondary objective, to protect the northern flank of the German Armies in France, had become the main task. The French seized the opportunity, and on September 5 French Commander-in-Chief Joseph Joffre ordered a counterattack between Senlis and Meaux. On September 10 the Germans began a general retreat that ended north of the Aisne River, where they dug in, and the trench warfare that was to typify the Western Front for the next three years began. Herwig wrote that there were 1,701 British casualties (the British Official History noted that these losses were incurred from 610 September). The 1st Army was poised to assault the city of Paris and, hopefully, win the war, but Kuhl acceded to Hentsch and informed Kluck. July 15, 1918 - July 18, 1918. battles of the Meuse . Germany had been afraid this might happen. The Allies frontal pursuit of the Germans from the Marne was already checked on the Aisne before Joffre, on September 17, seeing that Maunourys attempts to overlap the German flank were ineffectual, decided to form a fresh army under Gen. douard de Castelnau for a maneuver around and behind the German flank. The French did not fortify their north western border with Belgium as they did not expect the Germans to attack there and also feared being accused of violating Belgian neutralityand thereby losing British participation in the war. You can find out more about our use, change your default settings, and withdraw your consent at any time with effect for the future by visiting Cookies Settings, which can also be found in the footer of the site. His work has appeared in numerous publications, including The Boston Globe, The New York Times, and National Geographic Traveler. Even on September 5, when the French on either flank were turning about, the British continued a further days march to the south. In this week in military history, we explore the First Battle of the Marne in 1914, where French and the British Expeditionary Forces fought to prevent the G. The BEF had begun to move from the Aisne to Flanders on 5 October and reinforcements from England assembled on the left flank of the Tenth Army, which had been formed from the left flank units of the 2nd Army on 4 October. First Battle of the Marne - Spartacus Educational He wrote that the French official history, Les armes franaises dans la grande guerre, gave 213,445 French casualties in September and assumed that c. 40% occurred during the Battle of the Marne. The German retreat from 9 to 12 September marked the end of the German attempt to defeat France quickly. The battle was the culmination of the Retreat from Mons and pursuit of the Franco-British armies which followed the Battle of the Frontiers in . At the beginning of World War I, Germany decided to take its chances and put the Schlieffen Plan, with a few changes, into effect. Instead, gone were the days of open warfare; both sides remained within these underground lairs until the end of the war. The river is the last natural obstacle between northern France and Paris. While radio intercepts and aerial reconnaissance used in the battle presaged the future of warfare, echoes of the past remained in the cavalry troops charging on horseback, soldiers in red pantaloons charging behind commanders with swords drawn and drummers providing a musical soundtrack to the battle. [70], On 14 September, German military authorities informed Kaiser Wilhelm II that "Moltke's nerves are at an end and [he] is no longer able to conduct operations." Machine guns and modern cannons mowed down enemy forces. On 6 September the British force moved so slowly it finished the day 12km behind its objectives and suffered only seven men killed. Germany created seven armies for service on the western front. Moltke, the chief of the German General Staff, remained at his headquarters in Luxembourg throughout the battle. The French focused their attention, troops, and defences is eastern France where they believed the Germans would be most dangerous. Troops of the 1st Battalion, Middlesex Regiment (Duke of Cambridge's Own) under shrapnel fire from German artillery on the Signy-Signets road, 8 September 1914. July 8, 2021 0 1990 - Advertisement - The Battle of the Marne was a major battle between the German and Anglo-French armies, which took place on September 5-12, 1914, on the Marne , during the First World War, ending in the defeat of the German army. The French and British were outnumbered in contesting the German offensive through Belgium into France. The French Fifth Army then attacked Blows Second Army. [5] The battle is described in French folklore as the "miracle on the Marne.". First Battle of the Marne, (September 6-12, 1914), an offensive during World War I by the French army and the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) against the advancing Germans who had invaded Belgium and northeastern France and were within 30 miles (48 km) of Paris. The British stand at Le Cateau (August 26), interrupting the retreat from Mons, and Lanrezacs riposte at Guise (August 29) were also factors in checking the German enveloping wing, and each had still greater indirect effects. [9][10] By contrast, the French commander, Joseph Joffre, was a whirlwind of activity (although insisting on fine dining and an uninterrupted eight hours of sleep every night). First Battle of the Marne - Students - Britannica Kids With its army in retreat, the French needed a miracle to save Paris from enemy occupation. This led Joffre to transfer the Second Army west to the left flank of the Sixth Army, the first phase of Entente attempts to outflank the German armies in "The Race to the Sea". It was the first major Allied victory in World War I and came at a time when the Germany Army was rapidly advancing through the Low Countries and into France in what was known as the Schlieffen Plan. The moves of the 7th and then the 6th Army from Alsace and Lorraine had been intended to secure German lines of communication through Belgium, where the Belgian army had sortied several times, during the period between the Great Retreat and the Battle of the Marne; in August, British marines had landed at Dunkirk. We strive for accuracy and fairness. He blamed Kluck for the crisis and said that Kluck should immediately break off the battle with the French 6th army and close the gap between them. [47], Kluck telegrammed Moltke on the night of 8 September that "The decision will be obtained tomorrow by an enveloping attack by General von Quast. Battles > First Battle of the Marne First Battle of the Marne At the end of August 1914, the three armies of the German invasion's northern wing were sweeping south towards Paris. Gallieni commandered about six hundred taxicabs at Les Invalides in central Paris to carry soldiers to the front at Nanteuil-le-Haudouin, fifty kilometres away. The First Battle of the Marne; The Eastern and other fronts, 1914. US #915 - The battle occurred along the Marne River, near Brasles, east of Paris, France. First Battle of the Marne - World War 1 | Cool Kid Facts [52], While Kluck was on the offensive near Paris, Blow went on the defensive after the French attack on 6 September. As envisioned by the Schlieffen Plan (revised by Helmuth von Moltke), the Germans embarked on a rapid, circular, counter-clockwise offensive through Belgium and into France with the objective of capturing Paris and enveloping and destroying the French army east of Paris within their six week timetable. On arrival, however, Field Marshal Sir John French learned that the French Fifth Army under Gen. Charles Lanrezac had been checked by a German attack on August 21 and deprived of the crossing of the Sambre. [22], Meanwhile, the attacking Germans had outrun their logistics and attrition among its soldiers was high. He reinforced his newly created 6th and 9th armies. The British fought them off, using quick rifle fire and superior machine guns. Retrieved from https://www.thoughtco.com/the-first-battle-of-the-marne-1779220. July 15, 1918 - July 18, 1918 Location: France Marne River Participants: France Germany Italy United States Context: Western Front World War I Key People: Ferdinand Foch Hunter Liggett See all related content Second Battle of the Marne, (July 15-18, 1918), last large German offensive of World War I. Just a month into the Great War, the Germans had the French capital within sight. Marne, Battles of the | International Encyclopedia of the First World The Franco-British attacks towards Lille in October at the battles of La Basse, Messines and Armentires (OctoberNovember) were followed up by attempts to advance between the BEF and the Belgian army by a new French Eighth Army. [20] The 9th army headed by Ferdinand Foch was stationed between the third and fourth French armies. [31] He was unaware that a new French army, the 6th of Joseph Gallieni and Maunoury, was guarding Paris to his west and he discounted the British Expeditionary Force which had apparently abandoned the battlefield. On September 6, 1914, the 37th day of the German campaign, the Battle of the Marne began. The process of trench digging took nearly two months but was still only meant to be a temporary measure against French retaliation. In this disappearance lay the unintentional cause of victory. After the first . The first battle of the Marne was a decisive clash that took place in the region between the rivers Marne and Ourcq, east of Paris, in the initial stages of the First World War on the Western Front. Colonel, the authority to order the German armies to retreat if necessary for their survival. The First Battle of the Marne was fought between Germany and the allies of France and Britain. The Kaiser forced Moltke to resign due to "ill health." [79] Barbara W. Tuchman and Robert A. Doughty wrote that Joffre's victory at the Marne was far from decisive, Tuchman calling it an "incomplete victory of the Marne" and Doughty [the] "opportunity for a decisive victory had slipped from his hands". Cookies collect information about your preferences and your devices and are used to make the site work as you expect it to, to understand how you interact with the site, and to show advertisements that are targeted to your interests. Now the flank of the wheeling German line would pass the near side of Paris and across the face of the Paris defenses into the valley of the Marne. Britain sent the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) to France. Gallieni had come to the same conclusion on 3 September and sent Maunoury and the 6th Army east to find the German's flank. Both sides bogged down in a slow, bloody grind of trench warfare that would last until the end of the war in 1918. The attack was cancelled and the IX Reserve Corps was ordered to withdraw behind the right flank of the 1st Army. In Keegan's words, "The balance of advantage on the Marne once more seemed to have tilted the Germans' way. Order of battle of the First Battle of the Marne - Wikipedia Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions. Instead, interpreting the order broadly (or disobeying it), Kluck turned his line of march from south to southeast, becoming closer but not in echelon with Blow, and on 3 September his forces crossed the Marne River 60km (37mi) west of Paris, the first Germans to do so. Casualties (both those killed and wounded) for the French forces are roughly estimated around 250,000 men; casualties for the Germans, who had no official tally, are estimated to be around the same number. "[23] The "most terrible August in the history of the world" proved them wrong as artillery and machine guns triumphed over elan and cran. French commander in chief Gen. Joseph-Jacques-Csaire Joffre at last recognized the folly of pressing ahead with Plan XVII, the planned French offensive into Alsace and Lorraine. World War I: First Battle of the Marne - Ducksters Hentsch's mission, in the words of historian Herwig, was to become "the most famous staff tour in military history. . The Battle of the Marne alone from September 5 to 12 resulted in an estimated 85,000 French and British casualties and 67,000 German casualties. Both sides expected a short war. Then, on 5 September, Joffre journeyed to BEF headquarters for discussions which ended with him banging his hand dramatically on a table while shouting "Monsieur le Marchal, the honour of England is at stake!" Frontal attacks by the Ninth, Fifth, and Sixth Armies were repulsed from 1516 September. His order said he was retreating "at the behest" of Moltke's General Staff. 5 February 2015by Patrick Shrier The Combatants at 1st Marne The first Battle of the Marne was fought from 5-12 September, 1914. German commanders exulted in their victories, but Chief of General Staff Moltke was worried. North and west of Paris, the French and British armies retreated before the German onslaught. By 9 September, the success of the FrancoBritish counteroffensive left the German 1st and 2nd Armies at risk of encirclement, and they were ordered to retreat to the Aisne River. We know anyhow that with a prescience greater in political than in military affairs, he wrote to his wife on the night of the 9th, "Things have not gone well. Meanwhile, the French Fifth Army, now led by General Louis Franchet dEsperey (who had replaced Lanrezac), and Field Marshal John Frenchs British troops (who agreed to join in the battle only after much, much urging) pushed up into the 30-mile gap that divided the German First and Second Armies. Schlieffens plan involved speed and Belgium. By the next day, French attacks north of the Aisne led Falkenhayn to order the 6th Army to repulse the French and secure the flank. The German attack would have then fallen on the French left flank and rear, virtually assuring the destruction of the French army and the fall of Paris. [24], Demands for more soldiers on other fronts in the war (and possible over-confidence) resulted in Moltke reducing the number of German attackers in France by 200,000 or more men in August. He sent his intelligence officer, Lieutenant Colonel Richard Hentsch to visit the armies. Goss, Jennifer L. "The First Battle of the Marne." [57], The Allies exploited the gap in the German lines, sending the BEF northwest toward Kluck and the 5th Army northeast toward Blow into the gap between the two German armies. Description In 1914 the Germans launched an offensive that swept through Belgium and into France, threatening to crush French resistance in one fell swoop. The horrific bloodshed on the first day of the battle became a metaphor for futile and indiscriminate slaughter. Moreover, his relations with Kluck were poor. Chief of the French General Staff Joseph Joffre had exactly the same idea. Updates? https://www.thoughtco.com/the-first-battle-of-the-marne-1779220 (accessed June 28, 2023). He discerned the danger of a flank attack against Kluck and, although greatly outnumbered, attacked the French, holding them off for 24 hours before retreating. [6] The French army stationed on the western front initially consisted of five armies of which the Fourth Army, commanded by Fernand de Langle de Cary, and the Fifth Army, commanded by Charles Lanrezac, on its left flank would be most involved in the Battle of the Marne. That night he issued commands to halt the French retreat in his Instruction General No. Although under orders to support the Second Army to guard against possible attacks from Paris, the aggressive von Kluck instead sought glory and a chance to drive a stake in the enemy by pursuing the retreating French Fifth Army across the Marne River east of Paris. Schlieffen Plan and the First Battle of the Marne - Khan Academy The military governor of Paris, General Joseph-Simon Gallieni, predicted the Germans would arrive in the City of Lights by September 5 if no actions were taken. The First Battle of the Marne - About History Schlieffen advocated circumventing these fortifications by invading France from the north via Belgium. But if you see something that doesn't look right, click here to contact us! They invaded Belgium on August 3rd 1914. Holger Herwig called the Battle of the Marne the most important land battle of the 20th century. They received it on September 3 when French reconnaissance pilots spotted the forces of German General Alexander von Klucks First Army, which had been pointed at Paris like a spear tip, suddenly switch to the southeast. The taxis, following city regulations, dutifully ran their meters. "(Majestt, wir haben den Krieg verloren). Retired general Joseph Gallieni also warned Joffre that the German's main effort was in the northwest, not the east. He transferred two corps to the eastern front to fight the Russians and assigned another two to besiege Antwerp and Maubeuge. They were wrong. [18] Joffre All Rights Reserved. Gallieni requisitioned a fleet of 600 Renault taxis to drive 6,000 soldiers from the capital to the battleground. The First Battle of the Marne - ThoughtCo Plan XVII had vastly underestimated the size of German invasion forces, and its execution would have dramatically enhanced the effectiveness of the German Schlieffen Plan. The main German effort remained on the western flank, which was revealed to the French by intercepted wireless messages. . "[62], Lt. [85], It is difficult to disaggregate the casualties in the Battle of the Marne from the casualties in the other related battles in August and September 1914. On September 3, when the German First Army was crossing the Marne east of Paris, Gallieni realized the meaning of Klucks wheel inward and directed Gen. Michel-Joseph Maunourys Sixth Army to be ready to strike at the exposed German right flank. Follow Chris on Twitter @historyauthor. Although this successfully slowed the Germans down, the Germans ultimately broke through and continued southward toward the French capital of Paris. The First Battle of the Marne occurred during the early days of World War I. [84] The Battle of the Marne was also one of the first battles in which reconnaissance aircraft played a decisive role, by discovering weak points in the German lines, which the Entente armies were able to exploit. Dubbed the Miracle of the Marne, the strategic victory for the Allies proved to be a critical turning point in World War I. Paris had been saved from capture. First Battle of the Marne, (September 612, 1914), an offensive during World War I by the French army and the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) against the advancing Germans who had invaded Belgium and northeastern France and were within 30 miles (48 km) of Paris. Lanzarec had also been right in violating the French "cult of the offensive" by taking a defensive posture against the invading Germans and preserving his army to fight another day. [88] Herwig estimated 300,000 casualties for all sides at the Marne but questioned whether isolating the battle was justified. The German violation of Belgium's neutrality brought Great Britain into the war. However, the assault had to happen quicklybefore the Russians could gather their forces and attack Germany from the east. The man with the goggles belongs to the Intelligence Corps. Three of them on the German right flank would be most involved in the Battle of the Marne. This dislocated Joffres design for an early return to the offensive and compelled the Sixth Army to fall back hurriedly toward the shelter of the Paris defenses. While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. Sixty percent of its motor transport had broken down as had fodder wagons carrying hay for horses. . The French were followed by the German 1st (Kluck), 2nd (Blow), and 3rd (Hausen) armies. All these forces were taken from the right wing. The French Sixth Army, led by General Michel Maunoury, attacked Germanys First Army from the west. This involved a withdrawal of Kluck's forces who had crossed the Marne River to the south and now had to march 130km (81mi) in two days to reach positions facing the French. On 3 September the military governor of Paris, Joseph Simon Gallieni, perceived that the German right flank was vulnerable and positioned his forces to attack. And France, who had an alliance with Russia, also joined the war. On September 2, the French government evacuated to the city of Bordeaux, leaving French General Joseph-Simon Gallieni as the new military governor of Paris, in charge of the defense of the city. That the Allies were not able to draw greater advantage from their victory was partly due to the comparative weakness of Maunourys flank attack and partly due to the failure of the British and of the French Fifth Army under dEsprey to drive rapidly through the gap between the German First and Second armies while it was open. Moltke preferred sending instructions to his armies by emissary rather than relying on his inadequate telephone and telegraph system. Meanwhile, Hentsch proceeded onwards to Kluck's 1st Army headquarters near the Ourcq River arriving at 11:30 AM after a journey through the devastation of war. The First Battle of the Marne 1914 - Osprey Publishing The whole left wing was ordered to turn about and return to a general offensive on September 6. Before acceding, Kluck deferred to Moltke. [74] French casualties totalled c. 250,000 men, of whom an estimated 80,000 were killed. Thereby a 30-mile (48-km) gap was created between the German First Army (in the vicinity of Meaux) and the Second (east of Montmirail)a gap covered only by a screen of cavalry. Following the battle and the failures by both sides to turn the opponent's northern flank during the Race to the Sea, the war of movement ended with the Germans and the allied powers facing each other across a stationary front line of trenches and defenses that remained nearly stable for four years. Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). The British, after resisting the attacks of six German divisions in the Battle of Mons, began on August 24 to fall back in conformity with their allies, from the Belgian frontier toward the Marne. In a confusing and chaotic approach, the Allies then attacked the armies from all sides. Germany faced the specter of a two-front war, facing Russia in the east and France and Britain in the west. Instead of following orders and heading directly to Paris, Kluck chose instead to pursue the exhausted, retreating French Fifth Army, led by General Charles Lanrezac. [73] The failure of the French Plan 17 caused that situation. In the east, France had the objective of regaining AlsaceLorraine which it had lost to Germany in the Franco-German war of 1870.
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