German, BEF and French army positions Aug 23-Sept 5 1914, Wikipedia (click text to enlarge)

The Battle of the Frontiers had been a catastrophe. British and French forces across the line were rapidly being pushed south. The Great Retreat was fully underway. Starting on August 24, the German 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th Armies would advance nearly 250 miles into France.

The commander of the British Expeditionary Force (BEF), Sir John French, having lost faith in the ability of France to defend herself, began to make plans to retreat to the coast and evacuate his army from the continent. In the final days of August soldiers of the German 1st Army, just ten miles outside of Paris, could see the Eiffel Tower in the distance. To say that the situation was dire for France would be an understatement. However, at this moment, a window of opportunity was presented that would change the entire course of the war. The window opened slightly on September 1 when British Secretary of War Lord Herbert Kitchener ordered the BEF commander to keep his army in France.

At the start of the war retired French General Joseph Gallieni had been called back into service and named Military Governor of Paris. On September 2, Gallieni told his Commander in Chief, Joseph Joffre, that he needed more resources to protect the capitol. Despite his dislike of Gallieni, and the desire to use these forced elsewhere in battle, Joffre placed the newly created French 6th Army under Gallieni’s control. Augmented by additional troops, including a brigade from Morocco and a division from Algeria, the 6th Army was led by General Michel-Joseph Maunoury. The window opened a bit more with this addition of this new force to the French line.

German 1st Army General Alexander von Kluck, photo Wikipedia

Commander of the German 1st Army, General Alexander von Kluck, had been aggressively pursuing the retreating French forces since August 24. The German Schlieffen Plan for war against France stated that the German 1st Army was to advance on the west side of Paris while the 2nd Army, under General Karl von Bulow, was to advance on the east. The two armies would then surround and capture Paris from both directions. But von Bulow was much more cautious than von Kluck. While the 1st Army was ten miles north of Paris, von Bulow directed his 2nd Army to stop 30 miles from Paris in anticipation of a French counter attack. With von Kluck far in advance of von Bulow, too much distance existed between the German 1st and 2nd Armies. Von Kluck was ordered to move 1st Army to support the 2nd Army. On August 31, in total disregard for the Schlieffen Plan, von Kluck swung the entire 1st Army to the southeast, away from Paris, and towards von Bulow and 2nd Army. This is the now infamous “Von Kluck’s Turn”. The German soldiers of the 1st Army, thrilled at the vision of Paris growing larger in front of them, were confused to see the city moving off to their right side as they marched forward. In addition to skipping the capture of Paris, von Kluck’s maneuver had created a 30-mile gap in the German line. Unknown to von Kluck, he was also exposing his entire right flank to a force he did not know existed: Maunoury, and the new French 6th Army. In three days the French would realize what was happening and the window of opportunity would be opened wider. Winston Churchill, in his book The World Crisis 1911-1918 wrote:

It was upon these indications, confirmed again by British aviators on the 3rd, the Gallieni acted. Assuredly no human brain had conceived the design, nor had human hand set the pieces on the board. Several separate and discrepant series of events had flowed together. First, the man Gallieni is on the spot. Fixed in his fortress, he could not move towards the battle; so the mighty battle has been made to come to him. Second-the weapon had been placed in his hands-the army of Maunoury. It was given him for one purpose, the defense of Paris; he will use it for another-a decisive maneuver in the field. It was given him against the wish of Joffre. It will prove the means of Joffre’s salvation. Third, the Opportunity: Kluck, swinging forward in hot pursuit of, as he believed, the routed British and demoralized French, will present his whole right flank and rear as he passes Paris to Gallieni with Maunoury in his hand. Observe, not one of these factors would have counted without the other two. All are interdependent; all are here, and all are here now.

Gallieni realized the position in a flash. “I dare not believe it,” he exclaimed; “it is too good to be true.” But it is true. Confirmation arrives hour by hour. He vibrates with enthusiasm.

Position of forces before the Battle of the Marne, Wikipedia (click text to enlarge)

Joffre sees the opportunity as well, and intends to take full advantage of it. The time for timidity is over. The Great Retreat is halted and French forces are turned around to attack. By this point numerous French generals have been sacked by Joffre. They have been replaced with more aggressive commanders, including Ferdinand Foch and Philippe Petain. But there is one general that Joffre can’t replace and who does not report to him, BEF commander General French. The French commander desperately needed the BEF to join the counter attack. Joffre traveled to meet with the BEF commander and during their discussion Joffre slams his hand down on a table exclaiming “Monsieur le Maréchal, c’est la France qui vous supplie!” (Marshal, France is begging you!). Sir John French attempted a reply in French, stumbles, and finally tells an aide “Damn it, I can’t explain. Tell him that all our men can do our fellows will do”. The BEF will join the Battle of the Marne. Joffre directs his forces to attack on September 4 and the French 6th Army made contact with the Germans near the River Marne on the next day. 

Taxi de la Marne at Les Invalides Paris April 2018

Fully engaged in battle, von Kluck wheeled the 1st Army west to face the French 6th Army on September 5. In doing so he opens another gap between his forces and von Bulow’s 2nd Army. Confusion between the German commanders caused the gap to open wider and on September 6 the BEF and French 5th Army took the advantage. Two days of ferocious battle followed and this time it was the Germans that were pushed back. On September 7 the French 6th Army was reinforced with 10,000 reserve troops, 3000 of which were delivered to the front via a 30-mile taxi cab ride from Paris. General Gallieni arranged for 600 taxis to transport the soldiers and the taxi companies were reimbursed the 70,000 francs for the expense. The Taxis de la Marne was the first large scale use of motorized infantry in battle and the taxis would become iconic in French history.

French soldiers charge at the Battle of the Marne, photo Wikipedia

The tide had turned and by September 8 it looked like the German 2nd Army was in danger of being surrounded. Von Bulow was forced to retreat and, much to the objection of the still aggressive von Kluck, the German 1st Army was forced to fall back as well. Chief of the German General Staff Helmuth von Moltke, who had been suffering from the immense stress of command since the war began a month ago, collapsed upon hearing the news that German forces were in retreat. The Schlieffen Plan had failed and the fate of Germany was in question. Upon recovery, von Moltke is reported to have told the Kaiser “Your Majesty, we have lost the war.” France would not be defeated before Russian mobilization was complete. The nightmare of a two front war was now a reality for the German Empire. Von Moltke was replaced as German military commander on September 14 and would die from stroke in June 1916.

The German retreat continued for almost a week. Upon crossing the River Aisne in northern France, German soldiers stopped on the higher ground, began to dig in, and prepared to defend themselves against the advancing French forces. For two weeks the First Battle of the Aisne would rage until a front line stabilized. Similar fronts would establish themselves to the east all the way to the Swiss border. Trenches, first dug by the Germans, were also built by the French.

The “Race to the Sea” and the flooding of Belgium October 1914, Wikipedia (click text to enlarge)

To the west, the month long “Race to the Sea” began. Reaching the sea was not the goal however. Instead, the BEF/French and German forces attempted to turn each other’s flank and find a weakness. Neither force could outflank the other and eventually the armies ran out of land in which to try and make the turn, they had reached the English Channel. 

Driven out of Antwerp by German forces, Belgian King Albert I and his army, along with French forces, made a stand along the Yser River in western Belgium. On October 25 the German offensive was so fierce that Belgians made a decision to open the floodgates in Nieuwpoort and let in sea water from the channel. Ten square miles of Belgian farmland was flooded by salt water and the Germans were held back. The Belgian Army would remain behind the safety of this artificial lake for the next four years.

Langemarck Belgium November 1914, photo Wikipedia

The First Battle of Ypres took place from October 22 to November 22 and achieved no definitive results other than the additional loss of life. The war, which had been expected to last six weeks, was by this point four months old. Armies were short on supplies and ammunition. Morale was low and soldiers were exhausted. German reservists, thrown into battle without adequate training, attacked at Langemarck and suffered horrible casualties. The professional ranks of the BEF, 80,000 solders strong at the start of the war, had been all but wiped out. The British would need to rebuild their army and they would require help from their colonial territories in order to do it. By the end of 1914 German and French casualties had reached 1.5 million men, almost equally split between the two combatants. That’s ten thousand casualties per day, on average, for the first five months of war alone. How could any of this be sustainable?

German General Erich von Falkenhayn, who had replaced von Moltke in September, decided upon a strategy of attrition. The Germans would hold on to the territory they had gained and force the French and their allies to try to root them out. Falkenhayn believed the cost would be so great in casualties and material that the French would eventually be forced negotiate for peace. Trenches were dug and reinforced. Machine gun and artillery positions were cleared and improved. The entire Western Front was defined and stabilized from the English Channel to Switzerland. By and large, the front would not move in any significant way until 1918. It would take another force, a fresh belligerent with a nearly limitless supply of man and materials, to enter the war before the balance of power would start to tip.

What was to come? Neuve Chapelle, Second Ypres, Loos, Verdun, The Somme, the Nivelle Offensive, the Battle of Messines and Third Ypres, the Battle of Cambrai, the Kaiserschlacht, Belleau Wood, the Battle of Amines and the Black Day of the German Army, Meuse-Argonne, villages pounded into dust, pointless attacks with nothing to show for it, poison gas, ground turned to soup by artillery shells, innovations in warfare like tanks and airplanes, reinforced bunkers and underground mines, and conditions that would drive men past the edge of their sanity; all would take place along the Western Front of the Great War over the next four years.

Next Up - Prologue Part 8, The Belligerents: United States