First Battle of the Marne

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Date	5 September – 12 September 1914
Location	Marne River near Paris, France
Result	Strategically decisive Allied victory

Combatants

France

Commanders

Strength

1,071,000

1,485,000

Casualties

Approximately 263,000:
250,000 French casualties
(80,000 dead)
13,000 British casualties
(1,700 dead)

Approximately 250,000 total

Retreat to the Marne
Maubeuge – Le Cateau – Guise – 1st Marne – 1st Aisne

The First Battle of the Marne (also known as the Miracle of the Marne) was a World War I battle fought from September 5 to September 12, 1914. It was a Franco-British victory against the German army under Chief of Staff Helmuth von Moltke the Younger.

By the end of August 1914, the whole Allied army on the Western Front had been forced into a general retreat back towards Paris. Meanwhile the two main German armies continued through France. It seemed that Paris would be taken as both the French Army and the British Expeditionary Force fell back towards the Marne River.

1 Prelude
2 Battle
3 Aftermath
4 See also
5 References

[edit] Prelude

British troops suffered heavy casualties during the German attack into France. Field Marshal Sir John French, commander of the British Expeditionary Force (BEF), blamed his heavy losses on French vacillation and uncoordinated withdrawals. In particular, he blamed French General Lanrezac, commander of the French Fifth Army, for Lanrezac's failure to fight and unannounced pullbacks. Relations between the British commander and the French commanders suffered greatly. Field Marshal French made plans to move all British troops back from the front along their lines of communication for rest and reorganization. French Commander-In-Chief Joseph Joffre persuaded Lord Kitchener to intervene, and Kitchener met personally with Field Marshal French. Kitchener told Field Marshal French that a withdrawal by the British would be disastrous for both the French and British. Field Marshal French agreed to keep British troops on the front line as long as their flanks were not exposed by French withdrawals.

As the German First and Second Armies approached Paris, they began to swerve to the southeast away from Paris, exposing their right flank to the allies. By September 3, Joffre recognized the German armies' tactical error, and quickly made plans to halt the French and British withdrawal and attack the Germans all along the front. The British army and the French Sixth Army were given the job of attacking the exposed right flank of the German First Army. Joffre personally visited Field Marshal French and secured French's agreement to participate in the attack. The attack was set to begin on the morning of September 6. However, General Alexander von Kluck, the commander of the German First Army detected the approach of the Allied forces on September 5th and, too late, began to wheel his Army to face the west. On September 5, in the mid afternoon, battle commenced when the advancing French Sixth Army came into contact with the forward guard of the German First Army. ^[1]

[edit] Battle

Von Kluck, in turning to meet the French attack on his right flank, opened up a 50 km (30 mile) wide gap in the German lines between his First Army and the German Second Army, commanded by the cautious General Karl von Bülow, which was located to the left of the First Army. Allied reconnaissance planes discovered the gap and reported it to commanders on the ground.[1] The Allies were prompt in exploiting the break in the German lines, dispatching troops from the BEF to join the French Fifth Army in pouring through the gap between the two German armies, the right wing of the Fifth Army simultaneously attacking the German Second Army.

Nevertheless, the German forces were close to achieving a breakthrough against Maunoury's beleaguered Sixth Army between September 6 and September 8, and the Sixth Army was only saved on September 7 by the aid of 6,000 French reserve infantry troops ferried from Paris in some 600 taxi cabs. The following night, on September 8, the aggressive French commander General Franchet d'Esperey and his Fifth Army launched a surprise attack against the German Second Army, serving to further widen the gap between the German First and Second Armies. D'Espery was a recent appointment, Joffre having given him command of the Fifth Army in place of the dismissed General Charles Lanrezac, who was deemed too cautious and wanting in 'offensive spirit'.

By September 9, it looked as though the German First and Second Armies would be totally encircled and destroyed. General von Moltke suffered a nervous breakdown upon hearing of the danger. His subordinates took over and ordered a general retreat to the Aisne River to regroup. The Germans were pursued by the French and British, although the pace of the Allied advance was slow - a mere 19 km (12 miles) a day. The German armies ceased their retreat after 65 km (40 miles), at a point north of the Aisne River, where they dug in, preparing trenches that were to last for several years.

The German retreat between September 9 and September 13 marked the abandonment of the Schlieffen Plan. Moltke is said to have reported to the Kaiser: "Your Majesty, we have lost the war." In the aftermath of the battle, both sides dug in and four years of stalemate ensued.

[edit] Aftermath

One of the taxi cabs of the Marne.

The war became a stalemate when the Allies won the Battle of the Marne. It was the second major clash on the Western Front (after the Battle of the Frontiers) and one of the most important single events. The German retreat left in ruins the Schlieffen Plan and German hopes of a quick victory in the west. Its army was left to fight a long war on two fronts.

The Battle of Marne was also one of the first major battles in which reconnaissance planes played a decisive role, by discovering weak points in the German lines and allowing the allies to take advantage of them.[2]

The First Battle of the Marne is best remembered for the approximately six hundred Parisian taxicabs, mainly Renault AG's, commandeered by French authorities and used to transport six thousand French reserve infantry troops to the battle. Their arrival has traditionally been described as critical in stopping a possible German breakthrough against the 6th Army. Today, some historians question their real impact. Their impact on morale, however, is undeniable: the taxis de la Marne were perceived as a manifestation of the union sacrée of the French civilian population and its soldiers at the front, reminiscent of the people in arms who had saved the French Republic in 1794.

Over two million men fought in the First Battle of the Marne, of whom more than 500,000 were killed or wounded.

[edit] See also

La Ferté-sous-Jouarre memorial

[edit] References

World War I Portal

Evans, M. M. (2004). Battles of World War I. Select Editions. ISBN 1-84193-226-4.
Isselin, Henri. The Battle of the Marne. London: Elek Books, 1965. (Translation of La Bataille de la Marne, published by Editions B. Arthaud, 1964.)
Perris, George Herbert. The Battle of the Marne. London: Methuen, 1920.
Spears, Sir Edward. Liaison 1914. Cassell & Co., 1968. ISBN 0-304-35682-4.