The French and British armies turned back a German invasion, saving Paris and beginning the horrors of trench warfare in World War I.
The First Months of World War I
The war begins in the early years of the 20th century, Europe was a powder keg waiting to explode. A system of alliances bound Germany and Austria on one side against France, Britain, and Russia on the other. Each mistrusted the other. Tension also grew because of an arms race that had lasted many decades. When the heir to the Austrian throne was assassinated in Sarajevo, Bosnia,on June 28, 1914, the powder ignited. Because the assassin was from Serbia, a small European country, Austria declared war on Serbia. Russia,an ally of Serbia, began to mobilize, or prepare its forces for war, against both Austria and Germany. Germany declared war on Russia and its ally France. Germany then launched an attack on France in early August. Its invasion of neutral Belgium caused Britain to declare war on Germany. By early August, most of Europe was at war.
The Generals' Plans
After the humiliation of Sedan in 1870, French generals were determined to get revenge. In the years leading up to World War I, they had developed what they thought was a winning strategy. Masses of French soldiers would charge with bayonets fixed to reclaim Alsace and Loraine, the areas that the Germans had won in the Franco-Prussian War. The plan was long on glory but short on sense. The generals ignored a simple fact. Now that armies had machine guns, this war would be fought differently. Mass infantry attacks would be mass suicide. The German plan relied on moving troops to attack at the weakest point instead of making a direct assault. An army massed on the French border was to move swiftly through Belgium and head west into France,then turn south. The goal was to get behind the rear of the French armies that would be advancing to the east. After a quick victory, the Germans could turn east to face the Russians.
The First Battle of the Marne
German success The German advance proceeded largely as planned, stopped only briefly by Belgian resistance. The French attack into Alsace and Loraine failed. By the end of August, the Germans had moved far into northeastern France,and the French were falling back. A German army,under General Alexander von Kluck, was nearing Paris.
The French Counterattack
Two facts gave the French hope. First,a new French force being assembled in Paris threatened Kluck's army. As Kluck kept moving south,he opened himself to attack on his rear. Second, Kluck had become separated from the army in the center, under General Karl von Bülow. The gap in the German line was an opening that the French and their British allies could exploit. The French halted their retreat. French general Joseph Joffre drew up the plan for the counterattack against the German armies near the Marne River.
On September 6,1914, French general Michael-Joseph Maunoury led the offensive from Paris. Kluck turned to his right to meet the assault. This move widened the gap between him and Bülow. Meanwhile, Bülow was under assault by French general Louis Francher d'Esperey. Father to the German left another attack, under General Ferdinand Foch, made little headway but tied up German troops under General Hausen.
The next day saw one of the legendary feats of the war. As the army from Paris faced stiffer opposition, French general Joseph-Simon Galieni wanted to add more pressure. Seizing about 1,200 Paris taxicabs, he packed them with troops, five soldiers to a cab. The drivers rushed the reinforcements to the front.
The pressure on the Germans was building; their armies were ready to break. Unfortunately,the British army under General John French had advanced too cautiously. French's slowness saved the Germans from annihilation, but their situation was still bad.
On September 9, the German army began its retreat.
Years of Trench Warfare
This battle marked the beginning of trench warfare on the Western Front in World War I. Shortly after the German retreat, the pattern of fighting changed. The armies built elaborate systems of trenches and barbed wire defended by machine guns. For four years, both sides made repeated charges against these stout defenses. Both suffered horrible casualties to gain little ground.
Four years after First Marne, the armies fought over the same terrain. In the Second Battle of the Marne, the Allies- now including Americans repeated their earlier success. The Germans launched an attack to try to end the war. The Allies met the blow and then counterpunched. This offensive, in the summer of 1918, led the Germans to surrender and ended the horrible slaughter of World War 1.
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