148-692: The Opera Nazionale Combattenti was an Italian charitable organisation set up to provide assistance to veterans of the First World War . It was established in December 1917, in the immediate aftermath of the disastrous Italian defeat at the Battle of Caporetto (now Kobarid , Slovenia), and was intended both to improve the morale of soldiers in the army and to provide for their eventual return to civilian life. Francesco Saverio Nitti and Alberto Beneduce were influential in its establishment, and Beneduce
296-523: A Bosnian Serb named Gavrilo Princip assassinated Archduke Franz Ferdinand , heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne. Austria-Hungary held Serbia responsible, and declared war on 28 July. After Russia mobilised in Serbia's defence, Germany declared war on Russia and France , who had an alliance . The United Kingdom entered after Germany invaded Belgium , whose neutrality it guaranteed, and
444-632: A Grand Prix race car driver. He was ruthless in firing more than 30 French generals who did not meet his standards (or, as some say, who dared to disagree with him). John French, the British commander, was intimidated by the casualties suffered by the British in initial battles and thereafter reluctant to engage the Germans, but finally played an important role in the Battle of the Marne. The strategies of
592-590: A blue-water navy was vital for global power projection; Tirpitz had his books translated into German, while Wilhelm made them required reading for his advisors and senior military personnel. However, it was also an emotional decision, driven by Wilhelm's simultaneous admiration for the Royal Navy and desire to surpass it. Bismarck thought that the British would not interfere in Europe, as long as its maritime supremacy remained secure, but his dismissal in 1890 led to
740-592: A grenade at the Archduke's car and injured two of his aides. The other assassins were also unsuccessful. An hour later, as Ferdinand was returning from visiting the injured officers in hospital, his car took a wrong turn into a street where Gavrilo Princip was standing. He fired two pistol shots, fatally wounding Ferdinand and his wife Sophie . According to historian Zbyněk Zeman , in Vienna "the event almost failed to make any impression whatsoever. On 28 and 29 June,
888-540: A guerrilla warfare campaign and only surrendered two weeks after the armistice took effect in Europe. Before the war, Germany had attempted to use Indian nationalism and pan-Islamism to its advantage, a policy continued post-1914 by instigating uprisings in India , while the Niedermayer–Hentig Expedition urged Afghanistan to join the war on the side of Central Powers. However, contrary to British fears of
1036-408: A change in policy and an Anglo-German naval arms race began. Despite the vast sums spent by Tirpitz, the launch of HMS Dreadnought in 1906 gave the British a technological advantage. Ultimately, the race diverted huge resources into creating a German navy large enough to antagonise Britain, but not defeat it; in 1911, Chancellor Theobald von Bethmann Hollweg acknowledged defeat, leading to
1184-524: A compliment by the British. During the retreat, the French massacred 450 Germans who were attempting to surrender. With his right wing retreating, Bülow conversely ordered his left wing to attack with help from Hausen's 3rd army. Hausen covered Bülow's left flank and assaulted Foch's 9th army in the Marshes of Saint–Gond near the city of Sézanne on 8 September. He had 82,000 men for the task. Hausen's attack
1332-593: A depleted and defeated force. 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. The French commander Joffre was preparing for the propitious time when he would counterattack. He reinforced his newly created 6th and 9th armies. On 3 September Joffre dismissed Lanrezac, commander of 5th army, and replaced him with Louis Franchet d'Espèrey . This
1480-613: A direct threat. The 1908–1909 Bosnian Crisis began when Austria annexed the former Ottoman territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina , which it had occupied since 1878. Timed to coincide with the Bulgarian Declaration of Independence from the Ottoman Empire, this unilateral action was denounced by the European powers, but accepted as there was no consensus on how to resolve the situation. Some historians see this as
1628-471: A gap between the German armies as they closed on Paris. The French army, reinforced by the British expeditionary corps, seized this opportunity to counter-attack and pushed the German army 40 to 80 km back. Both armies were then so exhausted that no decisive move could be implemented, so they settled in trenches, with the vain hope of breaking through as soon as they could build local superiority. In 1911,
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#17327725596831776-496: A long war was not in their interest as the resources of France, Great Britain, and Russia were far greater than their own. To win the war with France quickly would even the odds. To historian Herwig, the Schlieffen Plan, the violation of Belgian neutrality, and the German invasion of France in 1914 were "an all-or-nothing throw of the dice, a high-risk operation born of hubris and bordering on recklessness." The Germans and
1924-579: A point north of the Aisne River where they dug in, preparing trenches . Joffre ordered allied troops to pursue, leading to the First Battle of the Aisne (see below). "Along a front of nearly 250 miles [400km], the German infantry faced about and began to retrace its steps over the ground won in bitter combat during the last two weeks." Many of the German soldiers and officers on the front lines of
2072-548: A possibility. This was accentuated by British and Russian support for France against Germany during the 1911 Agadir Crisis . German economic and industrial strength continued to expand rapidly post-1871. Backed by Wilhelm II, Admiral Alfred von Tirpitz sought to use this growth to build an Imperial German Navy , that could compete with the British Royal Navy . This policy was based on the work of US naval author Alfred Thayer Mahan , who argued that possession of
2220-613: A possible German breakthrough against the 6th Army. However, in General Gallieni's memoirs, he notes how some had "exaggerated somewhat the importance of the taxis." In 2001, Strachan mentions only the taxis as "fewer than legend" and in 2009 Herwig called the taxis militarily insignificant. The positive impact on French morale was undeniable. Kluck telegrammed Moltke on the night of 8 September that "The decision will be obtained tomorrow by an enveloping attack by General von Quast." The next morning Quast fought his way through
2368-834: A revolt in India, the outbreak of the war saw a reduction in nationalist activity. Leaders from the Indian National Congress and other groups believed support for the British war effort would hasten Indian Home Rule , a promise allegedly made explicit in 1917 by Edwin Montagu , the Secretary of State for India . In 1914, the British Indian Army was larger than the British Army itself, and between 1914 and 1918 an estimated 1.3 million Indian soldiers and labourers served in Europe, Africa, and
2516-516: A significant escalation, ending any chance of Austria cooperating with Russia in the Balkans, while also damaging diplomatic relations between Serbia and Italy. Tensions increased after the 1911–1912 Italo-Turkish War demonstrated Ottoman weakness and led to the formation of the Balkan League , an alliance of Serbia, Bulgaria, Montenegro , and Greece . The League quickly overran most of
2664-491: A stationary front line of trenches and defenses that remained nearly stable for four years. At the start of the war, both sides had plans that they hoped would result in victory after a short war. While the German invasion failed to defeat the French and British, after the battle the German army still occupied a large portion of northern France as well as most of Belgium. "France had lost 64 per cent of its iron, 62 per cent of its steel, and 50 per cent of its coal. The failure of
2812-677: A total of just under 420,000 in the first two months of the war. According to Roger Chickering, German casualties for the 1914 campaigns on the Western Front were 500,000. British casualties were 13,000 men, with 1,700 killed. No future battle on the Western Front would average so many casualties per day. In 2009, Herwig re-estimated the casualties for the battle. He wrote that the French official history, Les armées françaises dans la grande guerre , gave 213,445 French casualties in September and assumed that c. 40% occurred during
2960-478: A war on two fronts; the Schlieffen Plan envisaged using 80% of the army to defeat France, then switching to Russia. Since this required them to move quickly, mobilization orders were issued that afternoon. Once the German ultimatum to Russia expired on the morning of 1 August, the two countries were at war. At a meeting on 29 July, the British cabinet had narrowly decided its obligations to Belgium under
3108-402: A weak Ottoman government, rather than an ambitious Slav power like Bulgaria . Russia had ambitions in northeastern Anatolia while its clients had overlapping claims in the Balkans. These competing interests divided Russian policy-makers and added to regional instability. Austrian statesmen viewed the Balkans as essential for the continued existence of their Empire and saw Serbian expansion as
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#17327725596833256-455: A whole, the Somme offensive led to an estimated 420,000 British casualties, along with 200,000 French and 500,000 Germans. The diseases that emerged in the trenches were a major killer on both sides. The living conditions led to disease and infection, such as trench foot , lice , typhus , trench fever , and the ' Spanish flu '. At the start of the war, German cruisers were scattered across
3404-508: Is known, however, that from 1908 to 1913, military spending by the six major European powers increased by over 50% in real terms. The years before 1914 were marked by a series of crises in the Balkans, as other powers sought to benefit from the Ottoman decline. While Pan-Slavic and Orthodox Russia considered itself the protector of Serbia and other Slav states, they preferred the strategically vital Bosporus straits to be controlled by
3552-574: The Schutzkorps was established, and carried out the persecution of Serbs. The assassination initiated the July Crisis, a month of diplomatic manoeuvring between Austria-Hungary, Germany, Russia, France and Britain. Believing that Serbian intelligence helped organise Franz Ferdinand's murder, Austrian officials wanted to use the opportunity to end their interference in Bosnia and saw war as
3700-641: The World War . In August 1914, the magazine The Independent wrote "This is the Great War. It names itself". In October 1914, the Canadian magazine Maclean's similarly wrote, "Some wars name themselves. This is the Great War." Contemporary Europeans also referred to it as " the war to end war " and it was also described as "the war to end all wars" due to their perception of its unparalleled scale, devastation, and loss of life. The first recorded use of
3848-893: The Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers . Fighting took place mainly in Europe and the Middle East , as well as in parts of Africa and the Asia-Pacific , and in Europe was characterised by trench warfare ; the widespread use of artillery , machine guns, and chemical weapons (gas); and the introductions of tanks and aircraft . World War I was one of the deadliest conflicts in history , resulting in an estimated 10 million military dead and more than 20 million wounded , plus some 10 million civilian dead from causes including genocide . The movement of large numbers of people
3996-643: The Australian Naval and Military Expeditionary Force landed on the island of New Britain , then part of German New Guinea . On 28 October, the German cruiser SMS Emden sank the Russian cruiser Zhemchug in the Battle of Penang . Japan declared war on Germany before seizing territories in the Pacific, which later became the South Seas Mandate , as well as German Treaty ports on
4144-654: The Marne River valley while the Germans advanced to 40 km (25 miles) from Paris. With the battlefield reverses of August, Field Marshal John French , commander of the British Expeditionary Force (BEF), lost faith in his French allies and began to plan for a British retreat to port cities on the English Channel for an evacuation to Britain. However, the French commander Joseph Joffre maintained good order in his retreating army and
4292-721: The Rüstungswende or 'armaments turning point', when he switched expenditure from the navy to the army. This decision was not driven by a reduction in political tensions but by German concern over Russia's quick recovery from its defeat in the Russo-Japanese War and subsequent 1905 Russian Revolution . Economic reforms led to a significant post-1908 expansion of railways and transportation infrastructure, particularly in its western border regions. Since Germany and Austria-Hungary relied on faster mobilisation to compensate for their numerical inferiority compared to Russia,
4440-772: The United States entered the war on the Allied side following Germany's resumption of unrestricted submarine warfare against Atlantic shipping. Later that year, the Bolsheviks seized power in the Russian October Revolution , and Soviet Russia signed an armistice with the Central Powers in December, followed by a separate peace in March 1918. That month, Germany launched an offensive in
4588-487: The hydrophone and depth charges were introduced, destroyers could potentially successfully attack a submerged submarine. Convoys slowed the flow of supplies since ships had to wait as convoys were assembled; the solution was an extensive program of building new freighters. Troopships were too fast for the submarines and did not travel the North Atlantic in convoys. The U-boats sunk more than 5,000 Allied ships, at
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4736-657: The tank . After the First Battle of the Marne in September 1914, Allied and German forces unsuccessfully tried to outflank each other, a series of manoeuvres later known as the " Race to the Sea ". By the end of 1914, the opposing forces confronted each other along an uninterrupted line of entrenched positions from the Channel to the Swiss border. Since the Germans were normally able to choose where to stand, they generally held
4884-437: The "cult of the offensive," a belief that elan (spirit) and cran (guts) were the essential elements of military victory. The "most terrible August in the history of the world" proved them wrong as artillery and machine guns triumphed over elan and cran . A French lieutenant named Charles de Gaulle said 'that all the courage in the world cannot prevail against gunfire." August 1914 saw bloody battles, nearly all of which
5032-588: The 1839 Treaty of London did not require it to oppose a German invasion with military force; however, Prime Minister Asquith and his senior Cabinet ministers were already committed to supporting France, the Royal Navy had been mobilised, and public opinion was strongly in favour of intervention. On 31 July, Britain sent notes to Germany and France, asking them to respect Belgian neutrality; France pledged to do so, but Germany did not reply. Aware of German plans to attack through Belgium, French Commander-in-Chief Joseph Joffre asked his government for permission to cross
5180-563: The 1879 Dual Alliance , which became the Triple Alliance when Italy joined in 1882. For Bismarck, the purpose of these agreements was to isolate France by ensuring the three Empires resolve any disputes between themselves. In 1887, Bismarck set up the Reinsurance Treaty , a secret agreement between Germany and Russia to remain neutral if either were attacked by France or Austria-Hungary. For Bismarck, peace with Russia
5328-441: The 1913 Treaty of London , which had created an independent Albania while enlarging the territories of Bulgaria, Serbia, Montenegro and Greece. However, disputes between the victors sparked the 33-day Second Balkan War , when Bulgaria attacked Serbia and Greece on 16 June 1913; it was defeated, losing most of Macedonia to Serbia and Greece, and Southern Dobruja to Romania. The result was that even countries which benefited from
5476-415: The 1st Army (Kluck) ordered to follow in echelon to protect the western flank of the 2nd. At the time of this Grand Directive, Moltke based his decision on an intercepted radio transmission describing the French retreating across the Marne. Kluck, who was as bold as Bulow was cautious, was not pleased with the change of plans which would require him to halt his advance to wait for Bulow. Instead, interpreting
5624-524: The 2nd German army. French air reconnaissance observed German forces moving north to face the Sixth Army and discovered the gap. The lack of coordination between von Kluck and Bülow caused the gap to widen even further. The Allies exploited the gap in the German lines, sending the BEF northwest toward Kluck and the 5th Army northeast toward Bülow into the gap between the two German armies. The right wing of
5772-409: The 5th, 4th, and 3rd German Armies that afternoon. He reported back to Moltke that the situation of those armies was "entirely favorable." At 6:45 that evening, he received a different message at 2nd Army headquarters in a meeting with Bülow and his staff. Hentsch was told that Bülow's right flank (bordering the gap between Bülow's and Kluck's armies) was at the point of collapse. Bülow said that his army
5920-408: The 6th Army east to find the German's flank. On 4 September, Joffre spent much of this afternoon in silent contemplation under an ash tree. At dinner he received word of d’Esperey's plan for the counterattack. That night he issued commands to halt the French retreat in his Instruction General No. 5 and ordered the counterattack to begin on 6 September. The BEF was under no obligation to follow orders of
6068-417: The 6th French Army. During the meeting Bülow received the news that his army was buckling under pressure from the French. Bülow ordered a 20 km (12 miles) withdrawal of his forces and prognosticated "incalculable consequences". Hentsch agreed with Bülow that when French and British forces crossed the Marne a general retreat by the Germans would be necessary. They agreed that Kluck must disengage and march to
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6216-497: The 9th commanded by Ferdinand Foch . The French armies engaged in the Marne Battle were reinforced by reservists, recruits, and by transfers from other French and colonial armies. French divisions facing the German right wing rose from 17.5 on 23 August to 41 on 6 September, numbering more than 700,000 men. The BEF numbered 130,000 men at the beginning of the war and was commanded by John French . The Commanders-in-Chiefs of
6364-569: The Austrians and Serbs clashed at the battles of the Cer and Kolubara ; over the next two weeks, Austrian attacks were repulsed with heavy losses. As a result, Austria had to keep sizeable forces on the Serbian front, weakening their efforts against Russia. Serbia's victory against Austria-Hungary in the 1914 invasion has been called one of the major upset victories of the twentieth century. In 1915,
6512-593: The Austrians briefly occupied the Serbian capital, Belgrade . A Serbian counter-attack in the Battle of Kolubara succeeded in driving them from the country by the end of 1914. For the first 10 months of 1915, Austria-Hungary used most of its military reserves to fight Italy. German and Austro-Hungarian diplomats scored a coup by persuading Bulgaria to join the attack on Serbia. The Austro-Hungarian provinces of Slovenia , Croatia and Bosnia provided troops for Austria-Hungary. Montenegro allied itself with Serbia. Bulgaria declared war on Serbia on 14 October 1915 and joined in
6660-553: The Balkan Wars, such as Serbia and Greece, felt cheated of their "rightful gains", while for Austria it demonstrated the apparent indifference with which other powers viewed their concerns, including Germany. This complex mix of resentment, nationalism and insecurity helps explain why the pre-1914 Balkans became known as the " powder keg of Europe ". On 28 June 1914, Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria , heir presumptive to Emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria , visited Sarajevo ,
6808-429: The Battle of the Marne the most important land battle of the 20th century, while another analyst, John J. Tierney, Jr, argued it was the most important battle in history. The battle is described in French folklore as the "miracle on the Marne." Germany declared war on France on 3 August 1914. Both sides expected a short war. Germany faced the specter of a two-front war, facing Russia in the east and France and Britain in
6956-480: The Battle of the Marne they had 372,000. By the eve of the battle, the allied forces between Paris and Verdun numbered 980,000 French and 100,000 British soldiers while the Germans numbered 750,000. The Germans had an advantage in artillery with 3,300 to 3,000 guns. By 2 September, John Keegan said that "the German strategic effort, though neither Moltke nor Kluck perceived it, was beginning to fall apart". Moltke realized he did not have sufficient forces to carry out
7104-533: The Battle of the Marne. Using the German Sanitätsberichte , Herwig recorded that from 1–10 September, the 1st Army had 13,254 casualties, the 2nd Army had 10,607 casualties, the 3rd Army had 14,987 casualties, the 4th Army had 9,433 casualties, the 5th Army had 19,434 casualties, the 6th Army had 21,200 casualties and the 7th Army had 10,164 casualties. Herwig estimated that the five German Armies from Verdun to Paris had 67,700 casualties during
7252-545: The British General Henry Wilson , d'Esperey, the new commander of the French 5th army, outlined a plan for a French and British counter-attack on the German 1st Army. The counterattack would come from the south by d'Esperey's 5th Army, the west by the BEF, and at the Ourcq River by Gallieni and Manoury's new Sixth Army. Gallieni had come to the same conclusion on 3 September and sent Maunoury and
7400-404: The Central Powers. However, the pro-German King Constantine I dismissed the pro-Allied government of Eleftherios Venizelos before the Allied expeditionary force arrived. The Macedonian front was at first mostly static. French and Serbian forces retook limited areas of Macedonia by recapturing Bitola on 19 November 1916 following the costly Monastir offensive , which brought stabilisation of
7548-649: The Chinese Shandong peninsula at Tsingtao . After Vienna refused to withdraw its cruiser SMS Kaiserin Elisabeth from Tsingtao, Japan declared war on Austria-Hungary, and the ship was sunk in November 1914. Within a few months, Allied forces had seized all German territories in the Pacific, leaving only isolated commerce raiders and a few holdouts in New Guinea. Some of the first clashes of
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#17327725596837696-598: The French Plan 17 caused that situation. Joffre, whose planning had led to the disastrous Battle of the Frontiers , was able to bring the allies to a tactical victory. He used interior lines to move troops from his right wing to the critical left wing and sacked generals. Due to the redistribution of French troops, the German 1st Army had 128 battalions facing 191 battalions of the French and BEF. The 2nd and 3rd German armies had 134 battalions facing 268 battalions of
7844-584: The French 5th Army attacked on 6 September and pinned the 2nd Army in the Battle of the Two Morins, named for the two rivers in the area, the Grand Morin and Petit Morin . The BEF advanced on 6–8 September , crossed the Petit Morin, captured bridges over the Marne, and established a bridgehead 8 kilometres (5 mi) deep. Despite the promise by BEF commander French to Joffre that he would reenter
7992-600: The French 5th and 9th army assaulting the German's 2nd and 3rd armies and north of the Marne between the French 6th army facing the German 1st army. Communications and coordination were poor between German armies and with Moltke's headquarters in Luxembourg, each German army would fight its own battle. On 5 September, one day before Joffre's plan to begin the French offensive, the French and Germans clashed on Kluck's 1st army's right flank. Part of Maunoury's 6th army, made up mostly of reservists and numbering in total 150,000
8140-480: The French Fifth and new Ninth Army. It was his orders that prevented Castelnau from abandoning Nancy on 6 September or reinforcing that army when the pivotal battle was unfolding on the other side of the battlefield. He resisted counter-attacking until the time was right then put his full force behind it. D'Esperey should also receive credit as the author of the main stroke. As Joffre says in his memoirs: "it
8288-516: The French and 3,500 prisoners to the British before reaching the Aisne. The German retreat ended their hope of pushing the French beyond the Verdun–Marne–Paris line and winning a quick victory. 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
8436-563: The French and Germans likewise contrasted. The French focused their attention, troops, and defences in eastern France where they believed the Germans would be most dangerous. They were wrong. The Germans mostly stayed on defence in the east, although blunting French attacks. In the east, France had the objective of regaining Alsace–Lorraine which it had lost to Germany in the Franco-German war of 1870. The French did not fortify their north western border with Belgium as they did not expect
8584-565: The French armies were "forced to take defensive action...to wear down the enemy's strength and resume the offense in due course." The Great Retreat began in which the French 3rd, 4th, and 5th armies and the BEF on the French left began a 300 km (190 miles) retreat, mostly walking rather than fighting. The French were followed by the German 1st (Kluck), 2nd (Bülow), and 3rd (Hausen) armies. Hundreds of thousands of German, French, and British soldiers marched southeast in summer heat, wearing woollen uniforms and carrying 60 lb (27 kg) packs,
8732-560: The French had different strategies for what they anticipated would be a short war. France's top priority was to recover Alsace-Lorraine, lost to Germany in the Franco-Prussian war of 1870. Germany's priority was to defeat France quickly, so that it could turn its attention to the Russians. Both armies at the beginning of the war believed that offence would prevail over defence. The French military philosophy has been characterized as
8880-451: The French, but Joffre believed British participation was crucial. Joffre first attempted to use diplomatic channels to convince the British government to apply pressure on BEF commander John French. 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 Maréchal, the honour of England is at stake!" Following this meeting, French agreed to
9028-623: The French. Kluck's swift reaction prevented the 6th Army from advancing across the Ourcq River to the German rear. Kluck moved off French attacks on 6 and 7 September. On the night of 7–8 September came the most storied event of the Battle of the Marne. Military Governor Gallieni in Paris reinforced the 6th army guarding Paris by shuttling soldiers to the front by rail, truck, and Renault taxis . Gallieni commandeered about six hundred taxicabs at Les Invalides in central Paris to carry soldiers to
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#17327725596839176-548: The German High Seas Fleet was confined to port. German U-boats attempted to cut the supply lines between North America and Britain. The nature of submarine warfare meant that attacks often came without warning, giving the crews of the merchant ships little hope of survival. The United States launched a protest, and Germany changed its rules of engagement. After the sinking of the passenger ship RMS Lusitania in 1915, Germany promised not to target passenger liners, while Britain armed its merchant ships, placing them beyond
9324-405: The German 1st and 2nd Armies at risk of encirclement, and they were ordered to retreat to the Aisne River . The retreating armies were pursued by the French and British. The German armies ceased their retreat after 65 km (40 mi) on a line north of the Aisne River , where they dug in on the heights and fought the First Battle of the Aisne . The German retreat from 9 to 12 September marked
9472-465: The German Army increased in size from 1908 to 1914, he changed the allocation of forces between the two wings to 70:30. He also considered Dutch neutrality essential for German trade and cancelled the incursion into the Netherlands, which meant any delays in Belgium threatened the viability of the plan. Historian Richard Holmes argues that these changes meant the right wing was not strong enough to achieve decisive success. The initial German advance in
9620-433: The German failure at the Marne as …the reason that transcends all others was the extraordinary and peculiar aptitude of the French soldier to recover quickly. […] That men will let themselves be killed where they stand, that is well-known and counted on in every plan of battle. But that men who have retreated for ten days, sleeping on the ground and half dead with fatigue, should be able to take up their rifles and attack when
9768-409: The German right flank was vulnerable and positioned his forces to attack. On 4 September Joffre gave the order to launch a counteroffensive. The battle took place between Paris and Verdun , a west to east distance of 230 km (140 mi). The point of decision and the heaviest fighting was in the western one-half of that area. By 9 September, the success of the Franco–British counteroffensive left
9916-462: The German right wing would sweep through the Netherlands and Belgium , then swing south, encircling Paris and trapping the French army against the Swiss border. The plan's creator, Alfred von Schlieffen , head of the German General Staff from 1891 to 1906, estimated that this would take six weeks, after which the German army would transfer to the East and defeat the Russians. The plan was substantially modified by his successor, Helmuth von Moltke
10064-426: The Germans bled heavily as well, with anywhere from 700,000 to 975,000 casualties between the two combatants. Verdun became a symbol of French determination and self-sacrifice. The Battle of the Somme was an Anglo-French offensive from July to November 1916. The opening day on 1 July 1916 was the bloodiest single day in the history of the British Army , which suffered 57,500 casualties, including 19,200 dead. As
10212-407: The Germans motivated by the belief that they would soon capture Paris and end the war. German commanders exulted in their victories, but Chief of General Staff Moltke was worried. The Germans were capturing few prisoners and arms, an indication that the French and British were retreating in good order, not in panic. During the retreat, Joffre bolstered his defences. He created two new armies. The 6th
10360-444: The Germans to attack there and also feared being accused of violating Belgian neutrality—and thereby losing British participation in the war. Germany, however, had no compunctions about violating Belgian neutrality as its objective was to win the war quickly before Great Britain could intervene decisively. The French and British were outnumbered in contesting the German offensive through Belgium into France. The Germans recognized that
10508-494: The Germans were more isolated from the sources of their supplies while the French were closer to theirs. 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 transferred two corps to the eastern front to fight the Russians and assigned another two to besiege Antwerp and Maubeuge . The German 1st and 2nd armies on 1 August had 580,000 soldiers; at
10656-540: The Germans won, the conquest of most of Belgium by Germany, and the rapid advance of the German armies into France. North and west of Paris, the French and British armies retreated before the German onslaught. East of Paris, the French army launched several offensives into Alsace-Lorraine which failed. France's military Plan XVII anticipated that Germany would concentrate most of its forces in eastern France in Alsace-Lorraine and Joffre clung to that belief, although
10804-619: The Marne and integrated semi-trained French reserves into his defence. Meanwhile, the attacking Germans had outrun their logistics and attrition among its soldiers was high. Kluck's first army had advanced 140 km (87 miles) beyond the railhead which supplied it. Sixty per cent of its motor transport had broken down as had fodder wagons carrying hay for horses. Its men had marched 500 km (310 miles) since leaving Germany one month earlier, fought several battles, and suffered 20,000 men killed, wounded, and ill. The soldiers were "like living scarecrows." With every mile marched southward,
10952-490: The Marne to link up with Bülow's 2nd Army. If Kluck refused, Bülow would retreat north of the Marne. The next morning, 9 September, with additional bad news from the front arriving, Bülow ordered another withdrawal without knowing what Kluck would do. 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. He met with Kluck's chief of staff, Hermann von Kuhl . Hentsch described
11100-625: The Middle East. In all, 140,000 soldiers served on the Western Front and nearly 700,000 in the Middle East, with 47,746 killed and 65,126 wounded. The suffering engendered by the war, as well as the failure of the British government to grant self-government to India afterward, bred disillusionment, resulting in the campaign for full independence led by Mahatma Gandhi . Pre-war military tactics that had emphasised open warfare and individual riflemen proved obsolete when confronted with conditions prevailing in 1914. Technological advances allowed
11248-728: The Ottomans joined the Central Powers in November. Germany's strategy in 1914 was to quickly defeat France, then to transfer its forces to the east, but its advance was halted in September , and by the end of the year the Western Front consisted of a continuous line of trenches stretching from the English Channel to Switzerland. The Eastern Front was more dynamic, but neither side gained a decisive advantage, despite costly offensives. Italy , Bulgaria , Romania , Greece and others joined in from 1915 onward. In April 1917,
11396-613: The Ottomans' territory in the Balkans during the 1912–1913 First Balkan War , much to the surprise of outside observers. The Serbian capture of ports on the Adriatic resulted in partial Austrian mobilisation, starting on 21 November 1912, including units along the Russian border in Galicia . The Russian government decided not to mobilise in response, unprepared to precipitate a war. The Great Powers sought to re-assert control through
11544-541: The Petit Morin, which forced Bülow to withdraw the right flank of the 2nd Army. The next day, the 5th Army crossed the Marne, and the German 2nd Army retreated further. Moltke, at headquarters in Luxembourg, was out of communication with the German armies in France. Moltke preferred sending instructions to his armies by emissary rather than relying on his inadequate telephone and telegraph system. He sent his intelligence officer, Lieutenant Colonel Richard Hentsch, to visit
11692-613: The Russian Stavka agreed with the French to attack Germany within fifteen days of mobilisation, ten days before the Germans had anticipated, although it meant the two Russian armies that entered East Prussia on 17 August did so without many of their support elements. By the end of 1914, German troops held strong defensive positions inside France, controlled the bulk of France's domestic coalfields, and inflicted 230,000 more casualties than it lost itself. However, communications problems and questionable command decisions cost Germany
11840-400: The Schlieffen Plan which envisioned the 1st army of Kluck encircling Paris to the west and south. Instead, he issued a Grand Directive changing the order of battle for the German attack. He ordered that Paris be bypassed on the north. The Germans would now attempt to entrap the French forces between Paris and Verdun. To accomplish this, the 2nd Army of Bülow became the primary striking force with
11988-538: The Serbian retreat toward the Adriatic coast in the Battle of Mojkovac on 6–7 January 1916, but ultimately the Austrians also conquered Montenegro. The surviving Serbian soldiers were evacuated to Greece. After the conquest, Serbia was divided between Austro-Hungary and Bulgaria. In late 1915, a Franco-British force landed at Salonica in Greece to offer assistance and to pressure its government to declare war against
12136-506: The West was very successful. By the end of August, the Allied left, which included the British Expeditionary Force (BEF), was in full retreat , and the French offensive in Alsace-Lorraine was a disastrous failure, with casualties exceeding 260,000. German planning provided broad strategic instructions while allowing army commanders considerable freedom in carrying them out at the front, but von Kluck used this freedom to disobey orders, opening
12284-485: The Younger . Under Schlieffen, 85% of German forces in the west were assigned to the right wing, with the remainder holding along the frontier. By keeping his left-wing deliberately weak, he hoped to lure the French into an offensive into the "lost provinces" of Alsace-Lorraine , which was the strategy envisaged by their Plan XVII . However, Moltke grew concerned that the French might push too hard on his left flank and as
12432-446: The aggressor, German Chancellor Bethmann Hollweg delayed the commencement of war preparations until 31 July. That afternoon, the Russian government were handed a note requiring them to "cease all war measures against Germany and Austria-Hungary" within 12 hours. A further German demand for neutrality was refused by the French who ordered general mobilization but delayed declaring war. The German General Staff had long assumed they faced
12580-660: The armies were a study in contrasts. Moltke, the chief of the German General Staff, remained at his headquarters in Luxembourg throughout the battle. He issued General Directives by way of emissaries from his headquarters, but gave his army commanders wide latitude in their operations. 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). Joffre visited his armies and their commanders frequently, driven by
12728-413: The armies. Moltke's instructions to Hentsch were verbal, not written, although apparently Moltke gave Hentsch, a mere lieutenant colonel, the authority to order the German armies to retreat if necessary for their survival. Hentsch's mission, in the words of historian Herwig, was to become "the most famous staff tour in military history." Hentsch departed Luxembourg on 8 September by automobile and visited
12876-474: The attack by the Austro-Hungarian army under Mackensen's army of 250,000 that was already underway. Serbia was conquered in a little more than a month, as the Central Powers, now including Bulgaria, sent in 600,000 troops in total. The Serbian army, fighting on two fronts and facing certain defeat, retreated into northern Albania . The Serbs suffered defeat in the Battle of Kosovo . Montenegro covered
13024-508: The battle and assumed 85,000 casualties for the French. Herwig wrote that there were 1,701 British casualties (the British Official History noted that these losses were incurred from 6–10 September) . Herwig estimated 300,000 casualties for all sides at the Marne but questioned whether isolating the battle was justified. In 2010, Ian Sumner wrote that there were 12,733 British casualties, including 1,700 dead. Sumner cites
13172-425: The battle, the slow pace of the BEF's advance enraged d'Espèrey , commander of the 5th Army, and other French commanders. On 6 September the British force moved so slowly it finished the day 12 kilometres (7 mi) behind its objectives and suffered only seven men killed. The BEF, though outnumbering Germans in the gap ten to one, advanced only 40 km (25 miles) in three days. The 5th Army by 8 September crossed
13320-557: The behest" of Moltke's General Staff. 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 for another offensive. The Germans were pursued by the French and British, although the pace of the exhausted Allied forces was slow and averaged only 19 km (12 mi) per day. The Germans ceased their retreat after 65 km (40 mi), at
13468-543: The best way of achieving this. However, the Foreign Ministry had no solid proof of Serbian involvement. On 23 July, Austria delivered an ultimatum to Serbia, listing ten demands made intentionally unacceptable to provide an excuse for starting hostilities. Serbia ordered general mobilization on 25 July, but accepted all the terms, except for those empowering Austrian representatives to suppress "subversive elements" inside Serbia, and take part in
13616-483: The border and pre-empt such a move. To avoid violating Belgian neutrality, he was told any advance could come only after a German invasion. Instead, the French cabinet ordered its Army to withdraw 10 km behind the German frontier, to avoid provoking war. On 2 August, Germany occupied Luxembourg and exchanged fire with French units when German patrols entered French territory; on 3 August, they declared war on France and demanded free passage across Belgium, which
13764-422: The bugle sounds, is a thing upon which we never counted. It was a possibility not studied in our war academy. Richard Brooks in 2000 wrote that the significance of the battle centres on the fact that the failure of the Schlieffen Plan forced Germany to fight a two-front war against France and Russia—the scenario its strategists had long feared. Brooks claimed that, "By frustrating the Schlieffen Plan, Joffre had won
13912-523: The campaign leading to the First Battle of the Marne and although there are no exact official casualty counts for the battle, estimates for the actions of September along the Marne front for all armies are often given as c. 500,000 killed or wounded. French casualties totalled c. 250,000 men, of whom an estimated 80,000 were killed. Tuchman gave French casualties for August as 206,515 from Armées Françaises and Herwig gave French casualties for September as 213,445, also from Armées Françaises for
14060-537: The campaign saw the first use of anti-aircraft warfare after an Austrian plane was shot down with ground-to-air fire, as well as the first medical evacuation by the Serbian army. Upon mobilisation, in accordance with the Schlieffen Plan , 80% of the German Army was located on the Western Front, with the remainder acting as a screening force in the East. Rather than a direct attack across their shared frontier,
14208-649: The capital of the recently annexed Bosnia and Herzegovina . Cvjetko Popović , Gavrilo Princip , Nedeljko Čabrinović , Trifko Grabež , Vaso Čubrilović ( Bosnian Serbs ) and Muhamed Mehmedbašić (from the Bosniaks community), from the movement known as Young Bosnia , took up positions along the Archduke's motorcade route, to assassinate him. Supplied with arms by extremists within the Serbian Black Hand intelligence organisation, they hoped his death would free Bosnia from Austrian rule. Čabrinović threw
14356-466: The chance of a decisive outcome, while it had failed to achieve the primary objective of avoiding a long, two-front war. As was apparent to several German leaders, this amounted to a strategic defeat; shortly after the First Battle of the Marne , Crown Prince Wilhelm told an American reporter "We have lost the war. It will go on for a long time but lost it is already." On 30 August 1914, New Zealand occupied German Samoa (now Samoa ). On 11 September,
14504-448: The commander of the 5th French army, Charles Lanrezac , repeatedly warned him that the Germans were attacking Belgium in numbers exceeding those of his own and the BEF. Retired general Joseph Gallieni also warned Joffre that the German's main effort was in the northwest, not the east. On 24 August, Joffre finally acknowledged that his northwestern (left) flank was at risk. He abandoned the aggressive Plan XVII and instead proclaimed that
14652-460: The conflict were bitter at what they regarded as a foolish order to retreat. Meyer said that the First Battle of the Marne "has come down to us in history as the fight that saved Paris but in fact was settled by one side's decision not to fight." The German retreat from 9–13 September marked the end of the Schlieffen Plan . Moltke is said to have reported to the Kaiser : "Your Majesty, we have lost
14800-520: The cost of 199 submarines. World War I also saw the first use of aircraft carriers in combat, with HMS Furious launching Sopwith Camels in a successful raid against the Zeppelin hangars at Tondern in July 1918, as well as blimps for antisubmarine patrol. Faced with Russia in the east, Austria-Hungary could spare only one-third of its army to attack Serbia. After suffering heavy losses,
14948-522: The creation of new independent states, including Poland , Finland , the Baltic states , Czechoslovakia , and Yugoslavia . The League of Nations was established to maintain world peace, but its failure to manage instability during the interwar period contributed to the outbreak of World War II in 1939. Before World War II , the events of 1914–1918 were generally known as the Great War or simply
15096-449: The creation of strong defensive systems largely impervious to massed infantry advances, such as barbed wire , machine guns and above all far more powerful artillery , which dominated the battlefield and made crossing open ground extremely difficult. Both sides struggled to develop tactics for breaching entrenched positions without heavy casualties. In time, technology enabled the production of new offensive weapons, such as gas warfare and
15244-965: The crowds listened to music and drank wine, as if nothing had happened." Nevertheless, the impact of the murder of the heir to the throne was significant, and has been described by historian Christopher Clark as a "9/11 effect, a terrorist event charged with historic meaning, transforming the political chemistry in Vienna". Austro-Hungarian authorities encouraged subsequent anti-Serb riots in Sarajevo . Violent actions against ethnic Serbs were also organised outside Sarajevo, in other cities in Austro-Hungarian-controlled Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia and Slovenia. Austro-Hungarian authorities in Bosnia and Herzegovina imprisoned approximately 5,500 prominent Serbs, 700 to 2,200 of whom died in prison. A further 460 Serbs were sentenced to death. A predominantly Bosniak special militia known as
15392-471: The damage we have done". 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." The Kaiser forced Moltke to resign due to "ill health." War Minister Erich von Falkenhayn was appointed to replace Moltke. After the Battle of the Marne, the Germans retreated for up to 90 kilometres (56 mi) and lost 11,717 prisoners, 30 field guns and 100 machine-guns to
15540-509: The decisive battle of the war, and perhaps of the century". 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. It is difficult to separate the casualties in the Battle of the Marne from the casualties in the other related battles of August and September 1914. Over two million men fought in
15688-458: The defences of the French 6th army and the way to Paris, 50 km (31 miles) distant, was open. In Keegan's words, "The balance of advantage on the Marne once more seemed to have tilted the Germans' way." Bülow's 2nd army south of the Marne on 6 September was as worn and depleted as Klucks, having marched 440 km (270 miles) since leaving Germany and having suffered more than 26,000 casualties and soldiers felled by illnesses. Bülow had begun
15836-585: The drainage of the wetlands of the Agro Pontino as part of the so-called Battle for Land . After the Second World War it received land under the agricultural reforms of 1950. The association was disbanded in 1977. First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War , was a global conflict between two coalitions:
15984-535: The end of the German attempt to defeat France quickly. Both sides next commenced reciprocal operations to envelop the northern flank of their opponent in what became known as the Race to the Sea which culminated in the First Battle of Ypres and led to a bloody four-year long stalemate of trench warfare on the Western Front of World War I. The Battle of the Marne from September 5 to 12 resulted in an estimated 250,000 French casualties, 12,733 British casualties and 298,000 German casualties. Holger Herwig called
16132-695: The expansion of the French colonial empire . In 1873, Bismarck negotiated the League of the Three Emperors , which included Austria-Hungary , Russia and Germany. After the 1877–1878 Russo-Turkish War , the League was dissolved due to Austrian concerns over the expansion of Russian influence in the Balkans , an area they considered to be of vital strategic interest. Germany and Austria-Hungary then formed
16280-400: The first time on the Western Front. Several types of gas soon became widely used by both sides and though it never proved a decisive, battle-winning weapon, it became one of the most feared and best-remembered horrors of the war. In February 1916, the Germans attacked French defensive positions at the Battle of Verdun , lasting until December 1916. Casualties were greater for the French, but
16428-412: The front at Nanteuil-le-Haudouin , fifty kilometres away. Most of the taxis were demobilised on 8 September but some remained longer to carry the wounded and refugees. The taxis, following city regulations, dutifully ran their meters. The French treasury reimbursed the total fare of 70,012 francs. The arrival of six thousand soldiers by rail, truck, and taxi has been described as critical in preventing
16576-595: The front. Serbian and French troops finally made a breakthrough in September 1918 in the Vardar offensive , after most German and Austro-Hungarian troops had been withdrawn. The Bulgarians were defeated at the Battle of Dobro Pole , and by 25 September British and French troops had crossed the border into Bulgaria proper as the Bulgarian army collapsed. Bulgaria capitulated four days later, on 29 September 1918. The German high command responded by despatching troops to hold
16724-542: The globe, some of which were subsequently used to attack Allied merchant shipping . These were systematically hunted down by the Royal Navy, though not before causing considerable damage. One of the most successful was the SMS ; Emden , part of the German East Asia Squadron stationed at Qingdao , which seized or sank 15 merchantmen, a Russian cruiser and a French destroyer. Most of the squadron
16872-417: The hazardous position of Bülow and said a general retreat was necessary, again asserting his authority in the name of Moltke. Kuhl "was thunderstruck." The 1st Army was poised to assault the city of Paris and, hopefully, win the war, but Kuhl acceded to Hentsch and informed Kluck. With Bülow retreating, Kluck had no choice but to follow suit and he issued the order to retreat. His order said he was retreating "at
17020-549: The high ground, while their trenches tended to be better built; those constructed by the French and English were initially considered "temporary", only needed until an offensive would destroy the German defences. Both sides tried to break the stalemate using scientific and technological advances. On 22 April 1915, at the Second Battle of Ypres , the Germans (violating the Hague Convention ) used chlorine gas for
17168-470: The investigation and trial of Serbians linked to the assassination. Claiming this amounted to rejection, Austria broke off diplomatic relations and ordered partial mobilisation the next day; on 28 July, they declared war on Serbia and began shelling Belgrade . Russia ordered general mobilization in support of Serbia on 30 July. Anxious to ensure backing from the SPD political opposition by presenting Russia as
17316-464: The line, but these forces were too weak to re-establish a front. First Battle of the Marne 1915 1916 1917 1918 Associated articles The First Battle of the Marne or known in France as the Miracle on the Marne (French: miracle de la Marne ) was a battle of the First World War fought from 5 to 12 September 1914. The German army invaded France with a plan for winning
17464-465: The ocean, even to neutral ships. Since there was limited response to this tactic, Germany expected a similar response to its unrestricted submarine warfare. The Battle of Jutland in May/June 1916 was the only full-scale clash of battleships during the war, and one of the largest in history. The clash was indecisive, though the Germans inflicted more damage than they received; thereafter the bulk of
17612-474: The operational plan to commence the following day. "At dawn on 6 September, 980,000 French and 100,000 British soldiers with 3,000 guns assaulted the German line of 750,000 men and 3,300 guns between Verdun and Paris." Joffre had finally found the propitious time to end the Great Retreat and counterattack. The battle would take place in two distinct locations near southern tributaries of the Marne with
17760-469: The order broadly (or disobeying it), Kluck turned his line of march from south to southeast, becoming closer but not in echelon with Bülow, and on 3 September his forces crossed the Marne River 60 km (37 miles) east of Paris, the first Germans to do so. Kluck was in pursuit of the French 5th army which was still retreating. Kluck's boldness was based on his confidence that the French and British were
17908-801: The protection of the " cruiser rules ", which demanded warning and movement of crews to "a place of safety" (a standard that lifeboats did not meet). Finally, in early 1917, Germany adopted a policy of unrestricted submarine warfare , realising the Americans would eventually enter the war. Germany sought to strangle Allied sea lanes before the United States could transport a large army overseas, but, after initial successes, eventually failed to do so. The U-boat threat lessened in 1917, when merchant ships began travelling in convoys , escorted by destroyers . This tactic made it difficult for U-boats to find targets, which significantly lessened losses; after
18056-416: The same overall casualty figure for the French for September as Herwig from Armées Françaises , which includes the losses at the battle of the Aisne, as 213,445 but provides a further breakdown: 18,073 killed, 111,963 wounded and 83,409 missing. Most of the missing had been killed. Some notable people died in the battle, such as Charles Péguy , who was killed while leading his platoon during an attack at
18204-469: The term First World War was in September 1914 by German biologist and philosopher Ernst Haeckel who stated, "There is no doubt that the course and character of the feared 'European War' ... will become the first world war in the full sense of the word." For much of the 19th century, the major European powers maintained a tenuous balance of power , known as the Concert of Europe . After 1848, this
18352-691: The threat posed by the closing of this gap was more important than competing with the Royal Navy. After Germany expanded its standing army by 170,000 troops in 1913, France extended compulsory military service from two to three years; similar measures were taken by the Balkan powers and Italy, which led to increased expenditure by the Ottomans and Austria-Hungary. Absolute figures are difficult to calculate due to differences in categorising expenditure since they often omit civilian infrastructure projects like railways which had logistical importance and military use. It
18500-632: The time of the Marne Battle. 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. Two additional French armies would be created to stem off the Germany offensive: the 6th Army commanded by Joseph Gallieni , created to protect Paris; and
18648-590: The war ended with the Armistice of 11 November 1918 . The Paris Peace Conference of 1919–1920 imposed settlements on the defeated powers, most notably the Treaty of Versailles , by which Germany lost significant territories, was disarmed, and was required to pay large war reparations to the Allies. The dissolution of the Russian, German, Austro-Hungarian, and Ottoman Empires redrew national boundaries and resulted in
18796-633: The war in 40 days by occupying Paris and destroying the French and British armies (Allies/Entente). The Germans had initial successes in August. They were victorious in the Battles of Mons and the Frontiers and overran a large area of northern France and Belgium . In what is called the Great Retreat the Germans pursued the retreating Franco/British forces more than 250 km (160 mi) southward. The French and British halted their retreat in
18944-601: The war involved British, French, and German colonial forces in Africa. On 6–7 August, French and British troops invaded the German protectorates of Togoland and Kamerun . On 10 August, German forces in South-West Africa attacked South Africa; sporadic and fierce fighting continued for the rest of the war. The German colonial forces in German East Africa , led by Colonel Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck , fought
19092-486: The war with 260,000 soldiers; in September he had 154,000. Moreover, his relations with Kluck were poor. While Kluck was on the offensive near Paris, Bülow went on the defensive after the French attack on 6 September. On 7 September, Bülow ordered his right wing to retreat 15 km (9.3 miles) to the Petit Morin River after attacks by the French 5th army of Franchet d'Esperey , called "Desperate Frankie" as
19240-465: The war". 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". Ian Sumner called it a flawed victory and that it proved impossible to deal the German armies "a decisive blow". Tuchman wrote that Kluck explained
19388-669: The war. Britain sent the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) to France. Germany created seven armies for service on the western front. Three of them on the German right flank would be most involved in the Battle of the Marne. At the beginning of the war, the First Army numbered 320,000 men commanded by Alexander von Kluck ; the Second Army had 260,000 men commanded by Karl von Bülow ; and the Third Army commanded by Max von Hausen had 180,000 men. These numbers would be depleted by
19536-462: The war."( Majestät, wir haben den Krieg verloren ). Whether General von Moltke actually said to the Emperor, "Majesty, we have lost the war," we do not know. 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. The fighting east of Paris has not gone in our favour, and we shall have to pay for
19684-418: The west , which despite initial successes left the German Army exhausted and demoralised. A successful Allied counter-offensive from August 1918 caused a collapse of the German front line. By early November, Bulgaria, the Ottoman Empire and Austria-Hungary had each signed armistices with the Allies, leaving Germany isolated. Facing a revolution at home , Kaiser Wilhelm II abdicated on 9 November, and
19832-480: The west. German strategy was to defeat France in six weeks and then turn its attention to Russia. 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. The German violation of Belgium's neutrality brought Great Britain into
19980-445: Was "cinders" and "in no condition" to take the offensive against the French. 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. If not, the situation could become "extremely serious". Lt. Colonel Hentsch apparently responded to Field Marshall Bülow that, he, Hentsch had "full power of authority" to order Kluck to withdraw from his battle with
20128-432: Was a major factor in the deadly Spanish flu pandemic. The causes of World War I included the rise of Germany and decline of the Ottoman Empire , which disturbed the long-standing balance of power in Europe, as well as economic competition between nations triggered by industrialisation and imperialism . Growing tensions between the great powers and in the Balkans reached a breaking point on 28 June 1914, when
20276-458: Was a surprise, launched at night with no artillery preparation. His soldiers overran artillery positions "with the bayonet." Hausen pushed Foch back 13 km (8.1 miles). Hausen's attack then bogged down with his soldiers exhausted and having suffered about 11,000 casualties. Kluck's turn to the northwest on 5 to 7 September to fight the 6th French army opened a 50 km (31 miles) gap on his left flank between his soldiers and those of Bülow of
20424-467: Was able to reinforce it by bringing in additional manpower from his eastern flank and integrating military reserve units into the regular army. By early September, the Franco–British forces outnumbered the Germans who were exhausted after a month-long campaign, had outrun their supply lines, and were suffering shortages. On 3 September the military governor of Paris, Joseph Simon Gallieni , perceived that
20572-403: Was challenged by Britain's withdrawal into so-called splendid isolation , the decline of the Ottoman Empire , New Imperialism , and the rise of Prussia under Otto von Bismarck . Victory in the 1870–1871 Franco-Prussian War allowed Bismarck to consolidate a German Empire . Post-1871, the primary aim of French policy was to avenge this defeat, but by the early 1890s, this had switched to
20720-430: Was done despite the fact Lanrezac had been right, as Joffre had been wrong, about the German offensive coming from Belgium and 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. The French government fled Paris on 2 September fearing the Germans would conquer the city. On 4 September, while meeting with
20868-402: Was he who made the Battle of the Marne possible". Historians characterise the Battle of the Marne as a partial success. However, John Terraine wrote that "nowhere, and at no time, did it present the traditional aspect of victory", but nonetheless stated that the French and British stroke into the breach between the 1st and 2nd German Armies "made the battle of the Marne the decisive battle of
21016-514: Was probing 40 km (25 miles) northeast from Paris near the Ourcq River looking for the Germans when it encountered the IV Reserve Corps of 24,000 men commanded by German general Hans von Gronau . Gronau had the responsibility of covering the outermost right flank of Kluck. 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. Kluck
21164-654: Was refused. Early on the morning of 4 August, the Germans invaded, and Albert I of Belgium called for assistance under the Treaty of London . Britain sent Germany an ultimatum demanding they withdraw from Belgium; when this expired at midnight, without a response, the two empires were at war. Germany promised to support Austria-Hungary's invasion of Serbia, but interpretations of what this meant differed. Previously tested deployment plans had been replaced early in 1914, but those had never been tested in exercises. Austro-Hungarian leaders believed Germany would cover its northern flank against Russia. Beginning on 12 August,
21312-667: Was returning to Germany when it sank two British armoured cruisers at the Battle of Coronel in November 1914, before being virtually destroyed at the Battle of the Falkland Islands in December. The SMS Dresden escaped with a few auxiliaries, but after the Battle of Más a Tierra , these too were either destroyed or interned. Soon after the outbreak of hostilities, Britain began a naval blockade of Germany . This proved effective in cutting off vital supplies, though it violated accepted international law. Britain also mined international waters which closed off entire sections of
21460-528: Was the first president. In 1919 the association was divided into three sections: agrarian, financial, and social. The agrarian section co-ordinated the expropriation of agricultural land for re-distribution to ex-soldiers. Under the Italian Fascist régime in the years following the First World War, the association was involved in the so-called Battle for Grain in 1926, and from 1928 in
21608-781: Was the foundation of German foreign policy but in 1890, he was forced to retire by Wilhelm II . The latter was persuaded not to renew the Reinsurance Treaty by his new Chancellor , Leo von Caprivi . This gave France an opening to agree the Franco-Russian Alliance in 1894, which was then followed by the 1904 Entente Cordiale with Britain. The Triple Entente was completed by the 1907 Anglo-Russian Convention . While not formal alliances, by settling long-standing colonial disputes in Asia and Africa, British support for France or Russia in any future conflict became
21756-408: Was therefore warned of the unexpected threat to his right flank and indeed his whole army. Kluck chose to mount a counteroffensive. He ordered his army to turn to the right and face west to confront the threat from the 6th French army. This involved a withdrawal of Kluck's forces who had crossed the Marne River to the south and now had to march 130 km (81 miles) in two days to reach positions facing
21904-510: Was to defend Paris with Gallieni as the Military Governor and Michel-Joseph Maunoury as the commander of the 6th army. Gallieni demanded not only garrison troops but also a mobile force to confront the advancing Germans. The 9th army headed by Ferdinand Foch was stationed between the third and fourth French armies. Utilizing the extensive French railway system, Joffre transferred men from the two eastern armies (the 1st and 2nd) to
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