Battle of the Frontiers
Encyclopedia
The Battle of the Frontiers was a series of battle
s fought along the eastern frontier of France
and in southern Belgium
shortly after the outbreak of World War I
. The battles represented a collision between the military strategies
of the French Plan XVII
and the German
Schlieffen Plan
. The British Expeditionary Force (BEF) fought a relatively minor battle at Mons
, which, by virtue of its position facing the critical right wing of the invading German army, had a significance that far exceeded the number of men engaged or casualties inflicted. The defeat of the French offensive in the Battle of the Ardennes
led to a general retreat
to the Marne River
where the French and British forces regrouped for the defense of Paris
.
, lost in the Franco-Prussian War
of 1870, pinning the German forces on the Rhine, and to attack the German centre through the southern Ardennes
. In opposition to Plan XVII, the German Schlieffen Plan anticipated the target of the French assault and determined to remain there on the defensive, holding the Alsace-Lorraine front with the minimal possible force needed to keep the bulk of the French engaged there. The main German force would be on the right wing, sweeping through neutral Belgium and then into France, descending on Paris and executing a massive envelopment manoeuvre which would trap the French army between the two German forces and lead to its rapid annihilation. The German division
s would then rapidly turn about to face France's ally, Russia
, on the Eastern Front. The German plan falsely assumed Britain
, not formally allied with either side, would remain neutral in the conflict, and deemed the relatively small British regular army too small to be of any impact even if it did get involved.
France's frontier defences were based on a fortified zone from Verdun to Toul
and isolated fortresses such as Épinal
and Belfort
. To the north, France relied on the impassable terrain of the central Ardennes forest and the promise of Belgian neutrality. Thus Plan XVII called for a two-pronged offensive, north and south of the Verdun-Toul line. In the south, the First
and Second Armies would attack into Lorraine. In the north the Third, Fourth and Fifth Armies would attack through the southern Ardennes towards Luxembourg
. On the left flank of the Fifth Army, facing the Belgian frontier, was the BEF which concentrated near the fortress town of Maubeuge
.
On the French frontier, the German forces roughly matched the French in numbers and disposition, even to the point of being divided north and south of a fortified zone between Metz
and Thionville
. However, in Belgium to the north, opposing the French Fifth Army and BEF, were the German First
, Second
and Third Armies
, forming the mass of Schlieffen's right wing.
Germany invaded Belgium on 4 August 1914 and began to besiege Liège
. Despite evidence of German forces massing east of Liège, General Joseph Joffre
, the French Commander-in-Chief, dismissed the threat to his northern flank and persisted with Plan XVII. Indeed, Joffre welcomed the prospect of a strong German right, which would mean the German left wing against which his offensives were directed would be weaker — in 1913, General Nöel de Castelnau, then Deputy Chief of the French General Staff, declared a German attack through Flanders was "so much the better for us" and that opinion still prevailed amongst the French high command. Even as the German armies began flowing through Belgium in mid-August, Joffre's Assistant Chief of Staff, General Henri Berthelot
said:
The first French attack of the war, known as the Battle of Mulhouse
was fought on 7 August. It began in the south when the French VII Corps, along with 2 infantry and 1 cavalry division, advanced into southern Alsace
with the objective of seizing the towns of Mulhouse
and Colmar
. Mulhouse was taken without a fight on 8 August, causing enormous celebrations in France, however a German counterattack commenced on 9 August, forcing the French to begin a slow withdrawal which was finished the next day. Joffre sent a division to reinforce the attacking force, but it arrived too late to prevent the fall of Mulhouse. In response to the repulse of VII Corps and the other divisions, Joffre sent four additional divisions to form the "Army of Alsace" under the command of retired general Paul Pau
.
The main French offensive in the south, known as the Battle of Lorraine
, began on 14 August when the First Army of General Auguste Dubail
advanced on Sarrebourg
while the Second Army of General de Castelnau
headed towards Morhange
. The French moves were welcomed by the German Sixth
and Seventh Armies
under the combined command of Crown Prince Rupprecht
— Rupprecht was in charge of the German forces assigned to meet and engage the French assault in the centre until they could be enveloped by the encircling German right wing. The German rearguards, equipped with machine gun
s, inflicted heavy casualties on the French infantry
, still wearing their 19th-century style uniform of blue coat and red trousers.
Crown Prince Rupprecht, dissatisfied with the defensive role assigned to him, petitioned his superiors to allow him a counter-offensive. This ran counter to the overall German plan of luring the French in, but on Rupprecht's repeated insistence the policy of defense in the centre was abandoned and a counter-offensive launched on 20 August against the French Second Army which was thrown back into France. This left the French First Army's flank in the air, forcing it to withdraw as well. Pau's Army of Alsace also had to pull back, despite having retaken Mulhouse. By 22 August, the French forces were back on their start lines along the Moselle River
.
The Schlieffen Plan, here and elsewhere on the front, now began to unravel as Crown Prince Rupprecht launched a full-scale offensive between Toul and Épinal
, starting on 23 August. However, the French forces were now occupying prepared defences and withstood the German attack, which lasted for four days. German forces locked into Rupprecht's offensive were therefore unavailable for the later fighting on the Marne when they may have proved decisive.
, commander of the northern-most Fifth Army, alarmed by German progress in Belgium, sought permission to realign his forces away from the Ardennes and towards Belgium, shifting west into the angle between the Sambre
and Meuse
rivers. Joffre remained dismissive of the threat but on 12 August he allowed Lanrezac to move I Corps west to Dinant
on the Meuse. When on 15 August Lanrezac reported German forces attacking Dinant, Joffre finally acquiesced, ordering the bulk of the Fifth Army to move north-west and take up positions behind the Sambre. In addition to the loss of most of the Fifth Army from the Ardennes offensive, Joffre also withdrew divisions to reinforce the Lorraine front following Rupprecht's counter-offensive.
The Battle of the Ardennes
commenced on 21 August with the attack of General Pierre Ruffey
's Third Army towards Briey
while the Fourth Army of General Fernand de Langle de Cary
advanced on Neufchâteau. The German Fourth Army
(Albrecht, Duke of Württemberg
) and Fifth Army
(Crown Prince Wilhelm
) had been making a methodical advance through the Ardennes since 19 August and on 21 August, the advance screens of the two forces collided in a confused series of skirmishes.
The main forces came into contact on 22 August and in most cases the French infantry, attacking with a surplus of élan but a shortage of supporting artillery, were defeated by superior German tactics, particularly in their use of entrenchments, machine gun
s and heavy artillery. There were isolated French successes, notably at Virton
by the VI Corps but, by the evening of 23 August the French Third and Fourth Armies were in chaotic retreat, falling back on the line of the Moselle through Sedan
, Stenay
and Verdun.
By 20 August, Lanrezac's Fifth Army had begun to concentrate on a 40 km front along the Sambre, centred on Charleroi
and extending east to the Belgian fortress of Namur
. On his left, the Cavalry Corps of General Sordet linked the Fifth Army with the British Expeditionary Force at Mons
. Lanrezac's army of 15 divisions, weakened by the transfer of troops to Lorraine, was confronted by the 38 German divisions from the Second Army
(General Karl von Bülow
) and Third Army
moving south-west.
Nevertheless, Joffre ordered Lanrezac to attack across the Sambre. Before he could act on the morning of 21 August, the German Second Army launched the Battle of Charleroi
with assaults across the Sambre, establishing two bridgehead
s which the French, lacking artillery, were unable to reduce. Bülow attacked again on 22 August with three corps
against the entire Fifth Army front. Fighting continued on 23 August when the French centre around Charleroi began to fall back.
Meanwhile the German Third Army had crossed the Meuse and launched a frontal attack against the French right, held by a corps commanded by General Louis Franchet d'Esperey. The Third Army attack threatened to cut off Lanrezac's line of retreat but Franchet d'Esperey's force stopped the German advance and delivered a successful counter-attack. However, with the evacuation of Namur and news of the French Fourth Army retreating from the Ardennes, Lanrezac ordered a withdrawal.
On 22 August, BEF patrols encountered the cavalry screen of the German First Army
of General Alexander von Kluck
near Soignies
south-west of Brussels
. The British Commander-in-Chief Field Marshal
Sir John French initially ordered an attack, believing he was confronted by an inferior force. In truth the BEF of four infantry and one cavalry divisions, 80,000 men, faced over 160,000 German troops — the mass of Schlieffen's right wing. Fortunately for the British, on the night of 22 August French chose to take up defensive positions along the Mons-Condé Canal.
The Battle of Mons
began on 23 August when Von Kluck, required to maintain contact with Bülow's Second Army on his left, launched a frontal attack on the British line with the main weight falling on the British II Corps of General Horace Smith-Dorrien
. The massed rifle
fire of the professional British soldiers — the Old Contemptibles — inflicted heavy casualties on the Germans who attacked en masse over terrain devoid of cover. The British held up the German advance until the evening when, now aware of the size of the opposing force, and with Sordet's cavalry in retreat leaving the right flank exposed, they began retiring to a second defensive line. For the moment, Von Kluck made no attempt at pursuit, allowing the BEF to disengage on 24 August.
to the Marne River
, pivoting on the fortress of Verdun. Fearing annihilation, Sir John French favoured withdrawing the BEF to the coast of the English Channel
from where it could be evacuated but the British Secretary of State for War
, Lord Kitchener, despite having never favoured the BEF's role alongside the French army, now insisted they remain in contact.
The Schlieffen Plan, while still on course, was beginning to come to pieces under the tentative control of Moltke. The opening of the Russia
n offensive in East Prussia
and the unforeseen attack in Lorraine
had drained the German right wing that was descending on Paris. Von Kluck's decision to take his First Army east of the French capital exposed his right flank which the Allies exploited in the First Battle of the Marne
in early September, halting the German advance.
For the French, their hope of a swift, decisive victory had evaporated and they now sought to avoid defeat. For Joffre, the reason for the failure of Plan XVII lay with his subordinates, claiming defeat stemmed from "grand shortcomings on the part of commanders." Any generals, of corps or division, who in Joffre's opinion had failed to perform were ruthlessly sacked. Despite the wisdom of his decision to retreat instead of counter-attack on 23 August, General Lanrezac was sent into retirement and replaced by Franchet d'Esperey, starting his rapid rise through the ranks.
By the end of August, the French Army had suffered 75,000 dead of which 27,000 were killed on 22 August alone, making it a day to rival the first day on the Somme
for bloodshed. Total French casualties
for the first month of the war were 260,000 of which 140,000 were sustained during the climactic final four days of the battle of the Frontiers.
Battle
Generally, a battle is a conceptual component in the hierarchy of combat in warfare between two or more armed forces, or combatants. In a battle, each combatant will seek to defeat the others, with defeat determined by the conditions of a military campaign...
s fought along the eastern frontier of France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
and in southern Belgium
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
shortly after the outbreak of World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
. The battles represented a collision between the military strategies
Military strategy
Military strategy is a set of ideas implemented by military organizations to pursue desired strategic goals. Derived from the Greek strategos, strategy when it appeared in use during the 18th century, was seen in its narrow sense as the "art of the general", 'the art of arrangement' of troops...
of the French Plan XVII
Plan XVII
Plan XVII was the name of a "scheme of mobilization and concentration" that was adopted by the French General Staff in 1913, to be put into effect by the French Army in the event of war between France and Germany but was not ‘a prescribed narrative for the campaign’ or battle...
and the German
German Empire
The German Empire refers to Germany during the "Second Reich" period from the unification of Germany and proclamation of Wilhelm I as German Emperor on 18 January 1871, to 1918, when it became a federal republic after defeat in World War I and the abdication of the Emperor, Wilhelm II.The German...
Schlieffen Plan
Schlieffen Plan
The Schlieffen Plan was the German General Staff's early 20th century overall strategic plan for victory in a possible future war in which the German Empire might find itself fighting on two fronts: France to the west and Russia to the east...
. The British Expeditionary Force (BEF) fought a relatively minor battle at Mons
Battle of Mons
The Battle of Mons was the first major action of the British Expeditionary Force in the First World War. It was a subsidiary action of the Battle of the Frontiers, in which the Allies clashed with Germany on the French borders. At Mons, the British army attempted to hold the line of the...
, which, by virtue of its position facing the critical right wing of the invading German army, had a significance that far exceeded the number of men engaged or casualties inflicted. The defeat of the French offensive in the Battle of the Ardennes
Battle of the Ardennes
The Battle of the Ardennes was one of the opening battles of World War I. It took place from August 21–23, 1914, part of the Battle of the Frontiers.-Background:...
led to a general retreat
Great Retreat
The Great Retreat, also known as the Retreat from Mons, is the name given to the long, fighting retreat by Allied forces to the River Marne, on the Western Front early in World War I, after their holding action against the Imperial German Armies at the Battle of Mons on 23 August 1914...
to the Marne River
Marne River
The Marne is a river in France, a right tributary of the Seine in the area east and southeast of Paris. It is long. The river gave its name to the départements of Haute-Marne, Marne, Seine-et-Marne, and Val-de-Marne....
where the French and British forces regrouped for the defense of Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
.
Prelude
The objective of the French Plan XVII was to recapture the provinces of Alsace-LorraineAlsace-Lorraine
The Imperial Territory of Alsace-Lorraine was a territory created by the German Empire in 1871 after it annexed most of Alsace and the Moselle region of Lorraine following its victory in the Franco-Prussian War. The Alsatian part lay in the Rhine Valley on the west bank of the Rhine River and east...
, lost in the Franco-Prussian War
Franco-Prussian War
The Franco-Prussian War or Franco-German War, often referred to in France as the 1870 War was a conflict between the Second French Empire and the Kingdom of Prussia. Prussia was aided by the North German Confederation, of which it was a member, and the South German states of Baden, Württemberg and...
of 1870, pinning the German forces on the Rhine, and to attack the German centre through the southern Ardennes
Ardennes
The Ardennes is a region of extensive forests, rolling hills and ridges formed within the Givetian Ardennes mountain range, primarily in Belgium and Luxembourg, but stretching into France , and geologically into the Eifel...
. In opposition to Plan XVII, the German Schlieffen Plan anticipated the target of the French assault and determined to remain there on the defensive, holding the Alsace-Lorraine front with the minimal possible force needed to keep the bulk of the French engaged there. The main German force would be on the right wing, sweeping through neutral Belgium and then into France, descending on Paris and executing a massive envelopment manoeuvre which would trap the French army between the two German forces and lead to its rapid annihilation. The German division
Division (military)
A division is a large military unit or formation usually consisting of between 10,000 and 20,000 soldiers. In most armies, a division is composed of several regiments or brigades, and in turn several divisions typically make up a corps...
s would then rapidly turn about to face France's ally, Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
, on the Eastern Front. The German plan falsely assumed Britain
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland was the formal name of the United Kingdom during the period when what is now the Republic of Ireland formed a part of it....
, not formally allied with either side, would remain neutral in the conflict, and deemed the relatively small British regular army too small to be of any impact even if it did get involved.
France's frontier defences were based on a fortified zone from Verdun to Toul
Toul
Toul is a commune in the Meurthe-et-Moselle department in north-eastern France.It is a sub-prefecture of the department.-Geography:Toul is located between Commercy and Nancy, and situated between the Moselle River and the Canal de la Marne au Rhin....
and isolated fortresses such as Épinal
Épinal
Épinal is a commune in northeastern France and the capital of the Vosges department. Inhabitants are known as Spinaliens.-Geography:The commune has a land area of 59.24 km²...
and Belfort
Belfort
Belfort is a commune in the Territoire de Belfort department in Franche-Comté in northeastern France and is the prefecture of the department. It is located on the Savoureuse, on the strategically important natural route between the Rhine and the Rhône – the Belfort Gap or Burgundian Gate .-...
. To the north, France relied on the impassable terrain of the central Ardennes forest and the promise of Belgian neutrality. Thus Plan XVII called for a two-pronged offensive, north and south of the Verdun-Toul line. In the south, the First
French First Army
The First Army was a field army of France that fought during World War I and World War II. It was also active during the Cold War.-First World War:...
and Second Armies would attack into Lorraine. In the north the Third, Fourth and Fifth Armies would attack through the southern Ardennes towards Luxembourg
Luxembourg
Luxembourg , officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg , is a landlocked country in western Europe, bordered by Belgium, France, and Germany. It has two principal regions: the Oesling in the North as part of the Ardennes massif, and the Gutland in the south...
. On the left flank of the Fifth Army, facing the Belgian frontier, was the BEF which concentrated near the fortress town of Maubeuge
Maubeuge
Maubeuge is a commune in the Nord department in northern France.It is situated on both banks of the Sambre , east of Valenciennes and about from the Belgian border.-History:...
.
On the French frontier, the German forces roughly matched the French in numbers and disposition, even to the point of being divided north and south of a fortified zone between Metz
Metz
Metz is a city in the northeast of France located at the confluence of the Moselle and the Seille rivers.Metz is the capital of the Lorraine region and prefecture of the Moselle department. Located near the tripoint along the junction of France, Germany, and Luxembourg, Metz forms a central place...
and Thionville
Thionville
Thionville , is a commune in the Moselle department in Lorraine in north-eastern France. The city is located on the left bank of the river Moselle, opposite its suburb Yutz.-Demographics:...
. However, in Belgium to the north, opposing the French Fifth Army and BEF, were the German First
German First Army
-First World War:The 1st Army during World War I, fought on the Western Front and took part in the Schlieffen Plan offensive against France and Belgium in August 1914. Commanded by General Alexander von Kluck, the 1st Army's job was to command the extreme right of the German forces in attacking...
, Second
German Second Army
The 2nd Army was a World War I and World War II field army.-First World War:The 2nd Army during World War I, fought on the Western Front and took part in the Schlieffen Plan offensive against France and Belgium in August 1914...
and Third Armies
German Third Army
The 3rd Army was a German field army that fought during :World War I and :World War II.-World War I:Upon the mobilization Max von Hausen was given command of the 3rd Army which mainly consisted of Saxons. The army participated in the battle of the Frontiers, mainly in the battles of Dinant and...
, forming the mass of Schlieffen's right wing.
Germany invaded Belgium on 4 August 1914 and began to besiege Liège
Battle of Liège
The Battle of Liège was the opening engagement of the German invasion of Belgium, and the first battle of World War I. The attack on the city began on 5 August 1914 and lasted until the 16th when the last Belgian fort finally surrendered...
. Despite evidence of German forces massing east of Liège, General Joseph Joffre
Joseph Joffre
Joseph Jacques Césaire Joffre OM was a French general during World War I. He is most known for regrouping the retreating allied armies to defeat the Germans at the strategically decisive First Battle of the Marne in 1914. His popularity led to his nickname Papa Joffre.-Biography:Joffre was born in...
, the French Commander-in-Chief, dismissed the threat to his northern flank and persisted with Plan XVII. Indeed, Joffre welcomed the prospect of a strong German right, which would mean the German left wing against which his offensives were directed would be weaker — in 1913, General Nöel de Castelnau, then Deputy Chief of the French General Staff, declared a German attack through Flanders was "so much the better for us" and that opinion still prevailed amongst the French high command. Even as the German armies began flowing through Belgium in mid-August, Joffre's Assistant Chief of Staff, General Henri Berthelot
Henri Mathias Berthelot
Henri Mathias Berthelot was a French general during World War I. He served as chief of staff under Joseph Joffre, the French commander-in-chief.-Biography:...
said:
- "If the Germans commit the imprudence of an enveloping manoeuvre through northern Belgium, so much the better! The more men they have on their right wing the easier it will be for us to break through their centre."
Alsace & Lorraine
Battle of Mulhouse
The Battle of Mulhouse , which began on August 9, 1914, was the opening attack of World War I by the French army against Germany...
was fought on 7 August. It began in the south when the French VII Corps, along with 2 infantry and 1 cavalry division, advanced into southern Alsace
Alsace
Alsace is the fifth-smallest of the 27 regions of France in land area , and the smallest in metropolitan France. It is also the seventh-most densely populated region in France and third most densely populated region in metropolitan France, with ca. 220 inhabitants per km²...
with the objective of seizing the towns of Mulhouse
Mulhouse
Mulhouse |mill]] hamlet) is a city and commune in eastern France, close to the Swiss and German borders. With a population of 110,514 and 278,206 inhabitants in the metropolitan area in 2006, it is the largest city in the Haut-Rhin département, and the second largest in the Alsace region after...
and Colmar
Colmar
Colmar is a commune in the Haut-Rhin department in Alsace in north-eastern France.It is the capital of the department. Colmar is also the seat of the highest jurisdiction in Alsace, the appellate court....
. Mulhouse was taken without a fight on 8 August, causing enormous celebrations in France, however a German counterattack commenced on 9 August, forcing the French to begin a slow withdrawal which was finished the next day. Joffre sent a division to reinforce the attacking force, but it arrived too late to prevent the fall of Mulhouse. In response to the repulse of VII Corps and the other divisions, Joffre sent four additional divisions to form the "Army of Alsace" under the command of retired general Paul Pau
Paul Pau
Paul Marie Cesar Gerald Pau, was a French General, a commander of an army at the beginning of World War I....
.
The main French offensive in the south, known as the Battle of Lorraine
Battle of Lorraine
The Battle of Lorraine was a battle of World War I fought in August 1914 between France and Germany. This followed Plan XVII, which proposed a French offensive through Lorraine and Alsace, and into Germany itself.- French Offensive :...
, began on 14 August when the First Army of General Auguste Dubail
Auguste Dubail
Auguste Yvon Edmond Dubail was a French Army general. He commanded the First Army and Army Group East during World War I.-Biography:...
advanced on Sarrebourg
Sarrebourg
Sarrebourg is a commune in the Moselle department in Lorraine in north-eastern France. It lies in on the upper course of the river Sarre.It should not be confused with Saarburg in Germany....
while the Second Army of General de Castelnau
Noël Édouard, vicomte de Curières de Castelnau
Noël Marie Joseph Édouard, Vicomte de Curières de Castelnau was a French general in World War I, one of the leading proponents of the philosophy of attaque à outrance that dominated French military thinking in the early part of the war.Born in Gascony to a family with a long history of military...
headed towards Morhange
Morhange
Morhange is a commune in the Moselle department in Lorraine in north-eastern France....
. The French moves were welcomed by the German Sixth
German Sixth Army
The 6th Army was a designation for German field armies which saw action in World War I and World War II. The 6th Army is best known for fighting in the Battle of Stalingrad, during which it became the first entire German field army to be completely destroyed...
and Seventh Armies
German Seventh Army
The 7th Army was a World War I and World War II field army of the German land forces.-Origins:The 7th Army was activated in Stuttgart on August 25, 1939 with General Friedrich Dollmann in command. At the outbreak of the war, the 7th Army defended the German border and manned the Westwall in the...
under the combined command of Crown Prince Rupprecht
Rupprecht, Crown Prince of Bavaria
Rupprecht or Rupert, Crown Prince of Bavaria was the last Bavarian Crown Prince.His full title was His Royal Highness Rupprecht Maria Luitpold Ferdinand, Crown Prince of Bavaria, Duke of Bavaria, of Franconia and in Swabia, Count Palatine of the Rhine...
— Rupprecht was in charge of the German forces assigned to meet and engage the French assault in the centre until they could be enveloped by the encircling German right wing. The German rearguards, equipped with machine gun
Machine gun
A machine gun is a fully automatic mounted or portable firearm, usually designed to fire rounds in quick succession from an ammunition belt or large-capacity magazine, typically at a rate of several hundred rounds per minute....
s, inflicted heavy casualties on the French infantry
Infantry
Infantrymen are soldiers who are specifically trained for the role of fighting on foot to engage the enemy face to face and have historically borne the brunt of the casualties of combat in wars. As the oldest branch of combat arms, they are the backbone of armies...
, still wearing their 19th-century style uniform of blue coat and red trousers.
Crown Prince Rupprecht, dissatisfied with the defensive role assigned to him, petitioned his superiors to allow him a counter-offensive. This ran counter to the overall German plan of luring the French in, but on Rupprecht's repeated insistence the policy of defense in the centre was abandoned and a counter-offensive launched on 20 August against the French Second Army which was thrown back into France. This left the French First Army's flank in the air, forcing it to withdraw as well. Pau's Army of Alsace also had to pull back, despite having retaken Mulhouse. By 22 August, the French forces were back on their start lines along the Moselle River
Moselle River
The Moselle is a river flowing through France, Luxembourg, and Germany. It is a left tributary of the Rhine, joining the Rhine at Koblenz. A small part of Belgium is also drained by the Mosel through the Our....
.
The Schlieffen Plan, here and elsewhere on the front, now began to unravel as Crown Prince Rupprecht launched a full-scale offensive between Toul and Épinal
Épinal
Épinal is a commune in northeastern France and the capital of the Vosges department. Inhabitants are known as Spinaliens.-Geography:The commune has a land area of 59.24 km²...
, starting on 23 August. However, the French forces were now occupying prepared defences and withstood the German attack, which lasted for four days. German forces locked into Rupprecht's offensive were therefore unavailable for the later fighting on the Marne when they may have proved decisive.
Ardennes offensive
Under Plan XVII, the French offensive against the German centre through the lower Ardennes was to involve the Third, Fourth and Fifth French armies, but by the time the offensive was due to start Plan XVII was beginning to crumble. General Charles LanrezacCharles Lanrezac
Charles Lanrezac was a distinguished general of the French army at the outbreak of World War I.-Early life:...
, commander of the northern-most Fifth Army, alarmed by German progress in Belgium, sought permission to realign his forces away from the Ardennes and towards Belgium, shifting west into the angle between the Sambre
Sambre
The Sambre is a river in northern France and Wallonia, southern Belgium, left tributary of the Meuse River. The ancient Romans called the river Sabis.-Course:...
and Meuse
Meuse
Meuse is a department in northeast France, named after the River Meuse.-History:Meuse is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on March 4, 1790...
rivers. Joffre remained dismissive of the threat but on 12 August he allowed Lanrezac to move I Corps west to Dinant
Dinant
Dinant is a Walloon city and municipality located on the River Meuse in the Belgian province of Namur, Belgium. The Dinant municipality includes the old communes of Anseremme, Bouvignes-sur-Meuse, Dréhance, Falmagne, Falmignoul, Foy-Notre-Dame, Furfooz, Lisogne, Sorinnes, and Thynes.-Origins to...
on the Meuse. When on 15 August Lanrezac reported German forces attacking Dinant, Joffre finally acquiesced, ordering the bulk of the Fifth Army to move north-west and take up positions behind the Sambre. In addition to the loss of most of the Fifth Army from the Ardennes offensive, Joffre also withdrew divisions to reinforce the Lorraine front following Rupprecht's counter-offensive.
The Battle of the Ardennes
Battle of the Ardennes
The Battle of the Ardennes was one of the opening battles of World War I. It took place from August 21–23, 1914, part of the Battle of the Frontiers.-Background:...
commenced on 21 August with the attack of General Pierre Ruffey
Pierre Ruffey
Pierre Xavier Emmanuel Ruffey was a French Army general, that commanded the Third Army during the opening of World War I.-Biography:...
's Third Army towards Briey
Briey
Briey is a commune in the Meurthe-et-Moselle department in north-eastern France.It is located above and in a steep section of the valley of the little River Woigot, some thirty kilometres to the west of the autoroute that connects Metz with Luxembourg...
while the Fourth Army of General Fernand de Langle de Cary
Fernand de Langle de Cary
Fernand Louis Armand Marie de Langle de Cary was a French general during World War I. He commanded Fourth Army when the war began.-Early life:...
advanced on Neufchâteau. The German Fourth Army
German Fourth Army
The 4th Army was a field army of Imperial Germany during World War I and of the Wehrmacht during World War II-World War I:At the outset of war, the Fourth Army, with the Fifth Army, formed the center of the German armies on the Western Front, moving through Luxembourg and Belgium in support of the...
(Albrecht, Duke of Württemberg
Albrecht, Duke of Württemberg
Albrecht, Duke of Württemberg or Albrecht Herzog von Württemberg was a German Generalfeldmarschall and head of the Royal House of Württemberg...
) and Fifth Army
German Fifth Army
The 5th Army was a field army of Imperial Germany during World War I and of the Wehrmacht during World War II.-World War I:In August 1914 the command of 5th Army was assigned to Crown Prince Wilhelm of Germany, heir to the Hohenzollern throne, with General Schmidt von Knobelsdorf serving as his...
(Crown Prince Wilhelm
Crown Prince Wilhelm of Germany
Frederick William Victor Augustus Ernest of the House of Hohenzollern was the last Crown Prince of the Kingdom of Prussia and the German Empire. He was colloquially known as William or Wilhelm throughout Europe....
) had been making a methodical advance through the Ardennes since 19 August and on 21 August, the advance screens of the two forces collided in a confused series of skirmishes.
The main forces came into contact on 22 August and in most cases the French infantry, attacking with a surplus of élan but a shortage of supporting artillery, were defeated by superior German tactics, particularly in their use of entrenchments, machine gun
Machine gun
A machine gun is a fully automatic mounted or portable firearm, usually designed to fire rounds in quick succession from an ammunition belt or large-capacity magazine, typically at a rate of several hundred rounds per minute....
s and heavy artillery. There were isolated French successes, notably at Virton
Virton
Virton is the most southerly town in Belgium and the administrative centre of a Walloon municipality and district of the same name, located in the Belgian province of Luxembourg...
by the VI Corps but, by the evening of 23 August the French Third and Fourth Armies were in chaotic retreat, falling back on the line of the Moselle through Sedan
Sedan, France
Sedan is a commune in France, a sub-prefecture of the Ardennes department in northern France.-Geography:The historic centre is built on a peninsula formed by an arc of the Meuse River. It is around from the Belgian border.-History:...
, Stenay
Stenay
Stenay is a commune in the Meuse department in Lorraine in north-eastern France.It was one of the last villages to experience fighting during World War I. Stenay was captured on 11 November 1918 by the American 89th Division under General William M. Wright only hours before the Armistice went into...
and Verdun.
Charleroi and Mons
By 20 August, Lanrezac's Fifth Army had begun to concentrate on a 40 km front along the Sambre, centred on Charleroi
Charleroi
Charleroi is a city and a municipality of Wallonia, located in the province of Hainaut, Belgium. , the total population of Charleroi was 201,593. The metropolitan area, including the outer commuter zone, covers an area of and had a total population of 522,522 as of 1 January 2008, ranking it as...
and extending east to the Belgian fortress of Namur
Namur (city)
Namur is a city and municipality in Wallonia, in southern Belgium. It is both the capital of the province of Namur and of Wallonia....
. On his left, the Cavalry Corps of General Sordet linked the Fifth Army with the British Expeditionary Force at Mons
Mons
Mons is a Walloon city and municipality located in the Belgian province of Hainaut, of which it is the capital. The Mons municipality includes the old communes of Cuesmes, Flénu, Ghlin, Hyon, Nimy, Obourg, Baudour , Jemappes, Ciply, Harmignies, Harveng, Havré, Maisières, Mesvin, Nouvelles,...
. Lanrezac's army of 15 divisions, weakened by the transfer of troops to Lorraine, was confronted by the 38 German divisions from the Second Army
German Second Army
The 2nd Army was a World War I and World War II field army.-First World War:The 2nd Army during World War I, fought on the Western Front and took part in the Schlieffen Plan offensive against France and Belgium in August 1914...
(General Karl von Bülow
Karl von Bülow
Karl von Bülow was a German Field Marshal commanding the German 2nd Army during World War I from 1914 to 1915.-Biography:...
) and Third Army
German Third Army
The 3rd Army was a German field army that fought during :World War I and :World War II.-World War I:Upon the mobilization Max von Hausen was given command of the 3rd Army which mainly consisted of Saxons. The army participated in the battle of the Frontiers, mainly in the battles of Dinant and...
moving south-west.
Nevertheless, Joffre ordered Lanrezac to attack across the Sambre. Before he could act on the morning of 21 August, the German Second Army launched the Battle of Charleroi
Battle of Charleroi
The Battle of Charleroi , or the Battle of the Sambre , was fought on 21 August 1914, between French and German forces and was part of the Battle of the Frontiers. The French were planning an attack across the Sambre River, when the Germans launched an attack of their own...
with assaults across the Sambre, establishing two bridgehead
Bridgehead
A bridgehead is a High Middle Ages military term, which antedating the invention of cannons was in the original meaning expressly a referent term to the military fortification that protects the end of a bridge...
s which the French, lacking artillery, were unable to reduce. Bülow attacked again on 22 August with three corps
Corps
A corps is either a large formation, or an administrative grouping of troops within an armed force with a common function such as Artillery or Signals representing an arm of service...
against the entire Fifth Army front. Fighting continued on 23 August when the French centre around Charleroi began to fall back.
Meanwhile the German Third Army had crossed the Meuse and launched a frontal attack against the French right, held by a corps commanded by General Louis Franchet d'Esperey. The Third Army attack threatened to cut off Lanrezac's line of retreat but Franchet d'Esperey's force stopped the German advance and delivered a successful counter-attack. However, with the evacuation of Namur and news of the French Fourth Army retreating from the Ardennes, Lanrezac ordered a withdrawal.
German First Army
-First World War:The 1st Army during World War I, fought on the Western Front and took part in the Schlieffen Plan offensive against France and Belgium in August 1914. Commanded by General Alexander von Kluck, the 1st Army's job was to command the extreme right of the German forces in attacking...
of General Alexander von Kluck
Alexander von Kluck
Alexander Heinrich Rudolph von Kluck was a German general during World War I.- Military career :He enlisted in the Prussian army in time to serve in the seven-week Austro-Prussian War of 1866 and the Franco-Prussian War, where he was wounded twice in the Battle of Colombey-Neuilly...
near Soignies
Soignies
Soignies is a Walloon municipality located in the Belgian province of Hainaut.The municipality is composed of the Town of Soignies together with the villages of Casteau, Chaussée-Notre-Dame-Louvignies, Horrues, Neufvilles, Naast and Thieusies...
south-west of Brussels
Brussels
Brussels , officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region , is the capital of Belgium and the de facto capital of the European Union...
. The British Commander-in-Chief Field Marshal
Field Marshal
Field Marshal is a military rank. Traditionally, it is the highest military rank in an army.-Etymology:The origin of the rank of field marshal dates to the early Middle Ages, originally meaning the keeper of the king's horses , from the time of the early Frankish kings.-Usage and hierarchical...
Sir John French initially ordered an attack, believing he was confronted by an inferior force. In truth the BEF of four infantry and one cavalry divisions, 80,000 men, faced over 160,000 German troops — the mass of Schlieffen's right wing. Fortunately for the British, on the night of 22 August French chose to take up defensive positions along the Mons-Condé Canal.
The Battle of Mons
Battle of Mons
The Battle of Mons was the first major action of the British Expeditionary Force in the First World War. It was a subsidiary action of the Battle of the Frontiers, in which the Allies clashed with Germany on the French borders. At Mons, the British army attempted to hold the line of the...
began on 23 August when Von Kluck, required to maintain contact with Bülow's Second Army on his left, launched a frontal attack on the British line with the main weight falling on the British II Corps of General Horace Smith-Dorrien
Horace Smith-Dorrien
General Sir Horace Lockwood Smith-Dorrien GCB, GCMG, DSO, ADC was a British soldier and commander of the British II Corps and Second Army of the BEF during World War I.-Early life and career:...
. The massed rifle
Rifle
A rifle is a firearm designed to be fired from the shoulder, with a barrel that has a helical groove or pattern of grooves cut into the barrel walls. The raised areas of the rifling are called "lands," which make contact with the projectile , imparting spin around an axis corresponding to the...
fire of the professional British soldiers — the Old Contemptibles — inflicted heavy casualties on the Germans who attacked en masse over terrain devoid of cover. The British held up the German advance until the evening when, now aware of the size of the opposing force, and with Sordet's cavalry in retreat leaving the right flank exposed, they began retiring to a second defensive line. For the moment, Von Kluck made no attempt at pursuit, allowing the BEF to disengage on 24 August.
Aftermath
With the failure of Plan XVII, the French and British armies began the Great RetreatGreat Retreat
The Great Retreat, also known as the Retreat from Mons, is the name given to the long, fighting retreat by Allied forces to the River Marne, on the Western Front early in World War I, after their holding action against the Imperial German Armies at the Battle of Mons on 23 August 1914...
to the Marne River
Marne River
The Marne is a river in France, a right tributary of the Seine in the area east and southeast of Paris. It is long. The river gave its name to the départements of Haute-Marne, Marne, Seine-et-Marne, and Val-de-Marne....
, pivoting on the fortress of Verdun. Fearing annihilation, Sir John French favoured withdrawing the BEF to the coast of the English Channel
English Channel
The English Channel , often referred to simply as the Channel, is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that separates southern England from northern France, and joins the North Sea to the Atlantic. It is about long and varies in width from at its widest to in the Strait of Dover...
from where it could be evacuated but the British Secretary of State for War
Secretary of State for War
The position of Secretary of State for War, commonly called War Secretary, was a British cabinet-level position, first held by Henry Dundas . In 1801 the post became that of Secretary of State for War and the Colonies. The position was re-instated in 1854...
, Lord Kitchener, despite having never favoured the BEF's role alongside the French army, now insisted they remain in contact.
The Schlieffen Plan, while still on course, was beginning to come to pieces under the tentative control of Moltke. The opening of the Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
n offensive in East Prussia
East Prussia
East Prussia is the main part of the region of Prussia along the southeastern Baltic Coast from the 13th century to the end of World War II in May 1945. From 1772–1829 and 1878–1945, the Province of East Prussia was part of the German state of Prussia. The capital city was Königsberg.East Prussia...
and the unforeseen attack in Lorraine
Lorraine (province)
The Duchy of Upper Lorraine was an historical duchy roughly corresponding with the present-day northeastern Lorraine region of France, including parts of modern Luxembourg and Germany. The main cities were Metz, Verdun, and the historic capital Nancy....
had drained the German right wing that was descending on Paris. Von Kluck's decision to take his First Army east of the French capital exposed his right flank which the Allies exploited in the First Battle of the Marne
First Battle of the Marne
The Battle of the Marne was a First World War battle fought between 5 and 12 September 1914. It resulted in an Allied victory against the German Army under Chief of Staff Helmuth von Moltke the Younger. The battle effectively ended the month long German offensive that opened the war and had...
in early September, halting the German advance.
For the French, their hope of a swift, decisive victory had evaporated and they now sought to avoid defeat. For Joffre, the reason for the failure of Plan XVII lay with his subordinates, claiming defeat stemmed from "grand shortcomings on the part of commanders." Any generals, of corps or division, who in Joffre's opinion had failed to perform were ruthlessly sacked. Despite the wisdom of his decision to retreat instead of counter-attack on 23 August, General Lanrezac was sent into retirement and replaced by Franchet d'Esperey, starting his rapid rise through the ranks.
By the end of August, the French Army had suffered 75,000 dead of which 27,000 were killed on 22 August alone, making it a day to rival the first day on the Somme
First day on the Somme
The first day on the Somme, 1 July 1916, was the opening day of the Battle of Albert, which was the first phase of the British and French offensive that became known as the Battle of the Somme...
for bloodshed. Total French casualties
Casualty (person)
A casualty is a person who is the victim of an accident, injury, or trauma. The word casualties is most often used by the news media to describe deaths and injuries resulting from wars or disasters...
for the first month of the war were 260,000 of which 140,000 were sustained during the climactic final four days of the battle of the Frontiers.