The Battle of the Marne

September 5, 1914

As the German forces continued their grueling advance toward Paris, General Joseph Joffre knew any counteroffensive would have to be carefully planned if it would have any chance at succeeding. The German flank was exposed as its army pushed the allied forces further southwest. Seeing the opening, General Gallieni, commanding from Paris, ordered the French 6th army into the exposed flank of the German 1st Army. With the majority of its strength directed towards pushing the allied armies further south, the German 1st army was caught unprepared with only a reserve Corps to face this new threat. However, General Hans Von Gronau, in command of the Corps, boldly decided to go on the offensive, meeting the 6th army head on.

With Gronau engaged with the French toward the rear, over at the main front, the French 5th and 9th armies, as well as the B.E.F., stopped their retreat and held their ground. This was when the German advance finally came to a halt. 

The German 1st army, now aware of their unforeseen attackers, began pushing it's forces into the French at their rear. Meanwhile, the German 2nd and 3rd armies were locked in fierce combat with the formerly retreating allied ranks. 

At this point in the battle, the B.E.F. was playing a largely minimal role in the unfolding events. Sir John French, in command of the British forces, was determined to keep his army intact, so he opted to stay back from the fighting and conserve the remaining men of the B.E.F.. However, as the German 1st army, gaining the upper hand, began pushing back the French 6th army, a gap began to appear between the 1st army and the main German forces.

At this pivotal moment, French and the rest of the B.E.F. were ordered to marched straight into the gap, thus dividing the German forces. Hesitantly, the British began marching towards the opening. With the lack of speed and decisiveness of the B.E.F., the French Commanders feared their temporary advantage would be lost. Fortunately, French and his men were able to successfully march into the open gap.

Seeing this very real threat, the German forces were ordered to withdraw to the Aisne River where they would dig in and hold a defensive position there. The Battle of the Marne was over.

The Battle of the Marne (September 5th - September 12th)

The Great Retreat From Mons

August 23, 1914

The soldiers of the B.E.F. (British Expeditionary Force) awaited the German advance with eagerness. They were stationed in defensive positions along the Condé Mons Canal just outside the town. They believed their well-trained forces could easily repel the German army from the town of Mons. How wrong they were.

At 8:00 AM, on the morning of August 23, 1914, the German army attacked. Their ranks emerged from the tree line in close formation. This made it easy for the British to mow them down with the few machine guns they possessed. In the first two minutes of this fierce skirmish, an estimated 500 German soldiers were killed.

Despite the rapidly growing number of casualties, the Germans kept coming, this time more spread out, throwing more and more troops at the British. The men of the B.E.F. were well trained, but couldn't hold against that many enemies for long. It was only a matter of time before they would fall to the superior might of the German army.

The British defenses finally broke eight hours later, allowing the Germans to pour across the bridgeheads--of which there were many leading into the town of Mons--and pursue the retreating allied forces. This massive retreat on the allies part lasted two weeks, with the German army hot on their tail. 

With Paris almost within reach of the Germans, General Joseph Joffre, the Chief of Staff of the French army, knew they had to be stopped, and soon. Slowly, he began formulating a plan. He would order the retreating allied troops to hold their position, and transport the newly formed 6th Army by train to intercept the advancing Germans. The original holding point he chose was set to be Somme River.

However, he was forced to reposition it to the Marne.

War photographs at Mons:

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The Invasion of Belgium

 August 3, 1914

Germany's plan at the outbreak of war was to defeat France first, then, expecting the Russians to mobilize their troops much slower, send their troops from the western front by train to the east to fight the Czar's army (this was known as the Schlieffen Plan). Thus, the war on the western front began when German troops, hungry for war, entered Belgium, their gateway to France. However, Germany's plan had a major flaw that became apparent that very day. Britain, intent on maintaining Belgian neutrality, demanded Germany to leave Belgium, but the Kaiser's army would not deviate from their course. On August 4th, Britain declared war on Germany, sealing the fate of war upon Europe's great nations.

Germany's plan to get to France was going through Belgium, bypassing the French fortresses along the Franco-German border. Germany expected little resistance going through Belgium, however, the soldiers of the Belgian army weren't about to let the Germans take their country without a fight.

The first city in the German army's path was Liège. It was an industrial city surrounded by Belgian fortresses. The Germans were unable to crack the defenses until the heavy siege guns arrived to support them. They then pounded the city with heavy shells for days until it finally gave in on August 15th. Once Liège was taken, they could now spread all across Belgium. Despite the German army's numbers, the brave soldiers of the Belgian army fought fiercely. Their army was inevitably overpowered and was forced to fall back, managing to hold a strip of the Flanders coast after prevailing in the Battle of the Yser in October 1914. It took months for the country to fall under German control, compared to the expected time of only a few days.

How could a seemingly insignificant country like Belgium slow the German advance to that degree? Rumors spread all along the German ranks that Belgian civilians were resisting the German advance. This was far from the truth. In most cases in which they thought civilians were firing upon them, it would really be Belgian troops firing from buildings. In fact, the Belgian civilians didn't put up any resistance at all, but the Germans didn't see it that way. During the battle for Dinant, German firing squads executed 674 civilians, including women and children. During the first month of the war in Europe, over 5,500 Belgian civilians were massacred in cold blood. Despite the horror and brutality of the opening months of the First World War, the sacrifices of Belgian soldiers and civilians alike bought time for Britain and France to rally their forces, putting an end to Germany's plan of a swift victory in Europe.

This MOC depicts a German firing squad doing their terrible work in the town of Dinant (August 23, 1914).

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From Peace to Slaughter

Europe, 1914

It is June. All is quiet in the city of Sarajevo. The Black Hand, a Serbian Nationalist group, prepared to achieve their aims by way of terror, await the arrival of their sworn enemy, Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to the Astro-Hungarian Throne. His assassination would be one of triumph for Serbia. However, this seemingly isolated event sparked a conflict that, within a week of Austro-Hungary's declaration of war, spread to the entire continent of Europe.

How could something like this escalate so quickly?

The answer to this is one that is rooted decades before the war even began. In 1871, Germany, a newly organized nation emerging from the Franco-Prussian war, began immediately establishing itself as a powerful nation with their rapid industrialization and growing economy. By the end of the 19th century, Germany was in no doubt a nation of considerable strength. However, there were two things that kept it from achieving the status of a Great Power it strived for. Germany had no large navy, and no territories overseas under its control. So Germany began preparations for the construction of a huge naval fleet.

This rapid militarization at sea caught Britain's eye. For so many years, Britain's navy ruled the oceans, but now Germany was constructing a fleet capable of challenging their naval forces. This was a threat that could not be ignored. Britain, in response to Germany's aggressive move, formed an alliance with France, signing the Anglo-French Entente in 1904. Theirs wasn't the only alliance formed. From 1878 to 1907, nine completely separate and secret alliances were formed between countries all over Europe. This, along with the severely unstable relations between the European nations, made it clear that Europe was on the brink of war.

Some countries welcomed the prospect. In fact, in Germany, the Schlieffen plan, a plan which drew out how the Germans would fight a two-front war if they were to attack France and Russia, was proposed in 1905. Nearly a decade before the war even began! As the major European powers lay in wait, they knew it was only a matter of time before the fuse would be lit. All it needed was a spark, and Serbia provided. On June 28th, 1914, the assassination at Sarajevo caused the continent of Europe, within a week of the first declaration of war, to spiral into a vicious and bloody conflict, the likes of which had never before been witnessed by mankind.

Introduction to World War I

For the next few months, I will be diving deep into the history of World War I. During that time, I will be building MOCs and writing essays about each important event during this catastrophic conflict. This terrible war was fought on many fronts, dragging in hoards of nations to join in the brutality.

Before The Great War began, wars in the past consisted of soldiers in brightly colored uniforms firing at each other in lines, usually across largely flat terrain. However, this war was different. Emerging from the industrial revolution, the nations of Europe began utilizing their new-found technology to construct large and terrible weapons, capable of inflicting damage and destruction like nothing the world had ever seen.