Changes

==Battle of the Frontiers and the Great Retreat==[[File:Marne 12.jpg|thumbnail|200px300px|left|French troops 1914]]When war was declared between Germany and France and later Britain, the allies went on the offensive. French troops crossed the border in Alsace-Lorraine, which had once been part of France until 1871. A series of battles were fought between France and Germany, with the French achieving some notable success such as the capture of Mulhouse.<ref> Brooks, Richard, <i>Atlas of World Military History</i>. (London: HarperCollins, 2000), p. 117</ref> The Germans then invaded France via Belgium and this transformed the dynamics of the war. They swiftly occupied almost all of Belgium and they advanced deep into Northern France. This forced many French divisions which had been stationed on the eastern border with Germany to retreat. This came to be known as the Great Retreat.

==Battle of the Frontiers and the Great Retreat==When war was declared between Germany and France and later Britain, the allies went on the offensive. French troops crossed the border in Alsace-Lorraine, which had once been part of France until 1871. A series of battles were fought between France and Germany, with the French achieving some notable success such as the capture of Mulhouse<ref> Brooks, Richard, Atlas of World Military History. (London: HarperCollins, 2000), p. 117</ref>. The Germans then invaded France via Belgium and this transformed the dynamics of the war. They swiftly occupied almost all of Belgium and they advanced deep into Northern France. This forced many French divisions which had been stationed on the eastern border with Germany to retreat. This came to be known as the Great Retreat. For a few weeks in August, the French were unable to hold any defensive line, even with the aid of the British Expeditionary Force (BEF). The British engaged with the advancing Germans at the Battle of Mons. At the Battle of Mons on the 23rd of August, the British attempted to hold a line on the Mons-Conde canal. However, the collapse of the French 5th army left them exposed and they had to retreat. The retreat from Mons lasted for two weeks, and the British had to rapidly withdraw some 200 miles. At one stage during the retreat, the British Commander General John French asked the government in London for permission to evacuate his forces to save them from annihilation. By the end of August, the British and the French had been forced by the Germans to the outskirts of Paris .<ref>Evans, M. M. <i>Battles of World War I </i> (Devizes: Select Editions, 2004) , p. 15</ref>.

[[File:==The Threat to Paris==The River Marne 2is to the north of Paris, which is located on a natural plain.jpg|thumbnail|200px|The river is the last natural obstacle between northern France and Paris. If the Germans could cross the Marne and make it onto the plains around Paris, then the allies would have no natural line of defence in order to stop the German advance. This made the French capital very vulnerable. It looked as if there was a real possibility that the Germans would repeat their success in 1870, when they had besieged the city and forced the French troops 1914]]government to agree to a conditional surrender.<ref> Evans, p. 18</ref> The situation was critical for Paris. The Military governor of Paris was ordered to prepare the defences of the city. In and around the city, citizens dug trenches and defences were built. Thousands of Parisians began to stream out of the city and the roads south came to be filled with civilians fleeing the German advance.

[[File:Marne 3.jpg|thumbnail|300px|left|French taxi used at the Marne]]The First Battle of the Marne was fought over a period of roughly nine days. In the first week of September, there were indications that the Germans had begun to tire and that there was some confusion in the chain of command because of the rapid advance<ref> Evans, p. 115</ref>. At this point, the Germans made a crucial mistake. The First Army under von Kluck, on the right wing of the German advance, swung north, rather than advance to the west, of Paris. This left the First Army flanks vulnerable to General Maunoury’s French Sixth Army. This was the opportunity that Joffre was hoping for. He ordered more reinforcements to be sent to the 6th army. He ordered every vehicle in Paris requisitioned for military use. All the buses and taxis in Paris were enlisted to drive French soldiers to the front. This was the first time that motor vehicles had been used in war on a large scale. The German army, by contrast was largely dependent on the horse for its transportation needs. The French sixth army launched its attack and drove a wedge between the German First army and the Second Army. The BEF advanced into the gap in the line. The French Ninth Army resisted a massive German counter-attack on the right-wing. Despite this, the German First Army nearly defeated the French army between the 6th and -8th of September. The French were only saved by 6000 reserves brought up from Paris. The Germans came very close to a victory. By the 9th of September, the German chief of staff Helmuth von Moltke saw that his front line was in danger ordered a partial retreat. Joffre pursued, but the Germans were able to hold their new defensive line <ref> Isselin, H. The Battle of the Marne (Elek Books, Paris 1965, p. 134</ref>. Soon the two lines became increasingly fixed. This was the time usually regarded as the end of the First Battle of the Marne. Each of the army begun a series of manoeuvres to outflank the others. This led both sides to develop a network of trenches and barbed wire defences to protect their flanks. This was called the ‘race to the sea’. The outcome of these manoeuvres was the trench warfare that was to dominate the war until the Autumn of 1918.

[[File:The German army, by contrast was largely dependent on the horse for its transportation needs. The French sixth army launched its attack and drove a wedge between the German First army and the Second Army. The BEF advanced into the gap in the line. The French Ninth Army resisted a massive German counter-attack on the right-wing. Despite this, the German First Army nearly defeated the French army between the 6th and -8th of September. The French were only saved by 6000 reserves brought up from Paris. The Germans came very close to a victory. By the 9th of September, the German chief of staff Helmuth von Moltke saw that his front line was in danger ordered a partial retreat. Joffre pursued, but the Germans were able to hold their new defensive line.<ref> Isselin, H. <i>The Battle of the Marne 3</i> (Elek Books, Paris 1965), p.jpg|thumbnail|200px|French taxi used at 134</ref> Soon the two lines became increasingly fixed. This was the time usually regarded as the end of the First Battle of the Marne]]. Each of the army begun a series of manoeuvres to outflank the others. This led both sides to develop a network of trenches and barbed wire defences to protect their flanks. This was called the ‘race to the sea’. The outcome of these manoeuvres was the trench warfare that was to dominate the war until the Autumn of 1918.

The battle was a victory for the Allies, it had thrown back the apparently unstoppable German advance on Paris. It also demonstrated that the British and the French could work together and coordinate attacks on the Germans. More importantly, the battle ended German hopes of a quick victory in the western theatre. Although the war was to drag on for another four years, Paris was never to be threatened again by an Imperial German offensive. As a result of the battle the Imperial German Army was driven back some 40 miles.<ref> Isselin, p. 178</ref>. The allies had saved Paris but the Germans remained in control of much of northern France and almost all of Belgium. Within weeks of the setback at the Marne the Germans launched a series of local offensives, such as Ypres. However, the allies had not only saved Paris but they had pushed them back far enough to save the city from shelling. The casualties of the Marne were high for both sides. The French suffered almost one-quarter of a million men, and it is believed that the Germans suffered about the same number of casualties. The BEF suffered some 13,000 casualties.<ref> Isselin, p. 234</ref>. The high casualties proved to be only the beginning of the horrors on the western front.

Perhaps the biggest factor in the German defeat was that they had become overextended. The army had advanced very rapidly and their chain of command had come under pressure and Moltke had lost control of the battlefield. Even a stronger leader may not have been able to control the German Generals on the ground because the army had become so over-extended and this was made them very vulnerable to a sustained counter-attack. Joffre sensed this and he used his forces to exploit the German weakness and this more than anything else contributed to the Allies victory.<ref> Asprey, R. B. <i>The First Battle of the Marne </i> (London, Weidenfeld & Nicholson, 1962), p. 14</ref>.  The Anglo-French victory had been due in part to the fact that the Germans had advanced too quickly and they their supply lines had been stretched to breaking point. This meant that the suffered shortages of shells in particular and their artillery was ineffective. Then there were the commanders, their characters and decisions had a major impact on the outcome of the battle. Moltke, the German Chief of Staff lost control of his army commanders. This is best seen in the actions of Von Kluck whose unauthorized swing to the east of Paris allowed the French and British to counter-attack. He was also showed intense mental strain and many believed that he could not cope with the demands of the battle. Joffre, in particular proved to be an effective leader. He ended all political influence in the army and stopped the arguments among his generals. He also selected aggressive leaders and replaced those he deemed to be overcautious.<ref> Asprey, p. 57</ref>. Joffre was the right man at the right time. This and the fact that the allies had much shorter supply lines was to prove crucial.