The First Battle of the Marne
"My center is giving way, my right is in retreat; situation excellent. I shall attack."
The First Battle of the Marne was fought between Germany and the Allied powers of France and England.
The Germans had 1,400,000 troops under command of General von Moltke, while the Allied had only 1,000,000.
WWI had begun only 1 short month before this battle.
There were actually two battles at the Marne, however, the second one would happen much later at the end of the war.
The Germans had been stealthily gaining on Paris until they were now only 30 miles away from this city.
This battle would be the start of the War of Attrition, the long-lasting stalemate, and trench warfare.
The Original Plan:
The Attack:
Weapons:
The Germans had 1,400,000 troops under command of General von Moltke, while the Allied had only 1,000,000.
WWI had begun only 1 short month before this battle.
There were actually two battles at the Marne, however, the second one would happen much later at the end of the war.
The Germans had been stealthily gaining on Paris until they were now only 30 miles away from this city.
This battle would be the start of the War of Attrition, the long-lasting stalemate, and trench warfare.
The Original Plan:
- The French and English decided to attempt at stopping the Germans from entering Paris.
- General Joseph Joffre under command of the French decided to attack.
- General John French of the English troops claimed his troops were too weak to fight; however, war minister Lord Kitchener convinced him to join with Joffre.
The Attack:
- The English and French managed to create a gap in the German's army.
- With the gap, the Allies were able to split the German army forcing them to retreat back to the Aisne River in northern France.
- The Germans then started digging trenches. There, they managed to hold off the Allies for four years, creating the stalemate.
- This battle lasted only from September 6, 1914 to September 12, 1914.
Weapons:
- This was the first major battle in which planes were used as an offensive position. These planes helped the Allies gain control.
- In this battle, the French used taxis to help transfer the troops quickly to where they were needed most. These became known as the "Taxis of Marne."
Casualties:
- The Battle of the Marne lasted only 6 days and yet many casualties were caused.
- The Allies had 263,000 wounded and 81,000 dead.
- The Germans received 220,000 wounded or dead.
- Over 2 million fought, and thee were a half a million injured or dead.
Although the Allies lost many troops in this battle, this was considered a great success; they had now forced the Germans to fight on two fronts: Russia from the east and France and England from the west.
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