Military History of the First World War
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The Battle for the Marne
In accordance with their Plan 17, the French attempted to attack the Germans in Alsace-Lorraine, but were repulsed with the toll of about 1/3rd million casualties. The Germans under Helmuth von Moltke (the son of the German commander in chielf who had secured victory for the Germans in 1871) overwhelmed the Belgium fortresses and advanced rapidly through Belgium. The allies were forced to retreat. The German First and Second Armies drove southward and crossed the River Marne close to Paris. However, the Allied armies had not been outflanked and they did succeed in preserving the line. German troops ran out of supply and had to forage for food; forced marches reduced them to a state of exhaustion. The BEF, after consolidating at Mauberge pushed forward and encountered the German 1st army under Kluck. The British were outnumbered 3 to 1 at the Battle of Mons, but managed to beat off the Germans who mistook the British rapid rifle fire for machine guns. However, the British were forced to make a rapid retreat from Mons. The French commander, Joffre, responded to the threat to Paris by halting his own campaign in Alsace and transferring troops to defence of Paris. Joffre counterattacked the German flank and forced Moltke to reinforce it, thus calling off his offensive against Paris. The Germans fell back to the River Aisne where they dug in, and British and French forces were unable to dislodge them. Trench warfare had begun! By September lines of trenches extended from the River Aisne to the Swiss border and stalemate had set in.
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Contents of
Military History of the First World War
1 The Central Powers and the Entente
2 The run-up to the war: The July Crisis, 1914
3 Military Planning in Advance of the War
4 Serbia and the Eastern Front, 1914
5 The Battle for the Marne
6 The Race to the Sea and the First Battle of Ypres
7 First Battle of Ypres
8 The Pacific
9 Africa
10 The Eastern Front during 1915
11 Italy enters the war
12 The Balkans
13 The Western Front
14 Gallipoli
15 The Western Front, 1916
16 Verdun
17 The Battle of the Somme
18 The Trentino Offensive
19 The Brusilov Offensive
20 Romania
21 The Russian Front in 1917
22 Mesopotamia
23 The Nivelle Offensive
24 The Third Battle of Ypres (The Battle of Passendaele)
25 Cambrai
26 Caporetto
27 German offensive in Russia, 1918
28 Ludendorff's offensive in the West
29 Allied counter-offensive
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