Military History of the First World War DOWNLOAD FREE

The Race to the Sea and the First Battle of Ypres Each side attempted to resolve the stalemate by outflanking the other in the area between the English channel and the Isle de France (Paris). Both countered the other sides' maneuvers, in an episode that has come to be known as the "Race to the Sea", and the result was that the trenches were extended to cover the entire area between the Belgian coast and Switzerland. Moltke had a nervous breakdown and was replaced as German commander-in-chief by Erich von Falkenhayn, the former Prussian Minister of War. But Falkenhayn was forced to divert troops to the Eastern front where the Russians were gaining ground against the Austro-Hungarian forces. The Russians countered by moving their forces northwards to meet the Germans, thus calling off their offensive against the Austrians. As first lord of the admiralty, Churchill sent a force of poorly equipped marines to Antwerp, and visited there himself on 3rd October. However, the force was only token, and Antwerp fell on 10th October, and the Belgium army withdrew down the coast, where it remained for the rest of the war. The British marines were taken prisoner. However, the Belgium defence of Antwerp may have been decisive in preventing the Germans winning the "race to the sea".

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

Related articles: (1) The Third Battle of Ypres - the Battle of Paschendaele, (2) The First World War: Triggers