The Battle of Marne
By Savi Krumenauer
“ The hour has come to advance at all costs and to die where you stand then to give way”, general Joseph Joffre, September 5th, 1914. On the 28th of June 1914, the French Archduke Ferdinand was visiting the city of Yevo, Austria Bavaria. While he was being drove through the streets the archduke and his wife were shot and killed. No one knew at the time that this was the first shot of World War 1.
Initially the death of the Duke thought to be contained, but by July it was increasingly obvious Europe was headed in the direction of a major war. On the 2nd of August, the moment France began the mobilization for war, was almost the same moment the Germans did.
As the Germans advanced deeper into France, gaps opened between them. To close up they moved not to the West as planned, but to the East to the capital. The Germans were just 25 miles from Paris. This gave the French an opportunity to attack the exposed Germans, to loose this time would mean to loose Paris and the entire war. Taxis full of soldiers road through the streets, people thought they were coming home after being injured, but they were bringing more people to be on the front.
While the French stormed against the German border, the Germans would invade the neutral Belgium in the North, occupying Paris, and attack the French army from the rear. If it worked the entire French army would be caught in the open border isolating the lines of supply and destroy in one swoop.
What followed was the battle of Marne, French and British armies against Germany, it lasted six days and involved two million men. When it was over the Germans had been stopped, Paris had been saved, but a different kind of war had began. Facing modern weapons soldiers abandoned their 19th centuries tactics of open warfare and began digging into the trenches spread mile after mile. And this is the first time the British are up against the reality of trench warfare, this is why they have not been able to drive the Germans back, have not been able to break through, to them this is a whole new phenomenon. 400,000 French soldiers had been killed simply to reach stalemate.
By Savi Krumenauer
“ The hour has come to advance at all costs and to die where you stand then to give way”, general Joseph Joffre, September 5th, 1914. On the 28th of June 1914, the French Archduke Ferdinand was visiting the city of Yevo, Austria Bavaria. While he was being drove through the streets the archduke and his wife were shot and killed. No one knew at the time that this was the first shot of World War 1.
Initially the death of the Duke thought to be contained, but by July it was increasingly obvious Europe was headed in the direction of a major war. On the 2nd of August, the moment France began the mobilization for war, was almost the same moment the Germans did.
As the Germans advanced deeper into France, gaps opened between them. To close up they moved not to the West as planned, but to the East to the capital. The Germans were just 25 miles from Paris. This gave the French an opportunity to attack the exposed Germans, to loose this time would mean to loose Paris and the entire war. Taxis full of soldiers road through the streets, people thought they were coming home after being injured, but they were bringing more people to be on the front.
While the French stormed against the German border, the Germans would invade the neutral Belgium in the North, occupying Paris, and attack the French army from the rear. If it worked the entire French army would be caught in the open border isolating the lines of supply and destroy in one swoop.
What followed was the battle of Marne, French and British armies against Germany, it lasted six days and involved two million men. When it was over the Germans had been stopped, Paris had been saved, but a different kind of war had began. Facing modern weapons soldiers abandoned their 19th centuries tactics of open warfare and began digging into the trenches spread mile after mile. And this is the first time the British are up against the reality of trench warfare, this is why they have not been able to drive the Germans back, have not been able to break through, to them this is a whole new phenomenon. 400,000 French soldiers had been killed simply to reach stalemate.
- http://www.history.com/topics/world-war-i/first-battle-of-marne
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Battle_of_the_Marne
- http://www.history.com/topics/world-war-i/first-battle-of-marne
- https://www.britannica.com/event/First-Battle-of-the-Marne
- http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/worldwars/wwone/battle_marne.shtml