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The Great Retreat
With the collapse of the line at Mons and along the Sambre, Allied forces began a long, fighting retreat south towards Paris. Falling back, holding actions or unsuccessful counterattacks were fought at La Cateau (August 26-27) and St. Quentin (August 29-30), while Mauberge fell on September 7 after a brief siege. Assuming a line behind the Marne River, Joffre prepared to make a stand to defend Paris. Angered by the French proclivity for retreating without informing him, French wished to pull the BEF back towards the coast, but was convinced to stay at the front by War Secretary Horatio H. Kitchener (Map).
On the other side, the Schlieffen Plan continued to proceed, however Moltke was increasingly losing control of his forces, most notably the key First and Second Armies. Seeking to envelop the retreating French forces, Kluck and Bülow wheeled their armies to the southeast to pass to the east of Paris. In doing so, they exposed the right flank of the German advance to attack.
First Battle of the Marne
As the Allied troops prepared along the Marne, the newly formed French Sixth Army, led by General Michel-Joseph Maunoury, moved into position west of the BEF at the end of the Allied left flank. Seeing an opportunity, Joffre ordered Maunoury to attack the German flank on September 6 and asked the BEF to assist. On the morning of September 5, Kluck detected the French advance and began turning his army west to meet the threat. In the resulting Battle of the Ourcq, Kluck's men were able to put the French on the defensive. While the fighting prevented the Sixth Army from attacking the next day, it did open a 30-mile gap between the First and Second German Armies (Map).
This gap was spotted by Allied aircraft and soon the BEF along with the French Fifth Army, now led by the aggressive General Franchet d’Esperey, poured in to exploit it. Attacking, Kluck almost broke through Maunoury's men, but the French were aided by 6,000 reinforcements brought from Paris by taxicab. On the evening of September 8, d'Esperey assaulted the exposed flank of Bülow's Second Army, while French and the BEF attacked into the growing gap (Map). With the First and Second Armies being threatened with destruction, Moltke suffered a nervous breakdown. His subordinates took command and ordered a general retreat to the Aisne River. The Allied victory at the Marne ended German hopes of a quick victory in the west and Moltke reportedly informed the Kaiser, "Your Majesty, we have lost the war." In the wake of this collapse, Moltke was replaced as chief of staff by Erich von Falkenhayn.
Race to the Sea
Reaching the Aisne, the Germans halted and occupied the high ground north of the river. Pursued by the British and French, they defeated Allied attacks against this new position. On September 14, it was clear that neither side would be able to dislodge the other and the armies began entrenching. At first these were simple, shallow pits, but quickly they became deeper, more elaborate trenches. With the war stalled along the Aisne in Champagne, both armies began efforts to turn the other's flank in the west.
The Germans, eager to return to maneuver warfare, hoped to press west with the goal of taking northern France, capturing the Channel ports, and cutting the BEF's supply lines back to Britain. Using the region's north-south railways, Allied and German troops fought a series of battles in Picardy, Artois and Flanders during late September and early October, with neither able to turn the other's flank. As the fighting raged, King Albert was forced to abandon Antwerp and the Belgian Army retreated west along the coast.
Moving into Ypres, Belgium on October 14, the BEF hoped to attack east along the Menin Road, but were halted by a larger German force. To the north, King Albert's men fought the Germans at the Battle of the Yser from October 16 to 31, but were halted when the Belgians opened the sea-locks at Nieuwpoort, flooding much of the surrounding countryside and creating an impassable swamp. With the flooding of the Yser, the front began a continuous line from the coast to the Swiss frontier.
First Battle of Ypres
Having been halted by the Belgians at the coast, the Germans shifted their focus to assaulting the British at Ypres. Launching a massive offensive in late October, with troops from the Fourth and Sixth Armies, they sustained heavy casualties against the smaller, but veteran BEF and French troops under General Ferdinand Foch. Though reinforced by divisions from Britain and the empire, the BEF was badly strained by the fighting. The battle was dubbed the "The Massacre of the Innocents of Ypres" by the Germans as several units of young, highly enthusiastic students suffered frightful losses. When the fighting ended around November 22, the Allied line had held, but the Germans were in possession of much of the high ground around the town.
Exhausted by the fall's fighting and the heavy losses sustained, both sides began digging in and expanding their trench lines along the front. As winter approached, the front was a continuous, 475-mile line running from the Channel south to Noyon, turning east until Verdun, then slanting southeast towards the Swiss border (Map). Though the armies had fought bitterly for several months, at Christmas an informal truce saw men from both sides enjoying each other's company for the holiday. With the New Year, plans were made to renew the fight.
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