The first months of the war
A succession of defeats against Germany
On 28 June 1914, the Austrian-Hungarian crown archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife were murdered by a young Serbian nationalist in Sarajevo. The attack served as a pretext for Austria-Hungary to issue an ultimatum to Serbia, whose nationalist demands were increasingly upsetting the Empire. This event was one of the triggers of the Great War.
The attack in Sarajevo
On 28 June 1914, the heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, Archduke Franz Ferdinand, and his wife were assassinated by a young Serbian nationalist in Sarajevo. The attack served as a pretext for Austria-Hungary to issue an ultimatum to Serbia, whose nationalist demands were increasingly upsetting the empire. This event was one of the triggers of the Great War.
Although Serbia accepted most of the terms of the ultimatum, Austria-Hungary declared war on it on 28 July 1914. The interplay of alliances set in motion a mechanism that eluded everyone.
On 30 July, for fear of being caught unprepared, Russia decreed a general mobilisation, which Germany took as a provocation. Similarly, on 1 August, France mobilised, followed by Germany, which declared war on Russia, and then on 3 August on France. On the 4th, the United Kingdom entered the conflict in response to the invasion of Belgium.
After forty years of peace, stunned but carried away by a national feeling, the men returned to the barracks. They all thought they were ‘going away for a summer’...
A deadly month of August
While the German armies advanced rapidly in Belgium, the French armies took the offensive in Alsace. From 15 August, they attacked on the eastern borders but suffered bloody defeats.
The British Expeditionary Force fought at Mons on the Franco-Belgian border, but had to retreat under enemy fire. The Battle of the Borders was a failure for the Allies in the face of the might of the German armies.
On 25 August, General Joffre ordered the general retreat that would take the Allied armies south of the Marne, on a front from Paris to Verdun.
August had been a very deadly month (25,000 French soldiers killed on 22 August alone). At the beginning of September, the capital was under threat... Nothing went according to plan.
On 2 September, the various German armies surrounded Verdun, contemplated Reims, passed Château-Thierry, crossed the Marne and were 40 km from Paris. Senlis was on fire and the few German horsemen who had passed the village of Louvres could see the Eiffel Tower in the distance.
Joffre issued new instructions moving the French lines south of the Seine and the Aube, which meant leaving Verdun and Paris to fend for themselves. That same day, the government decided to retreat to Bordeaux and the next day Gallieni, free of any political constraints, announced his determination to defend the capital ‘to the bitter end’. But to do this, he could only rely on his territorial divisions, the marine brigade and Maunoury's 6th army, which had just been detached to his army. This amounted to around 150,000 men.
On 2 September, Corporal Louis Breguet flew with his observer Watteau. The information reported to General Gallieni suggested a change of direction for General von Kluck's 1st German Army. Blinded by the pursuit of the French 5th army, the German 1st army took the risk of manoeuvring to the north of the capital and therefore exposed its right flank, which was difficult to defend.
At the same time, Maunoury's 6th army air force detected the same change of direction, but the commander of the 6th army's 2nd division did not attach any importance to the information provided.
The following day, on 3 September, the air force reconfirmed the intelligence. Gallieni was informed and grasped the importance of this almost unbelievable situation. The movement was also confirmed by ground observations and by the reception of German messages picked up by the powerful electric radio station installed on the Eiffel Tower.
For Gallieni, the opportunity was too good to miss; there was only one thing to do: attack.
On 4 September, with the change of direction confirmed, Gallieni gave orders for Maunoury to be ready to engage in combat on the 5th. The only thing left to do was to convince Joffre.
The response was not immediate. What state was the 5th army in? Could the British be counted on? Would the men, exhausted by two weeks of retreat and perhaps discouraged by the latest events, be able to spring back into action? One decision too fast, one wrong choice and the result would be disastrous, perhaps final. Loyally informed of the decisions taken by Gallieni, Joffre in turn reacted and decided: the battle would be fought on the Marne and not on the Seine. The only thing left to do was to plan the manoeuvre (north or south of the Marne?) give the orders (for the 6th or the 7th?) and, above all, secure the support of the British, which had been uncertain until then: ‘England's honour is at stake, Mr Marshal! '
With French's agreement made official and the army commanders declaring their readiness to intervene on the 6th, the great counter-attack was ordered for that date.
In the early afternoon of 5 September, near Meaux, French units that were about to take up positions for the battle on the Ourcq came into contact with one of the German divisions flanking General von Kluck's army. Above the village of Monthyon, the first cannon shots of the Battle of the Ourcq were fired prematurely. From Senlis to Verdun, 750,000 French and 80,000 British troops were preparing to turn back the clock, pitted against almost 700,000 Germans.
Click here to find out more about "The First Battle of the Marne"