| Joseph Joffre Sir John French |
Helmut Moltke Karl Bülow Alexander von Kluck |
Battle of marne - a major battle between German and Anglo-French troops, which took place on September 12, on the Marne River during the First World War, which ended in the defeat of the German army. As a result of the battle, the strategic plan of the offensive of the German army, focused on a quick victory on the Western Front and the withdrawal of France from the war, was thwarted.
Before the battle
On September 6, a battle broke out along the entire front. Particularly strong battles unfolded on the Urk River, a tributary of the Marne, where units of the 6th French and two corps of the 1st German armies clashed; near Montmiray, where the 5th French army and British units struck a joint between the 1st and 2nd German armies; near Fer-Champenoise and the Saint-Gond swamps - here units of the 2nd and 3rd German armies fought fiercely with the 9th French.
7 September came the critical moment of the battle. In support of the two corps of the 1st Army, which fought against the 6th Army, von Kluck transferred two more divisions from the Marne, and the French were effectively defeated. Monuri urgently demanded reinforcements. The Moroccan division arrived in Paris on that day, and so that it could be on the front line, Gallieni found a non-standard solution. One brigade was sent by rail, and the second was taken in Parisian taxis. 600 vehicles made 2 flights, and reinforcements arrived on time. He was thrown into battle on the move, and the enemy's onslaught was repelled.
Lacking reserves for the development of the strike, von Kluck was forced on September 8 to transfer from the Marne against the 6th army of Monuri two more corps, the 3rd and the 9th. Thus, von Kluck exposed the front on the Marne and between the adjacent flanks of the 1st and 2nd (com. Von Bülow) German armies a gap of 35-40 km was formed. Von Bülow could not cover it tightly, being bound by the battles at the Saint-Gondus swamps, and he also had no reserves.
The small units sent by Bülow to cover the junction with the 1st Army were thrown back by the 5th French Army, and the British entered the gap. In principle, a favorable environment was created for a serious defeat of the enemy. In front of the three British corps there was only a curtain of several cavalry divisions, the British could well strike at the rear of Kluk or at the flank of Bülow. But they moved very slowly, with an eye on their neighbors, stopped at the slightest resistance. However, even their very advance into the gap between the armies posed a serious threat to the integrity of the German front.
Withdrawal of the German army
On September 9, von Kluck unleashed a prepared crushing blow on Monuri's troops, intending to crush the left flank of the entire French front, and was successful. But at the same time, Bülow learned that through a gap in the German defense, the British and 5th French armies were going to his rear, cutting him off from the 1st army, and in order to avoid encirclement, he ordered to retreat, and his neighbors, Kluk (1st army) and Hausen (3rd Army) had no choice but to start a withdrawal. The German armies began to roll back to the north. In battles, they suffered very heavy losses, and the retreat also caused a psychological breakdown, which was superimposed on extreme fatigue. There were cases when the Germans were taken prisoner asleep. Exhausted by all the overloads, they slept so soundly that the French, finding them, could not wake them up.
The French army won the victory at a high price: it lost 250 thousand people killed, wounded and prisoners and was in such a state that it could not really establish the pursuit of the enemy.
End of the battle
The allies could not take advantage of the favorable opportunities that arose after the victory on the Marne. The Germans could not close the gap between the 1st and 2nd German armies for another week, which, with vigorous pursuit, threatened them with disaster.
However, the French and British advanced too sluggishly and failed to penetrate the enemy's battle formations. The Germans broke away from them and retreated 60 kilometers north, on September 12, taking up defenses along the Aisne and Vel rivers. French and British troops reached this line on September 13th. Fighting began on the river. Ene.
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An English armored car in France. 1914
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Literature
- ((Book: Galaktionov M.: Paris, 1914))
- John Keegan. World War I. - M .: AST, 2004 .-- 576 p. - 4000 copies. - ISBN 5-170-12437-6.
- Barbara Tuckman. \u003d The Guns of August. - M .: AST, 1999 .-- 640 p. - 5000 copies. - ISBN 5-7921-0245-7.
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Excerpt from the Battle of the Marne (1914)
Mitenka headlong flew down six steps and ran into the flower bed. (This flower bed was a well-known area for rescuing criminals in Otradnoye. Mitenka himself, arriving drunk from the city, hid in this flower bed, and many residents of Otradnoye, hiding from Mitenka, knew the saving power of this flower bed.)Mitenka's wife and sister-in-law with frightened faces leaned out into the vestibule from the door of the room, where a clean samovar was boiling and a high clerk's bed towered under a quilt made of short pieces.
The young count, panting, ignoring them, walked past them with decisive steps and went into the house.
The countess, who immediately learned through the girls about what had happened in the outbuilding, on the one hand, calmed down in the sense that now their condition should recover, on the other hand, she worried about how her son would bear it. She tiptoed to his door several times, listening to him smoking pipe after pipe.
The next day the old count called his son aside and said to him with a timid smile:
- Do you know, you, my soul, in vain got excited! Mitenka told me everything.
"I knew, Nikolai thought, that I would never understand anything here, in this stupid world."
- You are angry that he did not enter these 700 rubles. After all, they were written by transport, and you have not looked at another page.
- Daddy, he is a scoundrel and a thief, I know. And what he did, he did. And if you don't want to, I won't say anything to him.
- No, my soul (the count was embarrassed too. He felt that he was a bad manager of his wife's estate and was guilty before his children, but did not know how to fix it) - No, I ask you to get busy, I am old, I ...
- No, papa, you will forgive me if I did something unpleasant for you; I know less than you.
“The devil with them, with these men and money, and transports along the page, he thought. Even from the corner by six kush I understood sometime, but from the page transport - I do not understand anything, ”he said to himself and since then has no longer intervened. Only once did the countess call her son to her, told him that she had Anna Mikhailovna's bill for two thousand and asked Nikolai what he thought to do with him.
- And here is how, - Nikolay answered. - You told me that it depends on me; I don’t like Anna Mikhailovna and I don’t love Boris, but they were friendly with us and poor. So that's how! - and he tore up the bill, and by this act, with tears of joy, made the old countess sob. After this, young Rostov, no longer intervening in any business, with passionate enthusiasm took up the still new business of dog hunting, which was instituted on a large scale by the old count.
There were already winter winters, the morning frosts were shackling the ground moistened with autumn rains, the greens were already slipping away and bright green separated from the strips of brownish, beaten-out winter and light yellow spring stubble with red stripes of buckwheat. The peaks and forests, which at the end of August were still green islands between the black fields of winter crops and stubble, became golden and bright red islands in the midst of bright green winter crops. The hare was already half worn out (molted), the fox broods began to disperse, and the young wolves were larger than the dog. It was the best hunting time. The dogs of the hot, young hunter Rostov not only entered the hunting body, but also got knocked out so that in the general council of hunters it was decided to give the dogs a rest for three days and on September 16 to leave, starting from the oak grove, where there was an untouched wolf brood.
This was the state of affairs on September 14th.
All that day the hunt was at home; it was frosty and prickly, but in the evening it began to get younger and thawed. On September 15, when young Rostov in the morning in his dressing gown looked out the window, he saw a morning better than which nothing could be for hunting: as if the sky was melting and without wind descending to the ground. The only movement that was in the air was the quiet movement from top to bottom of descending microscopic drops of mist or mist. Transparent drops hung on the bare branches of the garden and fell on the leaves that had just fallen. The soil in the garden was like a poppy, glossy wet black, and in a short distance merged with a dim and damp cover of fog. Nikolai went out onto the porch, wet with mud, and it smelled of withering forest and dogs. Milka, a black-footed, wide-backed bitch with big black eyes, having seen the owner, got up, stretched back and lay down on her hair, then suddenly jumped up and licked him right on the nose and mustache. Another greyhound dog, seeing the owner from the colored path, arching its back, rushed swiftly to the porch and raising the rule (tail), began rubbing against Nikolai's legs.
- Oh goy! - that inimitable hunting subtle was heard at that time, which combines both the deepest bass and the thinnest tenor; And from around the corner came Danilo, the hunter, who was arriving and hunted, a cropped, gray-haired, wrinkled hunter in Ukrainian brackets with a bent arapnik in his hand and with that expression of independence and contempt for everything in the world that only hunters have. He took off his Circassian hat in front of the master, and looked at him contemptuously. This contempt was not insulting to the master: Nikolai knew that this contemptuous and above all Danilo was still his man and hunter.
- Danila! - Nikolay said, timidly feeling that at the sight of this hunting weather, these dogs and the hunter, he was already seized by that irresistible hunting feeling in which a person forgets all previous intentions, like a man in love in the presence of his mistress.
- What do you order, Your Excellency? - Asked the protodeacon bass hoarse from the rumble, and two black shining eyes glanced from under their brows at the silent master. "What, or can't you stand it?" as if these two eyes said.
- Good day, huh? And the chase and the jump, eh? - said Nikolay, scratching behind Milka's ears.
Danilo did not answer and blinked his eyes.
- I sent Uvarka to listen at dawn, - said his bass after a minute of silence, - he said, translated into Otradnensky order, they howled there. (The translation meant that the she-wolf, about whom they both knew, moved with the children to the Otradno forest, which was two miles from home and which was a small detached place.)
- But you have to go? - said Nikolay. - Come to me with Uvarka.
- As you command!
- So wait and feed.
- I'm listening.
Five minutes later Danilo and Uvarka stood in Nikolai's large office. Despite the fact that Danilo was not very tall, seeing him in the room gave an impression similar to when you see a horse or a bear on the floor between furniture and the conditions of human life. Danilo himself felt it and, as usual, stood at the door, trying to speak more quietly, not to move, so as not to break somehow the master's chambers, and trying to express everything as soon as possible and go out into the open, from under the ceiling to the sky.
After finishing the inquiries and trying out Danila's consciousness that the dogs were okay (Danila wanted to go himself), Nikolai ordered him to be saddled. But as soon as Danila was about to leave, Natasha entered the room with quick steps, not yet combed and not dressed, in a large nanny's kerchief. Petya ran in with her.
- You ride? - said Natasha, - I knew it! Sonya said that you would not go. I knew that it was such a day that I had to go.
- Let's go, - Nikolay answered reluctantly, to whom today, since he intended to undertake a serious hunt, he did not want to take Natasha and Petya. - Let's go, but only for the wolves: you will be bored.
“You know that this is my greatest pleasure,” Natasha said.
- This is bad, - he goes, ordered to saddle, but did not tell us anything.
- All obstacles are in vain for the Ross, let's go! - Petya shouted.
“Why, you can't: mamma said you can't,” said Nikolai, turning to Natasha.
“No, I'll go, I will certainly go,” Natasha said resolutely. - Danila, tell us to saddle, and Mikhaila to leave with my pack, - she turned to the hunter.
And so it seemed indecent and difficult to be in Danila's room, but to have any business with a young lady seemed impossible for him. He dropped his eyes and hastened to leave, as if it did not concern him, trying to somehow inadvertently harm the young lady.
The old count, who had always kept a huge hunt, but now transferred the whole hunt to the jurisdiction of his son, on this day, September 15, amused, he was going to leave too.
An hour later, the whole hunt was at the porch. Nicholas, with a stern and serious air, showing that there was no time now to deal with trifles, walked past Natasha and Petya, who were telling him something. He examined all parts of the hunt, sent the flock and hunters ahead into the race, sat down on his red bottom and, whistling the dogs of his pack, set off across the threshing floor into the field leading to the Otradno order. The horse of the old count, a playful measure called Bethlanka, was led by the count's stirrup; he himself had to go directly in a droshky to the manhole left for him.
All the hounds were bred 54 dogs, under which, arriving and squeeze, drove 6 people. Borzyatnikov, besides the masters, there were 8 people, after whom more than 40 greyhounds were prowling, so about 130 dogs and 20 horse hunters went with the masters' packs into the field.
Each dog knew its owner and nickname. Each hunter knew his business, place and purpose. As soon as they left the fence, everyone, without noise and conversation, evenly and calmly stretched out along the road and the field leading to the Otradno forest.
As on a fur carpet, horses walked across the field, occasionally paddling through the puddles when they crossed the roads. The foggy sky continued to descend steadily and imperceptibly to the ground; the air was quiet, warm, soundless. Occasionally one could hear the whistling of a hunter, then the snoring of a horse, then a blow with a harapnik or the screech of a dog that did not walk in its place.
Having driven a mile away, five more horsemen with dogs appeared to meet the Rostov hunt from the fog. A fresh, handsome old man with a large gray mustache rode ahead.
Karl Bülow
Alexander von Kluck
France: 250,000
(80,000 killed)
UK: 13,000
(1700 killed)
Battle of marne - a major battle between German and Anglo-French troops, which took place on September 12, on the Marne River during the First World War, which ended in the defeat of the German army. As a result of the battle, the strategic plan of the offensive of the German army, focused on a quick victory on the Western Front and the withdrawal of France from the war, was thwarted.
Before the battle
On September 6, a battle broke out along the entire front. Particularly strong battles unfolded on a tributary of the Marne - the Urk rivulet: units of the 6th French and two corps of the 1st German armies collided there; near Montmiray, where the 5th French army and British units struck a joint between the 1st and 2nd German armies; near Fer-Champenoise and the Saint-Gond swamps - here units of the 2nd and 3rd German armies fought fiercely with the 9th French.
September 7 was a critical moment. In support of the two corps of the 1st German army, which fought against the 6th French, von Kluck transferred two more divisions from the Marne, and the French were effectively defeated. Monuri urgently demanded reinforcements. The Moroccan division arrived in Paris on that day, and so that it could be on the front line, Gallieni found a non-standard solution. One brigade was sent by rail, and the second was taken in Parisian taxis. 600 vehicles made 2 flights, and reinforcements arrived on time. He was thrown into battle on the move, and the enemy's onslaught was repelled.
Lacking reserves for the development of the strike, von Kluck was forced on September 8 to transfer from the Marne against the 6th army of Monuri two more corps, the 3rd and the 9th. Thus, von Kluck exposed the front on the Marne and between the adjacent flanks of the 1st and 2nd (Com. von Bülow) German armies a gap of 35-40 km wide was formed. Von Bülow could not cover it, being bound by the battles at the Saint-Gondus swamps.
The small units sent by Bülow to cover the junction with the 1st Army were easily thrown back by the 5th French Army. The British entered the gap. In principle, a favorable environment was created for a serious defeat of the enemy. In front of the three British corps there was only a curtain of several cavalry divisions and the British could strike at the rear of Kluck or at the flank of Bülow. But they moved very slowly, looking at their neighbors, stopped at the slightest resistance. However, their advance into the gap between the German armies posed a serious threat to the integrity of the German front.
Withdrawal of the German army
On September 9, von Kluck unleashed a prepared crushing blow on Monuri's troops, intending to crush the left flank of the entire French front, and was successful. But at the same time, Bülow learned that through a gap in the German defense, the British and 5th French armies were going to his rear, cutting him off from the 1st Army, and in order to avoid encirclement, he ordered to retreat. His neighbors, von Kluck (1st Army) and Hausen (3rd Army), also had no choice but to start retreating. The German armies began to roll back to the north. They suffered heavy losses, the retreat caused a psychological breakdown, superimposed on extreme fatigue. There were cases when the Germans were taken prisoner asleep. Exhausted by overloads, they slept so soundly that the French, finding them, could not wake them up.
But the victory of the French army also came at a high price: it lost 250 thousand people killed, wounded and captured and found itself in such a state that it could not organize the pursuit of the enemy.
End of the battle
The allies failed to take advantage of all the opportunities that arose after the victory on the Marne. The Germans could not close the gap between the 1st and 2nd armies for another week, which, with vigorous pursuit, would have threatened a catastrophe for the German troops.
By the beginning of the Battle of the Marne in the Verdun-Paris strip, the forces of the parties numbered: 1,082,000 people, 2,816 light and 184 heavy guns from the allies against 900,000 people, 2,928 light and 436 heavy guns from the Germans. The German army was weakened by the need to allocate troops for the siege of several fortresses.
On September 4, General Joffre issued an offensive directive, according to which the main blow was delivered by the left flank of the Allied armies (5th, 6th French armies and British Expeditionary Forces) on the right flank of the German front (1st Army von Kluck and 2- von Bülow's first army), an auxiliary strike - west of Verdun, by the forces of the 3rd French army. The 9th, just formed, and the 4th French armies were given the task of pinning down the Germans in the center.
By September 9, the 6th French Army, together with the British Expeditionary Army and the 5th French Army, during the battle on the Marne, took the German 1st shock army into flares. The commander of the 1st Army, General von Kluck, was against the retreat, but, obeying the orders of the high command, was forced to withdraw. After the war, German historians argued a lot about whether this withdrawal was justified, marking the loss of the Battle of the Marne by the Germans. Lieutenant Colonel Hench, who conveyed the order to withdraw on behalf of Chief of Staff von Moltke, was made the scapegoat for Germany's defeat on the Marne, which led to the collapse of the blitzkrieg and the general defeat of the Central Powers in World War I. Meanwhile, an objective analysis of the balance of forces between the parties leads to the conclusion that if Hench had not given the order for the retreat of the 1st and 2nd armies, they could well have been surrounded, and the Germans would have faced an even more difficult defeat. After all, the 2nd army of General von Bülow was in a difficult situation by September 9, and on the 7th was forced to retreat on its right flank. On September 12, German troops retreating from the Marne took up defensive positions along the Aisne and Vie rivers. They escaped defeat, but were unable to take Paris and inflict a decisive defeat on the French army.
On August 16, the French army was ordered to take care of the soldiers. On August 24, General Ferdinand Foch, who commanded an army group later deployed to the 9th Army, ordered his troops to fight "open enough, constantly reinforced by chains" so as not to represent a target for artillery. The infantry should have been "introduced in small numbers, artillery without counting." And on August 30, Colonel Maxim Weygand, an officer of Foch's staff, ordered all commanders of large military formations to organize, immediately after the passage of military units, detachments in order to find stragglers, collect them into teams and send them to their units "with the use of the most stringent measures." All the lost carts and transport institutions were sent to the roads along which their units went. On August 31, Foch advises the generals to resort to the merger of several units and to apply "the strictest repressive measures against the soldiers leaving the line and the junior commanders who perform their duties poorly." On September 4, Foch issued an order for refugees to use roads throughout the army group's battlefield only from 3 pm to midnight. The rest of the time they had to be off the roads, in the field.
The German infantry, well prepared for marches, covered up to 40-60 km. per day (the record in the first months of the war was 653 km. in 27 days, with battles without a single day off). But the Germans lost to the French in a short time in the transfer of reserves, since they operated on roads that had not been destroyed. The Germans had to advance along the roads that were destroyed by the retreating French and Belgians. The 1st Army on the key flank was lagging behind other armies keen on chasing a defeated enemy, since it had the most to pass according to plan. In addition, now the aviation made it almost impossible for the sudden and covert movement of troops, facilitating the defense.
The collapse of the Schlieffen plan was caused by an underestimation of the enemy's forces and his ability, using the small length of the front line and a well-developed network of roads, to quickly transfer troops to threatened areas. I note that in the battle of the Marne, the French first used vehicles to transport troops. The military commandant of Paris, General Gallieni, used requisitioned vehicles, including taxis, to transfer parts of the Paris garrison to the Marne. Thus was born what was later called the motorized infantry. But her finest hour came only in the Second World War. And already in October 1914, the Foch automobile reserve was created, capable of transferring an entire infantry division. The buses could carry infantry at speeds up to 25 km. per hour at a distance from 32 to 160 km.
The role of Russia was reduced to the fact that it diverted the 8th German army, which could have been transferred to France if Russia had not entered the war, and forced Germany and Austria-Hungary to fight on two fronts. The victory of the Russian troops in Galicia also saved Serbia from defeat. Moltke's successor, Minister of War and Chief of Staff, Erich von Falkenhain later wrote about the impact of the 1914 campaign on the timing of the war:
“… Events on the Marne and in Galicia postponed its outcome for a completely indefinite time. The task of quickly achieving solutions, which until now has been the basis for the German method of warfare, has been reduced to zero. "
In the West, the fronts of both opposing armies in October reached the coast of the North Sea in Belgian territory near the French border. A trench war began here. From the Swiss border to the sea, there were continuous lines of trenches.
During the Battle of the Border in France in August 1914, the French army lost 223 thousand killed, wounded and missing, the British army 19.2 thousand, and the German army lost 18 662 killed in August, 28 553 missing and 89 902 wounded, and only 136.2 thousand people. Of the wounded, 39,898 people returned to service. This gives a total loss ratio of 1.8: 1 in favor of the Germans. Given that the Belgian army also suffered significant losses in the Battle of the Frontier, the overall casualty ratio is likely to exceed 2: 1 in favor of the Germans. During the Battle of the Marne in September 1914, the Germans lost 10,602 killed, 16,815 missing and 47,432 wounded, and a total of 74,849 people. Anglo-French losses at that time, including the surrendered garrison of the French fortress Maubeuge, amounted to 45 thousand killed, 173 thousand wounded and 50.5 thousand prisoners, and only 268.5 thousand people. This gives a ratio of total losses of 3.6: 1, and casualties - 4.2: 1, in both cases in favor of the Germans, which roughly coincides with the ratio of losses in the East Prussian operation between Russian and German troops. Yes, the ratio of casualties here was in favor of the Germans, but the war was not won. Therefore, the Marne was a step towards defeat.
In the future, the ratio of casualties killed in battles between Russian and German troops increased to 7: 1 in favor of the Germans, since the training of Russian reservists was much worse than the training of German reservists, and the gap here was larger than in the level of training of the cadre troops of Russia and Germany. On the Western Front, by contrast, the casualty ratio in subsequent battles fell to 2.2: 1, remaining in Germany's favor. This is due to the fact that the gap in the level of combat capability of the German reservists, on the one hand, and the British, French and Belgian reservists, on the other, was smaller than the gap in the level of combat capability of the regular armies of Germany and its opponents on the Western Front. And already from the end of 1914, the war was waged mainly by those who were drafted into the army after it began. The Russian reservists, on the other hand, were prepared much worse than the German reservists, and here, on the contrary, the gap in the level of training of cadre armies was smaller than in the level of training of reservists.
The French commander-in-chief, Marshal J. Joffre, wrote in his memoirs about the situation after the Battle of the Marne:
“The defeated enemy armies are retreating. The pursuit began. While our left-flank armies have the task of bypassing the German right wing in the direction of the west, our central armies concentrate their efforts against the center and the left wing of the enemy, the 3rd Army should strive to cut enemy communications by launching a vigorous offensive northward across the open terrain between Argonne and Meuse, relying on the Meuse Heights and the fortress of Verdun and providing cover for their right flank.
But soon the persecution must stop for various reasons. The enemy, who left prisoners and material in our hands, resists, the 6th Army, although reinforced, makes unsuccessful attempts to carry out tactical coverage of the German right wing. "
The Soviet military theorist M.R. Galaktionov explained the French success in the Battle of the Marne, which saved Paris and thwarted the German plan for a lightning war:
“It would be too primitive to regard the success of the defense of the French army on the Marne, which ultimately gave them a strategic victory, only as a result of operational and tactical factors. It was based on the high morale of the French fighter. At that time, he did not yet clearly understand the true, imperialist goals of the ruling classes of France in the war. He was convinced that he was defending his homeland with weapons in his hands from the attack of the enemy. And this gave tremendous resistance to the French army. Joffre was able to use this high rise on a gigantic battlefield. This is his historical merit before the French bourgeoisie. "
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Zayonchovsky Andrey Medardovich
The battle of Marne was won not by infantry, but by French artillery
The rapid advance of the German army on Paris
In the period from August 25 to September 5, 1914, the German army triumphed. It seemed to the soldiers that the most difficult battle on the Western Front was a turning point.
France was not considered a major hindrance. The Germans hoped to quickly capture Paris without a single bullet, as happened with Belgium. The French did not manage to create serious defensive structures, so the Germans quickly found themselves at the walls of Paris.
The course of hostilities
There was complete disunity in the French and British troops. Retreat seemed like the only salvation. The looting took over the soldiers, the locals were scared and fled. There were many villages on the way of the troops. Local residents on carts hurriedly left their homes, crowds of refugees mingled with carts and soldiers. The sight is sad and terrible. What can I say, even if the French and British generals were pessimistic and prepared to retreat. On August 30, French himself conveyed to London a message about his disbelief in Joffre's ability to conduct successful hostilities and tried to retreat on his own, bypassing Paris from the east.
The enemy also had a hard time. In the diary of one of the German officers: “Our people have gone to extremes. The soldiers roll over with fatigue, their faces are covered with a layer of dust, their uniforms have turned into rags ... The soldiers walked with their eyes closed and sang so as not to fall asleep on the go. And only confidence in the upcoming triumphal march in Paris kept them strong. "
Monument to the Marne Taxis
A monument to the Marne taxis who saved Paris during the First World War is erected in the former suburb of Levallois.
Interesting Facts
Early September 1914. The Germans, very close to Paris from the southeast, pursued the retreating British across the Marne River.
There, to the Marne, driven from the north by another German army, the French moved.
The commander of the Parisian defense, Gallieni, received intelligence that von Kluck's army was advancing, leaving the flank and rear unprotected. It was a great opportunity to gain an advantage, of which he did his best to convince the French commander-in-chief Joffre. And he, with great difficulty, convinced him to support the British commander-in-chief French's counterattack.
By September 5, the front consisted of an uneven stretch of 610 km between Paris and Belfort. The Battle of the Marne took place on a 210 km stretch at Verdun-Belfort. The space was bounded by the Seine and Meuse rivers. The relief is very multi-level, from the Argonne Mountains to the plains of the Marne River. Numerous villages with buildings contributed to the persistence of the fighting. 6 allied armies of 550,000 fighters fought. German troops numbered about 470,000 soldiers.
On September 5, 5 and 6, the French armies attacked the right flank of the Germans, and the 3rd army hit the rear. The 4th and 9th armies held the center. The forces of the sides were almost equal, but in the attack on the right flank of the German army, the French outnumbered them twice in manpower.
On September 6, the battle came to a climax. 6 French and 1 German armies met on the Urk River.
5 the French army and the British struck between 1 and 2 Germans near Montmiray. The most fierce battles took place in the area of \u200b\u200bthe Saint-Gondus swamps between 2, 3 German armies and 9 French.
Gallieni's feat
General Joffre was inclined to surrender Paris and fight across the Seine. German troops were already 40 kilometers from Paris, the command left the city to its own devices, only the terminally ill military commandant Joseph Simon Gallieni remained to defend it. He stated: "I have received a mandate and will defend my city to the end."
On September 6, an order was read out to the troops: “Everyone should remember that now is not the time to look back: all efforts should be directed towards attacking and driving back the enemy. The military unit, which will not be able to continue the offensive, must at all costs keep the space it has captured and die on the spot, but not retreat. "
Gallieni was not only ready to die defending his homeland, but also knew how to think outside the box. He used Parisian taxis and the railroad to move fresh forces (the reserve Moroccan army) to the front lines. And then the police collected taxis throughout the city, near the Invalides' home, more than six hundred cars began their journey to the Marne River. About 6,000 soldiers were transported on two flights. The rest were sent by rail. The German offensive was halted.
Monument to the Marne Taxis
The monument to the Marne taxis who saved Paris during the First World War is erected in the former suburb of Levallois (where most of the Paris taxi companies were located). Memorial plaques installed along the route of the column are dedicated to the Marne taxis, one such car is exhibited in the House of Invalids. Already in our century, in the municipality of Levallois, on the square named after November 11, 1918 (the date of Germany's surrender in the First World War), a marble monument to the Renault AG-1 car was erected - it was these cars that then worked as Paris taxis. The author of the monument is the Italian sculptor Maurizio Toffoletti.The turning point in the battle
On September 7, everyone was waiting for a turning point in the battle. Von Kluck dispatched two divisions to the Urk River for support, and the French were practically crushed.
On September 8, von Kluck moved two more corps from the Marne, and a gap formed between the flanks of the German army, which there was nothing to fill. The British could strike at the German rear and flank, but they practically did not advance.
On September 9, von Kluck struck a swift blow on the left flank of the French. And still, the gap between the 1st and 2nd armies could not be filled. In the western region of the Battle of the Marne, the strategic position of the German armies was disadvantageous. Generals Kluk and Bülow were disunited and had no reserves to close the gap between the 1st and 2nd flanks of the armies. 3, the army performed the functions of supporting neighbors. The 4th and 5th armies were dangerous by capturing the outer flanks of Verdun and Vitry-le-François. The Germans had to retreat so that the French army did not strike from the unprotected rear of Bülow and surround them. This retreat sowed panic among the German troops. They were already so exhausted that the French took them asleep as prisoners. The French were also exhausted and suffered huge losses, more than 250 thousand people killed and wounded. They did not have the strength to fight or even pursue the retreating enemy.
After the victory on the Marne, the Allies gained an advantage, but they did not use it.
The description is based on the book by A.M. Zayonchkovsky "World War 1914-1918", ed. 1931 g.
By the summer of 1918, the German army had suffered heavy losses. The number of German troops was rapidly approaching the level beyond which it was already impossible to count on the numerical advantage of the attackers. Ludendorff was forced to make a decisive choice between what seemed more important, but more difficult to achieve, that is, an attack against British troops in Flanders, and what was easier to implement, but was of secondary importance - the movement to Paris.
It took him almost a month to make this decision - a month during which the German leadership met at Spa to review the course of the war and the country's military objectives. The shortage of goods in the country has already reached its limit, but, nevertheless, the meeting discussed the introduction of a "full war economy" regime. Despite the almost desperate situation at the front, on July 3, the Kaiser, the state leadership and the army command agreed that, in addition to the additional acquisition of territories in the East, the annexation of Luxembourg and the French iron ore and coal basins in Lorraine are the necessary and minimum conditions for ending the war in the West. ... On July 13, the Reichstag, expressing its confidence in this direction and the development of strategy, voted for the war loan for the twelfth time. The foreign minister, having warned that now the war could not end with a military decision, was forced to resign on 8 July.
Ludendorff remained loyal to the military decision and on 15 July sent all the forces he held in reserve - fifty-two divisions - to attack against the French army. The temptation of Paris proved to be irresistible. At first, the offensive developed splendidly. The French, however, received a warning from intelligence and observer specialists, and on 18 July launched a powerful counterstrike, which dealt eighteen divisions of hot Mangin in the first line, in Villers-Cottere.
General Mangin proposed to strike a decisive blow against the open western flank of the German positions on the ledge between Soissons and Reims. This idea was generally in line with Foch's plans, so preparations were made for such a counteroffensive in which Mangin's 10th Army would be supported by the neighboring ones on both its flanks: Jean Degut's 6th Army and Henri Verthelot's 5th Army. On July 15, when the last German offensive was developing opposite the Marne, it seemed for a while that Mangin would not be able to take revenge; Pétain canceled preparations for the attack, but his order was immediately canceled by Foch. Thus, two days later, when the Germans had already stopped, everything was ready, they were only waiting for a signal. The German troops and their command had no idea about the impending danger.
At 4:35 in the morning, French shelling crushed the western flank of the German defenses; it was replaced by barrage fire, under the cover of which Degut's army immediately went forward. Three quarters of an hour later, 18 1st-echelon divisions of Mangin's army and 321 Renault tanks, along with the 1st and 2nd divisions of the American army and the remarkable Moroccan division, rushed forward in a rush that allowed them to penetrate 4 miles into the depth of enemy positions. By the evening the resistance increased, but the position of the Germans was critical. Mangin captured 15 thousand prisoners and 400 guns.
Successes, although not so impressive, have been made by other Allied armies. The entire ledge of the German front line, broken by successive attempts to break through, was in great danger. On that night the German High Command decided to evacuate the bridgeheads on the Marne; the rollback began. On the same night, the two French commanders once again demonstrated their dissimilarity. Mangin reported to Pétain what he had achieved and urged him to take the risk and support a successful offensive. Pétain replied that he had no reserves for such a throw, and refused support. When he left, Mangin said to his chief of staff: “General Pétain said that he would not give me anything, but he did not give me the order to stop the advance; so we will continue on our own and tomorrow we will continue the offensive. "
On this day, the advancement of all allied forces was difficult; Mangin and Degut walked 2-3 miles; elsewhere the fighting was heavier. But victory was achieved: there was the first of a series of delays in the German offensive in Flanders, which ruined the implementation of the German plan. Slowly, day after day, the Germans retreated; the allies methodically pressed them back. The Germans left Soissons. By August 4, they retreated across the river After all: the Soissons ledge was destroyed.
In this battle, the Germans lost 168 thousand people, including 30 thousand captured, as well as 793 guns. The losses of the allies were also heavy, but the Germans could no longer make up for theirs. In this series of their offensives, starting on March 21, they lost almost a million soldiers. Ludendorff was reluctantly forced to disband 10 divisions, the disintegration of the German army began and soon accelerated significantly.