In the first days of September 1914, German armies were within sight of Paris and moving fast. Then, along the river Marne, a French and British counterattack stopped them cold. The victory saved the capital, wrecked Germany's plan for a swift war, and condemned Europe to four years in the trenches. The French remember it as the Miracle of the Marne.
The plan and the gap
Germany's Schlieffen Plan aimed to knock out France in weeks by wheeling through Belgium and around Paris. But the German armies outran their supplies, and General von Kluck turned his First Army inward too soon, exposing a flank. A gap opened between the German First and Second Armies, and Allied scouts, on horseback and in the air, found it.
The taxis of the Marne
The French commander Joffre stayed calm as his armies retreated, then chose his moment to turn and fight. To rush reserves from Paris to the front, the city's military governor Gallieni commandeered around 600 Paris taxicabs, a small effort in numbers but an unforgettable symbol of a nation improvising to survive.
Germany had gambled on a war of weeks. On the Marne it became a war of years.
Into the gap
The French Sixth Army struck the exposed German flank while the small British Expeditionary Force pushed into the gap between the two German armies. Fearing encirclement, the German command ordered a general retreat to the river Aisne, where the exhausted armies dug in.
What the day decided
Those trenches never really emptied. From the Aisne the two sides raced north to the sea, extending their lines until a continuous front ran from the Channel to Switzerland. The war of movement was over. Everything that followed, Verdun, the Somme and the rest, grew from the deadlock the Marne began.
Frequently asked questions
Why was the First Battle of the Marne so important?
The First Battle of the Marne in 1914 stopped the German advance short of Paris, wrecked Germany's plan for a swift war, and condemned Europe to four years in the trenches, which is why the French remember it as the Miracle of the Marne.
What weakness in the German advance did the Allies exploit at the Marne?
At the First Marne in 1914 the German armies had outrun their supplies and General von Kluck turned his First Army inward too soon, opening a gap between the German First and Second Armies that Allied scouts found and struck.
What were the taxis of the Marne, and why are they remembered?
During the First Marne in 1914 the Paris military governor Gallieni commandeered around 600 taxicabs to rush reserves to the front, a small effort in numbers but an unforgettable symbol of a nation improvising to survive.
How did the First Marne change the character of the war?
The First Marne in 1914 ended the war of movement, and from the river Aisne both sides raced north until a continuous front ran from the Channel to Switzerland, so that everything that followed, including Verdun and the Somme, grew from the deadlock the Marne began.
What was the Schlieffen Plan and why did it fail at the Marne?
Germany's Schlieffen Plan aimed to knock France out in weeks by wheeling through Belgium and around Paris, but at the First Marne in 1914 the overstretched German armies were halted and forced to retreat to the Aisne.
Who won the Battle of the Marne?
The First Battle of the Marne in 1914 was a strategic Allied success, as the French and British counterattack halted the German advance short of Paris and forced the German armies into a general retreat to the river Aisne. It wrecked Germany's plan for a swift war and is remembered in France as the Miracle of the Marne.
Take the field on the Marne
The Marne is one of 40 battles in Echoes of Battle, told scene by scene, with a real-time tactical mode in the works, and pinned to the real ground where Paris was saved.
