First Battle of Picardy 1914
Recorded location from Wikidata; battle sites are often approximate.
Key facts
| Date | 26 September 1914 | Wikidata |
|---|---|---|
| Year | 1914 | Wikidata P585 (point in time) |
| Era | World War I era (1914–1918) | derived from year |
| Location | France | Natural Earth (modern borders) |
| Continent | Europe | Natural Earth |
| War / conflict | Race to the Sea | Wikidata P361 |
| Coordinates | 49.5000, 2.8333 | Wikidata P625 |
About the battle
The First Battle of Picardy (22–26 September 1914) took place during the Race to the Sea (17 September – 19 October) and the First Battle of the Aisne (13–28 September). The "race" was a Franco-British counter-offensive, which followed the Battle of the Frontiers (7 August – 13 September) and the German advance into France during the Great Retreat, which ended at the First Battle of the Marne (5–12 September). The term describes reciprocal attempts by the Franco-British and German armies to envelop the northern flank of the opposing army, through Picardy, Artois and Flanders.
The first outflanking attempt resulted in an encounter battle in Picardy. The French Sixth Army attacked up the Oise river valley towards Noyon, as the Second Army assembled further north, ready to attempt to advance round the northern flank of the German 1st Army. Both French armies managed to advance successively on a line from Roye to Chaulnes, until the German 6th Army and other reinforcements arrived from Lorraine and halted the French advance. Both sides then attempted another flanking move to the north, which merged into the Battle of Albert (25–29 September).
Text adapted from the Wikipedia article First Battle of Picardy (revision 1370618886), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: excerpted from the article lead section; formatting and citations removed. No text added.
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- Affair of Néry 1914 · 25 km
- Battle of Cantigny 1918 · 31 km
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Other battles of the Race to the Sea
- Battle of Albert (1914) 1914
- Battle of Armentières 1914
- Battle of Flirey 1914
- Battle of La Bassée 1914
- Battle of Messines (1914) 1914
- Battle of the Yser 1914
- First Battle of Ypres 1914
All 8 battles of the Race to the Sea →
Browse more: battles in France · Europe · World War I era battles