First Battle of the Marne 1914
Recorded location from Wikidata; battle sites are often approximate.
Key facts
| Date | 8 September 1914 – 12 September 1914 | Wikidata |
|---|---|---|
| Year | 1914 | Wikidata P580 (start time) |
| Era | World War I era (1914–1918) | derived from year |
| Location | France | Natural Earth (modern borders) |
| Continent | Europe | Natural Earth |
| War / conflict | Western Front | Wikidata P361 |
| Participants | French Third Republic, German Empire, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland | Wikidata P710 |
| Coordinates | 49.0167, 3.3833 | Wikidata P625 |
About the battle
The First Battle of the Marne or known in France as the Miracle on the Marne (French: miracle de la Marne) was a battle of the First World War fought from 5 to 12 September 1914. The German army invaded France with a plan for winning the war in 40 days by occupying Paris and destroying the French and British armies. The Germans had initial successes in August. They were victorious in the Battles of Mons and the Frontiers and overran a large area of northern France and Belgium. In what is called the Great Retreat the Germans pursued the retreating French and British forces more than 250 km (160 mi) southwards. The French and British halted their retreat in the Marne River valley, while the Germans advanced to 40 km (25 miles) from Paris.
With the battlefield reverses of August, Field Marshal John French, commander of the British Expeditionary Force (BEF), lost faith in the French and began to plan for a British retreat to port cities on the English Channel for an evacuation to Britain. Joseph Joffre, the French commander, maintained good order in his retreating army and was able to reinforce it with troops from his eastern flank and by integrating military reserve units into the regular army.
Text adapted from the Wikipedia article First Battle of the Marne (revision 1376519361), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: excerpted from the article lead section; shortened by selecting paragraphs and trimming at a sentence boundary; formatting and citations removed. No text added.
Nearby battles
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- Battle of Belleau Wood 1918 · 9 km
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- Second Battle of the Marne 1918 · 22 km
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Other battles of the Western Front
- Battle of Liège 1914
- Battle of the Frontiers 1914
- First Battle of Artois 1914
- First Battle of Champagne 1914
- Rearguard Affair of Le Grand Fayt 1914
- Siege of Antwerp (1914) 1914
- Siege of Namur (1914) 1914
- Battle of Hartmannswillerkopf 1915
- Battle of Kitcheners' Wood 1915
- Battle of Loos 1915
All 48 battles of the Western Front →
Browse more: battles in France · Europe · World War I era battles