6th September 1914: First Battle of the Marne begins with a French counter-offensive against the advancing German army

Scott Allsop (0:00)

On the 6th of September 1914, the First Battle of the Marne began as French forces launched a counteroffensive against the advancing German Army. Welcome to HistoryPod.

In line with the Schlieffen Plan, German armies had invaded neutral Belgium in August 1914 They then moved into northern France, forcing French and British forces into a prolonged retreat. By early September, the Germans had reached positions less than 50 kilometres from Paris. However, the German First Army, under General Alexander von Kluck, had moved further east than originally intended, leaving a gap between it and the German Second Army, commanded by Karl von Bülow. The French recognised that this exposed the German right flank to attack, and Commander-in-Chief Joseph Joff agreed to launch a counter-offensive. On the morning of 6th September, the French Sixth Army attacked the German First Army near the River Ourcq, while the French Fifth Army and British Expeditionary Force advanced into the gap between the German First and Second Armies.

German forces attempted to contain the French attacks, while the Allies concentrated their forces against the exposed positions. Reinforcements were brought forward from Paris, including approximately 6,000 French soldiers transported towards the front in a fleet of requisitioned taxis. By 9th September, the German First and Second Armies faced the possibility that Allied forces could break through the gap between them and threaten their lines of communication. German Chief of Staff Helmuth von Moltke have consequently ordered a withdrawal and the establishment of defensive positions north of the river Aisne, marking the transition from mobile warfare to the long period of trench warfare that followed.