Everything Everywhere Daily: History, Science, Geography & More - The First Battle of The Marne

Episode Date: February 19, 2023

If you think of the first world war, your mind probably turns to images of trench warfare and thousands of men losing their lives to try and gain just a few meters of land.  However, in the first few weeks of the war, this was not at all the case. In fact, it initially looked like the war might not even last two months.  What stopped the collapse of France and began widespread trench warfare was a desperate battle that took place in the first week of September 1914. Learn more about the First Battle of the Marne on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily.  Subscribe to the podcast!  https://link.chtbl.com/EverythingEverywhere?sid=ShowNotes -------------------------------- Executive Producer: Charles Daniel Associate Producers: Peter Bennett & Thor Thomsen   Become a supporter on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/everythingeverywhere Update your podcast app at newpodcastapps.com Discord Server: https://discord.gg/UkRUJFh Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/everythingeverywhere/ Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/EverythingEverywhere Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/everythingeverywheredaily Twitter: https://twitter.com/everywheretrip Website: https://everything-everywhere.com/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

If you think of the First World War, your mind probably turns to images of trench warfare and thousands of men losing their lives just trying to gain a few meters of land. However, in the first few weeks of the war, this was not the case at all. In fact, it initially looked like the war might not even last for two months. What stopped the collapse of France and began widespread trench warfare was a desperate battle that took place in the first week of September 1914. Learn more about the First Battle of the Marn on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily. What if your perceptions about the past were wrong? ThruLine is a podcast that takes you back in time to uncover the parts of the story that may have gone unnoticed.

It effectively turned day and tonight. And how it shaped the world now. Time travel with us every week on the ThruLine podcast from NPR. It's hard to express just how differently the First World War might have turned out. if events had proceeded just a little differently in the first weeks of the war. When war broke out, Germany was far more prepared than any of the other allied powers. In a previous episode, I went over the German plan for the war, which was known as the Schleifen plan. The Schleifen plan had been years in the making and was a highly detailed plan

for what Germany would do in the opening weeks of a war with France. The creator of the plan, field marshal Alfred von Schlefen, knew that if a war broke out between France and Germany, and it turned into a war of attrition, Germany would eventually lose. He felt that Germany had a window of about six weeks to take care of France before Russia could mobilize and threaten them from the east. He also realized that things had changed dramatically since the Franco-Prussian War in 1870. The movement of troops wasn't limited to how fast men could walk or a horse could gallop anymore. There were now trains and automobiles which could move large numbers of men, equipment, and artillery very quickly across long distances.

Schlieffen didn't live long enough to see his plan put into action. It was Helmuth von Molke, chief of the German general staff, who was responsible for the execution of the plan when the war started. The plan was extremely detailed and made a lot of assumptions, some of which turned out not to be true. For example, they assumed that the Belgians wouldn't put up any resistance at all, which they did, and they didn't even plan for the British being there. Nonetheless, despite the setbacks, the Germans were in control during the first month of the war. From August 3rd, 1914, when Germany declared war in France, they had been relentlessly advancing, and the Allies had been falling back. The British and French forces were engaged in what became known as the Great Retreat

during the month of August in early September. By September 1st, the British Expeditionary Force was considering falling back to the coast so they could evacuate back to Great Britain. The Germans had been sending airplanes over Paris to drop bombs on the city. And granted, there were no real bombers at this point in the war, and they didn't do much damage, but it was a huge psychological blow to the Parisians. The next day on September 2nd, planes flew over Paris dropping leaflets that said, quote, there is nothing you can do but surrender. The French government fled the city for Bordeaux, taking all of the gold from the central bank with them. Officials at the Luf began packing up works of art to be sent to Toulouse. That day, German units crossed the Marne River, which

were on the outskirts of the city of Mu, only 25 miles from Paris. Parisians were now clamoring for Paris to be declared an open city, abandoning all defenses to avoid destruction and loss of life, and allowing the Germans to simply occupy it. The military governor of Paris, General Joseph Simone Galliani, predicted that if nothing was done, Paris would be lost by September 5th. Paris and France needed a miracle, and on September 3rd, they got their miracle. The Germans had changed their attack plans. The German First Army, led by General Alexander von Kluck, had changed their direction. The first army was supposed to be the lead army, but Von Mouki changed his mind, and now the second army was to take the lead, with the first army led by Von Kluck, protecting their flank.

Von Kluck decided to ignore the order and chase the French fifth army across the Marn turning southeast. However, Von Kluck went too far. He outran his supply lines, and after a month of advancing, his units were exhausted, and most importantly, he had exposed his right flank by turning southeast. The French used this opportunity to halt the retreat and order a counterattack. On September 5th, the commander-in-chief of the French military, Joseph Joff ordered the attack, and this was the do-or-die moment for the French. In his order, Jophe told all of the counter-attacking units, quote, At the moment when this battle upon which hangs the fate of France is about to begin, all must remember that the time for looking back is passed.

Every effort must be concentrated on attacking and throwing the enemy back, end quote. He also had to plead with the British to take part in the action, as he had no authority over the British Expeditionary Force. He personally went to the British headquarters to plead with the head of the British force, the ironically named Field Marshal John French. He was so desperate for the British to rejoin the fight, he reportedly banged his fist on a table and shouted, quote, Monsieur Le Mauritius, the honor of England is at stake.

General Michel Joseph Manieri led his French six army against the exposed flank of the German First Army. As von Cluck wheeled around to meet the French, he left a 30-mile-wide gap between the German First and Second Armies. The French exploited this gap and poured troops into it, creating a hundred-mile-wide front along the Marne River Valley. This was an odd mix of new warfare techniques using radio communications and airplane spotters,

as well as old warfare involving cavalry attacks. Given the proximity to Paris, the French were able to bring in fresh troops using an unorthodox means of military transportation. Taxis. 600 Parisian taxis managed to bring approximately 6,000 soldiers to the front lines. Each taxi carried five soldiers per trip. The taxis left at night and were ordered to run with their headlights off and only their rear lights on.

So each taxi was to just follow the lights of the car ahead of them. This was the first time in the history of warfare that automobiles were used to transport troops to a battle in mass. These taxis became known as Taxi de la Marne, and each taxi ran with its meter running, and the cab fare of 70,012 francs was fully paid by the French government. The British too advanced and managed to capture bridges across the Marne River, but moved much slower than the French, despite having an even larger numerical advantage. The counterattack and influx of new troops managed to start a surge. stop the Germans, and on September 9th, they began to retreat to the north to a position

on the N River in northern France. The German retreat was slow. Rainstorms turned the landscape into mud, and it took three days for the Germans to retreat to their new line near the N. River. In the orders issued by Von Molke to the retreating units was a relatively innocuous sounding line that set the stage for the next four years of war. He said, quote, the line so reach will be fortified and defended. By September 12th, the Battle of the Marne now dubbed the Miracle of the Marne was over, but the war was now really just getting started. With the Germans now in a fortified position on the N. River,

they began to execute von Mouki's order by digging trenches. The trenches were not designed to be permanent structures initially. For the next month, from September 17th to October 19th, both sides kept trying to outflank each other. It became known as the race to the sea, as the flanking maneuvers continued until they ran out of space. Neither side was able to get a decisive advantage, and both sides began to dig in,

creating a long front that extended across the entirety of northern France and Belgium. The Battle of the Marn took the lives of over 100,000 soldiers in just a few days, and was a taste of what the next few years of war were to look like. When von Molke issued the order for the Germans to retreat, he knew that the Schlieffen plan had failed. It had almost worked, coming with, within 25 miles of Paris. The failure of the Schleifen plan, for which he had been given responsibility, caused him to have

a nervous breakdown and be replaced. When he knew it had failed, he reportedly sent a telegram to Kaiser Wilhelm, saying, Sir, we have lost the war. However, the war was not lost, at least not yet. Von Molke knew what von Schleifen knew decades before when the plan was first concocted. If Germany were involved in a two-front war of attrition, they would eventually lose. It was just a matter of time. The German high command dug in, thinking that the war was still theirs to be won, albeit with a different script than with what they started.

Although no one could have known it at the moment, the aftermath of the Battle of the Marne set the stage for the bloody trench warfare, which would define the rest of the war. I previously did an episode on the greatest battles in world history, and I placed the first Battle of the Marne on that list. It was not because it was the bloodiest battle of the First World War, but rather because it created the conditions for the rest of the war. As the historian Barbara Tuckman wrote in her landmark 1962 book, The Guns of August, quote, The Battle of the Marne was one of the decisive battles of the world, not because it determined that Germany would eventually lose or the Allies ultimately win the war, but because it determined that the war would go on. There was no looking back, Javre told the soldiers on the eve. Afterward, there was no turning back.

The nations were caught in a trap, a trap made during the first 30 days out of battles that failed to be decisive. A trap from which there was and has been no exit. The executive producer of Everything Everywhere Daily is Charles Daniel. The associate producers are Thor Thompson and Peter Bennett. Today's review comes from listener Alex TD over on Apple Podcasts in Great Britain. They write,

Addictive Education. This podcast is excellent. I've learned so much. I found it when wondering about San Moreno after England played them in the Euros. Now I have listened to every single episode. Nice one, Gaza. Thanks, Alex. First, I'd like to formally welcome you to the Completionist Club.

Also, I assume you're referring to the 2021 San Marino versus England match, where England narrowly beat San Marino by the score of 1-0. It was an exciting match. Hold it. Okay, it appears I read the score wrong. It should be 10-0, not 1-0. Oh well, better luck next time, San Moreno. Remember, if you leave a review or send me a boostogram, you two can have it read on the show.