- The Schlieffen Plan is continuing according to plan. The Germans suffer loses in the East only to turn the tide of war around. The British Expeditionary Forces engage the Germans, but have to fall back. The loss of Paris seems imminent.
- The Schlieffen Plan was working according to plan as the German army neared Brussels. The German forces would sweep West and then down and around Paris and attack the French from the rear. The 4 divisions of the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) were moving forwards obvious to the larger movements of the Germans. General Allenby was scouting ahead and was aware of reports of German troops in the vicinity. Field Marshal John French ordered the troops to stop and dig in to assume a defensive position. On Sunday, August 23rd, the troops stopped in Mons for Sunday service. By 9:00am, the fighting began. The German infantry surged forward, but the BEF held their fire from the trenches until the word was given. The first battle of the day was won by the entrenched British forces utilizing the 'mad minute' rapid fire. The problem now was that pressures were building up on both flanks as the French 5th Army continued their retreat. This meant that the British would have to retreat to avoid being encircled.
On the other side of Europe, the Schlieffen Plan was not working so well. The forces of the Russian Empire were on the move. On August 17th, the Russians invaded East Prussia, something the Germans did not expect. They were hoping the Russians would be slow to move and that 9 German divisions could hold the line. Now some of the German people were experiencing fleeing from their homes and towns as others had done in front of their armies in Belgium and France. On August the 20th, as the Germans entered Brussels, but they suffered a defeat on the Eastern Front at Gumbinnen and now Konningsbery was threatened by the Russians. On the 23th, the Russians had another victory in the East. Hindenburg came up with a bold plan to stop the advance of the Russian 1st and 2nd armies. It involved exploiting the separation between the two armies and started at Tannenberg. It took 5 days, and in the end the Germans captured 90,000 Russian troops, and Eastern Prussia would be saved. Now, the German army could be push east.
German victories continued to mount on the Western Front. The supreme allied commander General Joffe had to figure out how to stop the German encirclement. There were issues with commanders in the field with outdated ideas, but more disturbing was the reaction of the average French soldier to battle engagement. To try and stop the German advance, on August 24th Joffe had to suggest to John French that the BEF troops to hold their line and Joffe would send additional French troops to the British left to bolster the British position. Fortunately for Joffe, the British General Smith Dorian had decided to fight at Le Cateau while hoping that British reinforcements of 2 divisions by General Haig.
The battle started on August 26th. The British held out for as long as they could, and then the right flank with artillery had to pull back. In the end, nearly 8,000 casualties were recorded on the British side. French reports back to Joffe were that the British forces had completely collapsed and that they were incapable of any resistance to German forces, but this was untrue. The British had fallen back to regroup, but in the long columns of soldiers and refugees, it might have appeared that the soldiers were feeling hopeless.
On August 29th, the French forces target was St. Quentin (the Battle of Guise). This was an opportunity to attack an exposed German flank and threatened the entire Schlieffen Plan. The Battle of Guise was a success for the French 5th Army and General Lanrezac as the stuck the left flank of the German 1st Army under General Alexander von Kluck. This forced von Kluck to turn towards Paris.
The French people understood now what the war now meant as the German invasion of Paris seemed imminent. The French Government had already fled to Bordeaux and many Parisians were also long gone.
The British government of Asquith was upset at the characterization of the actions of the BEF at Mons published in the Times. Lord Kitchener published a rebuttal to the Times report. In both Germany and Russia, the shine of war was now replaced with a tarnish of the brutal realities of war.
General Joffe perceived a weakness in the drive of the Germany armies to Paris. He would consider carefully before making his decision.
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