3. The
Battle of the
Frontiers, Aug.20-24.1914
AUGUST
20
The Belgian Front.
==The Belgian Army reaches its
Antwerp
lines; Kluck detaches two corps from the German 1st Army to cover it
==The German Army occupies
Brussels:
320,000 troops of Kluck’s 1st Army march through the city by Aug.23;
Germany
demands a $10 million fine from Brussels, and $90 million from the
province
of Brabant
==German 1st Army’s supply systems
are
already running into trouble
==(to Aug.21) The German 2nd
Army
executes 211 civilians at Andenne and 50 at Seilles, east of Namur;
General
Bülow later publicizes the massacres in an attempt to overawe the
Belgians - ~increasingly, German forces are taking and executing
hostages
The Western Front (general).
==(to Aug.24) THE BATTLE
OF THE
FRONTIERS: Allied and German armies collide from Belgium to Lorraine
The BEF.
==The Germans first learn of the
BEF’s
arrival in France
==The BEF is fully assembled around
Maubeuge
==Early British and French
reconnaisance
reports indicate that the forces on the German right are strong enough
to seriously threaten the Allied left
The Northwestern Front.
==Approaching German infantry is
reported
to be within 20 kilometers of the Sambre [early]
==Most of Lanrezac’s 5th Army
reaches
the Sambre after tough marches [afternoon]
==Moltke orders the German 2nd Army
to
besiege Namur and, with 3rd Army, to attack the French forces on the
Sambre
[evening]
==GQG finally allows Lanrezac to
align
his 5th Army northwards, and orders him to launch an attack over the
Sambre
[night]
The Central Front.
==Joffre confidently orders de
Langle’s
4th Army to open the Ardennes offensive against the German center [900.PM]
Lorraine.
==Rupprecht’s 6th Army launches a
powerful
German counteroffensive in Lorraine [dawn], colliding with
French
attacks at Morhange and Sarrebourg - Castelnau’s French 2nd Army is
forced
to retreat with heavy losses [afternoon], pulling back Dubail’s
hard-pressed 1st Army in turn
==GQG receives the first reports of
the
French defeats in Lorraine [400.PM], but Joffre remains
optimistic
Alsace.
==French General Pau is ordered to
retreat
in Alsace
==Bavarian troops destroy Nomeny and
kill
fifty civilians
German Headquarters (OHL).
==The Master of the Horse shoots
himself
at OHL in Coblenz [700.AM] as tension mounts
AUGUST
21
The BEF Front.
==Bülow orders Kluck’s 1st Army
to
veer from moving west to south towards Maubeuge; Kluck angrily objects:
the German 1st Army is prevented from outflanking the Allied left
==The BEF begins marching north from
Maubeuge
towards Mons - reconaissance reports that strong German forces are
heading
straight for it, but the reports are discounted by the confident Henry
Wilson
The Northwestern Front.
==The wary Lanrezac ignores orders
from
Joffre and postpones 5th Army’s attack over the Sambre [morning]
==German super-heavy artillery
begins
shelling the Belgian forts at Namur, to the northeast of the 5th Army [1000.AM]
==Bülow’s 2nd Army establishes
bridgeheads
over the Sambre at two points between Namur and Charleroi [afternoon],
repelling repeated French counterattacks: the Battle of Charleroi
(or
the Sambre) to Aug.23
==Sordet’s French Cavalry Corps is
driven
from the canal line northwest of Charleroi [afternoon]
==Belgian intelligence reports that
the
German right wing is beginning to wheel southwards [800.PM]
The Central Front.
==French forces advance into the
Ardennes [morning]
- confused clashes in heavy fog, as the German 4th and 5th Armies move
forward in response
Lorraine.
==While conferring with his staff,
Castelnau
learns that his son has been killed in action at Morhange: after a
brief
stunned silence, he quietly says “We will continue, gentlemen” and
returns
to the business at hand
==Castelnau reports 2nd Army’s
condition
as “very grave” - the French briefly consider abandoning Nancy
==The French Army of Lorraine begins
assembling
between Verdun and Nancy
AUGUST
22
The BEF Front.
==The first contact between the BEF
and
the Germans; at Soignies north of Mons, in a cavalry clash fought with
swords and lances [morning]
==British GHQ still disregards
reports
that come in through the day of powerful German forces approaching from
the north, including early reports from aerial reconnaissance
==Sir John French aborts his plans
for
a British attack [evening], blaming the French 5th Army’s
retreat,
although 5th Army isn’t retreating yet
==The advancing BEF halts at the
Mons-Condé
Canal [night]
==OHL prevents Kluck from using the
German
1st Army to outflank the BEF
==A nine-mile gap has opened
between the
BEF and the left flank of the French 5th Army
The Northwestern Front.
==French reinforcements belatedly
arrive
at Namur [morning], but the Belgians are soon beginning to
evacuate
the forts around the town
==Lanrezac’s French 5th Army is
driven
back from the Sambre in chaotic fighting with Bülow’s 2nd Army
==Hausen’s 3rd Army establishes a
bridgehead
over the Meuse near Dinant, threatening Lanrezac’s right flank [night]
==Bülow’s German 2nd Army
massacres
384 civilians at Tamines on the Sambre after sacking the town
The Central Front.
==Fierce fighting erupts in the
Ardennes
[morning], halting the French offensive: the first-rate
French
3rd Colonial Division is destroyed at Rossignol - bloody battles are
fought
at Virton, Tintigny, and Neufchâteau - Foch’s son is killed in
action
Lorraine.
==OHL suddenly approves a full-scale
German
offensive in Lorraine, tying up forces needed by its right wing; the
Germans
occupy Luneville to Sep.12
==The French left wing pulls back to
the
fortified zones of Belfort, Epinal, and Toul by Aug.23, with the 2nd
Army
on the Meurthe and along the Grand Couronné near Nancy
Alsace.
==French forces approach Colmar, but
GQG
begins transferring troops from the Army of Alsace to the threatened
French
left wing
AUGUST
23
The Belgian Front.
==German troops completely destroy
the
occupied town of Visé, near Liège, executing, deporting,
or expelling the entire population - ~the Germans begin a policy of
mass
deportations
The BEF Front.
==The Battle of Mons: the
outnumbered
BEF temporarily checks the advance of Kluck’s 1st Army, inflicting
heavy casualities [900.AM-500.PM] - the BEF starts to fall back
[evening]; British GHQ learns of the French 5th Army’s retreat,
which has left the BEF’s flank wide open [1100.PM] - the
start
of the long British retreat
The Northwestern Front.
==The German 3rd Army receives
orders
to drive westward over the Meuse south of Givet to cut off the French
5th
Army [825.AM]; Hausen plans to attack Aug.24
==Belgian forces complete the
evacuation
of the Namur forts [noon]
==The French 5th Army is driven
further
south of the Sambre by the German 2nd Army [afternoon]; French
III
Corps is badly mauled
==The German 3rd Army begins
breaking
out from its bridgehead over the Meuse at Onhaye, threatening to cut
off
Lanrezac’s French 5th Army [late afternoon]
==The Germans occupy Namur [evening]
==Lanrezac orders 5th Army to
retreat
from the Sambre area [1100.PM]: the final collapse of
the
aggressive French Plan 17
==In reprisal for alleged civilian
interference
with bridge-building, the German 3rd Army executes 612 hostages in the
central square of Dinant, including a three week old infant, before
sacking
the town; the “profoundly moved” General Hausen blames the Belgians for
being massacred
==The Germans execute 25 Belgian
civilians
in Namur to Aug.25
The Central Front.
==Joffre sends an optimistic report
to
the War Minister on the Ardennes offensive [700.AM], but by
evening
the French 3rd and 4th Armies are retreating
==The German 5th Army bypasses the
Longwy
forts and advances on Verdun
Lorraine.
==The French 1st Army counterattacks
in
Lorraine
Alsace.
==The French are retreating in
northern
Alsace
French Headquarters (GQG).
==GQG is still unaware of the
strength
of the German offensives, and is baffled by reports of French reverses
AUGUST
24
The Belgian Front.
==(to Aug.26) The Belgian Army
sorties
from its Antwerp lines, driving the Germans from Malines
==The advancing Germans take Tournai
The Western Front (general).
==THE ALLIED LEFT AND CENTER ARE
IN
FULL RETREAT, but in failing to decisively defeat the Allies at the
frontiers
the Germans have lost their best chance for a quick victory - French
losses
have been staggering - the Germans advance from Belgium into
northeastern
France - ~refugees clog the roads behind the Allied lines
Paris.
==War Minister Messimy learns that
the
Paris defenses are totally inadequate, just as Joffre strips the city
of
much of its garrison [morning]
==Gallieni agrees to replace the
ineffective
Michel as Military Governor of Paris [night]
The Far Northwestern Front.
==Lille is declared an open city and
evacuated
by French forces
The BEF Front.
==John French briefly threatens to
retreat
away from the Lanrezc’s 5th Army towards Amiens [early AM] until
he’s dissuaded by Joffre - John French also considers withdrawing the
BEF
into the fortress of Maubeuge
==Sharp clashes between the
retreating
BEF and Kluck’s 1st Army at Frameries [morning], Andrecies and
Elouges
[afternoon]
The Northwestern Front.
==German 2nd Army opens its attack
on
the French fortress of Maubeuge
==Hausen receives an urgent appeal
from
Bülow to aid the German 2nd Army [400.AM]; 3rd Army
abandons
its planned attack south of Givet and looses its chance to cut off the
retreating French 5th Army
The Central Front.
==Joffre approves the withdrawal of
French
4th Army across the Meuse [night]
Lorraine.
==In intense fighting, a renewed
offensive
by Rupprecht’s 6th Army in Lorraine is blocked by Foch’s XXth Corps at
Nancy, but the Germans force a bridgehead over the Mortagne
Alsace.
==Fighting peters out in Alsace
French Headquarters (GQG).
==Joffre reports to War Minister
Messimy
that he is compelled to go on the defensive, laying all blame on his
generals
and his troops [935.AM]
== ~Widespread sackings of French
generals:
Messimy urges Joffre to summarily execute any officers guilty of
‘weakness’
==The Deuxiéme Bureau (French
intelligence)
reports the use of German reserve units in combat, greatly increasing
the
estimate of German strength
France.
==President Poincaré writes
in
his diary: “We must make up our minds both to retreat and to
invasion.
So much for the illusions of the last fortnight. Now the future
of
France depends on her powers of resistance.”
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