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The '''First Battle of the Marne''' was a battle fought in northeastern [[France]] from September 6-12, 1914, part of [[World War I]]. It was waged between the [[French]] and the [[British]] Expeditionary Force on the one side, and the armies of the [[German Empire]] on the other, chiefly along the Marne river, from which it takes its name. The battle developed as the Franco-British forces attempted to stop the German offensive sweeping through [[Belgium]] and into France, aimed at capturing [[Paris]] and enveloping the bulk of the French army, in accordance with the [[Schlieffen Plan]], which might then have achieved a quick victory for [[Germany]] on the Western Front.

The '''First Battle of the Marne''' was a battle fought in northeastern [[France]] from September 6-12, 1914, part of [[World War I]]. It was waged between the [[French]] and the [[British]] Expeditionary Force on the one side, and the armies of the [[German Empire]] on the other, chiefly along the Marne river, from which it takes its name. The battle developed as the Franco-British forces attempted to stop the German offensive sweeping through [[Belgium]] and into France, aimed at capturing [[Paris]] and enveloping the bulk of the French army, in accordance with the [[Schlieffen Plan]], which might then have achieved a quick victory for [[Germany]] on the [[Western Front]].

The Battle of the Marne was the bloodiest battle of the war to date on the Western Front, with an estimated 250,000 casualties on each side. It is generally reckoned a victory for the (French and British) Allies, as they successfully halted the German advance toward Paris and thus thwarted the realization of the Schlieffen Plan. The German armies retreated after the battle, and their overall commander, General Helmuth von Moltke, is said to have told his sovereign, Kaiser [[Wilhelm II]], "Your Majesty, we have lost the war." The Allies were unable to follow up their victory by breaking through the German lines, though, and by the end of the year, both sides would have entrenched, beginning the stalemate of [[trench warfare]] that would characterize the Western Front for most of the next four years.

The Battle of the Marne was the bloodiest battle of the war to date on the Western Front, with an estimated 250,000 casualties on each side. It is generally reckoned a victory for the (French and British) Allies, as they successfully halted the German advance toward Paris and thus thwarted the realization of the Schlieffen Plan. The German armies retreated after the battle, and their overall commander, General Helmuth von Moltke, is said to have told his sovereign, Kaiser [[Wilhelm II]], "Your Majesty, we have lost the war." The Allies were unable to follow up their victory by breaking through the German lines, though, and by the end of the year, both sides would have entrenched, beginning the stalemate of [[trench warfare]] that would characterize the Western Front for most of the next four years.

===Stalemate===

===Stalemate===

On September 10, after the German withdrawal towards the Aisne had been detected by aerial reconnaissance, Joffre ordered a pursuit. It was relatively slow, however, covering only about a dozen miles a day, and the Germans had time to reach the high ground along the Aisne and establish fortified defensive positions, from which they repulsed French and British attacks from September 14-16. This initiated the so-called "Race to the Sea," as both the Allied and the German armies sought to gain a tactical advantage by turning each other's flank. As a result, both sides' lines extended farther and farther in both directions, until by late October they had each run out of room to maneuver, blocked by the [[North Sea]] to the northwest and the border with neutral [[Switzerland]] to the southeast. By year's end, therefore, with only frontal assaults (and defending against said assaults) still possible, the Western Front had settled into the "trench warfare" that would characterize it until 1918.

On September 10, after the German withdrawal towards the Aisne had been detected by aerial reconnaissance, Joffre ordered a pursuit. It was relatively slow, however, covering only about a dozen miles a day, and the Germans had time to reach the high ground along the Aisne and establish fortified defensive positions, from which they repulsed French and British attacks from September 14-16. This initiated the so-called "[[Race to the Sea]]," as both the Allied and the German armies sought to gain a tactical advantage by turning each other's flank. As a result, both sides' lines extended farther and farther in both directions, until by late October they had each run out of room to maneuver, blocked by the [[North Sea]] to the northwest and the border with neutral [[Switzerland]] to the southeast. By year's end, therefore, with only frontal assaults (and defending against said assaults) still possible, the Western Front had settled into the "trench warfare" that would characterize it until 1918.

===Significance===

===Significance===