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Created page "Race to the Sea"
The '''Race to the Sea''' is the term commonly used for a series of battles and maneuvers that unfolded on the [[Western Front]] in [[World War I]], from mid-September to mid-October 1914. It directly followed the [[First Battle of the Marne]], in which the British and French armies checked the invasion of [[France]] by the armies of [[Imperial Germany]]. Over the following month, each side attempted to gain or re-gain the initiative by maneuvering northwards in order to turn the other's flank in that direction and force a retreat. None of these flank attacks resulted in a decisive victory, however; instead, each side extended its fortified lines farther and farther, making such a maneuver progressively more difficult to achieve, as the stretch of open ground between those lines and the [[North Sea]] steadily diminished. The entrenchments were finally extended to the North Sea coast around October 19, bringing the "race" to an end.
Though the term "Race to the Sea" is something of a misnomer, as the combatants were not actually striving to be the first to reach the coast, this phase of the fighting was still significant, as it marked the last attempt to quickly win the war in the West through rapid movements and decisive battles. Following the termination of the race, the front line was so extensive that only frontal assaults against fortified positions were still a tactical option. This marked the beginning of the famous [[trench warfare]] that would characterize the Western Front until 1918.
[[Category:World War I Battles]]
Though the term "Race to the Sea" is something of a misnomer, as the combatants were not actually striving to be the first to reach the coast, this phase of the fighting was still significant, as it marked the last attempt to quickly win the war in the West through rapid movements and decisive battles. Following the termination of the race, the front line was so extensive that only frontal assaults against fortified positions were still a tactical option. This marked the beginning of the famous [[trench warfare]] that would characterize the Western Front until 1918.
[[Category:World War I Battles]]