Knudson

The French and Germans have argued about the territories of Alsace and Lorraine for centuries. In 1871, following losing the Franco-Prussian War, France was forced to cede the territories back to Prussia. When Germany invaded Belgium in 1914, France seized upon the chance to restore its honor and reclaim the coal wealthy regions of Alsace and Lorraine. On August 14, 1914, the French army below the command of Generals Foch and Dubail marched into Lorraine. The German forces (Sixth Army) had been led by Crown Prince Rupprecht and equipped with machine guns and heavy artillery.

The German approach was straightforward. On August 14th, they began a controlled retreat intending to draw the French armies into attacking heavily defended regions. The French 1st and Second Armies simply marched forward. On August 17th, Fochs XXth Corps was able to seize Chteau Salins. On August 18th Dubails 1st Army advanced into Sarrebourg and on the identical day the 2nd Army took handle of Dieuze. As the French armies continued to advance, they had been met with increasingly heavier resistance from the German troops.

Rupprecht grew impatient with the retreating strategy and requested orders to attack. There are contradictory reports whether or not the order to counter attack came from Army Chief of Staff Helmuth von Moltke or if Rupprecht utilised his personal authority. On August 20th, the German Sixth Army attacked the French 2nd Army. Given that the French army had been advancing very fast, they had no trenches or other defensive positions to thwart the German offensive. ppi reclaim uk

The XXth Corps led by Foch was able to maintain its position, but the 1st and 2nd armies had been pushed backed. Gaps began to type in the French lines. On August 22nd, only 8 days right after the French offensive began, the Commander-in Chief of the French Army Joffre was forced to order a retreat to Belfort, Epinal and Toul where trenches had been in location and a stalemate among opposing forces followed.