Great Retreat

Great Retreat
Part of the Western Front of the First World War

British retreat, 24 August – 5 September
Date24 August – 5 September 1914
Location49°30′N 02°50′E / 49.500°N 2.833°E / 49.500; 2.833
Result German victory
Territorial
changes
Allied forces retreated to a line from Verdun to Rheims and Paris
Belligerents
 France
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland United Kingdom
 German Empire
Commanders and leaders
French Third Republic Joseph Joffre
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland John French
German Empire Helmuth von Moltke the Younger

The Great Retreat (French: Grande Retraite), also known as the retreat from Mons, was the long withdrawal to the River Marne in August and September 1914 by the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) and the French Fifth Army. The Franco-British forces on the Western Front in the First World War had been defeated by the armies of the German Empire at the Battle of Charleroi (21 August) and the Battle of Mons (23 August). A counter-offensive by the Fifth Army, with some assistance from the BEF, at the First Battle of Guise (Battle of St. Quentin 29–30 August) failed to end the German advance and the retreat continued over the Marne. From 5 to 12 September, the First Battle of the Marne ended the Allied retreat and forced the German armies to retire towards the Aisne River and to fight the First Battle of the Aisne (13–28 September). Reciprocal attempts to outflank the opposing armies to the north known as the Race to the Sea followed from (17 September to 17 October).