The Tenth Army ( French : Xe Armée ) was a Field army of the French Army during World War I and World War II .
134-743: The Tenth Army, first called détachement d'armée Maud'huy , was formed on 1 October 1914 during the Race to the Sea . It gained a victory in the Battle of Arras (1914) . Later, it took part in the Second Battle of Artois (May 1915), the Third Battle of Artois (September 1915), the Battle of the Somme (July 1916), and the Second Battle of the Aisne (April 1917). In October 1917, at
268-848: A German cruiser SMS Magdeburg ran aground and was intercepted by a Russian squadron. On 3 September, Lemberg was captured by the Russian army and the Battle of Rawa (Battle of Tarnavka 7–9 September) began in Galicia. The First Battle of the Masurian Lakes (7–14 September) began and on 8 September, the Austro-Hungarian army commenced the Second Invasion of Serbia, leading to the Battle of Drina (6 September – 4 October). The Second Battle of Lemberg (8–11 September) began and on 11 September, Austrian forces in Galicia retreated. The Battle of
402-769: A German offensive in Lorraine or through Belgium. It was anticipated that the Germans would use reserve troops but also expected that a large German army would be mobilised on the border with Russia, leaving the western army with sufficient troops only to advance through Belgium south of the Meuse and the Sambre rivers. French intelligence had obtained a map exercise of the German general staff of 1905, in which German troops had gone no further north than Namur and assumed that plans to besiege Belgian forts were
536-501: A Picard song, is a symbol of the local culture (and of that of Artois). Picardy is arguably the birthplace of Gothic architecture, housing six of the world's greatest examples of Gothic cathedrals, which span the history of Gothic architecture in its entirety. Amiens Cathedral , standing as the largest cathedral in Europe, which according to John Ruskin is the "Pantheon of Gothic architecture", could house Notre-Dame de Paris twice over. It
670-698: A Reserve division in Arras and one in Lens , to a new Tenth Army . On 1 October, the French at Arras were pushed back from Guémappe , Wancourt and Monchy-le-Preux , until the arrival of X Corps. By 1 October, two more French corps, three infantry and two cavalry divisions had been sent northwards to Amiens, Arras, Lens and Lille, which increased the Second Army to eight corps, along a front of 62 mi (100 km). Joffre ordered Castelnau to operate defensively, while Maud'huy and
804-624: A bridgehead 5.0 mi (8 km) deep. The Fifth Army also advanced into the gap and by 8 September, had crossed the Petit Morin, which forced Bülow to withdraw the right flank of the 2nd Army. Next day the Fifth Army re-crossed the Marne and the German 1st and 2nd armies began to retire as the French Ninth, Fourth and Third Armies fought defensive battles against the 3rd Army which then had to retreat with
938-528: A corps to the left flank in from 5–6 days. On 17 September, the French Sixth Army attacked from Soissons to Noyon, with the XIII and IV corps, supported by the 61st and 62nd divisions of the 6th Group of Reserve Divisions, after which the fighting moved north to Lassigny and the French dug in around Nampcel . The French Second Army arrived from the eastern flank and took over command of the left-hand corps of
1072-583: A corridor from the west of the city along the Dutch border to the coast, the Belgian field army withdrew from Antwerp westwards towards the coast. On 9 October, the remaining garrison surrendered and the Germans occupied the city. Some British and Belgian troops escaped to the Netherlands , where they were interned for the duration of the war. The Belgian withdrawal was protected by a French Marine brigade, Belgian cavalry and
1206-658: A decisive defeat. On 2 August 1914, the Belgian government refused the passage of German troops through Belgium to France and on the night of 3/4 August, the Belgian General Staff ordered the Third Division to Liège to obstruct a German advance. Covered by the Third Division, the Liège fortress garrison, a screen of the Cavalry Division and detachments from Liège and Namur, the rest of the Belgian field army closed up to
1340-440: A defensive measure against the Belgian army. A German attack from south-eastern Belgium towards Mézières and a possible offensive from Lorraine towards Verdun, Nancy and St. Dié was anticipated; the plan was an evolution from Plan XVI and made more provision for the possibility of a German offensive through Belgium. The First , Second and Third Armies were to concentrate between Épinal and Verdun opposite Alsace and Lorraine,
1474-460: A manoeuvre was intended to pass through neutral Belgium and threaten Paris from the north. Helmuth von Moltke the Younger succeeded Schlieffen in 1906 and was less certain that the French would conform to German assumptions. Moltke adapted the deployment and concentration plan, to accommodate an attack in the centre or an enveloping attack from both flanks as variants to the plan, by adding divisions to
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#17328371149511608-739: A minor check to the Russian invasion of East Prussia and on 12 August, Britain and France declared war on Austria-Hungary, as Austrian forces crossed the Save and seized Shabatz. Next day, Austrian forces crossed the Drina and began the first invasion of Serbia. The Battle of Cer (Battle of the Jadar, 17–21 August) began and the Battle of Gumbinnen in East Prussia took place from 19–20 August. On 21 August, Austro-Hungarian forces withdrew from Serbia. The Battle of Tannenberg (26–30 August) began in East Prussia and in
1742-593: A number of encounter battles but neither side was able to gain a decisive victory . After the opposing forces had reached the North Sea, both tried to conduct offensives leading to the mutually costly and indecisive Battle of the Yser from 16 October to 2 November and the First Battle of Ypres from 19 October to 22 November. After mid-November, local operations were carried out by both sides and preparations were made to take
1876-647: A strong and well-organised German defence, ending the day opposite Deûlémont in the south to the railway at Tenbrielen to the north. From 9–18 October, the Cavalry Corps had c. 175 casualties. The encounter battle ended and subsequent operations in the Battle of Messines took place after the end of the "Race to the Sea". On 11 October, the British III Corps comprising the 4th and 6th divisions arrived by rail at St. Omer and Hazebrouck and then advanced behind
2010-523: Is a historical and cultural territory and a former administrative region located in northern France . The first mentions of this province date back to the Middle Ages: it gained its first official recognition in the 13th century through the nation of Picardy at the University of Paris and entered French administration in the 14th century. Unlike regions such as Normandy , Brittany , or Champagne , Picardy
2144-519: The subdivision d'armée advanced on Arras. On 28 September, Falkenhayn had ordered the 6th Army to conduct an offensive by the IV, Guard and I Bavarian corps near Arras and more offensives further north. Rupprecht intended to halt the French west of Arras and envelop them around the north side of the city. On 1 October, the French attacked to the south-east, expecting only a cavalry screen. The Germans attacked from Arras to Douai on 1 October, forestalling
2278-517: The ancien régime , Picardy was generally defined by thirteen traditional regions, still divided into Upper and Lower Picardy: the former grouping inland areas and the latter, coastal areas. It was divided between the governments of Picardy and Île-de-France. The government of Picardy covered the northern half of Upper Picardy, while the government of Île-de-France held the southern half, including towns such as Beauvais, Noyon, and Laon. This description of Picardy, seen in 19th and 20th-century records from
2412-603: The Battle of Galicia (23 August – 11 September) the First Battle of Kraśnik was fought in Poland from 23–25 August. Shabatz was retaken by Serbian forces and the last Austrian troops retired across the Drina, ending the First Austrian Invasion of Serbia. The First Battle of Lemberg (26–30 August) began in Galicia and the Battle of Komarów (26 August – 2 September) and the Battle of Gnila Lipa (26–30 August) began in Poland. A naval action took place off Åland and
2546-520: The Battle of Mons , a delaying action against the German 1st Army, to protect the left flank of the French Fifth Army. The BEF was forced to retreat when the 1st Army began to overrun the British defences on the right flank and the Fifth Army retired from the area south of the Sambre, exposing the British right flank to envelopment. Namur capitulated on 25 August and a Belgian sortie from Antwerp led to
2680-481: The Battle of the Somme , were fought by British, Commonwealth, French and German forces in the fields of Northern Picardy. In 2009, the Regional Committee for local government reform proposed to reduce the number of French regions and cancel additions of new regions in the near future. Picardy would have disappeared and each department would have joined a nearby region. The Oise would have been incorporated in
2814-594: The Belgian province of Hainaut . Between the 1990 and 1999 censuses, the population of Oise increased 0.61% per year, almost twice as fast as France as a whole. Meanwhile the Aisne department lost inhabitants, and the Somme barely grew with a 0.16% growth per year. Today, 41.3% of the population of Picardy live inside the Oise department. Picardy stretches from the long sand beaches of
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#17328371149512948-615: The Fifth Army was to assemble from Montmédy to Sedan and Mézières and the Fourth Army was to be held back west of Verdun, ready to move east to attack the southern flank of a German invasion through Belgium or southwards against the northern flank of an attack through Lorraine. No formal provision was made for combined operations with the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) but joint arrangements had been made and in 1911 during
3082-641: The First World War , after the Battle of the Frontiers ( 7 August – 13 September ) and the German advance into France . The invasion had been stopped at the First Battle of the Marne (5–12 September) and was followed by the First Battle of the Aisne (13–28 September), a Franco-British counter-offensive. The term describes reciprocal attempts by the Franco-British and German armies to envelop
3216-679: The Hundred Years' War , Picardy was the centre of the Jacquerie peasant revolt in 1358. Beginning in 1419, the Picardy counties ( Boulogne , Ponthieu , Amiens , Vermandois ) were gradually acquired by the Burgundian duke Philip the Good , acquisitions confirmed by King Charles VII of France at the 1435 Congress of Arras . In 1477, King Louis XI of France led an army and occupied key towns in Picardy. By
3350-625: The Nord-Pas-de-Calais region but does incorporate the pays of Beauvaisis , Valois, Noyonnais, Laonnois, Soissonnais, Omois among other departments of France . The older definition of Picardy survives in the name of the Picard language which applies not only to the dialects of Picardy proper but also to the Romance dialects spoken in the Nord-Pas de Calais region , north of Picardy proper, and parts of
3484-506: The Oise département . In 1557, Picardy was invaded by Habsburg forces under the command of Emmanuel Philibert, Duke of Savoy . After a seventeen-day siege , St. Quentin would be ransacked, while Noyon would be burned by the Habsburg army. In the early 18th century, an infectious disease similar to English sweat originated from the region and spread across France. It was called Suette des picards or Picardy sweat . Sugar beet
3618-528: The Second Battle of Artois from 9 May to 18 June 1915. Falkenhayn issued memoranda on 7 and 25 January 1915, to govern defensive battle on the Western Front, in which the existing front line was to be fortified and to be held indefinitely with small numbers of troops, to enable more divisions to be sent to the Eastern Front . New defences were to be built behind the front line to contain a breakthrough until
3752-587: The Second Moroccan Crisis the French had been told that six divisions could be expected to operate around Maubeuge . German strategy had given priority to offensive operations against France and a defensive posture against Russia since 1891. German planning was determined by numerical inferiority, the speed of mobilisation and concentration and the effect of the vast increase of the power of modern weapons. Frontal attacks were expected to be costly and protracted, leading to limited success, particularly after
3886-476: The longue paume (ancestor of tennis), as well as danses picardes and its own bagpipes, called the pipasso . The villages of Picardy have a distinct character, with their houses made of red bricks, often accented with a "lace" of white bricks. A minority of people still speak the Picard language , one of the languages of France , which is also spoken in Artois ( Nord-Pas de Calais région ). " P'tit quinquin ",
4020-528: The Île-de-France , the Somme would have been incorporated in the Nord-Pas-de-Calais and Aisne would have been incorporated in the Champagne-Ardenne. The vast majority of Picards were opposed to this proposal and it was scrapped in 2010 (see newspaper: "Courrier Picard"). Today, the modern region of Picardy no longer includes the coastline from Berck to Calais, via Boulogne (Boulonais), that is now in
4154-573: The 1st Army commander, ordered the II Corps to move back to the north bank of the Marne, which began a redeployment of all four 1st Army corps to the north bank by 8 September. The swift move to the north bank prevented the Sixth Army from crossing the Ourcq but created a gap between the 1st and 2nd armies. The BEF advanced from 6–8 September, crossed the Petit Morin, captured bridges over the Marne and established
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4288-511: The 1st Army had reached the Aisne, with its right flank on the Oise and the 7th Army had assembled on the Aisne, between the 1st and 2nd armies. Further east the 3rd, 4th and 5th armies had dug in from Prosnes to Verdun, secure from frontal attacks. The 1st Army was still vulnerable on its northern flank, to attacks by French troops transferred from the south, which could be moved faster over undamaged railways, than German troops using lines damaged during
4422-460: The 1st Army. The 2nd and 9th cavalry divisions were sent next day but the French attack reached Carlepont and Noyon, before being contained on 18 September. In the Battle of Flirey , the German armies attacked from Verdun west to Reims and the Aisne on 20 September, cut the main railway from Verdun to Paris and created the St Mihiel salient. The main German effort remained on the western flank, which
4556-816: The 1st Division and the German IX Corps near Tienen, in which the Belgians had 1,630 casualties. While the BEF and the French armies conducted the Great Retreat into France (24 August – 28 September), small detachments of the Belgian, French and British armies conducted operations in Belgium against German cavalry and Jäger . On 27 August, a squadron of the RNAS had flown to Ostend, for air reconnaissance sorties between Bruges , Ghent and Ypres. British marines landed at Dunkirk on
4690-579: The 1st and 2nd armies on 9 September. Further east, the Third Army was forced back to the west of Verdun as German attacks were made on the Meuse Heights to the south-east but managed to maintain contact with Verdun and the Fourth Army to the west. German attacks against the Second Army south of Verdun from 5 September, almost forced the French to retreat but on 8 September, the crisis eased. By 10 September,
4824-426: The 1st, 2nd and 7th armies, temporarily under the command of General Karl von Bülow , to attack southwards and the 3rd, 4th and 5th armies to attack with the intention of weakening the French and preventing troops from being moved westwards. The 6th Army began to move to the western flank on 17 September, ready for a decisive battle ( Schlachtentscheidung ) but French attacks on 18 September, led Falkenhayn to order
4958-533: The 2nd Army pressed forward into the angle between the Meuse and Sambre directly against the Fifth Army. On the far west flank of the French, the BEF prolonged the line from Maubeuge to Valenciennes against the 1st Army and Army Detachment von Beseler masked the Belgian Army at Antwerp. On 26 August, German forces captured Valenciennes and conducted the Siege of Maubeuge (24 August – 7 September). Leuven (Louvain)
5092-529: The 2nd Army to break through in Picardy. To the north, I Cavalry Corps and II Cavalry Corps attacked between Lens and Lille, quickly being forced back behind the Lorette Spur. The next day, the cavalry was attacked by the first troops of the French XXI Corps to arrive as they advanced eastwards from Béthune. The German 6th Army took Lille before a British force could secure the town and the 4th Army attacked
5226-492: The 5th Army and the Fourth Army retreated to Sedan and Stenay . Mulhouse was recaptured again by German forces and the Battle of the Meuse (26–28 August), caused a temporary halt of the German advance. Liège was occupied by the Germans on 7 August, the first units of the BEF landed in France and French troops crossed the German frontier. On 12 August, the Battle of Haelen was fought by German and Belgian cavalry and infantry and
5360-417: The 5th century, the area formed part of the Frankish Empire and, in the feudal period, it encompassed the six countships of Boulogne , Montreuil , Ponthieu , Amiénois , Vermandois and Laonnois . In accordance with the provisions of the 843 Treaty of Verdun , the region became part of West Francia , the later Kingdom of France . The name "Picardy" derives from the Old French pic, meaning " pike ",
5494-580: The 6th Army to operate defensively to secure the German flank. French attempts to advance after the German retirement to the Aisne were frustrated after 14 September, when German troops were discovered to have stopped their retirement and dug in on the north bank of the Aisne. Joffre ordered attacks on the German 1st and 2nd armies but attempts by the Fifth, Ninth and Sixth armies to advance from 15 to 16 September had little success. The Deuxième Bureau (French Military Intelligence) also reported German troop movements from east to west, which led Joffre to continue
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5628-450: The 7th Division and the 3rd Cavalry Division landed at Zeebrugge . Naval forces collected at Dover were formed into a separate unit, which became the Dover Patrol , to operate in the Channel and off the French-Belgian coast. Antwerp was invested to the south and east by German forces after 20 August, while the main German armies chased the French and British over the border southwards to the Marne. Belgian forces in Antwerp tried to assist
5762-428: The 7th and 6th armies west of St. Dié and east of Nancy, from where the Second Army had withdrawn its left flank, to face north between Nancy and Toul. A gap between the left of the Second Army and the right of the Third Army at Verdun, which faced north-west, on a line towards Revigny against the 5th Army advance, west of the Meuse between Varennes and St. Ménéhould. The Fourth Army had withdrawn to Sermaize , west to
5896-416: The Ardennes began on 20 August, in support of the French invasion of Lorraine. The opposing armies met in thick fog and the French mistook the German troops for screening forces. On 22 August, the Battle of the Ardennes (21–28 August) began with French attacks, which were costly to both sides and forced the French into a disorderly retreat late on 23 August. The Third Army recoiled towards Verdun, pursued by
6030-499: The BEF advanced to exploit the victory of the Marne and the armies on the left flank advanced, opposed only by rearguards. On 11 and 12 September, Joffre ordered outflanking manoeuvres but the advance was too slow to catch the Germans, who on 14 September, began to dig in on high ground on the north bank of the Aisne, which reduced the French advance from 15–16 September to a few local gains. French troops had begun to move westwards on 2 September, over undamaged railways which could move
6164-401: The BEF ended its retreat from Mons, German troops reached Claye, 6.2 mi (10 km) from Paris, Reims was captured, German forces withdrew from Lille and the First Battle of the Marne (Battle of the Ourcq) (5–12 September) began, marking the end of the Great Retreat of the western flank of the Franco-British armies. By 4 September, the First and Second Armies had slowed the advance of
6298-461: The Battle of Guise 29–30 August). On 29 August the Fifth Army counter-attacked the 2nd Army south of the Oise, from Vervins to Mont Dorigny and west of the river from Mont Dorigny to Moy towards St. Quentin on the Somme, while the British held the line of the Oise west of La Fère . Laon , La Fère and Roye were captured by German troops on 30 August and Amiens the next day. On 1 September, Craonne and Soissons were captured and on 5 September
6432-437: The Battle of Malines (25–27 August). After the French defeat during the Battle of Lorraine, the French Second Army retreated to the Grand Couronné heights near Nancy and dug in, on an arc from Pont-à-Mousson to Champenoux , Lunéville and Dombasle-sur-Meurthe by 3 September. The Battle of Grand Couronné (4–13 September) began next day, when the German 7th and 6th Armies attacked simultaneously at St. Dié and Nancy, as
6566-400: The Battle of the Mortagne (14–25 August), a limited German offensive in the Vosges, the Germans managed a small advance, before a French counter-attack retook the ground. By 20 August, a German counter-offensive in Lorraine had begun and the German 4th Army and 5th Army advanced through the Ardennes on 19 August towards Neufchâteau . An offensive by French Third and Fourth Armies through
6700-449: The Belgian defences, until the last fort fell on 16 August. On 18 August, the Germans began to advance along the Meuse River towards Namur and the Belgian field army began a withdrawal from its positions along the Gete, to the National Redoubt at Antwerp. On 20 August, the German 1st Army took Brussels unopposed and the Belgian field army reached Antwerp, with little interference from German advanced parties, except for an engagement between
6834-494: The British 7th Division around Ghent. On 15 October, the Belgian army occupied a defensive line along the Yser river in west Flanders, from Diksmuide to the coast. Joffre used the railways which had transported French troops to the German frontier to move troops back from Lorraine and Alsace to form a new Sixth Army under General Michel-Joseph Maunoury with nine divisions and two cavalry divisions. By 10 September, twenty divisions and three cavalry divisions had been moved west from
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#17328371149516968-490: The British II Corps arrived by rail at Abbeville and advanced on Béthune. By the end of 11 October, II Corps held a line from Béthune to Hinges and Chocques , with flanking units on the right, 2.2 mi (3.5 km) south of Béthune and on the left 2.8 mi (4.5 km) to the west. On 12 October, II Corps attacked to reach Givenchy and Pont du Hem , 3.7 mi (6 km) north of La Bassée Canal. The German I and II Cavalry corps and attached Jäger tried to delay
7102-402: The Comines canal to Ypres. The BEF was ordered to make a general advance on 16 October, as the German forces were falling back. The cavalry was ordered to cross the Lys between Armentières and Menin as the III Corps advanced north-east to gain touch with the 7th Division near Ypres. Fog grounded Royal Flying Corps (RFC) reconnaissance aircraft and made artillery observation impossible. The Lys
7236-452: The French II Cavalry Corps, defended the approaches to Albert. On 28 September, the French were able to stop the German advance on a line from Maricourt to Fricourt and Thiepval . The German II Cavalry Corps was stopped near Arras by the French cavalry. On 29 September, Joffre added X Corps, 12 mi (20 km) north of Amiens, to the French II Cavalry Corps south-east of Arras and a provisional corps (General Victor d'Urbal ), which had
7370-399: The French and British with sorties on 24–26 August, 9–13 September and 26–27 September. On 28 September, German heavy and super-heavy artillery began to bombard Belgian fortifications around Antwerp. On 1 October, the Germans attacked forts Sint-Katelijne-Waver and Walem and the Bosbeek and Dorpveld redoubts, held by the 5th Reserve and Marine divisions. By 11:00 a.m., Fort Walem
7504-402: The French and Russians modernised their fortifications on the frontiers with Germany. Alfred von Schlieffen , Chief of the Imperial German General Staff , Oberste Heeresleitung (OHL) from 1891–1906, devised plans to evade the French frontier fortifications with an offensive on the flank, which would have a local numerical superiority and obtain rapidly a decisive victory. By 1906, such
7638-417: The French discovered by intercepting wireless messages. By 28 September, the Aisne front had stabilised and the BEF began to withdraw on the night of 1/2 October, with the first troops arriving in the Abbeville area on 8/9 October. After the defeat on the Marne, Moltke ordered a retirement to the Aisne by the 1st and 2nd armies on the German right wing and a withdrawal to Reims and a line eastwards past
7772-468: The French were attacked by the XVIII Corps as it arrived from Reims, which forced back the French IV Corps at Roye on the right flank. To the north, the French reached Péronne and formed a bridgehead on the east bank of the Somme, only for the German XIV Reserve Corps to reach Bapaume to the north on 26 September. The offensive capacity of the Second Army was exhausted and defensive positions were occupied, while Joffre sent four more corps to reinforce. Over
7906-493: The French would be annihilated or the manoeuvre from the north would create conditions for victory in the centre or in Lorraine on the common border. The Battle of the Frontiers is a general name for all of the operations of the French armies until the Battle of the Marne. A series of encounter battles began between the German, French and Belgian armies, on the German-French frontier and in southern Belgium on 4 August 1914. The Battle of Mulhouse (Battle of Alsace 7–10 August )
8040-526: The French. On 3 October, Rupprecht reinforced the 6th Army north of Arras and ordered the IV Cavalry Corps from Valenciennes to Lille. From 3 to 4 October, German attacks on Arras and the vicinity were costly failures. On 4 October, German troops entered Lens, Souchez , Neuville-Saint-Vaast and gained a footing on the Lorette Spur . German attacks were made from the north of Arras to reach the Scarpe but were eventually repulsed by X Corps. By 4 October, German troops had also reached Givenchy-en-Gohelle and on
8174-454: The German armies west of Verdun were retreating towards the Aisne and the Franco-British were following-up, collecting stragglers and equipment. On 12 September, Joffre ordered an outflanking move to the west and an attack northwards by the Third Army, to cut off the German retreat. The pursuit was too slow and by 14 September, the German armies had dug in north of the Aisne and the Allies met trench lines, rather than rearguards. Frontal attacks by
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#17328371149518308-441: The German border to the French centre and left and the balance of force between the German 1st, 2nd and 3rd armies and the Third, Fourth, Ninth, Fifth armies, the BEF and Sixth Army had changed to 44:56 divisions. Late on 4 September, Joffre ordered the Sixth Army to attack eastwards over the Ourcq towards Château Thierry as the BEF advanced towards Montmirail and the Fifth Army attacked northwards, with its right flank protected by
8442-467: The German flank as intended. The French Sixth Army began to advance along the Oise, west of Compiègne on 17 September. French reconnaissance aircraft were grounded during bad weather and cavalry were exhausted, which deprived the French commanders of information. As news reached Joffre that two German corps were moving south from Antwerp, the Sixth Army was forced to end its advance and dig in around Nampcel and Roye. The IV and XIII corps were transferred to
8576-400: The German flank but met the German II Corps , which had arrived on the night of 18/19 September, on the right flank of the IX Reserve Corps . Despite the four divisions of the II Cavalry Corps (General Georg von der Marwitz ), the Germans were pushed back to a line from Ribécourt to Lassigny and Roye, which menaced German communications through Ham and St. Quentin. On 24 September,
8710-432: The German flank, the subdivision was menaced by a German offensive. The German II Bavarian and XIV Reserve corps pushed back a French Territorial division from Bapaume and advanced towards Bray-sur-Somme and Albert. From 25–27 September, the French XXI and X Corps north of the Somme, with support on the right flank by the 81st, 82nd, 84th and 88th Territorial divisions and the 1st, 3rd, 5th and 10th Cavalry divisions of
8844-406: The German frontier around Épinal , Nancy and Verdun – Charleville-Mezières , with an army in reserve around Sainte-Menehould and Commercy . Since 1871 railway building had given the French General Staff sixteen lines to the German frontier against thirteen available to the German army and the French could wait until German intentions were clear. The French deployment was intended to be ready for
8978-490: The Germans appeared at the Seine on 9 June and immediately crossed it in the Portejoie, Saint-Pierre-du-Vauvray and Venables sector. The Weygand Line had been broken. List of French armies in WWI Race to the Sea 1915 1916 1917 1918 Associated articles The Race to the Sea ( French : Course à la mer ; German : Wettlauf zum Meer , Dutch : Race naar de Zee ) took place from about 17 September – 19 October 1914 during
9112-518: The Germans dug in on Mont des Cats and at Flêtre on the road from Cassel to Bailleul. The 3rd Cavalry Brigade attacked Mont des Cats and occupied Mt. Noir, 1.9 mi (3 km) north of Bailleul. On 14 October, the cavalry advanced north-eastwards, occupied Dranoutre and Kemmel against slight opposition, then reached a line from Dranoutre to Wytschaete (Wijtschate), linking with the 3rd Cavalry Division of IV Corps, which had been operating in Belgium since early October. On 15 October, Estaires
9246-442: The Great Retreat further west culminated on the Marne. The French Fifth Army fell back about 6.2 mi (10 km) from the Sambre during the Battle of Charleroi (22 August) and began a greater withdrawal from the area south of the Sambre on 23 August. The BEF fought the Battle of Mons on 24 August, by when the French First and Second armies had been pushed back by attacks of the German 7th and 6th armies between St. Dié and Nancy,
9380-423: The Great Retreat. General Wilhelm Groener , head of the Railway Department of the OHL, suggested three alternatives, a frontal attack from the new positions, a defence of the line of the Aisne while reserves were transferred to the right flank or to continue the withdrawal and comprehensively regroup the German armies, ready to conduct an offensive on the right flank. On 15 September, Falkenhayn wanted to continue
9514-569: The II Corps front. By 21 October, II Corps was ordered to dig in from the canal near Givenchy to Violaines , Illies , Herlies and Riez, while offensive operations continued to the north. The Lahore Division of the Indian Corps arrived and the British repulsed German attacks until early November, when both sides concentrated their resources on the First Battle of Ypres and the battle at La Bassée ended. The III Corps reached St. Omer and Hazebrouck from 10–12 October, then advanced eastwards towards Lille. The British cavalry advanced and found
9648-545: The Marne at Vitry-le-François and then across the river to Sompons, against the 4th Army, which had advanced from Rethel , to Suippes and the west of Châlons . The new Ninth Army held a line from Mailly against the 3rd Army, which had advanced from Mézières, over the Vesle and the Marne west of Châlons. The 2nd Army had advanced from Marle on the Serre, across the Aisne and the Vesle, between Reims and Fismes to Montmort, north of
9782-608: The Masurian Lakes ended on 15 September and Czernowitz in Bukovina was taken by the Russian army. On 17 September, Serbian forces in Syrmia were withdrawn and Semlin evacuated, as the Battle of the Drina ended. Next day General Paul von Hindenburg was appointed Oberbefehlshaber der gesamten Deutschen Streitkräfte im Osten ( Ober Ost , Commander-in-Chief of German Armies in the Eastern Theatre). On 21 September, Jaroslaw in Galicia
9916-544: The Meterenbecque. A corps attack from La Couronne to Fontaine Houck began at 2:00 p.m. in wet and misty weather and by evening had captured Outtersteene and Méteren , at a cost of 708 casualties. On the right, French cavalry attempted to support the attack but without howitzers, could not advance in level terrain, dotted with cottages used as improvised strong points. The German defenders slipped away from defences in front of houses, hedges and walls, well sighted to keep
10050-564: The Ninth Army along the St. Gond marshes. The French First, Second, Third and Fourth armies to the east, were to resist the attacks of the German 5th, 6th and 7th armies between Verdun and Toul and repulse an enveloping attack on the defences south of Nancy from the north. The 6th and 7th armies were reinforced by heavy artillery from Metz and attacked again on 4 September along the Moselle. On 5 September,
10184-450: The Ninth, Fifth and Sixth armies were repulsed from 15–16 September, which led Joffre to begin the transfer of the Second Army west to the left flank of the Sixth Army, the first phase of the operations to outflank the German armies, which from 17 September to 17–19 October, moved the opposing armies through Picardy and Flanders, to the North Sea coast. On 10 September, the French armies and
10318-540: The Russian army; an Austro-Hungarian counter-offensive began on 4 October and Maramaros-Sziget was retaken. On 9 October, the First German Offensive against Warsaw began with the battles of Warsaw (9–19 October) and Ivangorod (9–20 October). As the situation on the eastern front deteriorated in September, the new German high command under General Falkenhayn attempted to retrieve the situation in France and inflict
10452-608: The Second Army front from the Oise to the Somme and the Tenth Army front from Thiepval to Arras and Souchez had been stabilised. A German cavalry attack to the north of the 6th Army, pushed back the French Territorial divisions from Lens to Lille and on 5 October, Marwitz ordered the cavalry to advance westwards to Abbeville on the Channel coast and cut the railways leading south. At the end of 6 October, Falkenhayn terminated attempts by
10586-473: The Second Army sent reinforcements to the Third Army. Costly fighting continued until 12 September but the French were able to withdraw more than four corps to reinforce the armies on the left flank. On 13 September, Pont-à-Mousson and Lunéville were recaptured by the French and the advance continued close to the Seille river, where the front stabilised. The battles kept a large number of German troops in Lorraine, as
10720-527: The Second Army, along with the 1st, 5th, 8th and 10th Cavalry divisions of the Cavalry Corps (General Louis Conneau), the XIV and XX Corps were withdrawn from the First and the original Second Army to assemble south of Amiens, with a screen of the 81st, 82nd, 84th and 88th Territorial divisions, to protect French communications. The French advanced on 22 September, on a line from Lassigny northwards to Roye and Chaulnes around
10854-528: The Sixth Army advanced eastwards from Paris and met the German IV Reserve Corps, which had moved into the area that morning and stopped the French advance short of high ground north of Meaux. Overnight, the IV Reserve Corps withdrew to a better position 6.2 mi (10 km) east and French air reconnaissance observed German forces moving north to face the Sixth Army. General Alexander von Kluck
10988-449: The Sixth Army along the Aisne, which ended with the creation of the St. Mihiel Salient. Joffre maintained the French emphasis on the western flank, after receiving intercepted wireless messages, showing that the Germans were moving an army to the western flank and continued to assemble the Second Army to the north of the Sixth Army. On 24 September the Second Army was attacked and found difficulty in holding ground, rather than advancing around
11122-452: The Sixth Army, as indications appeared that German troops were also being moved from the eastern flank. The German IX Reserve Corps arrived from Belgium by 15 September and next day attacked with the 1st Army to the south-west with the IV Corps and the 4th and 7th cavalry divisions, against the attempted French envelopment. The attack was cancelled and the corps withdrew behind the right flank of
11256-672: The Society of Antiquaries of Picardy and the Historical Society of Upper Picardy, extended from Senlis to Calais, from Soissons and Laon to Abbeville and Boulogne-sur-Mer. Historians and geographers like Robert Fossier , Albert Demangeon , and Philippe Pinchemel replaced the idea of the ancien régime Picardy with the notion of an ethnic Picardy, identified particularly by the Picard language . This ethnic Picardy would include places like Senlis and Soissons, which popular tradition historically associated with Picardy due to their dialect, with
11390-531: The Somme estuary in the west to the vast forests and pastures of the Thiérache in the east to Chantilly and Pierrefonds near the Paris Area and vineyards of the border with Champagne to the south. The president of the regional council prior to its abolition in 2015 was Claude Gewerc , a Socialist who had been in office since 2004. That year he defeated longtime UDF incumbent Gilles de Robien . Since 2008,
11524-583: The Somme. The offensive by the French Second Army forced Falkenhayn to divert the XXI and I Bavarian Corps as soon as they arrived, to extend the front northwards from Chaulnes to Péronne on 24 September and drive the French back over the Somme. On 26 September, the French Second Army dug in on a line from Lassigny to Roye and Bray-sur-Somme ; German cavalry moved north to enable the II Bavarian Corps to occupy
11658-452: The Third Army held positions east of Verdun against attacks by the 5th Army, the Fourth Army held positions from the junction with the Third Army south of Montmédy, westwards to Sedan, Mezières and Fumay , facing the 4th Army and the Fifth Army was between Fumay and Maubeuge, with the 3rd Army advancing up the Meuse valley from Dinant and Givet into a gap between the Fourth and Fifth Armies and
11792-404: The advance but the British repulsed a counter-attack near Givenchy. From 14 to 15 October, II Corps attacked eastwards up La Bassée Canal and managed short advances on the flanks, with help from French cavalry but lost 967 casualties. From 16–18 October the corps attacks pivoted on the right and the left flank advanced to Aubers against German opposition at every ditch and bridge. A foothold
11926-663: The attachment of the 10th and 25th Army Corps to the Armée de Paris . After the rupture of the Somme front, on 5 et 6 June 1940, the last phase of the Battle of France began. For the Allies it was essential to regroup on the Seine River to prevent the Germans from crossing. This is why a new 10th Army was formed to hold the front at the Lower Seine and placed under command of General Robert Altmayer (1875 - 1959). His troops were not yet in place when
12060-514: The characteristic weapon used by people from this region in ancient times. The term "Picardy" was first used in the early 13th century, during which time the name applied to all lands where the Picard language was spoken including territories from Paris to the Netherlands . In the Latin Quarter of Paris, people identified a "Picard Nation" ( Nation Picarde ) of students at Sorbonne University , most of whom actually came from Flanders . During
12194-657: The city of Verona , supposedly to counter a rumoured offensive by Austro-Hungarian forces that would purportedly come from the County of Tyrol via the Adige river valley. On 26 March 1918, the Tenth Army returned to France, where it fought in the Third Battle of the Aisne , Second Battle of the Marne and the Hundred Days Offensive . The two divisions of 12th Army Corps under command of Jean César Graziani remained in Italy until
12328-428: The east and the north. Before the Fifth Army could attack over the Sambre the 2nd Army attacked at the Battle of Charleroi and at Namur on 21 August. The 3rd Army crossed the Meuse and attacked the French right flank and on 23 August, the Fifth Army began a retirement southwards to avoid encirclement. After the Battle of St. Quentin , the French withdrawal continued. On 22 August, the BEF advanced and on 23 August fought
12462-399: The end of 1477, Louis would control all of Picardy and most of Artois . In the 15th century, the government (military region) of Picardy was created. This became a new administrative region of France, separate from what was historically defined as Picardy. The new Picardy included the Somme département , the northern half of the Aisne département and a small fringe in the north of
12596-720: The end of the war. After the Armistice it was part of the occupation of the Rhineland . On 21 October 1919 it was combined with the Eighth Army to form the French Army of the Rhine . It was reformed in the Second World War . A first Tenth Army is disbanded between 7 and 8 June 1940, with on the one hand the encirclement of the 9th Army Corps at Saint-Valéry-en-Caux and on the other hand
12730-476: The exposed British flank at Ypres . On 9 October, the German XIV Corps arrived opposite the French and the German 1st and 2nd Cavalry corps tried a flanking move between La Bassée and Armentières but the French cavalry stopped the Germans north of La Bassée Canal. The German 4th Cavalry Corps passed through Ypres on 7 October and was forced back to Bailleul by French Territorial troops. From 8–9 October
12864-555: The ground north of the Somme. On 27 September, the German II Cavalry Corps drove back the 61st and 62nd Reserve divisions (General Joseph Brugère , who had replaced General Albert d'Amade ), to clear the front for the XIV Reserve Corps and link with the right flank of the II Bavarian Corps. The French subdivision d'armée began to assemble at Arras and Maud'huy found that instead of making another attempt to get around
12998-528: The historic Beauvaisis is in the northern part of the Val-d'Oise department, around Beaumont-sur-Oise and L'Isle-Adam. The historical province of Picardy stretched from Senlis to Calais via the main parts of the Oise and Aisne departments, the whole of the Somme department and the west of the Pas-de-Calais department. The province of Artois ( Arras area) separated Picardy from French Flanders . From
13132-634: The invasion, in which massacres, executions, hostage taking and the burning of towns and villages took place and became known as the Rape of Belgium . On 5 August, the advanced German forces tried to capture Liège and the forts of the Fortified Position of Liège by coup de main . The city fell on 6 August but the forts were not captured and on 12 August, five German super-heavy 420 mm (17 in) howitzers and four batteries of Austrian 305 mm (12.0 in) howitzers, began systematically to bombard
13266-549: The junction of the Ninth and Fifth Armies at Sézanne . The Fifth Army and the BEF had withdrawn south of the Oise, Serre, Aisne and Ourq, pursued by the 2nd Army on a line from Guise to Laon, Vailly and Dormans and by the 1st Army from Montdidier , towards Compiègne and then south-east towards Montmirail . The new French Sixth Army , linked with the left of the BEF, west of the Marne at Meaux , to Pontoise north of Paris. French garrisons were besieged at Strasbourg, Metz, Thionville, Longwy, Montmédy and Maubeuge. The Belgian army
13400-453: The late Middle Ages, it also encompassed Saint-Quentin, Douai, Abbeville, Béthune, Clermont, and other towns like Noyon, Valenciennes, Boulogne-sur-Mer, Hesdin, and Laon. At that time, Picardy was divided into Upper and Lower Picardy: Upper Picardy was closer to Île-de-France, while Lower Picardy, which Barthélemy the Englishman referred to as Hainaut, was closer to Flanders and Brabant. During
13534-422: The left flank of II Corps, towards Bailleul and Armentières. II Corps was to advance around the north of Lille and III Corps was to reach a line from Armentières to Wytschaete, with the Cavalry Corps (Lieutenant-General Edmund Allenby, 1st Viscount Allenby ) on the left as far as Ypres. French troops were to relieve the II Corps at Béthune to move north and link with the right of III Corps but this did not occur. On
13668-451: The left flank opposite the French frontier, from the c. 1,700,000 men expected to be mobilised in the Westheer (western army). The main German force would still advance through Belgium and attack southwards into France, the French armies would be enveloped on the left and pressed back over the Meuse, Aisne, Somme, Oise, Marne and Seine, unable to withdraw into central France. Either
13802-722: The mayor of the city of Amiens , the regional capital, has been Socialist Gilles Demailly . He defeated longtime mayor Gilles de Robien of the New Centre party. Historically, the region of Picardy has a strong and proud cultural identity. The Picard (local inhabitants and traditionally speakers of the Picard language ) cultural heritage includes some of the most extraordinary Gothic churches (Amiens and Beauvais cathedrals or Saint-Quentin basilica ), distinctive local cuisine (including ficelle picarde , flamiche aux poireaux , tarte au maroilles ), beer (including from Péronne's de Clercq brewery) and traditional games and sports, such as
13936-406: The next week, the northern flank of the Second Army moved further north and on 29 September, a subdivision d'armée (General Louis de Maud'huy ) was formed, to control the northern corps of the Second Army as they assembled near Arras. On 21 September, Falkenhayn decided to concentrate the 6th Army near Amiens, to attack westwards to the coast and then envelop the French northern flank south of
14070-553: The night of 19/20 September and on 28 September occupied Lille. The rest of the brigade occupied Cassel on 30 September and scouted the country in motor cars. An RNAS Armoured Car Section was created, by fitting vehicles with bullet-proof steel. On 2 October, the Marine Brigade was moved to Antwerp, followed by the rest of the Naval Division on 6 October, having landed at Dunkirk on the night of 4/5 October. From 6–7 October,
14204-415: The north of Verdun, by the 3rd, 4th and 5th armies. The 6th and 7th armies were ordered to end their attacks and dig in. The withdrawal was intended to make time for the 7th Army to be transferred from Alsace to the right-wing near the Oise but Franco-British attacks led to the 7th Army being sent to fill the gap between the 1st and 2nd armies instead. Moltke was replaced by Falkenhayn on 14 September, by when
14338-462: The northern boundary marked by the linguistic border with Flemish , thus extending to Calais and Tournai. In the 20th century, geographer Albert Demangeon demonstrated the existence of a geographic Picardy through what he called the "Picard plain," a vast chalk plain stretching from Beauvais to Arras, from Cambrai and Laon to Abbeville and the Boulogne region. From 1972 to 2015, a region of the same name
14472-538: The northern flank of III Corps, in front of the Cavalry Corps, was a line of hills from Mont des Cats to Mt. Kemmel, about 400 ft (120 m) above sea level, with spurs running south across the British line of advance, occupied by the German IV Cavalry Corps with three divisions. On 12 October, the British cavalry advanced and captured the Mont des Cats. On 13 October, III Corps found German troops dug in along
14606-488: The northern flank of the opposing army through the provinces of Picardy , Artois and Flanders , rather than an attempt to advance northwards to the sea. The "race" ended on the North Sea coast of Belgium around 19 October, when the last open area from Diksmuide to the North Sea was occupied by Belgian troops who had retreated after the Siege of Antwerp (28 September – 10 October). The outflanking attempts had resulted in
14740-670: The offensive in the spring of 1915. Erich von Falkenhayn , Chief of the German General Staff ( Oberste Heeresleitung OHL) since 14 September, concluded that a decisive victory could not be achieved on the Western Front and that it was equally unlikely in the east. Falkenhayn abandoned Vernichtungsstrategie (strategy of annihilation) and attempted to create the conditions for peace with one of Germany's enemies, by Ermattungsstrategie (strategy of exhaustion), to enable Germany to concentrate its resources decisively to defeat
14874-418: The position was restored by counter-attacks. The Westheer began the huge task of building field fortifications, which were not complete until the autumn of 1915. Under Plan XVII the French peacetime army was to form five field armies, with groups of Reserve divisions attached and a group of reserve divisions was to assemble on each flank, c. 2,000,000 men. The armies were to concentrate opposite
15008-486: The remaining opponents. Over the winter lull, the French army established the theoretical basis of offensive trench warfare , originating many of the methods which became standard for the rest of the war. Infiltration tactics , in which dispersed formations of infantry were followed by nettoyeurs de tranchée (trench cleaners), to capture by-passed strong points were promulgated. Artillery observation from aircraft and creeping barrages , were first used systematically in
15142-711: The request of the Italian Supreme Commander, General Luigi Cadorna , the Tenth Army moved onto the Italian Front alongside British Expeditionary Force units, together forming the Italian Expeditionary Force . For this operation the army included the 12th Army Corps and the 31st Army Corps , for a total of six infantry divisions of French troops. The Italians had been pushed back at the Battle of Caporetto by German Army reinforced Austro-Hungarian divisions. French forces were settled mostly west of
15276-453: The right flank of the French further south, the Territorial divisions were separated from X Corps, prompting Castelnau and Maud'huy to recommend a retreat. Joffre made Maud'huy's subdivision d'armée independent as the Tenth Army and told Castelnau to keep the Second Army in position because the increasing number of troops arriving further north would divert German pressure. By 6 October,
15410-427: The right of the 1st Army. The plan was cancelled soon afterwards, when Oberst (Colonel) Gerhard Tappen (OHL Operations Branch), reported from a tour of inspection at the front that the French were too exhausted to begin an offensive, that a final push would be decisive and that more withdrawals would compromise the morale of the German troops, after the defeat on the Marne. From 15–19 September Falkenhayn ordered
15544-493: The river Gete by 4 August, covering central and western Belgium and the communications towards Antwerp. The German invasion began on 4 August, when an advanced force of six German brigades from the 1st, 2nd and 3rd Armies, crossed the German-Belgian border. Belgian resistance and German fear of Francs-tireurs , led the Germans to implement a policy of Schrecklichkeit (frightfulness) against Belgian civilians soon after
15678-478: The route to Namur open; Longwy and Namur were besieged on 20 August. Further west the Fifth Army had concentrated on the Sambre by 20 August, facing north either side of Charleroi and east towards the Belgian Fortified Position of Namur . On the left, the Cavalry Corps (General André Sordet ) linked with the BEF at Mons . The Fifth Army was confronted by the German 3rd Army and 2nd Army from
15812-610: The soldiers invisible, dug earth having been scattered rather than used for a parapet, which would have been visible. III Corps was to attack the next German line of defence before German reinforcements could reach the scene. Rain and mist made air reconnaissance impossible on 14 October but patrols found that the Germans had fallen back beyond Bailleul and crossed the Lys. Picardy Picardy ( / ˈ p ɪ k ər d i / ; Picard and French: Picardie , French: [pikaʁdi] , Picard: IPA: [piˈkaʀdi] )
15946-573: The transfer of French troops from the east, which had begun on 2 September with the IV Corps and continued on 9 September with the XX Corps, 11 September with the XIII Corps and the XIV Corps on 18 September. The depletion of the French forces in the east, took place just before the Battle of Flirey, a German attack on 20 September against the Third Army on either side of Verdun, the Fifth Army north of Reims and
16080-412: The withdrawal and ordered the 1st Army to fall back and dig in from Artems to La Fère and Nouvion-et-Catillon , to protect the right flank from a French offensive, while the 6th Army moved from Lorraine to the western flank, ready for a general offensive to begin progressively on 18 September from the 5th Army in the east, pinning French troops down westwards, until the 6th Army enveloped the French, beyond
16214-529: Was 45–60 ft (14–18 m) wide and 5 ft (1.5 m) deep and flanked by water meadows. The banks were cut by boggy streams and dykes, which kept the cavalry on the roads; German outposts were pushed back but dismounted cavalry attacks could not dislodge the German defenders and the cavalry in Warneton town were withdrawn during the night. The attack was resumed on 18 October, when the cavalry attacked from Deûlémont to Tenbrielen but made no progress against
16348-514: Was a Belgian defensive success. The BEF completed its move of four divisions and a cavalry division to France on 16 August, as the last Belgian fort of the Fortified Position of Liège surrendered. The Belgian government withdrew from Brussels on 18 August and the German army attacked the Belgian field army at the Battle of the Gete. Next day the Belgian army began to retire towards Antwerp, which left
16482-620: Was built in as little as 50 years. Picardy also holds the tallest transept in the history of the Gothic period; this transept is located in Saint-Pierre cathedral in Beauvais, Oise. The Museum of Picardy in Amiens, built between 1855 and 1867, houses a vast array of great works, spanning the centuries and ranging from archaeology from ancient Greece and Egypt to modern works of Pablo Picasso . The museum
16616-524: Was captured by French cavalry but the Germans prevented an advance beyond Comines , 3.4 mi (5.5 km) west of Menin (Menen), where German troops had arrived during the night. A foothold was gained at Warneton and German outposts west of the Ypres–Comines canal were pushed back to the far side. By 16 October, the Cavalry Corps and the 3rd Cavalry Division held the Lys river from Armentières to Comines and
16750-464: Was captured on 17 August and Sarrebourg the next day. The German 6th Army and 7th Army counter-attacked on 20 August and the Second Army was forced back from Morhange and the First Army was repulsed at Sarrebourg. The German armies crossed the border and advanced on Nancy but were stopped to the east of the city. To the south the French retook Mulhouse on 19 August and then withdrew. On 24 August, at
16884-638: Was created, bringing together the three departments of Somme , Oise , and Aisne , thus encompassing most of Picardy as defined in the Ancien Régime. Today, Picardy, in its various definitions, is largely contained within the Hauts-de-France region and spread across its five departments. Part of the linguistic Picardy is in the Wallonia region of Belgium , in the Hainaut Province , and a small portion of
17018-590: Was established on Aubers Ridge on 17 October and French cavalry captured Fromelles . On 18 October, the German XIII Corps arrived, reinforced the VII Corps and gradually forced the British II Corps to a halt. On 19 October, parties of British infantry and French cavalry captured the village of Le Pilly, which later was recaptured by the Germans. The fresh German 13th and 14th divisions arrived and counter-attacked
17152-656: Was introduced by Napoleon I during the Napoleonic Wars in the 19th century in order to counter the United Kingdom which had seized the sugar islands possessed by France in the Caribbean . The sugar industry has continued to play a prominent role in the economy of the region. One of the most significant historical events to occur in Picardy was the series of battles fought along the Somme during World War I . From September 1914 to August 1918, four major battles, including
17286-646: Was invested at Antwerp in the National Redoubt and at Liège, fortress troops continued the defence of the forts. Austria-Hungary had declared war on Serbia on 28 July and on 1 August, military operations began on the Polish border. Libau was bombarded by a German cruiser on 2 August and on 5 August Montenegro declared war on Austria-Hungary. On 6 August, Austria-Hungary declared war on Russia and Serbia declared war on Germany; war began between Montenegro and Germany on 8 August. The Battle of Stallupönen (17 August) caused
17420-413: Was never established as a duchy, county, or principality, and its boundaries fluctuated over the centuries due to the political instability in the area it covered. Since 1 January 2016, it has been part of the new region of Hauts-de-France . The first geographic description of Picardy appeared in the late central Middle Ages, including the bishoprics of Amiens, Beauvais, Arras, Tournai, and Thérouanne. In
17554-479: Was sacked by German troops and the Battle of Le Cateau was fought by the BEF and the 1st Army. Longwy was surrendered by its garrison and next day, British Royal Marines and a party of the Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS) landed at Ostend ; Lille and Mezières were occupied by German troops. Arras was occupied on 27 August and a French counter-offensive began at the Battle of St. Quentin (also known as
17688-524: Was severely damaged and Fort Lier was hit by 16 in (410 mm) shells but Fort Koningshooikt, the Tallabert and Bosbeek redoubts were mostly intact; the intervening ground between Fort Sint-Katelijne-Waver and Dorpveld redoubt had been captured. Despite reinforcement by the Royal Naval Division from 2 October, the Germans penetrated the outer ring of forts. When the German advance began to compress
17822-574: Was taken by the Russian army. On 24 September, Przemyśl was isolated by Russian forces, beginning the First Siege as Russian forces conducted the First Invasion of North Hungary (24 September – 8 October). Military operations began on the Niemen (25–29 September) but German attacks were suspended on 29 September. The retreat of Austro-Hungarian forces in Galicia ended and Maramaros-Sziget was captured by
17956-416: Was the first French offensive against Germany. The French captured Mulhouse until forced out by a German counter-attack on 11 August and fell back toward Belfort . The main French offensive, the Battle of Lorraine (14–25 August) , began with the Battles of Morhange and Sarrebourg ( 14–20 August ) advances by the First Army on Sarrebourg and the Second Army towards Morhange. Château-Salins near Morhange
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