CHAPTER V THE BATTLE OF THE MARNE HE Battle of the Marne will without doubt THE be regarded by future generations as the greatest battle of which there is any record in history. It is true that in some of the later battles of the war there were more men engaged on the two sides, and the losses were heavier, but the results of this battle were more important to civilization than those of any other battle that has ever been fought. If the Germans had won it, they would have taken Paris, conquered France, and driven the small British Army (about one hundred and twenty thousand men) into the sea. This accomplished, they might readily have conquered all of Europe. With Europe at their feet, the kaiser's dream of dominating the world might easily have been realized. The United States might even have become a German province, and the civilization of the future have been regulated according to the German idea, by which they were to be the masters, and the other races of the world their slaves. That the Germans did not win the Battle of the Marne was due to the heroism of the French, and of their British allies. As we have seen, the huge and splendidly equipped German Army, throughout the month of August, drove southwest through Belgium and France toward Paris. After the fall of Namur, the armies of the kaiser crossed the river Aisne, in northern France, and swept irresistibly toward the river Marne. They advanced in many strong columns, of which the most westerly one was that of General von Kluck. Other columns came through Namur, through the neutral state of Luxemburg in the direction of Verdun, through Lorraine, by way of the great German fortress of Metz, and from there south, opposite Nancy and Belfort, to the Swiss border. All of these great armies converged upon Paris. The central ones were under the command of the kaiser's son, the German crown-prince. General (afterward Marshal) Joffre, the French commander-in-chief, saw at once that his plan to invade Germany by way of Alsace and Lorraine was a failure. The German attack through Belgium came as a surprise. With the bulk of his forces far to the east, Joffre knew that he could not hope to defend Paris. He therefore began to withdraw his troops toward the west, in order to bar the way to the French capital. This operation of moving hundreds of thousands of men a great distance, together with their artillery and other equipment, was a difficult one. While it was under way, the bloody retreat of the English and French continued. Day after day the world waited, wondering why General Joffre did not give the word to stand fast, but the French general knew that he was not ready, and continued to order his armies to retreat. Having crossed the river Aisne, the Germans reached and crossed the river Marne, and Paris was so short a distance away that the thunder of the German guns was heard in its streets. There was no panic, but the government removed its offices to Bordeaux, and many persons left the city. Scarcely any one believed that Paris could be saved. Meanwhile a very great battle was being fought in the east of France, between the fortresses of Verdun and Nancy. The French, under General Castelnau, retiring after their unsuccessful attempt to invade Germany by way of the Rhine, were heavily attacked by German columns advancing westward through Metz and Strasburg toward Nancy. The French fell back until they reached the line of hills along the river Meuse known as the Grand-Couronne, and here a great battle was fought. Not much was heard of it at the time, because the attention of the world was centered on Paris, but General Castelnau and his men defended their positions with the utmost bravery, with the result that the German flood was held back, and Verdun and Nancy remained in French hands. The victory was won by a very narrow margin; German troops succeeded |