by lauren holland world war i major battles - by lauren holland navigation battle of mons battle of...

By Lauren Holland

World War I Major Battles - By Lauren Holland

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Battle of Mons

Battle of Tannenberg

Battle of Heligoland

Battle of Marne

Battle of Aisne

Battle of Albert

Battle of Arras

Battle of Ypres

Battle of Nueve Chapelle

Battle of Gallipoli Campaign

Battle of Artois

Battle of St. Mihiel

Battle of Meuse-Argonne

Battle of Canal du Nord

Battle of Vittorio Veneto


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Battle of Mons



Battle of Marne

Battle of Aisne

Battle of Albert

Battle of Arras

Battle of Ypres

The British Expeditionary Force arrived in France on 14th August, 1914. On the way to meet the French Army at Charleroi, 70,000 British met the advancing German Army at Mons. To stop the advancing Germans, orders were given to a group of Royal Fusiliers to destroy the bridges over the Mons-Conde Canal. On the morning of 23rd August, 150,000 German soldiers attacked the British positions. Although the Germans had suffered heavy losses from British rifle fire, the British were forced to retreat. The French wanted to retreat to the coast, but the British war minister Lord Kitchener ordered the British to retreat to the River Marne.



Battle of Artois

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Allies:0

Central Powers:1






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Battle of Marne

Battle of Aisne

Battle of Albert

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On the outbreak of WWI, General Samsonov was given command of the Russian Second Army for the invasion of East Prussia. He advanced slowly into the south western corner of the province with the intention of linking up with General Von Rennenkampf advancing from the north east. General Von Hindenburg and General Ludendorff were sent forward to meet Samsonov's advancing troops. They made contact on 22nd August, 1914, and for six days the Russians, with their superior numbers, had a few successes. However, by 29th August, Samsanov's Second Army was surrounded. General Alexander Samsonov attempted to retreat but most of his troops were slaughtered or captured. Only 10,000 of the 150,000 Russian soldiers managed to escape. Shocked by the disastrous outcome of the battle, Samsanov committed suicide. The Germans, who lost 20,000 men in the battle, were able to take over 92,000 Russian prisoners. In Britain, all news of the Russian defeat at Tannenberg was kept from the public.



Battle of Artois

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Allies:0

Central Powers:2






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Battle of Mons



Battle of Marne

Battle of Aisne

Battle of Albert

Battle of Arras

Battle of Ypres

In August 1914 Admiral Sir David Beatty devised a plan to draw the German Navy into a major sea battle. Beatty used two light cruisers, the Fearless and Arethusa and 25 destroyers to raid German ships close to the German naval base at Heligoland. When the German Navy responded to the attack, Beatty brought forward the battleships, New Zealand and Invincible and three battlecruisers. In the battle that followed, the Germans lost three German cruisers and a destroyer. The British ship, the Arethusa was badly damaged but was towed home to safety. Beatty's aggressive tactics at Heliogoland helped developed his reputation and was a factor in the decision to make him Commander of the Grand Fleet in place of Sir John Jellicoe in December, 1916.



Battle of Artois

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Allies:1

Central Powers:2






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Battle of Mons



Battle of Marne

Battle of Aisne

Battle of Albert

Battle of Arras

Battle of Ypres

At the end of August 1914, the Germans were sweeping south towards Paris. The French and the British were in retreat. General Von Kluck, commander of the German Ist Army, was ordered to encircle Paris from the east. Expecting the German army to capture Paris, the French government fled to Bordeaux. About 500,000 French civilians also left Paris. Joseph Joffre, the Commander-in-Chief of the French forces, ordered his men to retreat to a line along the River Seine. Joffre planned to attack the German Ist Army on 6th September. General Maunoury and the French Army attacked the German Ist Army on the morning of 6th September. General Von Kluck wheeled his entire force to meet the attack, opening a 50km gap between his own forces and the German 2nd Army led by General Karl von Bulow. The British forces and the French 5th now advanced into the gap that had been created, splitting the two German armies. For the next three days the German forces were unable to break through the Allied lines. At one stage the French Army came close to defeat and were only saved by the use of Paris taxis to rush 6,000 reserve troops to the front line. On 9th September the Germans retreated and met at the river Aisne. The British and French forces were now able to cross the Marne. By the evening of 10th September, the Battle of the Marne was over. During the battle, the French had around 250,000 casualties. Although the Germans never published the figures, it is believed that Geman losses were similar to those of France. The British Expeditionary Force lost 12,733 men during the battle. The most important consequence of the Battle of the Marne was that the French and British forces were able to prevent the German plan for a swift and decisive victory. However, the German Army was not beaten and its successful retreat ended all hope of a short war



Battle of Artois

Score

Allies:2

Central Powers:2






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Battle of Marne

Battle of Aisne

Battle of Albert

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After the Germans retreated to the river Aisne, they began to dig into The Chemin des Dames Ridge as it provided a long natural defensive position. The French and British met the Germans and launched a frontal assault at the Aisne on 13th September. They initially won a singe bridgehead but a German counter-attack, drove the Allies back to the river. Fighting continued until 28th September when it was acknowledged that frontal infantry attacks on well-defended positions, would cause heavy casualties and was unlikely to gain a breakthrough.



Battle of Artois

Score

Allies:2

Central Powers:3






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Battle of Mons



Battle of Marne

Battle of Aisne

Battle of Albert

Battle of Arras

Battle of Ypres

On 25th September, 1914, General Castlenau ordered a frontal attack on German positions. The French attacks were initially successful but eventually they were driven back beyond the town of Albert.



Battle of Artois

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Allies:2

Central Powers:4






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Battle of Mons



Battle of Marne

Battle of Aisne

Battle of Albert

Battle of Arras

Battle of Ypres

In October, 1914, the French army attempted to outflank German forces on the Western Front by advancing along a line between Arras and Lens. After initial progress towards Douai the French were forced to withdraw after a counter-attack from the German Sixth Army. The French Army lost Lens to Germany, but was able to retain Arras.



Battle of Artois

Score

Allies:3

Central Powers:5






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Battle of Mons



Battle of Marne

Battle of Aisne

Battle of Albert

Battle of Arras

Battle of Ypres

Ypres, a medieval town in Belgium, was taken by the German Army at the beginning of the war. However, in early October, 1914, the British were able to recapture the town. The first major German attempt to regain Ypres took place on 15th October. German attacks took place for the next four weeks but with the arrival of the French Army the line was held. With the weather deteriorating, the Germans decided to abandon the Ypres offensive on the 22nd November. It is estimated that about 135,000 Germans were killed or badly wounded during the offensive. The BEF lost around 75,000 men and was effectively destroyed as a professional army. Battle of Nueve Chapelle


Battle of Artois

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Allies:3

Central Powers:4






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Battle of Mons



Battle of Marne

Battle of Aisne

Battle of Albert

Battle of Arras

Battle of Ypres

In early March 1915, the British agreed to the French’s plan to capture the heights of Aubers Ridge at Neuve Chapelle. Britain's First Army advanced along a 3km front on the morning of 10th March. At Neuve Chapelle the British were able to break through a line held by a division of the Germans. However, after three days fighting the British had gained land from the Germans totalling 2,000 yards wide by 1,200 yards deep for 7,000 British and 4,000 Indian casualties. Count Prince Rupprecht quickly counter-attacked, and although the British were able to retain Neuve Chapelle, they had to abandon plans to advance towards Aubers Ridge. At the end of the offensive, the British Expeditionary Force gained 2 square kilometres of land at a cost of 13,000 casualties. Battle of Nueve Chapelle


Battle of Artois

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Allies:4

Central Powers:4






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Battle of Mons



Battle of Marne

Battle of Aisne

Battle of Albert

Battle of Arras

Battle of Ypres

On 19th February, 1915, the British attacked the Turkish forts at the Dardanelles. Further advance up into the straits was now impossible. The Turkish forts were too far away to be silenced by the Allied ships. Vice-Admiral Sir John de Robeck, who immediately ordered the Allied fleet to advance up the Dardanelles Straits. On 18th March eighteen battleships entered the straits. The fleet included Queen Elizabeth, Lord Nelson, Agamemmon, Inflexible, Ocean, Irresistible, Prince George and Majestic from Britain and the Gaulois, Bouvet and Suffren from France. At first they made good progress until the Bouvet struck a mine, heeled over, capsized and disappeared in a cloud of smoke. Soon afterwards two more ships, Irresistible and Ocean hit mines. Most of the men in these two ships were rescued but by the time the Allied fleet retreated, over 700 men had been killed. Overall, three ships had been sunk and three more had been severely damaged. About 480,000 Allied troops took part in the Gallipoli campaign. The British had 205,000 casualties (43,000 killed). There were more than 33,600 ANZAC losses (over one-third killed) and 47,000 French casualties (5,000 killed). Turkish casualties are estimated at 250,000 (65,000 killed).



Battle of Artois

Score

Allies:4

Central Powers:5






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Battle of Mons



Battle of Marne

Battle of Aisne

Battle of Albert

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Battle of Ypres

The French decided to try and break through German lines on the Western Front at Artois. After a five-day preliminary bombardment of German positions, the French launched an attack on 9th May, 1915. They initially made good progress but was unable to take the main objective, Vimy Ridge. On 25th September Anglo-French forces launched another offensive at Artois. They made some progress and managed to reach the crest of Vimy Ridge on 29th September, but the German Army made sure that the French made no long-term gains. The battle cost the British 50,000 casualties. The French lost 48,000 and the Germans about 24,000.



Battle of Artois

Score

Allies:4

Central Powers:6






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Battle of Mons



Battle of Marne

Battle of Aisne

Battle of Albert

Battle of Arras

Battle of Ypres

When the USA declared war in April 1917, President Woodrow Wilson sent the American army to the Western Front. By May 1918, there were over 500,500 US soldiers in France. The Americans chose to attack the Germans at St. Mihiel first. 300,000 American troops assembled at this sector in early September. The Germans, aware the attack was coming, ordered a partial withdrawal of troops. The withdrawal was still in progress when the US Army attacked on 12th September. A secondary assault, by 110,000 French troops, took place three hours later. Over 1,400 aircraft under the command of General William Mitchell, supported the advancing US and French troops. On the first day the main attack advanced 9km to reach Thiancourt and the French troops captured the village of Dommartin. By 16th September, the entire St Mihiel salient was under Allied control.



Battle of Artois

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Allies:5

Central Powers:6






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Battle of Mons



Battle of Marne

Battle of Aisne

Battle of Albert

Battle of Arras

Battle of Ypres

Following the successful Albert offensive Marshal Ferdinand Foch decided to order an attack at Meuse-Argonne in an attempt to cut-off the entire German Second Army. The American Army were given the main attacking role. Colonel George Marshall, had the difficult task of bringing 400,000 troops from the successful St Mihiel campaign to take part in the Meuse-Argonne offensive on 26th September, 1918. The US First Army, led by General Hunter Liggett, used more than 300 tanks in the offensive. The advance was supported by General William Mitchell and 500 aircraft from the United States Air Service. Two-thirds of the soldiers involved in the advance had just arrived from St Mihiel and the exhausted troops only advanced 3km along a 64km front on the first day. Progress remained slow and the offensive eventually came to a halt on 30th September. The Meuse-Argonne offensive was resumed on 4th October. The German Army, many suffering from the influenza epidemic, held on until 4th November when they began to retreat. Fresh US troops were moved to the front and had advanced 32km when the Armistice was announced.



Battle of Artois

Score

Allies:6

Central Powers:6






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Battle of Mons



Battle of Marne

Battle of Aisne

Battle of Albert

Battle of Arras

Battle of Ypres

On 27th September, 1918, the day after the start of the Meuse-Argonne offensive began, Allied forces attacked the German frontline at the Canal du Nord. The marshlands on either side of the Arras-Cambrai road and the high German position, made it the most difficult sector of the Hindenburg Line to attack. Canadian troops were chosen to spearhead the attack on the canal. Two Canadian divisions were sent across a narrow strip of dry land at dawn and then fanned out across a wider front. Support from the heavy artillery got the Canadians across the canal. British troops, led by General Sir Julian Byng, advanced along a 20km front further north. By the time the offensive was called off on 1st October, the Allies, including the American army, had made an overall gain of 10km.



Battle of Artois

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Allies:7

Central Powers:6






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Battle of Mons



Battle of Marne

Battle of Aisne

Battle of Albert

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Battle of Ypres

Italy’s prime minister, Vittorio Orlando, agreed to a new Allied Supreme War Council that would help coordinate Italian operations. Italy managed to stabilize the front-line but was unwilling to undertake an offensive of his own. Vittorio Orlando was aware that he would need military victories to strengthen his negotiating position to obtain territorial demands after the war. He therefore pressurized General Armando Diaz to launch an offensive in a war that would soon be over. On the 23rd October 1918, Armando Diaz launched an offensive at Vittorio Veneto. Diaz was able to put 57 Italian divisions in the field. These were supported by soldiers from the French Army and the British Army. After initial difficulties crossing the Piave River, the Italian Army took Vittorio Veneto. The Austro-Hungarian Army collapsed and by the Armistice the Allied forces had reached Trento in the west and Tagliamento in the east. When the ceasefire was called on 2nd November, the Italians had taken 300,000 prisoners.



Battle of Artois

Score

Allies:8

Central Powers:6





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Battle of Aisne

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Battle of Aisne

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Battle of Artois





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Battle of Marne

Battle of Aisne

Battle of Albert

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Bibliography

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by lauren holland world war i major battles - by lauren holland navigation battle of mons battle of...

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