First Battle of Champagne

First Battle of Champagne
Part of the Western Front of the World War I
Waiting for the attack, in the trench.
Date 20 December 1914 – 17 March 1915 Location Champagne-Ardenne, France 49°11′04″N 04°32′39″E / 49.18444°N 4.54417°E / 49.18444; 4.54417 Result Inconclusive
Belligerents
France	German Empire
Commanders and leaders
Joseph Joffre Langle de Cary	Erich von Falkenhayn Karl von Einem
Strength
Fourth Army	3rd Army
Casualties and losses
93,432	46,100
Champagne class=notpageimage| Champagne-Ardenne, a former administrative region of France, in the north-east, bordering Belgium

The First Battle of Champagne (French: 1ère Bataille de Champagne) was fought from 20 December 1914 – 17 March 1915 in World War I in the Champagne region of France and was the second offensive by the Allies against the German Empire since mobile warfare had ended after the First Battle of Ypres in Flanders (19 October – 22 November 1914). The battle was fought by the French Fourth Army and the German 3rd Army. The offensive was part of a French strategy to attack the Noyon Salient, a large bulge in the new Western Front, which ran from Switzerland to the North Sea. The First Battle of Artois began on the northern flank of the salient on 17 December and the offensive against the southern flank in Champagne began three days later.