Great Retreat

Great Retreat
Part of the Western Front of the First World War
British retreat, 24 August – 5 September
Date 24 August – 5 September 1914 Location From Mons, Belgium to River Marne, France 49°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	German Empire
Commanders and leaders
Joseph Joffre John French	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).