Immediately following the fall of Namur, which forced the Belgians to
take up the Louvain-Wavre line, the main German Army of the Meuse
started for France, leaving possibly two army corps to drive the
Belgians from Brussels and to protect their flank and their lines of
communication. The German advance first came in contact with the
French and British along a line from Mons to Charleroi, southwest of
Brussels. The British were supposed to have been between two French
armies, but for some reason the army which had been assigned to
position on the British left did not appear. Being outflanked, a
retreat followed, the French being defeated at the same time at
Charleroi. The German Army of the Moselle then attacked along the
Meuse, and, being also successful, was on the flank and rear of the
British and French retreating from Mons and Charleroi.
Thus a great enveloping movement was disclosed which for some days
gave every evidence of being successful. It was defeated, however,
entirely by the British, who, though outflanked and outnumbered three
to one, fought steadily night and day for six days, their small force
holding in complete check all of von Kluck's army corps. Retreat was
of course inevitable, but the retreat was made in good order and with
the morale of the troops unshaken.
In the meantime the German General Staff, which had confidently
expected to crush France before Russia could become a factor to be
reckoned with, saw with alarm Russia pouring her troops into East
Prussia in a drive against Koenigsberg, while in South Poland another
Russian army was preparing a drive against Galicia, operating from the
Ivangorod-Rowno railroad. Germany saw the Austrians being defeated
everywhere; Lemberg, the capital of Galicia, captured; Przemysl
masked, and the Russians fighting their way westward through Galicia
between the Carpathians and the Vistula. But Austria's troubles at
this stage were her own. Germany had all she could do to turn back the
Russian invasion of East Prussia.
To face the peril on her eastern borders Germany detached several army
corps--probably five--from the western front, with them reinforced
her eastern army, and in a few days after their arrival inflicted a
disastrous defeat on the Russians at Tannenburg, driving them back
practically to their own borders. But the damage had been done. The
armies of the west had been weakened at a critical point, and General
Joffre was given the opportunity he had been seeking since the
beginning of the war.
The French and British, whose retreat had carried them to the Marne,
now outnumbered the Germans, and, what is more important, were able to
concentrate their forces by calling in those troops who had been
engaged in the counter-offensive in Alsace. Taking advantage of their
superiority in numbers, the Allies took the offensive. Holding the
Germans fast in the centre, the Paris garrison struck hurriedly
northeast toward Soisson with the idea of getting around von Kluck's
flank. For several days it seemed that von Kluck and his army must be
captured. But, moving north with great rapidity, abandoning much of
his artillery and supplies, he escaped the net Joffre had spread for
him, and anchored himself securely behind the Aisne. The great German
movement was thus brought to an abrupt halt, and they were now on the
defensive. Paris was saved. For ten days the Allies fought desperately
to cross the Aisne and force von Kluck to continue his retreat. But
finally the effort was given up, and the two armies faced each other
across the Aisne deadlocked.
The Russians meanwhile had not been idle. Although their operations
against the reinforced German Army had a negative result, against the
Austrians in Galicia their success continued. Przemysl had not been
taken, but, hemming it in securely, the Russians passed on and took
the fortified town of Jaroslau, near the lower San. The menace of the
Russian invasion of Galicia then became apparent. Galicia, with her
wealth of oil and minerals, the fertile plains of Hungary just the
other side of the Carpathians, Cracow, opening the gate to Breslau and
Berlin--these were the things the Teutons stood in danger of losing,
and it is not surprising that they viewed the Russian advance with
alarm.
There is but one more incident to record before closing what might
well be considered the second phase of the war. That is the fall of
Antwerp. It was Belgium's final sacrifice on the altar of her national
honor. And no matter what our ancestry may be, nor how our sympathies
may lie, we cannot but reverence a people whose sense of national duty
and honor is so high that they are willing to sacrifice and do
sacrifice their all to maintain it.