German Armies Retreat to the Aisne River as Allies Thwart German Plan to Extend Their Line Across France to the Sea

Allied Forces, 1,500,000
General Joffre, Commander-in-Chief

French Army Commanders:
General Foch
General Castelnau
General D'Esperey
General Sarrail
General Langle de Carey
General Dubail
General Maud'huy
General D'Amade
General D'Urbal

British Corps Commanders
General Sir John French, Commander-in-Chief
General Sir Douglas Haig
General Sir Smith-Dorrien
General Pulteney
General Allenby (cavalry)

German Forces, 2,000,000
General Falkenhayn, Chief-of-Staff
General von Kluck
General von Buelow
General von Heeringen
General von Einem
General von Strantz
Prince Rupprecht of Bavaria
Duke of Württemberg
Crown Prince of Prussia
General von Zwehl

Retreating from the Marne, the whipped Huns had fallen back on a strongly fortified line just north of the Aisne and Suippe rivers, with their right wing resting on the Oise at Compeigne and their left on the Meuse near Verdun, presenting a front of 120 miles. They occupied the crest of the Craonne Plateau, which rises sharply to an average height of 400 feet, some two miles back from the Aisne, and extending east from Сotpeigne, a distance of thirty miles. With characteristic foresight, the German engineers had constructed an elaborate system of trenches along the crest of this plateau during their pursuit of the Allies to the Marne.

At intervals along the plateau front were placed the heavy howitzers and cannons intended to be used in the siege of Paris and which now commanded all the river crossings. In addition to this formidable natural fortress, the Germans had constructed a labyrinth of trenches in the Aisne quarries near Soissons, which had come under German control some five years before. There were miles of galleries and subterranean passages running through the quarries, enabling the Germans to conduct their operations with secrecy and safety.

On September 12, 1914, the day the retreating German armies made their escape across the Aisne, von Kluck's army held th...

The First Battle of the Aisne (French: 1re Bataille de l'Aisne) was the Allied follow-up offensive against the right wing of the German First Army (led by Alexander von Kluck) & Second Army (led by Karl von Bülow) as they retreated after the First Battle of the Marne earlier in September 1914. The offensive began on the evening of 13 September, after a hasty pursuit of the Germans.