I, Hausen; IV, Wuerttemberg; V,
Crown Prince; VI, Bavaria; VII, Heeringen; VIII, Deimling.]

At the same time another French army had pushed across the Meuse into
Belgium from the district between Sedan and Montmedy, it had won
minor initial successes, and about Neufchateau it had suffered exactly
the same sort of reverse that the French army to the south had met at
Morhange, German heavy artillery had procured another French defeat,
which again approximated a rout and this French army was also in rapid
retreat, having lost flags and guns as well as many thousand
prisoners.

Finally, still farther to the northeast, a French army had taken its
stand in the angle between the Meuse and the Sambre, from Dinant,
through Namur to Charleroi, and the British army prolonged the line to
the east of Mons. Against this dike there now burst the full fury of
the German advance made by the armies of Kluck and Buelow. (Vol. II,
46-49.) Again the French were defeated after a desperate battle about
Charleroi (Vol. II, 54), this time without any rout and after having
inflicted very heavy losses. But retreat was inevitable because the
Germans succeeded in forcing the crossings of the Meuse at
Dinant--that is, in the rear of the main army--while the fall of Namur
(Vol. II, 55-59), another triumph for German heavy artillery and a
complete surprise to the Allies, completed the ruin of their plans.

Meantime the British army about Mons, after a day of hard fighting
which had compelled them to contract their lines somewhat, but left
them unshaken, was thrown in the air by the French retreat from
Charleroi (Vol. II, 60), tardily announced to it, and was compelled to
begin its long and terrible retreat, which so nearly ended in
destruction. (Vol. II, 66.)

By the middle of the third week in August, 1914, the Germans had then
made good their way through Belgium, defeated the French counterthrust
in Lorraine, routed two French armies and heavily defeated a third,
together with its British supports. (Vol. II, 9-68.)

It was not yet clear whether the French armies could rally for another
general battle, but it was clear that if this should happen, the
Germans had still time, accepting their original time-table.

THE BATTLE OF THE MARNE

In the fourth week of August, 1914, Joffre, the French commander in
chief, was compelled to make a momentous decision. All his first plans
had failed, all his armies had been defeated. It very promptly turne