rmany
declared war upon France, and the forty-fourth anniversary of the
invasion of France in the Franco-Prussian War.

FROM THE MEUSE TO THE MARNE

To grasp the main circumstances of the opening campaign it is
simplest to think of the whole German invading forces as comprising
one army. The right of this army under Kluck and Buelow came west
through Belgium by Brussels and Namur, swinging south after the
Belgians were disposed of, and leaving a guard to curtain the
Belgian army which had retreated on Antwerp. The center moved
southwest through the Belgian Ardennes and Luxemburg, entering
France between Longwy and Givet on the Meuse. The left moved from
Metz and Strassburg, attempting to force the French barrier line
between Toul and Epinal. The center was commanded by the German
Crown Prince, Albert of Wuerttemberg, and Hausen, the left by the
Crown Prince of Bavaria and Heeringen. Smaller forces operating in
Upper Alsace played little real part in the operations.

Taking up first the German right: It did not begin its real advance
until August 12, 1914. Liege had been captured on August 7, the last
fort fell on August 15. Meantime the Germans pushed a heavy screen
of cavalry forward, and there was steady skirmishing between Liege
and Brussels, which was magnified into battles and German defeats.
In point of fact, the Belgian army was rapidly pushed back, and once
the main German advance began, it fled to Antwerp.

Kluck took Brussels on August 18, 1914, and turned south, meeting
the first serious resistance at Mons. Buelow, moving across the Meuse
at Huy, took Namur on August 23, 1914, and his troops fought at
Charleroi, while those of Hausen forced a passage of the Meuse south
of Namur. The French were beaten at Charleroi, and the British while
the battle of Mons was still undecided, were forced to retreat,
because Buelow's success in taking Namur had imperiled the whole
allied left flank.

Because he delayed his retreat too long, Sir John French was
immediately threatened with destruction, Kluck having succeeded in
getting on his flank, while sending superior numbers against his
front. For a week there was grave danger that the Germans would be
able to destroy the British and intervene between the French left
and the city of Paris. At Cambrai on the 25th, British destruction
seemed imminent, but the British just managed to win clear, and
French troops coming up on their exposed flank by September 1, they
w