The people's war book; history, cyclopaedia and chronology of the great world war . upon Paris. Tliis second force,the Army of the Moselle, had based itsmobilization in Luxembourg. Its task wasto strike France at Longwy and after sub-duing Verdun and Rheims, to march uponthe capital. The third great fighting mass,the only one with its base upon soil notthat of a neutral nation, was known as theArmy of tlie Rhine. It was to have its baseat Strassburg and was to cross into Francenear Nancy. plan apparent and hertroops almost impossible of mobilization tom^4i the advance from the
The people's war book; history, cyclopaedia and chronology of the great world war . upon Paris. Tliis second force,the Army of the Moselle, had based itsmobilization in Luxembourg. Its task wasto strike France at Longwy and after sub-duing Verdun and Rheims, to march uponthe capital. The third great fighting mass,the only one with its base upon soil notthat of a neutral nation, was known as theArmy of tlie Rhine. It was to have its baseat Strassburg and was to cross into Francenear Nancy. plan apparent and hertroops almost impossible of mobilization tom^4i the advance from the north and west,tlie French attempted to striTce a quickcofinter blow, which, had it succeeded,would have thrown the entire plan of theKaifeers generals into the air. The chief-Frenchpreliminary concentration had beenbehind the line of the fortifications fromVerdun tlirough Toul to Belfort. Actingupon the theory that the best defense isoffense, they attacked all along the advanced into Tyorraine from Nancyand into Alsace from Epinal and Belfort. 44 THE PEOPLES WAR BOOK. Sir Jolin French, former Commander of VictoriousBritish Expeditionary Forces in 1914. Their first seizure was important points inthe Vosges mountains. The movementwas planned to force the withdrawal of thearmies invading to the west and to makethe Germans concentrate in defense of theRhine. The advance was rapid and by August9th, the French had taken Mulhausen andColmar and were threatening the upper-most of the Rhenish fortifications. Untiltlie latter part of August the battle raged,Mulhausen alone being taken and retakenfour times. But the hoped for victory hadnot been swift enough and the developmentin the west, where the Germans were sweep-ing all before them in their advance uponParis, forced the withdrawal of a greaterpart of the French forces to stem the thrustat the capital. Resistance against the Frencli army inLorraine was stronger and the advance wasso slowed up as to fail of its strategicva
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Keywords: ., boo, bookcentury1900, bookdecade1910, booksubjectworldwar19141918
