The Battle of Mulhouse (german: Mülhausen), also called the Battle of Alsace (french: Bataille d'Alsace), which began on 7 August 1914, was the opening attack of the First World War by the French Army against Germany. The battle was part of a French attempt to recover the province of

Alsace Alsace (, ; ; Low Alemannic German/ gsw-FR, Elsàss ; german: Elsass ; la, Alsatia) is a cultural region and a territorial collectivity in eastern France, on the west bank of the upper Rhine next to Germany and Switzerland. In 2020, it had ...

, which France had ceded to the new German Empire following defeat in the Franco-Prussian War of 1870–1871. The French occupied Mulhouse on 8 August and were then forced out by German counter-attacks on 10 August. The French retired to

Belfort Belfort (; archaic german: Beffert/Beffort) is a city in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region in Northeastern France, situated between Lyon and Strasbourg, approximately from the France–Switzerland border. It is the prefecture of the Territoir ...

, where General , the VII Corps commander, was sacked along with the commander of the 8th Cavalry Division. Events further north led to the German XIV and XV corps being moved away from Belfort and a second French offensive by the French VII Corps, reinforced and renamed the French Army of Alsace (General

Paul Pau Paul Marie Cesar Gerald Pau, (29 November 1848, Montélimar – 2 January 1932) was a French soldier and general who served in the Franco-Prussian War and in World War I. He took part in the Franco-Prussian War, suffering the loss of his lower ...

), began on 14 August. During the

Battle of Lorraine The Battle of Lorraine (14 August – 7 September 1914) was a battle on the Western Front during the First World War. The armies of France and Germany had completed their mobilisation, the French with Plan XVII, to conduct an offensive throug ...

, the principal French offensive by the First and Second armies, the Army of Alsace advanced cautiously into the border province of

Lorraine Lorraine , also , , ; Lorrain: ''Louréne''; Lorraine Franconian: ''Lottringe''; german: Lothringen ; lb, Loutrengen; nl, Lotharingen is a cultural and historical region in Northeastern France, now located in the administrative region of G ...

(). The French reached the area west of Mulhouse by 16 August and fought their way into the city by 19 August. The German survivors were pursued eastwards over the Rhine and the French took Joffre ordered the offensive to continue but by 23 August, preparations were halted as news of the French defeats in Lorraine and the Ardennes arrived. On 26 August, the French withdrew from Mulhouse to a more defensible line near Altkirch, to provide reinforcements for the French armies closer to Paris. The Army of Alsace was disbanded, the VII Corps was transferred to the Somme area in Picardy and the 8th Cavalry Division was attached to the First Army, to which two more divisions were sent later. The German 7th Army took part in the counter-offensive in Lorraine with the German 6th Army and in early September was transferred to the

Aisne Aisne ( , ; ; pcd, Ainne) is a French department in the Hauts-de-France region of northern France. It is named after the river Aisne. In 2019, it had a population of 531,345.Anglo-French Entente (1904) led the Belgians to believe that the British saw Belgium as a British protectorate. A Belgian General Staff was formed in 1910 but the ,

Harry Jungbluth Harry Alfred Jungbluth (Mons, Belgium, April 27, 1847 – Brussels, March 27, 1930) was a Belgian general, who was head of the military household of King Albert I between 1912 and 1930. During World War I he was sidelined for political reasons, e ...

, was retired on 30 June 1912 and was replaced only in May 1914, by

Antonin de Selliers de Moranville Antonin Leonard Maurice Ghislain, Knight de Selliers de Moranville ( Saint-Josse-ten-Noode 1852 – Ixelles 1945) was a Belgian General. Family He was born into an old catholic noble family; his father was Léonard de Selliers de Moranville, k ...

. He began planning for the concentration of the army in the centre of the country and met with railway officials on 29 July. The field army was to assemble in front of the National redoubt of Belgium, ready to face any border, while the Fortified Position of Liège and Fortified Position of Namur were left to secure the frontiers. On mobilisation, the King became Commander-in-Chief and chose where the army was to concentrate. Amid the disruption of the new rearmament plan, the disorganised and poorly-trained Belgian soldiers would benefit from a central position to delay contact with an invader. The army would also need fortifications for defence but they were on the frontier and there was a school of thought that wanted a return to a frontier deployment, in line with French theories of the offensive. Belgian plans became an unsatisfactory compromise, in which the field army concentrated behind the Gete river with two divisions forward at Liège and Namur.

Schlieffen–Moltke Plan

German strategy had given priority to offensive operations against France and a defensive posture against Russia since 1891. German planning was determined by numerical inferiority, the speed of mobilisation and concentration and the effect of the vast increase of the power of modern weapons. Frontal attacks were expected to be costly and protracted, leading to limited success, particularly after the French and Russians modernised their fortifications on the frontiers with Germany. Alfred von Schlieffen Chief of the

Imperial Imperial is that which relates to an empire, emperor, or imperialism. Imperial or The Imperial may also refer to: Places United States * Imperial, California * Imperial, Missouri * Imperial, Nebraska * Imperial, Pennsylvania * Imperial, Texas ...

German General Staff (, ''OHL'') from devised a plan to evade the French frontier fortifications with an offensive on the northern flank, which would have a local numerical superiority and obtain rapidly a decisive victory. By 1898–1899, such a manoeuvre was intended to rapidly pass through Belgium, between Antwerp and Namur and threaten Paris from the north. Helmuth von Moltke the Younger succeeded Schlieffen in 1906 and was less certain that the French would conform to German assumptions. German strategy would need to become more opportunistic, and Moltke modified German plans, to make them less rigid, making the offensives of 1914 the opening moves of what was expected to be a long war with no certainty of victory. Moltke adapted the deployment and concentration plan, to accommodate an attack in the centre or an enveloping attack from both flanks, by adding divisions to the left flank opposite the French frontier, from the expected to be mobilised in the (western army). The main German force would still advance through Belgium and attack southwards into France, the French armies would be enveloped on the left and pressed back over the Meuse, Aisne, Somme, Oise, Marne and Seine, unable to withdraw into central France. The French would be annihilated, or the manoeuvre from the north would create conditions for victory in the centre or in Lorraine.

Plan XVII

Under Plan XVII, the French peacetime army was to form five field armies of with "Groups of Reserve Divisions" attached to each army and a Group of Reserve Divisions on each of the extreme flanks. The armies were to concentrate opposite the German frontier around Épinal, Nancy and Verdun–Mezières, with an army in reserve around Ste Ménéhould and

Commercy Commercy () is a commune in the Meuse department in Grand Est in north-eastern France. The 18th-century Lorraine historian Nicolas Luton Durival (1713–1795) was born in Commercy. History Commercy dates back to the 9th century, and at that time ...

. Since 1871, railway building had given the French General Staff sixteen lines to the German frontier, against the thirteen available to the German army, and the French could wait until German intentions were clear. The French deployment was intended to be ready for a German offensive in Lorraine or through Belgium. It was anticipated that the Germans would use reserve troops but also expected that a large German army would be mobilised on the border with Russia, leaving the western army with sufficient troops only to advance through Belgium south of the Meuse and the Sambre rivers. French intelligence had obtained a map exercise of the German general staff of 1905, in which German troops had gone no further north than Namur and assumed that plans to besiege Belgian forts were a defensive measure against the Belgian army. A German attack from south-eastern Belgium towards Mézières and a possible offensive from Lorraine towards Verdun, Nancy and St Dié was anticipated; the plan was an evolution from Plan XVI and made more provision for the possibility of a German offensive through Belgium. The First, Second and Third armies were to concentrate between Épinal and Verdun opposite Alsace and Lorraine, the Fifth Army was to assemble from Montmédy to Sedan and Mézières and the Fourth Army was to be held back west of Verdun, ready to move east to attack the southern flank of a German invasion through Belgium or southwards against the northern flank of an attack through Lorraine. No formal provision was made for combined operations with the British Expeditionary Force (BEF), but joint arrangements had been made, In 1911, during the Second Moroccan Crisis, the French had been told that six divisions could be expected to operate around Maubeuge.

Declarations of war

At midnight on the German government sent an ultimatum to Russia and announced a state of . During the day, the Ottoman government ordered mobilisation, and the London Stock Exchange was closed. On 1 August, the British government ordered the mobilisation of the navy, and the German government ordered general mobilisation and declared war on Russia. Hostilities commenced on the Polish frontier, the French government ordered general mobilisation, and the next day, the German government sent an ultimatum to Belgium, demanding passage through Belgian territory, as German troops crossed the frontier of Luxembourg. Military operations began on the French frontier, Libau was bombarded by a German light cruiser and the British government guaranteed naval protection for French coasts. On 3 August, the Belgian government refused German demands and Britain guaranteed military support to Belgium if Germany invaded. Germany declared war on France, the British government ordered general mobilisation and Italy declared neutrality. On 4 August, the British government sent an ultimatum to Germany and declared war on Germany at midnight on Central European Time. Belgium severed diplomatic relations with Germany, and Germany declared war on Belgium. German troops crossed the Belgian frontier and attacked Liège.

Prelude

German preparations

In 1908, Moltke began to alter plans for operations on the left wing of the German armies against France and chose XIV Corps to protect Upper Alsace and several brigades to secure the Upper Rhine. Later plans added forces to the region and by 1909, the 7th Army had three corps and a reserve corps, with two corps from Wissembourg to Saverne and Strasbourg, one corps on the west (left bank) of the Rhine from Colmar to Mulhouse and the reserve corps on the east (right bank) of the Rhine. The 6th Army was to assemble between Metz and Sarrebourg in Lorraine, massing eight corps on the left wing of the German armies in the west (), which with fortress garrisons and troops, changed the ratio of forces between the left and right wings of the from Moltke added forces to the left wing after concluding that a possible French offensive into Alsace and Lorraine, particularly from Belfort, had become a certainty. The 7th Army was to defeat an offensive in Alsace and co-operate with the 6th Army to defeat an offensive in Lorraine. After 1910, the 7th Army was to attack with the 6th Army towards the Moselle below Frouard and the Meurthe; provision was also made for the movement of troops to the right wing of the German armies by reserving trains and wagons in the region. The deployment plan for the allocated to the 7th Army ( Josias von Heeringen) the XIV and XV corps, the XIV Reserve Corps and the 60th Brigade, to deploy from Strasbourg to Mulhouse and Freiburg im Breisgau and the command of fortresses at Strasbourg and

Neuf-Brisach Neuf-Brisach ( or ; ; gsw-FR, Nei-Brisach) is a fortified town and commune of the department of Haut-Rhin in the French region of Alsace. The fortified town was intended to guard the border between France and the Holy Roman Empire and, subs ...

. The 1st and 2nd Bavarian brigades, 55th Brigade, Regiment 110 and a battery of heavy field howitzers were also added to the army under the provisional command of the XIV Corps commander. In 1914, the Swiss frontier was guarded by XIV Corps with the 58th Brigade and by XV Corps from Donon to the , with several infantry regiments, battalions, some artillery and cavalry. The mobilisation and deployment was completed from 8 to 13 August but the German troops were concentrated further north than anticipated, to be ready to meet a French offensive from Belfort with

concentric In geometry, two or more objects are said to be concentric, coaxal, or coaxial when they share the same center or axis. Circles, regular polygons and regular polyhedra, and spheres may be concentric to one another (sharing the same center poin ...

counter-attacks from the north and east.

French preparations

The (First Army) mobilised with the VII, VIII, XIII, XXI, XIV corps and the 6th Cavalry Division. VII Corps, with the 14th and 41st divisions, a brigade of the 57th Reserve Division from Belfort and the 8th Cavalry Division, was detached from the First Army on 7 August for independent operations in southern Alsace. An attack into Alsace would begin the redemption of the ''lost provinces'' and demonstrate to Russia that the French army was fighting the common enemy. Bonneau reported a large concentration of German troops in the area and recommended delay but Joffre over-ruled him and ordered the attack to commence. Joffre issued General Order No. 1 on 8 August, in which the operation by VII Corps was to pin down the German forces opposite and to attract reserves away from the main offensive further north.

Battle

French capture of Mulhouse, 8 August 1914

A few border skirmishes took place after the declaration of war and German reconnaissance patrols found that the French had a chain of frontier posts, supported by larger fortified positions further back. After 5 August, more patrols were sent out as French troops advanced from

Gérardmer Gérardmer (; or archaic ''Geroldsee'', and ''Giraumoué'' in local Vosgian) is a commune in the Vosges department in Grand Est in northeastern France. Population Culture The Festival international du film fantastique de Gérardmer (literal ...

to the

Col de la Schlucht The Col de la Schlucht (elevation ) is a mountain pass in the Vosges Mountains of France. On the west side lies the historical region of Lorraine (Lothringen in German), on the east side lies the historical region of Alsace (Elsass in German). Th ...

(Schlucht Pass), where the Germans retreated and blew up the tunnel. Joffre had directed the First and Second armies to engage as many German divisions as possible to assist French forces operating further north. The French VII Corps (General Louis Bonneau) with the 14th Division (General Louis Curé), the 41st Division (General Paul Superbie) with the 8th Cavalry Division (General Louis Aubier) on the flank. The French advanced from Belfort to Mulhouse and

Colmar Colmar (, ; Alsatian: ' ; German during 1871–1918 and 1940–1945: ') is a city and commune in the Haut-Rhin department and Grand Est region of north-eastern France. The third-largest commune in Alsace (after Strasbourg and Mulhouse), it i ...

to the north-east but were hampered by the breakdown of the supply service and delays. The French seized the border town of Altkirch south of Mulhouse with a bayonet charge for a loss of killed. On 8 August, Bonneau cautiously continued the advance and occupied Mulhouse, shortly after the German 58th Infantry Brigade retreated. The First Army commander, General

Auguste Dubail Augustin Yvon Edmond Dubail (15 April 1851 – 7 January 1934) was a French Army general. He commanded the First Army and Army Group East during World War I. Biography Augustin Dubail was born in Belfort on April 15, 1851. He graduated fro ...

, preferred to dig in and wait for mobilisation to finish but Joffre ordered the advance to continue. In the early morning of 9 August, parts of the XIV and XV Corps of the German 7th Army arrived from Strasbourg and counter-attacked at Cernay. The German infantry emerged from the Hardt forest and advanced into the east side of the city. Communication on both sides failed and both fought isolated actions, the Germans making costly frontal attacks. As night fell, inexperienced German troops at the suburb of

Rixheim Rixheim (; Alsatian: ''Rixe'') is a commune in the Haut-Rhin department in Grand Est in northeastern France. It forms part of the Mulhouse Alsace Agglomération, the inter-communal local government body for the Mulhouse conurbation. Geography ...

, east of Mulhouse, fired wildly, wasting huge amounts of ammunition and occasionally shooting at each other, one regiment suffering killed, and Mulhouse was recaptured on 10 August and Bonneau withdrew towards

. Further north, the French XXI Corps made costly attacks on mountain passes and were forced back from

Badonviller Badonviller (; ) is a commune in the Meurthe-et-Moselle department in northeastern France. Geography Climate Badonviller has a oceanic climate (Köppen climate classification ''Cfb''). The average annual temperature in Badonviller is . The aver ...

and Lagarde, where the 6th Army took prisoners and eight guns; civilians were accused of attacking German troops and subjected to reprisals. German counter-attack, Mulhouse, 9 August 1914

German counter-attack, Mulhouse, 9 August 1914

Joffre put General

in command of a new Army of Alsace and sacked () Bonneau. The new army was reinforced with the 44th Division, the 55th Reserve Division, the 8th Cavalry Division and the 1st Group of Reserve Divisions (58th, 63rd and 66th Reserve divisions), to re-invade Alsace on 14 August as part of the larger offensive by the and into Lorraine. Rupprecht of Bavaria planned to move two corps of the 7th Army towards Sarrebourg and Strasbourg; Heeringen objected because the French had not been decisively defeated but most of the 7th Army was moved north. The Army of Alsace began the new offensive against four brigades. The fought a delaying action as the French advanced from Belfort with two divisions on the right passing through Dannemarie at the head of the valley of the Ill river. On the left flank, two divisions advanced with Chasseur battalions, which had moved into the Fecht valley on 12 August. On the evening of 14 August, Thann was captured. The most advanced troops had passed beyond the suburbs of Cernay and Dannemarie on the western outskirts of the city by 16 August. On 18 August, VII Corps attacked Mulhouse and captured Altkirch on the south-eastern flank as the northern flank advanced towards Colmar and Neuf-Brisach. Second French capture of Mulhouse, 18 August 1914

Second French capture of Mulhouse, 18 August 1914

The Germans were forced back from high ground west of Mulhouse on both banks of the Doller and into the Mulhouse suburbs, where a house-to-house battle took place. The streets and houses of Dornach were captured systematically and by the evening of 19 August, the French again controlled the city. (The commander of the French 88th Division, General Louis Victor Plessier was mortally wounded in the battle at Zillisheim.) After being overrun, the Germans withdrew hastily through the Hardt forest to avoid being cut off and crossed the Rhine pursued by the French, retreating to

Ensisheim Ensisheim (; gsw-FR, Anze) is a commune in the Haut-Rhin department in Grand Est in north-eastern France. It is also the birthplace of the composer Léon Boëllmann. The Germanic origins of the village's name reflect the area's history. Amo ...

, to the north. The French captured and considerable amounts of equipment. With the capture of the Rhine bridges and valleys leading into the plain, the French had gained control of Upper Alsace. The French consolidated the captured ground and prepared to continue the offensive but the German 7th Army was left free to threaten the right flank of the , which moved troops to the right flank. On 23 August, preparations were suspended as news arrived of the French defeats in Lorraine and Belgium and next day, the VII Corps was ordered to move to the Somme. On 26 August, the French withdrew from Mulhouse to a more defensible line near Altkirch, to provide reinforcements for the French armies closer to Paris and the 55th Brigade re-occupied the town. The Army of Alsace was disbanded and the 8th Cavalry Division was attached to the First Army, two more divisions being sent later.

Aftermath

Analysis

Troops in the first French invasion of the war had encountered the extent of German firepower and the consequences of some of the flaws in the French army, which had an excess of elderly commanders, a shortage of regimental officers and was deficient in supplies of maps and intelligence. Despite tactical instructions stressing combined-arms operations and the importance of firepower, cavalry and infantry were poorly trained and attacked swiftly, with little tactical finesse. The German XIV and XV corps had been diverted from their concentration areas and by 13 August, had become exhausted and disorganised by the battle. Those citizens of Alsace who unwisely celebrated the appearance of the French army, were left to face German reprisals. The Army of Alsace was dissolved on 26 August and many of its units distributed among the remaining French armies. In a 2009 publication, Holger Herwig wrote that the French attacks at Mulhouse had been fought in the wrong place (the south) for the wrong reason (prestige). Joffre only wanted German forces pinned down in the south and the Germans wanted the same but the '' fog of war'' described by

Clausewitz Carl Philipp Gottfried (or Gottlieb) von Clausewitz (; 1 June 1780 – 16 November 1831) was a Prussian general and military theorist who stressed the "moral", in modern terms meaning psychological, and political aspects of waging war. His most ...

had descended. In his 2014 edited translation of 1914 by Karl Deuringer (1929) Terence Zuber wrote that the French official history concentrated on formations no smaller than corps, that army records of the operations are sparse, regimental histories are of limited value and there are no monographs.

Casualties

Information on casualties during the fighting around Mulhouse is incomplete but during the first French advance, were killed in the capture of Altkirch. In 2009, Holger Herwig wrote that on 10 August, the German Infantry Regiment 112 suffered killed, and during the counter-attack on Mulhouse. The fighting on 19 August resulted in ''severe'' German casualties, one company being reduced from to sixteen. It is also known that and troops were taken prisoner in the region of Mulhouse.

Notes

Footnotes

Bibliography

Books * * * * * * * * * * Encyclopaedias * Reports * Websites *

External links

Firstworldwar.com: Battle of Mulhouse

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mulhouse, Battle of Battles of the Western Front (World War I) Conflicts in 1914 1914 in Germany Battle of Mulhouse Battles of World War I involving France Battles of World War I involving Germany Mulhouse Battle of Mulhouse August 1914 events