Marne

* Background: In the fall of 1914, after the Germans were halted at the Marne during their initial drive on Paris, the two warring sides dug in at the Aisne River and then became involved in the so-called "Race to the Sea." This was not necessarily an attempt to be the first to reach the English Channel, but rather both armies were trying to outflank each other as they edged northward toward the sea. By October, the Allies reached the coastal town of Nieuwpoort, Belgium. The Germans forced the Belgian army out of Antwerp, sending it fleeing to the coast and then south to the western Belgian town of Ypres. The subsequent battle lines then settled with the BEF taking over the defense from Ypres on south to La Basee, France, while the French entrenched on further to the Swiss border. The town of Ypres was a salient bulging eastward into German lines, and it became an important objective to German Chief of Staff Falkenhayn's plans for breaking through to the ports of Calais and Dunkirk. The town was located just east of those port cities and was also an important communications hub. Ypres, known to the Germans as the Battle for Calais, was also the focal point of two other major engagements during the war: Second Ypres (April-May 1915) and Third Ypres, also called Passchendaele (July-Nov 1917).

* The Germans: There were two German armies participating in Chief of Staff Falkenhayn's attempt to punch through to the Channel: Fourth Army, commanded by Duke Albrecht von Wuerttemberg was positioned north of Ypres, and Sixth Army, commanded by Crown Prince Rupprecht von Bayern was south of town. Albrecht's corps commanders included: Beseler (III. Reserves), Falkenhayn (XXII. Reserves), Kleist (XXIII. Reserves), Huegel (XXVI. Reserves), and Carlowitz (XXVII. Reserves) who was replaced by Richard von Schubert in late October. Rupprecht's corps commanders were: Claer (VII), Fabeck (XIII), Laffert (XIX), and Stein (XIV. Reserves). Joining Rupprecht during the first week of November was Linsingen (II), Deimling (XV), Martini (II. Bavarian) and Plettenberg (Guards). Albrecht's Chief of Staff was Emit Ilse and Rupprecht's was Konrad Krafft von Dellmensingen, both of whom were career officers whose reputations were at stake. They had been appointed to ensure professional standards and were both aware that, apart from their wish to see a German victory, their sectors would be denied full reinforcement and supply if they did not succeed.

Albrecht

Fourth Army	Generalfeldmarschall Herzog Albrecht
III. Reserves	Gen.d.Inf. Hans von Beseler
XXII. Reserves	Gen.d.Kav. Eugen von Falkenhausen
XXIII. Reserves	Gen.d.Kav. Georg von Kleist
XXVI. Reserves	Gen.d.Inf. Otto von Huegel
XXVII. Reserves	Gen.d.Inf. Adolph von Carlowitz
	* Carlowitz replaced by Gen.d.Art. Richard von Schubert on 27 Oct

Sixth Army	Generalfeldmarschall Crown Prince Rupprecht
VII. Corps	Gen.d.Inf. Eberhard von Claer
XIII. Corps	Gen.d.Inf. Max von Fabeck
XIX. Corps	Gen.d.Kav. Maximilian von Laffert
XIV. Reserves	GenLt. Hermann von Stein
	* arrived in November 1916
II. Corps	Gen.d.Inf. Alexander von Linsingen
XV. Corps	Gen.d.Inf. Berthold von Deimling
II. Bavarian	Gen.d.Inf. Karl Ritter von Martini
Guards Corps	Gen.d.Inf. Karl von Plettenberg

* The Battle: In early October, siege troops of Beseler's IIIrd Reserve Corps were transferred from Antwerp along with four newly formed infantry corps to join the Fourth and Sixth Armies at the Ypres salient. The four new corps were comprised largely of youthful, enthusiastic and poorly trained recruits. The battle is remembered by the Germans as Kindermord zu Ypern, the "massacre of innocents at Ypres." Falkenhayn launched an initial nine-day offensive along the northern flank of the 50-mile front in order to envelope the BEF and seize the Channel ports. This would not only be a significant battlefield victory, but it would also be significant for resupply purposes and would deny Britain its most direct route to the continent. The BEF Old Contemptibles (Kaiser Wilhelm had referred to them as a "contemptible little army") were lead by Sir John French and were greatly outnumbered in both men - almost 3 to 1 - as well as artillery.

The northernmost flank was held by the Belgian army, which had not yet recovered from its retreat from Antwerp; this part of the front witnessed the most intensive fighting during the battle's first phase. The Belgians put up much stronger resistance than had been expected but could not hold their position. They fell back to the Dixmude- Nieuwpoort railway line as the Germans crossed the Yser on 24 October. The initial German attack was brought to a halt when, five days later, the Belgians opened the sluice gates at Nieuwpoort and flooded the low-lying area.

Following an unsuccessful Allied counterattack during the last week of October, Falkenhayn, now under extreme pressure to show the Kaiser any kind of result, convinced Rupprecht to form a new Army Group in order to once more go on the offensive. They devised Army Group Fabeck, lead by XIII Corps commander Max von Fabeck. The group was comprised of troops from the XIII Corps, along with Martini's II Bavarian Corps transferred from Peronne and Deimling's XV Corps up from the Aisne. The idea was to attack where the Allies were the weakest: the Gheluvelt Plateau.

After achieving limited results, Falkenhayn prepared for what would be the fourth and final phase of the battle by adding Army Group Linsingen to the fray: Linsingen's II Corps moved into the Gheluvelt area from Roye, incorporating also Deimling's XV Corps and elements from Plettenberg's Guard Corps in the Artois. With Messines Ridge in their possession, there was great hope that with Linsingen's forces concentrated along the Menin Road, they could push through to Ypres as Fabeck was capturing Poperinge, located further west. South of the road, the BEF successfully withstood continuous German attacks, but to the north Linsingen broke through. The Germans hesitated at this critical point, however, even though there was nothing in front of them apart from a thin line of British guns.

Rupprecht

After achieving limited results, Falkenhayn prepared for what would be the fourth and final phase of the battle by adding Army Group Linsingen to the fray: Linsingen's II Corps moved into the Gheluvelt area from Roye, incorporating also Deimling's XV Corps and elements from Plettenberg's Guard Corps in the Artois. With Messines Ridge in their possession, there was great hope that with Linsingen's forces concentrated along the Menin Road, they could push through to Ypres as Fabeck was capturing Poperinge, located further west. South of the road, the BEF successfully withstood continuous German attacks, but to the north Linsingen broke through. The Germans hesitated at this critical point, however, even though there was nothing in front of them apart from a thin line of British guns.

In the end, there was to be no decisive success for Falkenhayn, the heavy rains and snows bringing First Ypres to a close. The outnumbered BEF suffered heavy casualties, reduced to half of its original strength, but the line was held. This battle marked the end of open warfare on the Western Front as the two sides entrenched themselves along a 600-mile line, stretching from the North Sea to the Swiss Alps. German casualties at First Ypres are estimated at well over 130,000.