Battle of The Frontiers - Aftermath

Aftermath

With the failure of Plan XVII, the French and British armies began the Great Retreat to the Marne River, pivoting on the fortress of Verdun. Fearing annihilation, Sir John French favoured withdrawing the BEF to the coast of the English Channel from where it could be evacuated but the British Secretary of State for War, Lord Kitchener, despite having never favoured the BEF's role alongside the French army, now insisted they remain in contact.

The Schlieffen Plan, while still on course, was beginning to come to pieces under the tentative control of Moltke. The opening of the Russian offensive in East Prussia and the unforeseen attack in Lorraine had drained the German right wing that was descending on Paris. Von Kluck's decision to take his First Army east of the French capital exposed his right flank which the Allies exploited in the First Battle of the Marne in early September, halting the German advance.

For the French, their hope of a swift, decisive victory had evaporated and they now sought to avoid defeat. For Joffre, the reason for the failure of Plan XVII lay with his subordinates, claiming defeat stemmed from "grave shortcomings on the part of commanders." Any generals, of corps or division, who in Joffre's opinion had failed to perform were ruthlessly sacked. Despite the wisdom of his decision to retreat instead of counter-attack on 23 August, General Lanrezac was sent into retirement and replaced by Franchet d'Esperey, starting his rapid rise through the ranks.

By the end of August, the French Army had suffered 75,000 dead of which 27,000 were killed on 22 August alone, making it a day to rival the first day on the Somme for bloodshed. Total French casualties for the first month of the war were 260,000 of which 140,000 were sustained during the climactic final four days of the battle of the Frontiers.