![]() Both sides were engaged in chaotic face-to-face fighting. J-M S: Tactically, the Germans had the upper hand. Up to 7,000 men were killed in that small zone, and many more killed at Charleroi further north.į24: Who bears the ultimate responsibility for this carnage? His subordinates didn’t know what to do and the men of the division, without orders, stayed where they were and were annihilated as they fought the German encirclement. He went off into the battle on his own and was soon killed. Its commander, General Raffenel, had gone mad. J-M S: A division of colonial infantry – made up mostly of men from Brittany and southern France, not of colonial troops – found itself in dire straits. The army also had a class of officers which, while being extremely courageous, were willing to sacrifice their lives – and those of their men – rather than withdraw strategically, as they should have done.į24: The day’s fighting at the Belgian village of Rossignol stands out… Sadly, this inexperience would cost many lives. There were many painful lessons to be learned in static warfare that still had to be learned. In each case, the French lost a lot of ground and left many of their wounded behind because they were not adequately trained in defensive warfare and because their artillery was badly exploited. For different reasons, all of these armies fought on that same day as part of 15 different assaults, with no coordination between them. ![]() Hundreds of thousands of troops from both sides were exposed to death that day.įrance had five armies positioned from east to west, from Alsace and Lorraine to the Belgian border. Firstly, an incredible number of soldiers were mobilized at the same time. Jean-Michel Steg: The deadliest months of the war were the first ones, between August and October, 1914. ![]() ![]() Jean-Michel Steg, a historian who has written extensively on this military catastrophe – which nevertheless stopped the German “Schlieffen Plan” in its tracks – says he is as “haunted” by the fateful date as he is perplexed as to why it has slipped from the national consciousness.įRANCE 24: What exactly happened on August 22, 1914? It remains France’s highest ever death toll in a single day, despite being followed by four years of brutal and bloody conflict.Īs many French lives were lost on August 22, 1914, as during the entire Algerian War, fought between 19. Exactly 100 years ago this Friday, 27,000 French soldiers died in less than 24 hours. ![]()
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