The Battle of Liege, 1914

The Battle of Liege signified the first land battle of the war, as the German Second Army crossed the frontier into neutral Belgium (since 1839) so as to attack France from the north. The Schlieffen Plan had started.


The Battle of Mulhouse, 1914

The Battle of Mulhouse, one of the August Battles of the Frontiers, comprised the opening French attack of the war, and began at 05:00 on 7 August 1914.

Forming a fundamental component of France war strategy, Plan XVII, the Battle of Mulhouse was intended to secure the recapture of Alsace (with Lorraine to follow separately), territories lost to Germany as a consequence of losing the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-71.