Following the surrender of the Leige Forts by the Belgian Army, the German Army continued its push towards Paris under the Schlieffen Plan. The remainder of the Belgian Army had begun to retreat to meet the newly arrived British Expeditionary Force, which was advancing to halt the German drive. The French were being pushed back and slaughtered on the southern end of the front so they were unable to assist the Belgians so the weight of the German advance fell on the small British army.

By August 22, the II Corp of the British Army, under Gen. Horace Smith-Dorrien, had reached the town of Mons and had established defensive positions.

At 6 A.M., on the 23rd, the advanced guard of the German First Army arrived on the outskirts of Mons. B company of the 4th Middlesex Regiment opened fire on the advancing German cavalry and forced them to fall back to the main body. The battle was under way.

Around 9 A.M, the German Infantry had arrived at Mons and were preparing their assault on the north end of the town. 8 German battalions, supported by artillery fire, attacked the 4th Middlesex and 4th Royal Fusiliers positions. On the first assault, the Germans attacked

For a further four days, the British attempted to drive the Germans off of the high ground. All the attempts failed and the attacks stalled. The battle began to expand westward as both sides began a series of attacks and counter-attacks aimed at outflanking the other. As this occurred, the two armies moved closer and closer to the North Sea.

In the middle of October, the Germans launched an offensive along the Lys River. The Germans almost succeeded in breaking the line. The British put up fierce resistance and drove them back. The Belgians only held their line by blowing up all the dikes in the north to flood over the last 10 miles of the trenchline in the far north. This action would cause more problems for the Allies as the lines slowed and stabilized. The water flooded parts of the trenchline as well creating large pools of soft mud. This bogged down the Allies movement of men, artillery and supplies to the extreme north of the line.

September 5 - 10, 1914,The battle of the Morn

The German Chief of Staff, Field Marshal Helmuth von Moltke, began to receive frantic reports from his field commanders informing him of the danger posed to his two armies. He suffered a nervous breakdown on the spot and informed his subordinates to take over. Both the First and Second armies were ordered to withdraw to the Aisne River in order to regroup. On the 10th of September, the battle of the Marne was officially over and the race to the sea had begun.

September 14 - October 20, 1914, The First Battle of Aisne and the Race to the Sea

Some common words found in the essay are:
River Germans, Royal Fusiliers, French Army's, Marne River, British German, II Corps, Army BEF, Expeditionary Force, Germans British, Marshal Helmuth, german army, belgian army, marne river, british forces, german advance, weight german advance, weight german, towards paris, army arrived, 1914 battle, von kluck, commander gen von, guard german army, royal fusiliers positions, gen von kluck,
Approximate Word count = 1751
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page double spaced)