Plan XVII
| Plan XVII | |
|---|---|
| Part of First World War | |
 Joseph Joffre 
 Grand Est
Grand Est, the modern French administrative region of north-eastern France (including Alsace and Lorraine)
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| Operational scope | Strategic |
| Location |
Lorraine, northern France and Belgium 48°45′15.84″N 05°51′6.12″E / 48.7544000°N 5.8517000°ECoordinates: 48°45′15.84″N 05°51′6.12″E / 48.7544000°N 5.8517000°E |
| Planned | 1912–1914 |
| Planned by | Joseph Joffre and Conseil Supérieur de la Guerre |
| Commanded by | Joseph Joffre |
| Objective | Decisive defeat of Imperial German Army |
| Date | 7 August 1914 |
| Executed by | French Army |
| Outcome | Failure |
| Casualties | 329,000 |
Plan XVII (pronounced: [plɑ̃ dis.sɛt]) was the name of a "scheme of mobilization and concentration" that was adopted by the French Conseil Supérieur de la Guerre (the peacetime title of the French General Staff) from 1912–1914, to be put into effect by the French Army in the event of war between France and Germany. Though it was not "a prescribed narrative for the campaign" or battle plan, the deployment made possible a prompt invasion of Germany and/or Belgium before Germany could mobilise its reserves, simultaneous to a Russian invasion of East Prussia. The plan was implemented from 7 August 1914, with disastrous consequences for the French, who were defeated in the Battle of the Frontiers (7 August – 13 September) at a cost of 329,000 casualties. The French northern armies were forced into a retreat as far as the Marne river, where in the First Battle of the Marne (5–12 September), the German armies were defeated and forced back to the Aisne river.
From 1874–1880, General Raymond Adolphe Séré de Rivières (20 May 1815 – 16 February 1895) oversaw the construction of the Séré de Rivières system, a line of fortresses 65 km (40 mi) long from Belfort to Épinal and another line of similar length from Toul to Verdun, about 40 km (25 mi) back from the frontier. The River Meuse flows northwards from Toul to Verdun, Mézières and Givet on the Belgian border and a tributary of the Moselle between Belfort and Épinal, that run near-parallel to the 1871–1919 French-German border. The Trouée de Charmes (Charmes Gap), 70 km (43 mi) wide, between Épinal and Toul was left unfortified and Nancy was to the east, 12 km (7.5 mi) from the German frontier. A second series of fortifications, to prevent the main line being outflanked was built in the south, from Langres to Dijon and in the north from La Fère to Rheims and from Valenciennes to Maubeuge, although for financial reasons these defences were not complete in 1914.
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