Retreat from Mons
| Great Retreat | |||||||||
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| Part of the Western Front of World War I | |||||||||
 British retreat, 28 August – 5 September |
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| Belligerents | |||||||||
 France United Kingdom
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 German Empire
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| Commanders and leaders | |||||||||
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Joseph Joffre John French
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Helmuth von Moltke
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The Great Retreat, also known as the Retreat from Mons, is the name given to the long withdrawal to the River Marne, in August and September 1914, by the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) and the French Fifth Army, Allied forces on the Western Front in World War I, after their defeat by the Imperial German armies at the Battle of Charleroi (21 August) and the Battle of Mons (23 August). A counter-offensive by the Fifth Army, with some assistance from the BEF at the First Battle of Guise (Battle of St. Quentin 29–30 August), failed to end the German advance and the Franco-British retreat continued to and beyond the Marne. From 5–12 September, the First Battle of the Marne ended the Allied retreat and forced the German armies to retire towards the Aisne river and fight the First Battle of the Aisne (13–28 September). Reciprocal attempts to outflank the opposing armies to the north followed, known as the Race to the Sea (17 September – 17 October).
The Battle of the Frontiers is a general name for all of the operations of the French armies until the Battle of the Marne. A series of encounter battles began between the German, French and Belgian armies, on the German-French frontier and in southern Belgium on 4 August 1914. The Battle of Mulhouse (Battle of Alsace 7–10 August) was the first French offensive of World War I against Germany. The French captured Mulhouse until forced out by a German counter-attack on 11 August and fell back toward Belfort. The main French offensive, the Battle of Lorraine (14–25 August), began with the Battles of Morhange and Sarrebourg (14–20 August) advances by the First Army on Sarrebourg and the Second Army towards Morhange. Château Salins near Morhange was captured on 17 August and Sarrebourg the next day. The German 6th and 7th armies counter-attacked on 20 August, the Second Army was forced back from Morhange and the First Army was repulsed at Sarrebourg. The German armies crossed the border and advanced on Nancy but were stopped to the east of the city.
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