Siege of Maubeuge
The siege of Maubeuge (French siège de Maubeuge or bataille de Maubeuge "Battle of Maubeuge") was the first siege of the army of the German Empire on French soil during the First World War . It began on August 28, 1914 and officially ended on September 8, 1914 with the surrender of Maubeuge .
prehistory
After the Franco-Prussian War from July 1870 to May 1871, the fortress ring of Maubeuge was built according to plans by the general and military engineer Séré de Rivières : Fort Leveau in Feignies , five other fortresses and six intermediate structures. It was built around the citadel built by Vauban (1633–1707) and was considered a major pillar of the border defense. The main task of the fortress was to protect the crossings over the Sambre as well as several railways converging here .
siege
Following the Schlieffen Plan , the German army marched into Belgium on August 4, 1914. She wanted to cross neutral Belgium with infantry, cavalry and artillery in order to then take Paris . It was hoped that this would lead to a quick victory over France. Although the Allies tried to stop the German troops at Liège and Namur , the German advance towards the Franco-Belgian border continued.
After landing in France, the British Expeditionary Force gathered under the shelter of Maubeuge fortress. From here it moved north to stand in the way of the German armies on the Mons-Condé Canal , but was defeated by the German 1st Army in the Battle of Mons on August 23 and 24. The German 2nd Army in the east had already thrown the French 5th Army back over the Sambre near Charleroi in the Battle of the Sambre .
While the Allies withdrew to Guise and Saint-Quentin , the VII Army Corps of the 2nd Army reached the area of the Maubeuge fortress on August 25 and began the siege . While the 13th Reserve Division was still in the Liege area, the VII Reserve Corps received orders on August 24th to march on to Binche with the 14th Reserve Division in order to clear the VII Army Corps in front of Maubeuge . After the replacement of General von Eine , Lieutenant General von Zwehl took over the supreme command of the enclosure of the fortress on August 27th.
In the fortress there was a garrison of about 35,000 men, reinforced by ten thousand Allied troops who had lost touch during their retreat. The VII Reserve Corps was left in front of the fortress with two divisions, while the 2nd Army pursued further south.
After the heavy siege artillery, which had previously been used at Namur , had been brought in, the systematic bombardment of the outer forts began on August 29. The main attack was against the northeast front. The forts, mostly made of brick, were no match for the German explosive shells. In addition, the French artillery, a total of more than 400 guns, could not respond effectively to the German due to their shorter firing range. On September 5th, German infantry began to storm several forts. After this was successful, the position of the defenders became hopeless. On September 7th, the fortress governor General Joseph Fournier announced the surrender, which took effect on September 8th.
The siege of Maubeuge lasted more than two weeks, making it one of the longest in World War I. The Germans took over 45,000 prisoners and captured over 400 artillery pieces. Nevertheless, tying up German forces was a success for the Allies, as an entire German army corps was canceled for the Battle of the Marne (September 5–12, 1914).
A museum in Fort de Leveau in Feignies provides information about the history of the fortress.
consequences
The Germans and French saw that fortresses had lost their importance in the face of the stronger artillery.
Also under the impression of the enormous destructive power of the German siege guns in front of Namur and Liège , one saw the importance of strong fortifications in a strong attack with siege guns from a different angle.
This and the fact that after the border battles (including from 22 to 25 September 1914 off Verdun; this had ended the German advance in the Meuse region ) the warring parties concentrated on other sections of the front led to the reassessment that the military Verdun was now considered less important: The Grand Quartier Général under Joffre declared Verdun to be a quiet section. On August 5, 1915, the Verdun fortress was officially downgraded to the center of the Région fortifiée de Verdun - RFV ("Fortified Region of Verdun"). In the months that followed, 43 heavy and 11 light gun batteries were consequently withdrawn from the fortress ring and most of the forts machine guns were handed over to field units. There were now only three divisions of the XX. Corps stationed: the 72nd reserve division from the Verdun region, the 51st reserve division from Lille and the 14th regular division from Besançon. The 37th Division from Algeria was in reserve .
This meant that the French were insufficiently prepared for the Battle of Verdun, which began on February 22, 1916 .
Web links
- Siege of Maubeuge (French)
- Siege of Maubeuge on wegedererinnerung-nordfrankreich.com
Individual evidence
- ↑ Feignies - the Fort de Leveau .
- ↑ The Siege of Maubeuge (August 25 to September 8, 1914) .
- ^ Reichsarchiv Volume I, Mittler und Sohn, Berlin 1925, p. 533
- ↑ a b www.wegedererinnerung-nordfrankreich.com .