September 1914.
The Allied retreat from Belgium and Eastern France ended just south of the Marne River. The German 1st Army, following quickly behind the British Expeditionary Force (B.E.F.) aborted the Schlieffen Plan which called for it to hook around west of Paris. Instead, 1st Army edged east of Paris and sought to link up with the 2nd Army. The French 5th and 9th Armies, along with the B.E.F., regrouped and tried to decide if their present location was the place to make their final stand.
Meanwhile, to the west, a newly created French Army, the 6th, left Paris and lurched toward the German 1st Army's right flank. The next 6 days would see the high-water mark for the German Army in World War 1. They would never again be so close to Paris, and victory.
