Great Retreat

E425730

The Great Retreat was the large-scale withdrawal of Allied forces, particularly the British Expeditionary Force, across northern France and Belgium in the early weeks of World War I to avoid encirclement by advancing German armies.

All labels observed (1)

Label Occurrences
Great Retreat canonical 3

How this entity was disambiguated

Statements (45)

Predicate Object
instanceOf World War I military operation ⓘ
military retreat ⓘ
alsoKnownAs Retreat from Mons ⓘ
linked to: Battle of Mons
belligerent Allied Powers ⓘ
German Empire ⓘ
characteristic continuous fighting withdrawal ⓘ
long daily marches by Allied troops ⓘ
rear-guard actions against German pursuit ⓘ
commander Field Marshal Sir John French ⓘ
General Charles Lanrezac ⓘ
linked to: Charles Lanrezac
conflict World War I ⓘ
countryInvolved France ⓘ
Germany ⓘ
United Kingdom ⓘ
describedIn British official history of the Great War ⓘ
French official histories of World War I ⓘ
endDate 1914-09-05 ⓘ
followedBy First Battle of the Marne ⓘ
hasCause Allied defeats in the Battle of Mons and the Battle of Charleroi ⓘ
advance of German armies in the Schlieffen Plan offensive ⓘ
historicalPeriod early phase of World War I mobile warfare ⓘ
impact contributed to overstretching of German supply lines ⓘ
helped set conditions for the Allied counter-offensive on the Marne ⓘ
involves retreat across the Marne ⓘ
retreat from Mons ⓘ
retreat through Le Cateau ⓘ
location Belgium ⓘ
from the Belgian frontier to the River Marne ⓘ
northern France ⓘ
notableEvent Action at Néry during the retreat ⓘ
Battle of Le Cateau during the retreat ⓘ
objective to avoid encirclement by German forces ⓘ
opposingCommander General Alexander von Kluck ⓘ
linked to: Alexander von Kluck

General Karl von Bülow ⓘ
participant British Expeditionary Force ⓘ
French Army ⓘ
German Army ⓘ
partOf Western Front of World War I ⓘ
linked to: Western Front
precededBy Battle of Charleroi ⓘ
Battle of Mons ⓘ
result preservation of the British Expeditionary Force as a fighting force ⓘ
successful withdrawal of Allied forces to the Marne ⓘ
startDate 1914-08-24 ⓘ
strategicSignificance enabled Allies to regroup and counter-attack on the Marne ⓘ
prevented destruction or capture of the British Expeditionary Force ⓘ

How these facts were elicited

Referenced by (3)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Battle of Mons → hasPart → Great Retreat ⓘ
Battle of Mons → followedBy → Great Retreat ⓘ
Battle of Le Cateau → partOf → Great Retreat ⓘ