10 Years Later - The Major Battles - The Battle of the Marne

On September 4, 1914, the rapid progresses of the German army through Belgium and northern France caused panic in the French army and troops were rushed from Paris in taxis to halt the advance. Combined with the BEF (British Expeditionary Force) the Germans were eventually halted and the War settled into the familiar defensive series of entrenchment's.
Ironically, by the end of May, 1918, the Germans had again reached the Marne after the enormous successes of Ludendorff's offensives of that year. The intervening four years had cost hundreds of thousands of lives and the armies were still, literally, exactly where they had started.

This is a adequately short summary of The Battle Of The Marne.

Retired Field Marshall Alfred Baptiste Laurent.