First World War.com - Battles - The Battle of the Frontiers, 1914

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No Man's Land Battles: The Battle of the Frontiers, 1914
Updated - Sunday, 12 August, 2001

The Battle of the Frontiers comprises five offensives launched under French Commander-in-Chief Joseph Joffre and German Chief of Staff Helmuth von Moltke's initiative during the first month of the war, August 1914.

The battles - at Mulhouse, Lorraine, the Ardennes, Charleroi and Mons - were launched more or less simultaneously, and marked the collision of both French and German invasion plans (Plan XVII and the Schlieffen Plan, respectively), each battle impacting the course of others.

Click here to view a map of the Battle of the Frontiers.

	The Battle of Mulhouse
	Opened 7 August
	The Invasion of Lorraine
	Opened 14 August
	The Battle of the Ardennes
	Opened 21 August
	The Battle of Charleroi
	Opened 21 August
	The Battle of Mons
	Opened 23 August

Photograph courtesy of Photos of the Great War website.

A 'whizzbang' was a high-velocity, low-trajectory shell that made a shrill approach noise and then a sharp explosive report.