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French refugees, 1914Vintage Video: French Refugees, 1914
 Updated - Saturday, 3 January, 2004

When the war began in August 1914 the German Army saw sweeping initial progress through France and Belgium; the Schlieffen Plan appeared to be set for success.

Although Germany's hopes for a rapid victory in the west was dealt a death blow with defeat at the Marne in early September 1914, the early war of movement - to be replaced after the Marne by a lengthy war of trench attrition, at least on the Western Front - brought with it a steady stream of Belgian and French refugees seeking to keep ahead of advancing German forces.

Click here to view film footage of a stream of French refugees fleeing their homes in 1914 (Windows Media, 14 seconds, 380KB).

"Monkey Meat" was the nickname used to describe French canned beef.

Original Material © Michael Duffy 2000-07, SafeSurf Rated