The First Battle of the Marne saw French and British forces successfully halt the German advance on Paris.
It was a reversal of fortune as the German Army had enjoyed successive victories on the Western Front until the First Battle of the Marne.
Belgium had fallen and French forces alongside the British Expeditionary Force were in retreat.
The battle is significant as it marks the failure of the Schlieffen Plan and the beginnings of stalemate.
The German Schlieffen Plan aimed to knock France out of the war within a matter of weeks before Russia could mobilise its forces. This would allow Germany to avoid a war on two fronts.
The successful halt of the German march on Paris therefore ultimately meant that the First World War would develop into a conflict of trench warfare and attrition.
Posted by: Daniel Barry, Centenary News