In our monster-sized finale of Battle of the Frontiers, we cover the Northern section of the sprawling fight between the French/British/Belgian forces and the German juggernaut. Nicole gives you the strategic outlook for both sides and elegantly ties up all the loose strings. She is setting the stage for the war to come, the battle of trenches, gas, and horror that, at this point, is just around the corner. Mike dives into the nasty nitty-gritty on the battlefields of Haelen, Lorraine, and in the Ardennes. By pulling the narrative from a few of the significant battles that make up the Frontiers, Mike tells the tale of them all. Cullen wraps up the episode with Rossignol's account, 08/22/1914, and  French military history's bloodiest day.  

Music - 

Unser Kaiserhaus by the U.S. Marine Corps Band

We  Lucky Few by Kosta T.

Further Reading

Doughty, Robert A. Pyrrhic Victory: French Strategy and Operations in the Great War. Cambridge: Belknap Press, 2005.

Foch, Ferdinand, and Thomas Bentley Mott. The Memoirs of Marshal Foch. Doubleday, Doran and Company, Incorporated, 1931.

Keegan, John. “Battle of the Frontiers: Lorraine.” The Marshall Cavendish Illustrated Encyclopedia of World War I, Vol. 1, 1984, p. 145-151. 

___________. “Battle of the Frontiers: The Sambre.” The Marshall Cavendish Illustrated Encyclopedia of World War I, Vol. 1, 1984, p. 155-163. 

Trouillard, Stéphanie. “August 22, 1914: The Bloodiest Day in French Military History.” France 24, France 24, 22 Aug. 2014, www.france24.com/en/20140822-august-22-1914-battle-frontiers-bloodiest-day-french-military-history. 

Unknown. Battle of the Frontiers of France, 20-24 August 1914, www.historyofwar.org/articles/battles_frontiers_of_france.html. 

Unknown. “Les Pertes.” Vestiges.1914.1918.Free.fr, vestiges.1914.1918.free.fr/.

Van den Hove, Peter. “Halen,12th of August, 1914. A Forgotten Battle in a Forgotten Landscape?” https://www.researchgate.net/publication/317090646_Halen_12th_of_August_1914_A_forgotten_battle_in_a_forgotten_landscape

Young, Peter. “Battle of the Frontiers: The Ardennes.” The Marshall Cavendish Illustrated Encyclopedia of World War I, Vol. 1, 1984, p. 151-155.