1st September
Western Front
Soissons bombarded and occupied by Germans. The Germans take Soissons and Craonne
French 5th Army crosses the Aisne despite the extreme fatigue of its troops
Pétain takes command of the 6th Division in the 5th Army
The German 1st Army clashes with the French 6th Army and with the retreating BEF south of Compiègne at Néry (where British Battery L fights to its last shell and its last two men), at Crépy-en-Valois, and at Villers-Cottérêts: large-scale cavalry losses cripple the Germans’ ability to scout on their right flank. Both sides fought dismounted and British reinforcements arrived and completely routed the German 4th Cavalry division.
Action at Villers-Cotterets: British 4th (Guards) Brigade checks German advance.
In a tense conference in Paris, Kitchener confronts the sullen Sir John French and orders him to cooperate with the French Army
The gap between the corps of the BEF is finally closed after a week
The panicky British headquarters retreats rapidly from Dammartin: a shaken Henry Wilson orders his staff to “Drive like hell for Paris.”
Joffre receives more reports that the German 1st Army is shifting southeastwards, including evidence from a bloodstained map that was retrieved from a dead German staff officer, but it is not until Sep.03 that this crucial change in direction is clearly confirmed by Allied intelligence
GQG issues General Order No. 4, calling for a continued Allied retreat followed by a counterattack on the German center using troops from Paris
Kluck’s German 1st Army is within thirty miles of Paris
Joffre places the 6th Army under Gallieni’s command
Paris is again bombed by a German aircraft
The French government decides to leave for Bordeaux by the next day
The frightened Paris Prefect of Police resigns “for reasons of health”
Eastern Front
On the Southwest Front, the Russian 4th Army checked the Austro-Hungarian 1st Army's drive before it could reach Lublin. The Austro-Hungarian 3rd and 2nd Armies were retiring west of Lemberg along the line of the Wereszyca River.
In Galicia, the Austro-Hungarian 4th Army briefly occupied Komarov and drove southeast towards Rava Russka to do battle with Ruzskiy's 3rd Russian Army, which was already closing in on Lemberg (Lvov).
East Prussia: General Russian withdrawal towards the Bug.
Asia & Africa
First unit of Indian Expeditionary Force "C" arrives at Mombasa.
General J. Stewart takes over command of British forces in East Africa.
Political, etc.
German ambassador to the US declares, “The war is over. Germany has won….Germany did not desire war; her wish has always been for peace.”
Russia: St. Petersburg renamed "Petrograd".
Naval:
British warships stop two American liners off Hong Kong and detains 60 German and Austrian passengers.
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