August 10, 1916 
LAND & WATER 
17 
The Legends of the Marne 
By Colonel Feyler 
FOR more than a year the great majority of the 
German pubHc remained in complete ignorance 
of the battle of the Marne, and it was not until 
two or three months ago that military and 
civil journalists were allowed to give a version, quite evi- 
dently inspired, of this action. In order to concede that 
the battle was a victory for the Allies, yet without ad- 
mitting too much, these gentlemen transform the retreat 
of the Imperial armies from the Marne to the' Aisne into 
a general strategic retirement having for its successfully 
accomphshed object there-establishment of full control of 
the situation in the hands of the German Staff. 
It is interesting to note with what energy an attempt 
is being made to spread this version at the present time, 
for this is not the first story that has been written around 
the subject of the fighting that took place between 
September 6th and 12th, 1914; there are two quite 
distinct German versions alone, the comparison of which 
should make most interesting reading. 
An examination will, therefore, fall into two separate 
parts, the first dealing with the German reports at the 
actual time of the engagement, which, taken as a whole, 
constitute our first version. The Legend of 1914 ; the 
second dealing with the subsequent version, which we 
may well call The Legend of 1916. We shall also enquire 
into what justification there may be for the substitu- 
tion of the second for the first version. 
German News during the Battle 
We will first call to mind the actual frets of the battle 
of the Marne. On the morning of September 6th General 
Joffre issued orders to the Allied Armies to pass to the 
offensive upon the whole front from Paris to Verdun. 
Simultaneously, an army which had been concentrated 
north of Paris under the orders of General Maunoury was 
to attack the German right flank upon the river Ourcq. 
This right flank was composed of the ist German Army 
under General von Kluck, who, by turning to face 
Maunoury, so weakened the front south of the Marne 
that the whole German order of battle was compromised ; 
a gap gradually opened between von Kluck and the armies 
on his immediate left, and the British Force, together 
with the French army under General Franchet d'Esperey 
exercised suflicient pressure on this gap to threaten the 
continuity of the enemy fine. The German armies, 
therefore, rather than face the consequence of such a 
dislocation, commenced to retire on the evening of Septem- 
ber loth, and on the nth were in full retreat. This was 
a lost battle for the Germans. 
Up to the evening of the loth, however, that is to say, 
up to the last moment before the retreat commenced, 
the German information bureau was dumb, and no com- 
munique was issued by the Staff. It was not until the 
loth and nth that the silence was broken by the three 
following telegrams : 
Berlin, September loth. 
" East of Paris our detachments that had advanced up 
to and across the Marne were attacked by superior forces 
debouching from Paris and between Meaux and Mont- 
niirail. They were able to hold the enemy and alter 
severe fighting which lasted for two days were even able 
to make progress. Upon the report, however, of the 
approach of strong enemy reinforcements, our wing was 
withdrawn without being pursued by the enemy at any 
point. During the fighting 50 guns and many thousand 
prisoners were taken. Our detachments fighting to the 
west of Verdun have made progress." 
Berlin, September nth. 
" The army of the Crown Prince took possession on 
Thursday of the enemy's fortified position situated south- 
west of Verdun. Detachments of this army are attacking 
the southern forts of Verdun, which have since Wednesday 
been under the fire of our heavy guns." 
Berhn, September nth. 
" Up to September nth approximately 220,000 prisoners 
have been brought to Germany, viz. : 
French : i,6So officers and 86,700 men. 
Russians 1830 officers and 91,400 men. 
Belgians 440 officers and 30,200 men. 
Engfish : 160 officers and 7,350 men. 
Amongst the officers are two French Generals, fifteen 
Russian Generals and the commander of the garrison of 
Liege. 
A further large number of prisoners is at the moment 
en route for the various camps." 
Of these three telegrams only two refer to the battle, 
and they announce success at the very moment when 
the battle was undeniably lost. The third seems intended 
to mask the real state of affairs by dwelling on the positive 
advantages gained since the commencement of the war. 
The news, notwithstanding, made its way through the 
world ; minute details were given, and the British Press 
especially reproduced with great satisfaction General 
French's reports, describing the general retreat and close 
pursuit of the German line, the crossing of the Marne 
by the British army corps and the prisoners and guns 
that had been taken. Whereupon we have the Berlin 
telegram of the 14th. 
" The Great General Staff reports that operations on the 
Western front, whereof the details cannot yet be published, 
have resulted in a new battle, favourable to our arms. The 
news which is being spread in every possible manner by our 
enemies is false." 
To reinforce this military dementi, a statement was also 
issued by the civil authorities : 
" The foVeign Office categorically denies, as being pun 
invention, the stories pubhshed in the London press of 
September I3t]i, relating to German defeats. The Foreign 
Office declare that we have lost neither guns nor prisoners 
before Paris. On the contrary, we have taken 50 guns 
and thousands of prisoners. 
" The situation before Paris is favourable." 
" The French attempt to br_eak the German front has 
been victoriously repulsed." 
(Signed) Zimmermann. 
On the day following, September i6th, a Wolff despatca, 
reproducing a telegram sent from General Headquarters 
at 9 p.m. on the previous .day, confirms these two 
dementis : 
" The battle which has been raging for two days on the 
right wing of our armies on the Western front has spread 
eastwards towards our forces operating at Verdun. Up 
to the present we can report local successes for the German 
armies at various parts of the immense battle-field ; the 
fighting is still in progress." 
This telegram was the preparation of the Legend 
of 1914, during the development of which the two 
dementis served to cloak the truth ; they may be sum- 
marised in the following three statements : 
I. — All news of the operations published elsewhere than 
in Germany is false. 
2. — Details of the operations cannot yet bs published. 
3. — The operations have led to a new battle, favourable to 
the German arms. 
The Legend of 1914 
Soon after, war-maps were published all over Germany, 
of an especial nature. They were more or less an am- 
plification of a document that had been issued to soldiers 
at the front and sold in Germany in the shape of a field 
letter which they could use for correspondence with 
their families and friends and vice-versa, space being left 
for name and address and a small blank page for writing, 
whilst the document was so arranged that when correctly 
folded and sealed it had almost the appearance of an 
ordinary letter. The document was entitled as follows : 
" Schematische Darstellung der vom Grossen Generalstab 
amthch* bekaunt gegebenen Ivricgsereignisse." 
" Map of the war operations in field-letter form." 
" Diaguammatic* reproduction of the event? of the 
war as officially* reported by the Great General Staff.") 
♦Underlined i.\ original. 
