At right: Soldiers of the 2nd Battalion, Scots Guards digging out mud from a trench near Reu Petillon, 19 November 1914. Source: By permission of the Imperial War Museum. In the Public Domain.

The First Battle of Ypres was a significant military engagement during World War I that occurred between 19 October and 22 November 1914. This battle was part of the wider First Battle of Flanders that occurred between the German, French, Belgian and British armies. It was fought from Arras in France to Nieuwpoort on the Belgian coast, with the battles at Ypres marking the end of the Race to the Sea. In this phase, both sides attempted to advance beyond the northern flank of the enemy.

The battle at Ypres has been divided into five stages, with the first being an encounter-like battle between 19 to 21 October. The second, called the Battle of Langemarck, occurred between 21 and 24 October, followed by the battles at La Bassée and Armentières to 2 November. Concurrently, there were Allied attacks at Ypres and the Battle of Gheluvelt from 29 to 31 October, initiating the third phase of the battle. The fourth phase witnessed the last big German offensive that culminated in the Battle of Nonne Bosschen on 11 November, which was followed by local operations that faded out in late November.

The battle began on 19 October 1914, when General Erich von Falkenhayn of the German army launched a limited offensive with the goal of capturing the strategically important town of Ypres in Belgium. The Allied forces, consisting of British, French, and Belgian troops, fought back with fierce resistance, using improvised field fortifications to repel German attacks. The ensuing battles were brutal and costly, with casualties on both sides mounting rapidly.

Although attacks by the BEF, the Belgians, and the French Eighth Army in Belgium failed to advance beyond Ypres, the German 4th and 6th Armies took small amounts of ground at great cost to both sides during the Battle of the Yser and further south at Ypres. By November 8, Falkenhayn had accepted that the coastal advance had failed and that taking Ypres was impossible. The German army had engaged 34 divisions in the battles, while the French had twelve, the British nine, and the Belgians six, along with marines and dismounted cavalry. Industrial warfare between mass armies had become indecisive, as troops could only move forward over heaps of dead. The defensive firepower of artillery and machine-guns had dominated the battlefield, while field fortifications had neutralized many classes of offensive weapon. General Erich von Falkenhayn, the head of the German General Staff, attempted a limited offensive to capture Ypres and Mont Kemmel between 19 October and 22 November. However, neither side was able to obtain a decisive victory because both sides were exhausted by November. The armies were short of ammunition, morale was low, and some infantry units refused orders. The autumn battles in Flanders had become static and were characterised by attrition operations, unlike the manoeuvre battles of summer. French, British, and Belgian troops, in improvised field defences, repulsed German attacks for four weeks.

Photo at right: World War One Trenches, Flanders, Ypres, Belgium. Source: War History Network license.

Between 21 and 23 October, German reservists made mass attacks at Langemarck, with losses of up to 70 percent, but with little effect. Nevertheless, the military engagement showed that the warfare between mass armies, equipped with the weapons of industrialisation, was indecisive. This was because field fortifications neutralised many classes of offensive weapons, and the defensive firepower of artillery and machine guns dominated the battlefield. Additionally, the ability of the armies to supply themselves and replace casualties prolonged battles for weeks.

During the First Battle of Ypres, thirty-four German divisions fought against twelve French, nine British, and six Belgian divisions, along with marines and dismounted cavalry. Over the winter, Falkenhayn reconsidered Germany's stance on the war, as the strategy of Vernichtungsstrategie and the imposition of a dictated peace on France and Russia had exceeded German resources. As such, he devised a new strategy that aimed to detach either Russia or France from the Allied coalition through diplomacy and military action. The strategy of attrition would make the cost of the war too great for the Allies until one dropped out and made a separate peace. The remaining belligerents would have to negotiate or face Germany concentrated on the remaining front, which would be sufficient for Germany to inflict a decisive defeat.

The casualties of the First Battle of Ypres were staggering. British casualties from 14 October to 30 November were 58,155, French losses were 86,237 men and of 134,315 German casualties in Belgium and northern France, from 15 October to 24 November, 46,765 losses were incurred on the front from the Lys to Gheluvelt, from 30 October to 24 November. (Stevenson 2004, 76) In total, 50,000–85,000 French casualties, 21,562 Belgian casualties, 58,000 British casualties, and c. 80,000 German casualties were recorded. (Lloyd 2021, 72-73)

The impact of the battle on the morale of the soldiers was devastating. Both sides were exhausted, short of ammunition, and suffering from collapses in morale, with some infantry units refusing orders. The autumn battles in Flanders had quickly become static, attrition operations, unlike the battles of maneuver in the summer. Field fortifications had neutralized many classes of offensive weapon and the defensive firepower of artillery and machine-guns had dominated the battlefield; the ability of the armies to supply themselves and replace casualties kept battles going for weeks.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Beckett, Ian F. The Great War: 1914-1918. London: Routledge, 2014.

Ferguson, Niall. The Pity of War: Explaining World War I. New York: Basic Books, 1999.

Herwig, Holger H. The First World War: Germany and Austria-Hungary 1914-1918. London: Arnold, 1997.

Leonhard, Jörn. Pandora’s Box: A History of the First World War. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2018.

Lloyd, Nick. The Western Front: A History of the Great War, 1914-1918. New York: Liveright Publishing, 2021.

Meyer, G. J. A World Undone: The Story of the Great War, 1914 to 1918. New York: Bantam, 2007.

Stevenson, David. 1914-1918: The History of the First World War. London: Penguin, 2004.

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