What were the German and French tactics used in the first battle of the Marne?
The French chose to defend the south bank of the Marne, with Paris on their left flank and the Luxembourg border on their right. However, Joffre, the French commander, knew that the German were concentrated on the centre and the left (German right, of course) and so he strengthened these parts of the line. The German command had, by September 4 1914, decided to abandon the Schifflen plan to invade France and tried to march to the south-east around paris and advance on the bulk of the french army south of the marne. But the french battalions defending paris saw a chance to attack von Kluck on the German right flank, and did so. By the time the German command realised that the actions around paris were more than a nuisance, the french had opened a huge gap in the German line, and Joffre used that to pour his reserve into, and split the German line.
