<P> The French deployed five armies on the frontier . The French Plan XVII was intended to bring about the capture of Alsace - Lorraine . On 7 August, the VII Corps attacked Alsace to capture Mulhouse and Colmar . The main offensive was launched on 14 August with the First and Second Armies attacking toward Sarrebourg - Morhange in Lorraine . In keeping with the Schlieffen Plan, the Germans withdrew slowly while inflicting severe losses upon the French . The French Third and Fourth Armies advanced toward the Saar River and attempted to capture Saarburg, attacking Briey and Neufchateau but were repulsed . The French VII Corps captured Mulhouse after a brief engagement on 7 August but German reserve forces engaged them in the Battle of Mulhouse and forced a French retreat . </P> <P> The German Army swept through Belgium, executing civilians and razing villages . The application of "collective responsibility" against a civilian population further galvanised the allies . Newspapers condemned the German invasion, violence against civilians and destruction of property, which became known as the "Rape of Belgium". After marching through Belgium, Luxembourg and the Ardennes, the Germans advanced into northern France in late August, where they met the French Army, under Joseph Joffre, and the divisions of the British Expeditionary Force under Field Marshal Sir John French . A series of engagements known as the Battle of the Frontiers ensued, which included the Battle of Charleroi and the Battle of Mons . In the former battle the French Fifth Army was almost destroyed by the German 2nd and 3rd Armies and the latter delayed the German advance by a day . A general Allied retreat followed, resulting in more clashes at the Battle of Le Cateau, the Siege of Maubeuge and the Battle of St. Quentin (also called the First Battle of Guise). </P> <P> The German Army came within 70 km (43 mi) of Paris but at the First Battle of the Marne (6--12 September), French and British troops were able to force a German retreat by exploiting a gap which appeared between the 1st and 2nd Armies, ending the German advance into France . The German Army retreated north of the Aisne River and dug in there, establishing the beginnings of a static western front that was to last for the next three years . Following this German retirement, the opposing forces made reciprocal outflanking manoeuvres, known as the Race for the Sea and quickly extended their trench systems from the Swiss frontier to the North Sea . The territory occupied by Germany held 64 percent of French pig - iron production, 24 percent of its steel manufacturing and 40 percent of the coal industry--dealing a serious blow to French industry . </P> <P> On the Entente side (those countries opposing the German alliance), the final lines were occupied with the armies of each nation defending a part of the front . From the coast in the north, the primary forces were from Belgium, the British Empire and then France . Following the Battle of the Yser in October, the Belgian army controlled a 35 km (22 mi) length of West Flanders along the coast, known as the Yser Front, along the Yser river and the Yperlee canal, from Nieuwpoort to Boesinghe . Meanwhile, the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) occupied a position on the flank, having previous occupied a more central position . </P>

Where was the initial german offensive on world war i western front stopped in september 1914