Capitulation of Maubeuge
- Category:
- Military operations
- Front:
- Western Front
- Date:
- 7 September 1914
- Author:
- Natalia
- Battle:
- Siege of Maubeuge
- Tags:
- France, Germany, siege artillery
On 7 September 1914 the governor of the French fortress of Maubeuge, General Joseph Fournier, asked the Germans for a truce and agreed terms of capitulation. The fortress on the Sambre, right by the Belgian border, had been holding out since the end of August. The capitulation came into effect on 8 September.
A fortress encircled
Maubeuge was left on its own when, after the defeats at Charleroi and Mons, the French and British forces withdrew to the south. At the end of August the German Second Army surrounded the fortress, and its capture was entrusted to General Hans von Zwehl and his VII Reserve Corps. Heavy siege artillery was brought from Namur, including German 420 mm and Austro-Hungarian 305 mm mortars.
The bombardment began on 29 August. The forts, built mostly in the 1880s, could not withstand hits from the heaviest shells. From 3–4 September the shelling intensified, and German infantry forced their way through breaches in the ring of defences. The garrison, made up largely of older reservists, attempted sorties but failed to break the encirclement.
The end of resistance
By the beginning of September most of the forts and fortifications on the north-eastern side of the fortress had been destroyed or taken by the Germans. On the evening of 6 September a council of war called by Fournier concluded that further resistance was impossible. On 7 September the governor opened negotiations, and terms of capitulation were agreed the same day. The fortress was handed over to the Germans on 8 September.
Almost the entire garrison went into captivity. Sources differ on the number of prisoners, giving figures from about 32,000–33,000 to over 40,000 men. The Germans also captured several hundred guns, some of them damaged. Fournier spent the rest of the war as a prisoner. In 1920, like every commandant who had surrendered a fortress, he was tried by court martial. He was accused, among other things, of not destroying the guns and ammunition before the capitulation. The court acquitted him.
Significance
Maubeuge fell in the days when the fate of the campaign was being decided on the Marne. Its resistance was not in vain, however. For almost two weeks the fortress tied down considerable German forces and blocked an important railway line from Belgium into France, hampering the supply of the German right-wing armies. The VII Reserve Corps, released after the capitulation, did not arrive in time for the Battle of the Marne. It reached the Aisne on 13 September, just in time to close the gap in the front of the retreating Germans.
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Meanwhile
(04)Elsewhere in the same days.
- 7 September 1914 · AfricaNaval operations off Duala beginOn 7 September 1914 British warships began operations at the mouth of the Wouri, preparing the Allied attack on Duala, the main port of German Kamerun.
- 6 September 1914 · Balkan FrontSerbs cross the Sava and begin the operation in SyrmiaOn 6 September 1914 the Serbian army crossed the Sava into Austro-Hungarian Syrmia. At Mitrovica the Timok Division was routed.
- 8 September 1914 · Balkan FrontSecond Austro-Hungarian invasion of SerbiaDuring the night of 7/8 September 1914 Potiorek's armies crossed the Drina again. Austria-Hungary meant to draw the Serbs out of Syrmia and avenge Cer.
- 8 September 1914 · Balkan FrontBattle of the Drina beginsOn 8 September 1914 Austro-Hungarian troops crossed the Drina. In the mountains of western Serbia a battle began that turned into trench warfare.
Related events
(04)The same battle, people or subject.
- 25 August 1914 · Western FrontSiege of Maubeuge beginsOn 25 August 1914 German troops began to encircle the French fortress of Maubeuge on the Sambre, left behind by the retreating Allies.
- 25 August 1914 · Western FrontGermans capture NamurOn 25 August 1914 the last forts of Namur capitulated. The Belgian fortress at the confluence of the Sambre and the Meuse fell after a five-day siege.
- 21 August 1914 · Western FrontGermans attack the fortress of NamurOn 21 August 1914 German siege artillery began shelling the forts of Namur. The fortress, held by the Belgian 4th Division, fell after five days.
- 27 September 1914 · Western FrontSiege of Antwerp beginsOn 27 September 1914 the Germans began the siege of Antwerp, Belgium's last fortress. The next day heavy mortars began to smash the outer forts.