Germans leave Lille
- Category:
- Military operations
- Front:
- Western Front
- Date:
- 5 September 1914
- Author:
- Łukasz Skowroń
- Tags:
- France, Germany, Lille, German occupation
On 5 September 1914 the British chronicle of the war recorded that German troops had evacuated Lille. The great industrial city in northern France, declared an open city earlier, had been undefended since the end of August, and German cavalry patrols had been appearing in the area.
On 2 September the first larger German detachment entered the city. According to local sources, the Germans held members of the municipal authorities as hostages to ensure the obedience of the inhabitants. After about three days they left. Holding the city was not important to them at the time, because the main forces of the German right wing were marching south, towards the Marne and Paris, and every soldier was needed at the front.
The inhabitants’ relief did not last long. After the Battle of the Marne the front moved north, and both sides tried to outflank each other in the race to the sea. At the beginning of October the Germans returned to Lille, defended by a small French garrison. After a heavy bombardment the city capitulated and was occupied on 13 October. This time the occupation lasted four years, until October 1918.
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Meanwhile
(04)Elsewhere in the same days.
- 5 September 1914 · Eastern FrontBattle of the Masurian Lakes beginsAt the beginning of September 1914 Hindenburg's German Eighth Army moved against Rennenkampf's Russian First Army. The Battle of the Masurian Lakes began.
- 5 September 1914 · AfricaDefence of AbercornOn 5 September 1914 troops from German East Africa crossed the border of Northern Rhodesia. The small garrison of Abercorn held out until relief arrived.
- 5 September 1914 · DiplomacyPact of LondonOn 5 September 1914 in London Britain, France and Russia pledged not to make a separate peace. The Entente became a formal wartime alliance.
- 4 September 1914 · DiplomacyGermany accepts the Declaration of LondonOn 4 September 1914 Germany confirmed it would observe the Declaration of London if other states did the same, and set out its own list of contraband.
Related events
(04)The same battle, people or subject.
- 12 October 1914 · Western FrontCapitulation of LilleOn 12 October 1914, after heavy bombardment, the French garrison of Lille surrendered. For the city a German occupation lasting four years began.
- 27 August 1914 · Western FrontGerman cavalry at the gates of LilleIn late August 1914 German cavalry patrols reached undefended Lille. The real occupation of the city began only in October.
- 13 September 1914 · Western FrontFrench retake Soissons and AmiensIn mid-September 1914 the Germans, retreating after the Battle of the Marne, left Soissons and Amiens. French troops returned to both cities.
- 14 September 1914 · Western FrontGermans leave ReimsIn mid-September 1914 the Germans withdrew from Reims but dug in on the nearby hills. On 14 September the shelling of the city began. It lasted four years.