Germans take Sedan

The old British chronology of the war records the German capture of Sedan, a town on the Meuse in the French Ardennes, under 29 August 1914. In reality German infantry had entered the town on the morning of 25 August, and the French finally left it the following day. The fighting for the crossings and the surrounding heights on the left bank of the river went on, however, until 28 August, as part of the Battle of the Meuse between the French 4th Army and the German 4th Army of Duke Albrecht of Württemberg. Only after that was the whole area in German hands.

The capture of Sedan was symbolic for both sides. It was here, on 1–2 September 1870, during the Franco-Prussian War, that the French army suffered a crushing defeat and Emperor Napoleon III was taken prisoner. In Germany the anniversary of the Battle of Sedan was celebrated as a national holiday, known as Sedan Day. For the French the town’s name was a symbol of national humiliation.

Sedan remained under German occupation for more than four years, until the last days of the war in November 1918. A quarter of a century later the town’s name again became a byword for French defeat: in May 1940 it was at Sedan that German panzer divisions broke through the front on the Meuse.