The Battle of Mulhouse, also called the Battle of Alsace, which began on 7 August 1914, was the opening attack of the First World War by the French Army against the German Empire. The battle was part of a French attempt to recover the province of Alsace, which France had ceded to the new empire following its defeat in the Franco-Prussian War of 1870–1871. The French occupied Mulhouse on 8 August and were then forced out by German counter-attacks on 10 August. The French retired to Belfort, where General Louis Bonneau, the VII Corps commander, was sacked, along with the commander of the 8th Cavalry Division. Events further north led to the German XIV and XV corps being moved away from Belfort and a second French offensive by the French VII Corps, reinforced and renamed the French Army of Alsace, began on 14 August.
Operations in Alsace, 1914
Le Soir, 4 August 1914
Western Front deployments, 2 August 1914
Course of the Ill River through Alsace
Mulhouse is a city of the European Collectivity of Alsace, close to the Swiss and German borders. It is the largest city in Haut-Rhin and second largest in Alsace after Strasbourg.
Mulhouse
Mulhouse joining Alsace 100th anniversary medal 1898 by Frédéric Vernon, obverse
Reverse of the medal
Forts of Mulhouse 1650