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Joffre enters Mulhouse after successful attack on Alsace, declares victory.
Joffre, after activating the French plan XVII whose goal was to regain Alsace Lorraine and invade the German Ruhr industrial areas, made attackes with the "Army of Lorraine" on the town of Mulhouse, a French town captured by Germany during the Franclo-Prussian war of 1870 and retained by that nation. The French saw recovery of these regions as key to their strategy. After a few days of fighting, they were able to take Mulhouse. Upon entering the town Joffre posted this message:
CHILDREN of ALSACE! After forty-four years of sorrowful waiting, French soldiers once more tread the soil of your noble country. They are the pioneers in the great work of revenge. For them what emotions it calls forth, and what pride! To complete the work they have made the sacrifice of their lives. The French nation unanimously urges them on, and in the folds of their flag are inscribed the magic words, "Right and Liberty". Long live Alsace. Long live France. General-in-Chief of the French Armies, JOFFRE.
While billed as a success, Mulhouse was a limited victory that almost lost France the war. First, it caused Joffre to ignore the envelopment that was forming on the left despite the cries of the general of the 5th Army that the main force of the German attack would be nearly 15 divisions stricking his area in a few days. Second, the Mulhouse invasion was unsustainable. The French did not have the machine guns or heavy artillery to match German firepower and suffered nearly 3000 casualties. The Mulhouse gain would be lost a few days later and the third negative effect was that the people of Mulhouse suffered deadly reprisal by the Germans for "treason."
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