The first, and in some respects largest, major battle between the French and German armies in WWI. This represented the enactment of the French Plan 17 and German Schlieffen Plan. The French basically failed to take accomplish any of their goals and set themselves up for a bad defense from the German right flank. The French attacked the center in order to split the German army, but were thrown back. In the South they made some progress but had to give it up. As some units progressed their neighbors did not which exposed their flanks. Overall, this was a great victory for the Germans. On the other hand, it did not lead to the decisive victory that the Germans believed they would win. The French losses were important because they gave the Germans access to necessary resources to continue to fuel the war. Because of this the war would drag on for 4 more years after.