Battle of the Marne: German troops arrive at the gates of Paris; from this moment until 1918; the Germans will remain on the defensive with the only notable exception of Verdun; the French have only 300 heavy guns, the Germans have 3,500 including the fearsome Krupp Big Bertha, 420mm (144km range); in the battle the French will lose 300,000 men including 4,778 officers
