The seriousness of the situation was made manifest when two days later Great Britain, France and Russia signed a treaty not to make peace separately.

Then it became evident to the nations of the earth that the struggle was not only to be a long one, but in all probability the most gigantic in history.
The Germans reached the extreme point of their advance, culminating in the Battle of the Marne, September 6-10.

Here the generalship of Joffre and the strategy of Foch overcame great odds.

The Germans were driven back from the Marne to the River Aisne.

The battle line then remained practically stationary for three years on a front of three hundred miles.
The Russians under General Rennenkampf were driven from East Prussia September 16.