page_title: Battle of Hartmannswillerkopf
section_title: Background
hierarchical_section_title: Battle of Hartmannswillerkopf / Background
caption_attribution_description: English: Map of French capture of Mulhouse, 8 August 1914
context_page_description: The Battle of Hartmannswillerkopf/Hartmannsweilerkopf was a series of engagements during the First World War fought for the control of the Hartmannswillerkopf peak in Alsace in 1914 and 1915. The peak is a pyramidal rocky spur in the Vosges mountains, about 5 km north of Thann, standing at 956 m and overlooking the Alsace Plain, Rhine valley and the Black Forest in Germany. Hartmanswillerkopf was captured by the French army during the Battle of Mulhouse. From the vantage point, Mulhouse and the Mulhouse–Colmar railway could be seen and the French railway from Thann to Cernay and Belfort shielded from German observation.
  The two French invasions and captures of Mulhouse by the French VII Corps and then the Army of Alsace, were repulsed by the German 7th Army. Both sides then stripped the forces in Alsace to reinforce the armies fighting on the Marne, Aisne and further north. For the rest of 1914 and 1915, both sides made intermittent attempts to capture Hartmanswillerkopf.
context_section_description: A few border skirmishes took place after Germany declared war on France; after 5 August, more German patrols were sent out as French attacks increased. French troops advanced from Gérardmer to the Col de la Schlucht (Schlucht Pass), where the Germans retreated and blew up the tunnel. The French VII Corps (Général Louis Bonneau) comprising the 14th and 41st divisions, advanced from Belfort to Mulhouse and Colmar 35 km (22 mi) to the north-east, suffered supply difficulties but seized the border town of Altkirch, 15 km (9.3 mi) south of Mulhouse, with a bayonet charge. On 8 August, Bonneau cautiously continued the advance and occupied Mulhouse, shortly after its German defenders had left. In the early morning of 9 August, parts of the XIV and XV Corps of the German 7th Army arrived from Strasbourg and counter-attacked at Cernay; Mulhouse was liberated by German troops on 10 August and Bonneau withdrew towards Belfort.
  Général Paul Pau was put in command of a new Armée d'Alsace to re-invade Alsace on 14 August, as part of a larger offensive by the First Army and the Second Army into Lorraine. The Armée d'Alsace began the new offensive against four German Landwehr brigades, which fought a delaying action as the French advanced from Belfort, two divisions on the right passing through Dannemarie at the head of the valley of the Ill river. On the left flank, two divisions advanced with several Chasseur battalions, which had moved into the Fecht valley on 12 August. On the evening of 14 August, Thann was captured and the most advanced French troops reached the western outskirts of the city by 16 August. On 18 August, VII Corps attacked Mulhouse and captured Altkirch on the south-eastern flank. By the evening of 19 August, the French had occupied the city, having captured 24 guns, 3,000 prisoners and considerable amounts of equipment. With the capture of the Rhine bridges and valleys leading into the plain, the French had gained control of Upper Alsace but on 26 August the French withdrew from Mulhouse to a more defensible line near Altkirch, to provide reinforcements for the French armies closer to Paris.
caption: French capture of Mulhouse, 8 August 1914
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