It was Sept. 6, 1914 and the German army was only 30 miles east of Paris. The Germans thought the Great War would be fast, short and brutal. They had no reason to believe otherwise.
In just a few months, Berlin had pushed through Belgium and into France. Its war machine crushed all opposition. A month before, the French army had lost 27,000 soldiers killed in one day during the Battle of Frontiers. The speed and power of the German army horrified French commanders.
Another massive battle was taking shape in the farmlands east of Paris near the Marne River. France knew that if it lost there, the Germans would surround Paris and win the war.
France needed troops to the front line and it needed them fast. The trains and every available piece of military transport were already sending young men to the front. It wasnât enough. But Paris did have taxis ⦠thousands of them.
And so the taxis collected thousands of soldiers and rushed them to the front lines. Those needed reinforcements helped turn the tide of the battle, allowing the French army to beat back the Germans. Taxis saved Paris.
MILITARY HISTORY SOCIETY OF ROCHESTER
ROCHESTERMILITARY.COM
