text:
Battle of Mons
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search
Battle of Mons
Part of the Battle of the Frontiers of World War I

"A" Company of the 4th Battalion, Royal Fusiliers (City of London Regiment), part of 9th Brigade of 3rd Division, resting in the town square at Mons before entering the line prior to the Battle of Mons. The Royal Fusiliers faced some of the heaviest fighting in the battle and earned the first Victoria Cross of the war.
Date
23 August 1914
Location
Mons, Belgium
50°27′N 03°57′E / 50.450°N 3.950°E / 50.450; 3.950Coordinates: 50°27′N 03°57′E / 50.450°N 3.950°E / 50.450; 3.950
Result
See aftermath section
Belligerents
United Kingdom German Empire
Commanders and leaders
Sir John French
Sir Horace Smith-Dorrien Alexander von Kluck
Strength
2 corps
1 cavalry division
1 cavalry brigade
300 guns 4 corps
3 cavalry divisions
600 guns
Casualties and losses
1,638 2,000–5,000
Mons
Mons: Belgian town and capital of Hainaut
[show]
v
t
e
Western Front
1914
Belgium
Halen
Liège
Dinant
Namur
Frontiers
Charleroi
Mons
Great Retreat
1st Marne
1st Aisne
Antwerp
Race to the Sea
Yser
1st Ypres
Winter operations
1st Artois
1915
1st Champagne
Hartmannswillerkopf
Neuve Chapelle
2nd Ypres
2nd Artois
2nd Champagne
Loos
3rd Artois
1916
Verdun
Somme
1917
Alberich
Nivelle
Arras
2nd Aisne
Hills
Messines
3rd Ypres (Passchendaele)
La Malmaison
1st Cambrai
1918
Spring
Michael
Lys
3rd Aisne
2nd Marne
Hundred Days
Amiens
[show]
v
t
e
German invasion of Belgium, 1914
Battles
Haelen
Liège
Dinant
Namur
Charleroi
Mons
Antwerp
Nete
Buggenhout
Yser
1st Ypres
Langemarck
Gheluvelt
Nonne Bosschen
Associated articles
Rape of Belgium
German occupation of Belgium
German occupation of Luxembourg
[show]
v
t
e
Battle of the Frontiers 1914
Mulhouse
Haelen
Lorraine
Dinant
Ardennes
Rossignol
Charleroi
Mons
Trouée de Charmes
Grand Couronné
The Battle of Mons was the first major action of the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) in the First World War. It was a subsidiary action of the Battle of the Frontiers, in which the Allies clashed with Germany on the French borders. At Mons, the British Army attempted to hold the line of the Mons–Condé Canal against the advancing German 1st Army. Although the British fought well and inflicted disproportionate casualties on the numerically superior Germans, they were eventually forced to retreat due both to the greater strength of the Germans and the sudden retreat of the French Fifth Army, which exposed the British right flank. Though initially planned as a simple tactical withdrawal and executed in good order, the British retreat from Mons lasted for two weeks and took the BEF to the outskirts of Paris before it counter-attacked in concert with the French, at the Battle of the Marne.
Contents
[hide]
1 Background
2 Prelude
2.1 British defensive preparations
2.2 German offensive preparations
3 Battle
3.1 Morning
3.2 Retreat
3.3 German 1st Army
3.4 Air operations
4 Aftermath
4.1 Analysis
4.2 Casualties
5 Legacy
6 See also
7 Notes
8 Footnotes
9 References
10 Further reading
11 External links
Background[edit]
Britain declared war on Germany on 4 August 1914 and on 9 August, the BEF began embarking for France.[1] Unlike Continental European armies, the BEF in 1914 was exceedingly small. At the beginning of the war, the German and French armies numbered well over a million men each, divided into eight and five field armies respectively; the BEF had c. 80,000 soldiers in two corps of entirely professional soldiers made up of long-service volunteer soldiers and reservists. The BEF was probably the best trained and most experienced of the European armies of 1914.[2] British training emphasised rapid-fire marksmanship and the average British soldier was able to hit a man-sized target fifteen times a minute, at a range of 300 yards (270 m) with his Lee–Enfield rifle.[3] This ability to generate a high volume of accurate rifle-fire played an important role in the BEF's battles of 1914.[4]
Map of area of initial BEF operations, 1914
The Battle of Mons took place as part of the Battle of the Frontiers, in which the advancing German armies clashed with the advancing Allied armies along the Franco-Belgian and Franco-German borders. The BEF was stationed on the left of the Allied line, which stretched from Alsace-Lorraine in the east to Mons and Charleroi in southern Belgium.[5][6] The British position on the French flank meant that it stood in the path of the German 1st Army, the outermost wing of the massive "right hook" intended by the Schlieffen Plan (a combination of the Aufmarsch I West and Aufmarsch II West deployment plans), to pursue the Allied armies after defeating them on the frontier and force them to abandon northern France and Belgium or risk destruction.[7]
The British reached Mons on 22 August.[8] On that day, the French Fifth Army, located on the right of the BEF, was heavily engaged with the German 2nd and 3rd armies at the Battle of Charleroi. At the request of the Fifth Army commander, General Charles Lanrezac, the BEF commander, Field Marshal Sir John French, agreed to hold the line of the Condé–Mons–Charleroi Canal for twenty-four hours, to prevent the advancing German 1st Army from threatening the French left flank. The British thus spent the day digging in along the canal.[9]
Prelude[edit]
British defensive preparations[edit]
See also: Order of battle at Mons
Map of the Battles of Mons and Charleroi, 21–23 August 1914
At the Battle of Mons the BEF had some 80,000 men, comprising the Cavalry Division, an independent cavalry brigade and two corps, each with two infantry divisions.[10] I Corps was commanded by Sir Douglas Haig and was composed of the 1st and 2nd Divisions. II Corps was commanded by Sir Horace Smith-Dorrien and consisted of the 3rd and 5th Divisions.[8] Each division had 18,073 men and 5,592 horses, in three brigades of four battalions. Each division had twenty-four Vickers machine guns – two per battalion – and three field artillery brigades with fifty-four 18-pounder guns, one field howitzer brigade of eighteen 4.5-inch howitzers and a heavy artillery battery of four 60-pounder guns.[11]
The II Corps, on the left of the British line, occupied defensive positions along the Mons–Condé Canal, while I Corps was positioned almost at a right angle away from the canal, along the Mons–Beaumont road (see map).[12] I Corps was deployed in this manner to protect the right flank of the BEF, in case the French were forced to retreat from their position at Charleroi.[8] I Corps did not line the canal, which meant that it was little involved the battle and the German attack was faced mostly by II Corps.[13] The dominant geographical feature of the battlefield, was a loop in the canal, jutting outwards from Mons towards the village of Nimy. This loop formed a small salient which was difficult to defend and formed the focus of the battle.[14]
The first contact between the two armies occurred on 21 August, when a British bicycle reconnaissance team encountered a German unit near Obourg; and Private John Parr became the first British soldier to be killed in the war.[15] The first substantial action occurred on the morning of 22 August. At 6:30 a.m., the 4th Dragoon Guards laid an ambush for a patrol of German lancers outside the village of Casteau, to the north-east of Mons. When the Germans spotted the trap and fell back, a troop of the dragoons, led by Captain Hornby gave chase, followed by the rest of his squadron, all with drawn sabres. The retreating Germans led the British to a larger force of lancers, whom they promptly charged and Captain Hornby became the first British soldier to kill an enemy in the Great War, fighting on horseback with sword against lance. After a further pursuit of a few miles, the Germans turned and fired upon the British cavalry, at which point the dragoons dismounted and opened fire. Drummer Edward Thomas is reputed to have fired the first shot of the war for the British Army, hitting a German trooper.[16][a]
German offensive preparations[edit]
Alexander von Kluck, commander of the German 1st Army at Mons
Advancing towards the British was the German 1st Army, commanded by Alexander von Kluck.[18] The 1st Army was composed of four active corps (II, III, IV, and IX Corps) and three reserve corps (III, IV and IX Reserve corps), although only the active corps took part in the fighting at Mons. German corps had two divisions each, with attendant cavalry and artillery.[18] The 1st Army had the greatest offensive power of the German armies, with a density of c. 18,000 men per 1-mile (1.6 km) of front, or about ten per 1 metre (1.1 yd).[19]
Late on 20 August General Karl von Bülow, the 2nd Army commander, who had tactical control over the 1st Army while north of the Sambre, held the view that an encounter with the British was unlikely and wished to concentrate on the French units reported between Charleroi and Namur, on the south bank of the Sambre; reconnaissance in the afternoon failed to reveal the strength or intentions of the French. The 2nd Army was ordered to reach a line from Binche, Fontaine-l'Eveque and the Sambre next day to assist the 3rd Army across the Meuse by advancing south of the Sambre on 23 August. The 1st Army was instructed to be ready to cover Brussels and Antwerp to the north and Maubeuge to the south-west. Kluck and the 1st Army staff expected to meet British troops, probably through Lille, which made a wheel to the south premature. Kluck wanted to advance to the south-west to maintain freedom of manuoeuvre and on 21 August, attempted to persuade Bülow to allow the 1st Army to continue its manoeuvre. Bülow refused and ordered the 1st Army to isolate Maubeuge and support the right flank of the 2nd Army, by advancing to a line from Lessines to Soignies, while the III and IV Reserve corps remained in the north, to protect the rear of the army from Belgian operations southwards from Antwerp.[20]
On 22 August, the 13th Division of the VII Corps, on the right flank of the 2nd Army, encountered British cavalry north of Binche, as the rest of the army to the east began an attack over the Sambre river, against the French Fifth Army. By the evening the bulk of the 1st Army had reached a line from Silly to Thoricourt, Louvignies and Mignault; the III and IV Reserve corps had occupied Brussels and screened Antwerp. Reconnaissance by cavalry and aircraft indicated that the area to the west of the army was free of troops and that British troops were not concentrating around Kortrijk (Courtrai), Lille and Tournai but were thought to be on the left flank of the Fifth Army, from Mons to Maubeuge. Earlier in the day, British cavalry had been reported at Casteau, to the north-east of Mons. A British aeroplane had been seen at Louvain (Leuven) on 20 August and on the afternoon of 22 August, a British aircraft en route from Maubeuge, was shot down by the 5th Division. More reports had reached the IX Corps, that columns were moving from Valenciennes to Mons, which made clear the British deployment but were not passed on to the 1st Army headquarters. Kluck assumed that the subordination of the 1st Army to the 2nd Army had ended, since the passage of the Sambre had been forced. Kluck wished to be certain to envelop the left (west) flank of the opposing forces to the south but was again over-ruled and ordered to advance south, rather than south-west, on 23 August. [21]
Late on 22 August, reports arrived that the British had occupied the Canal du Centre crossings from Nimy to Ville-sur-Haine, which revealed the location of British positions, except for their left flank. On 23 August, the 1st Army began to advance north-west of Maubeuge, to a line from Basècles to St. Ghislain and Jemappes. The weather had turned cloudy and rainy, which grounded the 1st Army Flieger-Abteilung all day, despite an improvement in the weather around noon. News that large numbers of troops had been arriving at Tournai by train were received and the advance was suspended, until the reports from Tournai could be checked. The IX Corps divisions advanced in four columns against the Canal du Centre, from the north of Mons to Roeulx and on the left (eastern) flank, met French troops at the canal, which was thought to be the junction of the British and French forces. The corps commander, General von Quast, had ordered an attack for 9:55 a.m. to seize the crossings, before the halt order was received. The two III Corps divisions were close to St. Ghislain and General Ewald von Lochow ordered them to prepare an attack from Tertre to Ghlin. In the IV Corps area, General Sixt von Armin ordered an attack on the canal crossings of Péruwelz and Blaton and ordered the 8th Division to reconnoitre from Tournai to Condé and to keep contact with Höhere Kavallerie-Kommando 2 (HKK 2, II Cavalry Corps).[22]
Battle[edit]
Morning[edit]
See also: Battle of Charleroi
At dawn on 23 August, a German artillery bombardment began on the British lines; throughout the day the Germans concentrated on the British at the salient formed by the loop in the canal.[23] At 9:00 a.m., the first German infantry assault began, with the Germans attempting to force their way across four bridges that crossed the canal at the salient.[24] Four German battalions attacked the Nimy bridge, which was defended by a company of the 4th Battalion, Royal Fusiliers and a machine-gun section led by Lieutenant Maurice Dease. Advancing at first in close column, "parade ground formation", the Germans made easy targets for the British riflemen, who hit German soldiers at over 1,000 yards (910 m), mowing them down by rifle, machine-gun and artillery fire.[25][26] So heavy was the British rifle fire throughout the battle that some Germans thought they were facing batteries of machine-guns.[27]
Map showing the disposition of Allied and German forces at the battles of Mons and Charleroi on 22–23 August
Lieutenant Maurice Dease of the 4th Battalion, Royal Fusiliers. For his actions at Mons, he became one of the first two recipients of the Victoria Cross in the First World War; the award was posthumous
The German attack was a costly failure and the Germans switched to an open formation and attacked again. This attack was more successful, as the looser formation made it more difficult for the British to inflict casualties rapidly. The outnumbered defenders were soon hard-pressed to defend the canal crossings, and the Royal Fusiliers at the Nimy and Ghlin bridges only held on with piecemeal reinforcement and the exceptional bravery of two of the battalion machine-gunners.[28] At the Nimy bridge, Dease took control of his machine gun after the rest of the section had been killed or wounded and fired the weapon despite being shot several times. After a fifth wound he was evacuated to the battalion aid station, where he died.[29] Private Sidney Godley took over and covered the Fusilier retreat at the end of the battle, but when it was his time to retreat he disabled the gun by throwing parts into the canal then surrendered.[30] Dease and Godley were awarded the Victoria Cross, the first awards of the First World War.[31]
To the right of the Royal Fusiliers, the 4th Battalion, Middlesex Regiment, and the 1st Battalion, Gordon Highlanders, were equally hard-pressed by the German assault on the salient. Greatly outnumbered, both battalions suffered heavy casualties but with the addition of reinforcements from the Royal Irish Regiment, from the divisional reserve and fire support from the divisional artillery, they managed to hold the bridges.[32] The Germans expanded their attack, assaulting the British defences along the straight reach of the canal to the west of the salient. The Germans used the cover of fir plantations that lined the northern side of the canal and advanced to within a few hundred yards of the canal, to rake the British with machine-gun and rifle fire. The German attack fell particularly heavily on the 1st Battalion, Royal West Kent Regiment and the 2nd Battalion, King's Own Scottish Borderers, which despite many casualties, repulsed the Germans throughout the day.[33]
Retreat[edit]
By the afternoon, the British position in the salient had become untenable; the 4th Middlesex had 15 officers and 353 other ranks killed or wounded.[34] To the east of the British position, units of the German IX Corps had begun to cross the canal in force, threatening the British right flank. At Nimy, Private Oskar Niemeyer had swum across the canal under British fire to operate machinery closing a swing bridge. Although he was killed, his actions re-opened the bridge and allowed the Germans to increase pressure against the 4th Royal Fusiliers.[35][36]
At 3:00 p.m., the British 3rd Division was ordered to retire from the salient, to positions a short distance to the south of Mons and a similar retreat towards evening by the 5th Division to conform. By nightfall II Corps had established a new defensive line running through the villages of Montrœul, Boussu, Wasmes, Paturages and Frameries. The Germans had built pontoon bridges over the canal and were approaching the British positions in great strength. News had arrived that the French Fifth Army was retreating, dangerously exposing the British right flank and at 2:00 a.m. on 24 August, II Corps was ordered to retreat south-west into France to reach defensible positions along the Valenciennes–Maubeuge road.[37]
The unexpected order to retreat from prepared defensive lines in the face of the enemy, meant that II Corps was required to fight a number of sharp rearguard actions against the Germans. For the first stage of the withdrawal, Smith-Dorrien detailed the 15th Brigade of the 5th Division, which had not been involved in heavy fighting on 23 August, to act as rearguard. On 24 August they fought various holding actions at Paturages, Frameries and Audregnies. During the engagement at Audregnies the 1st Battalions of the Cheshire and Norfolk Regiments temporarily checked the German advance from Quiévrain and Baisieux despite being heavily outnumbered and took resultant very heavy losses, though in return with the support of the 5th Brigade artillery assets they also inflicted heavy casualties on the advancing German regiments. An evening roll call of the Cheshires 1st Battalion, who had not received an issued withdrawal order, indicated that their establishment had been reduced by almost 80 per cent.
At Wasmes, elements of the 5th Division faced a big attack, German artillery began bombarding the village at daybreak, and at 10:00 a.m. infantry of the German III Corps attacked. Advancing in columns, the Germans were immediately met with massed rifle and machine-gun fire and were "mown down like grass."[38] For a further two hours, soldiers of the Northumberland Fusiliers, 1st West Kents, 2nd Battalion, King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry, 2nd Battalion, Duke of Wellington's Regiment, and 1st Battalion, Bedfordshire Regiment, held off German attacks on the village despite many casualties and then retreated in good order to St. Vaast.[39]
On the extreme left of the British line, the 14th and 15th Brigades of the 5th Division were threatened by a German outflanking move and were forced to call for help from the cavalry.[40] The 2nd Cavalry Brigade, along with the 119th Battery RFA and L Battery RHA, were sent to their aid. Dismounting, the cavalry and the two artillery batteries screened the withdrawal of the 14th and 15th Brigades in four hours of intense fighting.[41]
German 1st Army[edit]
On 23 August, the 18th Division of IX Corps advanced and began to bombard the British defences near Maisières and St. Denis. Part of the 35th Brigade, which contained large numbers of ethnic Danes from Northern Schleswig, got across the canal east of Nimy, with few casualties and reached the railway beyond in the early afternoon but the attack on Nimy was repulsed. The 36th Brigade captured bridges at Obourg against determined resistance, after which the defenders of Nimy gradually withdrew; the bridges to the north were captured at 4:00 p.m. and the town stormed. Quast ordered the 18th Division to take Mons and push south to Cuesmes and Mesvin. Mons was captured unopposed, except for a skirmish on the southern fringe and by dark, the 35th Brigade was in the vicinity of Cuesmes and Hyon. On higher ground to the east of Mons, the defence continued. On the front of the 17th Division, British cavalry withdrew from the canal crossings at Ville-sur-Haine and Thieu and the division advanced to the St. Symphorien–St. Ghislain road. At 5:00 p.m., the divisional commander ordered an enveloping attack on the British east of Mons, who were pushed back after a stand on the Mons–Givry road.[42]
By 11:00 a.m., reports from the IV, III and IX corps revealed that the British were in St. Ghislain and at the canal crossings to the west, as far as the bridge at Pommeroeuil, with no troops east of Condé. Intelligence reports from 22 August, had noted 30,000 troops heading through Dour towards Mons and on 23 August, 40,000 men had been seen on the road to Genlis south of Mons, with more troops arriving at Jemappes. To the north of Binche, the right flanking division of the 2nd Army had been forced back to the south-west by British cavalry. In the early afternoon, the II Cavalry Corps reported that it had occupied the area of Thielt–Kortryk–Tournai during the night and forced back a French brigade, to the south-east of Roubaix. With this report indicating that the right flank was clear of Allied troops, Kluck ordered the III Corps to advance through St. Ghislain and Jemappes on the right of IX Corps and the IV Corps to continue towards Hensis and Thulies; IV Corps was already attacking at the Canal du Centre, the II Corps and the IV Reserve Corps, were following on behind the main part of the army.[43]
III Corps had to advance across meadows, to an obstacle with few crossings, all of which had been destroyed. The 5th Division advanced towards Tertre on the right, which was captured but then the advance on the railway bridge was stopped by small-arms fire, from across the canal. On the left flank, the division advanced towards a bridge north-east of Wasmuel and eventually managed to get across the canal against determined resistance, before turning towards St. Ghislain and Hornu. As dark fell, Wasmuel was occupied and attacks on St. Ghislain were repulsed by machine-gun fire, which prevented troops crossing the canal except at Tertre, where the advance was stopped for the night. The 6th Division was counter-attacked at Ghlin, before advancing towards higher ground south of Jemappes. The British in the village stopped the division with small-arms fire, except for small parties, who found cover west of a path from Ghlin to Jemappes. These isolated parties managed to surprise the defenders at the crossing north of the village, with the support of a few field guns around 5:00 p.m., after which the village was captured. The rest of the division crossed the canal and began a pursuit towards Frameries and Ciply but stopped as dark fell.[43]
The IV Corps arrived in the afternoon, as the 8th Division closed on Hensies and Thulin and the 7th Division advanced towards Ville-Pommeroeuil, where there were two canals blocking the route. The 8th Division encountered the British at the northernmost canal, west of Pommeroeuil and forced back the defenders but then bogged down in front of the second canal, under machine-gun fire from the south bank. The attack was suspended after night fell and the British blew the bridge. The 7th Division forced the British back from a railway embankment and over the canal, to the east of Pommeroeuil but was pushed back from the crossing. Small parties managed to cross by a footbridge built in the dark and protected repair parties at the blown bridge, which allowed troops to get across and dig in 400 metres (440 yd) south of the canal, on either side of the road to Thulin.[44]
Late in the day, the II Corps and the IV Reserve Corps rested on their march routes at La Hamaide and Bierghes, after marching 32 and 20 kilometres (20 and 12 mi) respectively, 30 and 45 kilometres (19 and 28 mi) behind the front, too far behind to take part in the battle on 24 August. In the mid-afternoon of 23 August, IV Corps was ordered to rest, as reports from the front suggested that the British defence had been overcome and the 1st Army headquarters wanted to avoid the army converging on Maubeuge, leaving the right (western) flank vulnerable. In the evening, Kluck cancelled the instruction, after reports from IX Corps reporting that its observation aircraft had flown over a column 3 kilometres (1.9 mi) long, moving towards Mons along the Malplaquet road. Two more columns were seen on the Malplaquet–Genly and the Quevy–Genly roads, a large force was seen near Asquillies and cavalry was found further east, which showed that most of the BEF was opposite the 1st Army. It was considered vital that the second canal crossings were captured along the line, as had been achieved by the IX and part of III corps. IV Corps was ordered to resume its march and move the left wing towards Thulin but it was already engaged at the canal crossings. The III and IX corps attack during the day, had succeeded against "a tough, nearly invisible enemy" but the offensive had to continue, because it appeared that only the right flank of the army could get behind the BEF.[45]
The situation remained unclear at the 1st Army headquarters in the evening, because communication with the other right flank armies had been lost and only fighting near Thuin by VII Corps, the right-flank unit of the 2nd Army had been reported. Kluck ordered that the attack was to continue on 24 August, past the west of Maubeuge and that II Corps would catch up behind the right flank of the army. IX Corps was to advance to the east of Bavay, III Corps was to advance to the west of the village, IV Corps was to advance towards Warnies-le-Grand 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) further to the west and the II Cavalry Corps was to head towards Denain, to cut off the British retreat. During the night there were several British counter-attacks but none of the German divisions was forced back over the canal. At dawn the IX Corps resumed its advance and pushed forwards against rearguards until the afternoon, when the corps stopped the advance due to uncertainty about the situation on its left flank and the proximity of Maubeuge. At 4:00 p.m. cavalry reports led Quast to resume the advance, which was slowed by the obstacles of Maubeuge and III Corps congesting the roads.[46]
On the III Corps front to the west, the 6th Division attacked Frameries at dawn, which held out until 10:30 a.m. and then took La Bouverie and Pâturages, after which the British began to retreat; the division turned west towards Warquignies and the 5th Division. St. Ghislain had been attacked by the 5th Division behind an artillery barrage, where the 10th Brigade had crossed the canal and taken the village in house-to-house fighting, then reached the south end of Hornu. A defensive line had been established by the British along the Dour–Wasmes railway, which stopped the German advance and diverted the 9th Brigade until 5:00 p.m., when the British withdrew. The German infantry were exhausted and stopped the pursuit at Dour and Warquignies. During the day Kluck sent liaison officers to the corps headquarters, stressing that the army should not converge on Maubeuge but pass to the west, ready to envelop the British left (west) flank.[47]
The IV Corps headquarters had ordered its divisions to attack over the canal at dawn but found that the British had blown the bridges and withdrawn. Repairs took until 9:00 a.m. and the 8th Division did not reach Quiévrain until noon; the 7th Division reached the railway at Thuin during the morning and then took Élouges late in the afternoon. As the 8th Division moved on, the vanguard was ambushed by British cavalry before an advance to Valenciennes could begin and then attacked a British rearguard at Baisieux, which then slipped away to Audregnies. The rest of the division skirmished with French Territorials south-west of Baisieux. The IV Corps attack forced back rearguards but inflicted no serious damage, having been slowed by the bridge demolitions at the canals. The cavalry divisions had advanced towards Denain and the Jägerbattalions had defeated troops of the French 88th Territorial Division at Tournai and then reached Marchiennes, after a skirmish with the 83rd Territorial Division near Orchies.[47]
Air operations[edit]
German air reconnaissance detected British troops on 21 August, advancing from Le Cateau to Maubeuge, and on 22 August from Maubeuge to Mons, as other sources identified halting places, but poor communication and lack of systematic direction of air operations led to the assembly of the BEF from Condé to Binche being unknown to the Germans on 22–23 August.[48] British reconnaissance flights had begun on 19 August with two sorties and two more on 20 August, which reported no sign of German troops. Fog delayed flights on 21 August but in the afternoon German troops were seen near Kortrijk and three villages were reported to be burning. Twelve reconnaissance sorties were flown on 22 August and reported many German troops closing in on the BEF, especially troops on the Brussels–Ninove road, which indicated an enveloping manoeuvre. One British aircraft was shot down and a British observer became the first British soldier to be wounded while flying. By the evening Sir John French was able to discuss with his commanders the German dispositions near the BEF which had been provided by aircraft observation, the strength of the German forces, that the Sambre had been crossed and that an encircling move by the Germans from Geraardsbergen was possible. During the battle on 23 August, the aircrews flew behind the battlefield looking for troop movements and German artillery batteries.[49]
Aftermath[edit]
Analysis[edit]
See also: Great Retreat
German advance through Belgium, August 1914
By nightfall on 24 August, the British had retreated to what was expected to be their new defensive lines, on the Valenciennes–Maubeuge road. Outnumbered by the German 1st Army and with the French Fifth Army also falling back, the BEF had no choice but to continue to retire – I Corps retreating to Landrecies and II Corps to Le Cateau.[50] The chaos and confusion were graphically illustrated in Landrecies on 25 August, where a senior officer "apparently took leave of his senses and began firing his revolver down a street."[51] The Great Retreat continued for two weeks and covered over 250 miles (400 km). The British were closely pursued by the Germans and fought several rearguard actions, including the Battle of Le Cateau on 26 August, the Étreux rearguard action on 27 August and the Action at Néry on 1 September.[52] Units disappeared and "More guns were lost than at any time since the American War of Independence."[53]
Both sides had success at the Battle of Mons: the British had been outnumbered by about 3:1 but managed to withstand the German 1st Army for 48 hours, inflict more casualties on the Germans and then retire in good order. The BEF achieved its main strategic objective, which was to prevent the French Fifth Army from being outflanked.[54][55] The battle was an important moral victory for the British; as their first battle on the continent since the Crimean War, it was a matter of great uncertainty as to how they would perform. In the event, the British soldiers came away from the battle with a clear sense that they had got the upper hand during the fighting at Mons. The Germans appeared to recognise that they had been dealt a sharp blow by an army they had considered inconsequential. The German novelist and infantry officer wrote,
The men all chilled to the bone, almost too exhausted to move and with the depressing consciousness of defeat weighing heavily upon them. A bad defeat, there can be no gainsaying it... we had been badly beaten, and by the English – by the English we had so laughed at a few hours before.[56]—Captain Walter Bloem
British troops retreating after the battle
For the Germans, the Battle of Mons was a tactical repulse and a strategic success. The staff at Kluck's headquarters claimed that the two-day battle had failed to envelop the British, due to the subordination of the army to Bülow and the 2nd Army headquarters, which had insisted that the 1st Army keep closer to the western flank, rather than attack to the west of Mons. It was believed that only part of the BEF had been engaged and that there was a main line of defence from Valenciennes to Bavay, which Kluck ordered to be enveloped on 25 August.[57] The 1st Army was delayed by the British and suffered many casualties but crossed the barrier of the Mons–Condé Canal and began its advance into France. The Germans drove the BEF and French armies before them almost to Paris, before being stopped at the Battle of the Marne.[58]
Casualties[edit]
J. E. Edmonds, the British official historian, recorded "just over" 1,600 British casualties, most in the two battalions of the 8th Brigade which had defended the salient and wrote that German losses "must have been very heavy", which explained German inertia after dark, when the 8th Brigade was vulnerable, several other gaps existed in the British line and the retirement had begun.[59] John Keegan estimated German losses to have been c. 5,000 men.[60] In 1997, D. Lomas recorded German losses from 3,000 to 5,000 men.[61] In 2009, Herwig recorded 1,600 British casualties and c. 5,000 German casualties, despite the fact that Kluck and Kuhl did not reveal 1st Army casualties.[62] Post-war German records estimated 2,145 dead and missing and 4,932 wounded in the 1st Army from 20–31 August.[63] Using German regimental histories, Terence Zuber gave "no more than 2,000" German casualties.[64]
Legacy[edit]
The Battle of Mons has attained an almost mythic status. In British historical writing, it has a reputation as an unlikely victory against overwhelming odds, similar to the English victory at the Battle of Agincourt.[54] Mons gained a myth, a miraculous tale that the Angels of Mons—angelic warriors sometimes described as phantom longbowmen from Agincourt—had saved the British Army by halting the German troops.[65]
Soldiers of the BEF who fought at Mons became eligible for a campaign medal, the 1914 Star, often colloquially called the Mons Star, honouring troops who had fought in Belgium or France 5 August – 22 November 1914. On 19 August 1914, Kaiser Wilhelm allegedly issued an Order of the Day which read in part: ". . . my soldiers to exterminate first the treacherous English; walk over Field Marshal French's contemptible little Army." This led to the British "Tommies" of the BEF proudly labelling themselves "The Old Contemptibles". No evidence of the Order of the Day has been found in German archives and the ex-Kaiser denied giving it. According to the controversial book Falsehood in War-Time, an investigation conducted by General Frederick Maurice traced the origins of the Order to the British GHQ, where it had been concocted for propaganda purposes.[66]
The Germans established the St Symphorien Military Cemetery as a memorial to the German and British dead. On a mound in the centre of the cemetery, a grey granite obelisk 7 metres (23 ft) tall was built with a German inscription: "In memory of the German and English soldiers who fell in the actions near Mons on the 23rd and 24th August 1914."[67] Originally, 245 German and 188 British soldiers were interred at the cemetery. More British, Canadian and German graves were moved to the cemetery from other burial grounds and more than 500 soldiers were eventually buried in St. Symphorien, of which over 60 were unidentified. Special memorials were erected to five soldiers of the Royal Irish Regiment believed to be buried in unnamed graves. Other special memorials record the names of four British soldiers, buried by the Germans in Obourg Churchyard, whose graves could not be found. St. Symphorien cemetery also contains the graves of the two soldiers believed to be the first (Private John Parr, 4th Battalion, Middlesex Regiment, 21 August 1914) and the last (Private Gordon Price, Canadian Infantry, 11 November 1918) Commonwealth soldiers to be killed during the First World War. A tablet in the cemetery sets out the gift of the land by Jean Houzeau de Lehaie.[68]
See also[edit]
World War I portal
British Expeditionary Force
Order of battle at Mons
Angels of Mons
La Ferté-sous-Jouarre memorial
Notes[edit]
Jump up ^ Private Alhaji Grunshi of the Gold Coast Regiment of the West African Frontier Force, was also nominated as the first soldier of the British Army to have fired a rifle shot in the Great War, on 12 August 1914 at Togblekove, Togo (formerly Togoland), during the Togoland Campaign.[17]
Footnotes[edit]
Jump up ^ George Stuart Gordon, The Retreat from Mons, p. 12.
Jump up ^ Gordon, pp. 15–16.
Jump up ^ David Lomas, Mons 1914: The BEF's Tactical Triumph, pp. 14, 62.
Jump up ^ Nikolas Gardner, Trial by Fire: Command and the British Expeditionary Force in 1914, p. 36.
Jump up ^ Ernest W. Hamilton, The First Seven Divisions, p. 3.
Jump up ^ Lomas, p. 28.
Jump up ^ Zuber 2011, pp. 95–97, 132–133.
^ Jump up to: a b c Hamilton, p. 5.
Jump up ^ Gordon, p. 24.
Jump up ^ Gordon, p. 15.
Jump up ^ Edmonds 1926, p. 430–431.
Jump up ^ Lomas, p. 34.
Jump up ^ Lomas, p. 55.
Jump up ^ Hamilton, pp. 6–7, 13.
Jump up ^ "First casualty of the war". Watford Observer. 20 November 2003. Retrieved 8 August 2010.
Jump up ^ "Opening Salvos". The First Shot: 22 August 1914. BBC. Retrieved 6 July 2010.
Jump up ^ Moberly 1931, p. 8.
^ Jump up to: a b Lomas, p. 19.
Jump up ^ Barbara Tuchman, The Guns of August, p. 255.
Jump up ^ Humphries & Maker 2013, p. 162.
Jump up ^ Humphries & Maker 2013, pp. 164, 172.
Jump up ^ Humphries & Maker 2013, pp. 173, 175, 215–217.
Jump up ^ Hamilton, pp. 13–14.
Jump up ^ Hamilton, p. 14.
Jump up ^ Bloem 1916, pp. 39, 41.
Jump up ^ Gordon, p. 32.
Jump up ^ Tuchman, p. 302.
Jump up ^ Hamilton, pp. 15–16.
Jump up ^ "No. 28976". The London Gazette. 13 November 1914. pp. 9373–9374.
Jump up ^ Hamilton, p. 16.
Jump up ^ Lomas, p. 44.
Jump up ^ Hamilton, pp. 16–17.
Jump up ^ Hamilton, pp. 18–20.
Jump up ^ Hamilton, p. 25.
Jump up ^ Allan Mallinson, 1914: Fight the Good Fight: Britain, the Army and the Coming of the First World War
Jump up ^ Reed, Paul. "Nimy August 1914". Old Front Line. Retrieved 6 July 2010.
Jump up ^ Hamilton, p. 26.
Jump up ^ Hamilton, p. 28.
Jump up ^ Hamilton, pp. 28–29.
Jump up ^ Gordon, pp. 39–40.
Jump up ^ Hamilton, p. 32.
Jump up ^ Humphries & Maker 2013, p. 216.
^ Jump up to: a b Humphries & Maker 2013, pp. 217–218.
Jump up ^ Humphries & Maker 2013, pp. 218–220.
Jump up ^ Humphries & Maker 2013, pp. 220–222.
Jump up ^ Humphries & Maker 2013, pp. 222–224.
^ Jump up to: a b Humphries & Maker 2013, pp. 224–225.
Jump up ^ Hoeppner 1921, pp. 8–9.
Jump up ^ Raleigh 1922, pp. 298–304.
Jump up ^ Lomas, pp. 66–67.
Jump up ^ Geoffrey Reagan, Military Anecdotes, p. 89
Jump up ^ Lomas, pp. 72, 83.
Jump up ^ Holmes p. 260
^ Jump up to: a b Tuchman, pp. 306–307.
Jump up ^ Hamilton, pp. 37–38.
Jump up ^ Bloem 1916, p. 49.
Jump up ^ Humphries & Maker 2013, p. 226.
Jump up ^ Baldwin, p. 25.
Jump up ^ Edmonds 1926, p. 83.
Jump up ^ Keegan 2002, p. 99.
Jump up ^ Lomas 1997, p. 65.
Jump up ^ Herwig 2009, p. 154.
Jump up ^ Sanitäts 1934, p. 36.
Jump up ^ Zuber 2011, ch 4, para 237.
Jump up ^ David Clarke, The Angel of Mons: Phantom Soldiers and Ghostly Guardians.
Jump up ^ Ponsonby, Arthur: Falsehood in War-Time. 1928.
Jump up ^ "St. Symphorien Military Cemetery". WW1 Cemeteries. Archived from the original on 22 December 2010. Retrieved 6 July 2010.
Jump up ^ "Cemetery Details – St Symphorien Cemetery". Commonwealth War Graves Commission. Retrieved 8 May 2008.
References[edit]
Books
Baldwin, Hanson (1963). World War I: An Outline History. London: Hutchinson. OCLC 464551794.
Bloem, W. (1916). Vormarsch [The Advance from Mons 1914: The Experiences of a German Infantry Officer] (in German) (Helion 2004 translation ed.). Bremen: Grethlein. ISBN 1-874622-57-4. Retrieved 30 November 2013.
Clarke, David (2005). The Angel of Mons: Phantom Soldiers and Ghostly Guardians. Wiley. ISBN 978-0-470-86277-3.
Edmonds, J. E. (1926). Military Operations France and Belgium, 1914: Mons, the Retreat to the Seine, the Marne and the Aisne August–October 1914. History of the Great War based on Official Documents by Direction of the Historical Section of the Committee of Imperial Defence. I (2nd ed.). London: Macmillan. OCLC 58962523.
Evans, Martin (2004). Battles of World War I. Select Editions. ISBN 1-84193-226-4.
Gardner, Nikolas (2003). Trial by Fire: Command and the British Expeditionary Force in 1914. Greenwood. ISBN 978-0-313-32473-4.
Gordon, George (1917). The Retreat from Mons. London: Houghton Mifflin. OCLC 1893352.
Hamiltion, E. (1916). The First Seven Divisions: Being a Detailed Account of the Fighting from Mons to Ypres. London: Hurst and Blackett. OCLC 3579926.
Herbert, Aubrey (2010). Mons, Anzac and Kut: A British Intelligence Officer in Three Theatres of the First World War, 1914–18. Leonaur. ISBN 0-85706-366-9.
Herwig, H. (2009). The Marne, 1914: The Opening of World War I and the Battle that Changed the World. New York: Random House. ISBN 978-1-4000-6671-1.
Hoeppner, E. W. von (1994) [1921]. Deutschlands Krieg in der Luft: ein Rückblick auf die Entwicklung und die Leistungen unserer Heeres-Luftstreitkräfte im Weltkriege [Germany's War in the Air: A Review on the Development and the Achievements of our Army Air Forces in the World War] (in German). trans. J. Hawley Larned (Battery Press ed.). Leipzig: K. F. Koehle. ISBN 0-89839-195-4.
Holmes, Richard (1995). Riding the Retreat Mons to the Marne 1914 Revisited. London: Jonathan Cape. OCLC 32701390.
Humphries, M. O.; Maker, J. (2013). Der Weltkrieg: 1914 The Battle of the Frontiers and Pursuit to the Marne. Germany's Western Front: Translations from the German Official History of the Great War. I. Part 1. Waterloo, Canada: Wilfrid Laurier University Press. ISBN 978-1-55458-373-7.
Keegan, John (2002). The First World War: An Illustrated History. London: Pimlico. ISBN 978-0-7126-8040-0.
Lomas, D. (1997). Mons, 1914. Wellingborough: Osprey. ISBN 1-85532-551-9.
Mallinson, Alan (2013). 1914: Fight the Good Fight, Britain, the Army and the Coming of the First World War. London: Random House. ISBN 978-1-44646-350-5.
Moberly, F. J. (1995) [1931]. Military Operations Togoland and the Cameroons 1914–1916. History of the Great War based on Official Documents by Direction of the Historical Section of the Committee of Imperial Defence (Imperial War Museum & Battery Press ed.). London: HMSO. ISBN 0-89839-235-7.
Raleigh, W. (1969) [1922]. The War in the Air, Being the Story of the Part played in the Great War by the Royal Air Force. History of the Great War based on Official Documents by Direction of the Historical Section of the Committee of Imperial Defence. I (Hamish Hamilton ed.). London: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-241-01805-6. Retrieved 5 June 2014.
Reagan, Geoffrey (1992). Military Anecdotes. Guinness. ISBN 0-85112-519-0.
Rinaldi, Richard A. (2008). Order of Battle of the British Army 1914. Takoma Park, MD: Tiger Lily Books. ISBN 0-98205-411-4.
Die Krankenbewegung bei dem Deutschen Feld-und Besatzungs-heer [Sick Persons' Whereabouts with the German Field and Occupying Army]. Sanitätsbericht über das Deutsche Heer (Deutsches Feld-und Besatzungs-heer) im Weltkriege 1914–1918 [Sanitations report about the German Army (German Field and Occupying Army) in the World War 1914–1918 (in German). III. Berlin: Mittler. 1934. OCLC 312555581.
Terraine, J. (1960). Mons The Retreat to Victory. London: Wordsworth Military Library. ISBN 1-84022-240-9.
Tuchman, B. (1962). The Guns of August (2004 ed.). New York: Presidio Press. ISBN 978-0-345-47609-8.
Zuber, T. (2011) [2010]. The Mons Myth. Stroud, Gloucestershire: The History Press. ISBN 978-0-7524-7628-5.
Zuber, T. (2011). The Real German War Plan 1904–14. Stroud, Gloucestershire: The History Press. ISBN 0-75245-664-4.
Encyclopaedias
Tucker, Spencer (2005). World War I: Encyclopedia, M–R. 3. ABC-CLIO. ISBN 978-1-85109-420-2.
Journals
Smith, R. (August 2005). "Battle of Mons and the Angels of Mons". Military Heritage. 7 (1): 14, 16–17, 76. ISSN 1524-8666.
Further reading[edit]
Hussey, A. H.; Inman, D. S. (2002) [1921]. The Fifth Division in the Great War (Naval & Military Press ed.). London: Nisbet. ISBN 1-84342-267-0. Retrieved 1 February 2014.
Kluck, A. (1920). The March on Paris and the Battle of the Marne, 1914. London: Edward Arnold. OCLC 2513009. Retrieved 11 March 2014.
Ritter, G. (1956). Schlieffen Plan: Critique of a Myth (PDF). Horsham, Sussex: Riband Books. OCLC 221684780. Retrieved 30 November 2013.
Wyrall, E. (2002) [1921]. The History of the Second Division, 1914–1918. I (Naval & Military Press ed.). London: Thomas Nelson and Sons. ISBN 1-84342-207-7. Retrieved 1 February 2014.
External links[edit]
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Battle of Mons.
A source for Kaiser Wilhelm's Order of the Day
The Battle of Mons
A good description and article about the Battle
War Walks. Mons. Series 1; episode 3 of 6. Richard Holmes. BBC original date of broadcast: 1996. Retrieved 19:24, 6 March 2014 (UTC).
[show]
v
t
e
World War I
Home fronts
Theatres
European
Balkans
Western Front
Eastern Front
Italian Front
Middle Eastern
Gallipoli
Sinai and Palestine
Caucasus
Persia
Mesopotamia
South Arabia
African
South West
East
Kamerun
Togoland
North
Asian and Pacific
Tsingtao
German New Guinea and Samoa
At sea
North Atlantic U-boat campaign
Mediterranean
North Sea
Baltic
Indian, Pacific and South Atlantic Oceans
Papeete
Madras
Penang
Cocos
Coronel
Falkland Islands
Más a Tierra
Principal
participants
(people)
Entente powers
Belgium
Brazil
China
France
French Empire
Greece
Italy
Japan
Montenegro
Portuguese Empire
Romania
Russia
Russian Empire
Russian Republic
Serbia
United Kingdom
British Empire
United States
Central Powers
Germany
Austria-Hungary
Ottoman Empire
Bulgaria
Timeline
Pre-War conflicts
Scramble for Africa (1880–1914)
Russo-Japanese War (1905)
First Moroccan (Tangier) Crisis (1905–06)
Agadir Crisis (1911)
Italo-Turkish War (1911–12)
French conquest of Morocco (1911–12)
First Balkan War (1912–13)
Second Balkan War (1913)
Prelude
Origins
Sarajevo assassination
Anti-Serb riots in Sarajevo
July Crisis
Autumn 1914
Battle of the Frontiers
Battle of Cer
First Battle of the Marne
Siege of Tsingtao
Battle of Tannenberg
Battle of Galicia
Battle of the Masurian Lakes
Battle of Kolubara
Battle of Sarikamish
Race to the Sea
First Battle of Ypres
1915
Second Battle of the Masurian Lakes
Second Battle of Ypres
Battle of Gallipoli
Second Battle of Artois
Battles of the Isonzo
Gorlice–Tarnów Offensive
Great Retreat
Second Battle of Champagne
Kosovo Offensive
Siege of Kut
Battle of Loos
1916
Erzurum Offensive
Battle of Verdun
Lake Naroch Offensive
Battle of Asiago
Battle of Jutland
Battle of the Somme
first day
Brusilov Offensive
Baranovichi Offensive
Battle of Romani
Monastir Offensive
Battle of Transylvania
1917
Capture of Baghdad
First Battle of Gaza
Zimmermann Telegram
Second Battle of Arras
Second Battle of the Aisne
Kerensky Offensive
Third Battle of Ypres (Passchendaele)
Battle of Mărășești
Battle of Caporetto
Southern Palestine Offensive
Battle of Cambrai
Armistice of Erzincan
1918
Operation Faustschlag
Treaty of Brest-Litovsk
Spring Offensive
Battle of Goychay
Battle of Aghsu
Battle of Kyurdamir
Second Battle of the Marne
Battle of Baku
Hundred Days Offensive
Vardar Offensive
Battle of Megiddo
Third Transjordan attack
Meuse-Argonne Offensive
Battle of Vittorio Veneto
Battle of Aleppo
Armistice of Salonica
Armistice of Mudros
Armistice of Villa Giusti
Armistice with Germany
Other conflicts
Mexican Revolution (1910–20)
Somaliland Campaign (1910–20)
Libyan resistance movement (1911–43)
Maritz Rebellion (1914–15)
Zaian War (1914–21)
Indo-German Conspiracy (1914–19)
Senussi Campaign (1915–16)
Volta-Bani War (1915–17)
Easter Rising (1916)
Anglo-Egyptian Darfur Expedition (1916)
Kaocen Revolt (1916–17)
Central Asian Revolt (1916-17)
Russian Revolution (1917)
Finnish Civil War (1918)
Post-War conflicts
Russian Civil War (1917–21)
Ukrainian–Soviet War (1917–21)
Armenian–Azerbaijani War (1918–20)
Georgian–Armenian War (1918)
German Revolution (1918–19)
Revolutions and interventions in Hungary (1918–20)
Hungarian–Romanian War (1918–19)
Greater Poland Uprising (1918–19)
Estonian War of Independence (1918–20)
Latvian War of Independence (1918–20)
Lithuanian Wars of Independence (1918–20)
Third Anglo-Afghan War (1919)
Egyptian Revolution (1919)
Polish–Ukrainian War (1918–19)
Polish–Soviet War (1919–21)
Irish War of Independence (1919–21)
Turkish War of Independence
Greco-Turkish War (1919–22)
Turkish–Armenian War (1920)
Iraqi revolt (1920)
Polish–Lithuanian War (1920)
Vlora War (1920)
Franco-Syrian War (1920)
Soviet–Georgian War (1921)
Irish Civil War (1922–23)
Aspects
Opposition
Pacifism
Anti-war movement
Deployment
Schlieffen Plan (German)
Plan XVII (French)
Warfare
Military engagements
Naval warfare
Convoy system
Air warfare
Cryptography
Room 40
Horse use
Poison gas
Railways
Strategic bombing
Technology
Trench warfare
Total war
Christmas truce
Last surviving veterans
Civilian impact
Atrocities
Prisoners
Casualties
Economic history
1918 flu pandemic
Destruction of Kalisz
Rape of Belgium
German occupation of Belgium
German occupation of Luxembourg
German occupation of northeastern France
Ober Ost
Ottoman people
Armenian Genocide
Assyrian genocide
Pontic Greek genocide
Urkun (Kyrgyzstan)
Blockade of Germany
Women
Australia
Popular culture
German prisoners of war in the United States
Agreements
Partition of the Ottoman Empire
Sykes–Picot Agreement
Agreement of Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne
French-Armenian Agreement
Damascus Protocol
Paris Peace Conference
Venizelos–Tittoni agreement
Treaties
Treaty of Brest-Litovsk
Treaty of Lausanne
Treaty of London
Treaty of Neuilly
Treaty of St. Germain
Treaty of Sèvres
Treaty of Trianon
Treaty of Versailles
Consequences
Aftermath
"Fourteen Points"
League of Nations
World War I memorials
Centenary
outbreak
Category
Portal
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Battle_of_Mons&oldid=834036600"
Categories:
Conflicts in 1914
1914 in Belgium
Battles of the Western Front (World War I)
Battles of World War I involving Belgium
Battles of World War I involving Germany
Battles of World War I involving the United Kingdom
History of Mons
August 1914 events
Hidden categories:
CS1: Julian–Gregorian uncertainty
EngvarB from February 2016
Use dmy dates from December 2013
Coordinates on Wikidata
Articles containing German-language text
CS1 German-language sources (de)
Navigation menu
Personal tools
Not logged in
Talk
Contributions
Create account
Log in
Namespaces
Article
Talk
Variants
Views
Read
Edit
View history
More
Search
Navigation
Main page
Contents
Featured content
Current events
Random article
Donate to Wikipedia
Wikipedia store
Interaction
Help
About Wikipedia
Community portal
Recent changes
Contact page
Tools
What links here
Related changes
Upload file
Special pages
Permanent link
Page information
Wikidata item
Cite this page
Print/export
Create a book
Download as PDF
Printable version
In other projects
Wikimedia Commons
Languages
العربية
Čeština
Cymraeg
Deutsch
Español
Français
Galego
Bahasa Indonesia
Italiano
עברית
Nederlands
Norsk
Norsk nynorsk
Polski
Português
Русский
Svenska
Tiếng Việt
9 more
Edit links
This page was last edited on 3 April 2018, at 16:21.
Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License; additional terms may apply. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization.
Privacy policy
About Wikipedia
Disclaimers
Contact Wikipedia
Developers
Cookie statement
Mobile view
Enable previews

values: mw-page-base noprint

values: mw-head-base noprint

values: firstHeading firstHeading en

values: siteSub noprint

values: jump-to-nav mw-jump

attrs: class colspan style

attrs: colspan style

value: img

values: 4th Bn Royal Fusiliers 22 August 1914.jpg

attrs: href class

values: Maps, aerial photos, and other data for this location

values:
/wiki/File:Belgium_location_map.svg
image
Mons is located in Belgium

values: Template:Campaignbox Western Front (World War I)

values: Template talk:Campaignbox Western Front (World War I)

values: nowraplinks collapsible autocollapse navbox-inner

values: Template:Campaignbox Military Operations: Belgium and northern France 1914

values: Template talk:Campaignbox Military Operations: Belgium and northern France 1914

values: Battle of the Nete (page does not exist)

values:
/wiki/Battle_of_Gheluvelt
mw-redirect
Battle of Gheluvelt

values:
/wiki/Battle_of_Nonne_Bosschen
mw-redirect
Battle of Nonne Bosschen

values: German occupation of Belgium during World War I

values: German occupation of Luxembourg during World War I

values: Template talk:Campaignbox Frontiers 1914

values: British Expeditionary Force (World War I)

values:
/wiki/First_World_War
mw-redirect
First World War

values:
/wiki/Imperial_Germany
mw-redirect
Imperial Germany

values:
/wiki/French_Fifth_Army
mw-redirect
French Fifth Army

values:
/wiki/Retreat_from_Mons
mw-redirect
Retreat from Mons

values: Edit section: British defensive preparations

values:
/wiki/Cavalry_Division_(United_Kingdom)
mw-redirect
Cavalry Division (United Kingdom)

values:
/wiki/Ordnance_QF_18_pounder
mw-redirect
Ordnance QF 18 pounder

values:
/wiki/QF_4.5_inch_Howitzer
mw-redirect
QF 4.5 inch Howitzer

values:
/wiki/BL_60_pounder_gun
mw-redirect
BL 60 pounder gun

values:
/wiki/Salients,_re-entrants_and_pockets
mw-redirect
Salients, re-entrants and pockets

values:
/wiki/4th_Dragoon_Guards
mw-redirect
4th Dragoon Guards

values:
/wiki/Squadron_(cavalry)#Commonwealth
mw-redirect
Squadron (cavalry)

values: Edit section: German offensive preparations

values:
/wiki/Friedrich_Bertram_Sixt_von_Armin
mw-redirect
Friedrich Bertram Sixt von Armin

values:
/wiki/Royal_Irish_Regiment_(1684-1922)
mw-redirect
Royal Irish Regiment (1684-1922)

values:
/wiki/Royal_West_Kent_Regiment
mw-redirect
Royal West Kent Regiment

values:
/wiki/Norfolk_Regiment
mw-redirect
Norfolk Regiment

values:
/wiki/Action_at_N%C3%A9ry
mw-redirect
Action at Néry

values:
/wiki/Order_of_the_Day
mw-redirect
Order of the Day

values: display:table-cell;padding:0.2em 0.2em 0.2em 0.3em;vertical-align:middle

values: margin:0.5em 0 0.5em 1em;border:solid #aaa 1px

values:
reflist mw-references-wrap
list-style-type: lower-alpha;

values:
/wiki/Arthur_Ponsonby
mw-redirect
Arthur Ponsonby

values: -moz-column-width: 20em; -webkit-column-width: 20em; column-width: 20em; list-style-type: decimal;

values:
nofollow
external text
//www.worldcat.org/oclc/464551794

values:
nofollow
external text
//www.worldcat.org/oclc/58962523

values:
nofollow
external text
//www.worldcat.org/oclc/1893352

values:
nofollow
external text
//www.worldcat.org/oclc/3579926

values:
nofollow
external text
//www.worldcat.org/oclc/32701390

values:
nofollow
external text
//www.worldcat.org/oclc/312555581

values:
nofollow
external text
//www.worldcat.org/issn/1524-8666

values:
nofollow
external text
//www.worldcat.org/oclc/2513009

values:
nofollow
external text
//www.worldcat.org/oclc/221684780

values:
nofollow
external text
http://www.1914-1918.net/bat7.htm

values:
nofollow
external text
http://www.1914-1918.net/bat1.htm

values:
navbox-abovebelow hlist
2
background-color:#DCDCDC;

values: Military operations in North Africa during World War I

values: Asian and Pacific theatre of World War I

values: Naval warfare in the Mediterranean during World War I

values: Military history of Italy during World War I

values: History of the United Kingdom during the First World War

values: Defeat and dissolution of the Ottoman Empire

values: Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria

values: Treaty of Brest-Litovsk (Russia–Central Powers)

values: Battle of Kyurdamir (page does not exist)

values: List of military engagements of World War I

values: List of last World War I veterans by country

values: German occupation of north-east France during World War I

values: German prisoners of war in the United States

values: Centenary of the outbreak of World War I

values: nowraplinks collapsible collapsed navbox-inner

values: Category:Battles of the Western Front (World War I)

values: Category:Battles of World War I involving Belgium

values: Category:Battles of World War I involving Germany

values: Category:Battles of World War I involving the United Kingdom

values: Category:Use dmy dates from December 2013

values: Category:Articles containing German-language text

values: Category:CS1 German-language sources (de)

values: Discussion about edits from this IP address [ctrl-alt-n]

values: A list of edits made from this IP address [ctrl-alt-y]

values: You are encouraged to create an account and log in; however, it is not mandatory

values: You're encouraged to log in; however, it's not mandatory. [ctrl-alt-o]

values:
/wiki/Battle_of_Mons
View the content page [ctrl-alt-c]
c

values: Discussion about the content page [ctrl-alt-t]

values: p-namespaces navigation vectorTabs p-namespaces-label

values:
p-variants
navigation
vectorMenu emptyPortlet
p-variants-label

values: Past revisions of this page [ctrl-alt-h]

values: p-views navigation vectorTabs p-views-label

values:
p-cactions
navigation
vectorMenu emptyPortlet
p-cactions-label

values:
mw-wiki-logo
/wiki/Main_Page
Visit the main page

values:
/wiki/Main_Page
Visit the main page [ctrl-alt-z]
z

values: Featured content – the best of Wikipedia

values: Find background information on current events

values:
/wiki/Special:Random
Load a random article [ctrl-alt-x]
x

values: portal navigation p-navigation p-navigation-label

values: Guidance on how to use and edit Wikipedia

values: About the project, what you can do, where to find things

values: A list of recent changes in the wiki [ctrl-alt-r]

values: portal navigation p-interaction p-interaction-label

values: List of all English Wikipedia pages containing links to this page [ctrl-alt-j]

values: Recent changes in pages linked from this page [ctrl-alt-k]

values: portal navigation p-wikibase-otherprojects p-wikibase-otherprojects-label

values: معركة مونس – Arabic

values:
interlanguage-link interwiki-cy
display: none;

values:
interlanguage-link interwiki-gl
display: none;

values: קרב מונס – Hebrew

values:
interlanguage-link interwiki-nl
display: none;

values:
interlanguage-link interwiki-no
display: none;

values:
interlanguage-link interwiki-nn
display: none;

values: Битва при Монсе – Russian

values:
interlanguage-link interwiki-sv
display: none;

values: mediawiki ltr sitedir-ltr mw-hide-empty-elt ns-0 ns-subject page-Battle_of_Mons rootpage-Battle_of_Mons skin-vector action-view


text:
Climate of Europe
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search
Europe map of Köppen climate classification.
Biomes of Europe and surrounding regions:
tundra alpine tundra taiga montane forest
temperate broadleaf forest mediterranean forest temperate steppe dry steppe
Western Europe has an Oceanic climate, far southern Europe has a Mediterranean climate, and eastern Europe is classified as having a Continental climate. The climate of western Europe is strongly conditioned by the Gulf Stream, which keeps mild air (for the latitude) over Northwestern Europe in the winter months, especially in Ireland, the UK and coastal Norway. Parts of the central European plains have a hybrid oceanic/continental climate. Four seasons occur in Eastern Europe, while southern Europe experiences distinct wet season and dry seasons, with prevailing hot and dry conditions during the summer months.
Contents
[hide]
1 Overview
2 Gulf Stream
3 Precipitation
4 Temperature
5 Tornadoes
6 See also
7 References
Overview[edit]
Spring in Szczecin, under the influence of Baltic Sea on the climate in the city and all western parts of Poland
The Prevailing westerlies create the basic climate across much of Europe. The Siberian High brings colder, drier weather from the east. Away from the sea, parts of Central and Eastern Europe have a borderline Oceanic/Continental Climate as they are milder than they would otherwise be due to the open ice-free waters of the North/Baltic Seas and lack of mountain barriers, but are not as mild as the Western coasts, and are subject to more frequent snowfalls. The Danube region through the Balkans, Ukraine and Southern Russia have a continental climate with cold winters and hotter summers, some areas bordering on a dry steppe climate with only certain months of higher precipitation, often due to thunderstorms.
A narrow strip along the eastern side of the Black Sea has a modified version of a humid subtropical climate, for example in Sochi, Russia. On the plains of Northern European Russia up to the Ural Mountains, the winter climate is much harsher than elsewhere in Europe with many months of below freezing average temperatures but with periods of hot summer weather. Nevertheless, year-to-year variations can produce different climates such as temperate in the winter, and tropical in the summer.
Gulf Stream[edit]
Image of the Gulf Stream's path and its related branches
Average number of days per year with precipitation
Average amount of sunshine yearly (hours)
Main article: Gulf Stream
See also: North Atlantic Drift
The climate of Western Europe is milder in comparison to other areas of the same latitude around the globe due to the influence of the Gulf Stream. The Mediterranean’s waters are not as deep as the large oceans, allowing it to become a heat store tempering winters along its coastlines.[1] The Gulf Stream is nicknamed "Europe's central heating", because it makes Europe's climate warmer and wetter than it would otherwise be. The North Atlantic Oscillation and Arctic Oscillation also play large roles in determining the amount of Arctic air that penetrates southward diminishing the Gulf stream’s warming effects during winter.[2]
Compared to areas located in the higher middle latitudes, parts of western Europe have mild winters and higher annual temperatures(though summers are cooler than locations at the same latitude). Berlin, Germany; Calgary, Canada; and Irkutsk, in the Asian part of Russia, lie on around the same latitude; January temperatures in Berlin average around 8 °C (15 °F) higher than those in Calgary (although Calgary sits 1200m higher in altitude), and they are almost 22 °C (40 °F) higher than average temperatures in Irkutsk.[1] This difference is even larger on the northern part of the continent; the January average in Brønnøysund, Norway,[3] is almost 15 °C warmer than the January average in Nome, Alaska,[4] both towns are situated upwind on the west coast of the continents at 65°N, and as much as 42 °C warmer than the January average in Yakutsk which is actually slightly further south. Further south the oceanic climate of Europe compares thermally to North America, at around 48°N Rennes, France has about an equal average temperature throughout the year to Seattle, Washington, although the latter has drier summers with much wetter winters.[5]
Precipitation[edit]
See also: Earth rainfall climatology, Monsoon, and Wet season
Clouds over Europe in September 2012
[6] The lack of precipitation found along the eastern coasts of Europe is due to the westerly wind flow which dominates across the continent. A bulk of the precipitation across the Alps falls between March and December. The wet season in lands bordering the Mediterranean Sea lasts from October through March, with November and December typically the wettest months.[6] For example, the monthly rainfall at Athens ranges from 6 mm (July) during their dry season to 71 mm (December) during their wet season.[7] Summer rainfall across the continent evaporates completely into the warm atmosphere, leaving winter precipitation to be the source of groundwater for Europe.[8] Places with significant impact by acid rain across the continent include most of eastern Europe from Poland northward into Scandinavia.[9]
The European Monsoon (more commonly known as the Return of the Westerlies) is the result of a resurgence of westerly winds from the Atlantic, where they become loaded with wind and rain. Rather than a traditional monsoon, where warm seas fuel precipitation and storms, they are more cyclonic low-pressure systems that travel along the section of the gulfstream[10]. These Westerly winds are a common phenomenon during the European winter, but they ease as Spring approaches in late March and through April and May. The winds pick up again in June, which is why this phenomenon is also known as "the return of the westerlies".[11]
The rain usually arrives in two waves, at the beginning of June and again in mid to late June. These storms generally feature significantly lower than average temperatures, fierce rain or hail, thunder and strong winds.[12] The Return of the Westerlies affects Europe's Northern Atlantic coastline, such as Ireland, Great Britain, the Benelux countries, Western Germany, Northern France and parts of Scandinavia.
There are cycles seen within the rainfall data from Northern Europe between Great Britain and Germany, which are seen at 16 years. Southern Europe experiences a 22-year cycle in rainfall variation. Other smaller term cycles are seen at 10-12 year and 6-7 year periods within the rainfall record.[13] Long term trends suggest rainfall within Greece has been decreasing since 1981.[14]
Rainfall averages between 36 mm (March) to 54 mm (November) in London and from 36 mm (March) to 88 mm (July) in Moscow.[15][16][17]
Temperature[edit]
Most of Europe sees seasonal temperatures consistent with temperate climates in other parts of the world, though summers north of the Mediterranean Sea are cooler than most temperate climates experience in summer. Among the cities with a population over 100,000 people in Europe, the coldest winters are mostly found in Russia, with daily highs in winter averaging 0 C (32 F), while the mildest winters in the continent are in southern Spain and the southernmost Greek islands. Tarifa, Almeria, Algeciras and Ierapetra average over 12 °C (54 °F) in January with 16–20 °C (61–68 °F) during the day. The hottest summers of the continent occur in cities and towns of the hinterland of southern Spain: July average highs in this region are 36.2 °C (97.2 °F) in Seville and 36.4 °C (97.5 °F) in Cordoba.
Average daytime temperature (°C)
Jan
Feb
Mar
Apr
May
Jun
Jul
Aug
Sep
Oct
Nov
Dec
Year
Helsinki[17] -1.3 -1.9 1.6 7.6 14.4 18.5 21.5 19.8 14.6 9.0 3.7 0.5 9.0
Minsk[18] -2.1 -1.4 3.8 12.2 18.7 21.5 23.6 22.8 16.7 10.2 2.9 -1.2 10.8
Budapest[19] 1.2 4.5 10.2 16.3 21.4 24.4 26.5 26.0 22.1 16.1 8.1 3.1 15.0
London[20] 8.1 8.6 11.6 14.6 18.1 21.0 23.4 23.1 20.0 15.5 11.3 8.4 15.3
Paris[21] 6.9 8.2 11.8 14.7 19.0 21.8 24.4 24.6 20.8 15.8 10.4 7.8 15.5
Bucharest[22] 1.5 4.1 10.2 18.0 23.3 26.8 28.8 28.5 24.6 18.0 10.0 3.8 16.5
Barcelona[23][24] 14.8 15.6 17.4 19.1 22.5 26.1 28.6 29.0 26.0 22.5 17.9 15.1 21.2
Rome[25] 11.9 13.0 15.2 17.7 22.8 26.9 30.5 30.6 26.5 21.4 15.9 12.6 20.4
Lisbon[26] 14.8 16.2 18.8 19.8 22.1 25.7 27.9 28.3 26.5 22.5 18.2 15.3 21.5
Athens[27] 12.9 13.6 16.0 20.3 25.1 29.8 32.6 32.3 28.9 23.1 18.6 14.7 22.3
Valencia[28] 16.4 17.2 19.3 20.8 23.4 27.1 29.7 30.2 27.9 24.4 19.8 17.0 22.8
Malta[29] 16.1 16.0 17.8 20.0 24.2 28.5 31.5 31.8 28.4 25.2 21.0 17.5 23.2
Average sea temperature (°C)
Jan
Feb
Mar
Apr
May
Jun
Jul
Aug
Sep
Oct
Nov
Dec
Gdańsk [1] 4 3 3 4 8 13 16 18 15 12 9 6
Brighton [2] 9 8 8 9 11 13 15 17 17 16 13 11
Marseille [3] 13 13 13 14 16 18 21 22 21 18 16 14
Barcelona [4] 13 13 13 14 17 20 23 25 23 20 17 15
Rome [5] 14 13 13 14 17 21 23 24 23 20 18 15
Valencia [6] 14 13 14 15 17 21 24 26 24 21 18 15
Naples [7] 15 14 14 15 18 22 25 27 25 22 19 16
Athens [8] 16 15 15 16 18 21 24 24 24 21 19 17
Lisbon [9] 15 15 15 16 17 18 19 20 20 19 18 17
Málaga [10] 16 15 15 16 17 20 22 23 22 20 18 16
Malta [11] 16 16 15 16 18 21 24 26 25 23 21 18
Tornadoes[edit]
The Netherlands has the highest average number of recorded tornadoes per area of any country in the world (more than 20, or 0.0013 per sq mi (0.00048 per km2), annually), followed by the UK (around 33, or 0.00035 per sq mi (0.00013 per km2), per year),[30][31] but most are small and cause minor damage. In absolute number of events, ignoring area, the UK experiences more tornadoes than any other European country, excluding waterspouts.[32] Europe uses its own tornado scale, known as the TORRO scale, which ranges from a T0 for extremely weak tornadoes to T11 for the most powerful known tornadoes.[33]
See also[edit]
Arctic oscillation
North Atlantic oscillation
2003 European heat wave
References[edit]
^ Jump up to: a b "European Climate". World Book. World Book, Inc. Archived from the original on 2011-07-23. Retrieved 2011-02-15.
Jump up ^ Seager, Richard (July–August 2006). "The Source of Europe's Mild Climate". American Scientist Online. Retrieved 2008-09-23.
Jump up ^ Brønnøysund
Jump up ^ Nome
Jump up ^ Yakutsk
^ Jump up to: a b A. V. Mehta and S. Yang (2008-12-22). "Precipitation climatology over Mediterranean Basin from ten years of TRMM measurements" (PDF). Advances in Geosciences. Copernicus Publications. 17: 87–91. Bibcode:2008AdG....17...87M. Retrieved 2010-01-09.
Jump up ^ Athens, Greece(retrieved 9 January 2010)
Jump up ^ Richard Thornsen (1990). "Effect of Climate Variability and Change in Groundwater in Europe" (PDF). Nordic Hydrology. 21: 187. Retrieved 2010-01-10.
Jump up ^ Ed. Hatier (1993). "Acid Rain in Europe". United Nations Environment Programme GRID Arendal. Archived from the original on 2009-08-22. Retrieved 2010-01-31.
Jump up ^ Visser, S.W. (1953). Some remarks on the European monsoon. Birkhäuser: Basel.
Jump up ^ Leo Hickman (2008-07-09). "The Question: What is the European monsoon?". The Guardian. Retrieved 2009-06-09.
Jump up ^ Paul Simons (2009-06-07). "'European Monsoon' to blame for cold and rainy start to June". The Times. Retrieved 2009-06-09.
Jump up ^ R. G. Vines (1985-03-25). "European Rainfall Patterns". International Journal of Climatology. 5 (6): 607–616. Bibcode:1985IJCli...5..607V. doi:10.1002/joc.3370050603. Retrieved 2010-01-09.
Jump up ^ J. D. Pnevmatikos and B. D. Katsoulis (2006-05-31). "The changing rainfall regime in Greece and its impact on climatological means". Meteorological Applications. Cambridge University Press. 13 (4): 331–345. Bibcode:2006MeApp..13..331P. doi:10.1017/S1350482706002350.
Jump up ^ Average conditions: London, United Kingdom(retrieved 9 January 2010)
Jump up ^ Average conditions: Moscow, Russian Federation(retrieved 9 january 2010)
^ Jump up to: a b Helsinki
Jump up ^ "Pogoda.ru.net" (in Russian). Retrieved 8 September 2007.
Jump up ^ http://met.hu/
Jump up ^ http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/public/weather/climate/gcpuzu47t
Jump up ^ http://france.meteofrance.com/france/climat_france?CLIMAT_PORTLET.path=climatstationn%2F75114001
Jump up ^ "Bucuresti Baneasa Climate Normals 1961-1990". www.NOAA.gov. Retrieved 31 October 2012.
Jump up ^ "Weather Information for Barcelona - World Meteorological Organization (United Nations)".
Jump up ^ "Valores Climatológicos Normales. Barcelona / Aeropuerto - Agencia Estatal de Meteorología".
Jump up ^ http://clima.meteoam.it/AtlanteClimatico/pdf/%28239%29Roma%20Ciampino.pdf
Jump up ^ "Monthly Averages for Lisbon, Portugal". Instituto de Meteorologia. Retrieved 2012-06-16.
Jump up ^ http://www.yr.no/place/Greece/Attica/Athens/statistics.html
Jump up ^ "Valores climatológicos normales. Valencia - Agencia Estatal de Meteorología".
Jump up ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2015-08-06. Retrieved 2016-09-02.
Jump up ^ J Holden, A Wright (2003-03-13). "UK tornado climatology and the development of simple prediction tools" (PDF). Quarterly Journal of the Meteorological Society. Royal Meteorological Society. 130: 1009–1021. Bibcode:2004QJRMS.130.1009H. doi:10.1256/qj.03.45. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2007-08-24. Retrieved 2009-12-13.
Jump up ^ Staff (2002-03-28). "Natural Disasters: Tornadoes". BBC Science and Nature. BBC. Archived from the original on 2002-10-14. Retrieved 2009-12-13.
Jump up ^ Nikolai Dotzek (2003-03-20). "An updated estimate of tornado occurrence in Europe" (PDF). Atmospheric Research. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2007-06-14. Retrieved 2009-12-13.
Jump up ^ Meaden, Terrance (2004). "Wind Scales: Beaufort, T — Scale, and Fujita's Scale". Tornado and Storm Research Organisation. Archived from the original on 2010-04-30. Retrieved 2009-09-11.
[hide]
v
t
e
Climate of Europe
Sovereign states
Albania
Andorra
Armenia
Austria
Azerbaijan
Belarus
Belgium
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Bulgaria
Croatia
Cyprus
Czech Republic
Denmark
Estonia
Finland
France
Georgia
Germany
Greece
Hungary
Iceland
Ireland
Italy
Kazakhstan
Latvia
Liechtenstein
Lithuania
Luxembourg
Macedonia
Malta
Moldova
Monaco
Montenegro
Netherlands
Norway
Poland
Portugal
Romania
Russia
San Marino
Serbia
Slovakia
Slovenia
Spain
Sweden
Switzerland
Turkey
Ukraine
United Kingdom
Vatican City
States with limited
recognition
Abkhazia
Artsakh
Kosovo
Northern Cyprus
South Ossetia
Transnistria
Dependencies and
other entities
Åland
Faroe Islands
Gibraltar
Guernsey
Isle of Man
Jersey
Svalbard
Other entities
European Union
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Climate_of_Europe&oldid=814766366"
Categories:
Climate of Europe
Hidden categories:
CS1 Russian-language sources (ru)
Navigation menu
Personal tools
Not logged in
Talk
Contributions
Create account
Log in
Namespaces
Article
Talk
Variants
Views
Read
Edit
View history
More
Search
Navigation
Main page
Contents
Featured content
Current events
Random article
Donate to Wikipedia
Wikipedia store
Interaction
Help
About Wikipedia
Community portal
Recent changes
Contact page
Tools
What links here
Related changes
Upload file
Special pages
Permanent link
Page information
Wikidata item
Cite this page
Print/export
Create a book
Download as PDF
Printable version
Languages
Català
Français
Galego
한국어
Italiano
Македонски
Română
Shqip
Edit links
This page was last edited on 10 December 2017, at 20:31.
Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License; additional terms may apply. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization.
Privacy policy
About Wikipedia
Disclaimers
Contact Wikipedia
Developers
Cookie statement
Mobile view
Enable previews

key: html

type: local

value: div

attrs: id class

values: mw-page-base noprint

values: mw-head-base noprint

value: a

attrs: id class lang

values: firstHeading firstHeading en

values: siteSub noprint

values: jump-to-nav mw-jump

attrs: alt src width height class srcset data-file-width data-file-height

attrs: href class title

attrs: href title

attrs: class style

attrs: alt src width height class data-file-width data-file-height

value: span

values:
/wiki/Montane_forest
mw-redirect
Montane forest

values:
/wiki/Temperate_broadleaf_forest
mw-redirect
Temperate broadleaf forest

values:
/wiki/Mediterranean_forest
mw-redirect
Mediterranean forest

values:
/wiki/Temperate_steppe
mw-redirect
Temperate steppe

values:
/wiki/Prevailing_westerlies
mw-redirect
Prevailing westerlies

values:
/wiki/North_Atlantic_Drift
mw-redirect
North Atlantic Drift

values:
/wiki/North_Atlantic_Oscillation
mw-redirect
North Atlantic Oscillation

values:
/wiki/Arctic_Oscillation
mw-redirect
Arctic Oscillation

values:
/wiki/Rennes,_France
mw-redirect
Rennes, France

values:
/wiki/Seattle,_Washington
mw-redirect
Seattle, Washington

values:
/wiki/Northern_France
mw-redirect
Northern France

values:
/wiki/C%C3%B3rdoba,_Andalusia
mw-redirect
Córdoba, Andalusia

values:
headerSort
0
columnheader button
Sort ascending

values:
nofollow
external text
//doi.org/10.1002%2Fjoc.3370050603

values:
nofollow
external text
http://pogoda.ru.net/climate/26850.htm

values:
/wiki/Instituto_de_Meteorologia
mw-redirect
Instituto de Meteorologia

values:
nofollow
external text
//doi.org/10.1256%2Fqj.03.45

values: -moz-column-width: 30em; -webkit-column-width: 30em; column-width: 30em; list-style-type: decimal;

values:
/wiki/Climate_of_Andorra
mw-redirect
Climate of Andorra

values:
/wiki/Climate_of_Austria
mw-redirect
Climate of Austria

values:
/wiki/Climate_of_Belarus
mw-redirect
Climate of Belarus

values:
/wiki/Climate_of_Belgium
mw-redirect
Climate of Belgium

values:
/wiki/Climate_of_Bosnia_and_Herzegovina
mw-redirect
Climate of Bosnia and Herzegovina

values:
/wiki/Climate_of_Bulgaria
mw-redirect
Climate of Bulgaria

values:
/wiki/Climate_of_Croatia
mw-redirect
Climate of Croatia

values:
/wiki/Climate_of_the_Czech_Republic
mw-redirect
Climate of the Czech Republic

values:
/wiki/Climate_of_Denmark
mw-redirect
Climate of Denmark

values:
/wiki/Climate_of_France
mw-redirect
Climate of France

values:
/wiki/Climate_of_Georgia_(country)
mw-redirect
Climate of Georgia (country)

values:
/wiki/Climate_of_Germany
mw-redirect
Climate of Germany

values:
/wiki/Climate_of_Kazakhstan
mw-redirect
Climate of Kazakhstan

values:
/wiki/Climate_of_Latvia
mw-redirect
Climate of Latvia

values:
/wiki/Climate_of_Liechtenstein
mw-redirect
Climate of Liechtenstein

values:
/wiki/Climate_of_Lithuania
mw-redirect
Climate of Lithuania

values:
/wiki/Climate_of_Luxembourg
mw-redirect
Climate of Luxembourg

values:
/wiki/Climate_of_Moldova
mw-redirect
Climate of Moldova

values:
/wiki/Climate_of_Monaco
mw-redirect
Climate of Monaco

values:
/wiki/Climate_of_Montenegro
mw-redirect
Climate of Montenegro

values:
/wiki/Climate_of_the_Netherlands
mw-redirect
Climate of the Netherlands

values:
/wiki/Climate_of_Norway
mw-redirect
Climate of Norway

values:
/wiki/Climate_of_Poland
mw-redirect
Climate of Poland

values:
/wiki/Climate_of_Portugal
mw-redirect
Climate of Portugal

values:
/wiki/Climate_of_San_Marino
mw-redirect
Climate of San Marino

values:
/wiki/Climate_of_Slovakia
mw-redirect
Climate of Slovakia

values:
/wiki/Climate_of_Slovenia
mw-redirect
Climate of Slovenia

values:
/wiki/Climate_of_Sweden
mw-redirect
Climate of Sweden

values:
/wiki/Climate_of_Switzerland
mw-redirect
Climate of Switzerland

values:
/wiki/Climate_of_Ukraine
mw-redirect
Climate of Ukraine

values:
/wiki/Climate_of_Vatican_City
mw-redirect
Climate of Vatican City

values:
/wiki/Climate_of_Abkhazia
mw-redirect
Climate of Abkhazia

values: Climate of the Republic of Artsakh (page does not exist)

values:
/wiki/Climate_of_Northern_Cyprus
mw-redirect
Climate of Northern Cyprus

values:
/wiki/Climate_of_South_Ossetia
mw-redirect
Climate of South Ossetia

values:
/wiki/Climate_of_Transnistria
mw-redirect
Climate of Transnistria

values:
/wiki/Climate_of_the_Faroe_Islands
mw-redirect
Climate of the Faroe Islands

values:
/wiki/Climate_of_Guernsey
mw-redirect
Climate of Guernsey

values:
/wiki/Climate_of_the_Isle_of_Man
mw-redirect
Climate of the Isle of Man

values:
/wiki/Climate_of_Jersey
mw-redirect
Climate of Jersey

values:
/wiki/Climate_of_the_European_Union
mw-redirect
Climate of the European Union

values: nowraplinks collapsible autocollapse navbox-inner

values: Category:CS1 Russian-language sources (ru)

values: Discussion about edits from this IP address [ctrl-alt-n]

values: A list of edits made from this IP address [ctrl-alt-y]

values: You are encouraged to create an account and log in; however, it is not mandatory

values: You're encouraged to log in; however, it's not mandatory. [ctrl-alt-o]

values:
/wiki/Climate_of_Europe
View the content page [ctrl-alt-c]
c

values: Discussion about the content page [ctrl-alt-t]

values: p-namespaces navigation vectorTabs p-namespaces-label

values:
p-variants
navigation
vectorMenu emptyPortlet
p-variants-label

values: Past revisions of this page [ctrl-alt-h]

values: p-views navigation vectorTabs p-views-label

values:
p-cactions
navigation
vectorMenu emptyPortlet
p-cactions-label

values:
mw-wiki-logo
/wiki/Main_Page
Visit the main page

values:
/wiki/Main_Page
Visit the main page [ctrl-alt-z]
z

values: Featured content – the best of Wikipedia

values: Find background information on current events

values:
/wiki/Wikipedia:File_Upload_Wizard
Upload files [ctrl-alt-u]
u

values: A list of all special pages [ctrl-alt-q]

values: Permanent link to this revision of the page

values: Link to connected data repository item [ctrl-alt-g]

values: Printable version of this page [ctrl-alt-p]

values:
uls-settings-trigger
Language settings
0
button
true

values: 유럽의 기후 – Korean

values: Клима во Европа – Macedonian

values: /static/images/wikimedia-button-1.5x.png 1.5x, /static/images/wikimedia-button-2x.png 2x

values: /static/images/poweredby_mediawiki_132x47.png 1.5x, /static/images/poweredby_mediawiki_176x62.png 2x

values:
suggestions
display: none; font-size: 13px;

values: mediawiki ltr sitedir-ltr mw-hide-empty-elt ns-0 ns-subject page-Climate_of_Europe rootpage-Climate_of_Europe skin-vector action-view