facts

Following the defeat near Mulhouse and the force retreat the French high commandment created an " Army of Alsace " with at its head, General Paul Pau. He will join his army on the 13th of August. The same day, France declares war to Austria-Hungary, answering to their declaration of the 10th and cuts all diplomatic relations with the Empire. While the hope of a quick victory in Alsace and Lorraine is gone,  the French army offered the Germans a heavy resistance in the Meuse ( Lorraine region ). The small village of Pillon is taken but the German army is confronted by hundreds of French poilus in the neighboring village of…