 On 18 July 1918, during World War I, three days after a German offensive near the Marne River in the Champagne region of France failed, Allied forces launched a major counterattack, ending the Second Battle of the Marne and decisively turning the tide of the war toward an Allied victory. Casualties of the Marne were staggering, with Germany losing 168,000 soldiers to death or injury, compared to 95,000 for the French, 13,000 for the British, and 12,000 for us.