It was designed by American sculptor Frederick William MacMonnies and dedicated in 1932 in honor of the Allied troops who died in the First Battle of the Marne during World War I.

[3] A contest was held to determine the designer of this monument, with Frederick William MacMonnies's model being chosen.

[1][3] Funds for the monument were raised in the United States,[3] and it was erected as a gift from Americans to the French people.

[6] On top of the figure's right leg is a dead son, while she holds a baby in one hand and a broken sword in the other.

[3] The monument bears an inscription near the base which reads in part:[3] "Here speak again the silent voices of the heroic sons of France who dared all and gave all in the day of deadly peril and turned back the flood of imminent disaster and thrilled the world by their supreme devotion."